When in Paris...

Mr. T and I had a blast while we were in Paris. I have never considered myself a "European traveler", but after visiting the many beautiful sites in Paris, meeting (surprisingly) nice people, I fell in LOVE with the city. Like, literally in love, with the place so much that I was figuring out how we could move there (completely impossible).
I won't bore you with too many pictures of Paris, but it is my blog so you'll have to suffer through some of them....we're like family ya know?

 

We shopped, ate, walked about 100 miles a day, ate, and saw all of the beautiful things that Paris has to offer. We are not really into art, but we LOVED visiting the Louvre, which is where The Mona Lisa lives. We didn't have to wait in line to get in or see her, but we were amazed that she wasn't our favorite piece of art. We rented a listening headset tour (totally looked like lame tourist) and it rocked our world. It was so interesting to hear about the different stories of each piece of art and what makes them so amazing. We are now art enthusiasts! Well....maybe not "enthusiasts", but we do like it more now.

The food was amazing and we tried most of it. We did, however, decide to skip this little number:

 I have the humor of a 7th grade boy. Sorry 'bout that.

While we were shopping around, my worst nightmare came true. As I have said before, Isabelle is OBSESSED with cats. She did not get this gene from me, because I hate them. I am allergic to them and they scare me, but when we saw a street man covered in cats that do tricks, I decided to take one for the team and get a quick picture to show Isabelle. Right after I took the picture, the man appeared in front of us telling us to pay him for the picture. Holy creepy. His face was completely painted white and all I could see were his teeth (that weren't white) and the weird little cats crawling all over him. Mr. T sensed my anxiety and quickly threw money in his little container. We laughed about that for a while, but I am afraid I will never get his face out of my head.

The last night, we explored Paris at night. The sites that we saw during the day became even more beautiful when the sun was down and the lights showed their true beauty. We had a blast just enjoying city and being together, just the two of us. It's not very often that we get to be alone and it was nice to do what we wanted, when we wanted. Our lives have been anything but calm these days, so it was a much needed little break.

 

 

 

You know it's true love when a man, who is afraid of heights, goes to the top of the Eiffel Tower so his woman will be happy (and quit pestering him).

 

 

The trip was a much needed calm before the storm. Because our lives are about to get a whole lot busier....

Preparing

I leave on Friday to meet Mr. T in Paris. I have never been to Paris, or even Europe for that matter, but I can hardly wait! I can't wait to eat croissants at every meal, drink wine like it's water and pretend like I'm Carrie Bradshaw (the episodes that she moves there with the Russian...anyone?). It sounds amazing. Mr. T's parents are coming to stay with Isabelle so she is going to get a little vacay of her own. I have never been this far away from her (or for this long), but I know that we will both have a blast.

This week, I am soaking up the Halloween festivities with her and enjoying precious time with my nephew while my sister and brother in law are out of town. They have the most adorable relationship and since they are both only children, they seem to treat one another like siblings. It's so cute. She copies EVERYTHING he says and he finds wayyy too much enjoyment out of it. He is making her a tiny republican, by constantly asking her if she is for Romney (or as he says it, Rominey) or Obama. When she says Romney, he cheers. When she says Obama, he boos. Quite hilarious that it only took him a month to live in Oklahoma and he is already a flag waving republican.
I won't get into politics, but it's cute no matter who you're voting for.

I will see you in a week or so....maybe by then I'll have a sweet french accent and wear a beret.
One can only hope.

Single Mommin' it

 That's right. Mr. T has left for Germany and it's just me and the little lady. Sure, we have spent most of our time at my moms house hanging with family (don't judge me, I'm 27 and scared off the boogey man) but it's still a lot more exhausting to do this whole mom thing alone. Our weekend was jammed pack with the Holiday Mart, football games, soccer games and some antique shopping. Isabelle got a deal on this adorable Snow White costume and I, eventually, caved and bought it for her. She is dying to dress like a princess, but I know once she starts to dress like a little girl, she will be a little girl and not a baby anymore. I didn't think I was ready for that until I slipped the Snow White dress over her head....She lit up and twirled and ran throughout the store (also rocking her rain boots). It was adorable.

 I had a great show at our Holiday Market and met so many great women and heard some amazing stories. I am not the most open person when it comes to our family story, but if people ask, I will answer any questions honestly. Through Noonday, I have HAD to be more open and I have found that when I do that, women are more open with their story. It's amazing. I walk away from every show blown away by what people have been through, are going through and it gives me hope, knowing that we're not alone in this process. So if I met you on Saturday, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for Shopping for a Cause and sharing your story.

{Fun Friday}

Have a good Friday and an even better weekend...

 

 

I am a single mom this weekend/week because Mr. T is heading out to Germany today. Isabelle and I will spend a lot of quality time at my moms house (don't judge me. I am 27 and still hate staying the night alone) and crying when we run out of icecream!

 



Because let's be honest, everyone wants to cry when they realize they ate all their icecream.

 

If you are in the Tulsa area, come visit me at the Holiday Market for a little shopping for a cause or just to come out and say Hi!

The calm before the storm

This weekend most of Oklahoma's prayers were answered when Fall came through. 110 degree days are a thing of the past and I have officially put my flip flops away. This weekend we celebrated a "calm before the storm" by doing NOTHING all weekend. Sure, we ran a 10k race, played with ALL my nieces and nephews, went to a pee-wee football game, attended our neighbors first birthday party, had a family football game and completed our home study, but compared to our life right now...this weekend was calm. 

It was rainy and cold so we did enjoy a day just hanging inside, drinking wine and watching college football games. It was glorious.

This week we get ready to be out of town for a week (2 weeks for Mr. T) and preparing ourselves and our lives to leave Isabelle longer than we've ever left her.

I can hardly wait to see Paris in the fall and be alone with Mr. T for a while, but I am going to miss my tiny sidekick.

Sister is learning how to cheer for her favorite team while still staying warm and cozy in the comfort of her own home.

 



Mr. T and cousin Bubba enjoying the lazy afternoon

Nothing finishes a cozy day like making cookies (and eating all the chocolate chips out of the dough).

 

We also completed our home study for adoption (the 5th one we've had....you read that correctly. 5!). We now are ready to have our Life Book looked at by birth mothers. We are going through DHS and a crisis pregnancy center here in Tulsa, where birth mothers CHOOSE adoption. We are continuing to try and be patient throughout the entire process, but I'm not going to say that it's easy.

So we continue to wait.

And pray that our phone rings and we get "the call".

Until then, we will continue to be a happy family of three!  

{Embrace It}

After reading This I appreciated Embracing the camera with Emily even more. I have tried really hard to remember to get IN FRONT of the camera and Mr. T is always happy to remind me (especially after I make fun of his weird smiles). Anyhoo, I do hope you join in on the fun. Your kids won't be sorry you did it. I promise.

 

Me, my lady and Mr. T enjoyed a nice evening at the fair, filled with adorable (smelly) animals, and lots of delicious foods. Sure, dysentery soon followed but we're making memories here folks. It's the small price I will pay to get some good memories.

They're kinda cute.

Mr. T and Isabelle have quite a special relationship. I have never met a man who is so involved in his kids' life as Mr. T. He wants to be the one to get her out of bed the morning, the one to bathe her and the one to read to her, tuck her in and say her prayers. They both think one another hung the moon and it's adorable to see them together.

 

 

 This is what they do each day. Share breakfast and stories in the back yard.

He loves to show her how to do things and she loves to do things just like daddy (by banging stuff around and saying, "I fixed it!").

 If it weren't taboo, I think Mr. T would wear a the same outfit as Isabelle when he works outside....minus the pink.

You know you're part of Mr T's family when you stick your tongue out when you are getting serious about the task in front of you.

 

I never take for granted what and awesome husband and father I live with. I trust him more than anyone else on this planet to take care of our daughter and I know she always has a blast with him. I can go out with my friends knowing that the house will not be a disaster, there will be no broken arms and no tears. Her favorite part of the day is when Mr. T's truck pulls on our street. She jumps up and down yelling, "DADDY!!"  and can barely wait until he stops the truck so she can run to him.

 They absolutely love to be together.

 

It's official, I have a daddy's girl.