Looking Through Our Windows

The latest from the Wright family, including a visit from Aunt Katie McNaughton (aka TeeTee), Brady's first kiss with our good friends' the Stephenson's beautiful baby Maryn, and a look at our crazy and awesome life as we learn to hang with two kiddos. Plus just a couple pictures from a wonderful Easter weekend. Enjoy!











Just a few pics from a wonderful family Easter...

Couple Pics of Brady

I realized when pulling some recent pictures to post of Brady, that we have NONE. Somehow, in the midst of parenting two, we have failed to capture any of the subtle changes that have occurred in Brady's short life. So, you'll have to take my word for it... HE IS GROWING. He has plump little cheeks now and has already started losing his hair.

Here are a couple of the most recent we have. Embarrassingly, they are at least a week or so old.

I am focused, however, on getting out our camera more so he doesn't accuse me as a teen of not loving him as much as his sister when he looks at his picture book and sees only a handful of photos. :)

Traumatic

Avery's first haircut, which consisted of about 5 quick cuts and lasted all but 5 minutes, still managed to be quite the experience- complete with tears and some minor wailing. :)

Brady Allen

Today is the first day of mothering two... without Adam's help. After a week or so off, Adam headed back to work and I am fumbling my way through my first day of juggling toddler and newborn. And thankfully I am surviving.

Here are a few of my favorite pics of our new son. He looks like the spitting image of his father and I could just squeeze him until his head pops off..... but of course I won't.

Blessings,
Katie

Bless You

Last night Avery spontaneously gathered a bunch of her stuffed animals for a quick performance of "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed." She lined them all up and we sang for them and then she disappeared into another room. She shortly returned with our camera in her hand, gave it to me and said "cheese." Thus, this priceless photo was born.

Shortly after that Avery was playing in her little kitchen when she heard Katie sneeze in the other room. She whipped her head around to look at her mom and then ran to the restroom. She came out running towards Kate with a tissue, saying "here Mommy." I almost cried.

I hate to be the guy that posts to talk about his kid, but I thought these stories were worth sharing. As we continue to prepare with awe and excitement (not to mention fear and anxiety) for baby #2 we are reminded several times a day what a wonderful gift a baby is.

And on that note, it is with great joy and unparalleled praise that we can officially share with you that our dear friends Jeremy & Rochelle adopted a baby girl today. Maryn Kay Ann joined the world yesterday at 5 lbs. 12 oz. As many of you have walked alongside them (either directly or indirectly) in this journey you know what a long road it's been. God has answered many many prayers and a beautiful baby girl has found loving and amazing parents. We couldn't be happier! Congrats!!!

Love,
Adam

Joys of Winter

A Trip To The Pet Store

We took a quick trip to the pet store today for two reason: one because Bella needed dog food and two because, right now, the pet store is practically Disney World for our dog loving daughter.

Anyway, we stayed about 30 minutes- watched a yellow lab get a haircut, tapped on the glass of every fish tank in the entire store, said "hi" to every bird, and even got to meet a puppy named Whitney. We left with a bag of dog food, a muzzle so we could attempt to trim Bella's unruly nails, and a bag of treats we picked up as a special surprise from the "Treat Bar"- a salad bar of sorts filled with dog treats that look much more like cookies and other yummy snacks than the milk bone dog bones we are use to giving Bella.

Well, we got home and Adam and I went right to work trying to get Bella in her muzzle so we could begin the arduous task of trimming her nails. I was fed up paying the 15 dollars every month to get her nails professionally trimmed so we needed the reinforcement of the muzzle to try and ward off the loss of a limb during the process.

Halfway through the nail clipping, Adam and I both realized we had completely forgotten about Avery and knew the silence was a bad sign. I ran into the study and found her eating the dog treats that I had placed on our kitchen counter (how she got them down from there is still baffling to me). What had she gone for- a cookie sandwich of sorts complete with white icing between the two pieces. When I walked in she had pulled the treat apart like an Oreo and had the "dog icing" all over her upper lip.

Kids..... you gotta love em.

Blessings,
Katie

Getting Political

As 2008 begins it is already apparent that this year will be littered with political banter from beginning to end. Republicans and Democrats fighting amongst their own for a nomination and then a battle for President that has the potential to be the most monumental in our lifetime.

That said, if you're anything like me you wish you had more time to read up on the Presidential candidates and their platforms. So I thought it might be good to start early. The below link is to a quick online quiz that may help you narrow down your list and focus in on those that make the most sense. It's a pretty quick set of about 15 questions that gives you a list of each candidate and how they align with your answers.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

Although I consider myself relatively moderate when it comes to politics the quiz has resulted with Mike Huckabee as my top candidate each time I've taken it. I originally didn't know much about this former Governor of Arkansas, so I started keeping my eyes out for his comments and read up on his platform. The media has seemed to categorize Huckabee as 2008's "evangelical" candidate, thus I was really surprised to see that he not only supported the death penalty but actually carried it out several times during his tenure as Governor. I remembered being equally perplexed four years ago when reading the same thing about current President George W. Buuuuush. In addition I found a website that gave each candidates position on capital punishment and all but 3 of them support it! Regardless of party lines it seems like everyone believes in putting some criminals to death.

I don't pretend to know the numbers but I'm sure that the death penalty is a successful deterrent to serious crime. I imagine it wouldn't exist otherwise. That said, I find it shocking that Christian people in leadership positions don't speak out against it. While a pro-life position on abortion seems to be a "no brainer" for Christian politicians, the same apparently does not apply to the death penalty. I'm not saying those two issues are the same, but the death penalty does seem to me to be a lot like "playing God." The Bible teaches us of grace and that people can be reformed after a multitude of sins. None of us is worthy, but I'm not sure it's up to us humans to decide if anyone is so unworthy that he/she should not be able to continue his/her life here on Earth. Wouldn't it be compartmentalizing one's faith to be able to support putting a person to death for an action that our God may have forgiven him/her for?

Regardless of where you stand politically, it's an interesting issue to consider. Unfortunately each time I do that , the more I become convinced that politics is simply a game of saying the right thing to get elected with only a small possibility of those things ever actually coming to fruition. Perhaps speaking out against the death penalty would make a candidate appear "soft" or not tough on crime. I also feel like it's on us as Christians to ask these kind of questions and truly look beyond each candidates' basic faith. I am then left to wonder why no conservative Christian voters are calling out against the death penalty. I must assume they are also in support of it, which leaves me even more baffled.

Stay warm this weekend,
Adam

One You Might Otherwise Miss

Juno might be the biggest surprise movie in the last several years. A combination of witty humor, brilliant acting, subtlety and simplicity make this low budget flick an awesome film that will probably open some eyes come awards time. With similarities to Napoleon Dynamite it does have a bit of crude humor if you're not up for that, but it's completely hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny. As an added bonus it also has a great plot and lovable characters. We both highly recommend it.

Happy New Year,
Adam & Katie

Blessed by Our Guests

Christmas is going to be lean for the Wright family this year. Our new house was our gift to each other. That said, Katie and I have lamented to each other over the last couple weeks that since our budget is tighter, preparing for the holidays just wasn't as much fun as usual. In the last few weeks we have both also been struck with a much more profound joy than any gift could bring. Since Thanksgiving our family has been blessed with a wealth of visitors and each in their own special way has reminded us that true happiness comes from being surrounded by friends and family.

Our latest guests - Brenda, Irene, and Susan - were three beautiful girls from Uganda, spending the year in the United States as part of the African Childrens Choir. They are in Indianapolis during December as part of the Yuletide Celebration downtown. Although we didn't get to spend a ton of time with them, it was awesome to get to chat with them and hear about their amazing experiences in the US. The leaders of their program had asked that we not ask too many questions about their home life, as most of the children in the choir have lost at least one family member to famine or disease. While driving through the suburbs with them though I couldn't help but wonder what each girl was thinking. "Why are these houses all so big? Do people here really need all that space?" It helped remind me that the world is much, much bigger than the roads we travel each day. It reminded me that our Christmas will be far from "lean" and that I won't ever have an idea of what "lean" truly means.



In addition to our friends from Africa we had all of our family together around Thanksgiving. We hosted a brunch on the Friday after Thanksgiving and it was the first time we have had all five little girls together. Avery, Lucy, Addison, Zoe and Evelyn all in one room. It was truly amazing and caused us all to stop and realize how blessed we are and how special a time this is. Our girls will all grow up together and I'm quite sure the fun is just beginning. We're either going to add another lady to the mix or we'll bring the first boy to a crazy collection of girls.

We got to see our Fort Wayne family too, as Ted, Vicki, WT and Drew came to Zionsville on Turkey Day. It was great to see them and fun for Avery to spend some time with them as well. We also got to spend time with our dear friends Andrew & Lisa who we always have a great time with.

In the weekend that followed we had even more wonderful visitors. Some of our closest friends stopped in on their trips from Chicago to Cincinnati and from Cincinnati to Chicago. I guess that's the beauty of living in the "crossroads of America!" Ben & Michele Helmers were back in the Midwest for a wedding at Miami U and it was so great that they came to see us. Avery even pointed out her "Uncle Benny!" Mike & Gail Cicak visited that same day and were able to spend a few hours over dinner and it was so great to see them. Each time we do we wish we lived in the same city... which is what we find ourselves saying about many of our friends. But, as I've been saying, it's become so evident to us that it's these times together that we learn to cherish. I think at our age you realize that those are the true "gifts" in life.










Avery's favorite guest...




Our little beauty continues to keep us on our toes and make us smile on a daily basis. She's showing off her dancing shoes and checking out our mini Christmas tree.









Merry Christmas to all of you. May it be a wonderful time filled with true blessings,
Adam