Holy, Holy, Holy, is The Lord God Almighty

It's been 4 months since we last blogged! WOW! I've thought several times over the past few months I need to blog, I need to update, but for one reason or another I(Sheila) just couldnt find the energy or honestly the desire to do it....

We were blessed in September with a great surprise...Jackson is going to be a BIG Brother!!! You would think that we would be over joyed and that would bring lots of smiles to the Cantrell home that simply wasnt what took place. I was very sick and hospitalized from the beginning. This caused me to be pulled away from Jackson at just 11 months of age. :( As much as I wanted to focus on the excitment and this AMAZING BLESSING that God had blessed us with I simply could not. I was extremly sick and on bed rest with the possibility of major preg complications...this caused anger, fear, depression, basically every emotion except for excitment. To be honest I spiraled into the valley so fast that I didnt think that I deserved to be loved by anyone...much less my Heavenly Father.

October I tried to be full of energy and excitment for Jackson's BIG Day! His 1st Birthday! I was def lacking energy but I did manage to have the energy to celebrate with my baby boy on HIS Big Day! What a great day it was! It was everything I had envisioned and we are SO thankful for great friends and family that made it SO special!

The following weeks were hard...we experienced situations and events in our life that I never thought possible and as hard as we tried to cling to the truth of knowing that HE is Holy I found myself sinking deeper into the valley. I could begin to share with you all of the diffuclt sitations that made life so hard but I choose to share what we learned, how HE worked, and how God and only God was able to FILL our hearts, life, and home with absolute JOY!

We celebrated CHRISTmas OVER JOYED!!! We had no idea how much magic and excitement a little one could bring to Jesus Birth Day! Jackson lit up as soon as he saw what Santa had delivered! Our house is now a playhouse and to be honest we wouldnt have it any other way! As I thought about Jesus Birth I began to think about what Mary must have felt....What a TRUE miracle and Blessing I have been blessed with to carry our 2nd child! No matter the diffuiculties or bumps in the road we may experience over the next few months we are THRILLED about the arrival of Jellybean in April!

As we look forward 2012 we are excited and encouraged about God's plan for our family! I (Sheila) have never been more happy about where I am in life. We know with out a doubt God has used bad for good and richly blessed our family!

We have heavy hearts for sweet friends and family that are experiecing hurt right now. God has taught us over the past few months that no matter how hard the situation, no matter how deep the valley, when we follow HIS will WE will rise upon the mountain.

As easy as it ewould be to look back on all that went "wrong" we choose to PRAISE HIM! He is love, faith, provider, great physician, father, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!!!

This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me...sadness, excitement, fear, faith, joy, anger... I've never felt so unsure of myself... of my FAITH! Why? because I allowed Satan to blind me with FEAR!

Our adoption file has been officially closed for now...although, we know without a doubt that is what God has called us to do at this time, it does not make it easy!Even after God made it clear we did not want to see it. We searched in hope that a miracle would happen... Our agency along with every other agency we contacted told us basically the same thing...adoptions are just not moving...that country is not open at this time...you do not qualify for that country...every door closed in our face. So, for now, we will not be moving forward in our adoption journey BUT we WILL be seeking HIS guidance and having FAITH that is HIS timing we will complete the journey.

As hard as it was to accept that we could be closing the adoption for now...I am however, excited about the work that God has done in my life this week! He has humbled me, loved me, and showed me grace. I've experienced spiritual lows and spiritual highs...and through it all HE has carried me! He has reminded me HIS plan is always the BEST plan!

10 Month Update

Jackson's new favorite activity is eating! I'm not sure who's child he is, but his favorite is stewed squash and onions. Neither of us are fans! He also enjoys anything bread. Ice water is his drink of choice. He just returned from vacation in Gulf Shores where he fell in love with Lambert's and "girls in bikinis". We took him to the beach for a week's vacation just before Marty started back to work and Jackson started "playcare" at the Best home. We spent one night in Fairhope and took Jackson shopping at an old time toy store before heading to our condo. We went outlet mall shopping twice and Jackson loved playing in the sand on the beach. He really enjoyed his sandbucket and toys he got for a gift just before leaving. He had a blast floating in the ocean, swimming in the pool, and eating breakfast on the balcony overlooking the gulf. He has developed a love for the ladies and did a lot of waving. He tried out the dining at Tacky Jacks, LuLu's, Zaxby's, The Tin Top, and The Mellow Mushroom, but still prefers Cracker Barrel. He continues to learn new things. He says bye-bye, he crawls, claps, pulls up,rolls the ball, loves walk with support. sleeps 12 hours a night in his crib. He still loves reading and music. His favorite song is the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At his last check up he was in the 98% for length and FINALLY almost 20 pounds! HAHA Mommy's skinny boy!:)

Heavy Hearts....

Adoption Update!

When we became pregnant with Jackson it was suggested by the agency that we "freeze" the adoption for 18 months. Soon after we made the decision to do that Kazakhstan closed international adoption. We knew that this was all part of God's plan. Our prayer has been that in 18 months it would be open. It has been 18 months....and it is still closed. We were informed this week that our agency will no longer have a Kazakhstan program. So, that means BIG decisions for us....Do we continue to wait it out and be forced to change agencies, do we change programs(country) and stay with our agency, If so, what program?! For quite sometime now we have questioned if we were perhaps being led to a different area of the world...so should we change to that program...but why would God have made it SO CERTAIN and SO CLEAR that we were to adopt from Kaz if He was going to call us somewhere else? As you can see our hearts are HEAVY... We DESPERATELY want to FOLLOW HIM! No matter WHERE that may be BUT we have got to be certain that its what HE wants and not our own desires! We ask that you please be in prayer for our family (Marty, Sheila, Jackson, and Jackson's sweet baby bro/sis!) P.S. We have to give our agency a decision by September or our file will be removed!!!!Yikes!

WOW!Time really does FLY when you're having FUN!!!!! Jackson will be 9 months old in just 6 days! We have truly had the BEST 9 months of our life! Jackson brings more joy to our life every single day! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!:)

Yes, it is true, DADA won! Jackson officially said his 1st word on June 5, 2011. We were hanging out in the living room watching Will play on the wii. Jackson was laying on the couch playing with Sheila and looked up and said "DADA!" It was def a PROUD moment for daddy and Mommy... well, she had to admit Daddy won! No seriously, Mommy was pretty excited too watching Daddy light up every time Jackson uttered that single word! Jackson worked hard to polish it up and have it just perfect for Marty's 1st Father's Day!

LOVES to play with his Fisher Price Sit and Stand. He likes to dance! :)
Loves reading more everyday!!!! (This makes Mommy and Daddy proud!)
Peek-a-Boo is his fav game!
Mickey Mouse is his new BFF!
loves to giggle and play with Beau and Bella! (& they are GREAT with him!)
7/7 Waved Bye Bye when we were leaving Nanny's!
Eats EVERYTHING he can get his hands on!
Cracker Barrel is his fav restaurant!

Enjoyed a week getaway with Mommy and Daddy to South LA and NOLA!
-Daddy had to take a class for work so Mommy and Jackson tagged along and hung out at the hotel. Mommy and Jackson had lots of fun swimming and hanging out! Then we drove over to NOLA to see cousin Karla and show Jackson the sights! We had a super busy day going to Cafe Du Monde, strolling the French Quarter, River Walk, and hanging out at the Aquarium! Jackson was the BEST baby! Never fussed 1 time and LOOOOVED the aquarium!

Jackson 6 & 7 months! Oh my how time is flying!

Jackson is officially a BIG boy he is ready to eat anything Mommy allows!:) Mommy decided to venture into making homeade baby food!It has been a success: Mommy enjoys making it, Jackson enjoys eating it, and daddy enjoys saving money!:) So far we have made carrot,butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, green peas, spinach(Just call him Popeye! He loves it!) pears, avocado, apples with cinnamon, chicken, brisket, banana, peach, prunes, canteloupe, mashed potatoes, and blue berries. We have also started finger foods! He's a fan!!!:)

He drinks out of a sippy cup some although he prefers a cup and straw!

He made his 1st visit to see the horses and bloodhounds! He was in a bit of shock! lol

We celebrated Daddy's 29th Birthday with crawfish at Ponchatoulas!

We celebrated our favorite holiday with our favorite little guy for the 1st time! We had a great weekend with the family! Fresh blue berries on the deck for Saturday morning breakfast, lunch with the fam at Dowling's, dinner with the fam at Ponchatoulas and then it was back to Mamaw and Papaws to dye Easter Eggs with cousin Will. Easter Sunday started early with Sunrise service at Creekwood then home to hunt Eggs for the 1st time and see what the Easter bunny brought! Some Bunny left a TON of goodies at our house! Then it was off to church dressed in his cute little bunny outfit!

Mommy's 1st Mother's Day was GREAT!! the boys surprised Mommy with a new dress and a ring with Jackson's birthstone!! We were thrilled to have family join us at SFBC for Jackon's baby dedication and Will's baptism! Such a SPECIAL day for our family! We came back for lunch at Mamaw and Papaws!

Jackson went to his 1st FFA Banquet!
1st overnight trip! State FFA contest at LSU!
Sits up
Babbles alot
LOOVES music
Gets SOOO excited at story time
laughs outloud alot
sleeps in his crib more
1st trip to Old Mexico
Mommy & Daddy went all the way to Bossier for dinner without little man!
Crawfish at Papaw Colvin's
finally able to play with alot of his toys that Santa brought!
went to visit Mrs Connie at Daylight Donut...to bad Mommy wouldnt let me try em out!
1st SHS Baseball game
1st Bday party (Miss Macy Grace turns 1)
1st visit to Tractor Supply (Mr Jerry let him play with the bunny rabbits!)
1st Opening Day weekend was was spent shopping at the Boardwalk and watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings then followed by Ranger/Redsox game at home with Becca and Goose! Jackson and daddy both wore a mixture of Redsox and Ranger gear! :)
In the 50th percentile in weight (16.5 lbs) and 95th percentile in height (29.5 in)

Adoption Update

We have definitely had an exciting 5 months with Jackson! He has brought SOOOOO much JOY to our life! We thank God for such an amazing BLESSING! However, we still have a piece missing from our family..from our hearts...we long to bring home Jackson's Kazak baby brother or sister!

We were hoping to have new information to report in regard to our Kazakhstan adoption but unfortunately that is not the case. As of right now, Kazakhstan adoption is suspended awaiting Hague Convention status. This was slated to occur in March 2011 at the earliest. We are hoping that a positive report will still surface later.

With the agreements that are taking place between Kazakhstan and the United States, the adoption relationship should be stronger than ever when it re-opens.We know that this is a good thing for the adoption program. Regulation and more accountability always bring strength and trust into any relationship. International adoption with all of its fees, paperwork and intercountry communication requires the regulation in order to stay above board. However, this does not make it easy for us. Our hearts long to complete our family...to hold this sweet baby...to watch he/she interact with Jackson. For now we are'Holding to Jesus'; we know that in His PERFECT timing we will complete the journey to Kazakhstan...to adopt...to unite our family!

The following is a press release from The Department of State

"According to the Government of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education (MoE), all pending adoption dossiers that were not matched with children by December 15, 2010, will be returned and will have to be re-filed as Hague Convention cases once the Hague Convention is fully implemented. The Department of State will continue to monitor the developments in Kazakhstan and seek the confirmation of the Government of Kazakhstan when the new Hague Convention adoption process is in place. U.S. prospective adoptive parents whose dossiers are returned may refer to the description of the Hague Convention intercountry adoption process (the Form I-800A/I-800 process)."

This means that almost ALL of our completed paperwork will have to be redone. This will take lots of work, time, and more money. We know that this was ALL a part of His plan! We ask that you continue to pray for our family as we follow Him along this journey!