A New Year!

Yes, I'm a little delayed about posting about a "New Year".  This post should have been written on New Years Day and I should have declared all that 2012 will hold and yada yada yada......    Don't get me wrong, I think having plans for this new year are very important and yes, I would even say, necessary.   I'm a planner and I love it!  Without planning, days, weeks, and even months can slip by.   However, this year, 2012, I am attacking things a bit different. 

It's the first year since 2006 that I am not thinking about where my adoption paperwork has to go to next.  I have two little amazing boys in my life.... forever.  At the moment, we are focusing on them.  If God wants to bless us with a surprise, then we would be thrilled, but we are not pursing another adoption at the moment.  

Dave and I are making date night, a once a month mandatory thing this year (maybe we'll be able to sneak in two).  Even when we didn't have little ones in the house, we still found it difficult to carve out time for ourselves.  It's important not to let your marriage grow stagnant.  Family night is also on the calendar, pizza and games!  All this planning and schedule, doesn't it seem like it's too much?  I think spontaneity is important and I plan on doing some of that this year.  Like, snagging a deal from Living Social or Groupon and going away for couple of days.  However, I also think that if you don't put pen to paper and make time for yourself, your spouse, your children, then 2013 will be here and the most important people in your life will have taken a backseat to less important things.

I have goals and dreams and I want to fulfill them, but I realized at the end of 2011 some of those goals and dreams have changed.  I'm a busy gal (and I prefer to stay busy), but my most important job is staying home and take care of my family.  It has taken almost a year to see the beauty in that.  With certainty, I can say that my identity is not wrapped up any longer in what I do, but it is wrapped up in who God says I am. I still do volunteer work for our friends in China and I believe without a doubt the Lord has taken care of us through my obedience.  Plus, I love it and I would do just about anything for our friends!! Dave and I also still believe strongly that we are called to the field to be full time missionaries.  When will we go?   I'm not sure.  When God says, "go", we'll go.

Don't let this amazing year pass you by.   What's possible this year?  All things!

A magical time at Disney!

We spent last weekend at Disney!!  We hit Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party Friday night and spent the day at Downtown Disney on Saturday.  Over the years, I have imagined what it would be like to take our children to Disney World and see the joy on their little faces.  My family heads to Disney each year and last year we decided it wasn't a priority, because we were in the middle of our adoption with Ethan.   Let's be real, in any adoption, any extra money goes to that baby.   So, I had faith that this year we would be taking not one, but two boys on their first Disney trip.    It was everything I hoped it would be and more!!  Ethan loved the parade and even got a kiss from Ariel.  Aiden was practically skipping the entire weekend and loved, loved, loved the Tea Cups.

My favorite part, aside from being with my family & our wonderful friends, was the free hot cocoa and sugar cookies throughout the park!!  It's was chilly for us Florida folks, so I enjoy many cups of hot cocoa.   Aiden and I  picked out our 1st family of four ornament at the Disney Christmas store.  Everything about the weekend was sweet and perfect.   

Getting ready to have fun!!

Daddy & Aiden

Free hot cocoa and cookies throughout the park! Yum!

Aiden & Donald Duck!

Ethan rockin' his cool hat!

Bring on the Holidays!

I absolutely love the holidays and the fun has already begun!!  This season I have two little miracles in my life to celebrate with.  I continue to have moments where I am overwhelmed about how blessed I am to be Aiden and Ethan's mommy.   

As we begin this Holiday Season there will be times to be frazzled and moments of craziness, but I encourage you to seize each day with your children, spouse, and all your other crazy relatives! Choose joy and remain in it!   As for me, this holiday season, I want to see it through the eyes of my boys.  Sometimes we forget the magic of the season, because we focus on parties or that perfect gift.  Allow yourself to get lost in everything that this wonderful time of year has to offer.   

One year with Aiden!

Today marks our one year anniversary with Aiden.  It's hard to fathom that one year ago today we  became parents to a 5 1/2 year old and now, we have two boys.  I am in love with my boys.  Parenting has it's challenges, but I can't imagine life without these little guys.  In fact, being a parent is one of the hardest things I have ever done! 

Aiden has grown so much in the last year.  His speech has improved, he passed Kindergarten, he is more confident, and I truly believe he understands that this is forever.  His foster parents, Mike and Deena, were here over the summer for a short visit and it was good for Aiden to reconnect with them.  Hidden Treasures Home was a very positive time in Aiden's life and he needed to rekindle some of those very wonderful memories.   His foster parents are some of our greatest friends and will always be apart of Aiden's life. 

Over the years of pushing forward to start our family, we have had many opportunities that have changed us forever.  We pushed on many doors for adoption and tried for years to get pregnant.  We had a failed adoption in China, which broke my heart.  We kept getting pushed off the list for Korea, because of finances.  But we persevered and I am overwhelmed at times thinking about how God has poured out such a blessing of children in our family.  


Tomorrow night we are going to celebrate and Aiden got to pick what we are having for dinner.  You guessed it, Chinese food!!

First time holding our baby boy, Ethan Matthew

Boys meeting each other for the first time.

God's blessings!

Quickly becoming a Florida boy!

Ethan