Jamaica, mon!

Jay and I just got back from an amazing, beautiful, awesome, most gorgeous vacation ever.  We spent 8 days together in beautiful Negril, Jamaica at Couples Swept Away Resort.  It was a glorious trip away from our kids and we had the best time together.  Most days we spent chilling on the beach, reading books, taking in the scenery, talking, and enjoying one another's company.  It was such a wonderful opportunity to take a break from everything and reconnect with just each other.  I really feel like I came back from a second honeymoon.  Stars in my eyes, a big smile on my face, and taking every opportunity to hold my handsome husband's hand..... yup, I'm in love.... and have been for 10 wonderful years of marriage.

We loved the food, from jerk chicken to pad thai to a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables...we tried nearly all of it.  And the infused water at every drink stop along the beach and resort... from cucumber-infused water to star fruit-infused water... every day was a different flavor!  The resort provided us with refillable water bottles and we carried them with us almost everywhere.   The resort was an all-inclusive (which, I highly recommend) and we had food and drinks available all day long. From The Palms, which serves buffet-style for each meal to restaurants with menus (Patois, Lemongrass, Feathers), to the beach-side cabana grills, we ate at least once at each one! The staff were all very friendly and so were the vendors selling their Jamaican wares.  We met many people from all over the world that vacation at Couples Swept Away.  We heard time and time again of people who have been all over the world to different resorts, and CSA is their favorite.  There were people there for the 25-30th visit!!!

The activities and amenities available at CSA was a great variety.  Whether you wanted to work out, play tennis, get in a private yoga lesson, enjoy the spa or salon....it was all there!  You can snorkel, dive, sail, ski, play beach volleyball, horseshoes and more!  They had scheduled activities for every day of the week.  Even staff vs guest activities, like sand volleyball or Talent Show Night at The Palms (Jamaicans are the most talented, hands' down, for the Talent Show).  You could participate in activities from morning till late at night, or do nothing and recline in your beach chair and raise your red flag in the sand for your drink order. :)  And when the rain showers come in the afternoon, you can sit on your balcony and watch the rain move across the ocean, or take an afternoon nap in your air-conditioned room.  Seriously, this trip was the best trip ever!

My favorite moment of all was the night of March 12th when Jay and I stood on the beach at sunset and renewed our vows to each other.  When we looked at each other in our eyes and down deep into each other's souls and said words from our hearts.  That tender moment when we thanked the Lord for bringing us together and reminded each other that we were still 'the one' for each other, perfect for one another, and our love that continues to deepen and grow.  Gary and Debbie Williams, Jay's boss and who recommended CSA to us, had arrived for their vacation that day and were there to capture these moments for us.  Jay and I can't express what it meant to us that Gary and Debbie not only witnessed, but videoed and took pictures for us.  They really got into the role of photographer and captured some great moments!  And Jay and I are deeply grateful.

This trip was a dream come true for me, and I told Jay that over and over.  To be on a beach with the love of my life and celebrating 10 years of marriage.  Best. trip. ever.  Here's to 10x10 more years together, my love.

Stopping to smell the roses...

Sometimes, when one of my kids are telling me about something, I listen to them, stop what I'm doing, what I'm thinking about that needs done, but REALLY listen to them; and I look in wonder at this child before me. Listening to Eli tonight tell me about his day, and I just looked him over...how big he is getting, looking at the details of his head, his hands, feeling his arms around me as we said prayers tonight. My little boy... so handsome, so tenderhearted, all boy. His black eye all different shades of black and yellow with his 4 stitches and how nicely the wound is healing! His little legs and arms in proportion to his big head and torso and how I worry about him being made fun of for being the shortest in his class, how I don't want anyone to ever hurt my sweet boy. I notice his clear brown eyes looking at me and darting around as he tells me a story about lunchtime at school. He has the coolest brown eyes! He sits on my lap and hugs me. I wrap my arms around him, cuddling his head and body and I'm instantly taken back to when he was littler and I used to hold him and cuddle all the time. Now, he's bigger and these cuddles are few and far between. He's still my baby boy, just bigger now. I hold on to his embrace for as long as he lets me, soaking up the moment.

Earlier today, Asher comes to me in the office and says (demands, rather) that I come cuddle with him on the couch to watch cartoons with him. I look at him, little big guy full of self-confidence and knows what he wants. His eyes not searching mine, rather expecting me to move. I scoop him up in my arms and kiss him on his cheeks and neck, causing him to collapse in giggles and shrugs. I am looking at him, getting big as well...no longer a baby or a toddler.... nearing his 4th birthday, outgrowing his size 3T pants and shirts, his unibrow needing shaved again, his sweet smile and the twinkle in his eye when giggling in my arms as I lifted him over my head like an airplane. His little hands grabbing my big hands and his quick skinny body darting my attempts to tickle him as I set him down on the couch and told him I'd be right back, all the while his laughter and giggles filling my ears.... We sit on the couch and his little body scoots next to mine as his eyes are now glued to the TV. So very independent, yet still wanting to be near his mommy. I relish these times. And I soak up the moment of cuddling with him as we watch Rescue Bots together for the umpteenth time.

Yesterday, I was watching Jadyn as she was talking to me about her day before school. Her hair recently cut and how neat she fixed it. She's getting better about fixing her hair these days. She's picking out her own clothes with confidence. She is such a happy girl. Her smile reaches to her eyes. Her cheerful heart doing her responsibilities these days.... listening to her 'tutor' Eli on math today after school and I was amazed at how easy math came to her that she was turning around and able to explain it to her brother with kindness and confidence. My beautiful little girl, getting older each minute. She's now wearing deodorant and proud of the milestone of needing it. She accepts responsibility when she makes a mistake and I catch her doing acts of kindness without being asked. Her thoughtfulness and compassionate heart bless my soul. I look at her beauty inside and out and it literally takes my breath away in awe and wonder that she belongs to me... that she came from me.

I am in awe and humbled that my Lord and Saviour would entrust me with such three precious treasures.

Life is flying by and we are flying with it. But, right now, I want to stop and soak in these moments.  

I am rich in blessings to be their mommy.  

Donations

https://www.crowdrise.com/adoptingannikajourneyoflove/fundraiser/shannonsappington


Our Fundraising link is up and running.  We are so excited about this journey of love.  We are officially on our way to adopting our Annika Faith.  We are blessed and blown away by everyone who is already supporting us in prayer and financially.  What a testimony and story we will have to share with her on the journey of love that so many people are a part of... I cannot wait to tell her how much she is already loved, how the Lord created her beautiful, how He brought us across her path and are eager to bring her home to be a part of our family.... I cannot wait to share with our little girl how the Lord loves her and made her special and how He has a plan for her life. This I know without a doubt.

Love is a journey....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The day of love.

One of my favorite things this month has been all of the sweet daddy/daughter pictures posted on Facebook.  It melts my heart every time.  Getting sweet notes from my kids and husband gets me all warm and fuzzy too.  Tonight, Jay took Jadyn out on a daddy/daughter date.  They were so adorable.  Jay pulled up in his truck out front, rang the doorbell and greeted Jadyn at the door with a red rose in his hand.  She was grinning ear to ear.  They had a great time out to eat and enjoyed playing the game of Life (her choice) at Chili's.  The boys and I had a nice chill day at home with lots of video games, movies and tv shows, relaxing and being lazy.  It has been a great day!

I love seeing Jay with his little girl.  I love seeing my tenderhearted Eli come to me and shyly wrap his arms around my waist in a sweet hug just because he wanted to tell me he loves me (and sometimes to butter me up so he can play an extra round of Wii U games.)  I love how Asher will come butt my rear end like he is a billy goat (not really, I don't like that) and then he swings his arms around me tightly and says, "Mommy, hold me!" I love when my husband embraces me and looks at me with that twinkle in his eye that says I'm the only one for him.  I love being his wife. I love being their mommy.  And I love that we are going to add one more little girl to our family....

Wait! What?

YES!  Our family is growing! NO, I am not pregnant.  YES, we are excited! NO, we are not crazy! (Come on, I know some of you just thought that!)

We have fallen in love with a special little girl who is 7 years old and needs a family. So, why not us? Jay and I look back over the past 8 years since Jadyn and the boys have entered our lives, and what an adventure it has been!  Life has been crazy with 3 young kids....it’s often chaotic and messy, but it is our beautiful mess.  Seriously, even in the most frustrating of days and moments (for example, Asher just spilled a glass of milk, literally and it’s the 5th mess I have to clean up today), Jay and I still stop and look at our kids, look at what God has blessed us with, and we cannot help but be AMAZED at His goodness!  The Lord has really been working in our hearts over the last few months and weeks.  2016 is bringing some exciting changes in our lives.  One of the biggest changes being we are going to be add this little girl to our family through the gift of adoption!  We are VERY excited about this.  We are nervous, anxious, ecstatic and above all, excited to see the Lord work in all of this.  Adoption is a beautiful thing.  We know so many friends and family that have already taken the step of adoption and added beautiful children to their lives. All of us, as believers in Christ Jesus are adopted as sons and daughters in the Lord.  What a beautiful way to reflect God's love than for us to adopt a child into our family as well!  We know adoption isn't for everyone, and that's okay.  It is for us, and we are excited for this journey of love that is going to bring this precious little girl home to our family.  

Galations 3:26-29

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

As of yesterday, we have officially begun the adoption process of our sweet girl.  Let me tell you a little about our beloved little girl who will be named Annika Faith Sappington.  She has lived in an orphanage since she was 2 days old.  She was most likely abandoned because of some birth defects she has….nothing that isn't fixable though.  She will need corrective surgeries once we have her home with us.  Because I don't know if I'm legally allowed to just yet, I am not sharing her information publicly.  I will tell you that she is overseas and hopefully very soon she will know there is a family living in the United States that have said YES to her, that loves her without even having met face to face yet, and that cannot wait to have her meet her sister and brothers.  

Jadyn cannot wait to have a sister to share her room (she’s been praying for a sister for over a month now) and the boys are looking forward to helping Annika learn to speak English and welcome her into our family.  We are literally just beginning the process of adoption and have a long road ahead of us.  We are stepping out in Faith and believe this
is what the Lord has in store for us.  We also believe that the Lord will provide every step of the process as well.  We do not have the monetary means to bring Annika home…yet.  But, our Lord does.  Please be praying with us that God will meet every need we have at every step of the journey.  We have already started cutting costs in our budget where we can.  I’ve already stopped the housecleaning service and we are looking for where we can pinch more as well.  We will be fundraising and taking donations as well.  We are also not opposed to doing extra work either.  Just today, Jay went and did a little handy man work and earned a little extra cash.  Our first $100 towards Annika. It's a start!

Jay and I also have a specific bank account set up for our adoption costs that we can deposit donations and earnings into so we can write checks to cover application fees, 
home study fees, international paperwork, etc.  IF you would like to and can donate towards helping us, we gratefully accept it!  Our immediate need is we need money into our bank account so we can write checks to send off applications.  If you can donate, we need checks, cash or paypal (jaysapp@gmail.com).  Adoption is beautiful, but it is also a very humbling experience…. getting out of our comfort zone and asking for help.  Very humbling moment for us right now.  And also perfect timing for the Lord to once again show us how GREAT He is in our lives.  Even as I write this, I am emotional and crying.  We can’t do it without you, without our support team.  Not everyone is going to be able to give (or even want to give, and that’s okay), but everyone can pray.  That is what we ask for the most.  Please pray with us during this journey of love.  Annika is our little girl, our daughter and sister already and we have yet to meet face to face…..

We love you and are thankful for you.  

Love,

Jay and Shannon

Let's write again...

Hi.  It's been so long. Here we are several years later.  Eli has become a big brother.  In fact, he and Jadyn have done a great job in the big sibling role for almost 4 years.  Asher John was born March 1, 2012.  He will be four soon.   Life has become QUITE the adventure since he joined our family and added to the craziness of it.  He has challenged our parenting skills, grown our patience level, and made our family all the more richer in love.  God is so good.  I love being a family of 5.  Jay just turned 37 and I am now 38.  Weird for me to think that.  We will soon celebrate 10 years of marriage. I love being married to him.  I would marry him all over again!

I have often thought about sitting down and writing out my thoughts again.  I really enjoyed it before.  Life has happened, Facebook has pretty much taken the place of blogging with daily updates and pictures.  But, there is just something about blogging.  I miss it.  So, why not pick it back up?  I just need to figure out how to update our info on the blog.  Give it a fresh face and such!

Why doesn't blogger let me put in a gmail account as the main email or ANY email, for that matter?  So irritating.  But, such a trivial problem.  So, here it is.  My first blog in a very long time.  Let's see if I can up date this page and start posting more often.  I may not have any readers, but I sure enjoy writing. <3 nbsp="" p="">

Welcome Home

Hello again! Another blog in less than month? We are making progress! (wink).

Life around here has started to pick up and be busy again, slowly but surely. Jadyn continues to do gymnastics on Monday nights (and loves every minute of it!), and starting mid-September, she will be playing on a soccer league for 3-4 year olds! I'm so excited to be a 'soccer mom', and I hope she has fun playing! It will DEFINITELY be a learning experience for her (and her parents)! Anyone who wants to come see her play (or atleast look cute in her little soccer uniform), email me and I will send you her schedule when it comes out.

Eli...how do you describe Eli but pure cuteness? Even when he throws himself on the floor in slow-mo in an attempt at a fit, we still find ourselves having to hide the laugh building up at how comical he looks! He's an AVID Ranger fan....LOVES baseball! It is not uncommon these days to see him pretending to 'throw a ball' at you so you can pitch it back to him, while he 'batter's up!' I'm enclosing a video so you can see just how much fun he has doing this! He loves his drumset almost as much as baseball. He's your typical boy, in to everything, making messes, hopping around, and loving life to the fullest. I love when he comes to sit next to me and cuddle up, and when he sits right next to daddy to watch the Rangers play. He and Jadyn LOVE cuddles! And for that, I am grateful. I know the day will come when neither one of them want cuddles and hugs!

A dishwasher in the making. Clothes optional.

Both kids are learning responsibilities around the house. We started Responsibility charts last week. It's been GREAT with Jadyn and a work in progress with Eli. He is learning that to get the sticker reward, he has to actually clean up his toys. :)

I am now over 12 weeks along in my pregnancy. My appts have gone great with the midwives. I love to hear this little one's heartbeat. I could listen to it all day and never grow tired of it's sweet assurance. The nausea has been waning and I'm slowly starting to get my energy back (which is good, because I don't think that mound of laundry could get any higher!!!). We plan to do some things different with this pregnancy. For starters, we don't plan to find out the gender. That's right, this baby will be a surprise as to whether the kids are getting a baby brother or a baby sister! Baby A (we've already got the names picked out, and both start with 'A') is this little one! Another thing I plan to try differently is to go 'all natural' in the delivery, and do a water birth. My midwives are WONDERFUL and my hospital now offers water births with the midwives. Those of you who know me and my pain tolerance know I have a LOT of toughening up and mental preparing to do to be able to have a natural delivery. So, start praying for me now! :)

Jay has been handy man around the house these days. He's been building us a pantry (this house never had one). It will be soooooo nice to have a pantry! He's been working hard and it's almost done! He continues to stay busy at work, then to help hold the house together while I've been sludging through the 1st trimester. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I can start pulling my weight again around the house! ;) Jay is such a great husband and father. I love seeing him play baseball with Eli or reading a book to Jadyn. Love it!

Our brother, Jed, has moved in with us now. He's a college boy and a working boy, who was looking for a fresh start, and we were super eager to come have him join our household. We can't wait to see what the Lord does in his life this year. As are all of our siblings, he's very special to us. Jadyn and Eli were also super excited to have him move in. Thanks to uncle Jed, the kids now share a room, and they could not be any more EXCITED! Jadyn asked me ALLLLLLL afternoon and last night if it was time for bed. She could not WAIT for it to be bedtime for her and her brother! I've never seen her so excited for bedtime! LOL The kids were FULL of giggles and laughs last night as it was their first night together. It brought back fond memories of my twin sister and I growing up. We shared a room together from the time we were born until we were 21 years old and Sara got married. At one point, our sister, Jennifer, also shared a room with us while growing up! Imagine...3 girls in one room! Yeah, I bet that drove my parents NUTS! haha! I have such great memories of sharing a room with my sister (and some not so great ;), and it is neat to see my kids so eager and excited to be sharing a room. I think it's now an official done deal and if we were to try and separate the kids now, there would be fits and lots of tears for days to come!

Life is full these days, and several changes have happened in our life lately, but Jay and I feel so blessed. God has always been faithful to us, and we look with anticipation to see what wonderful things He will do in the future.

News around here

Ok, blogging has been calling my name lately. So is the laundry and the coupon-cutting! I have much to share, but I will make this short.

Here we go:

• Biggest news of all....Eli is going to be a BIG brother around the beginning of March! Jadyn and Eli are both excited to be BIG siblings together! Jadyn already makes such a great big sister. She is such a great helper and loves to take care of her brother, Eli. I am due around March 5th. We can't wait to meet our new little one (even though we have a looooooong way to go until he/she gets here!). I am a little over 10 weeks along. We have seen our little jelly bean on the sonogram and got to see the heartbeat. I go to my next midwife appt on Monday, Aug 15th and we are looking forward to hearing the precious little heartbeat!
• Speaking of being pregnant, I am in the throes of "morning" sickness. Lots of nausea and headaches, the worst being at night. If I could choose when to be sick, I think nighttime is best, because you can just go to bed and sleep it off! Only two more weeks until we are out of the first trimester! Praise the Lord! This life growing inside of me makes it all worth it!
  
• I am the new assistant director of Children's Ministry at church. I oversee the 1st-5th grade and the Nursery. I take care of lesson plans, scheduling, and making sure the teachers are taken care of. I am enjoying my new role, and am honored to serve in this capacity. My heart's desire is to serve the Lord where ever He needs me. I work with a great group of teachers and leaders. It really blesses me to serve the Lord with them.
  
• Jay is busy as usual at work. (always a good thing!) He's a hard worker!
• We are co-owners of a boat! We, along with 3 other friends of ours joint-own a seadoo boat. No, I don't know what kind (but, Jay does!) I do know it's a ski boat. Jay's buddy, Adam, found this used boat for a great deal and it came with skis, a tube, and life jackets! We have already made use of it several times this summer!
  
• My nephew (one and only so far) just turned 9 years old on Aug 5th. NINE?! I remember the day he was born....just like it was a couple of years ago. He's going into 4th grade this year. That's the grade I taught for 4 years. I look at him, and I am amazed at how time flies and how big he is getting. He is VERY smart! As a teacher, I am very proud of how academically advanced he has become. In 3rd grade, he already knew his multiplication and division facts forwards and backwards! I had 4th graders that struggled with that all the way through 4th grade!!! A part of me wishes I was still teaching just to see what it would be like to have him in my class. :)
• My niece is soon to be 7 years old on the 23rd of this month. That, too, amazes me! I remember when she was born too! I watched her come into this world. And she has been a diva ever since! :) I kinda wish my sister would have more, just so I can attend more births! haha
  
• I love births. I am fascinated with the whole pregnancy and birthing process! If I wasn't so turned off by having to give shots or learning the ins and outs of medicines and bones and muscles in the body, I would consider becoming a midwife! Maybe I should become a doula....haha! Being pregnant again has me watching birth stories, youtube videos, and just learning, learning, learning. We plan to go all natural with this baby's delivery, and to do a water birth. My midwives now offer water births at the hospital I deliver at, and I can't wait to try it! (I know, I know...I only have about 30 weeks to go!)

That's about it in a nutshell. Except, I just have to add how much I love my husband. He takes such good care of the kids and I. When I am hormonal and short on patience, he never loses his cool. When I am craving a certain food for dinner, he never complains about spending more money eating out. When I am nauseas as all get out and my head is pounding like a jackhammer, he's there to caress my back until I fall asleep at night. He is patient, kind, and loving. He is my husband, and I am so thankful for my helpmate. He is a gift from the Lord....I love you, Jay.

I hope you guys have a great week! Please keep my family in your prayers, especially this new life growing in me.

Love, Shannon