My Sweet Peas

My Sweet Peas

Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words......or no words!

This is the picture that we framed and gave to each one of our family members as we shared the news of a baby boy coming to our family! I had this vision months ago, hoping we would be matched with a birthmom before Christmas. I never actually thought I would be able to use it, but here it is!
 
We were able to capture most everyone's reaction with our phone cameras, but since I have not been given approval by these said family members, I can't post them yet=)     Yet, I said!
 
The irony is that not everyone got it immediately.  My dad thought the stocking on the end was green instead of blue and couldn't figure out why it was smaller than the rest. My mom couldn't see it really well because my dad was holding it.  I had to point out the color of the stocking to Brian's mom and dad.  Thankfully, both sisters got it right away! Whew! My efforts weren't in vain.
 
We loved seeing everyone's reactions. My favorite part each time was telling them he is coming home in 3 weeks!  The response was pretty much the same after that......what?! 3 weeks?!
 
We are finally home and able to tackle all the many projects that need to be done in time for baby. The most fun was registering at
 Tar-get.  Even Natalie got in on that fun!  She loved pushing that button and smiled everytime she heard it beep.
 
We still have several more projects to complete including moving all Nat's clothes upstairs, cleaning bottles, clothes, blankets, etc and cleaning the house from being gone so long, but there is still one project that needs to be completed first.....the puzzle!
 
We are so close, but can't hang that baby in the nursery until it's finished. We have 66 pieces left before the full picture can be revealed!
Click here if you would like to read more on how to donate.
 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A Merry Christmas Indeed

Shocked, dumb-founded, nervous, excited, and overwhelmed are just a few of the emotions I felt when we got the call two weeks ago that we were going to be parents.....again!!!!

Elated was the emotion I felt when I was told we would be getting a precious baby BOY!!

Heart stopping was the feeling that came over when we were told the birthmom was due in 3 weeks!!!

Broke is what we feel after paying our match fee;)

Humbled is what we feel to be chosen to parent this child. God has walked us through another journey. Again my faith has been increased.

So there it is folks. The news we have all been waiting for!! The best Christmas present ever!

And now we wait... This time for the phone call that baby boy is here and healthy! Please pray with us for a healthy delivery, peace for the birth mom and her decision to place, our relationship with her to grow, and our family as we quickly prepare for number 2!!!

*More to come in a couple days once I am out of the boonies and can work off my computer and not my phone;)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Update

We received an update this week from our agency.  They are currently working with 11 birth moms due from January thru May.  We are one of 12 waiting families.  Odds look good, but in the world of adoption there is always a great amount of uncertainty.  They could begin working with more birth moms at any random time, a birth mom could decide not to go through with the adoption and decide to parent, or a birthmom could be unsettled about her choices for a family and choose to look elsewhere. You just never know folks.  Brian and I continue to simply pray for God to bring us that baby that fits right in and was chosen for our family, however long the wait.  We trust in the Lord.  Until then I look forward to sharing more Christmas adventures with Natalie!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A Christmas Tradition

Every year for the past 4 years or so I get together with two of my friends for a holiday baking day. The women in my family used to do this at my Granny's when I was little, but stopped many years ago. I am so glad I can carry this tradition on with friends here in Texas.  Sometimes friends are the closest family you've got when you are a good 6 hours away from your own!  And I am more than thankful for these ladies. Here's our history. My friend, Stephanie, and I met in college through the band and Baptist Collegiate Ministry and connected instantly.  She introduced me to one of her friends who became one of the best roommates and close friends, Kim.  She also introduced me to another friend, Micah, who then became the other best roommate a girl could have so I must say I am quite indebted to Stephanie!  Fast forward a few years when Stephanie's husband shared a job opening with Brian here in the great state of TX.  A short time later, he was hired and we moved to be together again!  After moving to Texas herself, she met Allyson and her husband, Ryan.  They became good friends and the rest is history. We spent many a late nights watching 'LOST' and eating dinners together. So it was only natural to begin a Christmas tradition with our families.
This year I wanted to cook a big Christmas meal because I never get to use my fun snowflake plates.  So instead of our traditional holiday baking, we had our dinner.  Complete with a fried turkey, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, home-made rolls, apple cake, and pumpkin cheesecake! Jealous?  It was amazing!
Dinner crew
 
All the kids played together really well but made a big mess! I guess that is what happens with 4 kids under the age of 6! It was all worth it. I love making new memories with amazing friends.  I failed to mention the really cool bond between our 3 families: ADOPTION!  As you can see, only one kid looks like his parents! ha!  The other three are beautiful displays of adoption.  This just shows how amazing God is and how he knits families and friends together so perfectly.  Next year's picture will have two more children added via adoption (we hope).  I love how God brought us together as friends, then gave us this common bond. What a great thing for these kids=)
 
Look at these beauties.....
Be still my beating heart
 
 

Monday, December 3, 2012

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

 
I know I said I would post more of the Thanksgiving pics in a separate post, but now I don't feel like it. I am already behind on posting our Christmas adventures so far!
  Last Sunday we got Natalie all decked our for Christmas and went to a neighboring town for the Holiday Train.  Since this little train was only scheduled in three places in TX and one of those was so close, I had to go!  I didn't know much about it, but just had to check it out.  We went early to avoid long lines (advice from a very wise friend considering we waited 10 minutes and not 2 hours like some apparently did)!
Here are some pics of the inside. Of course we had to get a close up of the Razorback Grill set up in the train track!  Natalie was pretty stoic during this whole train experience.  She always seems to get a bit overwhelmed and doesn't know what to do. 
She was quite chatty afterwards though!
Since the train experience went so quickly we decided to expand our evening with a cold treat (did you catch that? I said COLD treat because it was like 70 degrees outside) at the downtown coffee shop.  It's the tastiest treat I ahve ever had from a coffee shop!  Then we walked to the city park to let her play with "friends." Poor girl is always asking for friends when we go to our neighborhood playground and no one is ever there!
 
All in all it was a great time.