LOOK WHO IS FOUR!

On Friday, Aug 21st, Leila woke up in the morning, came running in my room saying 'I'm 4 Mommy! Just like Morgan I'm 4! (As Leila says, "Morgan is my BFF"...oh my). We're right in the middle of two birthday celebrations for Miss Leila Grace, but this past weekend we did celebrate with family and what a celebration it was. We offered to take Leila out to any restaurant for her birthday (this is tradition in our house), but her choice was to 'stay home and have spaghetti.' Joined by Papa and Grammy (Potocnik), Uncle Gregg, Aunt Megan and Uncle Wade, she had a fun night topped off with a princess cake...for my princess. We love you Leila Grace, Happy 4th Birthday!

Oh I LOVE Playdoh!
Tune in next week for scenes from Leila's Princess Tea Party with her friends...I'm sure it will prove to be a royal affair!

Mountaintop Memories..

I have been to Colorado many times, whether it be skiing or summer camp, but the best memory I have was the summer of 1989, when I went to Young Life's Frontier Ranch for the very first time. Before that week in June, I believed there was a God, but had no idea that a 'relationship' with the Father was even possible. I was a pretty good kid, but I also felt pretty lost, as many soon-to-be high schoolers do at that time in life. I had an amazing family, friends that cared about me, but I still felt like I was missing out on my purpose, like I was somehow just going through the adolescent motions. My great-grandmother's prayers were answered that week, and I'll never forget sitting on the side of the mountain, giving the Lord my heart and my life, exactly 20 years ago this summer. I am so thankful for Young Life, for the amazing volunteers that invested their lives in me. Most of all, I will forever be grateful to God for He has had great plans for me since He knit me in my mother's womb.

Jason also has great Colorado memories. He went on ski trips and summer vacations with his family, and in 1992, he began working at Noah's Ark, a whitewater rafting company in Buena Vista, CO. He has amazing memories of trips he led, friends he made, and summers full of adventure in the mountains.

So this summer, it was time to share our awesome love of Colorado with the kids...



We hiked almost daily...the kids were great and learned quickly how to work together and encourage each other.
We did a lot of laughing and just being a family...it was awesome.

This is on top of Pike's Peak...another 'scary' adventure for a couple of the kids. But at the top, they ended up feeling victorious, and stood amazed at God's awesome creation from 14,000 feet!

Jason I and celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on August 9th. There is absolutely no one I'd rather share this lifetime adventure with than my darling husband.

My girls have grown closer, with Madison loving Leila wholeheartedly and helping me with her each and every day.

The boys---what can I say? They are a team, a duo, BUDDIES, but most of all, very loving brothers.

The kids had the opportunity to record a radio show at Whit's End, which is the representation of Odyssey from the Adventures in Odyssey series produced by Focus on the Family. This was a highlight as my kids love the Odyssey series, and listened to several episodes on our road trip.

Rudy (almost 6 in this picture), got his cast off just in time for vacation, and was absolutely thrilled to climb and explore for 7 days straight!


And Leila--she loved those mountains too. She's a jewel in our family...almost four years old and the love of our lives.

We did all kinds of fun things on our trip, but the kids tell us that just being at the cabin and hanging out as a family was their favorite part. What a blessing Colorado has been to us, we were thankful for another chance to visit!

Happy 6th Birthday Rudy Boy!

Oh how I love this kid! And Rudy's birth story is my favorite, so here it is:

6 years ago today, I showed up at the hospital with one of my closest friends, Tracy. She and I were going to be induced on the exact same day, exact same hospital, just a few rooms away (we didn't plan this...our doctors did it without us knowing)! Unfortunately, I was due and Tracy was early, and since so many mamas were in labor, they sent Tracy home. Boy was I sad!

Anyway...they started the induction process around 10am for me and around 1130 they came and gave me my epidural. About 3 seconds later when I laid back down, I felt like it was time to push. The nurses laughed at me and told me my doctor was already on her way back to her office...probably going to be awhile. They were wrong. I was pushing, they were calling my doc to get back here immediately, and a nurse was gowning and gloving getting ready to catch that baby in case the doc didn't make it back. Needless to say, an epidural needs more than 3 seconds to start working and it was clear to me that it was going to be completely ineffective. The nice (large) anesthesiologist was standing at the head of my bed calmly as I screamed at him, "MAKE IT WORK! PLEASE!" He replied, "Honey, I think you're just going to have to do this on your own."

So...in a moment that Jason says was my ONLY moment of clarity during the entire labor, I stopped, looked at the many men and women in my room (nurses, students, anesthesiologist, and who knows who else), and told them: "This baby's name will be Rudy. So I would advise you all to start chanting 'Ru-dy! Ru-dy! Ru-dy!' RIGHT NOW so that this baby will come quickly." And...they did...JUST like in the movie. I wish I had that moment videotaped, it was absolutely hilarious. Rudy DID come quickly---about 15 minutes later---and is to this day my fastest runner, quickest to give a hug, and never one to just sit back and watch the action. This is why right now, he has his SECOND broken bone in less than a year (the left wrist this time---see photo above). Here's how he did it:


The boy climbs walls, doorframes, anything he can. And preferably in his tighty whiteys!

And my friend, Tracy? She got to come back to the hospital the next day and sweet Taylor Lynn was born...the two have been birthday buddies ever since!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUDY! We love you so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUDY! We love you so much!

Love,
Mom and Dad

5 of my Favorite (Summer) Things...

1. Swim Meets!


2. My awesome college babysitter (we love you Annika!):



3. Garage Sales! It might LOOK like I found new dress up clothes at a garage sale, but really Caeden and Leila finally found a summer job!


4. LOTS of times with friends:


5. Warm weather running:

I just did my first 5K in 10 years, so much fun! The Nesquik Bunny girls and I from small group did the race together and now I'm hooked! Next race will be in September (4 mile run through the zoo!).

Slow down, summer!

Enjoy every single day,
Alissa

May in Review!

May was a GREAT month but we had so much going on, it just flew by! Here's a quick recap:

Madison was a duckling and a froglet in her second Christian Youth Theater production, "Honk, Jr." over Mother's Day weekend...another great experience and such a cute play!

Spring weather arrived, as did our flowering trees and bushes. Here are some attempts at the ever elusive picture of all 4 kids looking normal...

We spent lots of time with our amazing small group. We are so blessed to have these friendships and our children love growing up together. Leila and her new BFF Morgan have grown especially close...I love this picture of the two of them!


And of course, Rudy's Preschool graduation! Can't believe I will have another baby in school next year!
Everyone in the Potocnik household is looking forward to summer...

...Jason and I are looking forward to some great road trips, especially to Winter Park, Colorado and my grandparent's lake house in Minnesota. I am leading a Beth Moore Bible study on Thursday nights, and both J and I are looking forward to more great time with our small group. All the ladies in our group are running a 5K together in June, and then we'll go on a big camping trip in July. Can't WAIT!
...Madison is ready for swim team, playing with neighborhood friends, and finding lots of reading time! She is also going to her first church camp this July for a whole week---she's going to have a blast!
...Caeden can't wait for nonstop Lego building and Wednesday night swim meets, and also hopes to start Tae Kwon Do this summer.
...Leila is already asking when we go to the pool next, and when she can play with Morgan! She loves running through the sprinkler, swinging on the swingset (just learned to pump by herself!) and blowing bubbles!
...Rudy is ready to be outside playing with friends, going to the pool, and also doing Tae Kwon Do. He is counting down the days until Kindergarten!

Sorry for the short but sweet update---we love you and hope you have a great summer, too!

Love,
Alissa

LOOK who got new glasses!

I can't stand it she's so cute...and so incredibly proud of those new specs.

Then, without me even knowing, Madison got a hold of the camera to do a second photo shoot with Leila Grace. And apparently...Leila was tired of it.


Nice camera work, Maddie. I've always said I couldn't resist a kid in glasses...ridiculous.

Love,
Alissa

Spring Vacations...

The Potocniks have been quite the globe trotters these past couple weeks! Fort Worth and San Antonio were a blast---the kids loved the road trip and we did so many fun things along the way. We were blessed to see our friends the Harrells, Tahas, Aters, and Wrehes on vacation---what an awesome thing to hang out with new and old friends during the week, reliving the good old days of college, as well as our trip to China one year ago (with the Harrells).
(Fort Worth Botanical Gardens--not so botanical in March)

And although the the Texas trip memories were still fresh, Madison and I got to take a bonus trip to Chicago last weekend. We had so much fun with my mom and my aunt's family seeing the sights, visiting the American Girl store (of course), and my highlight, seeing 'Mary Poppins' on stage. Do you remember the first time you saw the movie? It was like that---I got chills watching the magic like it was the very first time I had heard the story. It was a wonderful mini-vacation (THANKS MOM!), though we felt a little bad leaving everyone else at home. A little.
(Madison and I at the American Girl Cafe' for lunch!)

Now that we are home, Madison is busy rehearsing for her next play with Christian Youth Theater, Honk, Jr. She just finished her first play, Beauty and the Beast, and has definitely caught the theater bug. CYT is a great organization and we feel blessed to have them here in the Kansas City area. Caeden and Rudy have been working hard reading (and learning to read) to earn minutes on the Nintendo DS or computer. After way too much 'screen time' on vacation, we decided the kids needed a break from the video games, so we made a rule that they could only play for as many minutes as they had read that day. So far so good, and today, I never even saw the video games touched. My kids are reading more and finding that they really enjoy it, despite their initial protests. (They have always loved to read, but needed a little added incentive this time of the year!) When the boys aren't reading, they are studying the ins and outs of Captain Underpants...or something like that.

Leila is still keeping us entertained with endless refrains of Beauty and the Beast songs, specifically the first line of the show "Bonjour! Bonjour! How is your family? Bonjour! Bonjour! How is your wife?" Something about the little Chinese girl singing in French makes me laugh every single time. We also found out for sure today that Leila needs glasses, as she has astygmatism in both eyes, and is also near-sighted. She picked out some cute frames---more pictures to come in about 10 days! When she's not singing, you can sometimes find Leila on the naughty step, muttering 'I am so mad. I'm SOWWY Mommy. Pwease, I'm REAWWY SOWWY!' for three long minutes. Those boundaries are hard to figure out, but we're getting there...slowly but surely!

Jason and I are keeping busy at work, and enjoying just being home, at our home church, and back in the routine. I am loving working close to my home (just 5 minutes), and have been doing a few more cakes on the side as well.

We hope you are all well...enjoy some updated photos!

Love,
Alissa

Happy ONE YEAR Anniversary!

It's hard to believe it was one year ago today that Leila Grace joined our family. I've never posted most of these pictures because they are still hard for me to look at, but I think they are such an amazing part of Leila's history, and it's awesome to see what God has done since that time. Gotcha Day was a turning point in our lives. Not only did we now have four kids including a toddler that didn't speak a lick of English, we had a new family. God knew exactly where to place Leila Grace, and for that we are thankful. It has been a roller coaster of a year in many ways, challenging and thrilling all at once. I've questioned, "Can I really do this?" many times and although I question my own abilities, I will never question the faithfulness of my God---the one I have a personal, intimate relationship with. Because without His sovereignty, the ride would seem confusing or scary. Instead, I know it's just the way He intended---nothing short of a thrill ride!

Taking a look back, one year ago today:

This is immediately after Leila was handed to us at Chengdu Children's Welfare Institute, right outside the orphanage doors:


March 17, 2008

This is on the bus ride home:


Heartbreaking, I know.

This is about an hour later in our hotel room:

This is the next day at lunch...



This is two days later at our night on the town with my sweet sister...

And this is today, March 17, 2009!

We are lucky enough this year to celebrate our "Gotchaversary" with our friends, the Harrell's, who live in San Antonio. We met Elissa and Kyle in China, when they adopted their daughter Lily from the same orphanage as Leila. We loved them from the start, and feel blessed to get to celebrate this big day with them. We spent the day today at SeaWorld, which the kids loved. Lily loved Shamu...

and EVERYONE loved seeing the dolphins, whales, and the walrus! The kids were so excited to get to feed the dolphins...what fun!All in all, an awesome day to celebrate Gotcha Day, Spring Break, time with family, and time with friends. We love you, Leila Grace!