Christmas Eve Photo Shoot

So, confession: I haven't done a family Christmas card since 2014. Eeek! Last year, we were on such a strict budget since every extra penny went to our adoption process that I couldn't justify the cards expense, and this year, we had been home a hot minute when we would've been needing to take pictures, order cards, and get them out. I could've made myself crazy and tried to get them done, but we were jet-lagged and sleep-deprived, so instead, I gave myself some grace and took it off my plate. 

As the cards from family and friends started coming in, it made me realize that I really did miss having some family pictures taken in the fall, so on Christmas Eve, we spent a few minutes outside and did a little mini photo shoot in our front yard. :) Thanks, Mom, for being our photographer! 

If we had gotten around to a card, this would've been the front...my three amigos!

And I likely would've included a little announcement on the back about this sweet cowboy. He completed our family this year by coming home to Texas, and we love him to the moon! 

The best we could do of all five.

Sister wasn't feeling the pics...but how cute are these boys?!!

Brother love.

Love this kid. 

Crazy face!

I'm pretty sure he LOVES his boots.

He's discovered his head. Ha!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, friends! And here's hoping I get my act together enough to send a 2017 card! XO! 

October Recap/Photo Dump

Okay, better late than never...here is what we were up to in October!

These beautiful friends hosted the CUTEST baby shower for our family! So grateful for them!

We visited the Pumpkin Village at the Arboretum.

This girl...she gives me laugh lines and gray hairs. 

We received our first ever VIDEO of sweet Brooks at his orphanage thanks to a family visiting there that I found through social media. So fun!

This little bike maniac is unstoppable on that thing!

We visited Big Tex at the fair with our sweet niece and Dede.

Kate cheered on her favorite baseball player.

These two ROCKED their picture day in an unintentional patriotic look. ;) 

This girl continued to take FOREVER packing up all the stuff she needs to go ANYWHERE. #littlemama

I got to wear a SCARF...fallelujah! 

Blake and I spoke at a fundraiser for the Gift of Adoption Fund. We are so thankful not only to receive a grant award from them but also to have the opportunity to raise money for MORE Texas families!

We received the "Big Toy Book" in the mail from Toys 'R' Us and started our Christmas lists... 

We got our official Travel Approval notice from China and found a picture of NEWBORN Brooks...ummm, swoon!

We Trunk or Treated with our playgroup...

And visited Pumpkinville in McKinney! The cutest little FREE pumpkin patch!

There was a face (or arm...) painter...

Butterflies and "fire-breathing" dragons...

We brought home two pumpkins from the patch and carved jack-o-lanterns!

TA-DA!

And then we trick-or-treated on actual Halloween with our cousins and sweet friend! Third year in a row for this motley crew...

HULK! ARGH!

My sweet bigs...

And then this week we got to have a Mommy & Me craft morning for Kate...

And then Carter...

And then Thursday night, I went to go meet up with my friends Sara and Loren for dinner, and they surprised me with TONS of work friends and ANOTHER baby shower! Such an amazing blessing these women are to me!

And then yesterday, we got our final pre-travel update of this little guy...this is Brooks with his orphanage "mama." My heart is already breaking for him as he will no doubt heavily grieve the loss of this woman who has loved him as her own. She was also the one holding him for most of the video we received several weeks ago. It's obvious they have a close bond, and I will forever be grateful for the way she cared for him over the last 13 months. I pray that she is the one who brings him to us next week so that we can thank her in person for loving that sweet boy.

Also...check our his little Frankenstein stance!!!! Ahhhh! He STANDS! The update didn't specify whether or not he was walking yet, but it appears as if he is VERY CLOSE if he's not. This is seriously my FAVORITE baby stage...the waddle!!!

(And on a lighter note...if anyone has suggestions on what to do with that crazy mop of his, I'd accept...)

Whew! It's been quite a month! I promise to be more regular with posting in November because WE GO TO CHINA IN SIX DAYS! What in the ACTUAL WORLD, y'all?!! Eeeek! Happy weekend! 

August 1st Dreaming...

Well, hey, August, hey! So glad to finally see you!

I've been waiting for August 1st for quite some time. I'll keep it real, y'all - July was NOT my jam. It was long, slow, hot, and full of boredom, truthfully. I'm sure I'll be wishing for a July day come October or so, but right now, I'm okay moving on.

August is going to be a really big month for us around here for a few reasons.

1) I turn 32 tomorrow. On a Tuesday. Sigh.

2) The Noonday Collection fall line launches on the 4th, and I have FIVE trunk shows scheduled so far this month! Amazing! I am SO grateful that so many incredible women have stepped up to host and create a marketplace for our artisan partners in their home. I cannot wait to see how these shows will make an impact both globally and on our family's adoption expenses. Check back here on Thursday for some preview pictures, the link to shop, and to hear a little more of my heart for this amazing company. I've set some lofty goals for myself this fall, and I cannot wait to partner with my amazing hostesses and customers to make it happen. 

(Psssst - local ladies, if you'd like to come see the new line in person and hang out with me, I'm hosting a Mystery Hostess Open House with TWO attendance options: Thursday evening from 6:30-8:00 AND Saturday from 11-2pm! I'd love to have you!)

3) We celebrate Kate turning 3 on Sunday! I cannot believe my baby girl is turning 3. She has really turned into such a little girl this summer. She's becoming very independent, smart, and caring, and even though she still has some seriously sassy moments, we love seeing her little personality blossom.

  4) We head to Colorado on vacation in ONE WEEK! ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the praise hands! I seriously just cannot wait to be in beautiful country with my little family. I'll recap the trip once we return!

5) We are asking God to move some pretty big mountains in our adoption this month. We had some exciting news come our way last month that we absolutely cannot wait to share, but until we cross the hurdles we are currently facing and get some approvals we need from China, we cannot share any details publicly. We would covet your prayers for quick movement on that end. Once we have that approval, we are planning to relaunch our wildly successful "No Place Like Home" t-shirt fundraiser with a little bit of a twist. We cannot wait to share all of these details with you...stay tuned! 

(Also, I'd love to hear in the comments what color shirt you'd like to to see us offer! We are considering mint, navy, berry pink, red, or a deep heather gray...let me know what you think!)

So that's what we have coming up! Well, all of that, AND I return to work for some training starting the 23rd. :( It's going to be a whirlwind month, but so many good things happening! Have a great week, friends! XO!

10 on the 10th...Except it's the 11th ;)

Okay, my faithful ten readers....I'm determined to get back into the blogging game. I've been, well, a big fat failure the last month or so, and my dad is disappointed that he's no longer getting his daily email updates, so Dad, this one's for you. ;) Here are ten things for the 10th that have been going on in our little world lately. (Aaaaand, of course it's a day late...couldn't get my act together yesterday because spring break is HARD.)

ONE

We've been continuing our annual goal for more intentional time (we call them dates) with our kids. It appears we may also need to work on manners during dates...

TWO 

This girl got a cute little haircut! She has decided that ponytails, clips, and bows are her mortal enemies all of a sudden and was just looking messy all the time...so, enter the bob. I kinda love it!

THREE 

Are my kids the only ones who literally watch their loveys dry?!! They sat here for a FULL 25 minutes while their two beloved blankets dried. They watched them "go for a ride." It was kinda cute, kinda sad, and obviously quite entertaining.

FOUR 

I loved Kate's little bob so much that I decided I needed one of my own! Bye bye three inches! (And forgive the photog skills here...Carter took this one. Ha!)

FIVE 

This girl has been alllllllll about my jewelry lately. She pretty much wears a piece around the house 24/7 if I let her. She has also become a pretty big fan of the "selfie" - which makes a part of me die a little inside.

SIX

It's been raining ALL. WEEK. LONG. We are O-V-E-R it. A rainy spring break with very few plans...it's been, well, interesting. And long. Bring back the sun! 

SEVEN 

How cute are my boys?!! Carter fell in love with this shirt at Target and insisted on twinning with his Daddy in his work shirt. They looked so cute we had to take them out to dinner to show it off!

EIGHT 

Dear Whole Foods, You are amazing! Where have these carts been all my life?!! This was by far the best grocery trip ever. No tears, no roaming, no begging for unnecessary toys...they just drove their little car the whole time. It's the little things, people...

NINE

I've gotten several texts similar to this one this week as my friends and family who shopped my Noonday Collection spring launch are getting their goodies in! This makes me SO HAPPY! Especially because most of my shoppers were brand new to this amazing organization and all the good it's doing in the world! If you ordered from me, I'd love to see you in your pretty pieces! And if you're interested in learning more or shopping the new spring line, click HERE. (And psssst - lots of new items just went on sale, including two of my favorites - the Azul scarf and Sharma earrings! Steals!)

TEN

I listened in last night on a conference call with our agency regarding families who are currently DTC and waiting on their matches. They went over kids they had matched in the last month, what types of special needs they are seeing in the files they are receiving, and basic time frames for families depending on gender/age requested. It still sounds like we should be matched in the next month or two, but only God knows the real timing, and there are so many variables involved. We just continue to wait and trust and hope...we know our son is out there and that God has an incredible story planned for our family. No other real updates there.

Okay, I'm off to enjoy a relaxing little Friday with my kiddos! Have a great weekend!

10 on the 10th

So, this is totally not creative because I stole it from another blogger, but I loved the idea of sharing ten happy things on the 10th of the month. So let's do it! :) 

ONE.

You guys...these little questionnaires are seriously my favorite thing ever. I love seeing what sticks with kiddos when they are asked about their parents. Apparently, I do a lot of playing with this kid...:) And can we also talk about the fact that he already appreciates my fierce love of necklaces and coffee? It's true...give me a statement necklace and a latte, and I'm really just a happy girl.

TWO. 

I wrote out 14 little post-it notes with reasons why I love my husband, folded them up, put them in a cute little container, and called it a gift. (It cost me exactly 99 cents. Okay, so 1.07 with tax.) I made this for my hubby on Monday, and he has LOVED opening two little reasons why I love him every day this week leading up to Valentine's Day. I know...cue the sap. But it is SO CUTE to watch him get all embarrassed and red-faced when he opens up a praise! Words of affirmation are NOT his love language...but they're mine, so we're working on it.

THREE.

My Noonday is coming! My Noonday is coming! I put together these little collages for you of some of my favorite pieces from previous lines. I can't show the spring stuff just yet (8 more days!), but these are some staple pieces I ordered as samples that I cannot WAIT to get on me! If you're local, be sure to RSVP to my business launch show on Facebook! Message me or comment for an invite if you didn't get one!

FOUR.

I spent yesterday morning wearing my "mom" hat at school, and we had a fun little Mommy & Me craft day. 

It was short and sweet, but I loved just loved seeing my kiddos in their classrooms. We painted together and just had fun getting a little extra time together in the chaos of the morning. 

FIVE.

We love a reason to celebrate around here, and yesterday my little lady turned 2 1/2! :) We didn't do gifts or anything, but we did pick out some pretty cute owl cupcakes after school and had fun getting a special snack. She insisted we sing to her...of course...and she clearly hated the attention. ;) 

SIX.

Hubby came home from work yesterday with the most hilarious little smirk on his face. He said he "waited too long" to get his "Valentine's Week" flowers because all the roses were already $40 or more. Soooo, I got yellow tulips instead. He told me I could go shopping with the difference in price...um, okay!

SEVEN.

No words. This girl cracks me up. She wanted to be Santa in the bath. I mean...

EIGHT. 

I am an AUNT again!!! This precious bundle is my new niece, Annabelle! How lucky am I?!! Kate is so excited to have another girl in the family!!

NINE.

This. This is my life. Every. single. day.

TEN.

I know, I know. This kind of goes along with #3...but I'm so excited about it! If your purchase totals at least $60 during my February trunk show, you can get one (or both!) of these Monaco pieces for half off! These pieces are just classic, staple, go-with-anything pieces that you will absolutely adore! I am so excited for this bonus Noonday is offering this month! :) My live trunk show will be the 28th, but I will post the trunk show link here next week. Stay tuned!

OH! And, I hope to have an adoption update Friday...I'm hearing we may have some progress to share! Eeek!

Make it a great Hump Day friends!