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Thanksgiving 2017

I love Thanksgiving. It's just such a simple and happy holiday. I know there are history buffs out there that take issue with the day, but I choose to focus on the now. For us Thanksgiving is a day for good food, spending time family, and focusing on Gods blessings. Simple. And this years Thanksgiving was just as lovely as I could have hoped.

We spent our morning at home preparing my favorite vegetable tian that I've made the past few years. It's slightly time consuming just because of the prep work but ridiculously easy to make (simple is the theme of the day) and oh so yummy. All five of us in the kitchen together with music playing, the smell of onion and garlic cooking, the sound of my daughter chattering away at at the kitchen counter about whatever pops into the awesome imagination of hers. These are a few of my favorite things.

We made our way to my in-laws house for the afternoon where we ate and spent time with extended family. There were at least 25 people there so the kids got massive amounts of attention. We did our traditional go-round the table to say what we were all thankful for. High on the list this year were things like our cousin Trevin's service as a firefighter. He worked tirelessly this fire season. Trevin and his wife Ashley are also expecting their first child this December! Aunt Heather who, although she lost her home in the Santa Rosa fires, is safe and healthy after a bought of pneumonia. Cousin Camery's who endured and lived through Route91 in Las Vegas, praising God for His grace and sovereignty. Family, Gods provision, peace through stormy trials, and the comfort of home. Our family is blessed.

While our older two kids stayed at my in-laws to play a little longer, Josh, Flash and I went over to my parents house for some time with more family. More blessings. My bother and his beautiful new wife, my great aunt, and cousins I haven't gotten to see in a long time. And, thanks to my mother-in-law, a little quiet time with my sleeping Flash so I could sit and have full conversations and Josh could play a game of ping-pong with my brother.

A beautiful, quiet, simple day.

Now on to the Christmas Season! A time to celebrate our biggest blessing, Jesus Christ and his simple beautiful gift of salvation. May he bless you with a joy filled rest of the year.

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Here's a little bonus for you. My first Black Friday sale! My entire shop is 15% off today. Find a fun post-Thanksgiving activity to do with your little ones. Enjoy!

3 Things To Keep After Adopting

 If you've been reading my blog long enough you'll know Halloween is my least favorite holiday. After having kids it has gotten much more fun, but I'm still not a huge fan. This years Halloween was full of good memories though so I'll ignore the ghosts and spiders and focus on my happy kiddos.

Dory, Nemo, and the hungry caterpillar (or if you're using your imagination "Shark bait". wink wink.)

Now that Halloween is over, November begins a period of celebration I can really get behind. Like Easter, I have come to feel that this time of year is a special gift just for our family. For some reason God has decided to group life events in clusters for me and November holds a few that are dear to my heart. It's my mom's birthday month, Thanksgiving, Evelyn's birthday (I have come to a place where I can celebrate her!), and all month long we get to celebrate National Adoption Month!

I'm the kind of person that loves keepsakes. I get sentimental about the littlest things. For example, Josh and I have a shoe box full of little memories from our highschool years. Movie ticket stubs, a deflated balloon from our first Valentines day, a menu Josh made from the first dinner he cooked me. Theses are things I'll never throw away. My keepsake hording only increased once I had kids. Squeaks specifically has childhood memorabilia coming out the wazoo. 

In honor of Nation Adoption Month, I wanted to share a list of keepsakes you might not think of keeping for your adopted child. These are things I am super glad I have for Squeaks and I'm positive she will be thankful I kept them too.

1. Original birth certificate.
This might seem like a no-brainer once you think of it, but a lot of people don't do this. I don't know if this is the case in every state, but in California, once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive parents are put onto a new birth certificate with the childs new name (if they have chosen to change it). Squeaks' birth parents named her a completely different name and I wanted her to have that connection. I wanted her to see their names and the name they had chosen for her. It isn't  a legal document anymore but I have it. You may need to ask for the original like I did. Once it's changed it usually doesn't end up in the final paperwork.

2. Clothes.
Although we did get to go to the hospital and spend time with Squeaks birth family, due to extenuating circumstances she spent her first week out of the hospital with a foster family. We didn't get to put her in her leaving-the-hospital outfit. The whole thing was a hard pill to swallow at the time. But, just like most of our trials, we can look back now and see that God meant it for good. The night Squeaks came home she was dressed in pajamas the foster family had put on her. Pink long pajamas with monkeys all over them. Something I would have never purchased. But after texting some homecoming pictures to Squeaks birth mother, she was thrilled to see that Squeaks was wearing the same pjs her biological older sister had. Those monkey pajamas are now snugly folded into Squeaks keepsake box.

Squeaks in her monkey jammies.

3. Text messages.
I LOVE reading through the text messages from the day of and days after Squeaks was born. God's fingerprints are all over the place! These are the conversations that led us to her with the people who worked hard to bring her home. The first text messages I received from Squeaks birth mother make me cry even now. The strength and love is overwhelming. Text messages from our adoption coordinator, lawyer, and home study case worker are full of Gods amazing attention to detail. The majority of them have private detail that aren't mine to share. This one however is a favorite because it just goes to show how quickly life can change and how much God loves showing his perfect timing. Our homestudy had been delayed due to some misplaced paperwork. Not just for a few days or weeks, but delayed for months. It was driving me crazy and of course I thought it was all up to me to fix, it was going to derail everything, it was going to keep us from getting a child! I completely let my head run away with itself and forgot my God is bigger than paperwork. Then I got this text message the morning of January 8th completely unaware that Squeaks birth mother was in labor with her at that very moment. We got the call that night. That's the kind of thing that makes you all giddy inside. Knowing God had a plan all along and that every detail is in his hands. So ya, keep those text messages.

What about you? Did you keep anything out of the ordinary from your adoption journey?

My Cord Of Three Strands

 Oh how I wish I hadn't fallen so far behind on posting! I miss this so much. I logged on and realized I haven't written since our pregnancy announcement LAST November! I can give all the usual excuses, most of which involve being pregnant and running after two toddlers, but I think I'll skip that and share the fun stuff first.

We had a super easy pregnancy. Aside from the fact that my hormones made me a little short tempered here and there (sorry Josh), everything was very smooth. I'd very much like to write a full post about our newest arrivals birthday. It was a very blessed day and I don't want to forget a detail. For now I'll introduce our second son (on the blog I'll call him Flash. I'll explain why in a moment) born healthy and happy one month ago! He weighed in at a strong 7lbs 12oz, 20 inches, and as sweet as can be. 

 

The last eight months have been packed full of family fun, challenges, and growth. Squeaks turned three!!! She has thoroughly embraced her big sister role. I truly believe she was meant to be a big sister to two boys. I was admittedly a bit sad that she wasn't getting a sister but it was short lived when I considered her personality. She was cut out for brothers. She's so independent, so smart, so clever. A sister just wouldn't fit. As usual Gods plan is perfect. I'm not the type to go into too much detail about this sort of thing, but I am VERY happy to say Squeaks is now potty trained. That was a huge goal for me. The idea of three kids in diapers, yuck.

Add in Christmas, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, my birthday (which included a ride in a helicopter!), my little brother getting married (I'm old!), and 4th of July and these past eight months have been non-stop. The number of blog posts waiting to migrate from brain to screen is nearly endless. I'm going to make a serious effort to catch up/keep up with posting because I just really miss this creative outlet.

As far as our newest and biggest family change, Flash fits right in. I'm calling him Flash after a character from one of the kids favorite movies right now, Zootopia. A super cute, very slow, sloth. I think it fits our very relaxed new little man perfectly. He is the total opposite of our energetic, never-stops-moving, mini daredevil Little Dude. Our little Flash is super content, cries only when completely necessary, and even then it's the sweetest tiniest little cry you've ever heard. He's an amazing sleeper and can sleep through a ton of noise (yay!). He is a wonderful addition to our family.

Raising three kids under four years old is challenging to say the least. Josh and I are very tired. Past tired. A little delirious at times. But we're super excited to watch them grow together and develop a strong bond. We're excited to see what God has in store, and should it cross your mind, pray we stay awake to see it.

"Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

Our first picture as a family of five! I do believe this may be the only picture I have of Little Dude sleeping. He hadn't slept well the night before and decided this was the perfect time and place to catch up on his rest. Squeaks was ecstatic to meet her new brother and, once he woke up, Little Dude was very excited to give his brother kisses.

"Look what I can do!" -God

God has the best sense of humor! Here I am. The woman who thought she'd never be able to experience pregnancy, who forced herself (and her poor husband) through years of fertility treatments to no avail...pregnant....AGAIN! This is a huge surprise. Although I guess it shouldn't be. We thought Evelyn and Little Dude were one time miracles. Little Dude for sure. This is now my third pregnancy. Apparently the fertility doctors were really wrong.

I noticed a few symptoms over a couple days but I was so sure it was something else. A cold...something. Then on October 13th (exactly one month after LD's first birthday) I couldn't get it out of my head that I should take a pregnancy test. After I put the kids down for their afternoon naps, I dug through the very back of the bathroom cabinets and finally found the other test from the box I bought last go-round. I double checked the expiration date and a few minutes later there were those two pink lines. Pretty sure I sat there, in my bathroom, in total shock for at least fifteen minutes just staring at the test. 

After the kids woke up I didn't have much time to dwell on the fact that I am pregnant. A fact I suspect will be a theme until I actually go into labor.. I did have enough time though to decide I wanted Squeaks to "tell" Josh. She's only two (three in January!!) so she doesn't really understand, but I thought it would be sweet, and maybe lighten the blow a bit for Josh. Ha!

Once Josh was home I waited for him to go to our bedroom and I pulled Squeaks aside. I handed her the positive pregnancy test, taped closed in case she decided to have a "hey-what's-this!?" moment, and told her to take it to daddy and yell "surprise!". She loves surprises so her face lit up and she immediately ran toward the bedroom. I had to run to keep up with her so I could see his face. I kind of wish I had filmed it. Priceless. He couldn't stop saying "you're joking, right?!" I had to tell him at least three times it was real. 

The shock dissipated ever so slightly and we both reassured the other that we were excited and happy, then immediately started discussing things like where he or she will sleep since we're out of bedrooms. We're probably going to have to get a new car. A third car seat just won't fit in our current car (that we bought when we were expecting LD. Ugh!). Then we both realized we will get to tell our families at Thanksgiving! On Evelyn's birthday!! I. Can. NOT. Wait!!! (Wrote this awhile ago. We told family yesterday! It was awesome. Post coming soon.)

While this is unexpected to say the least, it was by no means a mistake. Unplanned, for sure, but 100% meant to be. Every child is a gift from God! It totally blows me away that He is giving me another turn. Another blessing. Another life. I am so blessed!!

Over the next nine months, I would appreciate your prayers. Evelyn left uncertainty and fear burned into me, along with gratitude and love of course, but fear is winning right now. I don't want fear to win. I started my pregnancy with Little Dude determined to celebrate and enjoy every moment and this time will be no different. Pray for strength, wisdom, and peace. Let's do this!

Can't wait to meet our little tiebreaker!

Halloween 2016

Technical difficulties have kept me from posting the past week or so (technology hates me). For some reason uploading pictures just wouldn't happen. Well, I found a way around it. I had to email myself the photos for this post. Ha! Take that computer! 

Anyway...Halloween! It's never been my favorite holiday. It's my least favorite in fact. Not a fan of scary movies, spiders, bats, pumpkin-flavored-anything. But, having kids sure adds a fun element to it. 

Squeaks was a butterfly and Little Dude was a dinosaur. Both ridiculously cute. Halloween morning we joined some friends at a local retirement home for a toddler table-side trick or treat. We did this last year and it has been such a fun experience watching the kids with the older residents. The kids make their way around a long table collecting candy from each person. It's fun to watch how happy it makes all those involved. We don't give the kids sugar though so Squeaks enjoyed a granola bar while the other kids had some cookies. Since she doesn't even know what candy is and we call cookies "nasty pods" (half joke, half not), she didn't complain at all and was quite happy with her granola bar.

Later that evening we walked down to our church's harvest festival. Squeaks is old enough now that she understands how to play the games and she really loved the petting zoo and pony rides. This was her first pony ride in fact. Little Dude just couldn't stand staying in the stroller so we let him loose and he had a blast exploring with me following close behind him. He's getting pretty fast!

All-in-all a fun day! 

My sweet little trick-or-treaters! Squeaks ran around our living room pretending to flap her wings. Little Dude looked so cute in his little dino suit (inherited from a friend who outgrew it). Do you recognize Squeaks' monster feet? LD borrowd them for the day.

Two left photos: Squeaks collecting candy. Top right: Enjoying hr granola bar "treat". Middle right: Little Dude exploring and being cute. Bottom right: All the kiddos so cute in their costumes.

  Look how happy she is!! Such a sweet girl. I'd totally buy her a pony if I could. The face!

ONE

It came and went so fast I have a little whiplash! Our Little Dude is ONE!! *stands mouth gaping open in pure astonishment*

We had an absolutely lovely day at Disneyland on his actual birth day. We went on rides, we people-watched (a favorite pastime of mine), and we even got to spend quite a bit of time with a few characters! We happened to be in the right place at the right time when Chip, Dale, and Goofy came out. They literally walked right up to the kids and started playing together! It was so fun!! Squeaks loved it and gave lots of hugs. Little Dude even got to play a little peekaboo with Dale!
   

Yesterday was LD's party and it went great. I was a bit hard on myself at first because I had grand plans for the decorations, but time just didn't allow for about half of it to happen. Oh well. I still think it turned out perfect and everyone seemed to have a great time. I know I did! The kids loved the bounce house, Little Dude had a blast ripping open presents and smashing his little cake, and I couldn't have asked for more heart warming blessing letters from the grandparents. Good memories, good food, amazing friends and family, and a sweet, wonderful, happy little birthday boy!  

 A few of the decorations I made. Love his monthly picture display!

 I used this recipe for his cake and this one for the frosting. He smeared it around more than he ate it, but he enjoyed what he did eat.  I tried it and it was super yummy!

He went straight from cake-smashing into a quick bath. He loved ripping wrapping paper and Squeaks helped too. Squeaks with Punkin' (so grown up!).

 Bounce house fun with dad, Uncle Caleb, and Squeaks' best friend. (I'll call her Tinkerbell. Her mamma knows why *wink*)

The worlds' best Nana even got in the bounce house with Squeaks! Little Dude was so tired at the end of the party.

Our sweet boy is growing so fast!

Little Man

Mini Man

Little Dude

I am convinced that this little boy was born with full mental knowledge of what he's capable of, just not the physical ability to carry it out yet. He is so determined. So motivated. Never. Stops. Moving.

Tomorrow he turns one. It feels like he went from birth to unstoppable-force-of-nature in no time flat. He is...THE Little Dude.

For his actual birth day we will follow tradition and celebrate at Disneyland just like we did for Squeaks' first birthday. His party will be on Saturday. Planes, trains, and automobiles theme for the Mini Man in constant motion. There will be family, friends, food, and fun. I am especially looking forward to the blessing letters read by Josh, myself, and the grandparents. Another tradition from Squeaks' first as well. Can't wait! Now excuse me while I go cry.

As Of Yesterday...

We are officially exactly one month way from Little Dude's first birthday! 

Monthly pictures were not part of Squeaks plan for her day yesterday. She was not feelin' it. At all. I kinda made her do it anyway though. I just love these monthly pictures. Getting to compare them to months past and see how much my littles have grown. She warmed up to it near the end and finally gave me a smile. 

I've started planning LD's first birthday party. An "Everything That Moves" party fits him so well. Planes, trains, boats, trucks; if it moves he loves it!! I'm particularly proud of the invites I made (a skill, by the way, I am happy to share with others. Email for prices on custom invites, printables, thank you cards, etc.). Bold primary colors and decorations made by yours truly. It's gonna be a fun day! 

Little Dude's First Easter

This is one of my favorite times of the year. The weather is beautiful. Light breezes and scattered rainy days clean away the Southern California smog making the sunny days in between even brighter. Easter Sunday was one of those beautiful sunny days. Perfect temperature. Light breeze. Wonderful family. Celebrating the resurrection of Christ and our eternal salvation through His sacrifice. It just doesn't get any better.Plus it was Little Dude's first Easter!!

In the morning, we enjoyed church as a family. Squeaks just strolls right in to Sunday school like a boss. Doesn't even look back most of the time. She just waves over her shoulder and heads toward the toys and other kids. Little Dude wiggles happily on my lap through service. He loves the music. It still blows my mind that we have two kids.

We spent the rest of the day with family, eating good food, enjoying each others company. Little Dude is a true mamas boy. He spent most of the day in my arms, venturing to family members laps only once in awhile before demanding me back. Squeaks was off with loving relatives from the time we arrived though. She's a social little thing and I'm sure one day her little brother will be the same. This will be the last year Squeaks does the egg hunt in Nana and Papas front yard by herself. Next Easter Little Dude will be 18 months and unstoppable. Crazy to think about! Plus, we had a few weddings in our family this past year, so fingers crossed for cousins soon.

 Enjoying the sunshine while big sister hunts for eggs. He looked so cute in his tiny jeans and button up shirt. Such a little man.

 Happy girl with her basket of eggs. It's so funny to watch the whole family follow her around the yard pointing out hidden eggs.

Both kids were totally worn out by the time we got home. A very good day.

Some Of What I'd Like To Say

Should I start this blog post like every blogger who has been absent from the blogosphere does?...I've just been so busy, life is so crazy, I've started a new post like five times...yada yada...there, I did it.

I have a cuddly, sweet, wiggly six month old who has waged war on sleep, and a silly, stubborn, amazingly smart toddler deep in the trenches of all that is two-years-old (yep that happened!). In the past six months there have been multiple times when I have looked back on the previous weeks and could count on one hand the number of times I got a chance to brush my hair, brush my teeth, or pee without an audience. Forget about showering. Dry shampoo is my friend.

Though my brain is mush from lack of sleep, my eyes heavy and tired I can also look back on these past six months and see beautiful moments, days filled with growth, grace, and hope. There is a lot I'd like to say about having a "difficult" baby (this is what the internet calls him). He is so much more than colic, gas, eczema, and reflux though. As we are slowly coming out of this fog of new-born-ness, I feel slightly ashamed about how I've focused on "fixing" his issues rather than enjoying his growth. How long did I pray to be pregnant?! PLUS to get a son!!!! I never lost sight of how miraculous our daughter's entry into our family was, but I feel like, for a little while, I forgot just how miraculous our son is. I plan to do better.

We've hit fun milestones since I last posted. It's going to be difficult to share as much as I'd like just cause...kids, tired, time. I will do my best though.

Squeaks turned TWO at the beginning of January! It was a fantastically bee bedecked blast. Our little bee enthusiast enjoyed family time, a mountain of gifts, and snow dumped in our driveway out of uncle's truck. It was a lovely day.

Playing with snow like true Californians. Dumped in the driveway out of the back of a pick-up. She loved it!!

She's just so beautiful.

Squeaks also graduated from a toddler bed into a twin big-girl bed, and from her highchair into a booster seat at the table. She puts herself to sleep now which is amazing! After a bed time story, a few minutes of cuddling, and prayers, her tiny voice chirps "nigh-night" and waves us out the door. Some nights it takes her awhile to actually fall asleep but she does eventually drift off on her own without a fuss. Switching her to the booster was perfect timing as Little Dude has taken over the highchair.

Squeaks enjoying lunch in her big girl chair. Peas are actually one of her favorite foods! Go for it kid!!

Big girl bed!!!!

Mini Man, all smiles keeping me company in the kitchen.

I love this age where she's making friends and actually playing rather than just sitting there staring at each other like kids do before developing social skills. She's so smart! Getting so good at recognizing colors, counting, and she says a new word or sentence or phrase every day. Learning, learning, learning. She eats through books like nobodies business. We read all the time. I even recently became an Usborne consultant so that I could keep her library fresh (and because I have soooo much free time). Being part of this business is going to be great when we start homeschooling.
  Squeaks playing with her "I Can Count" book.

My future doctor "reading" in her chair. ("Questions and Answers About Your Body")

Our little mini-man is growing like a weed. Sitting up on his own, babbling away. Poor kid just can't seem to kick his baby eczema but colic has definitely subsided. He turned six months old this past weekend (and I turned 31! Whaaaa?!) and is seconds away from crawling. This kid wants to move crazy bad. I think he'll move to walking way before he turns one. Either that or just go straight to running...and then college...full speed ahead!! This kid has the most determined personality. He's unstoppable!!
Trying so hard to crawl!!

Just way too fast...
As I said, so much more to say, but...

Top 15 of 2015

Looking through Christmas pictures got me in a picture-y mood. You know I love me a good picture. So as a way of saying goodbye to a wonderful year, I wanted to share my favorite fifteen picture of 2015. Hold onto your socks cause there were some great ones.

Squeaks turned one and we found out we were expecting!

Squeaks playing outside this summer. The picture I used to tell Josh we were having a boy!

We finalized Squeaks adoption. Squeaks cuddling her favorite stuffed animals in her crib.

Squeaks' sticker obsession reached new heights. Even found one under my growing belly. Cuddling both my babies at once.

Beautiful girl. One of my favorite pictures of Squeaks. Our family of four before Little Dude arrived.

Ready to pop! He's here and perfect!

Our first family picture together. Squeaks loves her brother.

Our happy boy. Excited to see what the new year brings!