One Year Ago Today!

One year ago today, we received that much anticipated call from our adoption agency! We knew that it would be any day, so we were trying very hard not to jump every time the phone rang! I couldn't help it though, my heart would race every single time I would hear the ring. Baylee and I were shopping at H*bb*ts when the call finally came! The voice on the other end said, "We have good news. We have a baby boy for you. He's 3.5 months old and wait until you see him. He's a cute little guy." We ran to the car to listen in private! She then told me his size and other info as I scribbled it all down on an envelope in the car! We were shaking and praising God! Baylee and I agreed, the feeling was like riding a roller coaster! We immediately called Brian to share the glorious news and then rushed home to see his pictures from the email waiting for us! Brian checked out his pictures from his work as we talked on the phone. We were so completely happy! The hard thing was that we couldn't get a hold of my mom and dad or Brian's mom! Ahhh!! Of all times, finally we connected with them! We then shared the news with everyone else! Baylee and I then rushed to the mall to start shopping! Oh what fun! We had waited 8 years for this moment! Here are the first pictures we received:

Now that tiny 3.5 month old boy who wasn't even on the growth charts when we brought him home is now a healthy 15 month old who is in the 50% weight and 90% height! He is such an absolute JOY! We are so totally in love! It is such an amazing thing to see how God works. I feel so humbled and thankful that God chose Brian and I for these two miracles in our lives.....my sweet Baylee Bear and my joyous Eli!

Spring!

Enjoying the beautiful day!

Eli is in to choosing a random object to carry around all day. It is usually something different everyday. The last 2 days though he has carried a comb. He has slept with it and taken a bath with it. It's quite comical! He gets very upset if you even hint at taking it away from him!

My baby marched in the Tri-State parade yesterday! She did awesome! Eli loved watching and listening to all the bands!

Bad blogger!

In the garden with daddy

At the Jenks Aquarium

OUr little Sooner!

It is hard to find time to blog! Things are going well around our house. Eli is growing by leaps! At his year checkup, he weighed 22.3 lbs and was 32.5 inches tall! Wow! He is in the 95% for height and almost 40% in weight. He has 8 teeth. His favorite things are his books, outside, and balls. Oh, he loves his bath too, and his mama! He thinks his daddy is pretty cool too, and his sister can still make him laugh like no other. Maybe, that's because she's the goofiest of us all! :) He is saying so many words. It's unbelievable! He is also starting to show that he definitely has an opinion! I swear he's cussed me out in baby language as well as in hand gestures!! He will tell us Doh! for No! pretty often now! :O He is so much fun though and we wonder what we did before him!

Baylee Bear is doing great too! She is such an absolute sweetheart. She makes us proud everyday by just being the kind, loving, generous, thoughtful girl she is. God made her pretty darn special. She is keeping busy with golf lately. She has played in 2 golf tournaments in the last 2 weeks. She's having a ball with it! We hope she keeps that passion for it, because she's good at it and I think it's good for her too. It is also something special that her and her daddy share. They enjoy going to the driving range together! He's went to both of her tournaments too. They are during the school day, so I'm glad that his work is flexible.

I don't want my children to be happy.

This is a great post: http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

Help Mom!

Fun Pics!

Big days!

My baby girl is going to be 13 on Wednesday. It is so hard for me to believe! She has been such a joy to raise! She makes life so sweet! Saturday, I took her and two of her closest friends to McD's for lunch and then let them roam the mall alone for a couple of hours. This was a big step for this mom. I am a little overprotective, I know. They had a great time......visited the photo booth and took silly pictures, got friendship bracelets, tried on clothes, etc. I'm sure there will be many more trips to the mall in the coming years, and many more "firsts" for Baylee and I, as I Let Go and Let God. Someone told me once that we as parents have to give our children roots and wings. The roots part has been easy, it's the wings I'm having a hard time with. While having lunch, I gave Baylee a purity ring. I had a talk with her and her friends about what that meant. I told her friends that Baylee is blessed to have them in her life and that I wanted the three of them to look out for each other in the coming years. I took a shot of their hands with Baylee Bear's hand on top bearing the ring. It was a sweet and memorable moment.

Eli turned 11 months old yesterday. Wow! This past month has been a month full of milestones and happenings in our little guy's world! He learned to crawl, cut 3 more teeth for a total of 6, and learned to say several words including duck, bah(ball), dah(dog), hi, cat, and many other words that he's trying out. He plays patty cake, waves hello and bye, bye, and dances like you've never seen!! The boy has got rythym!! He LOVES music, being read to, and shooting baskets in his mini b-ball goal. He also LOVES bathtime and outside!

Jammin out at his music table!

He was slow to crawl, but now he's everywhere!!

Happy all the time! This bumbo seat has been awesome, but now we have to have it on the floor because he can easily get out!!!