Where I've been....

OK, sitting at mom and dad's house has given me a few minutes to tell ya what's been going on. I know only 4 of ya read anymore because I have even slacked on pictures of Silas and I would love to tell you that will all change, but the truth is that I don't think it will in the short term.

The past 6 months have been crazy wonderful ... and crazy busy. Since coming home with Silas, time has been a precious commodity. With too many irons in the fire, I have been strategically trying to move some of them out. Honestly, easier said than done. One iron got pulled out this past week as I sold a rental house to the tenants and am very happy about that. I have a couple side internet projects that I'm hoping to wrap up in the next couple/few weeks. The daytime job is ... well, let's just say there is a reason they call it WORK. But the biggest thing that has been on the radar for the past few months has been....



The 1:27 Call is a nonprofit orphan care ministry that we have started with a few other families. It is absolutely amazing the people God has brought together for this endeavor. We are currently praying/planning/budgeting for 2010. Our 4 areas of focus will be local involvement, church engagement, adoption advocacy, and international care and support. I have been swimming in Articles of Incorporations, IRS forms for 501(c)(3) status, Directors & Officer Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Board Member bylaws, etc, etc, etc. It's been a learning experience to say the least. I'm glad to say most of the admin stuff is behind us and now the 'real' work can begin. We did have our first event on December 3rd ... we were able to host and sponsor a Christmas party for our county's foster care children. It was amazing ... and you can read more about the party here.

Our website will continue to get updated as well as our Facebook group. If you have a heart for the orphan, join our facebook group and check back on our website soon as we will have 2010's Programs and Events. If you're interested in joining our efforts, contact us! We can't wait to see how God will be glorified through all of us being the hands and feet of Jesus!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

14 Months & 6 Months

OK, my plan is to post 4 more times this year ... think it'll happen? I know you don't believe me but I do have them in my head so it's just taking time to get them in...

Alot has been going on recently that I may get into soon ... let's just say there are SICK people in this world. Satan is REAL and attacks people who are following God's will for their lives ... ok, enough of that for now...

So 14 months ... our boy turned 14 months old on Saturday ... that is crazy. He is walking everywhere ... personality is coming out more and more each day. He has 7 teeth now and saying quite a few words (hi, bye, shoes, mama, dada, choo-choo, hot, more) ... some in Silas-speak but they're there nonetheless...

So 6 months ... 6 months tomorrow we will have met Silas for the first time at Hannah's Hope ... that is even CRAZIER! 6 months we've been together ... it doesn't seem possible that it's been that long but it also seems like he's been with us forever. I am so thankful for the family God has given us... Silas, you fill our lives with unspeakable JOY!

So ... Mommy wrote 14 things in your journal that we love about you, Silas...

1. You are walking everywhere and FAST
   
2. How you maneuver your ride-on toys to use them as step stools for climbing on everything
   
3. How you continue to eat most everything and LOTS of it
   
4. Your understanding of verbal commands - amazing
   
5. How you like to have daddy 'chase' you and you run to mommy laughing when he does
   
6. The way you are behaving so well by not touching the Christmas tree & presents
   
7. The way you increase the loudness of your voice for anything sweet to eat
   
8. How you wave 'bye' to the water when your bath is done
   
9. Your increased attention span when books are read to you
   
10. How you are taking your TB medicine alone with no fussing (used to put it in your bottle)
    
11. You no longer take bottles and drink whole milk and water now
    
12. Your excitement for Thomas the Train
    
13. The way you "meow" like the stray cat on our deck
    
14. The huge smile you have when the Christmas lights get turned on
    

Silas, we love you buddy ... we thank God every day for you, your life, and what He has in store for you...

OK, a couple pics Amber took today with her camera phone on their walk today...


He looks WAY too old in this picture

And pretty much an unedited video tour of our house following Silas around...the boy is definitely keeping us entertained and always on the go ... as long as we can hear him, we know he's alright ... it's when he gets all quiet is when we need to see what he's into. :)

Sneak Peak

OK, yes, I'm alive. For the 3 of you that still check in on us, I'm not even going to explain what has been going on the past few weeks. I'm even getting called out by people for slacking. November has been absolutely crazy for us ... I hope to have a picture review soon. I hope.

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have SO much to be thankful for....so much! We are so blessed. I am so thankful for the family that God has given us ... and for the gift of His Son so that we could be ADOPTED into His family. Adoption is His story ... we've just joined into that story for our family.

Oh, and just a quick tidbit ... our boy is walking! If he's up on his feet, that is his choice for transportation now ... it's so fun to watch him stagger around and he's so proud of himself ... and it's not like we give him any praise for his amazing accomplishment or anything :)

A couple weeks ago, Amber met up with Angela and did pics for Silas. Angela is part of Celebrating Adoption and she does free sitting fees and proofs for adopted families ... pretty cool give-back by her. Nevertheless, we got some sneak peaks yesterday from her....he was not feeling good that day ... in knowing that, she did an amazing job. He ended up with a virus that caused blisters in his throat, fever, etc, etc. Thank GOD we're passed that and our boy is back to normal now. OK, enjoy....

"Seriously, mommy, another photo shoot?"

I think this one is our favorite picture cause she caught him in a expression that we haven't gotten previously

He's got his innocent look going on here.

See why I'm so blessed?

I really like this one too....

One year pics

I've got alot of pictures that we've taken the past couple weeks but I'm slacking as usual ... but I promise I will inform you soon of why I've been a stranger. Anyways, we had friends from church who have massive skills take his one year pictures ... they actually do amazing video work ... ever thought of your wedding as a movie? Well, they DO that. Check them out here ... pretty cool stuff.

OK, so here is a sampling of pictures we got ... I stole these from her blog ... there's a couple other good ones we like in the lot that I'll have to show you later ... the boy was pretty serious for them since 1) he was outside and taking it all in and 2) around new people. But they still got some pretty sweet pics...enjoy!

This is actually my trike from when I was his age :)

LOVE.THIS.PICTURE!

Family time

Another one of my favorites

Farmer Silas (we actually had to pull things out of his mouth a few times as he enjoyed eating leaves, grass, the pumpkin stem, etc)

Peek-a-boo

On the move

I love this picture of my two favorite people in all the world

ok, little story behind this one ... it's been like Seattle here in middle Tennessee ... has been raining constantly. Kelsey thinks this is a great picture location ... says it's a "little wet" ... let's just say I think my butt was still wet when we went to church later that night :)

his look cracks me up

Announcing...

This is a letter we sent to our family and friends in the last day or so... :)

Dear Family & Friends,

Can you believe it is November already? Where did October go??? It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Silas’ birthday and now that’s been almost a month ago. It is unreal how quick time can get away from you…

Well, we wanted to share some exciting news with you. As God is moving in our hearts, we have heard His call to adopt again! We cannot start the process until March but the planning has begun. He has called us to Ethiopia again and we’re excited to say the least.

As many of you know, adoption can be an expensive endeavor. The cost of Silas’ adoption was around $24,000 with fees, home study, travel, etc. With his adoption, we were able to use savings and a Home Equity Loan on our house to help cover the cost. This time around, those things aren’t as readily available so we’re looking for alternative ways to raise money for it.

One of those ways is a coffee store we just ‘opened’. You can access it online at https://www.justlovecoffee.com/TroyAndAmber. The store is stocked with fair-trade coffee from around the world (we’re partial to the Ethiopian coffee … that is some good stuff!) For each bag purchased from our store, the owner of Just Love Coffee donates money to our adoption fund. This could be a great Christmas gift (hint-hint) or just for your enjoyment. :)

We also want to ask for your prayers as we begin this journey again. We had so many people praying for Silas’adoption, and we would love to enlist you on our 2nd journey as well. As we have not formally communicated it to anyone yet, this is our announcement of our next adoption. We will post it on our blog in the near future and try to keep you updated on the status of it (along with the cute pictures of Silas, of course). Our blog address is http://luchtadoption.blogspot.com.

We apologize if you get this more than once as some of your names may accidentally be duplicated between our two contact lists.

Thanks again for your prayers and participation in our adoption journey to our next Ethiopian miracle. Please let us know if you have any questions and if there are any ways in which we can be praying for you.

Blessings

- Troy & Amber

Re-Adoption! (and happenings over the last week)

On Friday, October 16th at 9am, we had a court hearing for Silas' readoption. Abrham Troy Lucht is now legally Silas Abrham Lucht! We will be receiving his Tennessee birth certificate in the next few weeks. Below is a picture with the judge who was great. Funny story ... we went up there and the judge asked if he could hold Silas. I hand him over and within 2 seconds, Silas starts wailing. Judge says, "That wasn't a good call by daddy" and hands him back to Amber where Silas quiets down immediately. I'm just glad the hearing was over by that time :) After the picture, the judge asked everyone in the courtroom to give us a hand. It was kinda funny having everyone clap for us...

And here's a recap of the rest of this past week.

Last Monday was Silas' birthday - we celebrated last Saturday but we couldn't hold out cake on his actual birthday ... think he's happy about the cake?

Friday night we went to a bonfire .... it was COLD. Here is Silas bundled up with our Bible Study leader. Silas LOVED the fire ... he would have stared at it all night...

Silas loves hoods ... he would keep them on even while inside the house and would pull it over his eyes ... cracks me up!

More hoodies ... and he's a fan of pulling my shoes out of the cubbie holes in our closet.

One of his favorite things to do is to open and shut doors ... here he is shutting said closet door.


Saturday morning we did an autism walk and it was like 40 degrees and windy. So, we bundled up and headed out ... Silas was so stoic in his stroller.

The walkers...

Amber and Silas after the walk ... he fell asleep early in the walk so he musta been warm. :)

Sweet dreams lil' boy...

We had a try-on of his costume ... we think he's the cutest cow ever :)

The cow tail :)

Silas posing with his new jeans and vest...

CUTE kid

Today, we went to a pumpkin farm with families in our adoption group at church. Silas had a blast.

We LOVE this family ... check out their blog and you'll see how cute their kids really are. "A" loved hanging around Silas. She was walking near him and her brother said 'Watch out for Silas.' And she responded "I'm watching him ... I love Silas" (insert big smile here)

Look at those eyes

How cute is she!?

This is one of my favorite pics of the day ... sibling love.

"A" wanted to hold him for the pic.

"D" then said "I wanna hold Silas"

SILLY FACE!

Lookin' up ... the boy is saying 'up' all the time now.

Tractor-drivin' Ethiopian

Hanging out with the pumpkins

Couldn't decide which picture I liked better :)

Three siblings out hunting pumpkins...

Silas loved the goats ... and chickens ... and turkeys ... and cows ...

Silas and I by the cows

So the other family thought it would be 'good' to get Silas a sucker ... I shoulda let them hold him :) ... he liked it and he wasn't too sticky afterwards...

Our new family picture

Silas in the middle of big pumpkins

Again, couldn't figure out which one I liked the best...

OK, gotta show ya a couple videos as well...


We got Silas this little climbing Little Tykes slide and he loves it. Cracks me up how he would whine at the bottom and then 2 seconds later be excited climbing back up...


Silas now has a "fake" cough ... he'll usually do it and laugh at himself :)


Silas checking himself out in the mirror and giving himself some kisses...

Alright, time to hit the hay ... have a great week!