* i am blogging from a different computer today so no fancy blinkies...sorry *

Today I am thankful for:

* my new growing pantry
* our little Amya who is doing so well
* the chance to go to the Rodeo in Mesquite! Everyone had so much fun!

This month, the Clark family is trying something new. We are declaring October as "Spend Little" month. We are going to reign in every dime we spend this month. I was inspired by several blogs who were doing the same thing in the month of September, and thought we could try it for October. It will be an interesting experience for the whole family--an effort to show that we are blessed with so much, an effort to be frugal and save for upcoming expenses, and a challenge that we can encourage one another in.

The details are this:

* We will only purchase these 10 items from the local grocery store- Milk, cereal, cheese, bread, bananas, zucchini, mushrooms, baby carrots, apples and cilantro

* We will go without electricity whenever possible. (Drying items on the line, not using the computer, handwashing the dishes, etc.) We will even have flashlight nights!

* We will reduce the use of our phones and gasoline.

* We will try very hard not to go into WalMart at all if possible.

* Sean's and my date nights might end up being picnics at his office to use the internet!

* I will use as many cloth diapers as we can (three in diapers is tough- I am not sure I have the supply to do this!)

We are all excited about the challenge. Even Xander is getting in on it. This will be a wonderful segway into November which is our "thankful" month. I still have some more stocking up to prepare for this challenge, but it will have to wait until Tuesday when I get our household budget.

I hope to post at least once a week to tell tales of how we are doing! Wanna play along?

You can come up with your own set of ways to be extra frugal this month!

Her name is Amya. (Ah-My-Ah)  She is an adorable little Hispanic girl with dark eyes and a chubby little face. She is only 5 days younger than Liesel, so it is much like being gifted with twins at 8 months of age.  We are watching her for a few months while her mother gets on her feet.  Our organization works with young moms (and dads) who are not confident in their parenting skills, and helps them to begin their lives as families close to God and each other.  Because of the sensitive details of her acquisition, I cannot share too much about WHY we are caring for her, but I will gladly share about our journey.

How did this happen?  Well, it certainly was NOT planned or anticipated.  It happened VERY VERY suddenly.  I received an email a few days ago about a certain need for care for an 8 month old and a 2 year old, but I never really gave it another thought.  In our organization, we frequently need housing for children of street moms and fostering a child or adopting one is not unusual.  So I figured that these children would be cared for in the same way that our organization usually does and moved on with my life.

Fast forward to Friday.  I was speaking on the phone with a dear friend and she mentioned that they were praying about taking the children.  She mentioned, however that she had peace about taking the 2 year old, but not about taking the 8 month old. 

"That's funny.", I exclaimed. "I would feel fine about taking the 8 month old, but not the two year old."

Uh-oh, I thought.  Here comes that "I think God is speaking to me" feeling.  I told her that I would call Sean, but since it takes him so long to pray about or decide something, I just knew that his answer was going to be No.  I obediently called him anyway at work that very minute.

He immediately said yes.  It floored me.  I began to shake knowing that God was doing something. 

45 minutes later she was in my arms.  The last 2 days have been a little hectic to say the least.  She cried almost nonstop for the first 24 hours.  She kept whipping her head around trying to find someone familiar.  Nothing seemed to help.  It was very emotionally exhausting.  

I was a little out of my element, for example:

Yesterday, I gave Amya a bottle and was trying to get her to nap and Liesel was so fussy. I tried EVERYTHING to calm Liesel down. It was almost funny--all the crying in my house. Finally, I realized why Liesel was crying......I forgot to give her a bottle. It had been at least an hour and a half since she was scheduled for one!! Oh man. I felt so bad.

At first, I was thrilled with the idea that I had everything you might need for an 8 month old.  Now I realize that I have everything you might need for ONE 8 month old.  If they are both needing it at the same time, it begins to get a little crazy.  We are making due with what we have, but it certainly takes it's toll trying to figure stuff like that out on the fly with a screaming 8 month old in your arms. (Not to mention the 2 year old that is pulling on your skirt and the 5 year old asking the same question over and over and over.)

And I wasn't sure about how I was going to handle them both at the same time.  After some consultation with twin mommies, I think the best thing to do is to get them both on the same schedule.  This is a little harder to do when you have two babies that are not used to having another one the same age around than if you had two that never knew any different.  AND combined with a baby with some attachment issues, it is a whole other ballgame.  After the first 24 hours of trying to juggle schedules, I got some sense and put the girls in the same room with their pack and plays next to each other.  I think they do like seeing each other.  It seems to calm Amya down. 

Amya seems to be getting used to us little by little. She didn't cry as much as she did yesterday, so I am beginning to have some hope! She is still an extremely fussy sensitive baby so I am going to be very careful to make sure that we are bonding with her.

She doesn't understand bed or nap time at all. She is used to mostly sleeping in her car seat with the bottle propped up in her mouth. It is a sad situation to have to teach a little one these lessons so late.

Incidentally, she saw her brother today and didn't seem to really get excited or anything. She in fact, didn't really seem to know him. Nor did he seem to be interested in her except when she cried.

So if you think about us, pray for us and God's will to happen in everyone's life.  The Mom needs some special encouragement, the children need to feel comfortable in their temporary homes and we need to be able to balance everything appropriately.  Also pray I can figure out how to do two babies at once with a seamless interruption.

As far as how long we will be caring for Amya, God only knows.  It could be as little as 2 months, it could be much much longer.  Pray that God works in this Mommy's life so that she can be healthfully united with her children.