More Holiday Traditions

A trip to the Festival of Lights at our local zoo. It was barely drizzling. Enough that we needed rain jackets, but not enough that we actually got wet. It was a perfect  night to go because it was not very crowded at all. I think the weather kept the crowds away.

On the last day of school before break, C had a Christmas Program. I loved seeing the difference between our boys. When A had his preschool programs, he barely sang. He just watched the crowd and the other kids. Not C. This kid loves to sing, and he sang every song and knew every hand motion. He wasn't obnoxiously loud, but I could certainly hear him singing each song. It was adorable. AND he had lines that he had to memorize. He did a great job as he and three other kids said, 

"Mary holds him close and warm. Joseph keeps him safe from harm." 

Holiday Tradition!

Every year, my sisters, mom and I have a Christmas Cookie Making Marathon! It is always one of my favorite holiday traditions. This year was no exception. I love, love, love this girl time without the kids running around. 

This year, the daddies and kids joined us towards the end. The boys helped frost sugar cookies and decorate Nonno and Grandma's Christmas tree. Then we celebrated P and C's birthdays with dinner and an ice cream cake. It was a long day, but such great family time.

Some Fall Pics

So much has been happening around here! This is our busy time of year. P's job is crazy busy. He's not allowed to take any time off in October, November or December because it is such a busy time of year. Add in there Thanksgiving, C's bday, our anniversary, 5 Christmas celebrations and a handful of yearly holiday traditions, and our fall flies by!

C had a Thanksgiving party at his school. I loved getting to be there with him and to see him interact with his teachers and friends. He really does a great job at school and is learning a lot! Although if you ask him, he isn't learning anything. He told me, "Mom, all we ever do at school is learn about letters." I figured for a three-year-old class, that's exactly what he should be learning!

I'm just including these because they are cute pics of my boys :) 

And a great picture of Granddad reading to the boys. Oh how they love books! They'll sit for hours and hours listening to books. I love it!

Happy 4th Birthday, C!

(C with his cake. He requested a Baby Jesus cake for his birthday.)

Sweet C,

I can not believe that you are four! That is so old! Old enough to be in school... old enough to learn your  letters.... old enough to count to 50... even old enough to sleep through the night without calling for mommy!? (I know... It's hopeful thinking!) :)

C, you bring such joy to people around you. Your favorite thing to do is sing, and when you sing, you sing with every cell in your small body. We're trying to teach you to "sing loud without screaming." It's a work in progress :) But even though I end most days with a headache from your constant soundtrack, I love the sound of your sweet, 4-year-old voice praising God with every ounce of your being. I hear you belt out, "I know who goes before me... I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side" and "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name," and I can't help but picture the huge smile that you bring to God's face.

This year, you have grown like crazy! You went straight from size 10 shoes to size 12s, and you skipped right over size 4T and headed straight into 5s. You have also grown in your desire for independence. For a mommy, this is both wonderful and hard. Sometimes that independence means things take 5x longer than if I did them for you, but you want so desperately to be a big kid and do things all by yourself.

This has also been a growing year as you have learned that you and A are separate people. As he headed off to school fulltime, you have struggled to figure out your identity without him by your side. But you are getting the hang of it slowly but surely. I know it's been really hard for you, but you are doing such a great job of learning to be "you" without your big brother telling you what that looks like.

For this coming year, I am so excited to see how you continue to grow. I pray that God helps harness your independence and use it for good. I also pray that your heart will continue to fill with joy and that you would share that joy with everyone around you.

We love you so much, sweet C. We can't imagine our family without you. Happy, happy birthday!

My Cup Overflows

Being a stay-at-home mom is the best job I have ever had. I love my job. Absolutely love it. BUT, having said that, there are some parts of the job that can be very trying. For me, the lack of adult interaction is hard. It took me more than 30 years to figure out that I am actually an extrovert. I love being around people and it energizes me to spend time with other women. So, spending large parts of my day with just a three-year-old can be draining.

As hard as it can be, there are also weeks like this past one. On three different days, I was able to connect (via phone) with three friends that I ADORE. Women who love Jesus passionately and whose voices bring such joy to my heart. It doesn't happen often as life's schedules and time-zone differences make it hard to connect, but when it does, I remember why God's Word tells us in the book of Hebrews, "Let's us not give up meeting together (even if it's only via phone) as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another."

Jesus, thank you for the kind of friends that bring so much joy to my life that my cup overflows with joy. Thank you for the perfect timing of these calls. Thank you for the wisdom that You share with me through these sweet women. I pray, Father, that we would not give up meeting together, even when it's hard to connect and it may take weeks of back and forth messages. Thank you for the encouragement that these friends provide to me. You did not create us to live this life alone, and I thank you for that. This life is too hard without the support and encouragement of others, like the cheering crowd that gives the marathoner a second wind when she's ready to quit.

Kid Words

It is always so sad for me that as the kids grow up, their sweet baby words disappear and are replaced by real, grown up words. I almost cried when A first said "motorcycle" instead of "mock-ee-mo." Just another of the many steps towards independence.

But every once in awhile, those kid words pop up again. Sweet little reminders that, though they are growing fast, they are still kids. A few of my favorites:

Both of my boys mispronounce Caterpillar. Their version is "Cali-pitter."

The boys have a little friend named Max. We don't see him too often, but whenever C talks about him, he calls him "Mask". I love it!

C came home from school singing a song about Responsibility. His version: "Responsi-billo-bee." Which made me laugh hysterically as I remembered when A learned that song two years ago. He came home singing "Reso-allo-bee." I tried to correct him and suggest that maybe he didn't hear his teacher correctly, but he reassured me in loud, slow syllables as though I don't understand English. "No mom... it's REE-SO-ALL-O-BEE. You weren't there, so you don't know." Ha!

Fall Changes

Maybe you heard the big sigh of relief as I sat down to write this blog post. It was the sound of relaxation after a good 6 weeks of non-stop action. Maybe you also heard a little of the joy that comes from a week with very little on the calendar. Ahhh... sweet bliss.

To say we've been busy is an understatement. Fall has been ushered in by the changing colors of the leaves, the change in clothing and some equally apparent changes to our family. 

• A has started full-day kindergarten. It was an adjustment to have him gone all day, but we are getting into a groove. It helps that he LOVES it and is meeting kids and experiencing academic success. The hardest adjustment was for C as he had to figure out what life looks like without his full-time, built-in friend. 
• This September, sweet C headed off to his first day of preschool. He barely uttered goodbye on the first day as dove straight into learning without looking back. He has loved his time at school and comes home everyday with a full report. 
• Our adoption paperwork is finally finished! After months and months of preparation, our documents are currently in Bulgaria being translated before they can go before the courts. Within the next few weeks, we should officially be on the waiting list. This is such a huge milestone, and we are so excited that we have finally made it to this stage.

We know some of you who read this blog may wonder why I don't post more about the adoption. The reason is that our agency has asked us to avoid publicly discussing too many of the details. As much as I like to believe everyone in this world has good motives, the reality is many people don't like adoption. A country can close it's doors to international adoption for very little reasons. One blog post that upsets one person with the right government connections could literally end adoption for an entire country's worth of kids. For that reason, I will be very vague about our adoption on this site, but  please know that I am PASSIONATELY willing to share every detail if you ask, so feel free to call and ask any questions you may  have.