a thankful heart!

Yesterday, Max sang at a festival with the other kids from his preschool class. I gotta say, he was the cutest little one there!!!

I'm also behind on posting an Easter picture. We had a great family day, and didn't stop to snap many photos of the three of us, but we did get a sweet shot of Max from him singing at church that morning. LOVE our children's ministry at The Fields, they are doing great work with our kids!!

Also, yesterday was the first of two rummage sales that our friends from church are doing on our behalf to help us fund raise for the adoption. A-MAZING, that's all I can say. The generosity of our community (everything was by donation only) and the love and hard work of our friends was so humbling to experience. Just like when we were journeying through bringing Max home, it is incredible to witness the people in your life as they come along side you and begin to love this child who's face they've never seen. In many ways, they are just as excited to meet our little girl, what a blessing that is!!!

Happy Birthday Meemaw!!!!

Last weekend was a blast! Can't believe I'm only just now getting around to posting about it though! I've officially stepped back into the world of the working (outside of the home that is!) and its been a bit of a shocker to my system! These early mornings are kicking my booty! But, Max is adjusting great (I'm technically only going to be working a day or two a week but right now during my training, its a bit more) and Stephen has been incredible and stepped in where ever he's needed. All that to say...my blogging was pushed way down on the list of priorities!

So, back to last weekend! My family came into town for a visit, and of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday!!! We made a cake that the boys all got to decorate (a tradition we started last year, and one that my mom really loves!) and Max made her a very special birthday hat that was all his idea! We also celebrated Easter a little early and had a fun egg hunt! The boys played baseball, kickball and just about every other sport at some point during the weekend. As always, we had a blast and the time flew by!

Now we're gearing up for Easter tomorrow and I'm soooo excited about it this year! Because of his age, Max REALLY gets what tomorrow is all about. I love hearing him talk about how cool he thinks Jesus is, and how thankful he is for his salvation. Sometimes he has difficulty articulating exactly what he's feeling, but lately (usually at bedtime when we have our family bible time) he's really starting to share and ask really incredible questions. He said last night "if I had to be on the cross, I would have screamed and cried, but Jesus, he chose to do it because he loves us." Well that about sums it up right there! Tomorrow he'll get to sing a special song during the service with his class about the resurrection and the joy and hope it brings a lost a hurting world. If there's one thing Max "gets" its the fact that tomorrow is a day to celebrate!!

One step closer!

Our dossier (the super important packet of paperwork we've been working on for the last several months) was sent to Thailand this week!!!! This is a HUGE step in the process of bringing our little girl home! Our agency has decided that instead of sending our papers to DSDW (the social welfare system in Thailand) to find a match for us, they will instead send it directly to Pattaya Babies Home for them to match us. This is pretty exciting for us because we know with certainty that our sweet little girl is somewhere in that home. I have to be honest....I've developed a slight obsession! Pattaya has an AMAZING website (just google it) that they update daily with photos, (like hundreds of them!) and every couple of days, I'll go on the site and just browse through the pictures. Now, all the kids are adorable.....but my eyes go straight to the little girls. My heart races a little at the thought that I've already seen her face! We know from experience with Max that waiting is the difficult part, and we're prepared. But, our agency has a great relationship with Pattaya, and more importantly, we serve a God who's timing and plan is perfect in all ways. So, we'll rest assured in that, pray for peace.........and I'll keep stalking that website!!

Guy's Weekend!

My boys headed out on their own this weekend and had a blast! They left on Friday for Indy to watch a couple college baseball games. Max is OBSESSED with baseball these days. That could have something to do with the fact that he is just two short months away from playing on his very first t-ball team! They stayed the night in a hotel and then took in a few more games on Saturday. I love that they had some time just for the two of them. I'm spoiled in getting to stay home with Max...its nice for Stephen to get some time to have him all to himself. My favorite part of the weekend......watching the car pull into the driveway and hearing Max shout as he ran to me....."Mommy I missed you!!!" We sure are blessed!

Dodging Storms!

I'm a little late with this post.....I feel like time is just flying by these days! Last weekend, we had a BLAST hanging with Stephen's folks in Nashville. We had been there all week with Stephen for work, and they were able to come into town and meet up with us. It was the perfect plan! Well....except for the tornadoes that the five of us seemed to be dodging along the way! The weather was crazy!!! We ended up with some major wind and a serious hail storm, but thankfully the tornadoes stayed south of where we were staying.

We had lunch on Saturday at the Opry Land Hotel. I just love that place! Stephen and I have been a handful of times, but it was fun to see Max's reaction. We watched movies, made ice cream sundaes, laughed and enjoyed our two days together. Can't wait for the next time we can get together!!!

Fun with family!

Last weekend we headed up to my brother and sister-in-law's for a super fun family weekend! Max and his cousin Noah are seriously two peas in a pod. I can't wait to see how these two grow as friends the older they get. When we got home on Monday after our fun filled weekend, Max's bedtime prayer went like this "God, thank you for getting to stay at Noah's house, I love him so much, he is my best friend forever." Those two are the cutest thing!! And then there's sweet Henry...he so badly wants to be big enough to hang with the big boys!!! And he's certainly catching up fast. I couldn't believe how much he had grown just since Christmas!

The weekend was jammed packed with fun stuff. We went to Monkey Joe's (a place filled with inflatables where the kids can jump to their heart's content), ate at a cool Mongolian grill we all love up there, spent some time at Ikea (more fun for the ladies for sure!), watched the boys race each other in Mario Kart on the wii, went to church where I got to lead worship with my little brother (pretty cool thing I gotta say!), ate lunch at a super cool train restaurant where your food comes out to you on a....you guessed it....train.....the boys took turns driving Noah's power wheel, and of course the weekend wouldn't be complete without some break dancing to Justin Bieber! The grown ups stayed up late chatting, the kids got to spend time just being kids, it was perfect! I LOVE being with family! And next week we get to spend time with Stephen's folks in Nashville!!!

L-O-V-E

An evening watching football and playing Bedbugs....sound like your perfect Valentines Day?! That's how I spent last night and it was great!! Stephen had a big event for work last night that he had to be at, so Max was my perfect date! We headed to dinner, and of course he chose a place with TV's so he could catch the game!! Then we headed back to the hotel (we had tagged along with Stephen to his work event) and played the new game that Max had gotten as a Valentine's Day gift from us. Do you guys remember Bedbugs?! My brother and I used to LOVE playing it as kids! And it did not disappoint! Max had a great time!

Earlier in the day Max had his Valentine's party at school so we made pink rice krispy treats to share and of course valentines to pass out! Stephen and I had planned to not exchange gifts. We're in super saver mode for the second adoption, plus I always feel a little silly having him spend a ton of money on something for me when I know without any doubt that my man is crazy in love with me! But...he didn't stick to the plan! He was sneaky and got me a gift certificate for a massage at a local spa. And I have to say....I'm sooooo glad he broke the rules!! I can't wait to use it!

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day. The best part, no matter how you spent your day, or who you spent it with, we are all loved in a way that can never be surpassed! I pray you know the never ending love of our Savior!