Monday, November 11, 2013

5 years of laughs, tickles, silliness and so much more!

Well nothing like being over a month late to post Turner's 5th birthday celebration.  We have made it a tradition to go to the cabin in Arkansas and spend his actual birthday at his favorite theme park: Silver Dollar City.  This year, was no different!

The hulk just couldn't contain his excitement!
We made Turner and Lydia wait at the top of the stairs before coming down on his birthday morning...suspense always makes it more FUN!!
This expression says it all!!  He loves to see the cabin decorated and pile of presents on the table!
Ready to dig in :)  And yes, I ran out of wrapping paper and resorted to a grocery bag!  Good thing Turner could care less
A few of his "wish list" items: A remote control airplane : CHECK
Not sure if Turner or his daddy was more excited about this: 25th anniversary Superhero DVD
Another top of the list item: Transformers
Then after a fun filled morning of gifts, we put on our jackets and headed to Branson
1st stop: his favorite ride...the JUMPING frogs!  Lydia actually laughed the entire time which was a huge improvement as this summer she screamed the ENTIRE TIME
We let them pick out 1 item from the park...and to my surprise and delight, they picked out adorable hand painted and personalized umbrellas...something other than a toy makes this momma HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
 
Funny story on his birthday- we bought it from the local grocery store in Arkansas.  I told them THREE times how to spell his name...seriously THREE.TIMES.  When I came back to pick it up this is what was on it!  TUNER :) Oh well, made for a good laugh
What's a birthday without a HUGE piece of birthday cake for breakfast!
Sis ate so much cake for breakfast that she puked on the way to Silver Dollar City...never a dull moment with these 2!
Some of Turner's favorite things include:
Face painting
the colors blue, green & orange
Ninja Turtles
Brown Bear Brown Bear & his Lego books
He loves watching Scooby Doo and Tom & Jerry
singing Jesus music and dancing to Justin Bieber
He absolutely adores his 2 sisters.  His favorite thing about Lydia is that she plays in the back yard with him and lets him chase her.  He loves Nora the most when she holds his hand and smiles at him.  He doesn't however like when she pulls his hair!
He LOVE LOVES LOVES dressing up and playing with friends!
His smile absolutely melts my heart!  He has a heart of gold and loves to tell people about Jesus and pray at dinner time.  The other day we were in the store and there was a deformed lady, he got very sad  and quiet....once in the car, he asked if we could pray to Jesus to make her look like him so people wouldn't be scared of her. I love his compassion and empathy and prays he always shows it to those who need it the most
He is all boy who loves to pee outside, play in the dirt, wear his cowboy boots & camo,  and ride his bike around the neighborhood. 
He keeps us laughing and on our toes.  He doesn't slow down for much except to snuggle with mommy in the mornings.  He loves to make silly faces and tell jokes.  He's the life of the party and likes to be the center of attention.
Although very outgoing, he does get embarrassed easily and has his shy moments.
He is noticing more and more that he is brown and we are white.  But it doesn't seem to bother him a bit.  He asked his daddy the other night if he would get freckles and turn white like him when he gets older.  We remind him all the time that families don't have to match to love one another.  We are extra special and just the way God made us
His girlfriend is Addi.  He thinks it really neat that she has a sister that is adopted and "brown" like him. 
Turner's BFF is a toss up between Cole, Gabe and Lydia. Just depends what day you ask him. 
He is a natural athlete and is a 'beast" on the soccer field.  On a typical game, he scores 75%  of the goals.  He's quick on his feet, can run faster than faster, and has coordination like no other! We are taking a break from sports this winter and he's taking a boys only Hip Hop class...this is guaranteed to make us mommies laugh and who knows we may even learn a dance move or two
He still loves to snuggle, hold hands, and kiss. 
He is thankful for french toast sticks with syrup, Ms. Kathy, God giving us friends, our car, our world and the moon and stars
He enjoys pestering his sister but is caught off guard when she fights back! 
Turner we love you to the moon and back. So thankful you made me a mommy first.  I love your spunk, your heart and your silliness.  You have taught me to have patience, not to take life so seriously, and that I need to slow down and just play more often. Our lives would be so boring without you.  I pray you always love Jesus, read books, act silly, never stop dancing and sing praise and worship music at the top of your lungs. You bring so much joy to our lives.  You will always be my baby boy no matter how old you are...

Saturday, October 26, 2013

2 -3 month update



So I've found one thing that's harder to do with 3 kids!  BLOGGING!! 
So here goes Nora's 2nd AND 3rd month update.

We are 3 months into being a family of 5 and still loving every minute.  I often find myself in awe of how "easy" it has been.  Now don't get me wrong we have our moments but my fear of failure with 3 kids weighed heavy on my heart months leading up to Nora.  I already had my hands full with 2 so how could I really add another one into the mix and succeed!  Well now I know those fears were of the devil! 

Turner and Lydia adore their "Baby Nora"  I'm guessing she will be 15 and they are still going to be calling her "Baby Nora"  They love holding her and most of all talking to her since she now smiles at them.
Not only does she smile ALL the time she is also "talking" up a storm.  She wakes up every morning in the sweetest mood.  She's not too hungry, she just wants to be held and talked to. 
She is on a good schedule-eating about every 3-4 hours and PRAISE JESUS, still sleeping thru the night.  She usually takes a few cat naps in the morning, then a 3 hour nap from 12:30-3:30 then she's up for most the evening which is perfect so the kids and daddy get to play with her!  She doesn't miss a thing.  Then she usually goes down about 8:30 in the evening, we wake her around 10:30 for a final feeding before calling it a night.  She sleeps until 7:00 or even a little later.
She is so very laid back and rarely fusses.  People I see on a daily basis can't believe they have never heard her cry....I'm telling you- she's perfect in every single way!
At 2 months, she weighs 12 lbs and 10 oz which is in the 95% and is 22 1/2.  She is our chunky monkey for sure.  Turner and Lydia never had the baby rolls on their legs or the double chin- so I'm loving this 1st!
She has the most beautiful blue eyes (from her birth grandpa) that just like her big sisters, light up a room.  Her eye lashes are gorgeous.

And this smile melts our hearts!   So blessed she's ours!  We've seen her birthmom and grandparents several times over the last 3 weeks and with each visit, we draw closer and closer to them.  Her birthmom told me this week they were all so afraid that they would never see her again even though we promised that would not be the case.  I'm so relieved they want to have an ongoing relationship with us. 
 Its a beautiful thing and one of the biggest blessings of all 3 of our adoptions.

There you have it - We are in love and are having a blast!   

Friday, September 27, 2013

We are FAMILY!!


We were blessed to be surrounded by our family upon sweet baby Nora's arrival.
 Proud Pops!
 Pops, Mema and the girls
So blessed Mema was able to love on sweet Nora when we brought her home from the hospital

Turner sure loves his Mema 
 The girls

 Sweet cousins
 Sweetness
 So thankful for Aunt CC...she immediately dropped everything and came to our house before she moved to Colorado to help keep Turner and Lydia's schedule somewhat "normal" with all the craziness going on.
 The week after we got Nora back, we had already planned a fun slumber party with Lydia's birthmom and siblings.  We had a blast!!!
 This picture just melts my heart.  Lydia's birthmom Kassandra has been one of our biggest prayer warriors over the past several months.  She has encouraged me and given me so much hope.  I love you so so so much Kassandra. I couldn't hand pick a better birthmom for Lydia and so blessed you're my dear friend!
 The boys had a blast playing dress up all weekend long!!  I'm going to stock up on Halloween costumes when they go on sale after the 31st!
 I love love love family time!
 everyone but Antonio
 Lolly and Nora
 Finally a picture of Antonio...he's too cool for all my obnoxious pictures!
 Yes, we eat ALOT when we are all together.  So thankful my John loves to cook.  He made Kassandra's favorite....jumbo Hamburgers!
 Grandma Judy and sleeping beauty
 Big brother Antonio
 Our 1st Sunday together....Lydia refused to smile :) 
 He's glowing!
 Be.still.my.heart.
 Proud mommy!
 Blessings from Brokenness
Psalm 27: 13
"I am confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord"
I prayed and believed this verse at my core during the 3 weeks away from Nora. 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Nora Sophia Rose

 Well, we've come a long way since my last post.  Our journey to Nora has had so many twists and turns but God remained faithful as promised.  My hearts desire is that our journey glorified HIS Kingdom and will serve as a reminder of his faithfulness and may even encourage others to never loose faith despite heart ache, anger, and confusion.

Here are some pictures from our 1st days with this little angel.
 One proud daddy! I fall more and more in love with this sweet man every day!  I couldn't hand pick a better daddy and husband
 Blessed beyond belief
 our little bundle weighed 7 lbs and 14 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  Sophia is the name her birthmother chose and Rose is after my dear little Grandma Rose.  And we love the name Nora :)
 The admiration and love I have for her mom can never be put into words.  She is kind, loving, strong (she gave birth 100 % natural) quiet, brave, sensitive, joyful and is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  We are so blessed by her selfless act to choose adoption and we celebrate that she wants to have an on going relationship with us! During Nora's birth, we had the privilege to meet her grandma and grandpa, 1 aunt, and 1 uncle and her birthmom's best friend. It was truly a family affair.  We look forward to getting to know them better over the years.
 some quality snuggle time with her birthmomma
 One big happy family!
 2 very very proud siblings.  Turner and Lydia are in LOVE with their "Baby Nora" and can't quit holding and kissing on her. 

 Turner's favorite thing to do is help feed her and then of course he gets a kick out of burping her too!
 And Lydia just loves to snuggle with her and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"  in the sweetest high pitched voice
 coming home from the hospital was hard work!!

These 1st 4 days with sweet Nora were such were a blur but oh so wonderful.  Our hearts were broken into a million pieces when we had to give her back...but 3 weeks later God put the pieces back together! After 2 weeks with her birthmom, promises weren't being upheld and her birthmom knew deep in her heart, adoption was the best choice for her daughter....so through a string of phone calls and visits, she changed her mind and relinquished her rights.  All of this went on while we were in Florida with the Satterfields....unknown to us :)  Deaconess wanted to protect our hearts just in case something went wrong.  In the mean time, for an entire week, this precious precious family loved on our baby girl for us.  One bright sunny Monday afternoon, I got a call from Meghan with Deaconess which  I thought was a bit strange since we had taken our name off the list for a few months.  We chit chatted for a while then she proceeded to tell me she had really been working hard while we were on vacation....I was still a bit puzzled and asked what she meant.  She then told me the entire story and asked if we wanted to come pick up our baby girl!!!!  Of course we did...and less than an hour after that phone call, we held her in our arms again, but this time forever!   

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all our friends, family, and even strangers who have prayed and encouraged us over the last 2 months.  We felt every single prayer and are so thankful God put each of you in our lives.