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! 

The Ride of 2015...

Well, 2015, we have just eight more days in this year, so just for fun, I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane. 

When 2015 began, I started this little blog as a way to salvage whatever brain cells hadn't already been lost to afternoons of PBS Kids marathons. I really had no purpose for the blog when I started it. I thought I might write about a whole host of things - maybe a little parenting, a little health, throw in some recipes here and there, a little fashion, and just maybe share a little bit of my faith while I was doing it. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, I thought.

I'm pretty sure God was up there laughing at my little "this and that" blog. He saw where this was headed, but oh, how clueless I was!

When 2015 started, I had just began to feel a tug from God that our family may not be complete. I. at first, ignored it and pushed it away and tried to run from it because my daughter's first year consisted of colic/reflux/lactose intolerance (a total nightmare) and physical therapy, and I was terrified to go down the pregnancy road again. Thankfully, God had other plans...

When 2015 started, I had a tragically broken heart for orphans and longed to be involved in the movement to care for them, but I was too nervous and scared to share my feelings with my husband. After all, what if he said no? What if he thought I was crazy? Oh, what little faith I had! If I had only known a year ago that God had already planted the adoption seed in him as well, I would've salvaged so many sleepless nights. But, His timing is always perfect, and we got on the same page...eventually. :) 

When 2015 started, Carter was socially...um, awkward. He refused to answer another adult if they asked him a question, he sat on my lap for several of his first soccer games and refused to play, and he didn't really have many true "friends." Truthfully, I was really nervous that something was wrong with him. I think I even called my sister-in-law (an LMFT) to see if she thought he had social anxiety. (Spoiler: I was being ridiculous. He just needed more time.) Today, he absolutely lives for soccer game Saturdays, he has dozens of true friends, and is socially on par with any other four or five year-old kid out there. This morning, I watched him walked up to a six year-old little boy at a play area, ask him his name, and initiate a game of tag with him. What a difference a year makes! 

When 2015 started, Kate was an absolute HOT MESS of a one year-old, a constant tantrum-thrower, never stopped talking, lived for baby dolls, tipped the scales at 21 pounds, and barely filled out size 18 month clothes. Today...she is exactly the same...except she's two. And MAYBE 23 pounds. Can't win 'em all, folks. ;)

When 2015 started, I shared my testimony for the first time publicly, and as out-of-my-mind scared as I was to do it, God has shown me time and time again that vulnerability and openness and honesty is what connects and inspires us. Sharing our flaws and admitting our struggles may not get us more followers on Instagram, but it may be the first time that someone else says, "Me too." That's what I want this blog to be about...I want it to be a place where someone can come and feel understood. I want it to be a place where the underlying feeling is acceptance. We are flawed, human, hot messes...and that's okay. Jesus died for us because of our mess...it's taken care of...what a blessing and a gift that grace is!

2015 has been an absolutely life-altering year...it's amazing to look back and see where we started and how far we've come. To God be the glory! 

I absolutely cannot wait to see what all 2016 holds for our little family...and, God-willing, hopefully that will include a very special trip for our China boy!

Preschool Christmas Programs 2015

This totally cracked me up! And is oh so very true. This morning, we enjoyed Carter's preschool Christmas program, and last week Kate had her miniature version of it, too. They were both too cute and funny not to share! 

I'll start with Kate...she looked so incredibly cute heading to school! 

And then, she was asked to perform...

Yeah, not a fan. ;) 

One of the perks of working at the school was that we got to go back into the room once the day was over and have a little redo photo shoot. She was HAPPY to sing and dance and smile for me all alone in the room, but as she told me later, "All the mommies and daddies were scary." It's tough to be two! 

Now onto the big guy. Carter fell in love with these dumb horrific patriotic cowboy boots at Wal-mart the other day, so naturally he had to wear them to look "fancy" today. He is my shy one, so I knew he'd be nervous, but he ended up doing so well!

His class first sang "Jingle Bell Rock."

And then "The First Noel."

And then came the finale. He lucked out standing next to one of his sweet friends for this, so he was quite dramatic with his motions for the final three songs - "Jingle Bells," "Go Tell it on a Mountain," and "Happy Birthday Jesus." 

Afterward, we got to go have cookies in his class and tell him what a stud he is.

It was a such fun little morning with our cowboy! :) Hope everyone has a great last week of school with your little ones!  

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

We had an absolutely perfect day with our sweet family today. I hosted, and I'm not one to brag, but not only did I not kill anyone with food poisoning, but the house is still standing and semi-clean, too! ;) It's a Turkey Day miracle!

I scrolled through my Facebook first thing this morning and saw all you fit people out running Turkey Trots, so I decided to get my morning workout in by banging the Pillsbury can against the kitchen counter EXTRA hard before throwing those suckers in the oven. I mean, that definitely burned at LEAST two calories...so I ate two cinnamon rolls before tackling the turkey. :) Sorry, not sorry. 

These two didn't mind my workout of the day either.

And then...this sucker met its demise in the oven.

After getting everyone cleaned up, we recruited my parents to take a few family pics outside because I totally blanked on booking family pics this year. (Is adoption brain a thing? It's kind of like preggo-brain...except not?) 

This girl was ready for her close-up. 

 Carter's face...he's all, "Get me outta here!"

 My tiny beauty.

 Stud muffin!

 So blessed. So SO blessed.

 Blake checked went to gather up the boys' fishing gear for a trip up to the pond, and I took the opportunity to snag a few pics with my kiddos. I somehow NEVER make it into the pics, so I had to take the opportunity!

 Love these two!

At this point, ten more people descended on the house and fun family chaos ensued for about six hours. For some strange reason, I could never get the adults to pose for me, but the kids' table was willing to give me a cheese before diving into the meal!

And then, we feasted! Such an amazing spread!

We had an absolutely perfect day...the kids were asleep in their beds at 7pm, and we are feeling so incredibly thankful and blessed by all we've been given this year. God is good...all the time! We are so grateful for a wonderful family day and hopeful that next year there will be a sixth little booty at that kids' table! :) 

November 1

Eeeks! November 1! I've been waiting for this day for a while. Halloween is over (it's a love-hate, y'all), Adoption Awareness Month is beginning, our Booster closed last night, and my kids broke in their new Christmas pajamas last night. :) Life is good today.

First, I want to give my deepest, most sincere, and very heartfelt thanks to all who supported us in our t-shirt Booster sale. We ended up selling 187 shirts and raising...wait for it...

$3,237.29!

I don't even have the right words to express my gratitude. I was actually told by a friend who had sold t-shirts as a fundraiser to not expect much because she didn't feel like t-shirt fundraisers worked, and hers was very unsuccessful. Well, I loved the design we came up with, and I thought, why not? If we raise a couple hundred dollars and people get to share in our journey a little bit, what can it hurt?

Yes, well. 

How incredible God (and our community!) is to not only help us reach our completely ridiculous goal, but to actually SURPASS IT and basically QUADRUPLE what we had initially hoped to raise. I know I sound like a broken record here, but we just continue to be humbled and blown away by God's provision for our family in this process. It's not easy for a family with one full-time salary who has two kids in preschool and very little discretionary income to come up with the $35,000 needed to complete an international adoption, but God just continues to show up, cover us in all of these details, and confirm that this is His plan for us. What an amazing Provider and Father we serve.  

Big Sister gives Him all the praise hands.

Last night, we had a blast celebrating Halloween with our sweet Ironman and Doc McStuffins. We trick or treated with my two nephews and their neighbor, and the kids had a great night. It was really the first time they understood and were excited to do it, and that was so fun to see. 

And because it's November 1st...these babies made an appearance in our house last night! Cannot explain my actions. Judge if you must, but the Christmas season is short enough enough as it is...we wear Christmas pjs from November to February around here! :) 

Ok, and lastly, my generous and precious friend, Laurel, has made the most incredible offer to our family. She sells Rodan + Fields skin care, and to honor Adoption Awareness Month, she has offered to donate 50% of her proceeds during November to our family.

Rodan + Fields is the fourth largest premium skin care line in the country, and their testimonials are absolutely INSANE. They have several different product lines for various skin types, and I have many friends getting incredible results from the products. If you've ever been curious about the products and wanted to give them a whirl, now is the time! My sources tell me their multi-function eye cream is amazing, and I am personally excited to see that for myself when I get my hands on it! :)  To learn more about the products or place an order, visit Laurel's link HERE. 

We all have a role to play in caring for orphans (James 1:27), and we are so thankful for so many people wanting to help us on this journey. Have a wonderful Sunday, friends!