Lots of pics!

We had an incredible picnic with Mama Mandy and her precious family...our precious family. We feel beyond blessed that we had the honor of meeting Mandy's daddy for the first time at this picnic. Mandy and I were like goons on cloud 9. We couldn't stop talking and smiling and well, it was just plain fantastic.

The kids had so much fun together. It was like a dream, seriously. Owen and the girls played chase and at one point I saw them holding hands. I never want to forget these moments and am so glad I at least caught some of these pictures. I didn't get near enough...I was busy talking...shocker!

Owen and Justice. I can't tell you how priceless this photo is now and I know will be for years to come.

Mandy picked up a cookie cake to celebrate and someone really liked it. That is, after she spread it over her hands, she finally ate it! Sadie Skielar...you keep me laughing and seeing life from a whole different angle. You have so taught me to relax and I thank God for that gift in your life.

Our kiddos eating lunch together. No one really ate much cuz we were chatting it up so much, well they ate the sweets of course!

Emery had tummy time and the kids all joined in! Soo cute!

She is getting so big! Not really, she is still in the 25% for her weight and 50% for her height. She just feels big in comparison to that tiny baby doll we brought home.

Look how big she looks. I love how Coop and O were down there with her. They said they were trying to get her to crawl. Looks like they are just having a conversation!

Oh my word! Could this be any cuter? Owen woke up from naps first and I was feeding Emery. He LOVES his baby sister...can you tell?

Emery is full of smiles and talks a ton (wonder where she got that from). She is SO super easy, in fact perhaps the easiest we've had. She's not too sure about sleeping through the night, but I think it has more to do with her mama not letting her fuss much. Shoosh.

Again, Sadie helping me to see the fun in life. Why wouldn't I have ever thought of smashing an egg on the floor and playing in it? I love you stinkerpot!

My lil supermodel. Daddy better get a gun now and start fighting off the boys.

Oh mercy! I love this one!!!! This is Sadie. This picture shows her personality SO well. Unless she is giving me a sassy hairy eye ball look.

Working on sitting up!

Doing a little ditty at the zoo. This girl lives with rhythm in her blood. I LOVE it.

Owen took this on movie nite...not bad!

They all wanted to hold her...she was a little freaked out by it, poor thing.

Her face says, "Mom, please save me!" and his face says, "I love her so much and can't quit squeezing her!"

My cup overflows. That's all I can say. Thank you JESUS for each and every one of these blessings and for their families that we can call ours too.

Cooper helping Sadie water...he's such a good big brother.

Lots of smiles!

She likes her exersaucer, but so do the bigs...so she has a hard time playing with her toys in it because they are messing with them. She seems to care less, she just likes having them around.

At the playground before dropping off Sadie and Coop for preschool.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you like the pics!

Something's Gotta Give

Ok. Don't get me wrong.

I keep a clean house.

I don't want anyone thinking we live like pigs around here.

Heck, we never could have been approved for adoptions if we did. But it's shocking how quickly we can tear a place up.

I have found in the last month that there is a HUGE difference between being clean and living in the ready-t0-show mode every minute of the day.

I am used to having lots of downtime while the kids nap to blog.

Not.anymore. We listed the house last week and that's left little time for me to do anything outside of mommying and cleaning.

As much as I hate not blogging, this sure is fabulous to have all laundry done and for the house to be so stinking spotless.

There are lots of other things going on that are keeping us busy. Blake has started his worst service of every year, the dreaded trauma service.

Every year during this time we miss each other SO much that my heart just aches. I hate to see him so worn out. I hate how little he gets to see the kids. I hate seeing them cry over missing him. And then I remind myself what a wonderful life we have and that I need to just suck it up...its only 10 weeks. He could be in the military. He could be a cop. At least I know he is safe and will return to us at some point.

Chosen is still going. Our Waiting Moms group is going strong and its such a wonderful time to be among women who understand this journey. As far as the rest of the ministry goes, we are struggling to figure out how to get our church (elders) on board with what we are doing. I am feeling so much pressure with how to keep it afloat these next few months and especially when we move. Eek.

Sometimes I just want to not do anything but soak in every single second with the munchkins and Blake. Now you see why we agreed to Aspen again. As much as we are having to do to get there. It's incredible to just be us, no other obligations, for 3 months. I realize how quickly these tender bitty years pass. It's difficult to slow down in life, you know...to say no to so much. But I realize the more I say yes to, the more I am taking away from my own family.

All of this to say, I am not going to be blogging much anymore. This started out as one thing and sadly, internally, has turned into something else. So, for now at least, I am signing off. I may end up just posting some small updates and pics here and there for family and our precious birth families when we are away. That's what it was originally intended for, and yet it inside my head it turned into something else and it has taken precious time away from those I hold most dear.

Something has got to give, and this seems to make the most sense.

I think this picture speaks a thousand words. Soak.it.up.

I cannot believe how much she has changed in just 2.5 months.

She smiles all of the time, but I usually am just giggling right back at her instead of trying to get it on camera.

Look Who's Two!

My dainty daughter

These are all out of order and even though I am normally extremely anal about getting these straight...I simply cannot do it tonight. But I wanted to share these sweet pics from Sadie's special day!

At the park with the family

She's telling me something, I just don't know what!

Notice who is trying to get in?

She was not too sure of the early morning birthday wishes and singing!!!She chose eggs for breakfast, so we made them pink! The boys were so cute and insisted she sit in the tallest stool we have (which they never let her have)!She had quite a few birthday calls and gasped everytime someone would sing to her!Aw, I love this one!

A nice lady saw me taking pics of the kids and Blake and asked if she could take one of all of us!

Thanks Auntie Stephanie for all our new chef stuff! It made baking that much more adorable!Cooper and Sadie had a blast making birthday cookies. Man I love how that dude can pull off pink without a sweat. She chose purple sugar cookies, but evidently I can't mix food coloring well. They turned out lavendar-ish. But they sure were yummy

Out of order...these are back at the park...

Hello chunk! Man I lub those cheeks! We can't seem to quit kissing them! Is anyone shocked that she already doubled her birth weight?