Kiddie post & plea

 So if anyone is reading at all you've caught on that I have been horrible at posting about these sweet lil lovies these past few months.  So I wanted to give some updates on them!!!  They are the whole reason I started blogging in the first place :/   Here is Sadie this summer being her crazy self...she is SO strong and can do the monkey bars all by herself.  She has some serious upper body muscles.  She is FAST and can nearly out run me.  She is constantly smiling and giggling and mothering.  She loves everything and will make it her baby to love on and take care of.  She talks to babies, grown adults, dogs, bugs, balls, dolls, etc like they are her very best friend.  Its super sweet most times, but awfully scary when she grabs adult men by the hands to play with her.  Perhaps we need to cover stranger danger again! 

 Owen is an incredible young man.  He is a wonderful leader at school and a huge help to his teacher.  He is very active and loves playing basketball, riding scooters, playing football, soccer, golf and tennis.  He is sure having fun with a backyard, we missed that when living in an apartment last year.  He loves to read and often stays up with a flashlight reading past his bedtime.  He too is a fast runner, but it's not his favorite thing to do.  He is a great listener, master negotiator, & is sensitive to others needs.  Tonight as I walked in to scratch the boys backs Owen started singing a song we had sung in church...but he never sings during praise so I didn't know he was listening...he sung it perfectly pausing just as the song is written, "My heart will si-ing...no other na-ame...Jesus...Jesus" over and over.  Oh love, there couldn't be a sweeter sound for a mama to hear, and even more so for our Father to hear!  This year he turned 7!  I don't know how we have a 7 year old!

 Emery, who we usually call Emme, is at such a fun age...most of the time.  She is particularly frustrated when everyone else has someone to pick on and she does not :(  So we are working on talking about our frustrations rather than hitting them out.  Whoops.  Her favorite things to say right now are: I gonna tewl mommy!, I no wan to, I tootie, No Sadie pfthtttt (we have a minor spitting problem), Aw we goin?, Aw da guys? and I do it!!!!!  She still loves to cuddle, is left handed and is our best sleeper!  She is TALL and skinny.  Most people mistake her for being 3 and older, and she just turned 2.5 this month!  She talks really well, still loves to sing and knows a lot of songs and she loves to pray, even for large groups of people.  Be still my heart!

 Cooper!  Coop turned 6 in November and got a bouncy house of all things.  Have you ever checked out purchasing one of those boogers instead of buying one?  No?  You should.  Google it!  We just had a few grands chip in and vwa-la, we got to keep the dang thing UNTIL IT POPS!!!  It has been endless fun and can hold up to 500 lbs so that means that occasionally we have a mom that hops in and plays monster tickler.  Fun times.  It's even more fun when you have no furniture and can inflate it in room and just leave it out during the winter.  Cooper is another blessing of a kid.  He is bursting with passion, compassion, ambition, skills (he has wonderful penmanship as well as one heck of an arm) and love.  He often comes home from school and has drawn pictures of the crucifixion and resurrection during his brain break at school.  Just like with everyone of our kids, I cannot wait to see how this guy follows God through life. 

 One thing I have hesitated to share about our Sadie is that we have "lost" her birth mom.  I haven't wanted to share it for several reasons.  First, so many people don't get open adoption and quite frankly don't need another reason to not understand it.  Second, so many people don't try and understand birth parents, and I don't want people to judge these precious precious family members.  They are our family, so please understand how intimate and personal we hold them in our hearts.  But it's been nearly 2 years since we've seen Gerlisha, and we miss her terribly.  Sadie prays for her daily.  She cries for her.  She draws pictures of her.  She is only 4, so I am not sure what memories she has or if its just because we talk about her so much and tell her stories and look at pictures.  Whatever it is, it's real and it's painful.  I know adoption is layered and bittersweet, and we have been educated and counseled on how to walk through this with our loves.  I don't know where I would be without our adoption agency and their support.  But they don't know where she is either.  So this is me asking for prayer and only prayer.  Please do not judge our choices or Gerlisha's.  My hope is that she might follow the blog and see how desperately we need her, and that's why I am finally sharing this.  I am so thankful that I ALWAYS take pictures when we see our first families because we never want to take a day for granted. 

 Emery right before turning 2

 Cooper found a worm...he is such a boy loving dirt and bugs and all things boy!

 Priceless picture of me telling Owen thank you for smiling for the pictures...he HATES taking pictures so we bribed the kids with QT if they smiled!

 The girls had pajama day at school and watched Polar Express

 Owen's holiday party at school!  We had so much fun at his party and stole the idea to MOB the Neighborhood with love and give the holiday away.  It was cheap and helped the kids focus on OTHERS during the holiday instead of giving them a bunch of silly dinky knick-knacks.

 This was the girls party at school, even though we don't do Santa they got a kick out of seeing our pastor dress up and read a story. 

 Cooper's class party.  Isn't he such a handsome stud with that too cool smile? 

 I think since we never talk about Santa she was fascinated with him.  Ha!

Emery was just excited to get herself some candy!  This girl LOVES sweets! 

Pictures...

I really want to post some fun pictures and not try and think through what's going on in my head.

There is a lot there, and I am not sure what to share. 

Good things though...where as weeks ago I felt stir crazy, I feel such peace about the direction we have chosen.  Until then, enjoy these cuties!

 Emery, Sadie and cousin Ragon cheering on their other cousin in soccer!  What divas!

 This was a few weeks ago when we had my grandmother (who lives down the street from us) over for dinner.  She is 91 folks, and she either pretended to have, or really did have a fun time with our wild bunch.  Either way, we LOVED every minute of it.  This was when we were having our first hot chocolate of the fall!  Yummo!

 Sadie being silly!

 The boys all went out to hit some balls...one of their favorite things to do with their daddy!

 Lil Miss Thang.  This girl is absolutely gorgeous...and sassy as all get out too!  Her favorite thing to say right now..."I no want to!"  I will take that over ear piercing screams anyday, but sometimes I have to say, "Well, sister I no want to either, but we GOT TO!!!"  She still loves to sing, she prays the sweetest prayers, she is compassionate, she is still a huge cuddler, she loves talking and has quite the vocabulary...mostly from songs she sings.  She has an opinion about what clothes I put on her...and she is only 2 mind you.  She often says, "a pincess" meaning "I must wear a dressy dress to school mom!"  And that day will be followed by a day in which she wants to wear her jammies to school.  I give in when I can because let's be honest, it's just not a big deal every once in a while.   

 Emery could spend every waking minute on the swings.  And she likes to go HIGH!  In fact, if you don't push her high enough she will scream at you.  So if you think a small child has just had two limbs removed because you hear bloodcurdling screams coming from the intersection.  Fear not!  It is just Emery wanting to go HIGHER!!!  We are working on this people.  She is quickly learning, "Higher please!"

 Look at this smile!!!!  Man oh man!  I got some good pictures of this sweet Cooper swinging!  Cooper is quickly approaching 6 and is killing Kindergarten.  Not only is he doing fantastic with his school work, but evidently he is setting a wonderful example for his classmates.  Owen had just as remarkable of reports and has even been given extra responsibilities in class because of his leadership.  His reading is outstanding and he has made great friends already.  Blake and I were smiling like we had hangers stuck in our mouths when we left conferences.  Thank you Jesus for guiding these fellas!  The guys have both decided...drumroll please...to enroll in basketball this winter.  Their grandparents are elated!  Blake and I have truly enjoyed being so close to their school and have been able to join them for lunch several times.  It's such a blessing!

 Sadie found a funky pumpkin at the patch on Wednesday with her preschool class.  She also is learning sooo much at school.  She has made lots of friends and truly enjoys going.  Another huge blessing!  I still can't believe she is 4!!!!  She is still our social butterfly, she is sensitive (what kid isn't though?), she loves to play with anything except a ball, her new favorite thing is her doll house.  She has finally gained weight, but you'd never know it!  She loves to say the prayer before dinner, she adores her grandparents, shopping, cookies, candy, nail polish, high heels, lip gloss, purses, giggling, being tickled, her daddy and she desperately wants a real dog or baby.  Too bad so sad sister, the fish will have to do! 

 He is SO sweet to take pictures for me even though he dreads them.  They all enjoyed the pumpkin patch with the girls' school. 

 Emery found a pumpkin!!!

 I begged them all to get together for a pic.  You know how well that went over with the guys...gosh they are adorable though!!

Emery gave me this face when I asked her to smile.  She's a riot!

Sweet Sadie....

Our big princess turned 4 today!  We had such a wonderful time celebrating her sweet sassy self.  She has taught me so much about s.l.o.w.i.n.g down.  She has reminded me that girls feel things deeply, that laughing truly is medicine, that hugs heal, that giggles do too.  Her smile can light up an entire room and so can her silly booty dance.  She is starting pre-school at church and loves going to "school".  She goes 3 days a week and boy do I miss her when she is there.  Her favorite color is pink, favorite drink is "melonaid" or lemonaid ;)  She still screams at the top of her lungs if her brothers push her buttons, and she's still got her daddy wrapped around her finger.  She loves music, singing, dancing, Princess Tiana, painting nails, play dough, coloring, cooking, brownies, cookies, oatmeal, hot dogs, Emery Faith, swinging, and baby dolls. 

Her daddy caught this cute shot of her as we were all singing!  ADORABLE!

Here she is holding up "I'm 4"!!!  She is also a new swimmer!  This girl can swim without a life vest!  Wahoo Sadie girl.  We love you to the moon and I pray that I can be the best mama possible for you.  I thank Mama G for giving you life and choosing us to be your forever family.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of G and praise God for her life.  Lord, use us, even as broken as we are, to show Sadie your love.  If she learns nothing else from us, may she know how loved and treasured she is by you!!!

Happy Gotcha Day Princess

Well I can't think of a better place to spend a Gotcha Day than the beach!

We wanted to make one last run to the beach before moving home. And the ONLY weekend it worked was Mother's Day weekend and Sadie's Gotcha Day! Hooray!!

It's been full o' fun and sweet memories. Oh how blessed this year had been. And this weekend is right near the top of a fantastic list of fun things we have done while in Atlanta.

Happy Birth Mothers Day to all those heroes that we adore. I know I will never understand fully the sacrifice you have made in placing your child for adoption, but I pray for you constantly that God is healing your heart, that you know Him and can grasp how deep his love is for you. You are loved and treasured by many...each and every one of you are angels.

Someone is THREE!!!!

How in the world is this possible? I feel like it was yesterday I got the phone call, "Molly. This is Sandy. What are you doing?" Awww shucks. Nothing. It's just that when YOU call I can't breathe. Whatcha callin' bout Ms. Sandy? "Well. You've been picked. The baby is a girl. She is already here. She was born yesterday. Can you be at the hospital in 3 hours?" AHHHHHHH!!!!!!Then I blinked twice and she was 6 months old and slowly developing into this bubbling little laughy girl we call Sadie Cakes. I blinked again and we were bringing another little sister home. So I guess it only makes sense 3 years have passed. Whew. Please slow down lil bit. I wanna take this all in! Our Sadie turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. My heart was sad in having yet another birthday and not really having family or friends to celebrate it with. Lo and behold my parents were struggling too and surprised us by driving to Atlanta ON SADIE'S BIRTHDAY!!!!! Talk about awesome!!!

They took us out to dinner to celebrate and entertained us all weekend long. It was just what my soul needed. Oh how I was missing them desperately!

Happy birthday sweet girl! You quickly figured out that 3 came with a little extra sass, but I have learned to just roll with the punches...3 is a tricky year for us all. You are so kind and gentle. You remind me so much of your Aunt Laura. When we get onto you or raise our voice, you crumble in knowing we are dissappointed. You are pretty fearless and you can hold your own among your brothers and their buddies. You hardly weigh 30 lbs. You are FAST! You are not a picky eater, but you just don't consume much at all...well unless it's chocolate. You are independent. You are still very loud, but you've noticed your baby sister screams and that it hurts your ears so I am hoping you are catching on ;o) You are such a good helper with Emery and to me! You love talking to Jesus and it's precious to me to get to be a part of those intimate moments with you. Sometimes I don't know what you are saying, but I love knowing that Jesus knows.

You love having your picture taken, and you love to take pictures. You like to talk on the phone and you love to shop. It's so helpful because the boys HATE to run any errands, so it's nice that you'll help me get stuff done while they are at school! (Below are the dolphins at the aquarium)

You love to sing and dance. Your ballet class is a highlight of your week, but so is everything else. You just live life with gusto girl. Joy simply flows from you. And it rubs off onto everyone that meets you. You're kinda like me in that you've never met a stranger (I know...I need to be better at "stranger danger") and you say "Hello" to everyone as we walk to school in the morning.

So thank you pumpkin for these 3 incredible years. You are more than your daddy and I could've ever dreamed of.

Thank you for sharing my love of brownies!

At the aquarium on Labor day! We had so much fun showing Noonie around (Papa was under the weather...poor guy. We wore him out!) I told my parents that coming to stay with us is like going to Vegas. 3 days is plenty and you're on overload!

Look at my babies!!! We ate at a place here called Mary Mac's. It was super yummy, but sadly the kids didn't know what to do with all of the butter and deep fried food. Oh what memories we made there!

Baby girl, we adore you! Thank you for bringing so much sunshine into our family! Happy Birthday!!!