Kentucky!

We had so much fun in Kentucky! The next ten posts are ten of our favorite things about Kentucky (in random order)!

1. Tractor rides

What is a trip to Kentucky without a tractor ride from Papa? Carter and Noah took it oh so seriously. Like most boys, they love tractors and anything with wheels. It was so cute watching them concentrate as they helped Papa drive his tractor.

2. A good old-fashioned wiener roast

You can't leave Kentucky without a good wiener roast. And we had one, complete with sticky marshmallows, charbroiled hotdogs, and scary ghost stories. Dan taught Carter how to put a hot dog on a stick, but Carter was much more interested in stealing marshmallows from the bag. Noah hung out with Papa and stole his hat, a very Noah thing to do.

3. Cousins galore

We only manage once or twice a year to get all the cousins together in the same place at the same time (so excuse me for all the pictures!) We were all there this trip (except for Larry and his family. I wish they would have come. Carter would have loved playing with Ethan and Noah loves to cuddle with Marsha). Carter and Noah loved hanging out with all their cousins, doing what kids do. Playing in the creek, climbing trees, picking cherries, having water gun fights (Noah liked drinking from the spout rather than filling a water gun up). I love that they're making these memories.

4. Lightning bugs (or fireflies for you westerners)

Summer is not summer without running around barefoot catching lightning bugs. Carter got introduced to the tradition this summer, and he was entranced. Those glowing little lights flitting around the darkened countryside. It made me want to write a fairy tale.

5. Carter Caves

We took a trip an hour south to where my Mom grew up -- Carter County (where Carter gets his name!). We wanted to explore the famous Carter Caves, where by the way, is where my Mom and Dad first met. Carter was hesitant at first but soon loved it. Daddy carried Noah around for most of the tour, so Noah was happy. My favorite part of the tour is when four year old Aevan visiting from UT (and who was really scared of tornadoes and bears on this trip) told the tour guide very confidently that they had gates on the cave entrance to keep the bears out. He teasingly said, "Oh no, we have the gates to keep the bears IN the cave." Her look of part terror and surprise was so funny. We had to reassure her the guide was teasing or she would have bolted out of that cave.

6. Mom's cooking

I don't have any pictures for this one, but trust me, her cooking is so delicious. I especially crave her pancakes, biscuits, and fudge. Carter and Noah devoured her pancakes, as well they should.

7. "A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."

My sisters! We had so much fun together, sitting up half the night talking, eating ice cream, and laughing. No one understands you quite like your sisters do. They were there through the horrible hair cuts, New Kids on the Block, stringing and breaking green beans all day, and so, so much more. (I'm the tall one in the middle.)

8. Carter and a dog named Amber

Carter fell in love with Lynette's dog Amber. The first thing he'd do in the morning would be to run outside and yell for Amber. That poor little dog. Subjected to Carter leading her around the yard. Carter just knew he owned that dog. Lynette would beg to differ.

9. The farm

I love coming home, feeling that Southern humidity warmly embrace me. I love my family's land, filled with golden plains and cool forests. I love that our boys will have so much room to explore and have grand adventures in. Reminds me of my own childhood adventures, roaming the hills with my own band of renegades (my siblings!).

10. A good family shares everything

It's definitely a curse (OK, OK, maybe just the unsanitary habits of little kids). But it seems that many times when the whole family gets together, we get sick. This time was no different. We all watched as one by one we were struck down by a virus. Fortunately, it didn't last long for most of us. Unfortunately, it seemed to strike at the worst times. Think Suzanne throwing up in the Scooby Doo line at Kings Island or Krista at the airport. We all played CSI and tried to determine the source of the virus. The conclusion? Mary!!! All the evidence points to her and she has no alibi. Of course, by this time next year, we'll have forgotten all about it. Actually, we were already planning our beach vacation next year before the throwing up had even ended. You can call us fools or just maybe family!

Happy Birthday, Carter!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carter!

To Carter:

It's been 3 years from the 6th of June that we first saw a tiny, squirmy, perfect little you. You started smiling at 6 weeks old and you've never stopped. Did we truly even have a life before you? For so many years, we dreamed of having a baby -- of how he'd look, feel, smell. You were and are more than any dream we could have imagined.

You are a constant joy in our lives, from your mischievous chocolate covered grins when you've managed to sneak a treat to your big body hugs.

As time passes, our memories will fade. So, here are just a few of the thousands of things we love about you, our big three year old:

1. How you snuggle with your Momma, especially in the evenings.
2. The way you pretend to read books.
3. How you pretend to be asleep, snores and all.
4. The way you look out for your baby brother.
5. How you love your cars, even taking them shopping with you and sleeping with you.
6. How you make us sing the Sunbeam song every single night.
7. Your fearlessness, even when fear should probably be felt.
8. Your love of the outdoors.
9. How you love wearing hats.
10. The way you dance, kind of hopping around with absolutely no rhythm.
11. Your giggle when Daddy is chasing you around, tickling you.
12. The way you call spiders "ooh yucky" (I guess Mom is to blame for that one)
13. The way you mimic us, especially when you put your hands on your hips and say, "Oh man!"
14. The way you admonish Noah for being messy when you yourself have just created WWIII in our kitchen.
15. How you will share one of your cars with Noah while you nervously guard your 30 other ones.
16. How you point out letters on everything you see.
17. How you will whisper to me to be quiet because Noah is sleeping but then yell at the top of your lungs 3 seconds later.
18. How you look so much like "S."
19. That you made me a Momma.
20. The way you fit so perfectly into my arms and into our family.

Happy Birthday, our firstborn son.

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. ~Johann Schiller

OK, I know I'm getting carried away with the pics but I just had to add some pics of Dan and his boys. Noah was sitting with me as I was looking at pictures of Dan and started crying "Dadda!" and was reaching for the screen so upset. Dan has so much fun with the boys. They love playing with him. He's such a hands on Dad. I could watch the three of them for hours.

Carter loves to help Dan around the house. Dan was putting in my flower garden and there was Carter, wearing a hat like Dad's and holding out the tape measure.

Noah loves to give Dan hugs and will run to Dadda if he gets an owie and just throw his arms around Dan's neck.

I love these moments.

Just some pics of our boys

Just wanted to post some pictures of our boys for our families. The boys are growing up so fast! (Yes, you can play "Sunrise, Sunset" right about now).

To our next baby

The next step for us is hopefully adding another baby to our home. Carter turns three this week, Noah turns two in September and it just feels like the right time to grow our family. We're waiting, not so patiently I might add, for the right baby to come to our home. Ugh, waiting is so hard. Dan is much more patient than I am. He just knows when the time is right and when it's the right baby, everything will work out.

So, we're back in the waiting game and I'm trying to be patient. But Baby, if you're listening, please hurry home to us. We're missing you.

Our Adoption Journey

Ask anyone. I was the little girl who carried around little dolls and made sure they were covered with blankets at night (much to my sister JoJuan's irritation) and daydreamed they would come alive so I could have my own little babies. So, when I met my Prince Charming, I just knew babies would come soon afterwards. So, we waited and we waited and we finally found out getting pregnant just wasn't going to happen for us. At first, we were pretty devastated. But with some faith and a whole lot of prayer, we realized we were going to be parents but just not by the usual route. Thank goodness God knows what is right for each of us. We were pursuing Plan B because it was the cultural norm and we needed that experience to grow in faith but adoption was always God's Plan A for us.

So, we started our adoption journey with excitement. I remember my sister saying to me, "Can you just imagine getting that phone call telling you to come pick up your baby? And you'll be driving to that hospital with an empty baby carseat in your car but you'll be driving home with a baby in it?" Well, it didn't happen exactly like that but pretty close. Two weeks after we finished our paperwork, we got one of the two best phone calls in our lives. We had been picked by "S" and "R" to be the parents of their little boy. We met them in person that following week-end and were so nervous!!

About a week later, our little Carter was born. I will never forget the first time we saw him, touched him, held him. It was as if our whole lives had been waiting for that moment. And he has been a joy ever since. He is our sunshine, full of life and joy. He is a determined little boy but also loves to cuddle with his Momma and loves to play "monkey" with Dan (they both hop around like monkeys on the floor, and I've got to say, Dan is eerily good at this!). I can't believe our little boy turns 3 this week! Wasn't it just yesterday that we brought him home in that carseat that wasn't empty anymore?

When Carter turned one, we just knew we needed to put our paperwork in to adopt again. And a month later, we had the second best phone call of our lives. We had been picked by "J" to be the parents of another little boy. We were thrilled! Our Noah was born two months later, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 5 oz. I remember driving home from the hospital, just looking at him and touching him to make sure he was really there.

Noah is our gentle soul. He gives the best hugs and completely loves his big brother. He imitates everything Carter does, which isn't always the best thing in the world. Dan and I love watching them play together. It's one of the best feelings in the world, realizing we are the parents of these little boys. How did we get so lucky? I told Noah's birthgrandmother that we felt so lucky, and she said, "No, not lucky. Blessed."

Oh boy, here we go!

I am once again attempting to create a blog. When even my technologically challenged sisters can make one, I am starting to feel really ridiculous. This is my 5th attempt at creating a blog and I just can't figure it out. Last time my blog even got rejected as a spam blog! I didn't even know those existed!!

So, here we go again and let me say, it had really better work this time!

And before we go any further, let me post a picture of our little clan (and by the way, it is really hard to come up with a good title for a blog. I feel all this pressure to make it cute and let 's just admit that I failed at that attempt!)

As you can tell from the above picture, I have the cutest little boys in the world. They are the best things that have ever happened to us. We are constantly laughing at the crazy things they do. For instance, they both insisted on sitting facing each other in an empty diaper box last night. The box was about to burst from its seams. I have no idea how they fit their little legs in there. I said,"It's time for prayer, boys." So they just sat in that oh so crowded box, facing each other, solemnly folding their arms, and waiting for me to say a prayer. Dan and I just looked at each other and burst into laughter. They just looked so silly! If only I had had a camera near by!

P.S. OK, OK. The blog worked. Apparently, I've been the technologically challenged one!