Tuesday, January 31, 2012

6 Month Stats and Other News

So I wrote this post last Friday....but apparently forgot to publish it....   WHOOPS

Layla went to the Dr to have her 6 month checkup yesterday.  My little lady weighed in at 16 lbs even.  She is 25 1/4 inches long.  Oh and by the way....she also has her first tooth!  I felt really terrible for not noticing this until the Dr pointed it out, but then I realized that it literally JUST came in (like the night before).  She's working on a second one as we speak.  Looks like I won't be sticking my finger in her mouth anymore.......

In other news, I get to spend half of my day picking out cabinets, countertops, flooring, and siding colors for our new house today.  After an extremely long week at work, I'm really looking forward to this.  I'll have a post later on what we chose.  For now, here's a pic or two of how things are progressing.

Casa De Shumpert: The Kitchen

I have this feeling that this blog is about to expand its horizons and take on some new aspects of our lives (mainly the building of our new home).  I hope this doesn't chase anyone away.  If you know us, we love house reno's and DIY projects so this is nothing new to you.

Last Friday Ryan and I met up with our builder to go over all of our finishing options for the new house that we're building.  Now I'm a fairly indecisive person, so it took a lot of thought before Friday to decide what look we were going for with the new house.  I'll spend some later posts going over what we decided on for the other rooms in the house, but today I want to focus on the kitchen. 

I like my kitchen in our current house, BUT its got a lot of tans and browns in it.  I'm not really a tan and brown kind of girl.  I love blacks and whites and greys.  I really love a modern kitchen.   You know, one that looks like this:
 I'm obsessed with dark cabinets with light colored granite and stainless steel.  Its so clean!  So this was what I was shooting for.  I didn't originally think I could get it because there wasn't any granites with whites and greys to choose from in our original selection.  But after a lot of thought, we decided to splurge a bit on the kitchen and upgrade our granite to a white and grey speckled thicker granite piece.  We ended up with this:
Sorry about the lighting.... my iphone was all I had and the lighting in that place was TERRIBLE.  Regardless, I'm ecstatic about the way the two go together. 

While we were there we were also informed that we get a tile backsplash with our home for free.  Hooray.  There was only three basic tile choices, so we went with the one with the grey tones to it.  We paid a little extra to get them to turn the tiles on a 45 degree angle.  It will look a bit like this:

The cabinet hardware options were pretty archaic (and cost extra!) so we opted to buy our own and install them later.  A modern kitchen needs modern looking hardware so we'll probably end up installing one of these two:

Last but not least, we took the plunge and opted to get all stainless steel appliances.  Our builder uses Frididaire, so these are the appliances we'll get:



So Yea I'm pretty happy about the way things are looking.  When the kitchen actually gets built, I'll post more pictures. 
So how do you like our choices?

Thursday, January 26, 2012

It's Out Of Control!

Layla's hair is anyways......

I don't think I've ever posted about it, but Layla has some RIDICULOUS hair.  I've had my fair share of interesting hair connundrums, but never anything of this magnitude.  I mean let's be honest, I've got white people hair, and Layla's got......Layla hair.....  There really is no other way to describe it.  Just the quantity of hair that sits on her pretty little head is enough to make most people run away screaming. 

I'm hoping someone out there in cyberspace world can help me tame the beast.

So here's what we're dealing with folks:

1. Super tight curls.  Her hair is actually around 4 inches long, but you wouldn't know it.
2. Curly, not kinky.
3. Moderately dry, but still soft.
4. She runs her hands through it a lot.  The girl likes to play with hair....
5. Really thick on top.
6. The Problem Spot...... the spot in the back of her head.  The hair is thinner and seems to be of a different texture.  This hair gets tangled easily and tends to get kind of (for lack of a better word) "nappy."  It may be the same as the rest of her hair, but just gets rubbed a lot.  I think the car seat and/or mattress is the culprit for causing this spot. 

So I need your help!  I currently wash her hair about ever 3 days or so.  I shampoo it with curly shampoo and leave in the conditioner.  I've tried putting regular lotion, curling lotion and baby oil on it, but nothing seems to keep that problem spot from reappearing. 

Any suggestions?

Monday, January 23, 2012

Sick Day #1

Miraculously, I hadn't gotten sick at all for almost an entire year. Considering I normally get really sick once in both the fall and spring, this was a true feat. But alas, my streak is up. I knew it would happen eventually, and I guess this is as good a week as any. So Layla has been shipped off to my mother-in-laws to stay for a while and I am quarantined in the house; no Maddox, no Ryan, no Layla, and no friends. To say I'm bored is an understatement. It's gross outside and my house is already clean. I'm fairly certain that in high school, or even a year ago this would be the perfect day. I can just sit around and do nothing until 6 when Ryan gets home. But I miss my little family and honestly I kind of like my crazy schedule. So I'm hoping that this will help me get back on my feet.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

6 Months!

Layla's going to be 6 Months old tomorrow!  Holy cow......
So I have no idea what her measurements are because her next Dr's appointment isn't until later this week.   Lately she's been:

  • Sitting up on her own.
  • Eating her feet.
  • Eating lots of solids.
  • Mimicking sounds you make at her.
  • Rolling all over the place.
  • Attempting to walk while you hold her hands. (This explains her total lack of drive to crawl)

























Friday, January 13, 2012

House Update #2...or is it #3?

A lot has happened on the house front in the past 3 weeks.  Here a brief rundown of what we've been up to:
  • We finished ALL of the unfinished projects in our house!  Yes you heard that correctly.... We even put shoe molding down over all of the tile and wood floors we installed (this has been 3 years in the making).  I'm so proud of Ryan for finishing all of this stuff.  Our house looks NOTHING like the house we originally bought.  Every wall, floor and cabinet has been changed throughout the whole house.  Heck we even added a room...
  • The house is officially on the market.  We've got an open house this Sunday, so please feel free to stop by.  I personally wont be there but our awesome agent Chris will be.  I'm pretty sure he's going to have free pizza too....
  • We AREN'T buying the house I originally showed you.  That house was already built, and the seller decided that they didn't want to put a contingency on it.  I personally didn't feel comfortable putting a contract on a house without a contingency of our house selling.  After all, we aren't made of money and it wouldn't be smart to end up with two house payments, even if our current house was rented out. 

  • We ARE going to build a house in the same neighborhood as the first house I showed.  We love that location and we really like the pool feel of the neighborhood.  The house we are building is a tad bit smaller than the other one, but honestly, I think it fits our needs a little better.  Plus, we get to build on a MUCH nicer, bigger and flatter lot.  This also means that I we get to choose all the finishes and colors.  If this is going to be our "Forever" home, then I guess I should make sure it's everything I want it to be. I'll post pics of the new home when we start building.    Oh yea..... did I mention that we're getting a Double Porch?  (dream come true.....)



    So what do you think?  Love it or Hate it?

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

My Biggest Mistake

Oh you of little faith
Christ says to Peter looking straight at me
why don’t you act like you say
and stop trusting in ordinary things
it’s been your biggest mistake
and you want revival
want amazing
but you must trust in this name
it’s all you got anyways
come on and trust
do you remember my name
I am Emanuel
Lord of Lords
you are my hands and feet
to tell the nations I am worthy.

Come On And Trust by The Dirt and the Flood

Monday, January 9, 2012

Mommy Time

So I realized a couple of days ago that I haven't really had any "mommy time" lately.  I'm kind of ashamed to say this, but I haven't had my hair cut and/or dyed by a professional in over 2 1/2 years.......  Yikes.....   That's not to say that I haven't had my hair cut/dyed, but sometimes you just need to suck it up and let someone who really knows that they are doing fix you up.  About once a year I get this itch to do something crazy with my hair.  Last year, I dyed it almost black....and chopped it all off.  It was fun, but not really what I want this time around.  I want to go lighter.....and maybe BRIGHTER?!?!?!  I need to keep it long because I'm in a wedding this June and my hair takes FOREVER to grow out.  So here goes......  I think I'm going RED.


What do you think?  Terrible idea, or GREAT idea?

Thursday, January 5, 2012

On the Lighter Side....

I've posted a lot of heavy stuff lately, probably because God's been breaking me with some heavy convictions. So today I'll keep it light with some Layla goodness.

My brother and his gf visited this past week all the way from Seattle. Layla absolutely adores them, and I'm pretty sure they adore her too.

Layla has recently mastered the art of sitting up. She now basically refuses to sit back.....ever. We walk in the stroller and she sits straight up. We take a bath and she sits straight up. We play with toys and she sits straight up. AND then she falls over trying to reach something and freaks out until she uprights herself. She's practically always smiling when she is doing her new thang. I'm guessing she is pretty proud of herself.

Also, she's got this new MichaelJordanTongueStickingOutOfTheSideOfHerMouth thing that she likes to do AT ALL TIMES right now. If you look real close below, you can see it. Pretty stinking hillarious and adorable.



Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Questions Answered: Fostering *Amended Version*

I've been mulling over this post for a couple of days now.  I'm not sure if I've got my thoughts completely worked out, but I need to give the writing a chance to make sense.  Here goes.....

I have the feeling that there a few people out there that are confused/concerned about our willingness to foster children, but haven't been able (for whatever reason) to ask us about it.  I'm just going to go ahead and answer what I presume would be your questions to us. 
  • You just adopted a child....why do you feel that you need to now foster more?  Is 1 not enough?
    • Layla was a gift from God that I love with all I am.  However.... God placed a passion in our hearts for orphans and children who are in need.  That passion doesn't stop with Layla.  God knew all along that she would be our daughter and she is a perfect fit for our family, but we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she isn't the only child that we have room in our hearts for.  As we soak in the precious moments with her, we can't deny the fact that God is breaking our hearts for children who don't have their needs met and love lavished upon them as they deserve.
  • Are you guys running into this blindly? 
    • Sometimes it may seem like I just throw things out into the blogger world from left field.  This isn't the case.  I spend a great deal of time thinking and praying over what I'm going to write long before I write it.  Fostering is no different.  I've spend the last couple of months specifically asking the Holy Spirit to show up in my life and ask me to do His will, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes me.  *You should never ask this if you don't really want it to happen, because it will.*  So he placed a tiny seed about becoming a foster parent in my brain and in our hearts a couple of months ago.  We've been praying diligently about this and feel that we are very close to deciding to make it official.  (More about this later)
  • Don't you know the risk involved?  Those kids have so many issues....
    • Children in foster care generally have issues because their parents were never around, didn't care, or were abusive.  These kids come from bad situations, but generally aren't bad kids (there are exceptions to the rule obviously).  We don't expect to change every child that walks into our home.  We do expect to show them Christ and provide them with as much love and opportunity to succeed as we are able.  We fully understand that some kids will act out.  Windows may get smashed and things might get stolen.  Honestly, I'm ok with taking that risk.  If we are able to help just 1 kid see Christ, then its worth it.  (FYI: We will probably only take children that are elementary school aged so that my work and our youth don't interfere with our time with them.)  A lot of these kids need a loving hand to hold, and if we as Christians won't take a step out of fear and do something to love them, then who is going to?  Every child is worth saving.
  • What kind of time frame are you looking at?  Don't you have a million things going on already?
    • We won't even consider fostering a child until I am done with school, which should be sometime this summer.  Layla will also be 1 in July.  There is a possibility that I will be able to begin teaching next school year.  This would be ideal as I would have breaks off with the kids.  We might begin the process of getting licensed to be foster parents long before we actually get any kids placed with us as this could take a while.
  • How do you know that God is calling you to be a foster parent?
    • This is where the Holy Spirit shows up and starts doing crazy stuff. 
      • I just finished "Kisses from Katie" by Katie Davis of Amazima Ministries.  She mentions the importance of Luke 12:48 to her life and her sacrifice.  Luke 12:48 = "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required."  Ryan and I have been blessed beyond belief.  Our marriage is sound, our finances are strong, and we have been given so much love our entire lives from both our family and friends.  God prepared us well to be put in a situation where we are required to GIVE.  Loving someone who may not love you back IS a sacrifice, but we would be entirely wrong if we thought that God would want us to keep all the love and blessings He has given us to ourselves.  Did I mention that people who know nothing about this or each other have been telling me to read this verse over and over lately......  Can you say Confirmation?
      • Let's face it and be honest for a second.  We are scared of practically everything.  Fear is what drives us to do a lot of what we do each day.  Fear of what some crazy kid from foster care will do to your furniture, or fear of how people might percieve you and your ever changing, never perfect family keep a lot of people who love kids from becoming foster parents.  We hear the horror stories and decide that there is no way that we could pour our time and hearts into a kid that is just going to get taken away from us.  I'm completely afraid of all of these things, but I know that God is bigger than my fear.  God is absolutely going to put me in a situation that I can't handle....and He's going to handle it for me.  All he wants us to do is say "Yes."  He's already got some master plan all laid out for us if we'll just tell Him we're willing and let Him do the rest.
I think I've covered most of my bases.  Seriously though, I'd love to talk to anyone about this that still has questions.  I'm sorry if I come across as harsh at all in the way I worded anything.  I'm doing my best at letting it be ok if not everyone agrees with us on this one, but I still get defensive at times and I'm sorry.  Guess I'm still learning how to deal with that aspect......