So... I'm a total slacker.

I know, big surprise eh? :O)

I was shocked when I found out too. Sad day really... It actually was a pretty sad day, one of my friend's husbands died last night and it's been a reality rocker for me. I have cried a good chunk of today and I'm sure Marcus now thinks I'm some weird leaky faucet. It just doesn't make any sense to me and I'm really struggling with it. Clint took the girls on a "Daddy-Daughter" camp-out and it was hard to let him go, which triggered the emotional retard in me so that after I said goodbye I actually curled up on the couch with a huge bowl of ice cream and watched a few episodes of Psych just to have an hour or so of detachment.

Luckily for me, my friend Kachelle and her husband just adopted a sweet baby girl and I had the pleasure of taking her newborn photos and they needed to be finished today so that gave me a few more hours of keeping my mind occupied... somewhat. BUT, {getting to the point of this post now} working on those pictures got me thinking of something that's been nagging me a LOT lately and since Marcus was sleeping, the house was quiet and I needed something else to stay distracted with, I FINALLY finished editing Marcus' newborn photos!! Aren't you proud of this slacker Mama?? I am - you have NO idea!!

-SO- since I really feel like I need a pick-me-up I'm going to post my favorites for you :O)








 

Hard to imagine that he was ever seriously that small!!  Especially when THIS is that little boy now...

   
Dad GUM I love my kids!  They make life so much easier... when I'm not wanting to thump on them!  LOL  I'm off to bed, hope you enjoyed my slew of pictures.  Cheered me up :O)  'Night

I Blinked...

And BAM! It's 2013.

To top it off - January AND February are already over. Sheesh. When will the world stop turning so fast and let me catch up?? 2012 went SO FRIGGIN' FAST! I posted 12 times last year. TWELVE!! That's ridiculous. Granted, I now have 3 kiddos to chase and that means some things gotta go on the back burner. I'm ok with that. Plus we almost doubled our house and land size last summer with the move so that's been another adjustment to figure out and attempt to keep up with. Who-da-thunk that would make such a difference in the daily routine of things?? :O)  SO... since I DO want to share a few more bits of 2012 with you, this WAS going to be a nix-the-details-just-give-the-good/juicy-stuff-catch-you-up post but Photobucket is totally retarded and re-did their whole website and launched it before finishing it and so their slideshows don't work right now. Nice huh? Instead {since I can NEVER just post a few pics} I will post the first part of my months-in-the-making post {up to the point of my first necessary slideshow} and call it good for now.  LOL Ready? Set? Go!

I posted last year about finalizing our adoption of Marcus, but I never got back to post about the sealing and blessing weekend. Our little Marcus boy was sealed to our eternal family April 21st and Clint blessed him the 22nd. We had a wonderful weekend with family, friends and birth families. Our house was PACKED with people {remember we were living in our 1268 sq ft house at the time!} but we had a fun weekend! The sealing was amazing, a little hectic trying to get there {we got 1/2 way to the Temple and remembered we forgot some of the paperwork. Got TO the Temple after running back home and realized we forgot MORE paperwork and had to run home AGAIN! Thank goodness we only live 5 minutes away eh?!?}. Becca's mom, Laurie, helped me get dressed and was kind enough to hold Marcus up to the altar during the sealing. The Spirit was amazing. Our ward's youth were waiting in the lobby for Baptisms for the Dead and they said they could feel something special about the Spirit in the Temple that day. Becca and Kiki waited in the lobby with them so when we came out and the youth realized what was going on... it was a precious experience and I'm SO glad we got to share it with them {especially since I serve in the Young Women and so they all are infatuated with the little lad!}.

The blessing Clint gave was perfect. I thought I had lost it but some serious searching turned it up so I could post it here for you {and for me!!}.

"Our kind Heavenly Father, by the authority of the Melchezidek Priesthood, we bring this infant in our arms to give him a name and blessing. The name which he shall me known in his life and on the records of the church is Marcus Tyrel. At this time Marcus, we give you a blessing - a guideline you can strive to follow throughout your life. We bless you that you will grow up strong and healthy, that as you go through your younger years you can learn to make righteous decisions. You have been blessed with two wonderful sisters whose example can help you to grow. We bless you to do well in your schooling that you might retain things you learn which can help you to grow strong in the gospel. Marcus, when the time comes we bless you to be worthy and able to serve a full-time mission for your Heavenly Father. That you will return from serving and find a companion you can take to the Temple and be married for eternity. That you will be a worthy and righteous example for all who know you. Marcus, we bless you to always know what a blessing you are to your family. One of the greatest sacrifices we have seen was made to allow you to join our family. I bless you to always be grateful for the miracle that brought you into this family. Adoption is something that will always be a part of who you are. We bless you to honor that sacrifice and always know the reasons why that decision was made. You are loved, Marcus, by so many people. You will have many challenges in your life. Learn to rely on the Savior. As you learn to turn to Him you can have the strength you will need to turn trials into opportunities for growth. You are a perfect example of what could have been a trial, but because of your birth mom's faith, has turned into such a spiritual experience for so many. Follow that example and learn to listen and follow the promptings of the Spirit. We leave this blessing with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I LOVE reading my children's blessings. Scares me to death too though cuz it's up to Clint and I to teach them what they need to know for those blessings to come to pass. Pretty big responsibility!!!!!

Speaking of my children... January 6th of this year was a pretty big day for us. That was the day our Adoption Certification expired. It's officially official - we are finished adopting. We have 3 BEAUTIFUL kids and THIS is our FAMILY. There was some confusion and uncertainty on my part leading up to the expiration day, but thankfully I was able to turn to the Savior and realize that I already knew it was ok to let it lapse and not renew. We feel such peace with our decision and know that Madi, Maelee and Marcus are our gifts from God and that He will continue to bless us as we close the door on that part of our lives and move forward into the next phase: raising these little rascals! It's exciting to know that by the end of this year we will be finished with our crib, high chair and spoon feeding. :O) By the end of next year we'll be done with diapers YAY HOORAY WOOHOO!! I have total closure with the idea of being done with little babies. As I watch Marcus turn into a little boy, I get SO excited for all the fun we get to have with him now! Even though I never thought my family would be "so small", I know that Heavenly Father knows me better than I do and knows that I sometimes struggle to handle the 3 He gave me. I'm grateful for His foresight and that He has allowed us to know enough of His plan for us that we can be so happy to "be done". :O)

Moving on, now that I'm all weepy and blah!! Maelee decided that it would be a good idea to try her hand at changing Marcus' diaper... she did great until he rolled away and refused to lie still for her to put a new diaper on! That's when she hollered for me to come help and this is what I found...
HA!! Thank HEAVENS it wasn't a poopy diaper!

K, this brings us to where the first slideshow was going to make it's debut so I will sign off for now and hope Photobucket gets their act together and fixes something that wasn't broken to begin with! Sorry, don't mean to vent I've just been trying everything I can think of for 3 days now to make this work and nada. Sigh. At least I posted something though, eh?? :O)

Taytum Wins...

Oh my dear friend, you are too funny!  For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, read Taytum's comment on my last post.  She's a funny kid, made me leak a few tears through my giggles!  No, I didn't give up showering, but I combined a few things to "create" a few extra minutes here and there.

Maelee has been sick the past few days so I have had her snuggled up on my lap today while I poured over close to 700 photos from the past few weeks {No, we haven't been THAT busy.  Yes, I take a lot of pictures.  I have wiggly kids who like to be out of focus.  If I take a ton, I get uno that's what I originally wanted.  That's my story folks}, and I narrowed them all down pretty well... to just over 100.  I would LOVE to post them all on here, but that would take a year and a half to upload and to be honest my rear is completely numb on one side.  I was actually doing jumping jacks between batches of pictures but I guess it didn't help a whole lot!

I have every intention of catching up on here, and mainly because this really is my journal {since I'm usually too exhausted to use the pink one by my bed before I crash} and I don't want to lose these precious memories in my old brain-farty mind.  I'm tellin' ya, 27 is SO OLD!!!  Moving on...  :O)

I want to get started on my catching up by posting this week's exciting news:



We finalized Marcus' adoption!!!  Wednesday morning it was officialized, notarized, and woohooized!  It feels so strange to be so close to being completely finished with adoption.  It's been such a HUGE part of our lives for the past 6 years and to be on the threshold of moving on from it is... indescribable.  Adoption will always be a part of who our family is - we will always have our amazing birth families to help us wrangle these adorable munchkins into {hopefully} all-around-great-kiddos.  So it's not like we're "finished" with adoption in that sense, but to be done with paperwork, waiting, emotional roller coaster, draining our savings account side of it is SO a perk!!

We will be joining our family and friends in the Temple this Saturday, April 21st, at 5 {be there at 4:30} to have him sealed to our family for eternity {you should see the absolutely adorable white suit I found for him!!  I also got him the cutest plaid newsboy cap.  LOVE IT!!!} and blessing him the next day at 1 in our ward, which will be followed by brownies and ice cream at Clint's parent's house.  Everyone is welcome to come and celebrate this wonderful weekend with us!  We look forward to seeing everyone and taking these last steps toward completing our family.  :O)

Backtrack: Preparing for Marcus

Jeez, you'd think that 3 kids took up all my spare time or something eh?  LOL  It's been nagging at me that I haven't posted all the details of our last 7 weeks on here, especially since I have about a million adorable pics of this sweet little man and his many loving fans.  For the lack of having a minute I would apologize but it's honestly just too much fun to love on my kiddos in my spare time than to glue myself to this computer so I suppose the apology will have to fall by the wayside.  :O)

BUT, those sweet children are sleeping and Clint is playing his latest XBOX craze game so I have finally found a moment to at least START this post.  I guess I need to backtrack to November to really record all the details here.  On Friday the 4th, we had a baby shower that Rebecca was able to come to.  I was SO nervous!  She wanted to come and I was totally excited to share it with her, but I was worried that seeing all the baby things would be hard for her.  I prayed profusely to know how to enjoy the shower and share the excitement of it in a way that would be the easiest and happiest for Rebecca.  I think those prayers were answered that night mainly because of my inspired sister, Yvette.  She had the brilliant idea to make a "Pamper Becca Basket" for everyone to contribute to at the shower.  I was SO touched by all the wonderful gifts our family and friends brought for her.  It was so amazing to be able to have a tangible way to show a fragment of our love, support and appreciation for her and I am SO thankful that she was able to take home a piece of that love.  I think my favorite moment from that night {aside from when we gave her the basket} was when Rebecca leaned over and told me, "Tiffany, I'm so sorry."  "For what?"  "I won't be able to give you your shower gift for about 6 weeks!"  Oh Becca, you are too funny girly!  She has the cutest sense of humor, I absolutely LOVE and ADORE this girl!!!  :O)

Things were going great for a few weeks after that, then on Thursday, November 17th, Rebecca's mom called me with the scariest news: Becca was bleeding and having extreme stomach pain.  The poor girl started having contractions and was going into preterm labor.  All day we were on pins and needles waiting for the latest update, wondering if she was ok and wishing we were closer.  I have never done laundry and packed bags for 5 people SO fast!  LOL  I had already begun getting things ready for the baby, but I wasn't completely prepared yet so that day found me freaking out on a number of levels - bringing in everything from the shed, washing and sanitizing it all, checking the car seat, calling family to make sure we had a place to stay just in case, letting Clint's work know he might be gone for a while, figuring out what to do with the girls if we went down that day, double checking with the insurance company, letting our doctor know what was going on, cleaning the house so it wouldn't sit dirty and be gross if we were bringing home a baby early, getting as much done with photography so I wouldn't get too far behind, letting clients know I might have to re-schedule, worrying about the baby being born premature {my sister Tawnya's little boy Jackson was born 5 weeks early and aside from some jaundice was perfectly fine and went home 5 days later.  On the other hand, my friend Jennie's little Eliana was also born 5 weeks early and couldn't come home for a few weeks, then was on oxygen for a few months.}... And while I'm running around crazy, poor Becca is doing her own freaking out because the doctors couldn't figure out what was causing the bleeding, why she was in so much pain or why she was contracting 5 1/2 weeks early.  When they checked her, she was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced.  She spent most of the day in the OB, but since they couldn't find what was wrong and the baby was doing fine, they gave her TWO shots to stop the contractions and sent her over to the ER for a few hours for some tests over there.  The bleeding stopped, and after sitting on a hard chair for a few hours {as opposed to the soft bed in the OB} she was released and sent home to take it easy.  The contractions continued for at least a week pretty consistently, but eventually died down for the most part.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving {the 26th} we had a baby shower here and Becca was again able to come.  We were pretty worried that her doctor would nix the 3 hour drive for her, but luckily she was a trooper and made the trip.  I was SO glad she and her family came!  We were again spoiled by family and friends and instead of having a basket for Becca we all chipped in and bought her a BEAUTIFUL custom quilt that was absolutely perfect for her.  After the shower we headed to the ever yummy local Chinese restaurant for their lunch buffet.  It was awesome to get to spend relaxed time with them and let our hair down.  It was too funny, Becca's step-Dad was antsy to get home to watch a football game from their home state {comparable to AZ's ASU vs UofA}, so after stuffing ourselves we invited them to chill at Clint's parents and watch the game.  It was fun to watch the boys perk up when their team showed up on the TV {and it gave us a chance to prolong our time with Becca}.  :O)  I gave her a back rub {which I loved since it made me feel useful instead of just a bystander ya know?} and exchanged story after story after story.  It was fabulous!  We didn't have that chance to get to know Kiki very well before Maelee was born so this was a nice change {even though waiting 3 months was a sanity tester vs waiting a week LOL}.

Next came the waiting game that seriously drives you nuts.  If you've had a kid, you know what I'm talking about!  Everyday of that last month is so full of anticipation, "Will he come today?"  "It's GOTTA be today!"  "Ok, how about TODAY?" and so when you go to bed every night, you hope you have everything ready for just in case he decides to pull a fast one and come when the stars are out.  I was glad for the extra time since I had waaaaay too much on my plate between finishing up photography, getting ready for Christmas, putting the finishing touches on Marcus' room, doing all the last minute things to be totally ready for his grand entrance, making sure the girls had enough attention to make up for the lack thereof after the baby came, getting everything in order for the week we would be gone with baby stuff and Christmas...  I honestly didn't get to sleep before 11 {usually later} for pretty much that entire month.  Not so smart there, chica!!

In December I decided it was time to buckle down and choose a name for this boy. I had made lists of names that I liked and Clint had vetoed pretty much everything.  I had looked online, in books, in movies, around town, racked my brain and finally turned to my ancestors for inspiration.  Know what I found?  Between my mom and dad's lines, I have 8 ancestors with the first name of "Speedy".  Yeah, like as in "Speedy Gonzales"!!!  I died laughing when I read my final tally on that one; Clint wasn't amused when I suggested it must be fate.  LOL  Rebecca and her mom had mentioned at our shower here that they thought we should name him an "M" name since we have Madi and Maelee, so when I looked specifically for an "M" name, I kept coming back to Marcus.  Then I looked back at all the lists Clint had vetoed and realized that on EVERY SINGLE LIST I had made, Marcus was on it.  I seriously hadn't noticed that I had come back to it so often.  When I told Clint about Becca and mom's "M" name suggestion the first name he said was... you guessed it!  Marcus!!  So, at that point I did my final test {and you may think I'm TOTALLY nuts, but this is me being honest}, I imagined how it would sound being announced during a football game!  Ha ha, I know, right?  Totally silly, but it sounded good in my head, met all our criteria for a name {not feminine, not too macho, not too boyish, not too manly, not too old fashioned, not too out there and not too common} and sounded good with our choice of a middle name {Tyrel is after Clint's younger brother Jason Tyrel who was struck and killed by lightening 5 1/2 years ago}.  I made the executive decision and breathed a sigh of relief.  :O)

Poor Rebecca had no change in dilation from mid-November until they induced her, even though she tried to jump start the contractions on her own {her mom took her to the mall and had her walk around for a few hours... nada}.  She wasn't actually due until December 26th, but her doctor {thankfully} was ok with inducing her a week early so that we would for sure have everything finished by Christmas.  So, on December 17th, Clint and I had our last hoo-rah before baby: we headed out to our friend's ranch and had the Christmas party to top all Christmas parties.  It was a BLAST!!  We started with an elegant meal, followed by minute-to-win-it style games and ended the night with a fun twist on your classic White Elephant.  Instead of your usual 1 big present per person, everyone brought 3 smaller ones.  The same rules applied: each present could be stolen twice, and if your present was kiped you got to yank someone else's.  There were times when people had all 3 of their gifts taken, and then had to wait forever to be able to steal or open new ones because so many people ahead of them had had theirs stolen too!  It was so fun!!  I tried to upload my videos from that night with no luck.  :O(  I will keep trying!!

The next morning we loaded up our bags, the girls' bags, Marcus' bag, all our Christmas presents and everything else we would need for the next week.  We dropped the girls off at Clint's parents' and headed out just as Rebecca was getting started on her admission paperwork in the hospital.

I know you are simply dying to hear more, my dear reader, but I would rather post this much now than make you wait another 2 weeks or so for me to have time to finish the next chapter in this story.  :O)  If you read all that, GO YOU!!!  Now I'm off to bed cuz my sweet Marcus will be up before I'm ready for him to be and I need all the shut-eye I can manage before then!  Night!!

Marcus has survived a whole month!!!

And I can't believe it!!  Not that I didn't think he would survive {although Maelee did her best to squish him on occasion... all in love of course!!  She is just still learning how to be soft by OUR definitions}, I just don't know where the time has gone. 



The last 30 {give or take, I'm too lazy to count} days have been... wonderful, chaotic, a little hectic and stressful, fun, hilarious, precious, tiring and blissful all in one.  Going from 2 to 3 was a bit more challenging than going from 1 to 2 {which I wasn't expecting as much}, but I'm sure there were a lot of things that played in to that: for instance, we adopted Maelee in the summer so no one was in school which made things a LOT easier.  Madi was 3 {Maelee is only 2 1/2} when we adopted the first time around and TRUST ME, I'm learning that those 6 months make a BIG difference!  :O)  Plus, with Madi being the oldest, she has a different personality than Maelee - Madison is much more serious and careful while Maelee... well, let's just say she wants Marcus to be big enough to play more than she wants to carefully hold him.  LOL

The last couple of weeks have found us finally getting into a routine and with Marcus sleeping anywhere from 5 to 6 1/2 hour stretches at night {ah, sweet sleep!}, we're also finally feeling like a happy family and not a crew of zombies.  :O)  I tell you what, having a boy is already SO different from the girls!!  And not just diaper changes {although I never had to worry as much about being peed on... it's ok though, the other night his aim was off and he peed all over his own head!  I guess that makes everyone even now!}, I am LOVING dressing this little guy!!  My grandma commented the other day that she just doesn't understand all these babies being dressed like little men, that she still thinks all babies should be dressed in gowns with strings on the bottom.  :O)  Not me, I LOVE all his little man clothes!  He is one hip boy!  LOL  He is almost out of all his newborn clothes, and is boasting size 1 diapers.  We STILL hear "Look at all that hair!" when people see him for the first time {which cracks me up, why THAT EXACT phrasing?  Seriously?!?  It's almost a little spooky!}, and I have to admit that I love giving him faux-hawks.  :O)



Madi loves to feed her baby brother.  She's burped him a few times and giggles every time he lets one out.  When he starts squirming with a bubble, she tells me that he's having "traumas" and I need to come help him quick.  Ha ha  She tells me everyday that she loves Marcus more than anyone else in the family {and sometimes will correct herself and add that she loves me AND Marcus more than anyone else.  I like that correction!}.  She is very protective of her little brother, ESPECIALLY around Maelee {thank heavens for that!} and said that she cried a little bit at school her first few days back because she missed him so much. 

Maelee loves to love on her baby brother.  :O)  She is getting better about not suffocating him with her affections {in the literal sense} and wants so bad to be big enough to take care of him.  If he starts fussing she is the first one to let us know that "beebee Mah-kiss" is awake and then tries to climb into the crib with him.  She loves to hold him, kiss him, rock him and often tells us {with a grin} that he licks her when she puts her face close to his.  I'm excited to watch them figure out how to play with each other as he grows and becomes more interactive.  My heart swells when I see my adopted babies snuggling and realize that they are the miracles that we couldn't give ourselves.  I'm SO thankful EVERYDAY for these beautiful, amazing children and the wonderful gifts they are for our family.  We are SO blessed!!!

Marcus is {I'm sure} still trying to figure out what is up with all the crazies who kiss him constantly.  :O)  It's fun to see everyone's tender side come out when he's around.  He is a super smiley baby, but is really trying to learn how to smile when HE wants to.  He's managed it a few times, but for the most part his smiles are in his eyes - you can tell that he's happy to see you because his whole face lights up and his eyes sparkle.  It's one of those things that makes me all warm inside.  :O)

Now here comes the part where I promise that I will post the hospital story, AND his newborn photos, AND more pics of him with the girls, AND Christmas, AND, AND... yeah, I know.  I promise!  :O)

Marcus Tyrel: Our Christmas Miracle

Meet our sweet little baby boy, Marcus.  He made his much anticipated entrance into this world on December 19th weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long.  Marcus has been welcomed by his {slightly obsessed albeit eternally doting} big sisters, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and even his dog Bear.  :O)  He has touched hundreds of hearts, brought endless joy, triggered thousands {probably more like millions} of tears and has caused a more than a few hours of lost sleep.  He so far has peed on doctors, nurses, Birth Mom and Grandma, Madison {on the hand and spit up on her nose}, Maelee {on the head} and yes, myself {the last of whom he has also pooped in the hand of... nice aim there buddy!!}.  He smiles often, loves to snuggle {which his big sisters enjoy} and adores the sound of his Daddy's voice.  He has crossed the first right of passage toward becoming a man - and I very literally nearly fainted during the barbaric ritual; complete with a hot flash, walls closing in and sounds starting to blur!  But I was there for him and while he may in all honesty never thank me for it, perhaps he will appreciate the gesture and know how much I already am in love with him.  The first two phrases out of EVERYONE's mouths are, "He's SO beautiful!" and "Look at all that HAIR!".  I love it!

The last month has been a blur, especially the last 2 weeks.  A LOT of emotion, a lot of tears, smiles, hugs, compassion, gratitude, grief, peace, joy and amazement.  We are SO thankful to have the unique opportunity to be a part of this miracle.  We have been given the most wonderful Christmas present in our sweet little Marcus.  One full of responsibility, but one that we have been anxiously waiting for for years and we are humbled by Rebecca's faith that lead him to our family.  Thank you Becca and thank you Alex for entrusting us with your perfect little boy.  We already love him with more tenderness and purity than I thought our hearts were capable of and we promise to never take your sacrifice for granted. 

Thank you.  Thank you eternally for Marcus Tyrel.

Walking Zombie

I know it may sound graphic, but you know those Nazi Zombies on that Call of Duty game?  Yeeeeeah.  I know how they feel {except for the whole hatred toward humanity bit.  I may have the episode of road rage now and then but I don't think that qualifies!!}!

It's the busy season for photography and man ALIVE have I been busy!  I have been glued to my computer for an average of 2-3 hours a day.  And luckily Clint doesn't mind when I have to be on the comp at night, he's recently rekindled his love for HALO on XBOX Live with his friends {that was a genius invention I have to say!  I'm really lucky in that Clint plays in moderation and stops even live games to help with the girls if they wake up.  And it's nice because he gets that guy time while still being home.  I get to work without feeling like I'm ditching him and he gets to play without feeling like he's ditching me... works for us!  Don't worry, we're not loner-do-our-own-things kinda married folks all the time!  We still snuggle up and watch movies or our fave TV shows a few times a week... just less frequently during my busy season!  Ha ha}.  It's my own fault for being so overwhelmed with clients - I'm still learning to say "no".  It's just super hard when I have that moment of "but I could use the money for this and this!"  Really makes that "no" word foreign to my vocab.  LOL

I'm shooting a wedding this weekend which I'm kinda stressing over, and so I wanted all my previous shoots edited and CD's delivered beforehand so they wouldn't be hanging over my head.  Well, when you're a total doofus like I am and schedule FOUR SHOOTS in ONE WEEK and only allow 3 days to edit... let's just say that I got on my computer yesterday morning at 8 and wasn't finished until 10:30 last night.  Combine that with being up until 11ish for the previous week and a half working on OTHER shoots...

Enter the walking zombie.

Can I just say that I'm ready for my winter break?  LOL

On a MUCH happier note, Rebecca and her mom came to visit us this last Tuesday and it was a really great day!  They got here right around noon and we grilled some Mango Chicken with Mango and Black Bean Salsa {minus the black beans... I forgot to put them in LOL}, YUM!!  We chilled for a bit and then took them on a tour of our neck of the woods.  Our first stop was the local hamburger and ice cream shop for some much needed dessert {gotta say that having braces really slows down eating the cone}, then around the valley.  Madi had a science thing at the library and Maelee fell asleep so the last hour or so of our visit was relaxed grown-up talk.  I spent all last week painting baby brother's room and had ordered a crib bedding set which thankfully showed up about 30 minutes before they left.  I was SO excited to get to share that with Rebecca.  She helped me pull it all out of the box, set it all up on his crib and hang the curtains.  That was so special for me to get to have her here, by my side putting those boyish touches on our little boy's room.  I took a break from the computer and hung the fun wall hangings this morning that came with it and cleared off the top of his dresser {currently my craft dresser} and the top drawer.  I'm going to wait until next month before I bring in the clothes I have in the shed {no reason to wash them twice before he comes!} then after the showers we'll be having next month I'll know what I still need to be totally ready for his much anticipated arrival!  SO EXCITING!!

The girls are still SO giddy over their "baby brudder" and talk about him ALL the time.  Madi for a while there wanted to name him "James" because she had a crush on a kid named that in her class.  :O)  I nixed that one cuz I knew the poor kid would NEVER live it down if he were named after Madi's temporary Kindergarten crush.  LOL  {She actually has a new "boyfriend" now... his name is Harley and evidently they hold hands while they read books in class during free time.  She came home all grins the other day and told me that on the seesaw she and Harley had decided that they were going to get married when they grow up.  "In the Temple, right Madi?"  "Well of COURSE Mom!"  "So you think he's your prince, huh?"  "No Mom.  I'm not a princess, I'm Madison!  Just Madison!"  Oh, sorry!  My bad!  Kinda surprised she hasn't declared that we name her baby brother "Harley" yet!  Ha ha LOVE IT!}.  No, we don't have a name yet.  Clint hasn't heard one he's crazy about yet.  :O(  Oh well, cest la vie!!  I told him that if he doesn't start liking the names I suggest then I will follow the Little Red Hen's example and "do it myself!"  LOL

Well, life is pretty great - exhausting - but great!

A Big Sister's Prayer

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this day.  Please bless that Maelee will never be mean to me again.  Thank you for telling Rebecca that we're the right family for our Baby Brother.  We love you. 

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen."

Just one of those moments that makes you cry and hug your kids a little tighter than normal.  Hope everyone else is as blissful as I am right now.  :O)

Baby Brother!!

You know, I'm learning that a phone call really can change your life.  2 years ago a phone call changed our lives and a week later we had a chunky, beautiful baby sister to lavish our affections on.  We watched Madison transform flawlessly from a stinker-pot into an amazingly sensitive and loving big sister.  We witnessed miracle after miracle over the next year as we finalized our first adoption, had Maelee sealed to our family for eternity in the Temple and felt the peace that only the Spirit can bring.

Last week, another phone call changed our lives again.  Our adoption caseworker called last Tuesday to let us know that a 17 year-old birth mom was interested in us and wanted to meet.  Her baby boy is due in December, and she kept coming back to our profile.  Hannah {our caseworker} told us to bring the girls to the face to face visit so that the birth mom could see us as a family {at first I kept thinking "Oh, heavens!" but the girls were AMAZING!}.  That night we explained to the girls that they might be getting a baby brother for Christmas and Madi started screaming in excitement, running around the room and shouting, "A baby brother!  A baby brother!  I FINALLY get a baby brother, just like ALL my friends have a baby brother!  YAY!!  I'm just so excited!  Maelee, I'm getting a baby brother, and YOU'RE getting a baby brother too!" here, she gasped in shocked realization, "We'll BOTH have the SAME baby brother!  You'll finally get to be a big sister like ME!!  Aren't you so excited?!?"  Maelee was beyond startled at Madi's random burst of giddiness, and it took us about 4 more times of explaining it to her before it finally 'clicked' for her...  "Maelee, do you like babies?"  "Uh-huh!"  "Do you want a baby to live here with you?"  "Uh-huh!"  "Do you want the baby to be YOUR baby?  YOUR baby brother?"  {BING!  That's where the light went on!}  "Beebee brudder?"  "Yeah!  A baby brother!"  Aaaaand cue random burst of giddiness, take 2: "Beebee brudder!  Beebee brudder!  Beebee brudder!  Manny! {Madi}  A beebee brudder!  Yay!!!" as she runs around clapping her hands and dancing with glee.  :O)  Gotta love my drama queens!

That night, as I was tucking the girls in bed, Maelee starts whimpering.  "No, Mom!"  "Baby, it's bed time - what's wrong?"  "Beebee brudder, hug?"  {BING!  Light on!}  "Sweetheart!  Your baby brother isn't here yet!  He won't be here for a few months, ok?"  She's straining to see around me, positive that her baby brother is just outside the door and that she, indeed, needed to give him loves before going to bed.  At this point she starts crying, "Beebee brudder!  Hug!  Kiss beebee brudder, Mom!"  I held back my giggles as I comforted my young daughter and explained gently that he's not here yet.  I tucked her in and left the room with a smile on my face.  For the next 20-30 minutes, those giggly girls talked and sang all about their new baby brother they were hopefully getting for Christmas.  :O)

We agreed to meet them Friday for lunch and decided to head down Thursday night to crash at my sister's to make the trip easier on the girls {in the hopes that they would then be more pleasant at the restaurant!  LOL}.  We drove out to the shopping center where the Olive Garden was {YUM!}, and thank heavens there was a Ross there because Maelee somehow ended up in the car without her shoes on!  {Clever way to get new shoes, why didn't I think of that?!?  :O)  Haha}  They had ONE pair in her size in the color we needed to match her outfit, whew!  {I SWEAR I saw her put her shoes on at Yvette's... oh well!}

With that crisis averted, we headed over to Olive Garden to wait with Hannah.  Every time someone walked in my nerves went crazy!  We were SO nervous to meet her!  When she and her mom and step-dad came inside, I could swear that I knew them from somewhere.  They looked SO familiar - Clint said the same thing later.  And let me just say that she is beautiful!  You can BARELY tell she's prego!  They were all {this will sound SO cheesy} really lovely {told ya, total cheese but it's really the best word to describe them!}.  We sat down and immediately started exchanging questions.  Clint and I didn't want to ask TOO personal of questions, because we didn't know how sure they were about us and we didn't feel that it would be appropriate to bombard them with questions that if they didn't choose us, we didn't need to know... ya know?  Clear as mud?  :O)  The girls were awesome and provided some entertainment at {most of} the right times, and were sweet and adorable the rest.  The more we talked with them, the more we really liked them and the more we hoped beyond hoping that we were the right family and would have more opportunities to get to know them better.

We found out that the baby is due just after Christmas, but her doctor is going to induce her a week early if all is going well.  It was fun seeing how much we have in common with them.  There were a few lulls in conversation, but Hannah came prepared with a few questions for us - which, if I'm being honest {always!  LOL}, caught us off guard a little.  I wish we had had a heads up so we could have better prepared our answers - put a little more thought into how we would say what's in our hearts instead of feeling so tongue-tangled.  Although, we came away feeling good about what we DID ask and how we answered their questions.  There were a few things we wish we had thought to ask, but all in good time, eh?

Two hours later, we took a few pictures and said goodbye.  As we drove away, we had a million feelings and thoughts racing in our minds.  Re-playing conversations, 2nd guessing ourselves, feeling calm, worrying, feeling peaceful, happy with the visit, wishing we could have visited longer and suddenly... exhausted!  We had planned on driving straight home {a 3+ hour drive from lunch} to try and make it home for Madi's soccer practice, but decided to spend the afternoon at Yvette's house instead.  The girls were ready to run wild for a little bit and going for a swim sounded pretty nice {one of the perks of visiting family! LOL}.  About an hour and a half later, we were watching LINGO... when Clint's phone rang.  He didn't recognize the number and it stopped before he could answer it.  Then my phone rang with the same number.  Clint's eyes got wide and he told me to "answer it quick!" 

I am so thankful we found ourselves SO tired after the face to face.  If we had decided to drive straight through, we would have been in a no-service area and would have missed another call that changed our lives, forever.  My nervous "hello?" was greeted with absolutely wonderful news; when they got home, her mom encouraged her to pray about us.  Heavenly Father answered her prayer with the assurance that we are the family for her son.  Holy waterworks!  I burst into tears and wanted to reach through my phone and give her the biggest hug I could manage!  Clint could tell what was going on and got the biggest grin on his face and started dancing with excitement!!  {Super cute, let me tell ya!}  We are beyond thankful to our Father in Heaven for this amazing opportunity.  We have waited so long for a baby brother, and to have this miraculous gift only 3 months away is... indescribable.  We are on a major happiness high right about now and just hope that we can be the best adoptive family for this awesome birth mom and her family.  We haven't had any contact with the birth father or his family yet, but we also hope to be able to meet their needs as well.  We are SO excited to welcome this precious boy into our family.

We know without a doubt that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles.

Madison was our first miracle. 

Maelee was our second miracle.

Baby Brother is our third.

Here goes round 2!!!

It's officially official!  We are certified to adopt as of today!!!!  YAY!!

There are still a few things I need to do before I can breathe a sigh of relief and turn it over to the Lord's hands, but I should finish those things up tomorrow {HOPEFULLY!}.  We are SO excited and amazed at how fast the certification process went this time around.  It was almost an ENTIRE YEAR faster this time!  I know, crazy right?!?  SO...  Now the process starts all over again of trying to get our names out there so we can be in the right place at the right time for our birth mom to find us.  Here's the link to our online profile - check it out!

Please remember us in your prayers, and please don't be afraid to ask questions if you have any.  I'm actually presenting at an Adoption Academy in a few weeks, and have a feeling my brain will be picked when I'm there!  :O)  LOL  And my final plea, dear reader, is to please pass the word along that we're ready to adopt again.  You never know where or who or how our birth mom will be led to us.  Maybe you could help play a part in our next Miracle.

Enough with the seriousness, or I'm gonna cry here!  HURRAY FOR ADOPTION AND HURRAY FOR BIRTH MOMS AND HURRAY FOR FINALLY BEING CERTIFIED!!!!!  :O)

An Ode to Paperwork

Oh, paperwork.

Best friend, worst enemy.

Worst enemy when I see you.

Best friend when you're done.

You bring stress.

You bring joy because I know I will never see you again.

You bring peace because I know you were worth every single minute of every late night.

And when you do your part, our prayers will be answered again by a miracle of selfless love.

And it is SO WORTH IT.

Big Changes!

Spring has sprung 'round our house and as it does every year, it's made us itch for some changes.  Closets get cleaned out, things get re-organized and there's some pretty satisfying deep cleaning.  I LOVE SPRING!!

This spring is also bringing a look at our family - where we are now, and where we would like to be in a year or so.  Yeah, you guessed it - I'm talking about adoption.  We're starting to get that itch again, and we're excited to be part of another miracle.

BUT, our house isn't huge, and our car is TINY.  Luckily, tax returns are amazing things that can help in situations like this!  :O)  For over a year, we've been thinking of ways that we can comfortably fit another child {or 2, I keep dreaming about twins... we'll see on that one, eh?  LOL} in our home.  We've come up with a few ideas {aside from serious purging!}.  So, on that note, we went from this:

To THIS!

And this!

The girls are so stinkin' funny with their new bed.  They go up and down the ladder constantly, bouncing around and laughing hysterically.  They even came up with this game: one lays on the bottom bunk and sucks on a doll pacifier while the other one says, "Goodnight baby!  I'll see you in a bit!" and climbs the ladder.  Once the "Mom" is "upstairs", the "baby" starts crying, bringing the "Mom" back down to check on her, "Oh, baby!  Don't cry!  Mama's here!  It's ok!"  Then it repeats itself a few times, and they switch roles.  Too cute!  Maelee isn't sleeping on the bottom bunk quite yet, she's too light a sleeper still.  Since she still hasn't figured out that she could probably climb out of the crib {she climbs everything else!  SO surprised that she hasn't attempted that one yet, but yet she manages to get up on the counter!}, we're still letting her sleep there for now.  I'm giving myself until school starts in August to make the full transition.  At least it's ready for when we'll need to have both girls in there, and probably with more than enough time for them to totally adjust to sleeping in the same room again.  {FINGERS CROSSED!!!}

I loved my car {note the "d"!!}. 

It got GREAT gas mileage {hybrid, gotta love it!}, was pretty comfy and has been awesome to have for the past 2 years.  BUT, it was TEENY-TINY.  If one of Madi's friends rode with us somewhere, they could BARELY fit between the car seat and booster - so there was NO WAY we could squeeze another car seat in that backseat.  Not without some serious plastic bending and possible damage to the vehicle doors...  So for over a year now we have been looking at a possible upgrade.  We... ok, I have researched virtually every SUV of every size - put waaaay too much time into this whole thing.  BUT, it has all been for a good cause because a few weeks ago we bought THIS!!!:

Oh, my laws.  We LOVE our Sequoia!  When we were driving home the first time in it, Madi would point at every car we passed and say, "Ha ha!  Bet you wish YOU had a Sequoia Tuh-oy-ya!  Our Sequoia is faster than YOU little blue car!  And we're faster than YOU little red truck!"  We were dying laughing!  We scored BIG TIME with it: it's an '04, 84k miles, leather interior, moon roof {Madison was adamant that we bought one with a moon roof because the first one we test drove had one and she thought it was the coolest thing ever!}, tow package and is the EXACT color we wanted.  I love that it's not brand new so we're not overly paranoid about the girls climbing all over inside, ya know?  I love that it's not a huge, full-size SUV.  I love that it seats 8 people!  I love that the backseat is comfortable.  I love that even with the 3rd row seat up, there is a TON of cargo room.  I love the 6 CD disc changer.  I love that it has a storage thing for my sunglasses.  I love that it has 10 over-sized cup holders.  And I love that we found exactly what we wanted, within the mileage we wanted, within the year range we wanted, with the upgrades we wanted for the price we wanted to pay.  AND, I'm so excited to finally have the car that we're going to "raise" our family in.  To not have to worry about what we're going to do about our tiny car if our next adoption happens as quickly as Maelee's went.  We absolutely LOVE this SUV!  We can't wait to take it camping this summer.  Literally.  In fact, we're taking it camping this weekend to test it out... anyone up for a camp out?!?

I agree with the Grinch

It's true.  I honestly do!!  There is one line from that story that keeps running through my mind...

"I MUST stop this Christmas from Coming!  ...But how?"

Christmas is only 4 days away!  I'm SO {get this!} bummed!!!  Most of the magic of Christmas is the anticipation of it.  Next week we'll be surrounded by fun new things, and my girls will be entertained with all their fun gadgets and gizmos... and I'm the goober who doesn't want it to be here yet.  I want to prolong the season.  Once it's over, life goes back to normal.  We find a home for everything, put all the decorations away until next year, throw the tree out on the burn pile, and then it's just cold without anything special to look forward to.  *Sigh*  Maybe the Grinch and I will go on strike!  Ha ha.

We've had a nice December so far.  I've tried really hard to not get stressed out and to not over-do it.  {Thus, I am still undecided as to whether or not I will send out Christmas cards... they would really be more like New Year's cards at this point... LOL}

Madi and I did a fun project a few weeks back, I taught her how to make paper snowflakes. 

It was hard for her little hands to cut through so much paper, but she did a great job

and we made quiiiiiite a mess!

It took about a week to finish up, not because it was hard or anything, but more because it just took me that long to get my iron out! We ironed them so they would be nice and flat,

then we sprayed them with glitter spray and hung them over our bay window in the dining nook. So fun!!

Next came our ward party. It was CRAZY!! There were so many people that we ran out of tables and chairs! They had to pull some out of the classrooms and seat people out in the foyer. The Primary did the Nativity, and as you can see, Madi was VERY interested...

LOL She actually really DID get into it, and was basically sitting backwards in her chair the whole time. It just got a little long for her... Ha ha Evidently it did for Maelee too cuz this is how she watched the performance

Clint is SUCH a trooper! He gets the Super-Dad award! Then the girls saw Santa, and I'm so annoyed at my camera and flash that THIS was the best pic I got. Grrr!

The guy had actually grown out his beard and bleached it so it was white. Very cool! The kids were SO excited, Maelee almost jumped out of my arms to get to him, then they both stroked his belly while Madi told him what she wanted. When I reached for Maelee, she defiantly told me, "NO!!" and turned back to Santa to pet him some more. He thought that was GREAT, and rewarded her with a few tickles - to which she cupped his face and gave him a love. Too cute!

Last week was the last this semester for pre-school, so we had a party during the last hour on Thursday. The girls were SO adorable. {Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to Michele for the pictures!} First, we played "Hang the Ornament on the Christmas Tree"

All the girls got a few turns, and even Maelee and Marshall got a turn. :O)

Then we attempted to play the white elephant gift exchange game... Note to self, don't, repeat DO NOT play this game with 4-year-old girls! It's just not fair to the poor girl who gets her present taken! I felt so bad for Bentlee! Whoops!

Next, we had a junk break and decorated cupcakes to look like Rudolph. So cute!

That afternoon, Clint and I cashed in on some hour-massage gift certs he had gotten us for our anniversary back in June. HEAVEN!!! Then we went out to lunch {"This is like a REAL date! Wow!!"}, and got ready to head down to see my family for the weekend. As always, we were spoiled there and came home with heartburn from all the good food, a trunk full of fun toys and goodies, and lots of memories. I didn't bring my big, nice camera and forgot the SD card for my piece-o-crap-but-very-small camera... SO, I didn't get any pics of my family festivities. We also had a visit with Kiki, and I was able to get some from that before my internal memory was full.

Madi and Kapuai ran crazy dressed up like fairies, fun fun!

Maelee may look like she knew what she was doing, but she didn't stay on her feet for too long...

It was a great visit, and we are so happy to see Kiki and her family doing so well.

Merry Christmas too all, know that we love and are thinking of you!  And props if you made it through that!  :O)