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! 

Eight on the Eighth: A Life Lately Recap

Okay, y'all...forgive my absence here. For the last two weeks, we've gone into sprint mode around here with visa applications, a quick lake getaway, the start of a new school year, and just general September craziness. So, a couple quick things to share with you all...

ONE 

We are resting on the adoption paperwork front...for a hot nanosecond.

Our visa applications went out last week, our I800 application (immigration forms) went out two weeks ago, and our latest agency invoice was sent to the grant director for disbursement. Check, check, check. For now, we breathe. At this point, nothing can happen until we get our I800 approval and the grant money is received by our agency. At that point, we should know our travel dates...EEEEK! I cannot WAIT to start a countdown to baby boy!

TWO

We sent summer out in style with a quick little jaunt up to the lakehouse for one last getaway as a family of four. It was a sweet, sweet time in our favorite place. I didn't take all that many pictures because I really tried to keep my thoughts and mind present with my family and keep the social media and temptations of the phone away, but I grabbed just a couple to share. :)

This view...it just never gets old, y'all.

We are in the middle of a marriage series at church, and each week, we are getting "homework." This week, we were supposed to go on a date. Ummm, okay. Can't argue with church, right? We got away for a quick bite of Arkansas BBQ on Saturday afternoon. 

Fishing with Doc! Caught a "whopper!"

Loved spying on my boys while they were fishing one morning...total Forrest Gump moment. ;) I can't believe I'll have THREE boys to spy on next summer! 

Major growth from the kids - they actually SWAM IN THE LAKE! 

THREE

The day after we returned from the lake, we started a brand new year of school! 

These kids had a great first week and are LOVING their new teachers and classes! 

We have a Thursday afternoon slurpee tradition...I think I was the happiest of the three of us to see it return! 

FOUR

Monday night, our t-shirt fundraiser closed, and I am blown away to share that we raised $1,400 to put toward our orphanage donation! We sold just shy of 100 shirts, and for being a second round of orders, we couldn't believe the success! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who supported!

FIVE

Okay, I can't get this post published without shouting out the Noonday sale section. I know, I know...painful self-promotion. BUT IT'S REALLY NOT! I want to point out a few of my absolute favorite pieces that are on CRAZY sale right now so you can grab them up before they're gone forever! These are items that will not be reordered and they WILL sell out QUICKLY!

These are two of my classic favorites for the James Avery or very traditional girl. The Monaco bracelet on the left was originally $38 and is now LESS THAN $15! Ummm, hello perfect gift for the mother-in-law who has everything! And the Octagon Hoops are under $25! These are my GO-TO earrings that basically go with anything.

Ohhh, Chennai Crossbody, let me count the ways I love you. You make me HANDS FREE, you are a gorgeous color pop, and you have a REMOVABLE tassel...be still my heart! This handmade beauty was just marked down from $125 to $84.99...more than 30% off. Yes, PLEASE. And the Nakato Necklace...it's a hand-rolled gorgeous statement pieces that is just $20.99 right now. Let me assure you, this one will be GONE FAST!

And lastly...two of my FAVORITES are this month's guest specials, and I have a trunk show open through the 23rd! If you pick up a couple of gifts or sale items and your cart totals $60+, shoot me an email and let me enter your order with one (or both) of these special deals! Sale items + trunk show specials = happy wallet. TOO GOOD, Y'ALL.

Check it all out HERE.

 SIX

This guy. I think he's been having a little bit of a tough time with the fact that most of his friends went to Kindergarten and he doesn't see them all that much anymore. I think he's also a little bit nervous about getting a baby brother, and he's been very cuddly and clingy lately. Tonight, I was tucking him in bed around 7:45 and mentioned I might go on a walk. He didn't seem very tired, so I asked if he wanted to go with me, and he just about flew out of his bed. We walked around the neighborhood, talked about his new TK class, and he relished the one-on-one time. I didn't get much exercise, but I think he needed the time more than I needed the calorie burn. :)

We watched a family of ducks sitting on the edge of the lake here for a while, and it was so interesting to me that he kept talking about the white duck sitting with all the brown ducks. He kept asking why he was with them when he "didn't match." It was such a great opportunity to hear his perspective. I was so tempted to immediately jump in and pull out all the cliches about how we don't have to look alike to love each other or be accepted, but I somehow mustered the self-control to just listen instead. Children are amazing you guys. Carter proceeded to make up a story about how the brown ducks found the white duck when he was swimming alone because he was lost. He thinks the brown ducks asked him if he needed help, and the white duck said he doesn't have a family, so the brown ducks take care of him. He then looked up at me and said, "They're kinda like us, huh?" I asked him what he meant, and he said, "That's why Brooks is in China waiting for us. He needs us to take care of him, right, Mom? Because he needs a family?"

Cue the ugly cry.

Are adoption hormones a thing? Some people called waiting adoptive families "paper pregnant." I think that's kind of odd, so I've never used that term, but I'm totally feeling the emotional roller coaster lately. Dang you, five year-old! ;)

SEVEN and EIGHT

If you're still reading, props to you. It's the first week of school, I walked over 3 miles today running around our preschool building like a crazy lady. and I'm going to call six out of the eight good for now. The Eight on the Eighth title sounded so much better than six on the eighth...so we're keeping it,but I'm spent. y'all. 

Night!    

May Recap: Life Lately

Well, hey there end of May!

In the words of my Carter, "What the what?!!"

This month has been an absolute WHIRLWIND. I repeat. WHIRL. WIND. Here's a little peek at what we've been up to...in completely random, not chronological order...

We celebrated this beautiful lady, my mom, on Mother's Day with an amazing meal at her country club! 

Three generations of Wade girls...

These two LOVE their Gammy! 

We've spent CRAZY amounts of time in the backyard...in our sunnies...:)  

And we watched this amazing boy "GRADUATE" from Pre-K! 

**Okay, so he's doing TK since he's a summer birthday, so we aren't going to get all technical about the graduation thing...we just had a blast celebrating his growth this year!** 

He was SO EXCITED to receive the "Happy Helper" award! (except not...) 

Please read his career aspirations...a multi-tasker like his mom! ;) I am SO PROUD.

We were headed off to our last day of preschool for the year! WE MADE IT!!!!

This cutie started playing T-Ball and is in MAJOR LOVE! This sport has been such a confidence booster for my sweet boy. Soccer was entirely too aggressive for him, and this is SO his speed! 

Kate fell in love with the splash pad...(and this cute boy!) 

Blake and I spent an INCREDIBLE weekend away in Austin for a little "mental health break" from our crazy. If you and your significant other have never done this, I HIGHLY recommend it. We came back refreshed, reconnected, and totally recharged after an insanely draining spring for us both. 

While I was there, I read both of these incredible books. Get your hands on these NOW, people. Looking for Lovely is great for someone going through a hard time or struggling with insecurity, and Wild and Free, y'all, this book. I mean, where do I start? This is inspirational, freeing, confidence-boosting, faith-building, challenging...everything you'd want in a faith-based non-fiction read. Just trust me when I say you NEED it.  

DATE NIGHT NUMBER TWO! WOOOHOOOOOO! 

On the way back from Austin (except it wasn't on the way at all...), we met up with a rescue group to adopt this precious thing! We've had her a little over a week now, and I wish I could tell you that things are great...but it's hard. And we have some major concerns.

Since we live on a golf course, we have a high-net fence in our backyard. Well, this sweet baby is a fairly constant chewer, and she has decided it's a fun game to chew holes in the net and get out onto the golf course to play. :( We are currently evaluating whether or not our home is a safe environment for her or not, so prayers appreciated that we will have some clarity to her situation soon. She is as sweet as can be and SO STINKIN' SMART...we just aren't sure we can keep her safe in our home.  

On a more positive note, we joined an incredible gym in our neighborhood for the summer and broke in the pool last week! Little fishies! They were SO EXCITED for it!

 And I was THRILLED to host three trunk shows this month, one of which was my first Noonday Collection adoption fundraiser! One of the main reasons I became an Ambassador was to pay it forward to other adopting families and help them raise funds, so I was pumped for this show. We had a fun night talking all about the sweet family, playing dress-up with the beautiful pieces, and just enjoying each other's company. I pray the best for the family as they pursue the adoption of their daughter in the Philippines! 

And on the adoption note, I wish I had great news to share here about our progress...but it's just not our turn yet. Three weeks ago, I chatted with our matching coordinator who assured us we were at the very top of the list for boys, so our call could be coming just any day. For whatever reason, they just haven't seen a profile yet that matches our family's preferences. So, we wait. More.

I've been asked so many times lately how I deal with all the waiting and disappointment that our initial "3-months-to-match" time frame wasn't met. I wish I had a good answer for how I deal with it, but I just do. I get up in the morning, hug my kids, and take care of the day at hand. I put one foot in front of the other and just keep on trusting that God's got this. I can't see what He does, and that's okay. His view of time and mine is not the same, and He knows my needs way better than I do. I'll admit, I often find myself wondering if today is going to be "the day" or not, but I don't linger on it. I can't. I could easily get frustrated and throw in the towel, but this whole process has been one giant act of surrender. From the moment we said yes to adoption, we said yes to God's timing.

His PERFECT timing.

So, we're here. We're ready. And we hope to have big news to share with everyone SOON.