Rainy Day Fun

Last night, knowing it was going to rain and we wouldn't be able to play outside, I blew up 50 balloons and put them in the den so that when Major woke up he would walk into a room full of one of his most favorite things! He was so surprised! I wish I had been a little better prepared to catch his first reaction, but he decided to drive his firetruck into the den rather than walk this morning, so that made it a little harder. Anyway, he was happy and we have had the best day playing with a room full of balloons!

Hahaha!!! What a fun way to spend a rainy day! :)

Been a Little MIA lately

I've been a little MIA lately with my blog, so I guess it's time for an update. Not much is going on right now, just in the routine of life, truckin' along you know....


Josh, Major and I took a trip to the mountains last week. It was much needed and lots and lots of fun. We decided against a beach vacation this year and instead opted for a deck remodel and Dollywood passes. So we took advantage of our season passes for the first time last week. We all had a ball and Major LOVED Dollywood, he even rode the Scrambler and the Grizzly River Rampage! We also went on a hike, visited the aquarium and the Knoxville Zoo on the way back home on Monday. Our trip was wonderful and I enjoyed so much spending time with both my boys. :)

On Our Way

 Swimming with Daddy

Fire Golf 

At the Swimming Hole

He had the best time finding and throwing rocks

Nature Hike 

Fun at the Aquarium

 Dollywood

The Knoxville Zoo

We were non-stop super busy for 4 days, but it was wonderful. Major got to go and see lots of things and most importantly we all got to spend time together as a family. I can't wait to go back!

Sweet Treat

I've been wanting to make these ice cream cone cupcakes for a while and my class Easter party at the preschool gave me the perfect opportunuity! They look so cute and so YUM!!!

I think I may just have to try one of these tomorrow with my little kiddos!!!!

A Mid-Week Get Away.....Gone Awry

Last week I decided to go to the mountains for a few days with Major and thought rather than going alone I would invite my friend Emily and her kiddos, afterall, Major and Abby always do pretty well together and well I just love Emily. Well the first sign that this trip was going to be....."intersting" was that I had a urinary tract infection, regardless, I was excited and we headed on. After a couple of meltdowns and a few kid-arguments in the car, we made it and immediately went for dinner. Major was AWFUL and I seriously thought about leaving him with some of the tourists, but decided they'd just bring him back, so we struggled through dinner and headed back for some R&R. Thankfully the kids went to sleep shortly after we got to the condo and Emily and I had some time to chat.  That was the best part of the trip! I woke up Thursday am not feeling great at all, but I had promised Major we would play golf, so we took the kids to play putt putt. They didn't have a clue, but we did have fun there until Major threw a tantrum over driving the firetruck out front. Later in the day we took the kids to Cade's Cove. I was most excited about that because I knew they could run and play and the weather was BEAUTIFUL that day. Well, we got up there and the loop was closed....bummer....so we let them look at the horses and run around in the grass by the parking lot. By this time in the day, both Emily and I were tired, I was still not feeling well, and after endless tantrums we decided to come back home a day early. We grabbed dinner and headed West. Just when I started to wonder how much 2 little kids could argue, Major puked ALL OVER himself and Emily's van. I am talking like in the movies projectile! Not good at all. So we pulled over and I had to beg a very rude Iranian gas station worker for a garbage bag. I hosed Major off, found some clean clothes, put his carseat in the garbage bag, and called Josh. The smell of puke was horrid.....so thankfully Josh met us on the interstate, so Emily didn't have to drive the rest of the way with Pukey Pukerson in the backseat. Poor Emily....I swear, I will be surprised if she ever does anything with us again. Anyway, our quiet mid-week fun little trip turned into a very stressful and sickly little trip instead. We kept looking at each other saying we will look back at this trip and say "Hey, you remember when...."! We got a few good laughs, but overall, I say we need a re-do!!!!

   

  

Happy Days

The past couple of blogs have been a little serious, so I am thinking I need a fresh post.....We don't really have a whole lot going on right now, but I am feeling super happy and blessed these days! It is awesome to see God working in our lives and to be spending some time together as a family.
I took Major on a date last week, so here are a few pics from that super fun day

 

  

Here are some pics of us (well Major) at Pappy's farm:

  

  

  

My little boy is growing up so fast!

 

I really need to get better about taking pictures of the three of us! Maybe next time I will have some of us as a family. Now if I could just get Josh over the flu and Major out of his "mean stage"! We'd be awesome!  :)

Layla Grace

I was catching up on some blog reading and ran across this post from my friend Ashley about this sweet family who are spending their last moments with their baby girl right now.

Here is Ashley's blog post with the family's website attachment at the end...

I read this blog today and it touched my heart. Let me review you on what you are about to read: This family of 5 is about to lose their 2 year old to cancer. The mother is blogging about her precious life- her name is Layla Grace. She is in hospice now and holding on and the mother is spending the last moments with her precious daughter AS I TYPE. If you read on down her blog she has a post called "Sleep, Valentine's Day, and Regrets"- it had tears running down my face. To think sometimes I could ever get annoyed when Wilson follows me around or if I dont get a full night's sleep. When I hear of families that have to go through this my heart hurts with burden/loss for them. It makes me appreciate ALL and EVERYTHING that comes with my sweet/precious son. Please join me and pray for this mommy, daddy, and sisters as they embrace and endure the last few moments with their daughter. And please appreciate EVERY MOMENT with your children/nieces/nephews/grandchildren- LIFE IS A VAPOR!

http://laylagrace.org/

So as I read the blog about sweet Layla Grace, I begain to bawl my eyes out for this little girl and for this family who is facing the most difficult thing that any family could face. In the midst of it all, though, her mom is still giving God all the glory. A piece of her is dying, she is watching her precious baby suffer and yet she is still able to praise God in the midst of this storm. What a strong woman and faithful follower. For lack of a better term, she is inspirational to say the least. Amazing story, amazing mother, amazing family.

I look at my little boy and think how in the world could I ever be frustrated with him? How could I ever take one moment for granted?  This little grirl is his exact age and through her story and her mother's mission to tell her story, people are inadvertenly affected by her. I will slow down, let the dishes pile up, sit in the floor and play a little longer and squeeze my boy a little tighter. I don't know this family, but I will pray for them and for their little girl. What a legacy she will leave.

Adoption

I don't really know how to start this blog or why I am actually writing it....just some thoughts are running through my head. Josh and I have really been praying for a second baby and possibly (actually most likely) a second chance at adoption. I have a heavy heart right now because Major's birthmother is likely in the hospital giving birth to her daughter right now. With that comes many many emotions for me.

Let me go back a few years and clear my brain:
Josh and I got married in May of 2004. The following year we started "trying" to have a baby.  Over the course of that year, I found out that I had some fertility issues. I graduated college in December 2005 and in January 2006 we started treatments that continued until June 2007. In June I finally had a breakdown/lightbulb moment and we decided adoption was our best option. Once we finally made the decision to adopt, it was like we stopped fighting the current and things became easy, clear actually, like this is what we were supposed to do at that very moment. Josh had been researching adoption agencies for months without me knowing, which turned out to be a great thing because at that point I did not have the emotional stamina to do that. When you choose adoption, you immediately feel like a goldfish in this big giant ocean. Lucky for us though we found an amazing agency and an amazing social worker that held our hands and walked us through the next few months.
In July 2007 we submitted our initial paperwork, dear birthmother letter and started the waiting game. With adoption, especially in cases like ours where we wanted to adopt a caucasian newborn, we were expecting to wait.......a long time......like years.....but we thought at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a guarantee. It may come in a year, or 5 but we knew at some poing we'd be parents. We were expecting to hear from our agency once a month about updates. On our first month's update, our social worker called and said that a birthmother in California had chosen us to be the parents of her baby! At that point we were floored, we had been clients just 5 weeks. We were matched on August 27, 2007 and flew to meet her in September. We came home, prepared a nursery and waited about a month before flying back to California for his birth. We were in California for 16 total days, most of which was before Major was born. We got to visit with his birthfamily, bond with them and see California. We were blessed.....
Then 3 days after his due date Major made is arrival. Josh and I were so grateful to be in the delivery room when he was born. Josh helped the doctor deliver Major and we cut his cord. The nurses immediately handed him to me. WOW. Talk about a life changing moment. That night, we went to another wing of the hospital with our newborn son. The very next morning we were discharged from the hospital and 3 days later flew from California to Tennesssee with our 4 day old baby. Life as we knew it was....better, greater, more meaningful that either of us could have prayed for. We looked at this new baby that God had chosen for us and gave thanks. There is no other way to describe our situation than it was God's will. Through our trials and struggles, I always felt like what we were doing was the wrong thing. Through it all, I kept praying for God's will. If that meant we were to be pregnant, then give me the strength to keep trying, if it meant adoption, then lead me. If it meant that Josh and I weren't to be parents, then take that desire from me. Whatever his Will I was ready to follow. Once I finally believed that, finally let it go, our path was laid for us and our precious baby boy was waiting for us.
I guess I am thinking of all this because I know that our birthmother is having a new baby right now. She is just 16 and selfishly I know that Josh and I could provide for her as we have for Major. Giving her a family, foundation, love and support. But if I've learned anything in the last 5 years, it is that it's not about me, or being selfish. I was blessed to have a conversation with her this week and she told me that when she was pregnant with Major, she always felt he wasn't hers. She had him for us. She said she never grew attached to him like you normally would, but she felt like with this baby, this pregnancy, God was giving her a second chance. She is excited and of course Josh and I are happy for her. There will always be those feelings of, I wish. I look at Major and am overwhelmed at how perfect he is and how God knows our hearts and our plans no matter what we think. I can't imagine my life without Major.  He is happy and healthy and more than we could have ever asked for. We are happy and beyond blessed that God have us the opportunity be his Mama and Daddy. So as I continue to pray for our family and one day having another baby, I am content in knowing that God in in control and is so faithful and everytime my sweet boy says I love you Mama, I am reminded how truly and unbelievably blessed we really are!