Gatlinburg with the Gollottes

The week after the 4th of July, Tobin and I took our first road trip with just the two of us to Gatlinburg, TN. It took us 6 hours to get there with all stops. Tobin did pretty well for a toddler who hates long rides in the car.

Clark's parents have a time share up right next to the national forest and Addie, Maggie, and great Grandma were there for the week as well. Poor Clark had to stay home and work, but Tobin had fun getting to see his Grandparents, great grandma, cousin, and aunt.

Tobin eats more around Maggie. Must be the competition.

Strolling down the streets of Gatlinburg.

The best part was the national forest with lots of rocks to throw into the river. Tobin and Maggie loved it.

Addie and Maggie up on the rock in the river. Maggie wouldn't look at the camera. Addie is 6 months pregnant with new baby Lily but doesn't even look like here.

It is so hard to get both kids to look at the camera. They were wearing their matching shirts that Grandma bought them.

The next week, Addie and Maggie came to stay with us. Tobin and Maggie had a lot of fun together even though there was a lot of crying and fighting over toys.

I decided to be brave and make cookies with them. Maggie did a great job helping, but Tobin played with a separate bowl of flour.

Every night they had a bath and afterwards put on their towels and ran around. Tobin's little white butt was always hanging out. He looked so funny.

We miss you Maggie and Aunt Addie!

4th of July

Sorry this is so late in coming. I have a hard time getting to a computer that has my pictures on it.

Anyway, on the 4th Mom was in Oklahoma visiting her parents and Jared was in Mexico on a mission trip. That just left Clark, Tobin, my Dad, and I. Clark went camping the night before on the AT and the next morning we met him to go hiking. It is nice living only an hour and a half from the mountains and the start of the Appalachian trail. The place we hiked was so beautiful and we had never been there before. Almost the whole trail was walking along a stream.

Changing a diaper on the trail.

Tobin had so much fun throwing rocks that he got his pants wet and had to diaper it!

Later that day the Browns and Serita over for BBQ and fireworks for the kids.

Tobin and Destiny get into trouble together

I love this picture! It was a great evening.

New Bed

After years in our beautiful bed we finally had to say goodbye. I love that bed. My parents bought me the bed frame when we moved to Atlanta. It was going to be the guest bed and mine when I came home during the summer from college. I think that they were trying to make up for taking my room away in the house in N.C. once I left. They said that I could take the bed and the frame with me when I got married. Little did they know that such an event was only two years away. The amazing thing is that my parents bought that bed back in L.A. when I was 10 years old. It is really comfortable still.


Tobin was a bit up set when we started to take the bed apart and move it into the new guest room. We have grown out of the queen and needed to move up into a king. Clark and Tobin take up too much room and I get smushed.


Look how much room there is for me! Oh the new bed is like heaven! We have all slept so much better.

Clark and I both grew up with parents who believed in the family bed concept. We never planned to do it much because we knew that we won't have the room. We even bought a really cool co-sleeper crib so babies could be close at all times. Then we had Tobin and he came into this world screaming and wouldn't stop screaming unless he was being held up against my chest. I slept sitting up for the first 6 months of his life and after that he has been right beside me. So we started the whole family bed thing out of pure need for sleep and to make the crying stop, but now love it!

I love getting to sleep with Tobin right there. It is a great way to bond with a toddler that never stops moving during the day. Tobin and I are really connected and a big reason for that is that we get to bond all night long. He is easier to deal with during the day because I know him so well and we are so connected. Tobin (as anyone will tell you) is not an easy kid to be bonded and connected too. He is very sensitive and doesn't let people into his little world easily.

We do hope that the next baby will want to sleep with us when she is a toddler, but we have a crib if she doesn't. It is an experience that I don't ever want to miss out on with any of my kids. I know that many people don't like it because then you can never get them out of your bed or they are afraid that it will ruin any private times for the parents. But, it really doesn't bother us and it is really all about being sensitive to our child's needs and connecting with them. Only in the west does each child have its own bed. Families through out history slept together or at least the kids did. Maybe there is a reason besides just being poor or cold for that?

Tobin is slowly starting to transition to his own bed for at least part of the night so that the new baby will be able to get some attention. But, I am sure that each morning will find us all snuggled in bed together as one big family. Oh, such mornings are so great that the little feet in your face the night before doesn't seem so annoying.

July Wait List Numbers

Got a call the other day from Kate at All God's Children and we are now number 15 on the waiting list for a baby girl. I could not believe it! I know that there have been a lot of referrals this months but I thought that we would be closer to #19. I guess that I am not as good at calculating our wait list numbers as some of the other AGCI moms (other blogs that I read). So that means that in 1 month we have moved 11 spaces (from 26 to 15).

I was excited to be moving so fast, but also a little worried. We have been having some trouble with CIS (home land security and formally called INS) and getting fingerprint appointments for the other people living in our home. So we can't even accept a referral right now if we even wanted to.

Still things could slow back down and next month we might not be moving that fast through the waiting list. I think that October is a good guess for when we might get a referral. I really hope it will be later in some ways because we do want Tobin to get a little older. The great thing is that God knows the perfect baby for us and His timing is always right.

Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. I am going to get back into the habit of posting once a week, so please keep checking. I am not sure if anyone really reads this blog, but it is nice to put my feelings down into words.

Vacation in Hilton Head and Savannah

Last week we went on our big family vacation with the Hutchins side of the family. Grandma Sue rented all of us a huge beautiful house right near the beach. Almost the whole family was there. Tobin and I went for the whole week with my parents and Jessica. Clark and Jared had to work and met us half way through the week.

I am afraid that I took most of my pictures on Jessica's really nice camera and I still have not gotten those pictures from her, but here are some of my own that I took.


The beach was very pretty especially in the evening. Tobin loved playing in the sand and in the tide pools but didn't love the ocean until the very last evening. We rode bikes a lot and even got a baby trailer for Tobin. It was the best part of the vacation (besides fun with family).


Tobin with his Daddy and Grandpa finally getting into the ocean after a whole week of hating it.


Jessica is very daring with bikes. She and Jenny ride like this in NYC, I didn't care for it.


This is basically what Tobin did all week - throw stuff into the pool and play with his golf clubs.


Our cousin Cloe learned to ride a bike without training wheels that week as well. She was biking every where!
Tobin got a much needed hair cut from Aunt Nancy. She is the only one that can do it without a lot of crying.


At the park with Grandpa. We could ride our bikes all over the island and there were great bike paths that were flat. It was a biking heaven!


Cloe tried a ride with Tobin, but didn't want to go again after he kept messing with her hair and pulling on her shirt.


There was lot's of reading going on all week. Very relaxing, which is unusual for the Hutchins. There is usually always some major physical labor going on in the form of farm work.


Tobin ate the best when one of his cousins fed him. Ben was the best at it.


Clark and I rode our bikes to a ruin of a pre-Civil War era house.

We had such a nice time and it was sad to say goodbye to all of our wonderful family. I will post more pictures when I get them from Jessica (no pressure Jess). We took the big family picture with her camera as well.

Savannah

On Saturday we all had to say goodbye and go our separate ways. Since Clark's birthday was that week, Dad took our little group to Savannah for the day and night. Clark loves Savannah because of the beautiful architecture. We went for a weekend last year and loved it (though it is also really hot in June).

We stayed on an island across from historic Savannah so all we had to do was take a little boat over and walk around the beautiful historic areas. Tobin was not a huge fan of the boat, but felt better as long as he carried a golf ball around. It is almost like a lovey blanket for the week.

Eating at the famous Pirate House where Stevenson got the idea for his book Treasure Island.


The birthday boy himself! Tobin thought it was so funny when he would do this!



We did lots of sight seeing and a house tour (Clark's favorite thing to do) on Saturday and Sunday.




Uncle Jared carried Tobin around for a little bit to give our backs a break.


On the tour bus. That is what Tobin thinks about learning GA history.

We had a lot of fun and poor Tobin was so tired everyday from all of the fun. He got pretty depressed on Monday when he realized that we really weren't going back to Hilton Head and spend time with his cousins. He has been in a bad mood all week because of it. Oh well, all vacations must come to an end.

Number 26

Well, just had our monthly call with Kate and learned that our new waiting list number for a baby girl is 26. Pretty good from 30 a month ago I guess. It still will be around 6-8 months until we get a referral. I am hoping for a referral by Christmas and then we would travel around 2 months after that. But, with international adoption you never know what can happen and slow things down.

It is amazing to think that our baby Jessa is more likely already born and living somewhere in Ethiopia. We pray for her everyday that she will be safe, healthy, and taken care of until we can get there.

I also wonder how old she will be when we get the referral. Clark really wanted to stay in birth order, which I know is smart in the long run. But, I wanted an older toddler or preschooler. We want to adopt again and so this will probably be the only time that we adopt a baby or even a girl for that matter. Clark and I have talked about adopting older kids once our kids get a little older. As long as Tobin is always the oldest, Clark is happy.

Still I don't really want a young baby. I know that sounds crazy because most people love the cute baby stage. But, I would really love a 1 year old or older (good thing because this is the average age of babies that are adopted internationally). People have also asked me if I will be sad that I am going to miss the newborn/baby stage by adopting. I don't think I will at all! This is probably because Tobin's newborn stage was filled with walking the floors all night with a colic crying baby. Tobin would scream like he was on fire if he was out of my arms even for a second until he was 6 months old and even then he was not really happy until he could walk at 10 months. So my memories of a newborn are not the same as others.

In the end God knows though and so we will get the referral of the little girl that is meant for us. But, I can't help but wonder.......