I"m Back!

But only for a brief moment......this working mom can't hack it with the rest of ya!
Since it has been 3 months since I posted, and probably no one in the world will be reading this now, I figured I would post Natalie's 1 year birthday shot!
Enjoy (because you may not see another one until June)

Fun Times with Natalie

Brian is at a softball game, Natalie is snoozing away, so I decided it was a great time to catch up on some blogging.  I am trying to soak her up as much as I can because I only have a few days left before it is back to the daily grind of school. Oh, and did I mention I will be moving up to first grade?! Yes, I like to torture myself and make my life as crazy as possible. Actually, I am really excited about it, but it is taking a lot of time and effort to get a classroom moved and the new one up and running. It was a lot of work even when I didn't have a child. NOW, I have to find a babysitter before I can go up there. That's not easy or cheap. To make it more complicated Brian has been working late for the past couple of weeks and isn't much help to me in taking over daddy duty. Ho hum! What's a girl to do? Play with Natalie and not worry about a thing........that's what!

 One of my favorite pictures is with my niece and nephew and our dogs looking out the window so I couldn't resist snapping this photo! Too precious!

 We recently discovered how much fun a simple box could be. She has spent many minutes playing and sitting in this thing! Love it.

 One of her new 'things' this week is throwing her hands up in the air at random moments for no apparent reasons. So we are trying to get her to do it now when we say 'Whoooo Pig Soooiieee' or 'Touchdown Arkansas!' Gotta get 'em in while we can!

9 months

Time is flying......and we are having so much fun! We haven't done much this summer because of the dreadful heat we are experiencing. I think we are up to 30 days of 100 + temps! Ugh.

Last week Natalie turned 9 months. She is pure joy right now, as she is almost always smiling. She finally has 2 teeth on the bottom, and we are experimenting with some new foods. She loves every kind of baby food we have given her so far, but is not so excited about food she has to chew or should I say "gum." She has tried crackers, Gerber puffs, diced pears, and doesn't like any of it! It's just too weird for her right now. She makes a strange face as she semi tries to keep it in her mouth, then spits it out. Pretty funny to watch! 

She has become an expert at crawling (although not the normal all fours kind of crawl) and pulling up on anything and everything. She can shimmy her way down the rails of the crib, but haven't seen her do that on anything else yet. Natalie has the best laugh and loves peek-a-boo games. I have 2 weeks left before the back to school buzz begins. I will miss her, but she sure will have fun with her friend Sadie! Two peas in a pod.

In these shots I had to show off her new pig tails. This is my favorite new thing to do with her hair because it is finally long enough to do! So much fun.....until she takes it out!

This is the best shot!

 and now I'm going to eat it

 Huh? What did you say I'm supposed to be doing here?

 I'm outta here!

Adoption Conference

The 2011 Adoption and Foster Care Conference at LakePointe Church in Rockwall is September 10th from 8-3pm. I am so excited that we are actually FREE that weekend and able to go. This was the conference that started it all for Brian and I. You see, my heart was ready, but Brian's wasn't. After this conference God did a number on him and we were ready to go. Two months later we had paperwork filled out, orientation with the agency completed, and were waiting on the 6 hour orientation that would put us on our way to adopting a baby! It's amazing how God works in the heart of his people!

This year as we are planning ahead for the next adoption, I am looking forward to going to a few different sessions:
1) Trans-racial adoptions
2) Foster-to-adopt, and
3) How to start an adoption ministry in your church.

I would like to find out more about adopting across racial lines because we plan on opening up our profile to all races for the next adoption. I have made several friends (as you have seen in pictures) that have adopted African American boys and girls, and have had many opportunities to chat and read about overcoming obstacles that might bring. You see, I have always (and I do mean ALWAYS) had a special place in my heart for African American children. For whatever reason, I am drawn to them (just ask my folks if you want examples!). I focus specifically on AA because here in the south there are still many issues that have to be overcome when adopting . Other races also have obstacles, but I don't feel it is as taboo as adopting AA.

With foster-to-adopt, I am just curious to know more about how the whole process works for future-future reference.

And for the third session Brian and I have been thinking about this for awhile at our own church. Our church is large enough that we think there should be some kind of ministry for adoption. It doesn't necessarily have to be a large one like LakePointe's, but at least there should be something. We have talked to other friends of ours about joining us in the start of the ministry so hopefully this will help all of us out. We just weren't sure which direction to go first.

I am very excited about this conference!

Life Verse

About a month ago I came across a verse in the Bible that really spoke to me. It really kind of opened my eyes to living a life worthy of the calling. I try to read this verse everyday in my Bible study (I'm working hard to stick with a consistent quiet time) as a reminder to me on how I should be living my life. And so I share with you,
 "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1: 3-11

I feel like I have been 'ineffective and unproductive' in my faith and knowledge of Christ so this really jumped at me to take note of the above qualities. The next part that really spoke to me was 'for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,' meaning continuing spiritual growth which is what I have been lacking. So this is the charge I have been given by the Lord himself! No easy feat, but it is something I pray I can change about my life.

Precious!

What a beautiful picture of Heaven! Don't you think?! It just makes me smile!

Adoptive Family Play Day

My friend, Laurie, invited several adoptive families that live in the area (somewhat) over to her house for lunch and conversation, and playtime for the kids.  In her normal fashion she served up a nice little party. For lunch we had a couple different pasta salads, chicken salad sandwiches on a croissant, mixed fruit, turkey and cucumber wraps, pbj sandwiches in little circles, and a cookie cake! Yum! She is always so festive and makes me feel boring=) She remind me so much of my mom, always going the extra mile. And it is appreciated and noticed!

Just a little taste of summer...

Natalie made a new friend, Levi. They are 2 months apart. So precious!

This bounce house kept the kids entertained. Only after they added the water hose though=)

This pool is the perfect little pool size for NJ! Just enough to get wet and splash around in. Too fun!

You can't have a summer party without the Slip-n-Slide. That is just a classic!

Just a couple of bathing beauties.....the youngest of the clan today at 3 months (ish)

Our fabulous hostess hard at work on the snow cone machine.

I will have to save a copy of the whole crew together so I can post it here. It is such a neat picture. 

Stay tuned........

Play Time

Tuesday a couple of Natalie's friends came over to play! We had a big time playing hide and seek, chasing the dogs, and my favorite....building a tent! This used to be one of my most favorite things to do with friends. We used to come up with some elaborate tents in our living room. So this one wasn't so elaborate since I was losing them fast in interest.

                                                                                 

Dog Days of Summer

Summer is officially here and it is nothing less than fiery! With multiple days of 100 + temps and it is not even July, we are in for it! We beat the heat with some grillin' and swimmin' as the country folk say. This is definitely my favorite parts of summer...........just being with friends.

 When all the spots were filled I threw out a towel for Natalie and I to sit on, and the crowd of girls followed. Natalie has that effect on people! These girls love her.

 Boys will be boys.... These are their silly faces in case you couldn't guess=)

 The big girls liked NJ's boat.

And just because we never get enough grilling, we did it again on Sunday with our Sunday School class Care  Group.  We really enjoyed ourselves! Thanks to Aaron and Lori for having us over to play in their pool.

 The guys: just sitting around like 3 old men discussing the price of gas

Say 'Yes' to 'VBS'

These are pictures of Natalie's VBS teachers. This was her first year to go, and let me tell you that her teachers had their work cut out for them. Three ladies and one baby is just not fair. I know they had to go home and take naps every day after being with her. Whew!

Seriously, these ladies were amazing. I had so much fun chatting it up with them each day. I mean, I had so much fun taking care of babies with them each day=)

Thanks Lori, Stephanie, and Susan

Big Weekend for Our Family

Wow, what a weekend we have had!
First, we kicked off our weekend with a date night out just the two of us. Some sweet friends from church, Alan and Melody, offered to keep her for us so we could go out. We were thrilled! We ended up at Fish City Grill in Firewheel Mall. Brian loves their fish tacos and I stumbled  upon an amazing Cobb Salad (tomatoes, eggs, avocado, bacon bits, ranch, yummy!). We stuffed ourselves too full to enjoy any yogurt which is what I was really craving=( Oh well.....I guess there is always next time.
While we were out, they sent us a picture of Natalie....

I think she was in good hands.

Saturday was spent hanging out at the house (I ran some errands without child in tow), and selling Brian's Jeep. Finally! Now we have some money to start fixing up our backyard. More on that later!  That evening Chik-fil-A was hosting a 'Daddy/Daughter Date Night.' Brian and 2 other friends signed up with all their daughters for 5:30. Since the Chik-fil-A in our town was all booked they had to drive a bit further but it was no big deal. The funny thing was that the invitation told them to meet at the Wal-Mart parking lot where a LIMO would pick them up and drive them a half-mile to Chik-fil-A. How funny is that?! I have never even been in a limo, and now Natalie has=)

They felt a little rushed at dinner because Brian was trying to feed NJ, eat his own dinner and deal with a child that really should have had another nap before going, if you know what I mean (we were dealing with Jeep drama and didn't get her down). He said overall it was fun, and he was glad they went, but it definitely wasn't relaxing.  They ordered their own food, but did receive a free slice of cheesecake, a goody bag with some coupons, and a framed copy of their picture with the Chik-fil-A cow! I was really impressed. Brian said NJ was the youngest one there followed closely by her friend, Bailey.

 Lyla and Natalie in the limo!

 Natalie and Bailey ready for some grub.

Daddy and Natalie's 1st Date on Father's Day weekend. Aren't they pretty?!

Aaron and Lyla

Well, this was also Father's Day weekend so today we celebrated Brian's 1st! Natalie and I worked diligently on a project at about 8 pm last night that I could have completed the previous two weeks with no problem. However, I never do anything early. It just isn't like me! So I told Brian to stay away, we were working on a project.

It's kind of hard to read in this picture. Father's Day is at the top, her footprints in the middle, and her initials with the year at the bottom. We surprised him by putting it in the landscaping this morning. Brian loves to landscape and has spent many, many, many hours perfecting his work so this was the perfect idea! Thank you Dad and Hobby Lobby for helping me come up with the idea at the last minute. 

We love this daddy! 

Splash Park

 I clipped as much hair as I could into that thing. There is a little twig sticking out!

Today we did not have VBS so we scheduled some time with friends at the Splash Park. I was excited because it is the one right here in the big RC, and I didn't have to drive 30 minutes for once! We totally took over the Splash Park with 5 adults and 14 kids!

This is a great crew of kiddos, and we are blessed to call their families our friends.

K is going to be our future Nanny. She is going to be a 4th grader and is SO very good with babies. She feeds, rocks, plays, and everything with her. She had a hard time giving her up to all the other little mommas today=) At lunch time, I asked NJ if she wanted to go see KK and she smiled and wrinkled up her nose! She loves KK too!

The kids had a blast, and the adults did too. It was nice to visit knowing the kids were doing great and having fun.

 

 Natalie's entourage were fighting over whose turn it was to hold her. At one point they were in a circle, and had her in the middle. I asked if they were about to play a game, and they said "No, we are going to see who she wants!"

 The adults were working hard here.

We stayed for about 4 hours before Miss Nat needed to take a real nap.