Friday, October 18, 2013

Triplets and a Noonday Blessing {Favorite Photo Friday}

This past weekend I had the AMAZING opportunity to travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for a photography workshop weekend with my sweet mentor and friend, Lisa!!  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  

I am SO thankful that God gave me the opportunity to do this.  It's an amazing story, but even through the long, sometimes heartbreaking road of our adoption journey, God used certain points and pieces to make this weekend dream a reality for me.  If everything in our adoption road had of lined up the way "I" saw fit, this weekend would never have been. SO thankful for His perfect will and His perfect timing.
So, on to Bethlehem I went.  And I took LOTS of photos.  I was in photography heaven.  And then on Sunday evening I came back home and was hit with reality-and fabulous as my reality is, it didn't allow for photography 24/7, so I'm no where near through all my photos and editing.  But, I couldn't resist sharing a couple of these beauties.  They were as fun as they were gorgeous!
And last night as I was working on some edits, my Facebook "dinged" with the sweetest message from my Noonday Collection Ambassador Jennifer Weber.  She and a sweet lady that hosted a Noonday Party secretly hosted it in Jack's honor!  Instead of taking the hostess credits, Trudy is generously donating to Jack's adoption fund.  I've never met either one of these precious ladies in person, and I think that just goes to show what God can do through the miracle of adoption.  Jack's story is not one of brokenness and despair, but of love and hope, and friends and family and complete strangers in the form of angels coming together to bring our sweet angel home.  

Humbled is not even adequate to describe our emotion.
Thankful is not enough.

If you don't know much about Noonday, they are an awesome company who employees artisans in poverty stricken areas of the world to make gorgeous jewelry and accessories.  I have the privilege of owning a few pieces and they are so beautiful and special to me.   

If you are interested in some Noonday jewelry for yourself or a Christmas present, Trudy and Jennifer are leaving Jack's party open until this Monday!  Just go to 


From there, just put any items you would like to buy in your cart.  When you're ready to check out, select Jennifer Weber as the Ambassador, then put Trudy Smith in as the trunk show name.  Putting those two things is really important so that the show credit goes to our adoption fund!

Thank you in advance for helping artisans have a good quality of life and for bringing our little cutie pie HOME! 

All our love...

the long road

Monday, October 14, 2013

My Angel

I knew I wanted to be a Mommy since I could say the word, but Perry has proven to me that Motherhood is way, way more amazing than I ever thought it could be.  

It's still so surreal to me, this Mommy thing.  I can't believe he's mine.  I can't believe I get to be his.  I can't believe how big he is.  And how perfect he is.  And how beautiful I think he is.  I'm so grateful for his laugh.  His love.  His personality.  His infatuation with dirt, big machines, and the sand box.  It tickles me how excited he is to be a big brother.  I adore his crooked little smile and those piercing blue eyes.  I love his belly button, his chubby feet, and that bright blond hair with a texture exactly like his Auntie Lissa's.  

(Thank you to Cat Moore Photography for this beautiful image of Sweet P!)

I love him from the East to the West, Forever and a Day, and as Long as it Takes to get to the End of the World on a Dead Gator.  

Perry, you are my I Love You.

{thankful for}
my precious child
this photograph to capture 'four'
his silly 'I Love You's'
Cat Moore Photography and her friendship

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Nashville Flea Market

In late July, yes I'm *that* behind, my sister and two of our best friends loaded up for the weekend and headed to Nashville.  I really had no idea what to expect, but it was SO much fun and we found lots of neat goodies.  Some prices were fantastic and some were average.  Few things were over-priced, which in my opinion, makes for a great shopping experience!  
We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which was such a super fun experience-I'd highly recommend this restaurant to anyone with children... and then we ate dinner at a delicious pizza place, though I can't remember the name of it.  Melissa and I split a buffalo chicken pizza that was out of this world.  
And then... we went back to our nas-a-tay hotel room to snuggle up with the bed bugs for the night!  Seriously though.... it was a little hilarious, despite all the crap I had to endure from my fellow roomies since I was the one that actually booked the room.  We wanted a room at the Gaylord, but there was a HUGE business convention in Nashville that weekend too and we booked last minute, so we took the only room I could find.  I won't name the hotel, but it stunk, there were questionable markings on the beds, and half the room's carpet was soaking wet.  One could only hope it was due to the rain.  
Memories people.  We made memories. 

{thankful for}
memories
yummy food
fun friends
neat flea market finds
no rain on the way home
GPS

Our Adoption Timeline

  • June 19, 2011- We are officially "Paper Pregnant!" We have submitted our Waiting Child Application to Holt!
  • July 5, 2011- Submitted our formal Home Study Application to Villa Hope
  • September 6, 2011- Submitted all of our paperwork for our Home Study
  • October 8, 2011- Completed our First Home Visit
  • October 17, 2011- Completed our Second Home Visit
  • November 14, 2011- Home Study Approved
  • December 1, 2011- Filed our I600a
  • February 1, 2012- I600a Approval Letter
 
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