Bye Bye Formula

Gabe is spending a lot more time in here:

And drinking less and less of these:

So yesterday we opened our last bottle of this:

And while we're glad to get rid of the oh-so expensive monthly formula bill, I'll admit I was a little nostalgic that we'll no longer be making bi-monthly visits to Babies R Us and a little wistful about the fact that shortly Gabe will no longer need any bottles.

On the other hand I am so grateful that Gabe continues to grow and develop like the little miracle that he is. But I will remember that as Gabe continues to do new firsts, he will also be doing 'lasts' and I will cherish every moment of them.

Day 9

9 straight days of Beans and Rice for dinner.... I knew it wouldn't be easy but I didn't think that the smell of rice and beans would actually make me nauseous nightly.

I know I can do this for 21 more days but I can't imagine having to eat beans and rice 3 times a day, every day just so my stomach is full.

But as we sit down to dinner every night I am reminded of how blessed I am...

• to be eating beans and rice. To have something to warm and filling so I don't have to go to sleep hungry.
• that Matt has a job that provides us with a home, food and all of the essentials of life.
• for the opportunity to challenge ourselves to eat beans and rice for a month to save money, raise awareness and try to make a difference
• that God is using this beans and rice experience to change the way day I look at everyday life. I'm becoming more grateful for what I have, more aware of the unjust social and economical differences that separate us from those less fortunate than us.

And as the close of September draws nearer with every passing day God keeps breaking my heart over pictures like these:

pictures of children who usually go to bed with empty stomachs and are some of the lucky ones to have beans and rice to eat at every meal.

I can do this; I can eat beans and rice for 21 more days. And with every meal I'll know that God is helping us save money for our adoption so that our sweet little one doesn't have to eat beans and rice everyday or go to bed with an empty stomach.

They'll be home with us, living a remarkably different life filled with lots of love, laughter and food.

What a Difference!

Same Festival

Same Street

Same Family

What a difference a year makes!

Valley City Street Fair 2009

Valley City Street Fair 2010 (much easier to take a picture of a 2 week old than a 12 month old!)

Beans and Rice and an Eye Update!

Eye Update: Insurance did not deny Gabriel's surgery (yet?) but did request pictures of his eye to help them make their decision. So downtown we went yet again to have Gabe's pictures taken. He didn't like it too much and I didn't like him not like it... but we made it through and hopefully now we're one step closer to getting Gabriel's eye lid fixed and his vision saved!

And now for the other part of the post:

For the month of September the LaGorga household (sans Gabe**) will be eating A LOT of this:

A year ago I read about the Rice and Beans challenge on the blog Building the Blocks and wanted to do it! It took a little convincing of Aaron and then emptying our freezer/refrigerator before we were able to do it but now we are!

Why are we doing this? Most children in third world countries feel blessed to have one warm meal of beans and rice daily and as beans and rice are a staple food of the orphanage we're adopting from we thought that this would be a good 'experience' for us to have. I call it an experience, because at the end of the 30 days of September we'll go back to having lasagna, chicken pot pie, pot roast and whatever else we please for dinner. But hopefully we'll always remember the tedium of eating the same thing for dinner night after night.

Why beans and rice? Well we're eating it because that's the typical diet of an orphan in Ethiopia and they eat it because 1.) it's inexpensive, 2.) beans are really good for you and 3.) rice is very filling. So you get a healthy, tummy-filling meal for a low price.

Focusing on the inexpensive aspect: we are going to use the money saved from our grocery budget to put in our adoption fund. Our dinner prices for the month of September will be exponentially lower and the money saved will move us a little bit closer to bringing our family home.

We'll see how it goes. We may have it, we may love it, we will get sick of it quickly but we will do it. Sacrificing something so little to gain something as great as another family member isn't really a sacrifice at all.

Will you pray that we remember why we're eating beans and rice for dinner and pray that God uses this experience to continue to change us?

**While Gabriel will be eating beans and rice for dinner with his Mama and Daddy we will also be giving him his usual fruits/veggies/protein that he eats at every meal. Why? Well we don't want him to stop liking the fruits and vegetables we serve him every meal and by feeding Gabriel his usual food while we eat beans and rice will hopefully further impress on us the fact that are little one(s) across the ocean are surviving on something so little/plain/pitiful while Gabe continues to grow and thrive on everything we're able to provide for him.