Dreams Come True

Our Birthday Girl!

2012-01-21T22:27:00.006-05:00

Eva is 4 years old! I can't believe it!

She said, "I'm 4 now!" or "It's my birthday!" Over and over today!

And here is my baby girl on her 3rd birthday, can you believe the difference!!

On Thursday she celebrated at preschool.

Make a wish!

Eva and her teachers.

Me and my sweet Birthday Girl!

Then Friday night we celebrated at ChuckE.Cheese

Good morning 4 year old!!!

Always her breakfast of choice, CEREAL!

Watching TV in her princess castle with Bubby.

Our Family.

We had dinner with Nana and Papa

And got to hear Uncle Danny sing.

Enjoying her birthday ice cream.

All Bundled Up, it was a very icy cold day!

Snuggled up with her Bub for quiet time.

Happy Birthday Eva Faith Mekdes. I can't believe you're such a big girl already! We love you so much and hope you have a super fun year being 4 years old!

2011

2012-01-01T20:52:00.008-05:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from 2011

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Praying all of our family and friend have a very blessed and Happy New Year.

We are ready for a fun and exciting 2012!!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas To All

And to All

A Good Night! :o)

It's beginning...

2011-12-11T23:58:00.000-05:00

To look a lot like Christmas around here, and we are busy, but having tons of fun!!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T08:28:00.006-05:00

October was a busy, fun month, with lots of dressing up. We had our annual camping trip on fall break.

This year it happened to be on my birthday. :o)

This campground had trick-or-treating, so fun!
Eva was a giraffe, adorable.
And Ben was a hobo, too funny!
The trick-or-treating gang.
Ben had a presentation in school and he had to dress up as Einstein, ha ha ha!
He also had a Halloween party at school that week, here he is with his best buddies.
Eva's dance class had dress-up day the week of Halloween.
I know I'm biased, but that's one perfect little pumpkin!
I just had to throw in this picture because my kids are so cute!
Pumpkin carving. Eva was really into it this year!
Ben is always into it, he loves carving pumpkins, like his Mom!
Eva drew the jack-o-lantern face all by herself and then I carved it for her. LOVE it!

Ben's finished product. My favorite of his so far! :o)
Then Halloween night. Here's Ben the Bum...
And Eva Ballerina.

Grandma and Grandpa came over to pass out candy too!

Halloween was fun, but tiring! The kids are already talking about what they want to be next year!

Happy Halloween 2011

LEAVES!

2011-10-30T23:45:00.001-04:00

Busy!

2011-10-12T22:44:00.005-04:00

So I haven't really done the best at blogging everyday in October. Several times my pictures wouldn't upload and then I've been sick for a week, and blah blah blah! :o) Here are some pictures from our fun weekend and the pumpkin patch and open house at Daddy's fire department.

Dancing Queen

2011-10-07T21:59:00.007-04:00

We were watching one of my favorite shows the other night, The Sing Off. Eva was a dancing machine and Ben said, "Mom, I gotta get the Flip out and tape this!" So, here is Ben's video of his little sis dancing! Hilarious! She has a Lincoln Logs lid and a couple of stuffed animals for props. You can even see some of her ballet moves that she has learned from dance class.

Ben took several videos of her dancing, and then she would rush over and they would watch them. These two are so cute together!

Extra Curricular Activities

2011-10-05T20:51:00.003-04:00

Of course Ben and Jack LOVE to play video games after school! I don't watch Jack after school anymore, but he comes over at least once a week and Ben goes to his house too. They are the best of friends, and Jack is like family to us! They are getting SO big! :(

Eva is really into drawing and painting. She also LOVES play-doh and puzzles! She could sit and do puzzles all day long! :o)
Here's one of her paintings that she did that day. I can't get over how well she painted around her hand and painted her name! So cute! This one might have to get framed!

On the Mend

2011-10-04T20:14:00.002-04:00

This little girl was so excited to go back to school today after missing both days of preschool and dance class last week because she was sick, (with a 105 fever.) I was so excited that she was feeling better!

No post yesterday... blogger wasn't working for me.

Rocktoberfest

2011-10-02T22:13:00.003-04:00

We usually go to almost all of the church festivals in the summer, but this year we didn't even make it to one! So, when one of the churches in our neighborhood was having their festival we decided to go. It was a nice fall evening and the kids had fun!

October full of Pictures

2011-10-01T08:45:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to get back into blogging, so I thought I would post a picture everyday in the month of October.

We've had a long week, two sick kids! Eva had a yucky virus and her fever was 105. YIKES! Ben has asthma and this week he had a really bad cough, which always worries this Mom! So, the kids stayed home with their awesome Daddy on Thursday. They were both on the mend, and suffering from a little cabin fever, so they played with some playdoh on the deck. It was a GORGEOUS night! Scott is in the background grilling up some YUMMY stuffed burgers! After dinner we took a walk to the pond. It was just the perfect Fall evening.

So happy to see those smiling faces again, and so happy that they are feeling better!!!!

Happy October!

I'm Back

2011-09-26T21:31:00.002-04:00

I just didn't like the set up on wordpress, so I'm back. I'm still hoping to figure out how to be a little more private on this blog, but we're pretty boring anyway!

The kids are doing great in school and we have settled into our new schedule better than I expected! :o) I'll have to play catch-up on what we've been up to!

Lessons

2011-08-12T16:26:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to catch up on some of our summer activities. Ben took golf lessons again this year. He's been taking lessons since he was 4 and is becoming quite the golfer.

Little sis took swim lessons this year. We were only able to get in a couple of private lessons but Eva is so confident in the water we knew she needed to get some lessons this summer. She kept pushing the instructor's hands off of her hips and saying, "I'm FINE!" Little Stinker.
Eva loved jumping off the diving board, and wants to do it again and again and again!
School starts next week. I'm trying to be more positive about school, so... I think it's going to be a GREAT year! ;o)

CCI Reunion

2011-08-10T22:39:00.007-04:00

This year's reunion was held in Nashville and it was the first one our family attended. We were so excited to finally meet a lot of the families we have gotten to "know" through our yahoo group and blogs, and we were excited to be around families like our own. And we were even more excited about spending the weekend with some of our best friends, the Stanley family.

We got there Friday night, had dinner and then the kids did a lot of swimming at the hotel.

The reunion started at an Ethiopian restaurant. I didn't get a lot of pictures at the restaurant, it was so crowded and we were all catching up with each other, but here are a bunch of the big brothers.

And here's one of Eva and one of the restaurant owner's son. They were too cute running around and playing with each other.

That evening we all met up again for dinner. This is Julie, Sue's daughter. Sue, Julie and Julie's friend Christy escorted Eva home. We were so excited for them to see Eva a year later, and they were just as anxious to see her. So Sweet!

Our amazing director Sue. There are no words to describe how thankful we are for Sue and all the amazing work she does for the orphans in Ethiopia.

Eva and Angela, Sue's right hand man at CCI.

The girls enjoying a very messy treat!

Beautiful girls!

The big reunion event was held at Sodium on Sunday afternoon. It was a huge rec center and the kids had a blast playing while the parents got to share stories. I took a ton of pictures!

Some of the AMAZING moms I've gotten close to. We are so thankful for the new friends we've made through adoption.

The handsome Stanley boys.

My handsome guys!

It was an amazing weekend, with amazing families and amazing friends!

We are so blessed!!!!!

Testing!

2011-08-09T16:27:00.001-04:00

Just testing to see that you can see the blog now that it's private. I guess if you can't I won't know though. ha ha! Here are my kids doing their favorite activity... SWIMMING!

Going Private

2011-08-01T08:05:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking about going private for a while now, and after I've seen pictures and quotes taken from my blog and friends' blogs, I think it's time. Even if you had permission to copy the pictures, or had good intention by quoting what was written, it made me realize that ANYONE could steal pictures of my kids, or use what I've said about adoption in a negative way. As much as I have loved sharing our story, I know that our day to day life needs to be a little protected. So, if you would like to continue to follow along, leave your email address in a comment and I'll send you the password. Thanks!

Vacation-Bacation-Cation

2011-07-14T13:35:00.006-04:00

We took a vacation to Wisconsin to visit with my sister and her family. The kids were excited to see their BIG cousin Nate. He just turned 24, how is that possible?

I was so excited to spend the week with my best friends!

And it was fun to just be silly with family!

One evening we wen to a cool little outdoor diner and then played putt putt.

We went to the movies, and were not that impressed. :(

But most of the time we were having a blast on the lake.

Ben loved tubing, until he had the crash of a lifetime! He'll be glad to tell you all about it if you ask him!

And Eva loved her new puh-ple dragon!

Uncle Keith has a super cool boat!

The guys spent most of the week fishing. Ben was in HEAVEN!!!

And so was my Dad!!!!

And Uncle Keith too!

We had a ton of fish and had a yummy fish fry. My kids couldn't get enough!

On the last day we went to the Mall of Americ@

We even went to the aquarium inside the mall. FUN!

The kids adore their Auntie Mandy and Uncle Keith! It was such a fun week and we can't wait to go back!

Ten and One

2011-07-13T17:54:00.004-04:00

If you remember, the beginning of June holds lots of reasons to celebrate for our family. This year was especially special (HA!) with Ben turning 10 and Eva being home for 1 year. We decided to have some professional pictures taken, and I have to say, I have some pretty ADORABLE children and some AMAZING pictures to show them off!!!!

And, my FAVORITE...

Thanks Brittney at Bumble Bee Photography, you did an AMAZING job!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T12:34:00.001-04:00

Thankfully it's just a sprain!

Fun 4th Flashback

2011-07-07T22:13:00.002-04:00

July 4th 2010

July 4th, 2011

July 4th, 2010

July 4th, 2011

Have I mentioned how much fun it is to have MEMORIES to look back on with our family of 4!!!

What we needed!

2011-06-23T08:01:00.011-04:00

Last Thursday we were getting ready to go camping for the weekend. Julie and her family were leaving the next day for vacation. It was a busy day for both of us, running errands and taking the boys to&from different activities. We both needed to be home doing laundry and packing. It was later in the afternoon and 3 little girls needed to be taking naps.

But instead, we did this...

Spending the afternoon with some of our BEST girlfriends was exactly what we NEEDED!!!

My camera died soon into the visit. I wish I could show you sweet Lily eating her ice cream double fisted! We had so much fun with these girls! Love them!!!

This picture is from last year when Eva and Lola met for the first time, and when we were all PRAYING for Lily to come HOME!!! What a difference a year makes!

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T22:19:00.006-04:00

Happy Father's Day to the Best

Daddy and Husband we could ask for!!!

We love you Babe!

And, Happy Father's Day to my Dad,

We love you Papa!

Yep, I'm a lucky girl!

Celebrating

2011-06-11T15:53:00.005-04:00

We've been doing LOTS of celebrating this week for Ben's birthday and our 1 year Family Day anniversary. Last Sunday we had Ben's birthday party with our families.

Cute Cousins

I still can't believe my boy is 10!

Ben got a new bike from us, he loved it!

For our Family Day we went and had lunch with Daddy.

Made cupcakes.

And went to the movies.

Then last night we had Ben's pool party with his friends.

Unfortunately it rained and stormed (and even hailed) the entire 2 1/2 hours of the party.

There was no swimming, but the party was still a lot of fun!

Eva and her best bud, and boyfriend Brady! :o)

The sky looks a little clear, but trust me, Eva's smile is the only thing sunny about this picture.

Some of the other cuties at the party.

Ben and Jack, BEST buds! Love these boys SO MUCH!

We had such a fun week FULL of celebrating! :o)

1 YEAR HOME!

2011-06-07T22:03:00.011-04:00

It seems like just yesterday.

When we saw you for the first time.

And held you in our arms.

You were sad and scared,

and we were just strangers to you.

It seems like just yesterday we became a family of 4.

In the blink of an eye a year has gone by!

And oh my how things have changed!

You have grown and changed and blossomed into the most wonderful little girl.

You are sweet and beautiful!

Strong and Confident.

Happy and Silly.

Loving and Sassy.

Independent and Hilarious.

AMAZING and OH SO LOVED!

You are the perfect little sister for your Bubby.

And the missing piece to our family.

We love you so much Eva Faith Mekdes and we thank God that He chose us to be your FOREVER Family!!!

As we celebrate the joy the last year has brought us, we pray to never forget the losses suffered and the sacrifices made that brought our family together. Thank you Lord for this precious gift!

Ben is TEN!!!!

2011-06-04T22:09:00.012-04:00

And he's pretty excited about it!

The big day started out with a birthday kiss from his little sis and belgian waffles for breakfast.

Then we got ready to go SWIMMING!

I am so blessed to be this boy's Mom for a DECADE! WOW!

Love them!!!

Then we came home and got cleaned up. I took the yearly birthday picture. You can see the other ones HERE.

And then headed out to have one of Ben's favorites for dinner, SUSHI!

We took a drive by the river to see the boats.

And then headed to hear some great music, Uncle Danny!

With Nana and Papa.

Me and my birthday boy!

And the kids did a little dancing! :o)

It's official... 9:01pm... Ben is TEN!

Happy Birthday Buster! We LOVE YOU!

Fewf!

2011-05-22T08:12:00.006-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been B-U-S-Y! We've had so much going on, and my house is really showing it, yikes! Please, please don't stop over unannounced! ;o) Between baseball, a fire dept. competition, the 5th grade graduation at Ben's school (I was in charge of it this year, and was teary all night thinking about Ben next year), my school year ending which included Pre-K graduation and clean-up day, and Ben's school carnival, we haven't been home much and I am WORN OUT! Fewf!! (that's how Ben used to say whew, and it's kind of stuck)
Still to come... our homestudy agency's annual picnic and Eva's one year post placement visit, field day, class picnics, camping Memorial Day weekend, Ben's birthday, our 1 year family day anniversary (WOW!), and of course MORE baseball, our days don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. But we're having a blast doing it all, and maybe, eventually, I'll be able to post some pictures on this blog! HA! I hope everyone else is having fun in their busy lives too!

Superman was Adopted

2011-05-17T06:59:00.000-04:00

I am reposting this, because TODAY is the last day to get your SUPER cool shirts from this SUPER cool family! :o)

Our friends, the Rizmann family over at http://www.abrotherforlleyton.com/, are starting their 4th adoption in 4 years. WOW! This time they are bringing home their sweet baby boy Camden from South Korea, AMAZING! They are selling the coolest adoption shirts, Superman was Adopted. These shirts are so fun and the sale of them will help bring baby Camden home! Head on over to their blog to order some, I just did, and I can't wait to see Eva and Ben in their's. Here's a cute picture of their other cute kiddos, Lleyton, Parker, and Addy . :o)

Happy Mothers Day to my wife.

2011-05-08T09:14:00.001-04:00

The greatest mother ever!!!

Scott

11 Moths Home and BirthMother's Day

2011-05-07T23:55:00.001-04:00

Today is a special day for two reasons. Eva has been home for 11 months! It's hard to believe in a few weeks we will be celebrating our one year Gotcha Day. More importantly, today is Birthmother's Day. It is always celebrated the Saturday before Mother's Day to honor the sacrifice the "first mommy" gave for her child to have a better life through adoption. While I'm not great with words, my heart has been heavy all day, praying for a woman that I'll never meet, thanking her and God for the gift of our precious daughter, Eva Faith Mekdes.

Legacy of An Adopted Child
Author Unknown

Once there were two women,
Who never knew each other.
One is in your heart forever,
The other you’ll call mother.

Two different lives,
Shaped to make yours one.
One became your guiding star,
The other became your sun.

The first gave you life,
And the second taught you how to live it.
The first gave you a need for love,
And the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality,
The other gave you a name.
One gave you the seed of talent,
The other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions,
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
The other dried your tears.

One gave you a family,
It was what God intended for her to do.
The other prayed for a child,
And God led her straight to you.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T23:41:00.003-04:00

He is RISEN!

One quick picture from church this morning, many more to come from our fun Easter weekend.

Pine Car 2011

2011-04-23T08:03:00.005-04:00

The pine car derby this year was another fun, LONG day! The kids were so excited to race the cars they made! Ben always comes up with the coolest designs. He thought of this idea last year on our way home from the pine car derby, it's a pine car track! Love it!

Scott came up with Eva's design this year, it's the Ethiopian Flag.

The kids had fun watching the races and waiting for their turns. Eva is sitting on Bubby's back in this pic. Have I mentioned how much I HATE my camera! GRRRR!!!

The girls started the race. Ben helped Eva each time to get her car on the track.Eva was HILARIOUS! As soon as the cars would start she would RUN to the finish line. She put on quite a show! HA! Scott thinks she runs like Phoebe from Friends and you can see why in this pic!

Eva almost got a trophy. She had to race her best little buddy at church, Rachel (Pastor's Daughter) for 3rd place and Rachel won.

Then it was time for the boys to start. I HATE MY CAMERA!

Ben won a lot of races too, but he ended up coming in 5th or 6th place, just like every. other. year! Oh well! He always has a blast!

They both did, and that's the most important part! :o)

2 years have gone by...

2011-04-19T21:36:00.003-04:00

I have so much to blog about; the pine car derby, spring break, Ben, etc. But tonight I'm just thinking about my big brother Bryan. He passed away 2 years ago, today.

It breaks my heart that Eva never got to mett her Uncle Bryan, and that he never got to meet her. I know they would have been smitten with each other. I miss you Bub, every day!

10

2011-04-07T21:41:00.001-04:00

Happy 10 months HOME Eva Faith!

She is one AMAZING little girl!!!! We are so BLESSED!!!

Looking Back, We PASSED COURT!

2011-03-29T23:37:00.000-04:00

Last year, we got a call really early in the morning from our director, Sue. She was in Ethiopia at the time and called to tell us that WE PASSED COURT! The really funny thing about this call was that we didn't even know we had a court date! HA! To say we were SURPRISED is an understatement. You can read about the call HERE and HERE. That was one of the most EXCITING moments of our lives!!!!! What is even more amazing than that surprise call is that Eva Faith has been home alomst 10 months. Our case when very smooth and SUPER FAST! We broke all kinds of records in our timeline. And with the recent SLOW down in Ethiopian adoptions we feel SO VERY BLESSED to have her home! But who wouldn't feel blessed to have this adorable little girl in their family?!? :o) And I love that when Eva officially became a part of our family it was a BIG SURPRISE, just like when we found out about her big brother! ;o) The 2 BEST surprises EVER!!!

Happy Birthday

2011-03-27T16:25:00.003-04:00

Happy 35th birthday Scott! We LOVE you so much!!!

I have to record Eva singing happy birthday, it's the cutest thing! Scott's wish came true... UK is in the FINAL FOUR!!! Woo Hoo! Go Cats! And Happy Birthday Babe!!!

9 MONTHS HOME!

2011-03-07T16:43:00.008-05:00

I can't believe that it's already been 9 months since Eva came home. But then again, I can't believe it's ONLY been 9 months since Eva has been our sweet daughter/sister. So, it's time for an update on our girl!
It's amazing to me that these two have only been brother and sister for a short time because they certainly love each other (and sometimes fight with each other) like they've been at it for years! HA!!! We have been so blessed with attachment and bonding. Eva has done amazing, and while I worry her tantrums might have something to do with her past, I'm beginning to think it is mostly due to her age. Tantrums are definitely getting better and most of the time Eva is the sweetest thing ever!

Eva is one determined little bug! She wants to do EVERYTHING that her Bubby is doing. Here she is with Ben's ipod touch. She can work that thing better than I can, but one time she set it up to require a password and it took Scott over an hour to get it fixed! :o) She can ride a bike, scooter, and is learning to pump the swing all by herself. She wants so badly to climb up and down the stairs like a big kid, but her itty bitty legs just won't let her!
Her language is coming along great! It's not at the same level of other 3 year olds, but she has no problem communicating. We've been working on speaking in sentences and the other day she said, "I play Bubby's DS please." Guess what she got to play, ha ha ha! Her favorite things to say are "I do it!" and "Eva's turn!" But my favorite thing she says is "I Love You!" She loves when it is raining so she can wear her "rainin' coat" and use a "brella". SWEET girl!

She can sing her ABC's and count to ten. It might not always be exact, but it is ALWAYS the cutest thing you've ever heard. She is actually counting things now, smart girl! She is still learning her colors, and of course her favorite is PINK! She loves to draw, especially bananas, and she drew the cutest picture of her Bubby in church yesterday! She drew him with a really BIG nose and she cracked up at the picture.

She's one funny little girl! When we tell her it's time for bed she usually collapses on the floor or couch and pretends to be asleep. When I try to pick her up she's like a wet noodle with a HUGE smile. She loves to make silly faces and funny voices and she LOVES to laugh.

She sleeps great!!!! She goes to bed around 8 and usually sleeps for 12 hours. She also takes an afternoon nap for about 1 1/2 hours. Woo hoo! She is a great eater and her favorites are stir fry and rice, yogurt, hot dogs and ice cream. She is completely potty trained, and was after only a few days. Way to go Eva! She spends 3 days a week with my Mom while I am teaching and she absolutely loves her one-on-one time with Nana. Eva is registered for preschool next year and I can't wait for her to come to school with me!

She loves her Mommy, but she is definitely a DADDY'S GIRL! She has a fierce love for her Daddy and the feeling is mutual! Eva loves to be on the go and does great with all the running around we have to do. She is a social butterfly, thankfully, because this girl gets LOTS of ATTENTION wherever we go! Everyone loves this little girl. I have seen the grumpiest of old men turn into a lump of mush when she gives them one of her beautiful smiles!

I NEVER EVER thought I would see the day, but Eva loves our cat Skittles and my parents dog Wynnie. LOVES them! Is is so sweet!!! She is not as terrified as she used to be with other animals, but she is still very cautious and usually a few tears flow if they get a little too close. Huge improvement!

Eva is the girliest girl around! She HAS to have a bow or flower in her hair, loves anything pink, and after her asking everyday for about a month, we finally gave in and got her ears pierced on Friday. Of course she cried, it hurts, but she had a big smile on her face as soon as she saw herself in the mirror. Such a girl, no pain-no gain! ha ha ha! Her hair is starting to get thicker and healthier and is starting to GROW! Woo Hoo!

These last 9 months have been full of blessings-they've been filled with a lot of laughs and a few tears-learning about one another and finding our new family "normal". But mostly these last 9 months have been filled with LOVE! With the recent (sad) changes in Ethiopian Adoptions, we are feeling even more thankful that Eva Faith is HOME FOREVER!

Happy 9 months home baby girl!

Hand-me-downs

2011-03-01T22:37:00.005-05:00

Having a boy and a girl doesn't really mean having a lot of hand-me-downs, especially since little sister came along 9 years after big brother did. There are a few things that we kept over the years, though. A couple of the hand-me-downs have turned into Eva's favorites. The sweatshirt, that she lovingly calls "Baby Bubby Shirt," she would wear Every. Single. Day. if we let her. And I can't even tell you how excited she was to be able to finally reach the pedals of her big bro's old bike. She has been zooming around the house ever since. :o)

And just to get this Mommy a littly teary eyed, here is Baby Bubby himself in the sweatshirt...

and riding his super cool bike.
How sweet are they?!?!?

I WON!!!

2011-02-21T15:16:00.002-05:00

My good friend LuAnn had a give-away and I WON! I NEVER-EVER-EVER win anything, so I am super duper excited about my $40 gift card to www.csnstores.com WOO HOO! That place has EVERYTHING! Thanks LuAnn!!!

Looking Back-Referral

2011-02-15T16:54:00.009-05:00

Today marks our one year referralversary for Eva Faith Mekdes. You can read all about the big day here... I got a little teary reading the comments from that day.
We had gotten the phone call from our director Sue 6 days earlier about a possible little girl, and one year ago we got an email with pictures of the little sweetie.

One year ago we laid eyes on our precious baby girl for the FIRST Time!!!

This was one of my favorite pictures. Big brother was SO worried about her broken shoe! After seeing those first few pictures and reviewing her file we quickly say YES! Then, a few minutes later Sue said that she had just emailed a few more pictures she forgot to send the first time and we fell even MORE in LOVE...

We were still unsure of a LOT of things about our baby girl, we actually didn't have much info on her at all. Since she had just come into the orphange she didn't even have medical reports yet. But one thing we were sure of was that she was OUR DAUGHTER, Eva Faith Mekdes!!! And a year later she has been HOME for over 8 months!!! She is our DREAM COME TRUE!!!

The difference a year makes...

So much fun Looking Back!

Happy Referralversary Eva Faith Mekdes!

The BEST paper airplane in the world!

2011-02-11T17:49:00.000-05:00

Looking Back

2011-02-09T20:20:00.005-05:00

This time last year was very exciting for our little family of three and the next few months have some special dates we want to remember forever, so I thought it would be fun to remember what was going on last year during our wait for Eva Faith...

Today marks the one year anniversary of when we learned of a little girl that needed a family. Ben and I were home, it was a snow day from school for both of us. We were both still in our jammies after lunch, just enjoying being lazy when the phone rang at 1:09pm. The caller ID showed that it was Celebrate Children Intl. We had been anxiously awaiting a call from them because we had been "next" on the list for an infant girl for about 6 weeks. I freaked out a little bit when I saw who the call was from, jumped out of my chair, and in the squeakiest-high pitched voice I said, "Hello?" Sue, our director, started laughing on the other end of the line (not the last time I would make her laugh) and she started explaining that since we were "next" she wanted to give us the opportunity to review the file of a slightly older child that was going to be coming into the orphanage in a few days. She didn't know anything else about the girl, but said we could change our minds after we reviewed her file if we still decided to wait for a baby. I casually said, "Sure." and then made a few phone calls to Scott, my Mom and Julie about this little girl that, little did we know at the time, would soon be OUR LITTLE GIRL. Julie told me that I better take a picture of my phone so that I could blog about it and so that I wouldn't forget what might be a very important phone call!!! :o)

Next up, Looking Back to our REFERRAL...

8 months HOME and a cute little Strawberry

2011-02-09T12:58:00.004-05:00

Eva Faith has been HOME 8 months now. WOW! How can that be? And how did I let the 7th slip by without a post. Oops! Probably because it feels like she's been with us FOREVER!

I have to tell you a cute little story about this outfit. I bought it right after we got our referral last February. We were getting things ready to send a care package to little Eva and I thought this was a perfect outfit to send.

I showed Ben all of the things I had gotten to send to his little sis and when he saw this outfit he said, "Oh Mom, can we PLEASE keep this one. I just have to see her little butt with that strawberry on it." It was just so sweet, so I HAD to keep the outfit, which meant I had to do a little more shopping for the care package. ;o)

The outfit just NOW fits our little sweetie (it's a 24 months), so I'm glad we didn't send it anyway, but I can't wait for Bubby to get home from school and see this cute little strawberry on the cutest little butt! ha ha!

We love you Eva Faith Mekdes

Happy 8 Months (and 2 days) HOME!!!!

CheeseHeads

2011-02-06T12:34:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's true, We're cheese heads and PROUD of it!!! We are so stinkin' excited that our PACKERS are in the

SUPER BOWL, WOO HOO!!!!

If you didn't know, I'm from Wisconsin and a lot of my family lives there, including my sister and her family. Aunti Mandy and Uncle Keith sent us all NEW DUDS for the super bowl, and we are looking good!
And, even though little sis is wearing her Green and Gold, we had to throw some pink in there too. She LOVES this outfit and calls the jersey "Eva's Ball Game" ha ha!

Thanks for the new clothes Auntie Mandy and Uncle Keith, we are ready to root on our PACKERS in style!

GO PACK GO!!!!!

Snow Days

2011-01-28T07:31:00.008-05:00

We've had a lot of snow this season and I'm LOVING it. I LOVE when I get to be home with my kids whether it's now or in June! :o) Last week we had two snow days. On Thursday Ben had a few buddies over. They played outside, had a nerf gun war, and even played some Just Dance 2, it was HILARIOUS!

Viva Las Vegas, ha ha ha!

Caught ya!

Friday was Eva's birthday, and another snow day for Ben! Good Morning 3 year old girl!

Birthday kiss from Bubby!

Trying so hard to hold up 3 fingers!

We got to have lunch with Daddy.

Ben and I got to eat a lot of this! We both LOVE sushi!

They even brought out a little heart shaped cake and sang happy birthday to Eva.

Then that night we went to the Ethiopian restaurant with the Grandparents

This girl LOVES injera.

LOVES it!!!

And I LOVE SNOW DAYS!!! I really need to get some pictures of the kids in the snow though, ha ha!

Go PACK Go!

2011-01-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

Let's Go PACKERS!!!!!

The Birthday Girl

2011-01-21T08:07:00.004-05:00

Let me tell you about OUR 3 YEAR OLD little girl...

She is BeautifulSweetSassyAdorableGoofy Spunky
Silly And she's ALL OURS!

Happy Birthday Eva Faith Mekdes! We are so happy that you will be spending the rest of your birthdays HOME with your FOREVER FAMILY!!! We LOVE you!!!

2 Peter 3:18 "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever! Amen."

Company

2011-01-18T07:16:00.002-05:00

We've had some company this past week (does anyone else use that term anymore), and we've had SO MUCH FUN! My sister is the best Auntie and we are always bummed when she has to go home! We love you Auntie Mandy and can't wait to see you soon!

Melkam Gena and 7 months home

2011-01-07T13:39:00.006-05:00

Today in Ethiopia they are celebrating Christmas. Melkam Gena everyone!!!

Today also marks 7 months home with this little Ethiopian sweetie!

I am also saying a special prayer for Eva Faith Mekdes' birthmother. She is spending her first Christmas without her baby girl, and my heart it just breaking for her as we celebrate the fact that she has now been in our arms for 7 months. Today is definitely a day full of emotions.

2010

2011-01-03T16:30:00.007-05:00

Here are some of my favorite shots from 2010.

January~Ben told me he liked the name Eve or Eva.

February~ REFERRAL DAY! March~We PASSED COURT!
April~ LOTS of baseball
May~With my Mom and sister at my baby shower.
June~GOTCHA FOREVER!
July~off to the EFD parade
August~After 9 years all of the cousins together again!
September~Welcome Home Lily Hope!
October~Happy Halloween
November~Re-adoption Day
December~Merry Christmas
2010 was the most AMAZING year for our family. God has blessed us more than we could've ever imagined. We can wait to see what is in store for 2011! Happy New Year!

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

NO MORE DIAPERS! :o)

The Best

2010-12-31T20:05:00.005-05:00

The BEST part of the Holidays is spending time with our family and friends!

12-18~Annual Friends' Christmas Party

12-23~Luch at our favorite restaurant with Jack and the Girls 12-24~Visiting G.G.
12-24~Christmas Eve dinner and sledding with the M. Family 12-25~Christmas Day with the R. Family
12-29~Visiting with our WI friends
and the most memorable...

12-28~Eva meets Opa and Oma

Thanks to all of our family and friends for making this Christmas so special! Happy New Year!!!

Our Christmas

2010-12-30T21:04:00.001-05:00

Our first Christmas together was definitely the BEST ever! On Christmas Eve after Scott's family went home we went outside to take our yearly picture with Frosty. I hope this big guy never pops!

Then the kids sprinkled their reindeer food in the yard. Well, Ben sprinkled it...
And Eva pretty much just dumped it. ha ha!

Then we made sure everything was ready for Santa.

A cute jammie picture and they were off to bed!

The next morning they hurried in to see what Santa had left them!

I love seeing blue AND pink presents under the tree this year.

It was SO SWEET that the kids wanted to give the presents they had gotten each other FIRST! Eva got Ben legos and Ben got Eva a stuffed horse!

Then it was time to open their presents from Santa, they were SO EXCITED!

Almost every time she would open a present she would say, "One more?" Oh yes, there were plenty more to go! ;o)

Ben got a chemistry set.

And Eva got her own "phone", the IXL!

These poses crack me up!

After all of Santa's presents Mom and Dad had one more gift to give the kids. Oh My!

Christmas was so perfect this year! I hope your's was too!

Christmas with a Toddler

2010-12-23T19:36:00.010-05:00

This was our Christmas card last year. We had just found out that we were on the waitlist and we were so excited to announce to all of our family and friends that we were bringing home a baby from Ethiopia in 2010.We were waiting for a baby girl aged 0-12 months. We were hoping and praying that "baby Faith" would be home for Christmas 2010. We knew our wait wouldn't be too long because there was only ONE family before us on the waitlist. About 6 weeks later we got a call asking us, since we were now #1 on the list, if we would like to open up our age range and view the file of a 2 year old that was about to come into the orphanage. I hate to think about how different our lives would be now if our agency hadn't given us that choice, or if we would have said no. That 2 year old little girl is our sweet Eva Faith Mekdes. She will be 3 in a few weeks and has been home with us for 6 months now and we have so much to celebrate this Christmas! If you are waiting for an infant, I encourage you, if given the chance, to open your hearts to the possibility of an older child. It just might be the perfect fit for your family. It was for us, our lives have been so blessed by adopting a toddler!!!!! And as Heidi put it, "adopting an infant is not the only path to a happy ending." :o)

And if you are still waiting for you child(ren) to come home during this Christmas season, have faith that the Lord will bring the perfect child(ren) to your family at the perfect time. While our adoption process went fast, the many years we waited and prayed for another child were hard, but they all make sense now because OUR daughter is HOME!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

The cutest little gingerbread houses

2010-12-21T15:00:00.006-05:00

To make these cute little gingerbread houses you need the following ingredients...
A little orange juice carton secured to the plate with a big dollop of icing.
lots of fun, colorful candy

Some excited kiddos ready to make their own little houses.

And a snow day was helpful too. We made these last Thursday when Ben was off of school! :o)

First cover your entire little "house" with icing.

Then cover them with graham crackers 6 squares and 2 triangles. (you have to cut one square diagonally to make two triangles for the front/back of the roof.)

It will look like this.

Then comes the really fun part, decorating. Use the icing as glue to put the candy wherever you'd like!

You might even sample a little of the candy too! ha ha!

Concentration!

Our finished gingerbread houses! The kids had so much fun!

I love all of the icing on her face, she licked her fingers about 1,000 times!

Ben's house... I LOVE the little "snow" covered gummy bear bushes and the necco wafer sidewalk! He loved his wreath the best!

Eva's house... I LOVE all the crazy candy stuck EVERYWHERE. She loved that her house really had a door on the front. HA!

I hope Santa loves them too, we leave these instead of cookies for the big guy on Christmas Eve.

2010-12-20T13:55:00.001-05:00

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I had to do it!

2010-12-14T21:04:00.005-05:00

9 years ago I took this sweet picture of my

6 month old baby boy...

Tonight I just had to get one of my sweet baby girl! Oh, can you stand those sweet little tushies!

Southern Lights

2010-12-12T00:10:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday we went to the Southern Lights show at the KY Horse Park. It's one of our favorite Christmas activities!

The horsey family was Eva's favorite!

And this was Ben's fav...

After the pretty lights we went to the petting zoo. They had some really big animals in the petting zoo, it was crazy!

Ben feeding a baby camel.

Eva feeding a wallaby. They were so cute!

Eva loved the "bebra", but that dang mule next to it was so aggresive.

This was me running and screaming because the mule scared me to death, and unfortunately I scared Eva to death, poor baby!
After the petting zoo we went inside to the horse museum.

And the next stop was the model train display.

Waving to Santa on the train.

Eva was so excited about the dollhouse exhibit.

Ben was NOT!

Eva had to get her picture with the BIG HORSEY!

The most important part of the evening, a family FAVORITE... Kettle Corn! YUM! And it was still hot!

One last picture on the way out, we had so much fun!!!

Merry Christmas to all...

Lunch with Santa

2010-12-07T16:50:00.005-05:00

Saturday was the Fire Dept. Christmas party for the kids. This is always a fun day! The kids make crafts and meet Santa and even get an early present! And, this was also the first day we had some real snow fall! :o)

The kids made crafts...

...and had a little lunch with friends!

Then it was time for Santa to arrive!

No sleigh for Santa, he came in a fire truck! I just love Ben's face in this pic, I can't even think about him not being this excited to see Santa!!

A little blurry, but Eva was so excited to meet Santa!

The kids waited patiently for their turn to sit on the big guy's lap!

So sweet!

Ben's turn was first, he got the game Kuponk! He's getting SO big. :o(

Eva was so excited when they finally called her name. While she was waiting she kept saying, "Eva's turn? Eva's turn!"

She hopped right up on his lap. Eva LOVED Santa! Whew!

And she loved her Iridessa doll.

Love all these sweet kids! We really missed Ashley and Whitney!

We all had so much fun! Thanks EFD!!!

6 Months!

2010-12-07T16:29:00.002-05:00

6 months HOME today and we can't even imagine life without this perfect little blessing! Doesn't my baby look so grow up in this picture? :o(

The Christmas Spirit

2010-12-05T08:45:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that I haven't really been in the Christmast spirit, until this weekend! We had such a great weekend doing some really fun Christmas activities and it definitely got me excited about celebrating our Savior's birth! I took SO MANY pictures this weekend I'm going to have to split them up into different posts. Here are a few of us decorating the house.

Even the little things like having an ornament for BOTH of my kids was so exciting!

And I can't tell you HOW LONG I have waited to have FOUR stockings hanging on the mantel!

Hope the Christmas Spirit has found you too! More pictures of our fun weekend coming soon!

Our KY Girl

2010-11-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had our court date to re-adopt Eva. We were able to legally change her name to Eva Faith Mekdes and get her new birth certificate, and will now be able to apply for her S.S.# Here we are with the judge and Nana and Papa. We were so happy they were there to share Eva's special day! Even thought the process took only a few minutes, it was very emotional, especially since we missed the court date in Ethiopia. When they asked if it was my intention to adopt this child I was able to squeak out a teary, "Yes!" Here we are with our attorneys, one for Eva and one for us. Our attorney Jenny just brought home her sweet baby boy Miles from ET in August.

As my friend Marilyn said, "It was another wonderful Eva day to cherish!"

Eva gave it two thumbs up! HA! We love you sweet girl!

THANKFUL!!!

2010-11-25T12:09:00.003-05:00

What a difference a year makes! Last year we were up to our eyeballs in paper work. The week before Thanksgiving we had our physicals, our final homestudy visit, and had filed the all important I600a form to be aproved to adopt internationally. At the time we were just HOPING and PRAYING that we would have our child home in time for Christmas 2010. HA! God is SO GOOD!!! This year we are so THANKFUL to be celebrating Thanksgiving as a family of four (for almost 6 months)! Thank you LORD for answering our prayers!!! As Eva's shirt says, HAPPY TURKEY DAY 2010!!!

Give THANKS to the LORD for he is GOOD! His mercy endures FOREVER!!!!

Halloween Pics... Finally!

2010-11-21T10:50:00.010-05:00

I finally found my camera, FEWF! It had fallen out of my purse in my car. Anyway, I had a LOT of pictures to download, not just Halloween. ;o)
We've had some beautiful fall weather and we took advatage of it. Here's Bubby giving his little sis a ride on the green machine. Love those smiles!
And then of course they had to rake some leaves, a traditional fall activity! ha ha!

Two heads are better than one!

Ben's school has a Halloween party in the evening. It's fun but CRAZY!

This year he won the costume contest in his grade! I was so excited for him, especially since he picked out every detail about his costume this year, even down to the impaled bat in his head. He was pretty excited too!

Now here we are on Halloween day. Can you just see the love these two share, SO SWEET!

I'm usually a fanatic about the pumpkin pictures, but this was the only one I got this year. Here's Eva's first jack-o-lantern, a kitty cat.

Then the cousins stopped by for some dinner before trick-or-treating.

Here are my little trick-or-treaters ready to get the good stuff!

Dead Jay Bruce

And Tinkerbell showing her super cute "nemo" treat bag from Auntie Mandy! :o)

One quick picture of all the cousins, Ben-9, Milo-5, Eva-2 and Lily-3And... they're off!

It's kind of hard to see, but I just love this picture!

Our first stop, Eva loved trick-or-treating!!!

Ben and his buddies from the neighborhood.

This little one pranced around like she owned the place. Calling out to everyone and telling all the doggies to SHHHH! And then there would be the occasional, "BUBBY, WAIT!!!" ha ha!

A few times she stopped by a tree and would say, "Mommy, tree, picture!"

ha ha ha ha!

Wynnie and Nana came along with us too. Eva had to walk the little skeleton.

I kept taking pictures from behind, I just loved those wings!! :o)

It started to get a little cold so we stopped at home to get bundled up! Look at her sweet face!

My Mom said the two little ones got tired and needed a ride. LOVE IT!

Here they are with their loot! DANG, we really need to hang those pictures in the background, they are STILL in the same place! ha ha!

Our first Halloween as a family of four=PERFECT!!!

Happy Anniversary and Birthday

2010-11-20T13:31:00.003-05:00

Happy 11th Anniversary to the best husband in the world. The 11th year of our marriage was definitely the most exciting so far! Can't imagine living this life with anyone else! I love you babe!
And HaPpY BiRtHdAy to my sister Mandy too, the BEST Auntie in the World! We love you!!!

Orphan Sunday and 5 months HOME!

2010-11-07T14:26:00.006-05:00

5 months ago a sweet but scared little girl came home to us. These pictures just break my heart. She was so sad and confused and had no idea what was happening. She had already experienced so much loss and pain in her short little life than any of us can imagine.

There are 147 million orphans in the world just like this sweet little girl that need a family to call their own. Look at the difference after 5 months, just look at the LIGHT in those EYES! Our sweet baby girl is growing and blossoming and LOVED to pieces! We are amazed every day how well she has adapted and bonded to all of us. She is such a blessing! Her personality is a HOOT! This girl is confident and sassy, affectionate and silly, sweet and determined, and everyone that meets her falls instantly in love with our Eva Faith!
November is National Adoption Awareness Month and today is Orphan Sunday. So, I ask you today, do you have room for one of the 147 million orphans that are waiting for their FOREVER FAMILY? Can you make a difference in the life of these precious children that need you so badly? Are you ready to experience the amazing miracle of adoption? What is stopping you? What we have learned the most in the past 5 months is that we needed our sweet Eva Faith just as much as she needed us. Our lives have been so blessed with the gift of our baby girl and we are so thankful that God chose us to be her family!
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.
Psalms 68:5-6

ADORABLE Halloween Pictures

2010-11-06T08:18:00.002-04:00

At least I think I have some adorable Halloween pictures. I can't find my camera, anywhere! UGH! I am dying to see those pictures and share them with you guys... where could it be? I hope I don't have to rely on just my memory of our first Halloween as a family of 4. I need those pictures!

2010-10-29T06:17:00.001-04:00

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2010-10-29T06:07:00.001-04:00

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Fall Break Camping

2010-10-19T17:06:00.005-04:00

For Fall Break we camp with our group of friends. This year the weather was amazing and as usual we had a blast! Eva Diva!
We trick-or-treat at the campground. Here's our little Stinkerbell and of course Dead Jay Bruce!The Whole Gang. Caleb-Nate-Abby-Mitch-Ashley-Whitney-Eva-Ben-Brady-Tanner-and Nolan down in front.

I was in the mood to do a little flash back. Look how much our group has grown. This was our camping trip in 2004.

Nate-Tanner-Caleb-Whitney-Ashley-Ben

Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and Captain Hook! Sooo Cute!

Ben and Tanner

Oh My! I think Eva might have a little crush on Peter Pan! ha ha!
These two just crack me up! This is Ben and Ash at 9 years old...

And here they are at age 3. Ugh! Time goes by TOO FAST!

Beautiful Sisters! Love these girls so MUCH!!!

Tinkerbell flying with her Papa.

Nana and her trick-or-treaters.

We actually pass out candy to the other campers because it's not really the weekend for trick-or-treating, but I think the kids love that even more!

Gotta love the adorable $6 jammies! Eva sure does! Snuggled up in the camper and ready for bed. It was another amazing time with amazing friends!!!

10-7-10

2010-10-07T15:43:00.000-04:00

Happy 4 months HOME Eva Faith!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-06T14:17:00.006-04:00

Saturday was beautiful, and since Ben had a night baseball game we decided to head to the pumpkin patch a little earlier than usual. We always cram it in at the last minute.

Once I grabbed a couple "quick" pictures of the kids Ben was outta there to search for the perfect pumpkin. Eva had fun with the pumpkins too!My sweet little pumpkin girl!!! LOVE HER!

Here they come with their choices.

Then it was time to check out the rest of the farm.

Mr. Baseball!

This one came home with us. So pretty and only $7!!!

We picked a few of these for the ride home. Mmmm!

It was a perfect day!!!

Wickedly Adorable

2010-09-30T20:59:00.002-04:00

Go Reds!!!

2010-09-29T19:37:00.003-04:00

Ben wasn't too happy that he had to go to bed before the game was over last night, but he was so excited that one of his favorite players scored the winning homerun in the bottom of the 9th! Woo Hoo! Let Go Reds!!! We really hope to be cheering them on in the world series this year!

They're HOME!

2010-09-21T18:47:00.006-04:00

Friday we took a little road trip to welcome HOME Doug, Julie, and Lily Hope. Tons of family and friends gathered to welcome home their newest little miracle.

We all anxiously waited for them to come down that long hallway.

But these three sweet kiddos were the most excited! They were missing the other half of their family for a LONG 2 1/2 weeks!

This picture brings me to tears every time. It was such an amazing moment for Julie to have all 4 of her babies in her arms at the same time, for the FIRST TIME! AH!

I snapped this shot of the Stanley family of 6, and then my camera died. Darn! I'm sure Julie will have more to post because trust me, there were lots and LOTS of cameras snapping away! :o)

While we were waiting I was able to get a shot of some beautiful Ethiopian children that were there to celebrate this homecoming. They are all old pros at this of course! ;o)

Here's bis sis Lola Joy age 1, our little beauty Eva Faith age-2, and the cute buster Cooper age-3. None of them were really happy about getting their pictures taken, but I couldn't resist!

Welcome Home Lily Hope! We can't wait to watch you grow and learn and blossom with your new... Amazing... FOREVER family! We love you sweet Hopie!

Tie Dye and the Dentist

2010-09-16T21:59:00.006-04:00

While we were camping Labor Day weekend we did a really fun family project, tie dying. Most of us had never done it before, but we all loved it!

The parents did the tying...

And the kids did the dying! Next time I'll wear gloves, my hands were stained for a week.
Here's our results. The kids all attend the same school so we planned for all of them to wear their shirts on Friday. I really wish I had a picture of the whole group, bummer!
Ben put his on first...
and Eva kept shouting, ME! ME! ME! She was so excited to put hers on, and she was even more excited that her shorts had pockets. This girl is a HOOT!

After we dropped Bubby off at school, I took Eva to her first dentist appointment. This has been something I was completely dreading for the last 3 months. BUT... Eva did AMAZING and her teeth are PERFECT!

Such an answered prayer!

Don't you just love that fake smile, ha ha!

End of Summer. :(

2010-09-07T22:07:00.007-04:00

I can't believe summer is over. It really went by in a flash. We've had a lot of fun lately squeezing in some of our favorite summer actvities.

Eva and I went to have lunch with Ben at school.

We went to our local minor league baseball game. They are So. Much. Fun!
Ben was able to get some of the players autographs.

Cool American flag made out of baseball bats.

We were able to go to the pool one last time before it closed.

Ben

Jack

My girl is hilarious. She loves to swim, but I think her favorite part of the pool is snacking!

Ah, this is the life! ;o)

What a pose, ha ha!

We went on our annual Labor Day camping trip with our group of friends. It was Eva's first time camping and she did great! Here she is posing on a scooter!

Abby, Ashley, Eva and Whitney. The big girls were the best babysitters all weekend!

My gang around the campfire.

Eva's first smore.Mmmmmm!

My goofy boy dancing, I love the looks on the kids faces watching him shake it! HA!

My kind of camping, Ben and Eva hanging out in the bed watching a movie.

Whitney, Ashley, Eva and Ben watching another movie.

Playing kickball with Nana.

Brady and Eva, this pose is hilarious!

The end of summer also marks Eva being home 3 months. I can't believe it's been that long already. She has come so far! Her language is amazing, and other than those dang tantrums, she is sweet, funny and such a BLAST to have in our family! Last night she slept in one of her Bubby's undershirts. How sweet is she, and silly too. There's one of her poses again, ha!

The kids! Eva finally loves our kitty cat Skittles and she is starting to like most other animals too. Whew!

Happy 3 months Home baby girl!

14 years

2010-08-31T09:01:00.004-04:00

Warning... this is a LONG post! :o)

14 years ago our adoption journey started. But, I didn't even know Scott yet. Nope, it was 14 years ago that I met Julie, and that was all part of God's plan. We met in college, in an Art for Educators class and quickly became friends. We struggled through our crazy Elementary Ed. classes together, (Math, UGH) and I know I wouldn't have made it through without her and our friend Amy. We shared a lot of laughs (pickle stickers, airbrush, origami!) and after graduating we hoped we would all stay in touch. THANKFULLY these two girls are still my BEST FRIENDS!

Fast forward about 10 years, weddings, babies, and lots of fun memories along the way... 3 1/2 years ago Julie and Doug invited us over to their house to hang out and let the boys play. While we were there they told us they were thinking about adopting from China and we watched a video about Steven Curtis Chapman and his family. Wow, amazing! We were so excited for them and a few days later they started their paperwork to bring home a baby girl from China. They estimated to have that baby, named Lily Hope, home in about 18-22 months. They quickly found out that the China process had SLOWED down and the months they were expecting to wait turned into several YEARS! During this wait Julie and I got addicted to reading many, MANY adoption blogs and we both fell in love with all of these sweet babies we were reading about, most of them were babies with cleft lip/cleft palate from China, and children from Ethiopia. And as the wait for their China adoption stretched out even longer, God layed Ethiopia on their hearts. Julie called me in October of 2008 and told me the excited news that they were adopting from Ethiopia and said, "Let's do this TOGETHER!" I just broke down in tears , so excited for them, in awe of their FAITH, but sad because even though I wanted to jump in full force with them, I knew we weren't ready. The process in Ethiopia was so different than that in China and they we expecting to wait just a few months for a referral! While they waited, they changed paths in China, and opened their hearts to the special needs list. (I knew it ALL ALONG!) A month after that they recieved their referral for Lola Joy. I remember screaming on the playground of my preschool when Julie called me to tell me about their 2 week old Ethiopian Princess! God was working on our hearts at the time, but it wasn't until June 2009, when Lola Joy came home and we saw her big brothers holding her in the airport did we know for sure that God had a child for US in Ethiopia! Several months later we started our process, and you know the rest... our sweet baby girl, Eva Faith, came home almost 3 months ago. I know that God planned all along for Julie and I to meet in that Art class 14 years ago, that we would become life-long friends, so that she could walk this adoption journey before us and be a constant encouraging force in our own adoption. And NOW, after 3 1/2 years and lots of prayers and tears, LILY HOPE IS COMING HOME!!!! Julie and Doug leave for China TOMORROW and we couldn't be more thrilled that their baby girl, who ultimately led us to our baby girl, is FINALLY going to be with her FOREVER FAMILY! We love you guys so much and can't wait for you to be HOME with your Lily Hope!!!!! Can't wait to follow along on this incredible journey of JOY, FAITH and HOPE!!! Follow along at http://www.liveoutjames127.blogspot.com/!!!!

But as for me, I will always have HOPE; I will praise you more and more! Psalm 71:14

1st Day of 4th Grade!

2010-08-18T22:06:00.005-04:00

Ben started the morning with breakfast in bed... a cheese omlet, apple slices and orange juice. BRAIN FOOD! I was so thankful to see his big smile this morning, he was really excited to start school! Don't you LOVE the bed head?!? ;o)
This was last year, the 1st day of 3rd grade...

And today! I can't believe the difference a year makes!

And... he's off!

This is how Eva and I felt about Ben going back to school! :o(

They were so excited to see each other and I was so excited to see his BIG smile! Whew!

So sweet!

We love you Buster and we can't believe you're already in the 4th Grade! WOW! We just know you are going to have another AMAZING year in school!

How old is she?

2010-08-15T15:25:00.005-04:00

We get asked this question ALL. THE. TIME!!!! Mostly because she is so tiny (she's the size of a 1 year old) but also very active and capable. They always follow up the question with, "I've never seen such a little thing be able to walk-run-swim-climb, etc. like that!" Until yesterday, we weren't exactly sure what to say. We were hoping to pick Eva's birthday because we think her birth certificate is incorrect. We think she is just turning two, but we found out that we will not be able to change her birthday, so actually Eva is 2 1/2. She will be turning 3 on January 21. It's not a big difference, so no worries here. We are just happy to finally be able to tell people how old our little peanut is.

Silly pose, but hey... she SMILING!

Our "stay-cation" and 2 months HOME

2010-08-10T15:25:00.007-04:00

My sister was in town for over a week (and my kids were so excited to have their Auntie Mandy around) and then my nephew and his family joined in on Thursday. We had so much fun and crammed in as much as possible while they were here.

We went to the drive in and saw Cats and Dogs! It was a great movie and Eva said kitty-cat, doggy, birdie about 1,000 times during the movie! :o)
We visited Papa at work and he got to show off two of his favorite grandkids!
We took Eva shopping at my favorite store in the whole wide world for the first time! Stacy and Savannah are so great, we loved having some girl time while they were here! Nate and Ben went out to lunch for buffalo wings while we were shopping... wish I had a picture of that!!!!
We went to Kings Island and had SO. MUCH. FUN!!! It was hot but not too bad, and then we had a BLAST at the water park!
Eva was a rock star and just chilled out in her stroller for most of the day. I swear this girl is happy, she just WILL NOT smile for the camera. The few pictures of her smiling are pure luck. Any tips on getting a toddler to smile, ha ha!See the hands up at top, that's me... we LOVE this ride!
Eva got to meet all of her cousins on my side of the family. Back row... Aliya-11, Alex-16, Amber-16, Nick-20, Nate-23, Mike-23... Front Row... Brennen-7, Nana, Eva-2, Papa, and Ben-9. It was amazing to FINALLY have all of the grandkids together!
This shot includes the great-grandkids too (minus Carmen-3). Savannah is 6 and Nick's fiance is pregnant with baby Zane due in October.

Eva's been HOME for 2 months now. She is amazing! She is OURS, we are HERS, and like my Mom keeps saying over and over, She is PERFECT in every way!

We love you baby girl!!!!

Baptized in Christ

2010-08-04T10:04:00.004-04:00

Excited!

2010-07-30T15:06:00.002-04:00

My sister is coming in for a visit today and we are ALL SO EXCITED! I can't wait for her to meet her sweet little niece Eva and Ben can't wait to have some Auntie Mandy time! (This picture was taken at my shower in May, oops, never posted pics from that!)
And then next weekend her son, my gigantic nephew Nate and his family are coming to join in the fun! I can't wait!!!! Nate is such a stinker, he always smiles like this for pics! LOL!

Daddy's Girl!

2010-07-26T17:23:00.000-04:00

Meeting Lola Joy

2010-07-19T14:56:00.003-04:00

This post is LONG overdue, but a couple of weeks ago we finally got to meet Lola Joy. Julie and I couldn't wait to get our little sweeties together. The girls were a little unsure of each other at first. This picture isn't the best, but here they are checking each other out for the first time.

I just love this picture, the girls are the EXACT same size.

After a little bit they started warming up and playing together! YEA!We've got our girls trained, ha ha ha! Eva's taking Lola's picture!

Eva was so excited that they had her favorite book(that was a gift from the Stanleys) and couldn't wait for Julie to read it to her!

These baby girls are so beautiful! I am so thankful they have each other to grow up with! Hey, where are the Bubbas????
Let's go find them...

Here they are, playing a little rock band.

Their band name... The Rockers! These boys are the BEST big brothers!

The girls had to jam a little bit too! :o)

AMAZING! This picture just brings me to tears!

Doug (aka Darlin') came home for lunch and got to see the kiddos too! SWEET!

I had gotten the I love my BFF shirts for the girls and we just so happened to put them in jean skirts and red bows. Too cute!

A sweet little kiss goodbye! Can't wait to see ya soon!

Julie has some really cute pics of the day too, check out her POST.

Sweet Baby

2010-07-16T21:50:00.004-04:00

Introducing our new little sweetie niece, Bridget Catherine, aka Gigi. How precious is she? Oh, we soooo wish we were there to hold our new little family member! Congratulations Gary, Niki and big bro Maxx.

One Month!

2010-07-08T07:17:00.002-04:00

I can't believe Eva Faith has been home a month already. She is doing amazingly well. She sleeps through the night for about 10-12 hours, woo hoo! She loves hot dogs, rice, noodles, bananas and cookies. She loves to place with her baby dolls and tea set. Eva loves to give kisses and high five's and she loves to pretend! This girl loves to go, go, go! She wants to get up, get dressed and go bye-bye! She has brought us our shoes many times so we can get the hint! :o) She is silly, smart, sassy and so much fun! We LOVE you baby girl!

Her language continues to GROW! Here's what our little sweetie is saying after only being home one month...

Bubby-her favorite word!

Daddy

Mommy

anana (banana)

nigh night

Ah lu shoo (I love you)

Oh No

May Me (baby)

shoes on

wah (water, drink, pool, bath)

bye-bye

hallow (hello)

no-no

wower (flower)

dottle (bottle)

gog gog (dog or hot dog)

booh (book, not boo like a ghost)

Nana

Papa

Lola

Juju

birdie

ball

lights on (I can't even figure out how to write exactly how she pronounces it)

I know there is so much more, so I'll probably have to add to the list for a couple of days! :o)

4th of July FUN!

2010-07-05T19:05:00.001-04:00

We had an AWESOME 4th of July weekend! It all started Saturday morning with the parade. Here are my sweet all american kiddos!

Ready to watch the parade with Nana.

I told Ben to squat down with her and she decided to do it too, ha ha!

CANDY!!!

Riding in the fire truck with Bubby. :o)

My camera stopped working right when Daddy drove by in the parade, so we had to grab a quick shot afterwards.

At the firehouse again that evening for the fireworks!

Ben and all the ladies. We were missing quite a few kids from our group, but they still had a BLAST! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Eva is in the group shot this year!!!!!

I can't believe these two will be in 4th grade next year. UGH!Oohs and Ahhs from Nana and Papa... Eva LOVED the fireworks!Love that face!

There's her where-did-it-go hand again.

There it is!!!

The morning of the 4th the boys went golfing...

Eva and I went to church and had breakfast with Nana and G.G. and then we hung out at home with the guys.Her fake smile cracks us up!

PRECIOUS!

GOOFBALL!

And then the evening of the 4th we hung out at the pool. SO FUN!

Hope y'all had as much fun as we did! It was so special to have our sweet Eva Faith home this year to celebrate one of our favorite holidays!

Happy Birthday America! :o)

3 weeks HOME

2010-06-29T23:57:00.001-04:00

Another week has gone by, and we are really starting to get into the groove of being a family of 4. This little girl has all of us wrapped around her little finger. She is sweet and funny and a stinker too! ;o) We've had a busy week, so here are a TON of pictures...

Scott went back to work last week and we all survived!!! HA HA! The first day when he got home from work he took Eva upstairs with him to change and play. He called down to me and said, "Em... you might want to see this." He had put her in one of her tutus, HOW SWEET!
Playing with her Daddy!

Don't look Mom! ;o)

I thought these next two pictures were just too adorable!

We've been hanging out with Nana! Eva Loves her Nana, DUH!

She LOVES balls! I had too take a couple of pictures because she just looked so adorable in her new flower and headband from Auntie Mandy. Here's my expressive girl! Too funny! She has her hands in this "where did it go/what happened/all done" position ALL. THE. TIME! Love it!

Guess what the boys were doing while I was snapping pics of my girl... They are both so GREAT with Eva! They play with her ALL. THE. TIME! YEA!

She went to her Bubby's baseball game for the first time. Here's Ben and Scott warming up and little Eva playing on the blanket having fun in the HEAT! Woo, it was HOT!

We had to cool down in the sprinkler for a while. Have I mentioned how much my kids LOVE the water. Eva is a little maniac in the pool. She draws a crowd, that's for sure! ha ha! I haven't gotten any pictures yet because I'm always chasing after her! LOL!

We had to do this several times to get the PERFECT picture! :o) Got it!

She's a little fish!

I LOVE this picture so much. It's so sweet how such is hugging on her brother and using her new "fake smile" too. ha ha!

Just chilling out at home. There's the fake smile again!
Oops, I didn't realize that I was ZOOMED for this pic, but still too cute!

Ben wearing his Mom's and his sister's glasses. He said, "I bet this is gonna end up on the blog!" He cracks me up every.single.day!

Eva is turning into such a Daddy's girl! She has to sit with her Daddy and Bubby for quiet time every night. SWEET!

My beautiful baby girl, we love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. We thank God every day that he has brought you HOME to us and after only 3 weeks it feels like you have always been with us. Thank you Lord for this sweet little miracle, Eva Faith!

FUN in the SUN!

2010-06-25T21:54:00.002-04:00

We had such a special day on Wednesday! We got to hang out with some of our best friends, Amy and Heather and their sweet kiddos. Thankfully Heather has a pool because it was H-O-T!!! Heather and I were so excited to have our girls home this summer for these get-togethers!!! Here's Bella and Eva hanging out in the pool. They weren't too sure of each other at first, but they are on their way to be life-long friends! (I didn't do a great job of taking pics today, so the rest of Heather's crew, her sweet boys Aidan and Keenan and even Heather, are in the backround, oops! I'll do better next time!)
And you wouldn't know it by the lack of a smile on Eva's face, but she LOVED playing with Josie and Shelby today too!!!

Eva loved Amy and was reaching for her most of the day! YEA! Who doesn't LOVE Amy?!?

Here are my sweet, crazy boys! They thought it was hilarious that they were patting their belly's in this pic! :o) I LOVE when kids crack themselves up! ha ha! And, YES, I consider Jack MINE too! ;o)

You know it was a FUN day when about 1 minute into the ride home I turned around to see this...

It was just about a perfect day, except for the fact that we were missing Julie and her 3 kiddos! It wasn't the same without you guys, but next time, for sure! Can't wait to get Miss Eva and Lola Joy together!!!!!!!!!!!

HOME 2 Weeks!

2010-06-22T13:39:00.008-04:00

We've been home two weeks already, I can't believe it! Things are still going great! We have a schedule worked out, whew! Miss Eva still is a little tantrum queen, but we're working through them, and having a blast being a family of four! Scott has been off the entire time and we were all so bummed he had to go back to work today! It's funny to think that we've been together 14 days, and this is our first family picture! ha ha! We'll have to get better at that! :o)

These two are SO SWEET together! She LOVES her Bubby, and the feeling is definitely mutual!
This has got to be my favorite picture EVER!
We have a park in our neighborhood and despite the ridiculously hot weather we've been able to go a couple of times since Eva's been home and she loves it!
Thanks again for all of your prayers! :o) I'll have to do a post soon on Eva's language! She's doing great, we have a smart little girl on our hands!!!!

Squeaky Shoes

2010-06-19T21:35:00.004-04:00

Thanks Auntie Mandy!!

1 week HOME!

2010-06-15T22:08:00.005-04:00

Eva's been home for a week now and she is still doing GREAT! She is a two year old girl, so she definitely has an opinion, ha ha ha, but she is so sweet and hilarious! She definitely keeps us laughing! She LOVES to play with her big brother, they are so sweet together! She even loves the pool! Woo Hoo! Her language is doing really well and she is starting to repeat us! She calls herself We-ba, LOVE IT! This week has been filled with LOTS of playing, laughing, kissing, and thanking God for choosing us to be this sweet baby girl's family! We love you We-ba! Enjoy some new pics of our first week as a forever family!

Amazing!

2010-06-11T21:37:00.002-04:00

Here are two of my favorite pictures taken of our little miracles this week!