Herron Hacienda | Faith, Family, & Frugal Finds in Michigan

~ TWO ~

Our sweet & joyful baby girl turned 2 today!  We love you Ainsleigh Grace!

 

 

 

 

~ 11 Months Old ~

My head is spinning just thinking about the fact that our sweet little Ainsleigh Grace is already 11 months old!  She will be one in less than a month - craziness!  Her spunky personality becomes more obvious with each passing day.  She is almost always happy.  She is very people oriented like her big brother.  She began "talking" just before Christmas and although she said "mama" first, "dada" is now her favorite word.  She loves to bounce and is learning to stand independently.  We just love her to pieces!

 

As you can see, Ainsleigh still loves her big brother.  He can always make her smile!  He loves her too and even told me so last week while we were playing in her room.  *sigh*

~ 9 Months Old! ~

Our sweet princess turned 9 months old on Monday!  Time is flying by!  She has improved in her crawling speed over the month.  She also has started to cruise a little bit.  She wants to walk so bad!  I have  a feeling it won't be too long before that happens.  She also is playing more - shaking toys around and such.  She continues to be such a joyful addition to our family!

 

 

 

Daddy's Girl!

~ 8 Months Old ~

Ainsleigh turned 8 months old yesterday!  She continues to be such a joy to have around.  She has made some advances in the last month.  The biggest change is she is now crawling!  I knew she would be an early crawler and keep me busy.  With her new-found strength, she has also learned how to pull herself up into a standing position.  It is only a matter of time before she starts crusin'!  I have a feeling she will be walking before she turns one.  Her personality has been coming out more as well.  She is definitely our little cuddle bunny.  She actually hugs me almost everytime I take her out of her crib.  Melts my heart!  She loves to be held and cuddled.  She has combined this with crawling and will crawl over to you to be picked up and held.  Daddy is always an easy target that will comply.  ;-)  She continues to be pretty easy going except when food is involved.  Don't get between this girl and her food.  She becomes VERY demanding!  It'll be interesting to see how she changes over the next month.  She is getting so big so fast!

~ 7 Months Old ~

Believe it or not, our baby girl is now 7 months old!  She continues to be a very hapy little girl.  Some new things from this month are being able to put herself into the sitting position from her stomach and finally mastering putting puffs into her mouth by herself!  She continues to be sooooooo close to crawling.  Not much else new for her this month.

Here are a few sweet pics I snapped of her on her 7 month birthday last week:

 

 

 

 

~ One Month Old ~

Ainsleigh turned one month old on March 26th.  I just finally got these pictures off my camera though!  I have many other pictures to share in the coming week too (Easter, 2 Months, T-Ball).  I have turned into one of those people who needs time to touch up my photos before posting so sorry it is taking me a while!  Here are a few I got done tonight.   These were taken in the outfit in which Josiah calls her his "little strawberry shortcake".  Sadly, she no longer fits in it.  :-(

March 26, 2012

 

 

~ The 3 Hour Journey ~

I have been writing this post in my head for over a month now.  I was at work the day we found out that the judge had signed our placement papers and Ainsleigh could come home from host care.  The timing worked out that Jon had previous engagements that he could not get out of.  So, Josiah and I traveled across the great state of Michigan immediately after school to pick up our new addition!

It was kind of surreal for me to be driving with my sweet (and excited!) 5 year old son knowing this would be the end of our time of him being the only child.  I found myself reflecting on the last five years and the day we brought him home.  He has grown and changed so much!  We faced joys beyond what we could even imagine and some challenges that the Lord gave us strength to endure. 

Early on in our journey, Josiah and I had a conversation that reminded me of the goal of our parenting:  we want to raise sons and daughters that are captured by the grace and love of Jesus and use that passion to change the world!  This conversation helped me feel like despite our moments of weakness, Jesus is working to achieve this goal.

We were passing a cemetery while driving when the conversation began.

Josiah:  That's where people are buried when they die.  There are a lot of people that died over there.  Did they die because of sin?

Me:  Yes, Josiah, that's right.  When sin entered the world with Adam and Eve, God made it so people would die.  He did not want us to live forever in sin and not have a relationship with us - He loves us too much to allow that.

Josiah:  Well, I have done lots of bad things, so does that mean I have to die too and be separated from God?

Me:  The Bible says that everyone makes bad choices and sins.  The good news is that we can still have a relationship with God?  Do you know how?

Josiah:  Jesus died on the cross.

Me:  That's right.  So if you belive that Jesus died for your sins and ask Him to be the boss or leader of your life, then you can have a relationship with God now and be with Him forever in heaven when you leave this earth. 

Josiah:  But sometimes, I still make bad choices.

Me:  Well, everyone has a hard time making bad choices at times.  The Bible also says that when we ask Jesus to lead us, we get the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is God too.  He is there to help us make the right choices and not turn to sin. 

Josiah:  Oh, ok.  I already have Him. 

Then the conversation moved on to some topic important to 5 year old boys.  I was smiling to myself and teary-eyed though.  My son "gets it" at the young age of five.  This is one area, by the grace of God, we seem to be succeeding as parents!  I cannot imagine a better way of ending my time with Josiah as my only child!  My heart was just overflowing!

My introspection continued as we journeyed back home with our new little bundle.  The whole time, I found myself silently thanking God for these two blessings.  I believe that every child is uniquely planned and placed in their family whether through birth or adoption.  There's just a part of me though, that knows without ANY doubt, God made these two children especially for our family!  It is overwhelming.  The birth families didn't just happen to pick us.  It is not a coinicidence.  The children (and birth families) we prayed years for arrived in our family at the exact right time and under the exact right circumstances.

We belong together.

My journey was 3 hours each way with my children that day, however, it has been set in motion for eternity. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  -  James 1:17

~ How We Paid Cash for our Adoption ~

 A little over two years ago, I sat in a full auditorium participating in Joe Sangl's Financial Learning Experience.  One of the first activities Joe had everyone do is write down what dream you would like to fulfill in your life as a result of winning with money.  This was easy for me - to pay cash for another adoption.  It seemed impossible as I wrote it, but I have learned through many trials and circumstances in my life that NOTHING is impossible for God (especially when I am striving to honor and serve Him).

About one year after this, we had indeed begun the domestic infant adoption process.  It was in part an act of faith.  We did not have the full funding in the bank when we initiated the adoption, but trusted that God would help us when the time came.  Each payment that was required at the start (home study fees, profile fees, etc.), we were able to have the cash on hand!  We felt so encouraged!  You know what they say, "Success breeds success."  Seeing this progress motivated us to continue to be frugal and stash away whatever extra we could.  Thanks to this, a few financial gifts, and a good tax refund, we were seeing our savings grow.  We were feeling more and more prepared for when the time came to make that big "placement fee." 

Every goal you work towards, however, is bound to have its setbacks.  Ours came at the end of last summer.  Jon was suddenly unemployed.  While he did receive severance, it was 50% of his previous take home pay.  We had no notice of this abrupt budget change and found ourselves scrambling to make our personal budget viable.  We were looking at a severe monthly deficit even with large cutbacks.  We knew we had our savings cushion, but the thought of living off our hard-saved adoption money was heartbreaking to say the least. 

I spent a season of a couple of months in constant prayer for wisdom and provision.  It was daunting to think of finding a new job in the midst of this economy.  Jon was still recovering from back surgery which slowed down his ability to seek new employment.  I had to wait on the state licensure process to be able to secure employment in my field.  It all seemed so depressing after working so hard to win with our money!  I often would wake up in the night, sit on the couch with my open Bible, cry, and pray.  I felt so hopeless.  How in the world would we ever see our adoption dream realized, let alone come up with the average cost of $24,400 in cash?!?

Some time in late September, we received an unexpected phone call from some pastor friends of ours.  They had been continually checking in on us during this season and were very concerned for our emotional, spiritual, and financial well being.  The purpose of the phone call, other than to emotionally and spiritually support us, was to let us know that they intended to financially support us for three months with the other half of Jon's salary that he was no longer receiving as part of the severance.  We were dumbfounded.  We were touched beyond words that these men cared that deeply about our family and protecting us from bitterness in a painful season.  They were BEING the Church to our family.  God truly does SEE everything and provides... even if it is from unexpected places! 

We both humbled ourselves around this same time and searched for any local job we could get.  Jon worked at the local video store part-time.  I took on a seasonal job in a Christmas store.  We continued to live off of our stripped down budget through this time.  Any surplus we scrounged up, we immediately transferred to our savings account.  Our biggest prayer request in order to continue with our adoption plans was for Jon to gain steady full time employment with benefits.  We had to be able to show this for our home study update in December or our file would be put on hold (after a year of waiting).  

God provided once again in the most unexpected way.  Jon received a job offer out-of-the-blue that answered our exact prayers.  The income was significantly lower than our previous income - in fact lower than we've earned in about 10 years.  The amazing part is that due to our gazelle intensity with finances the last three years, we could work our budget off of this new lower income!    I also began part-time work in my field of counseling.

We continued to be little squirrels storing for winter. 

And then winter came... February 26th to be exact!  A baby girl was born at 35 weeks.  I got a call on Leap Day that the birth family had selected us to parent this little girl.  Each situation is different and the expenses can vary.  We had just heard some stories of very high expenses from other waiting families.  We held our breath for the phone call with the balance due for the placement.  The call came and... WE HAD ALL THE CASH ON HAND TO MAKE THE FINAL PAYMENT!!!  Our dream of paying cash for adoption was realized!!!

Our dream was realized....

in the midst of continuing to aggressively pay off debt

in the midst of saving money for a down payment on a house and paying cash for a few big ticket items (lawn mower, furniture, applicances)

in the midst of abrupt, unexpected job loss

in the midst of a large decrease in take home pay

God partnered with us.  He put His super on our natural.  He fulfilled Ephesians 3:20 before our very eyes! 

***Does this inspire you to win with money?  Check out Joe Sangl's site for first steps and free budgeting tools!  Don't wait - start today! You can do it!

~ Photo Fun with Ainsleigh ~

I've been having a little fun during my semi-conscious hours by having mini photo shoots with my baby girl.  I think they turned out great.  :-) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice ~

What are little girls made of?  Sugar and spice and everything nice!  It's a good thing we have a sweet tooth in this family because we just got a whole bunch of sugar!

Introducing...

 

 

 Ainsleigh Grace

Born February 26, 2012

5 lbs 13 oz

18.7 inches long

 

Isn't she just the sweetest most beautiful little thing?!?  I am super excited to add some more girl power to the Herron household!

 

And Josiah is super excited to be the protective big brother!

 

The new and improved Herron family!