So Thankful

I cannot begin to write out the ways that God has blessed us these last few days.

We could not be more thankful for the relationships we have around us and how so many people are checking in on us. It leaves me speechless...and we all know that doesn't happen much.

Early last week a precious friend from the church I grew up in sent me a message on facebook. She wanted to bless us as we faced this loss. She works with a company called Piggies and Paws and she wanted to do a piece for us of Kennedy. So, on Wednesday before we had to take Kennedy back to the agency, she left Tulsa early and met me (yep God worked it out so that she was supposed to be in OKC that day) at a park and took K's hand print and footprint in the back of her car. She is taking it home to make art out of it. I couldn't help but just cry when seeing those sweet prints and knowing how much it would bless us for years to come to have that to treasure.

Yesterday one of my besties from high school and college came into town to hang out and spend the night. Can I tell you how fun that is? And even more cool because we have no extra space for adults to sleep in our house...but she could have cared less. Thank you Lord for blessing me with incredible friendships and thank you Robin for choosing to come hang out!

Tonight we have church and Chosen and I can't tell you how much both of these things bless my heart and heal my hurts. We have so much going on with Chosen, and I feel like I never talk about it on here! We are starting a new group for Waiting Moms this week. If you are interested in joining us please comment and leave me your email address. We are also working hard on developing our birth moms section and can't wait to see what happens there.

We've been enjoying the sunshine and doing everything we can to keep our chin up right now. Not that I don't have my breakdown moments, but they are becoming few and far between. The first days when I was finding her clothes that still smelled like her it was unbearable. I still haven't washed several of them (yea, I know, it may be weird, I haven't decided yet). I am gathering special things from her time with us to keep in a Life box for when I want to think about her and remember that special time. I just don't ever want to forget this. I can't wait to get her pictures back from Becca. She took 250 pics of her and got lots of shots of her toes and fingers. See what I mean...so many people are blessing us and walking in the trenches with us.

And then there is our agency. Where would we be without them? They were just as devastated as us in the events of this last week. And not because they just wanted us to adopt this pumpkin, but because they love and adore C too. It's so hard to watch this process unfold when it's done with love, respect and dignity for all. They make such a ministry out of it and truly lives are changed. They have called and sent emails and messages daily telling us that they are praying for our family. Wow...so incredible to have an agency like that.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

And...we're finished!

** Sadie helping fill out the application for her baby. I had to paint over the picture when I realized it wasn't something I wanted post on the Internet!!!**

Let the waiting begin.

We did our home study on Monday and I have to say it was the most fun yet. The agency has been crazy busy, so the director was the one who came out. She is so easy to talk to and she was the very first person who interviewed Blake and I almost 5 years ago when we started with Owen! What a wonderful support we have in her...she has taught us so much!

Our interviews are also complete and I took Sis in this morning so that they could fill out her paperwork. Your pediatrician has to sign off that the kids are taken care of health wise and brought in regularly and all. Good idea I think! If you can't take care of what you have, you should not have more!

So at nearly 18 months (eek, I can't believe our baby is 1.5 next week!!!) Sadie weighs in at a whopping 21.5 lbs (15th percentile)! And get this, she's 32 inches long (75th percentile)! What I wouldn't give for that body! How sad!!! Even though she's not really talking much, he assured me she is on track and "talking" we just don't understand it. The crazy thing is that at this age the boys were singing songs and having conversations with me, so I am a bit off on my ideas of what's normal. We hadn't been there for 5 minutes and he asked me if she was bossy! I laughed out loud! This guy is good and hit the nail on the head just by listening to her "talk".

I wish I could lick the icing for the cinnamon rolls and still be a stick!!!!

For those of you not familiar with domestic adoption, from here the agency shows our profile or Life book to those birth moms that fit our openness. Meaning, those that fit what child we are open to: race, open adoption, etc. Once she finds a family for her child, she lets the agency know and then they make "the call". The fact that the birth mom picks her family makes it a somewhat open adoption: she knows first names and some info about the adoptive family. From there it can be semi-open or fully open. Rarely, but sometimes a birth mom chooses to have a closed adoption and chooses not to meet the adoptive family. Our agency encourages (and so do we) semi-open or open adoptions for the health of everyone involved in the journey.

Going through this process again brings up so many wonderful memories of our journeys before. As we know that being picked does not assure us that child, we also know that God has carried us through it before...and He will again. He is faithful. We think about the baby we lost before Sadie and we know full well, had we taken her home, we would not have our Sadie bug! Whoa!

I feel like I never give updates on this guy. Oh how he melts my heart! This is an older picture, but so Owen!!! Today at Sadie's Dr.'s appt, the first thing he asked the nurse was if she was going to get a shot. When she kindly told him yes, he begged her not to do it. Then he begged the same of the Dr. After the Dr. left he tried to get us out of the room before the nurse returned. When I told him that Sadie would be fine and that she would only cry for a bit, he then hid in the corner so that he didn't have to watch her in pain. When the nurse returned, he jumped on the table with Sadie and got in her face telling her it would be okay. Then as she got her second shot he just started kissing her head and told her how brave she was. This is just one of the many examples of his kind and sensitive heart. He is so stinking thoughtful and sweet as could be! He is SO super excited about another baby!!! He often tells me how he thinks we should have 6!!!

We are HOME!

Oh mercy!!! Look at all of that behind them!!!

We made it from Aspen to Denver to pick up Blake, but were there 2 hours early! Oh no!!! The kids did great, but I was chasing Sadie all over that place!

Sadie "helping" me pack. She's such a climber right now!

I would have never guessed that my precious daughter would be the first to have a bloody nose!

My pumpkin helping mommy with the dishes. I didn't even ask and he was cleaning for me. He said it was so that I didn't have to do them when they went to sleep.

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We made it home yesterday afternoon!

It feels so good to sleep in our own bed...I seriously had a hard time getting out of bed this morning! All of the sudden our house seems HUGE! Nothing will make you more thankful for what you have than having to be without for a bit. And, to some degree...I have realized that I have more than I need.

Perhaps this is me nesting, or it's me coming back from Aspen knowing I have stuff that I can get rid of. I also can't shake what's going on in Haiti. We have so much to be thankful for, and so much more that we can give!

Speaking of nesting...I want to blog a bit more this time about our adoption process. We've never done that before. I didn't blog before the boys. And with Sadie's adoption we wanted to surprise everyone, so we kept it on the down low as we were applying. Because I have heard from some of you that you are interested in adoption, I thought I might break down some of the overwhelming parts of this.

Right now, we've let our agency know that we are ready to go. I've printed the initial application and we're almost finished with it. From there, they will let us know what we need (background checks, references, urine samples...just kidding, wanted to see if you were paying attention). The process is quite a bit simplified when you've used the same agency before.

This time we've never been more strapped financially. But Blake and I will say it again and again, that God has provided for our adoptions each and everytime. So we are going to trust in Him that if it's His will, then He will provide. But we are also going to seek support from Lifesong. Has anyone used them before? We are excited about their services that they offer families in financing adoptions. We'll let you know how it goes. You have to have your homestudy done before you can apply through them, so it will be a bit before we can start that.

I've heard a statistic that 86% of couples seeking adoption decide not to because of money. That breaks my heart for many reasons, but mostly because adopting through "the state" is essentially free. But also because when we turn away from God's call of adoption because of money we are saying that God isn't bigger than money. You have to do your research, be a good steward of your money, but also trust God with it!!!

That's all for now. Oh, and thanks to all of you that post encouraging and truthful comments on the last post. My heart was broken and your words set me free from believing that's what I was doing! Love you all dearly!

Someone pinch me!

How in the world am I so blessed that I get to hang out with these munchkins all day?

Just thought you'd like to see some pictures!

Owen and Cooper trying to wink at me! Owen told me that only one eye "worked"- like the other one he couldn't wink with. Cooper's just looks like a good ole smile to me, but he was trying!

Our agency does a hayride every October for it's adoptive families! It's so much fun to see all of our friends every fall and meet new families through this! It's even open to families that haven't adopted through their agency! How cool is that? **I high-jacked the below pic from Turner's blog! It was too good Chassidy!**

Cooper blowing on his burnt marshmallows! Evidently I am no good at roasting marshmallows, but luckily our kids are easily impressed! Cooper smiling for me at the hayride. This did start out as a smile, but my camera wouldn't take the picture. When it finally did, this is what his face was doing! He was trying so hard to hold that smile for me!!!

Sadie Cakes enjoying some marshmallows. Yes, I believe in teaching my children early the value of a healthy diet.

All 3 of my munchkins at the bonfire after the hayride! It was such a blast!

This is Sadie on one of the days when it's just the two of us! The boys go to preschool (aka. Mothers Day Out) on Thursdays, so it's just sister and I that day and it's such a blast to get to have her by herself!

Have a blessed day!

You're Invited!

I am so pumped about this!

And the good news is...you're invited too!

I had to get the word out!


Our agency is putting on a trans-racial parenting workshop!


Here's the scoop!

It is for couples who have adopted trans-racially!

It's on Feb. 28th from 10-12

It will be held @ DPAS- go here for their info!


The cost is only $5 per couple.


Children under 6 months are welcome (yea Sadie bug!)


Please RSVP if you plan on joining us for an exciting time!

I hear we are going to talk about hair! Sweet!

They are also going to have a list put together of families that might want to meet regularly for outings or playgroups!

I am so excited! Have you heard about our incredible agency!?!?!?

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Several of you asked about where my sweet Angela got this charm!

I do believe she said in Canton, that's something you Texan's will understand!

Here's the info on the back!

Christian Charm & Co.

1.800.522.5413

http://www.sterlinggracejewelry.com