Welcome to Taylorville

It wasn't love, he wouldn't have it. It wasn't food, he ate well. It was simple socialization, touch and interaction that helped him grow and flourish and many, many people just don't understand--cannot grasp that concept.

Do I love him? Absolutely, very much! And, much to my delight, he accepts that love today and seeks it out even. But, when he first came home, there was no love from him. No acceptance of love given. He simply had no idea what love was or what love did for him.

Love sent his father and I across the ocean. Love for him, a tiny waif we had never seen, touched or held and Shawn and I loved him. Sight unseen. We.Loved.Him. We loved him just enough to keep moving forward when the whole idea seemed absolutely impossible and insane to even some of our own family members. We knew, somehow deep inside we knew, Jadon was ours--though he wasn't the one we originally set out to rescue. Jadon set out to redeem our hearts, and, he did.

There's a family adopting a tiny waif just across the seas in an Eastern European country and this FRIDAY he becomes an official Stacey. They hope to leave at the end of this month and are in the final stages of the berthing pains of raising funds to alleviate the financial burden that accompanies adoptions.

Friends, I've not blogged in a long time. A very long time. But I am begging you to help this family. You can donate to them through Reece's Rainbow if you like for the donation to be tax deductible at


If you'd like to donate directly to the family leave a message here and I will be happy to tell you how to do that too.

Can you please help donate friends, this family has been trying so very hard to raise these funds. They are in the final stages, just a few weeks left to raise $2000.00

Hit me up on Facebook and I'll get you a link to their fundraiser over there too.

We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their name. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do. EVERYTHING CHANGES.
~~David Platt~~

Adoption...the one thing, I NEVER, in a million years, would have thought adoption would TIE me to a world full of people I never knew beforehand. In all my naivety, I would not have dreamed this would have been my walk in life--never mind me raising two children with Down syndrome as well.

I never wanted children. That's right, never. Didn't want to mother little beings and bring them up in this world. One child, born to another woman, changed that all for me--he just graduated. I became pregnant, unexpectedly, with my first born after a difficult miscarriage.

Jared set me full on the path of motherhood. And, I was content. Happy. Ecstatic to raise just one child when my marriage fell apart. I was a single mom. Something I never wanted to be either. Yet, I did it and I did it well with the support of loving friends and family. Then came the twins, Down syndrome, and adoption.


There is a HUGE gift in mothering in such a manner and I want to share with you a quote, I do not know who coined it.



 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

The family is a whirlwind today. We have officially finished this school year and (I) am eagerly awaiting August 13th for school to start back up.

I am going to be painfully honest here. I like when my children are apart from me, learning, growing, living, experiencing life. I like when I don't have them underfoot 24/7. Mothering is hard. Mothering is not, never has been, my first choice for me in life. I had children and I took the back, furthest back, barely warm, burner for myself. That's what good moms do, right?

Wrong. At least that's what I think. Wrong. And, I? I was nearly dead wrong. I let everything about me go. My mental state, my weight, my health...all.of.it. I let it go and it was a very bad move.

You know what I think good moms do (and they all do it in different ways). I think a good mom will push her children, goad them on in life to achieve. And I don't think we all need to be SAHMs and I don't think we all need to be working moms either. And we sure don't need people telling us the best thing we can do for our children is deprive ourselves of our needs/dreams to care for them either.

I do think we ALL need to find that healthy medium for us. What works for me, certainly won't work for you and vice versa. I think we need to stop making moms feel as though staying home is the MOST important, end all be all to raising children. It isn't. Period.

I have spent nearly 7 years home with my kids and I have damn near gone crazy doing it. I have the utmost respect for those of you that love this sort of thing and being at home, all the time, with your children. I envy you in some odd manner, really I do. I'd like to be that way. I'd love to enjoy this role in my life; but, I am a mom and that is neither good, bad, nor indifferent--it simply is what it is.

What is incredibly cool is I have recently undergone psychological testing. I have learned I am NOT depressed, I am NOT bi-polar, I do not have OCD, and I do have ADD. I have learned, most importantly, why mothering is so very hard for me.

My brain is not wired to do it. I am not maternal. Not in the least stinking bit. There is a portion of testing that measures femininity, masculinity....I scored, uhhh, well, I might as well be Hulk Hogan because June Cleaver I AIN'T!

I am extremely removed from the maternal instinctive mannerisms that a woman would normally have. And, it was a HUGE relief to see why and be able to explain why I struggle like I do, doing what I do, every.single.day.

FINALLY, I can give myself a break and understand why I am the way I am in many aspects after receiving my feedback from the psych and not just in this one manner either but as a whole.

I am no longer guilty that I don't like being a SAHM. My hats are off to you ladies that do :)

I love my kids but I am my own person, as they are their own person. And, there is nothing wrong with that in my book.

So, I used to be fat, sick and tired. Tired of being sick and tired of being fat and tired of being sick and tired and fat!

I started a weight loss journey in January 2012 and my health took a SUDDEN and RAPID nose dive. Then, I was very ill in May and could've died from what was happening to my body. I had family pictures done (at our old home church) in September---the first family pictures since the twins were 3 months old, and they are nearly 6 now. I saw the pictures and, quite literally, wanted to vomit.

I decided I'd make a change and two months later asked Shawn for the money to join the Kokomo YMCA's Holiday Trimmings Club for 6 weeks. The program is designed to help you NOT gain the average 7 lbs that it seems everyone gains over the holidays and help you start on the road to a healthy you.

Well, it worked for me. Yes, I have been sick along the way. Yes, I have missed sessions. Yes, I hav been so very sore I didn't know if I could keep going. Yes, I fight my fatness. BUT, I am winning. I have beaten fibromyalgia symptoms and beaten psoriatic arthritis pain too. I have not had medication since January when I had a WICKED case of diverticulitis that totally was AWFUL. I missed a lot of workouts in January, but I got right back up and started in again once I was healthy.

I work out for two hours on Tuesday and Thursdays doing Aqua Zumba followed by Zumba in the gym. Then Zumba in the gym on Sunday. I try to not miss these at all. I LOVE ZUMBA!!!!!! ( #zumba #zumbawhippedandlovingit ) And then I try to hit the treadmill as often as I can and actually completed a 5k in 30 minutes and I don't run in the traditional sense. I love to walk.

Oddly, and much to my surprise, my body is craving my workouts and I find that remarkable :)

So, without further adieu .....the proof is right here :)




 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)