The DAY has come!

After a great weekend of sitting poolside drinking fruity, frozen, drinks while Isabelle dumps water on her daddy and her papa for about 2 hours, the time has come to get crazy. Austin Texas was great. It was relaxing and beautiful and their weather was chilly compared to our Tulsa weather. I wasn't ready to leave, but it was time to face reality....

 She's ready for the country club life in her new tennis outfit from gaga.

 Izzy how she could look even MORE like her daddy. Just wear his glasses and smile that smirky smile.

They both played hard all weekend, and slept the whole plane ride home.

My trip would have been complete if I had just had a glass of wine....It was 1:00 in the afternoon so I felt it was a tad inappropriate.

That's right folks....It's moving day! The time we have been waiting/praying for what seems like forever.
We are ready.
We are well rested.
I just wish everything could get done while we continue to sit poolside.
But that's life right? 

Embrace the Camera July 19th

When I tell you that there is nothing to do in this heat, but swim...I mean it. We embrace the heat because I would much rather it be hot than cold.
So with that being said, Isabelle and I are embracing the camera at our local water park. It has tons of fun slides and even more people watching... which is what I think Isabelle is doing in this picture. That, or, checking a boy out. Sister, it's way too early to be checking boys out. Plus, daddy has a collection of guns. KIDDING! (no, no I'm not).

So What! Wednesday

This week I am saying So What!:

That I have a habit of keeping tags on new items until I use them. I grew up with a sister, so it was a very strong rule that you never "borrowed" anything from one another if it still had the tags on it. I guess old habits die young.

That I bought Izzy a new stuffed animal "kitty cat" and realized it was made by TY (the beanie baby makers). I told the hobby lobby lady, as we were checking out, that I couldn't believe TY is still cool. It had been cool since the beanie baby days. She looked at me like I was speaking another language. Seriously? I'm that old that beanie babies are irrelevant?

That my two year old is already embarassed of me. The fastest way for her to get embarassed is for me to dance or sing along with her. She tells me "No Mommy, NO!" and points her little finger at me.

I can't wait until she's 16.

That Izzy asks me to color and I usually take over and color the entire page by myself. Coloring is way therapeutic. Who knew?

If Izzy had her first visit to a local favorite restaurant for fried chicken and loved it. Sure, we picked the fried part off because she refuses to eat anything breaded, but she loved it. They have tons of honey to put on their sweet bread, so she walked out sticking to everything.

We felt so country. 

That we move into our new house in less than a week and I can hardly wait! I have enjoyed living with my parents (hello free food!), but their air conditioner just went out upstairs and so we sleep downstairs now and they don't keep it as cool as we like it.....Or they're just doing all this so we don't get too comfortable. Tricky, tricky.

That no one in my family or friends (other than Mr. T) knows that I write a blog. Weird? Maybe. But I like to know that I can write whatever I want about any subject without someone getting upset. We have a big family. Someone always get's upset.



Man, that's pretty.

This weekend, we ventured out to the largest craft fair in Oklahoma. It was glorious. There were rows and rows of different kinds of things that people had MADE with their own two hands. The artists who made these unique things were there to explain how they made them, why they made them and to show you how much heart they put into each of the items. I loved every second of it.
Side note: I do not love the sample section. Don't get me wrong, I love salsas and cheese and home made stuff, however, I do not love pretzel sticks that everyone else touches. It gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking of it now.
I bought an amazing bowl that a man from a tiny town in Oklahoma had made out of old trees. Trees  that had been cut down and left to rot, he had turned into something beautiful and that will sit pretty in my new kitchen and show all my visitors the beauty in the forgotten "trash". Again, I love it.

 I also bought Isabelle some old vintage pillow cases for her new room. She doesn't know it yet, but she will love them.

They are clean and crisp and free of any Dora's. They remind me of my grandma's house...except they smell like lavender instead of mothballs. Perfection.

Another side note: Do you feel guilty when you hear your husband chasing after your child, who is running around like a wild Indian and you act like you don't know them? Yeah, me neither.

I am in love with hand made stuff. I am in love with helping the "little guy" make ends meet. I love seeing people sell their hard made items with pride. It makes me happy.
I love to "keep it local".
I also love to "make it global".
I love to keep it anywhere, as long as it's made by working hands.
Earning fair wage.
I love to help people WORK to earn their living. I know that when I work hard at something is when I reap the most benefits. When a person takes pride in their work, they are not just earning a paycheck.
That is why I love working with Noonday. Women in impoverished countries are earning fair wage and making beautiful things with their own two hands.
Each piece has a story. Each package comes complete with that unique story.
We have just released a new home line that I am in love with. It's beautiful and unique. Every piece is hand made and different.
Now, before you think this is a shameless plug....just check out the website. You don't have to order from me. You don't even have to order anything at all. Just check it out. Read the Noonday story. Read the story of the artisans.
Be aware.

http://www.melissatruitt.noondaycollection.com/
If you are in the Tulsa area, send me an email if you are interested in hosting a party and earning some free gear for it!

Embrace the Camera- July 12th

This picture is especially lovely to me because it is very rare when you can get this little one to lay down. Nap time/bed time is her worst enemy and she will do anything and everything to fight laying down. On this special day, she rested and to add icing on the top, she cuddled me. Sister is not a cuddler. She is sweet, and she is warm, but she prefers to keep things in her own little bubble (that trait she definitely gets from me...super duper annoying).
I may be fake sleeping, but my heart smiled so big when she decided to wrap her arms around my neck to make sure I didn't escape nap time too.

These are the moments I want to freeze forever. 

Summer Love

Last night, Isabelle and I joined my mom for her "bunko night" with her neighborhood friends. Instead of playing bunko (even though they haven't played bunko in years, they just sit around and gossip chit chat) they decided to have all of their grand kids over to swim and eat dinner, which was a lot of fun for us!
Isabelle was the "cool girl" of the party because she brought Thomas the Train and Percy the train (she can't say her R's so when she says Percy it sounds a tad inappropriate, especially when she yells, "MY PERCY!! minus the r sound.).
Anywhoo, she met a new boyfriend and they instantly clicked. Isabelle is a total girly girl. She loves, loves, loves jewelry and dolls and anything pink but when it comes to picking friends, she always plays with little boys. She loves to play ball and she loves to be chased and climb rocks and yell and scream so little boys are generally happy to play along with those games as well. This little boy was no different.
They had a blast with each other, and even took a break to enjoy some sweet watermelon together in the sunset.

He may or may not have fed her watermelon so she would stop stealing Cheetos off his plate.

The date was beautiful. Apple juice followed by a nice, evening nature walk. Everything was smooth until, in true boy form, he decided to run behind her and push her down.

She was not injured, but her feelings were crushed. Her giant crocodile tears cleaned the dirt off her face, as I tried to explain to her that sometimes little boys just play rough...especially with little girls.

I know she didn't understand what I was saying or maybe she did. Either way, I saw a little piece of the future in that entire situation. I have a feeling that was the first of many talks that we will have about boys and her feelings.

So I guess now all I can do is buckle up.

And hide Mr. T's gun.

I kid, I kid. Sorta. 

Our Week

In pictures.

 Of course that is sweat on her hairline...also, this picture was taken at 8:30 am.

She is her daddy's child.

 Honestly, what is better than a pool and pretzels?

 Me on the right getting out sprinted by the girl on the left at the fourth of July firecracker race in downtown Tulsa. I justified getting beat by telling myself, "Oh whatever, she probably doesn't have a baby."

I was right. She has TWO babies.

Crap.

 Our little lady liberty enjoying the train watching on Independence day.

P.s. Thomas has taken reign over Dora in her world. Do I have a nerd on my hands?

Again, she's her daddy's child. (LOVE YOU Mr. T!)

 Getting her wiggles out on Neena's trampoline.

 You haven't really enjoyed life until you've had a drink of cold hose water on a hot Oklahoma summer day.

 My girl is such a girl. Her favorite life experience? A pedicure.

This experience deserves a post all of its own.

 Mommy's angel.

My heart.

Life here has been great. We are soaking up the summer and trying to embrace our hectic schedule.

We signed our final foster care contract and we are officially an "open house" as soon as we move into our new house at the end of July.

We are keeping our file open for foster care and adoption both (they are two completely separate departments) and praying that our path is made clear.

Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, it means the world to us and I can't tell you enough how encouraging you are!

The wait for our child getting harder for us. I know that our child is out there and needs us, I just can't get to them fast enough so I will continue to pray that they are protected. It feels like one of those terrible dreams where you are running as fast as you can and aren't moving.

It is a hard fight, but I know we weren't called to be comfortable.

Your messages and emails remind me to keep pushing and not to look back.

And for that, I can't say thank you enough.

Micah 6:8



Roll the Stone away...

It's Independence Day!! (Cue Martina McBride). Have a great, safe day!

A future country singer

Eric Church is a favorite in our household. Mr. T and I love to see him in concert and he is constantly on my ipod. I do not really listen to his CD in the car with Isabelle because we generally just listen to the radio, so imagine my surprise when she fell in love with his song, "Springsteen" all by herself from hearing it on the radio (yes folks, we listen to country constantly..kids music gives me a giant headache).
Every time there is music playing, she is requesting the "whoa whoa song" as she lovingly calls it (listen to it and then you'll understand why she calls it that).
It is downloaded to my phone and since I have the CD in my car she thinks that I can magically play the song whenever...which gets old.
She is a tad bossy about making her requests.
It was and still is super cute to me that she sings along to the song, but after listening to the song about 5700majillion times, I am just about ready for her to pick a new song.

So Eric, if you're an avid reader of mine (like I imagine you are), let me introduce you to your tiniest/biggest fan! Also, we would love some meet and greets when you come to Tulsa. That is all.

Running for a cause

So...it's hot. I'm a crazy runner and I am constantly fighting with my innerself on justifying laying in bed instead of getting out of bed and sweating my butt off in the heat. I hate chaffing. Sweating like a lineman in August in Alabama does not look great on me and isn't my ideal day.

 I'm so tall that my feet look tiny in this picture. They aren't that tiny. Promise.

A won a local 5k here on Saturday. The prize? Corn.

It's a tough sport and a lot of times I get close to breaking my arm from patting myself on the back for just being out there! I tell myself, I'm strong, I'm tough and I can do anything. I actually believe it until I read a story like Jared's and I am brought back down to reality and my battle won seems so small.

Jared has a rare blood cancer  (t-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, to be exact) that has required countless treatments and fighting a tough fight. He is currently in remission, but that doesn't mean he still doesn't need support (and money for medical bills).
A sweet Okie blogger (thanks Jen!) brought his story to my attention and asked if I could log miles in his name and others can donate to his fund based on the miles. I have started running and thinking about the MILLIONS of people that are affected by Cancer and how I want to help!

I am so blessed to wake up everyday and lace up my running shoes and go for a run.
I am fortunate to exhaust myself on a run and not be exausted from treatments.
I am lucky to kiss my husband each morning in our own bed and not in a hospital bed.

So I will run for Jared, and I will pray for all those that are hurting.
Compared to the pain they are going through, mine is nothing.
They are the true hero's and deserve to be supported.