Making life fun

Being a stay at home mom can sometimes make you feel like you are the most uncreative human being that has ever lived....and then Pinterest comes along. It is great to give you new, fresh ideas or remind you of old things that you forgot about. That's exactly what happened with this little activity. When I was a teacher back in the olden days, we used to do this activity quite a bit with some of our special needs kids because it's such a blast and it's such a fun sensory activity. When I saw it again on Pinterest, I knew I had to do it with Isabelle.
It's simple, easy and a blast. Buy Shaving cream, put it all over a table and let your kids go wild.

Also, get a clean towel and your camera ready. You'll need both.

Weekend in Pictures

 

Friday night we enjoyed our family night with a little breakfast for dinner and Finding Nemo. Isabelle loved helping me make omelette's and helping Mr. T make the pancakes (and also find all the ingredients for him...Yup, she's knows our kitchen better than her dad).

 

We woke up Saturday morning and headed to my mom's house to drop Isabelle off so Mr. T and I could head to Kanas with my sister and brother in law to watch the Jayhawks KILL the Sooners in basketball. It was a blast and was great to go down memory lane (I'm officially an old lady). In college, I would have died to order this drink and not get ID'd:

When I actually ordered it on Saturday and didn't get ID'd, I was offended.

 He's the hottest Jayhawk I ever did see.

The seats were terrible, but the game was great and the company was even better.
I am so thankful for weekends.

Fun Friday

I hope you had a great week and that you have an even better weekend.

Happy Fun Friday!

Love,

Isabelle

My little hillbilly angel looks great, even while rocking a little chocolate on her tooth.
Gah, this little lady is just like her mama.

Thankful

Thank you so much for your sweet comments and emails yesterday. It is so encouraging to have so many people that I have never met in real life say such sweet things. We are so excited and so anxious all at the same time, so you're prayers mean everything to us.

 

 

This week my little lady and I went on a date with my mom, sister and nephew to paint pottery. Little lady LOVED It. She focused on painting her little blue and pink cup cake like her life depended on it. Folks, I might have an artsy child on my hands. I will totally need your help if that's true. I hear it takes a village, ya know?    

It's okay that I am completely faking this smile, right? Isabelle is constantly talking so to get her to focus for over 2 seconds and smile for a picture is nearly impossible. My cheeks get tired and I end up making this weird smile:

 

 Also, apparently my head is getting too heavy to hold up? I'm an awkward photo taker, okay?

 
I am thankful for this little firecracker, especially when she looks so irrisistable in a tiny smock. It's okay that I want to gobble her cheeks while she's sassing me, right? I hear that's normal.

Adoption Update

I have been dreading this post. Not because I am upset about it, but because it would all make it more "real". We have great news, but with big news comes big stress. Stress coming from things that are completely out of my control which makes it all the more stressful.  This entire process has brought me so much closer to the Lord and taught me how much He loves me and wants to be in control, I just had to let go (silly of me to think that I was actually in control, right?). I have definitely learned a lot about what faith actually means.

I will give you a quick timeline:
- We felt the push from God, telling us to GO and that adoption is OUR next step. Read about it here
-May 15th, 2012- We began Foster classes so that we could be approved to Foster children through DHS and later adopt then.
-August 23, 2012- We realized that adopting through DHS was going to be nearly impossible especially while trying to not adopt out of birth order for Isabelle and doors were slamming in our face going that route. I now see that God was protecting us from going that direction, while still preparing us for what was ahead.
-September 19,2012- Learned more about a non profit organization in Tulsa called Crisis Pregnancy Outreach that gives women alternate choices instead of abortion. Their goal is to minister to birth moms as well as encourage birth moms to choose the best option for their child (either parent with classes or adoption). We were informed that they would not be taking any more adoptive parents applications, but then learned that I was Native American so they encouraged us to put in our application immediately! (Thank you GOD!)
-September 27, 2012- Met with our Crisis Pregnancy Outreach (CPO) for an entrance interview. We fell even more in love with the organization and they decided that we were also a good fit.
-September 28, 2012- We made our Life Book. This book was to be a short book that captivated EVERYTHING about us, with little words, yet not too overwhelming that the "reader" didn't have questions. We would turn this into CPO who would show this to potential birth moms that wanted an adoption plan. We were told that our book would only be shown if the birth mom showed interest in a family that was like ours (mother, father, child, dogs, etc.) We were also told that this process could take anywhere from a few years, to a few minutes. We prepared for the longest and prayed for the best and turned in our book to CPO with no regrets. Read about it HERE
-October 7, 2012- We had our FIFTH "home study" done, but this one was our first private home study. Every study is just as nerve wracking as the first.
-October 12, 2012- Mr. T leaves for Europe for two weeks. I was going to meet him in Paris in a few days so we knew this was just the break that we needed from the stress of life.
-October 16, 2012- I get the call from CPO that we were chosen by a birth mom! Of course, we needed to meet with her and she needed to think we weren't annoying weirdo's, but we hoped to pass with flying colors. I got the call at around 4pm, which means it was the middle of the night for Mr. T in Europe. I called him, but his phone was shut off. I emailed him quickly and told him all that I knew. He was elated and called me as soon as he could.
-October 18, 2012- I left for Paris to meet Mr. T for a few days. It was a perfect vacation and a perfect "babymoon". We had a blast and were excited to get back in town and meet our "baby mama". :)
-October 30, 2012- We met our birth mom at the Olive Garden at 5:15. You could say our nerves were going crazy. It was the most awkward, scary first date jitters ever, but as soon as we met her and she met us we knew that everything would work out. She is an amazing woman and has so much strength. I immediately felt a connection to her and took on a big sister role (I have never been a big sister).
-November 1,2012- We attended our first Dr's appointment with her. We heard the heart beat and it was just as beautiful as ever. We also find out that we are having another GIRL!

We are due on April 2, 2013. Everything is going perfectly, but of course we still need lots of prayers. There are a few things that I won't share publicly to protect our birth mother, but I will say that baby looks healthy and we know that this is the child that God has given us. We feel incredibly blessed to be in this position and can't wait to start our new life with our new daughter and our new family. I will post more as more happens.

Thank you for ALL of your kind words during this tough journey. I can't wait to share more with you.

Valentines Day

I don't know about you, but Pinterest makes me want EVERY holiday to get here in a HURRY! There are so many cute crafts that I want to do and so many cute gestures that are calling my name (even though I know I will never do it because that's just too far from my personality).

 via

 via

via

 

I have never been much of a HUGE Valentines Day kind of lady, but I do always love a day to show some love to people in your life. Flowers die, massages end, but beautiful gifts from the heart last forever. So if you are into sharing what you want for Valentines Day to that significant other then take a look at Noonday for a gift that will look gorgeous on you and change the world for another woman around the world.



Weekend in Pictures

Friday night Family Night with an icecream date.

Watched my 7 year old nephew complete his FIRST Triathalon. In his true form, he finished second over all and was the youngest little guy!

 Date night with some beer and bowling. We are getting pretty good at bowling. And by "we" I mean "me". I won. By a lot. Booya Mr. T! Love ya....

 And Isabelle finished her great weekend by stealing my parents dog for a few hours. Complete bliss for her.

 

 

Overcompensating

When I decided to be a stay at home mom, I was scared of two things.
 1. That I would become one of those moms that ONLY talks about their "angel child" (when in reality the child is nuts) and 2. That my child would be that awkward, sheltered child that doesn't know how to socialize with any other humans and clings to their moms legs when ANYONE comes near them. I try to limit number 1, and I do my best to avoid number 2. (haha, I said number 2).  We do play dates as often as we can and we try to get out of our yoga clothes and go out into the big bad world as much as we can.

Most of the time, play dates are a blast. The kids have fun and the moms get to socialize and learn from one another. Other times, play dates turn into a circus and the moms never speak to one another because everyone is too busy playing the referee. That's not so fun.
The other night when my nephews and niece came over, things got a little crazy (as things do when there are 4 young kids around) and I could tell Isabelle was getting overwhelmed and she proved me right when she took her little toy and went to play in the hallway by herself.
That made me realize that there is such a fine line between "socializing" and "over doing it". It's nearly impossible to balance, but I'm learning her cues and even listening my inner self when I know that I've had enough and just need some alone time. Some days Isabelle is literally screaming with joy at the thought of going to school with friends and tells me that she wants me to "drop her" (that's Izzy talk for drop her off and leave her) and other times, she tells me that she just wants to stay home and play. I am happy to hear her say both of those things, but I am also confused by them. I think a little mothers day out program would be good for her, but I don't want to push her out the door before BOTH of us are ready for it.
Was there a certain time when you knew that your little one was ready?
Please tell me all your secrets.
That would be helpful.

Weekend's here.

 

We had another amazing weekend at home. When you are gone every weekend, you really start to appreciate stuff that you normally don't think twice about. In our household, we are starting a new tradition of "Family Night" which includes just the three of us staying in and watching a family friendly movie. With my parents and siblings being so close, we are fortunate enough to get to hang with them A LOT, so we have to remember to spend time with just us three. It's so nice. Friday night we got Pei Wei (a family favorite) and set out to watch a "Princess Movie" (because that's all the Isabelle requested, which was fine by us as long as it wasn't Dora). Mr. T. and I were set on watching The Little Mermaid because we know it's a goodie, but we had no idea it would be IMPOSSIBLE to find. We searched everywhere and are not quite ready to buy it on Amazon for $50! Seriously! Arial is a hot commodity! Since we couldn't find the movie, we watched The Lion King. Isabelle really liked most of it, but not quite as much as Mr. T. and I did. I know I sound like an old lady by saying this, but they don't make cartoons like that anymore. The theme of the Lion King is so good and the soundtrack is even better!

Our Saturday was filled with TONS of my nephews basketball games. It was a blast and of course, Isabelle loved being a cheerleader with her cousin.

I always said that my child would NEVER wear a character shirt....but then I actually HAD a child and I had a child with a crazy, strong opinion. So I lost. Or I will say, "I choose my battles" because that's mom talk for my toddler just won.

This is what she does when you bug her...she pretends to be asleep. Seriously.

 



On Saturday afternoon, Isabelle took a nap at my mom's house so Mr. T. and I could get a good run in. As soon as we started our run, it started raining and was freezing cold(we're talking 20's with a crazy north wind) so by the time we finished, we knew we deserved a night of beer and bowling. That's how we reward ourselves around here.



I'm terrible at bowling, but I will blame it on being distracted by the cutest bowler ever wearing the tiniest and most adorable/hideous bowling shoes.

So What!

It's that time of the week. So come on over and join in!

So What! :

• That I always promised myself I would never be "that runner" that chose running shoes on looks. I have always gone with ugly/practical shoes....until now. I went into my normal running store, expecting for them to hand me my normal shoes and then I saw beautiful colors and rainbows and I got distracted. I bought the rainbows and colors and I love them. Hopefully, they don't tear my feet apart, but if they do I will still love them.

 

• That I "tooted" and Isabelle heard me and said, "eww mommy, that's gross. You need to go potty! " I laughed so hard that I could have tooted again.

 

• That I toot. And sometimes I even fart. And I always sometimes laugh at them. Everyone does it, I just don't mind talking about it.  

 

• I am obsessed with the new Bachelor season. Sean seems really normal and the girls seem really far from normal. That's my favorite. Watching it was so painfully awkward and I loved every minute of it.

 

• Isabelle has worn the same skirt for four weeks in a row. Now before you get all weirded out on me...know this: It's a tutu and she wears it over her regular/clean clothes so we're keeping things sanitary. If there is one thing that I have learned in motherhood, it's that you have to pick your battles. This is not one I am willing to pick. I guess I got what I wished for when I wished that she would have the same love of Christmas that I have so I have to say, go on with your bad self sister and you wear that tutu year 'round:

 

 

 



You know you're desperate when...

 

You take your child to a "Bouncy Barn" during flu season because she HAS to get her energy out, or you might just go insane. Of course there are kids everywhere full of phlegm just waiting to share their germs, but we took our chances. That's what living on the edge is all about, right? Avoiding the flu and judging other moms who brought their germy kids. Yup. That's for sure what it's all about.

I take these "unneccesary" risks strictly for this reward:

 

Refreshed

So, I'm back on the running train. I took about a month and a half off from ANY activity and it was completely necessary (after the Tulsa Marathon), but now I realize how much I missed getting out and running. The weird thing about running is that the more time you take off, the easier it becomes to take MORE time off and then when you FINALLY start again, it feels like you developed the black lung. Yuck.

Sure, it's cold and dark when I get out of my nice warm bed, but I never regret it when I'm done and I realized how much I needed that little quiet time. When my alarm goes off, I try not to think of what I have to do, I just lace up my shoes and try to be HALF as excited as my dog is about what we are about to do. Have you tried it? I promise you won't hate it....well, you might hate it for a bit, but you'll get over it. Promise.

 

Mr. T. and I decided that we would run a half marathon in Dallas for his dirty 30th Birthday(if he doesn't break a hip between now and then) but I am not planning on doing any sort of "training". My "training plan" is just to run enough that I don't have to buy bigger pants (funny how you stop working out and start chowing and your dryer suddenly begins shrinking your pants. Gah, I hate that) but not too much that I want to quit.
I hate the gym, so running is pretty much the only activity that I really enjoy. Maybe one of these days I'll get on all those crossfit/ bootcamp bandwagons, but for now I'm too big of a wimp to get yelled at in the gym. I'll stick to letting Spike the Dog motivate me.  
 

Wiggles

It may be freezing outside, but with an energetic toddler you have to FIND the motivation to bundle up and get some energy out...or a you WILL die a slow, painful death.
I don't know how teachers do it. The whole "inside recess" thing just isn't the same. Kids need fresh air, sunshine and to RUN. Especially my child. So we bundle up, wipe the snot and go outside. We take breaks inside to heat up and get bored again before we head back out. Thankfully, Isabelle's cousin is out of school so that means she has someone else to bug wear out.

 

I am no cold weather person, but cold weather when it's not snowing and when Christmas is over is just plain terrible, but I can't complain. So far, 2013 has been good to us. The Adoption Tax Credit has been extended (Praise the Lord!) and Isabelle put herself down for a nap!
I know this may not seem like a HUGE deal, but if you know my daughter then you know she is no ray of sunshine when you are trying to get her to go to sleep. Since she came into this world, she has hated sleep. She throws a fit just about every nap time and bed time and tries anything to get out of it (reality check: This is a blog. I don't post the pictures of her throwing tantrums and screaming. One day I will. And she will loathe me for it, but for now I will continue to show the happy, smiling little angel). She is so scared to miss anything in this exciting world, so she tries to stay awake 24-7. Well yesterday was a breakthrough day. We were at my mom's house when she said "I want to go take a little nap." So I told her that I couldn't go with her because I was busy, but she could go lay down on her Neena's bed. So she walked back in my moms bed and covered herself up and closed her little eyes. When I went back to check on her she told me " I need my sound" (We use a sound machine when she sleeps). After I turned that on, sister was out. I wanted to dance in the streets and sing to the birds....I settled for a picture because that sounded less crazy and allowed my mom to keep her neighbors happy.

 

Keep it coming 2013. 

Germs EVERYWHERE!

Right after Christmas, literally the day after Christmas, we all came down with a case of the sickies. It wasn't the flu, it wasn't terrible, it was just enough to piss you off and make you snotty. We were all exhausted, grouchy and unable to breathe out of our noses. It also made Isabelle even MORE sassy. Terrible I tell ya, but thankfully it only lasted a few days. Now we are good healthy and have no excuses on why we are grouchy and sassy.
Watching your own child sick and in pain is a slow torture. You want to help, but you know there is nothing you can do (especially when you are sick too!).
There is one awesome part of having a sick kid....cuddles.