And that's all I have to say about that!! :)

So... to escape from the pity party I was having.... I took the kids to visit my grandma and to play on the beach. I knew THE call wouldn't come today since our case worker was out of the office.... so I tried to just have fun and love on my kiddos!!! :)






And, no need to feel sorry for Grace for "falling" in the water. My crazy girl wanted to go swimming!!!!!! She did that on purpose! Yep-- she keeps us on our toes!

Nothing new....

We're trekking through our day to day. I never thought that I'd be posting that we hit AND passed the 4 month mark of waiting. Things just seemed to moving so much faster when we started the process. But, it's moving at God's perfect pace and I can truly, truly say that I'm OK with that. I think my mind had been saying I was ok with the wait, but my heart wasn't. But, I think I'm getting better at waiting. Lately, I've just been surrounded by "patience" and "waiting". I'm doing a Beth Moore study right now on the Fruits of the Spirit-- awesome!!! And, I have the faith that I know we will be greatly blessed in our wait. Because, the adoption journey just isn't about being matched with your child and then bringing them home. That is just a very small piece. God is working in all of the steps. He's working in me right now as I wait. He's working in our boy. He's working in my family at home. He's working in the people that hear about our adoption. This is His story. We just are the ones that are being blessed as we continue on this journey with Him. And, I am excited (and yes, a little nervous too) to see how our story unfolds. Though it may not be what I had planned-- we'd be traveling this month if things went according to MY plan!!-- I know that God's plan is going to be so much better than anything I could have come up with!!!!

But, in the waiting, life continues. Time is flying. The kids are growing up way too fast. I want to savor my days.... for who knows what tomorrow may bring!

But, last week brought a pretty rockin' first real haircut for Grace!!! Seriously.... she has an amazing fro! I guess that's the way to cut her hair-- picked all the way out, and then the gal used clippers to shape the fro!! Grace ate up every moment of her time at the salon. She LOVED it! :)


and... my guy lost his two bottom teeth! Sooooo cute!!!
If I were to capture a photo that says "Jake"-- this would be it!! He's a LEGO maniac. He got his new LEGO kit in the mail the other day (he's part of the Brickmaster club!!) Notice he still has his backpack on! Went straight from the bus stop to the table to start building!!!

And my little lady.... captured this just on the back deck. She plays out back every day, rain or shine. On the deck, in the dirt, making mud pies, singing songs, and talking to, well... I don't really know... but she talks nonstop to whoever she thinks is outside playing with her!!! :)

Two perfect blessings....

I hate to admit it, but some days I find myself focusing on what I don't have, and am missing the moments that I do have with these two amazing blessings!!!!

They melt my heart!

And, our little guy will be ready to join our family in God's perfect timing. I'm resting in that peace right now.

Ladybug Girl

After reading this book today....


This is the outfit Grace HAD to wear today!!!

Grace has plans for Jacob to be Bumblee Boy when he gets home from school today!!! We'll see how that one plays out!! :)

another month down....

Yep. We have officially been waiting a full 3 months. I know that doesn't really sound like too long to be waiting. But, when the heart is longing to see the face of our sweet boy.... it makes for a long 3 months!! The current wait time is still 4 months for a child 13 mo. and older, so hopefully this will be the month.... or preferably the week-- or DAY!!!!!!

Can't wait to see that 817 area code come across my phone........

3 by 3

Oh what fun it is to be preparing for one more kiddo. It's different than preparing for a baby... and it's FUN!!! Luckily I just "knew" we'd be adopting a little older boy one day and I saved Jacob's clothes from 3T on, so we don't have many new clothes that "need" to be bought. The only must get is a different car. I really like the car I have now, a Saturn Vue, but it doesn't accommodate 3 carseats very easily... so, we're going the mini van route!!

Here's a little prepping we have been doing. 3 is going to be fun!

New backpacks! Looking forward to packing the red and blue one with lots of fun things to keep two brothers occupied on a VERY long flight!!!!

Each kiddo has their own color towel. Easy to remember whose is whose. Easy for the mom to know who left their wet towel in a pile on the floor!!! :)
These pictures are hanging in the hall by the kids' rooms. I hung them a year ago. When I bought the two frames, I bought the matching green one..... "just in case". Now I get to fill it with one more cutie in the snow!
Now, all we need is the PHONE TO RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much to be thankful for.... and a small pity party too!

OK- let's start with the pity party and get that part over with. Yeah, we're still waiting. I really can't complain. It's only been 2 months.... and 4 days. :) But, I think that I let myself get caught up into thinking that our referral would come super fast since it seemed like we were the only family requesting a 4 year old boy. Plus, so many people thought the same thing, that I was just sure we'd have our referral by Christmas. So, I guess I'm just a little bummed today.

But..... my house is full of love and joy. I surely can not, and should not be complaining!!! We had a wonderful Christmas and we just got home from a little get away with my parents. (to the not as snowy as we had hoped for, Leavenworth, WA) Jake did get on downhill skis for the first time and loved it.... and Grace had fun snowshoeing for the first time. I will, however, admit that I made Mike pack the laptop.... just in case!!!

This little video cracks me up! Grace will fully entertain herself... and others watching.... if you just stick her in front of her own reflection! Seriously, this girl starts belting out songs whenever she looks in the mirror, reflection from the stove, window, whatever!!! I think we need to put a mirror in her room!!! (at the end of the video-- Mike had snuck outside and hit the window that Grace was singing to... and scared her!!)



And a few pics from the holidays!! :)