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.

Emery's First Gotcha Day

Cannot believe she is 6 months old, trying to walk, a loud screamer, all smiles, slobbery kisses, more than a miracle, and FOREVER A SHOCKLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my lands, were we blessed to have the most incredible Judge Chapelle to do our final finalization! He was beyond incredible and made everyone in that courtroom cry. He said the most precious and encouraging things to Blake and I...we truly left on cloud 9.Getting ready for our hearing!Owen was not in the mood for pictures, so we did what we could! Mommy and daddy getting questioned. Of course I started crying so the boys were worried about me. Cooper wanted me to hold him...so sweet.We finally got a picture of the judge holding our newest member! We thought we'd never have a cool pic like this!The boys and Sadie also got to sign to be Emery's forever brothers and sister. So sweet! I thought it was just a fake copy, but it actually is an official part of Emery's papers!!!Just doesn't get better than this baby girl. Mommy loves you so much and I pray that I can raise you in a way that glorifies God and brings honor to your birth family. I think this picture speaks for itself. So.stinking.happy.

Ca-razy to think that I have spent half my life with this pumpkin. Ever so thankful for falling in love with him, and even more thankful for our relationship today. Love you babe...no one I'd rather walk hand-in-hand with than you.

Emery's grandparents. Big thanks to Noonie and Papa for having everyone over for dinner afterwards and to Noonie for all the great pictures!

Dinner celebration, guess this was the girls table!

I think she's happy!

Me too!

Happy Gotcha Day Batman!

Oh Cooper...I mean Batman,

Where would we be without you? Or what if you had come to us easily? We certainly wouldn't be the same. Your life has taught me so much, in a different way than your siblings. You rocked my beliefs and understanding of God's deep love for His children. Mama Mandy and I were talking just the other day about how thankful we are for your story. Your story changed so many lives. In a million ways, you saved us from a life of being sideline believers. You forced us to get in the game and live out our faith.

I heard this song for the first time a couple months ago. My sister sang it, and I can't quit listening to it. It's called God Speaking by Mandisa....look at these words. It so makes me think about Cooper's story...

Who knows how He’ll get ahold of us?

Get our attention to prove He is enough.

He’ll do, and He’ll use whatever He wants to.

To tell us, I Love You.

Have you ever lost a loved one

Who you thought should still be here?

Do you know what it feels like to be tangled up in fear?

What if He’s somehow involved?

What if He’s speaking through it all?

Who knows how He’ll get ahold of us?

Get our attention to prove he is enough.

He’ll do and He’ll use whatever He wants to

To tell us, I love you.

His ways are higher

His ways are better

Though sometimes strange

What could be stranger than God in a manger?

So with deeply thankful hearts we celebrate you, Mama Mandy, and your Gotcha Day today!

I love everything about you. I love how you are so wild yet so sensitive and shy at times. I love that smile of yours. You give the sweetest kisses and hugs and you are so tender hearted. I'll never forget your sobs when you realized Charlotte dies on Charlotte's Web. I love how you never sit still, not even for food. I love how incredibly independent you are...you can do anything you set your heart to. I love watching you protect your sisters. You've taught them a lot of boyish things (that toots are funny) but you also kiss them constantly and you love watching them learn and master new things. I love how you live life with gusto and emotion! What a delight you are to watch. I love how you want to be a bone doctor just like your daddy. I cannot wait to see what God has planned for your life and I am honored to walk through life with you as your mommy!

Our usual Donuts for Gotcha Day morning! Our Aunt Stephanie started this tradition for us on Owen's first Gotcha Day!!!
Happy Gotcha Day sweet Cooper!

(And this is just because I couldn't NOT include this adorable pic!!!)

Happy Gotcha Day Sadie!

We had such a fun time celebrating Sadie's Gotcha Day!

We try and make as big of a deal as possible and spend as little as we can. Every Gotcha Day we do donuts because it's just fun for kids to get donuts. And breakfast out for 3 for $2.64 is a great deal!

We took Owen to school and then Sadie, Coop and I went to the park until we got rained on.

Then we headed to the library. Cooper chose this for his sister! Hee hee.

For dinner we made Sadie's favorite (which also happens to be her daddy's fav) spaghetti!

We sang to her and had some small gifts and brownies.

She LOVED her Princess Tiana Barbie. It was so cute! This is her first Barbie! Then she tried to rip her head off!

She LOVED the singing!

Happy Gotcha Day sweet girl. I will never forget standing in court with you with tears streaming down my face listening to the judge. I wish there was some way to describe to you the emotions that we feel that day. We want to be the best parents that we can for you; loving you intensely and leading you to love Jesus and love others. But we also want to balance that with your need (and our need) for deep connection with Momma G. We want your Gotcha day to be celebrating your officialness as a Shockley, without taking away from the gift and love for your first mommy.

More pics

This picture just about captures the fun we have!!! Notice Owen's new pose???

Sadie playing peek-a-boo. I love how she doesn't hide her eyes!

We had a wonderful weekend with the family. On Sunday we went to the zoo and had so much fun at our new children's zoo!

I love Cooper's face in these. He is SO way cool!

Sadie was a bit nervous about the bird on her stroller. They were so funny eating the crumbs from her snacks!

Monday we celebrated Owen's Gotcha Day! These are always so much fun to remember our journey to our forever family. We had donuts before school (whew, a lot of donuts lately) then we went out to dinner with Gigi and Papa to celebrate!

And Tuesday brought a wonderful visit for me with C and baby. It was so good to see them. It's amazing how big she has gotten in 3 weeks. Please continue to pray for everyone in this situation.

Happy Gotcha Day Cooper!

Another Gotcha Day that makes me teary...my precious Cooper. Cooper's story is one that forever changed our lives and our love of adoption. It was through the deep pain and struggle of his adoption that brought so many wonderful changes in our lives. We pray that by this Gotcha Day next year Cooper's Law will be in effect!

I remember his Gotcha Day last year and how I just faked it all day long. We had a failed placement just two days before. I was still holding onto hope that that was our baby and she would soon come home to us. I knew that if I could just fake certain parts of the day, and cling to my faith, I could make it through one day at a time.

A year later, I see the incredible miracles and blessings of God in our lives. I see how in the last year God has answered so many prayers, especially for what we were grieving this day last year. It was only 5 weeks later that our precious Sadie popped into our lives!

So today was a celebration not just for Cooper's life and what joy he brings us, but a day for our family celebrating his adoption story, the miracles that God worked on our behalf and how God has shaped us through Cooper's life.

So here's a little bit of our festivities of the day! Happy Gotcha Day Cooper!

Owen waiting for his dinner! Seriously, he's getting so big!

Happy Gotcha Day Cooper! We sing it to happy birthday!

Papa Joe and Gigi (Blake's parents) always come over and take us all to dinner for Gotcha Days! Aren't they fun? Cooper got a new OU putter from Papa and Gigi.

Cooper's new love of golf. I love how he wears his bag!

We went swimming this morning! Are they not the cutest kids EVER?

We made train cupcakes and decorated them with candy. Needless to say, most of the candy never made it on a train and went straight into a mouth! Aren't they cute? Yes, we ate very healthy today!