Adoption Story

Picasso

2012-02-15T15:14:00.001-05:00

Today we have been sitting around in our PJs painting, coloring and snacking!!!

One of Josiah's favorite snacks right now is peanut butter and pears. Weird I know..but he eats weird stuff..

I found these cute Letter coloring pages on Pinterest. We tried to do one or two a day and he loves it. He colors everything BLUE, his favorite color.

I have been trying to do some laundry in between playing with my sweet boy. The clothes NEVER end. I feel like as soon as I get all of it done..it starts up again. I need a maid!!

Josiah found my recorder from 3rd or 4th grade and has been enjoying it...a little too much!! :) It's funny because he makes the whistle nose with his mouth instead of blowing into the recorder and making the noise!!

I think we may just stay in our PJs all day! Sounds good to me!

Did I really just say that?!

2012-02-15T11:35:00.001-05:00

Me: Don't say No to me!!
Josiah: No
Me: Do you want a spanking?
Josiah: yes!

What did I expect!? I told him not to say no!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T17:25:00.002-05:00

We usually don't do much for Valentine's Day but this year it has been a little bit different. Since Josiah is at MDO now I have the opportunity to make some fun things for holidays!!! All the parents had to sign up for something for their party and I was the last one to sign up so I had to make take home goodie bags!!!

I made these cute little flowers for all the little girls in his class!! I got the template here at Skip to My Lou. You should go over there and check out the website. I don't know who they are but they have some really neat ideas!

My mom found these cute little Chinese take out boxes at Walmart for $1 and I thought they were perfect for the kids goodie bags!

I found these cute little snack bag toppers here at Anything But Perfect. They were so cute! I didn't want to give the kids all junk food so I put some goldfish in there.

Here are the stuffed goodie bags. I put M&Ms, lollipops, Smartys, Hugs, and the Goldfish in there! I thought they turned out so cute!

These are the lollipops that I made for the boys. I found them here at Zakka Life.

Here is Josiah this morning with one of his Valentine's Day presents! I found these chocolate tools at Target. I could not pass them up since Josiah ~~is obsessed~~ loves tools. We also got him a Valentine's Day cup, some candy and paint with paint brushes. I may secretly hide the paint. Just kidding...maybe.

Josh got me a massage gift certificate that I cannot wait to use and a case for my camera!! I don't know how I got so lucky but I have the sweetest man ever!!!

2012-02-13T13:55:00.001-05:00

Saturday

2012-02-12T23:28:00.002-05:00

I cannot tell you how much I love the weekends! It is the only time the three of us get to spend a whole lot of time together. And it is the best! Saturday we woke up and got ready to head to the mall. The boys got some clothes from Old Navy. I didn't even look because I know I would have walked out with a whole bunch of new clothes. Josh never buys clothes for himself so I wanted it to be about him! We can't go to the mall without riding the train. The driver of the train let Josiah act like he was driving and he loved it!! Not sure if you can tell by this huge smile on his face!!!!

After we rode the train and looked around we headed over to Moe's. I used to not really be a fan of this place but I love their nachos. They are the best! When I eat there I wish my stomach could expand a little more so I could eat the whole thing!!! That's how good it is.

After nap time we headed to Jordan and Brandon's couple shower! We couldn't stay too long but had a great time while we were there. We left from there and went straight to Josh's parents' house for Bruce's birthday.

Of course Josiah had to get Taylor to hammer with him!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We froze our bootays off! We have a busy week ahead! Josh has tons of school/work stuff to do and I am waiting the arrival of Madylin!!!!! I can't wait for her to get here!!!!

Poopy Dog

2012-02-12T16:31:00.001-05:00

I have a somewhat hilarious/embarrassing story...

last Monday Josiah and I met Lindsay and Wendi at chick-fil-a. We ate our food and of course went to the play area. A little girl came in with her cute little stuffed puppy dog. She ran around the playground shouting "puppy dog". Well Josiah apparently thought she was saying "poopy" dog. (I can't blame him, it sort of did sound like that!). But he proceeded to say poopy over and over like a broken record while in the tunnels at chick-fil-a. He has still been saying it almost a week later.

Today we picked up Josiah from my parents house (we ran to target) and mom said he keeps saying poopy. I said, "yeah I know and he keeps getting in trouble for it." she said, "oops we were laughing at him!". GREAT!!! Now he is going to continue to say POOPY because people laugh at him!!!

Antique Shop

2012-02-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

Friday Jaime and I decided to load up the boys and drive to the town next to us to go to an antique store! I'm not a huge fan of antiques but I am liking some things. This store has a lot more than just antiques though. It's pretty neat! I ended up getting a camera strap, a few headbands for Adalyn, and a hammer for Josiah! Then we ran over to a consignment shop where I got these cute little gray shoes (they were $2 and barely worn!). Josiah was extra good so I took him to McDonalds to play and get ice cream.

Calling In

2012-02-10T00:48:00.001-05:00

I, um, called in sick Wednesday night to my mommy job! I felt like crap and decided to lay down while daddy filled in for me! Today I went to the doctor and they said I had a sinus infection. Not really sure if that is what I have but hopefully the medicine they gave me will make me feel better! I didn't have anyone to cover for me today and I really wanted to hangout with my sweet little man. I decided to suck it up, stuff my pockets with tissues (the extra soft kind), cough drops, and medicine and play with Josiah! We had a really fun day!!

I am sitting here now trying to stay up long enough to eat this cough drop or else I might cough a lung up.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I can't wait to spend it with both of my boys!!

Love Story

2012-02-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

I decided to link up to From Mrs. to Mama and share our Love Story!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
We started dating July 24, 2004. Wow! Almost 8 years!!!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "Love" Story?!}
Haha. Do I really have to tell you? It is going to sound so trashy. We were at a bar and some random guy called my friend a really ugly name for no reason at all. So of course I would do what any girl would do and slapped him....very classy I know. The guy then got in my face and Josh stepped in and stuck up for me. He was my prince charming!!! Ok so he didn't win me over that easy. I didn't want to have anything to do with Josh at first! Then he swept me off my feet 6 months later and we have been together since then!

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We got married May 13, 2006! Almost 6 years!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We got married in our hometown, Pensacola. It was a huge wedding, but it wasn't small either.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Not really. I call him Joshy, Joshua, babe, lover....He calls me lover and his little nerd.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He is always there for me no matter what, he would do anything for our family, and he is the best daddy ever!

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

On December 8, 2005 Josh told me we were heading to dinner. His plan was to take me to the zoo lights (I have never been and still to this day have not been) but it was raining. Then he went to plan B to take me downtown, but it was still raining. So we went to get ice cream at Marble Slab and proposed in the car! It was so sweet!!! We still go to the parking lot and say...that spot right there is where you proposed.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He isn't into Valentine's Day at all. He says he shouldn't have just one day to tell me he loves me...he does that everyday.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

It depends. I like both. I love to dress up and go to dinner but I also love to relax on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I would like to go Snowboarding with him. But since I can't due to health reasons maybe just relax on a beach somewhere with no phones, worries, or cares!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Dinner with my two boys!

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope! We usually don't do a whole lot for Valentine's

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Be best friends, kiss often, and put God first!

My Hubby

2012-02-08T07:33:00.001-05:00

Josh is the greatest!!! He works so hard for us. He sometimes works crazy hours and sometimes that aggravates me but he does it for me. For Josiah. He does it so I get the privilege to stay home with our little man!!! Some days he works from sun up to sun down and comes home and finds time to play with Josiah! I love watching them play together! Josh is also taking classes to finish his Masters degree. As soon as Josiah goes to sleep Josh is busting his booty doing homework. I may be biased but he is pretty amazing! Josh I love you so much and I am so thankful to have you as my best friend!!!!

Love your little nerd!

Backwards

2012-02-06T15:32:00.002-05:00

We are going to start on Sunday because my pictures uploaded backwards...or maybe I did them wrong who knows?!! Let's just blame in on the computer! :) This maybe totally confusing..

Sunday night I continued to work on some of Josiah's MDO Valentine's gifts. Have I mentioned that I love pinterest? I do NOT know what I did without it. So here are a few of the superhero cards that we are going to put lollipops through and it will eventually look like a superhero!! They are totally cute and boyish. I will post a picture of the final when I finally finish them!

Sunday afternoon we headed to Josh's friends house too watch the game. I don't think I watch but a few minutes of it. Most of the time we colored or watched Josiah and the other kids run around like wild animals! But I will say, I played a pick-em game all football season and I ended up winning $80 for the super bowl!! Woot Woot!!

Josh left early Saturday morning to go to New Orleans for a bachelor party so it was just me and my little J-man! We had a lot of fun!

Here we are at Granny and Pop Pop's house!

Granny, Josiah and I decided it was a great idea to make homemade cinnamon rolls! They were amazing!!

Saturday night I tackled this huge mound of laundry. I will have to say three of the loads were towels so it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Josiah made Granny a jewelry box. The boy loves to build stuff. (if you look really carefully you can see Harleigh, she kind of blends in with the couch)

Here he is building

Snuggling with the Sock Monkey

He is starting to be my big helper. I put all the knives away first and then let him help put the rest of the silverware up. He did a great job!!!

Friday night Josh, Josiah and I went and met Jaime, Brad, Carter, and Wendi at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We had such a great time. Afterwards we went to Home Depot to find paint colors for Adalyn's room and of course we had to buy something for Josiah to build.

Jump Jump

2012-02-03T16:15:00.001-05:00

Today I decided to take Josiah to Triple Play for a little change in scenery! It was our first time ever going and he had so much fun!! We will definitely be returning!! After he played we met Josh for some Mexican food!! Yum! Josiah is napping and I am looking for ideas for Adalyn's room!! There are so many cute things and I can't decide! One I do decide I will give y'all a sneak peak! Her room will be pink and grey with a few elephants but that is all I have figured out! I hope y'all have a fun weekend planned!!

New Photographer in Town

2012-02-03T14:52:00.001-05:00

Josiah loves to take pictures with my new phone!!!! Here are a few of them!!!

Just a few words..

2012-02-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

I cannot thank all of our family and friends for all of the text message, phone calles, facebook posts, cards, comments on our blog, etc. You guys will never know how much that means to us. We seriously have the best support group ever! I'm finally feeling a lot better and didn't shed a tear yesterday, thank goodness! I have decided to focus on what is in my life right now. Things happen and we all have to move on. So I choose to be thankful for what is in my life right now and know that my God is in control!!!

2012-02-02T07:47:00.001-05:00

We got to go to another ultrasound yesterday to see our sweet baby girl, Adalyn!!! It made my heart feel so much better after I saw her squirming all around!!! I got some video but it won't let me post it for some reason. She is weighing in at 1 lb 1 oz!!

Today was a pretty boring day around here!! The weather was horrible so we had to stay inside. Talk about having a cranky little man!!! So we tried to make the best of it!! Hope everyone had a great Wednesday !!

Lindsay & and Chris' Wedding

2012-01-31T23:44:00.001-05:00

I wrote a post last night but it disappeared!!

We had so much fun at Lindsay's wedding! It was perfect! We found out that Josiah is a party animal and loves to dance!! I think he is still recovering from dancing his bootay off!! He was such a hoot!! I didn't take any pictures with my camera but I did take some with my iPhone!

The day after

2012-01-30T23:12:00.001-05:00

Ok I gave myself all day to have a little pity party!! My amazing aunt came and picked Josiah up so I could get a little bit of me time! At first I thought that was what I needed but it made me think too much and I was upset all over again. Josh took 1/2 day off which ended up just what I needed! We went and ate at Tokyo and then got pedicures! Yes, Josh got his first pedicure! He is probably going to kill me for telling y'all that!!! Ha! We went to pick up Josiah and headed to Target and TCBY!! I feel better about things! Don't get me wrong I'm still upset, but it has made me even more thankful for the people that are in my life! My family is my number one priority! If you are my friend you fit in this category because I would do anything for you too!! I am so thankful for my sweet husband that is my rock, my absolutely amazing son that could put a smile on my face no matter what else is going on and my little angel that will be born in a few months! I can't thank everyone enough for all the prayers, text and phone calls!

Just remember God is great all of the time!

Heart broken

2012-01-29T23:26:00.001-05:00

I'm not even sure how to write this and I may not even post this. But today has been a very hard day. We were expecting a call from our agency telling us that our baby girl was born! The phone rang and I didn't recognize the number so I got super excited. I just knew they were going to tell us Ansley was on her way! But instead it was heart breaking news. The birth mother decided to keep her. It was a bittersweet moment. Bitter for us because we were losing a child that we were so excited about, but sweet because she is now able to live with her biological mother.

As adoptive parents We know there are risks that a birth mom could change her mind but we never thought it would happen to us.

When I got off the phone with our counselor I just cried! I asked Josh why God would put this baby girl in our path and then just take her away like that? Moments later he came back to me and told me he knew why. God knows that we have Josiah in our lives and Adalyn on her way so we have a lot to look forward to. Josh said that maybe God put us through that because He was trying to help another couple out that doesn't already have children, so they wouldn't have to hurt. I know God has a plan for every moment of my life. It doesn't make it easier because I have Josiah and Adalyn but I am so thankful for them and blessed that God has blessed us with them. I just continue to pray for that birth mom and baby. My heart hurts but I know this is the way it is supposed to be. We will grow stronger as a family because of this. I asked that you please pray for everyone involved.

Adalyn's ultrasound

2012-01-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

Here are Adalyn's feet a few weeks ago!! Aren't they precious!! We get to see her again on ultrasound in a few weeks and I can't wait!!!!! The other pictures we got didn't turn out when I took pictures of them.

2012-01-27T16:36:00.001-05:00

3 to 4 to 5 family members!!!!!!

2012-01-25T10:30:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time there was a family of three. This family was about to adopt a sweet little girl in May/June which would make them a family of four! This family was so excited that couldn't believe it!b Well God had a little different script wrote for their lives and He blessed them with a number five member of their family! God really is amazing! I say that all the time I know! He has written our story and we are here on Earth trying to live by his ways. Keep reading to find out what God has in store for this family!

With that being said God has really been blessing us lately. As you all know we found out recently that we are going to adopt our sweet baby girl, Adalyn in May/June!!!!!!!!! We cannot wait for her arrival!! We are so blessed that we are able to experience this pregnancy! We get to go to doctor visits, see ultrasounds, and get details about our little angel! This is so special to us!

Since we are adopting in May we stopped being available to families at the agency we were going through. Since we were chosen by someone there was no reason to show our profiles to anyone. Well our plans are not the way to go...Gods plan is always the way.

The agency called us out of nowhere and said, we know y'all have already been chosen but we have a woman that is having a baby and we have no profiles to show her! She wants a semi-open adoption and the baby is bi-racial and we have no one to meet this criteria. I could NOT believe they had no one! I hung up with the counselor and I felt God tugging at my heart! I prayed and then talked to Josh. He said he felt the same way! We called the agency back to get more information because we knew nothing! I asked when the baby was due and she said "Wednesday"!!!!!! Oh wow!!!!!

We contacted Adalyn's birthmom and discussed it with her because she is our #1 priority and she was okay with it!

Did you get all that!? Whew!! We are having two babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we can't be more excited!! They are going to be best friends!! Oh all the pink we will have to mix in with the blue, trucks, and tools!!! I asked Josiah how many sisters he wanted and he said Five!!!!!! (we had just went to eat at Five Sisters downtown!!). I told him lets start with two and we will see about the rest!!

I have a lot to get done!! The birthmom goes to the doctor today to see if she will be induced tomorrow! Please keep everyone in your prayers!!!!

It is such a God thing!!!!

Household Conversations

2012-01-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

"Get those M&M's out of your nose" - Nicole

Josiah was crying the other night because he didn't want to go to sleep. I say Josiah everything is okay just go to sleep now. He said, "I can't mommy, I have tears all over my face."

"Do NOT wipe your pee with your shirt, use toilet paper." - Nicole

"You eat your oatmeal and then it goes down your throat to your stomach and then it comes out as poo." A conversation I walked into between Josh and Josiah.

Hearing Josiah tell the above conversation to a friend. Hilarious. Please Josiah don't tell that to a stranger...they may look at you a little wierd.

Going through the drive thru the other day Josiah farted. He said my booty stinks. Josh pulls up to order our food and Josiah yells, "I FARTED!" Oh boy, what have we created!!!!

Days Like Today

2012-01-19T16:11:00.000-05:00

I love days like today.

We are still in our PJs! It feels good when you have had a busy week and you get one day to just relax.

Josiah and I have colored, hammer nails, played with trucks and trains, cooked pretend food (and real food), cleaned up the kitchen and living room, and Josiah's favorite part...vacuumed! Josiah's Pop-Up even stopped by to play with him!! :)

Days like today I try not to take for granted. I try to play with my little man as much as possible because sadly enough...he will soon be way too cool to play with his momma!

Are you enjoying your day?!

Bachelorette Party (2)

2012-01-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of Friday and Saturday.

We had on the itinerary to play games Friday night since people were coming at different times of the night. I printed out some Mad Libs for everyone to fill out. Some of them were absolutely hilarious!! I also made cute little cards for Wedding Pictionary. We split up in two teams. Team Bride and Team Groom. Team Bride won! I used words such as runaway bride, grooms cake, tying the knot, father-daughter dance, first kiss, preacher, bachelor party, etc.

Here is Lindsay waiting on us to finish decorating!

Here are the girls playing Wedding Pictionary. Something was funny!!!

Saturday we got up and Jenny and I made breakfast for everyone. We jumped in the shower and got ready and headed to the malls in Destin. We shopped literally all day long. We ate some lunch at the Commons and shopped some more! We were on a mission to find something to wear that night!

After shopping we headed home to get ready to go to dinner. We had reservations at PF Changs at 7:30. We told everyone they were at 7:15 though.....what can I say? I didn't want to be late and with 15 girls trying to get ready it was bound to happen!!! :) We were all ready and decided to take some pictures before heading to dinner.

PF Changs was delicious! It was my first time eating there. If you haven't eaten there go....NOW!!! If you don't have one close to you....it is worth the drive. Trust me!!

After dinner we headed out on the town. We went to a place called Howl at the Moon. It has a little piano bar and it was a lot of fun! They got Lindsay up on stage and embarrassed her a little! I didn't want to take my camera in so I have no pictures...or maybe I don't want Chris (Lindsay's soon-to-be husband to see evidence) Just kidding...we aren't that crazy...we are getting to old for crazy...

Sunday everyone packed up and headed home! Except me and Lindsay. Chris, Josh, and Josiah drove over and we hung out all Sunday and headed back home Monday afternoon! :( I was sad to see the weekend go by so fast, but that just means my bff is getting married REALLY soon!

2012-01-19T14:28:00.001-05:00

This scripture was in a daily email I received and I thought I would share!

Bachelorette Party Decorations

2012-01-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

This past weekend 15 of us girls packed a ridiculous amount of cute clothes/shoes, tons off food, and headed to Destin to have a fun time for Lindsay's bachelorette party. We arrived to our beautiful house around 4:00. Broke out all of our decorations and started putting things together to get the house a more bachelorette feel. Here are a few of the decorations. I had a few more pictures on my phone...but my sweet, sweet husband bought me an iPhone while I was away and I forgot to upload those pictures before I set up my new phone.

I got these cute cups and put everyone's first initial on them with the cricut and vinyl. They turned out super cute! I thought this was a good idea so everyone would have their own cup the whole weekend!

We had cute signs on the front door and Lindsay's bedroom door. I also had water bottles with labels that matched the wedding invitations. They were adorable!!! I will post a few more pictures from the weekend and give you the low down on where we went and what we did.

Skinny Jeans

2012-01-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

Give me the skinny (jeans). Just a few weeks ago I was saying no to skinny jeans. This was before my love for boots started. Pants were $10 at Forever 21 and then boots I got at Belk! Don't get me wrong I am loving the skinny jeans/boots but you will not find me in skinny jeans and flats. I cannot pull that look off!

Tuesday

2012-01-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

Tuesday cannot get here fast enough!!

We are going to the doctor appointment to see baby girl!!!! We are so fortunate that the birthmom is letting us go with her!! God is amazing!!

Josh is going and so is my mom!! :) It makes this experience even more meaningful than it already is (if that is possible) that we can be included in everything!

For those of you that are curious...We are naming our sweet baby girl...

ADALYN GRACE

Josh and I have always loved this name and said when we had a baby girl we were going to name her that. We talked it over with the birthmom and she said that Grace has a special meaning to her so we think it is perfect!

Please continue to pray over all of us! We cannot wait to see the ultrasound and see that sweet baby girl moving around!! :)

Addiction

2012-01-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

I have mentioned this several times on my blog that I have an addiction problem.

No its not to alcohol, or cigarettes or anything like that, its......

Chocolate

Ohh...its so good. It just melts in your mouth. I think about it all day long. I think a lot of it is out of habit. I am used to eating it so I eat it. Does that make since? Also, it runs in my family...if that is possible. My mom's family loves sweets. Sometimes I find myself eating it and think, this isn't that good. Step away from the chocolate Nicole!

I gave it up in 2004 and didn't eat any of it until 2006. I also gave up caffeine drinks in 2004 and haven't touched one since. So why can't I quit eating chocolate.

I just want to stop eating eat. But I crave it!

Help!!! Does anyone have any suggestions? I will take any advice!!

I think I may go eat some now....just kidding. I already brushed my teeth and I am about to crawl into bed. I have a busy weekend ahead of me!!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T07:12:00.001-05:00

Here are a few photos I took on my phone the last two days!

Lindsay's Bachelorette Party Invitations

2012-01-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

My best friend Lindsay is getting married in 18 days!!!!!! This weekend is her bachelorette party that I am hosting with a few wonderful friends that are helping out so much!!! I had to black out some of the information so it doesn't look as cute as it does in person. I.ABSOLUTELY.LOVE the chevron design. Click here to find out where on etsy I ordered these. Erin did an awesome job on the invitations and was so sweet! She had these to me so quick and I also ordered one other thing from her that I will show you after the bachelorette party! Go check out her other invitations that she has!

We are headed over to Destin this weekend for a lot of girl fun! There is 16 of us going! There will be a lot of games, shopping, eating, and memories made! Can't wait!!! I will be posting more pictures and decorations that we made after the party, I don't want the little bride-to-be to see any of it before then!!!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-09T14:55:00.000-05:00

I know I am late on posting about Christmas but I really wanted too, I just ran out of time! Christmas works out perfectly! We go to Josh's mom and dad's on Christmas Eve with all of the family! This year it was even more fun than usual because most of his family is living here!!! Here are the kids waiting patiently to get their presents!

Micha..

Samantha

Taylor

Josiah (I think he looks huge in this picture!)

Cousin love!

My little family!

Josh's mom, grandpa, Aunt T and Aunt Charlie

We had such a great Christmas Eve if you missed our excited news we told our family click here! Josiah loved opening presents and loved spending time with the family! If my computer cooperates I will post about Christmas Day in a few minutes!!!

Big Brother

2012-01-07T08:12:00.001-05:00

One of my biggest fears about adding to our family is Josiah feeling left out! I'm not sure how he will be with me holding a precious little one. Well, that was until last night.

We took food over to our friends' house, Laura and Stan. They just had the most adorable twins, Lilah and Colin. We visited with them and Josiah played with their older son, Garrett. The babies woke up a little while after we got there and Josiah was so interested in them. It was so sweet! He wanted to hold Lilah!! He would softly touch her head and then kiss her forehead. IT MELTED MY HEART!!!! And gave me baby fever!!!!!! I seriously almost cried...but I didn't want to look crazy so i held it in! Can't wait for our sweet girl to be here and see Josiah be a great big brother!

We are adopting AGAIN!!!!!

2012-01-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

Josiah is going to be a big brother!!!!

As most of you know we started the process of adopting again a few months back. We got the call and are so blessed be able to go through the process again! God has a plan and it is better than we could have imagined! We feel so blessed!!!!!

We thought Christmas Eve would be the perfect time to tell our families!!!!! They are so excited for us!!

Here is Josh's mom and his whole family finding out

Here is my mom and dad finding out...

Here is my aunt and uncle and the rest of the family finding out on Christmas morning!!!

We are very fortunate to be able to go to doctor's appointments with her and get to see ultrasounds! As of right now the due date is May 15th!!!!!! This has been very hard to keep from everyone because we are so ecstatic!!!

Please continue to pray for the birthmom, baby girl and our family!!!!! God's timing is always the best and He knows exactly what He is doing! As I always say...My God is awesome!!!!

Love him!

2012-01-04T08:41:00.001-05:00

Im trying to figure out how to blog on my phone so please forgive the sideways picture!!

All About Josiah

2012-01-03T07:26:00.000-05:00

Favorite foods: Noodles and soy sauce, rice and soy sauce, pears and peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly crackers (he loves to eat this with his daddy!), and lollipops. Unfortunately for him, I try to be a good mom and he does not get this everyday. We throw in a variety of foods. This is just what he asks for every meal! :)
Favorite Toys: Mega Bloks, Hammer, and he is getting into coloring with crayons! Coloring is my favorite thing..I may enjoy that more than he does and could possibly ~~beg~~ ask him frequently if he wants to color.
He is officially potty trained!! Woohoo! What a great Christmas present to us..and a raise since we don't have to buy diapers anymore. He still has number 2 accidents every once in awhile but he is doing so good. AND he still wears diapers to bed, but hopefully this won't last too long. I will write a post on this later.
He has been so good lately. He doesn't throw major fits anymore just little ones. Put it this way, I will actually go in a store now without the thought of me having to run out quickly because he is rolling around on the ground screaming. Okay this probably only happened once, but it was once too many for this momma!
He talks in full sentences and you can pretty much understand everything he says.
He still is asking about Santa, Christmas trees, Christmas lights and baby Jesus! It makes me so happy that he loved Christmas so much. I look forward to next year!

Josiahisms

2012-01-02T22:05:00.000-05:00

The other night we had a few friends over for NYE and we were all sitting around eating pizza. Josiah stopped eating and said "mom, we forgot to say the blessing". Nothing like a two year old putting you in your place!!! He is the man! So, we all stopped and said the blessing!

We have been talking a lot about baby Jesus around here since it was Christmas. Well, once day I asked Josiah if he wanted a baby brother or sister one day. He said "I want a baby Jesus!"

Today my mom and I were talking and I was about to say "shut the front door" you know like the commercial says. Well I didn't want Josiah to start saying it since he is Mr. Repeat these days so I said "close the front door." He started saying "Shut the front door Granny, Shut the front door!" It was too funny, but I think you had to be in the moment to realize how funny it was!

A few days before Christmas we were at Rachel's house baking with her family. There were a few little girls 7-10 years old that played so good with Josiah. He had so much fun! Well, Christmas day Josiah went out to find his tree house that Santa brought him and he said the funniest thing. It went something like this. "My girlfriends from Rachel's house come over and play in my tree house later?"

Wait what? Your girlfriends?

When did you start having girlfriends? When did you start inviting them over to play in your tree house?

AND when did you start talking in sentences?

Please stop growing up so fast. Can we have boys come play tag, and baseball, and football before you start having girlfriends over in your tree house?!!

Homeade Christmas Gifts

2012-01-02T21:31:00.000-05:00

I decided to get a little crafty for a few presents this year. I found both of these on Pinterest and change them up to fit my mom and Josh.

For my mom's gift I got a canvas from Hobby Lobby and painted it off white. I then used my handy-dandy Cricut and cut out brown and red vinyl. I loved the way this turned out!!

I found this cute idea and loved it. You could make it way cuter but I started running out of time! (me a procrastinator? never!) I bought 2 deck of cards at Target for a $1. I used some extra ribbon I had to tie all of the cards together after punching a whole in each one of them. I printed off my 52 reasons I love you onto address labels that I already had and then put the labels on each card. Very easy and cheap but Josh said it was his favorite gift ever!

I know most everyone has Pinterest these days but if you don't, you don't know what you are missing! Go now...check it out!

2012-01-02T11:44:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgot about the exciting news I want to share! I just wanting to wait till Wednesday to tell y'all! So check back then! :) Hope everyone is having a great Monday! I think we are having a stay in your pjs type of day!

2012

2012-01-01T10:17:00.002-05:00

Happy NEW YEAR everyone!!! We had a nothing party with a few of our friends. They were going to do nothing at their house so we all decided to do nothing together! :) That is what happens when you get old and don't feel like being in crowds! We had so much fun though! We ordered pizza and wings and just sat around! Here are some pictures!

WE thought it would be neat to use sparklers to write out 2012...this is the best we got and then we ran out of them!

I hope everyone has a great 2012! We had a wonderful 2011 and I have a feeling that 2012 will be even better!!!

Number 2

2011-12-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

This is totally random...I've been meaning to write about this but I keep forgetting. If you don't have children you may want to stop reading. If you are about to have a child keep reading for your pleasure on what may or may not happen in the future.

Are you still reading? Just remember I warned you.

Josiah loves McDonalds. He asks numerous days of the week if he can go. I tried to take him maybe once a week. Well, it never fails every time we go he poops in the tunnels. (i told you, you should have stopped up there!) I mean every time. He can poop three times before we go and he still poops while we are there. I mean seriously...its crazy. I think if he is ever constipated I will take him there because it will definitely work like magic. I'm not sure what it is but it never fails.

We are potty training again...but thankfully I think we are successful.

With that being said...I still put a diaper on him when we go because I'm afraid. Afraid of what might happen if he doesn't have a diaper on.

My mom has been off for the past week and a half and she has been keeping Josiah while I work. Well, I don't think she got the memo. You know the one, put-a-diaper-on-Josiah-when-you-go-to-McDonalds memo. Apparently he came down the slide and he had peed while he was in the tunnels. So the awesome Granny that she is climbed up into the tubes to clean it. Can you imagine a Granny crawling up the little stairs in the tunnels? Wow it made me LOL. Thank goodness it wasn't number two. P.S. My mom said the tunnels are absolutely disgusting.

Sorry if you are still reading. I just had to tell someone!

Hoping to have time to post Christmas pictures soon but I am working on a Bachelorette party for Lindsay so it may be a little while!

Merry Christmas!!!!

2011-12-26T15:39:00.001-05:00

We hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!! We sure did! I will tell you all about it soon!

We also have some very exciting news to share...more on that this week!!!!

2011-12-19T14:00:00.003-05:00

Ok I have not only been slacking on posting about the advent calendar, but I am also behind on actually doing our advent calendar activities. Life is busy. I love it, but I haven't been able to do much else besides, shopping, baking, and trying to keep Josiah from seeing his Christmas presents! I am looking forward to this week. Josh took Friday off so hopefully the three of us can spend sometime with each other before life gets busier!

Christmas Eve we hang out with Josh's side of the family all day long! I can't wait for Josiah to be with his cousins! He always has such a fun time.

Christmas morning my parents come over here and we do Santa. We then rush to my Aunt and Uncle's for breakfast at 9:00. Hopefully Josiah will get a nap after that and then we have lunch at my mom's with her side of the family at 2:00.

I always love Christmas but I am even more excited this year! Josiah is understanding more and gets so excited over the smallest things! I love when he screams from excitement and jumps up and down!! It truly makes me the happiest person alive!

I don't know how much time I will have to blog so I hope everyone has a great Christmas! Maybe I can get another post done before Christmas.

Josiahisms

2011-12-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

The other day I went to the Dollar Tree. I haven't been there in forever and thought it would be fun to find some cute Christmas stuff! I told Josiah we were going and he said YEAH! My aunt asked him if he knew what they had at the Dollar Tree and he said, "Um...trees!" The way he said it reminded me of a kid saying "trees, DUH!"

Josiah brought some stuff home from MDO the other day. It was a picture of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. I asked Josiah who that was when I pointed to Jesus and he said, "baby Jesus!". It made me and Josh so proud! I love that he goes to MDO at a Church!

This one I'm not so proud of. We were at Walmart last night and we were walking by some people. There was a man that looking a little scary and Josiah said, "mom, me no like him". I proceeded to tell him that he could think that but he shouldn't say it out loud because it wasn't nice. Well..then we walked by a lady and he said, "mom, me no like HIM". I was totally embarrassed. I don't think she heard him but it still embarrassed me. I know that won't be the last thing he does to embarrass me but I don't think I am ready for that yet!!! :)

I think I shared this one before but he still does it and I think it is funny. We say our prayers every night and his is the same every night. He says, "God is good, God is Great, thank you for food. Amen" And he says it as loud as he can. When we say the blessing at dinner we always say the one that says "God is good, God is Great, thank you for this food...."

i woke up

2011-12-14T07:31:00.001-05:00

I woke up grumpy.

Went to bed @12. Josiah woke up @2:30 for an unknown reason. And my alarm went off @5:45. Then I thought....
I woke up.
I woke up next to my perfect guy.
I took a warm shower. (Didn't want to get out of it tho)
I get to see the sweetest smile on Josiah's face when he wakes up.
I have a job to go to that I can work just about whenever I can.
I have a God that watches over me and my family Zand he blessed me with another day!!

I am no longer grumpy!! Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Mannequins

2011-12-13T16:53:00.001-05:00

What kid doesn't LOVE the little people in Old Navy??? Josiah likes to button and zip up their clothes. It is too funny! He also likes to pull on the dogs tail, since he known he can't do it to Mali and Harleigh at home. Every time we go into Old Navy he has to hang out with his mannequin peeps!

Trains

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Josiah LOVES trains! We really wanted to get him a train to go under the Christmas tree but decided we would wait. Well.....Josh's Aunt Tammy had one that she wasn't putting out this year and gave it to Josiah!! He has been having so much fun with it. It goes around the track playing Christmas songs! He has played with it so much that we haven't even put it under the tree yet, because we are afraid he will knock over the tree. So, for now it is in the middle of the floor!

Cute Baby Shower Gift

2011-12-12T17:31:00.000-05:00

Rachel had one of her family baby showers this weekend!! I have been to so many baby/wedding showers lately I decided to be a little creative. Well, I stole the idea, but its still cute!!! I got this idea from here. Check it out..there is a free printout of it!

I bought a whole bunch of stuff that I thought she would need in the hospital. Here are some of the ideas:

Shampoo

Conditioner

Deodrant

Q-tips

Mouthwash

Her favorite kind of chips

Peanut Butter M&Ms

Lotion

Hand Sanitizer

Really anything from the travel section

I would have bought magazines for her and Bryan to read but baby Mady isn't due for a few months so they wouldn't be fun to read 2 month old magazines!!!

I loved this idea and plan on using it again! Go over to the website and check it out!

Day #9, #10, & #11

2011-12-11T23:40:00.001-05:00

Day #9 - Watch a movie and eat popcorn! We let Josiah pick out a movie and he decided to watch The Polar Express. This is one of his favorite movies right now! Josh eats popcorn with slices of cheese. I know kinda weird, but its something his dad showed him and he showed Josiah that night! I was surprised Josiah liked it but he told me it was his fave!

Day #10 - Go make the train at Lowes. Josh had to help his brother with something on Saturday so I took Josiah to build his train! It was actually really fun! I can't wait till next Saturday, we finish up the train and Santa will be there!

Day #11 - We were supposed to go look at lights at one of the Church's here but I didn't realize they didn't do it on Sunday's so instead we called GaGa and Pop-pop to go look at Christmas lights around town! Here we are hanging out in the car!

Day #5,6,7 & 8

2011-12-09T15:29:00.001-05:00

I am getting way behind on our Advent Calendar Post so I wanted to catch up. I don't have pictures for everything but here goes:

Day #5 - Color a Christmas Picture (I googled Mickey Mouse Christmas printouts)
Day #6 - Make hot chocolate (I am going to post more about this...we haven't done it yet, Josh wanted to be home when we did it and he had to work late this week!)

Day #7 - Pancake day!!

Day #8 - Check under your pillow for a surprise!! (I got this really cool lollipop and some money to put in his piggy bank!)

Advent #4

2011-12-07T15:00:00.001-05:00

Day #4 was to make a Christmas Wish List. Josiah has told me a ton of times what he wanted Santa to bring him, but I wanted to write it all down so I could keep it. I just googled free download Christmas List and found one that I liked. I wish I would have saved the link so I could share..but I can't find it!

Sleeping and Hello Kitty

2011-12-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

Josiah still dislikes sleeping in his room at night for some reason. He has been doing a lot better, but he always asks us to come back in 2,478 times before he goes to bed. This particular night he only asked us to come in there 2 times and then he was quiet. I thought he was sleeping so I went back there to cover him up and this is what I found. He had fallen asleep in the hallway. It was so funny to me!!! (sorry if you are a fb friend you already saw this!)

We went to Atlanta on Sunday to go to my doctor's appointment and Josiah does really good on the 6 hour drive. We usually stop one time at McDonald's so he can play and stretch a little. He got a Kids' Meal and he wanted the "kitty cat" toys. I couldn't tell him NO so here he is playing with his girly McDonald's toys! I don't blame him..who doesn't like Hello Kitty!?

Another thing I realized when getting a Kids' Meal is that they now serve smaller fries (the packaging is too cute) and they also give apples! I think that is such a great idea!!!! Josiah loves french fries and apples so it is perfect for him!

Advent Day #3

2011-12-06T15:51:00.001-05:00

Saturday Josiah picked his number off the Advent Calendar and it said Go see SANTA!!!! He was so excited! We have been asking him for about a week if he was going to sit on Santa's lap and he kept telling us YES! So we would ask him what he was going to tell him. Saturday morning I had a brunch wedding shower for Jordan. It was so cute! While I was there Josh was taking Josiah to Lowes to find some stuff for a Christmas present. When they got there a lady asked if they were there to build a train. Josh didn't know anything about that but he decided it was perfect for him and Josiah to do. Josiah loves trains and he loves tools so he had a blast.

Here is Josiah at Lowes working on his train. They are doing this for the next 3 weeks for the kids. Josh has somewhere to go this Saturday so I will be taking him. Josh swears it is easy..but we will see!!!

After Josiah's nap we headed to go see Santa at the Mall! He had this cute shirt from Wendi that said Santa's little helper and had a tool belt on the bottom. This was before we left our house.

This was him in line waiting to sit on Santa's lap. He was so excited!!!!

I don't have the actual picture from him sitting on Santa's lap because we are using it on our Christmas cards but I will post it later! He did really good! He told Santa he wanted a fire truck. I thought he was going to cry for one second but then he was okay!

After Santa we went over to Josh's Aunt Tammy's house and baked some goodies with her and Micah.

Me and Micah...

Josiah and Micah...Can you tell he loves her?!

I'm hoping to get caught up with my post about the rest of the 4 days on our Calendar. Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. I don't about where you are but it is quite chilly here today so we are staying inside! Josiah is helping me clean and we are watching movies - his favorites right now that we watch over and over and over are Polar Express and Finding Nemo!!!

How do you like your taters?

2011-12-02T15:32:00.001-05:00

Radom I know...but I love mash potatoes. My mom used to make homeade ones that were delicious but I have never been able to make them like her. I could never decide how many to cook for just Josh and I and I always had way too many leftover...that is if I didn't make them too mushy and they didn't go in the trash. I quit making them all together. I have tried everything. Even the powder. But I do NOT like them Don't get me wrong..I am not too good for the powder, I just can't do it for some reason.

Anyway, to get to my point of this post...We ate at Josh's aunt's house the other night and man I fell in love! These are so easy to cook and they taste sooooo good! They take 10 minutes in the microwave and you add some milk and butter and HELLO homeade tasting mash potatoes! AND they are the perfect amount.

Ok..sorry I just wanted to share. We had some leftover and I just got through eating some!

Advent Day #2

2011-12-02T09:13:00.001-05:00

Today Josiah got to play with playdough! We haven't ever played with it at the house but he says he plays with it at "school" all the tiime. I say a recipe on Pinterest and made some last night. It was extremely easy!! Here are a few pictures..

See below for Day #1

December 1st

2011-12-01T16:49:00.001-05:00

HAPPY DECEMBER Y'ALL!!!

I decided to try something new this year and make an Advent Calendar for Josiah since he is older! I got some of the ideas off Pinterest, but most of them you had to go purchase a lot of supplies..and WELL I am cheap, so I used what I had around the house and paid nothing for it!

This morning Josiah got to take #1 off. On the back fo each number I have an activity that we will do that day. Today was one of Josiah's favorite things....He loves to make coffee with daddy. So they made coffee while listening to Christmas music!!!

I'm hoping to post everyday about what we did for the advent calendar!

Rach's Shower Part 2

2011-12-01T15:55:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of Rach's shower. She is doing Madylin's room in damask and pink so we thought we would do her shower in the same colors. It turned out so cute!!!!

I found this cute idea on my favorite website Pinterest. The guests fill out this wishing list for the baby and you hang it on the tree and then give it to the mom-to-be for a keepsake! Click here for the pinterest site.

These are the glasses that we used. We (Josh and Jaime) drank a whole bunch of Starbucks so we could use the glasses for the shower!

This was the sign above the water bottles

In the invitations we asked everyone to bring a book. We put this in front of the book basket.

Delicious cupcakes from Sam's!

One of the table decorations.

Madylin's name blocks

I didnt' get any pictures of the food but we had:

Spinach Dip

Pizza Puffs

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Chicken Salad with Crescent Rolls - Sam's

Fruit Kabobs

Pigs -n- a blanket - Sam's

Cupcakes - Sam's

White Chocolate Covered Oreos

Cream Puffs - Sam's

I canNOT wait to meet lil Miss. Madylin!!

Mr. Talkative

2011-11-23T14:53:00.001-05:00

I have been slacking and have not uploaded the other pictures from Rach's shower..but I will soon! It turned out perfect and I want you to see everything!

Josiah is so funny lately. He will just out of no where say "I like ______". He usually says "frogs", "mommy", "daddy", "bugs", "fire trucks", etc.

He has been talking more and more and I love having conversations with him.

Me: "Josiah, are you going to go see Santa and sit on his lap?

Josiah: "Yep"

Me: "What are you going to tell him that you want?"

Josiah: "Um..fire truck, tree house, trash truck, bike, and dump truck."

I can't wait to take him and see if he actually sits on Santa's lap and tells him what he wants.

If you know Josiah you know that he used to be very shy. He was that kid that never wanted to be held by some random person. Well, times are changing. I picked him up from school the other day and they said, "man he can talk!" I think we are in trouble! When we got home I was talking to Josiah and this is what our conversation was like...

                          Me: "Did you have a good day?"
                          Josiah: "yes"
                          Me: "Were you good?"
                          Josiah: "no, teacher said inside voice."
                          Me: "Were you loud?"
                          Josiah" "yes!!"

I am so glad he is out of his shy stage!!!! I may regret saying that in a few months!!! Haha! I hope everyone has a great THANKSGIVING!!!

Rach's Shower Part 1

2011-11-21T08:02:00.001-05:00

Saturday was the day ever! I was helping throw a shower for one of my best friends, Rachel, Josiah had Ella's birthday party, we had a couples shower for Laura and Stan, and Josh had a man shower to go to for Chris! It was busy but very fun!!! Here are a few pictures from Rach's shower!! It turned out perfect!

The mom-to-be with her niece!

Rachel and her mom with Berkley

Four generations - Rach, Meemaw, Ms. Cathy, and Berkley

Ashley, me, Rach, Amber, and Jaime

We played a game where we showed them a little picture of a baby and they had to draw the picture on the top of their heads and whoever was closest to the actual picture won a prize.

I will post pictures about the decorations/details later!!

2011-11-15T13:01:00.001-05:00

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

Ava is ONE!!!

2011-11-13T17:50:00.001-05:00

Our friends' little daughter Ava turned ONE this weekend! I can't beleive she is already one! Here is the post from when she was born!!! Amanda and Matt had her birthday party at a park and it was so much fun! If Josiah's birthday wasn't in one of the most hottest months I would definitely think about doing his party there next year!

How cute is Ava in here little birthday outfit!?

Here is the birthday girl and Josiah

Cute decorations that Amanda had

Little Ella playing

Josiah and Garrett had so much fun just running around! It is so much fun to watch them play together!

I would have to say that Ava LOVED her cake!!!

After the party Josh and I dropped off Josiah at my parents' house and we headed out for a date night! We had so much fun! We went over to Malbis and ate at California Dreamin'! That place has the BEST salads!!! After that we came back in town and went to the movies. We went and saw Jack and Jill. It was a little funny, but don't waste your money going to the movies! I had so much fun with Josh! --we always have fun together but it was so good to be able to eat and talk without being interrupted! This morning we tried to sleep in. I woke up at 7:00 and started cleaning and let Josh sleep in. We were missing our little man so by 10:00 we were picking up him up! I hope everyone has an awesome week!

I have Rachel's baby shower that Jaime, Amber, Ashley and I have been working on. We have Ella's birthday party (that I am going to have to miss, but Josh is taking Josiah), Laura's and Stan's couple baby shower, and Chris' man shower on Saturday. So we are very busy next weekend! Can't wait to see all my favorite people!

Rated R (lingerie shower)

2011-11-13T17:14:00.001-05:00

Lindsay's soon-to-be sister-in-law's threw her a lingerie shower last weekend! It was a lot of fun! I found this cute little idea on Pinterest...but I changed it up quite a bit and added by own little sayings that I felt fit the bride-to-be!

Panties in here wedding colors - "To last all the way to old age - starting with your wedding day. Here are panties for every season - a sexy underwear display."

Dental Floss - "We have a pair for your wedding night (its dental floss) put this on and show Chris who is really boss."

Red - "Red ones for the honeymoon that will make Chris go BOOM - we hope you see the rest of the place and actually leave the room!"

I can't remember what panties I bought for this, but find something sexy -"For your first big fight - put this on and Chris will forgive you by the end of the NIGHT!"

I found some undies that said "kiss this" - "For the 1st Anniversary - you'll be feeling naughty. Christ won't believe his luck for marrying such a hottie!"

Baby Pink and blue panties - "When the timing is right for you and Chris (and don't be saying maybe) You'll wear a little pink or blue in honor of your baby."

Florida Gator panties from VS - "We know you love Alabama's crimson and grey, but put these Gator colors on and MAKE Chris' day!

Leopard Print - "After 10 years of married life, you'll be going strong, but if you need a boost, just put this beauty on."

Sparkly panties - "When your years of wedded bliss become the big 2-5 just slip this sexy number on and keep the sparkle alive."

BIG GRANNY Panties - "Finally when you are old and grey, with these you don't go wrong. Sorry Chris, but at that age, she just won't wear a thong!!"

Aren't these cookies cute that Heather and Katie made?!

This was the only picture I got of Lindsay (except for when she was opening gifts). We were playing a game where we had to ring the banana! Heather and Katie did such a good job on all the decorations and the food was amazing!!!!!

Josiah-isms 1.0

2011-11-08T07:14:00.001-05:00

Josiah is always saying funny things. He keeps me laughing throughout the day and I want to remember these little things. They may not be funny to you, but I would like to write them down so I don't forget them! I try to keep a little note of what he said so I don't forget them. Here is one from yesterday:

We have a Thanksgiving sign on our front door. Yesterday Josiah was asking about it. We had a Halloween one on there and he was saying "Happy Halloween". I told him that one was for Thanksgiving and I went into what Thanksgiving was all about and started listing things I was thankful for. I said I am thankful for God, Daddy, Josiah......etc. He said and for MOMMY! I said you are thankful for mommy? And he said yes, and hop hops (frogs) and bugs!!!

Gotta love him!!

Cell Phone Pics

2011-11-07T22:28:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day with my little man!!! We stayed home all day with the exception of walking over to the park! He has had this train for awhile and just started playing with it again!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today! We played in the backyard this morning with my other children (the dogs)

Josiah LOVES bugs. Frogs. Cats. Any animals really. I am not a fan of bugs. They don't freak me out. I just think they are dirty. But guess what? Josiah likes to pick them up...dead or alive. He even asked me at one point if he could eat it.. GROSS! Boys will be boys!

This isn't a cell phone picture. But, if you like Taco Bell's sauce you HAVE to try this! They have it at Walmart and it tastes the same as it does at Taco Bell. I don't think I will ever go back to Taco Bell since I can buy it at the store!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Rambling

2011-11-04T16:11:00.001-04:00

I don't know about y'all but I am over Halloween candy!!! Ugh.. I have eaten so much my "fat" jeans aren't fitting. Don't act like you don't have "fat" jeans. We all do! The only thing is..my "fat" jeans are so loose anymore!!! So what did I do? I decided to take most of our candy..except for Josiah's favorites to Josh's work!! :) They thought I was doing them a favor when really I was doing myself a favor!! HAHA!

Josiah is still not sleeping well. Remember when I posted this? I haven't figured out why he isn't sleeping good. I think it's is just because he doesn't like to be by himself all of a sudden. We have tried everything! It is getting very old, but I keep trying to tell myself that it is just a phase!!! We will eventually figure something out!..hey may or may not be napping next to me as I type this...

When did life get so busy? We have something planned for every weekend for the rest of the year. Some days we have multiple things to do such as baby showers/birthday parties/wedding showers, etc. I am loving it though!

I started trying to potty train again. Yes again. The first time didn't last very long. He was over it. I was over it. This time hopefully it will work but I don't know..so far not so good. We will see.

Josiah is still going to "school" once a week. He always says "Mommy, I no like school". This breaks my heart. I don't want to send him somewhere that he doesn't like to go but he really does like it once he is there and after he cries for 20 minutes. Sigh.

Enough rambling! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

One.More.Thing.....We had our second homestudy on Monday it went pretty good! We meet again on Tuesday and then I have to finish our profile book and then hopefully we will start waiting for baby #2! WooooHOOO!!!!

Ok ok..I forgot something.. I actually posted this already but coming back because I have something somewhat funny for my records. Josiah threw up for the first time the other day. If you know me...I canNOT do throw up. I haven't thrown up in like 6 years and before that it was like 10 years. Anyway...I ran out of Josiah's oatmeal so I decided to fix him some of Josh's sugar free kind. Well, I asked him to take a bite because he wasn't eating any of it. Well I will NEVER make him eat something again. He took a bite and threw up. Gross I know..but I have to tell y'all this...I let it sit there for a minute while I gathered my thoughts. I went and grabbed my yellow kitchen gloves, some high scented chapstick to put under my nose and i put my shirt over my nose. I know..a little dramatic but I did not gag or get sick!! Hopefully we don't have to go through that anytime soon!

National Adoption Month

2011-11-03T09:40:00.001-04:00

November is National Adoption Month

"Bound by love, joined by hearts, sent from heaven, a gift from God"

If you know our story, we have been touched by adoption. In 2009 God blessed us with a sweet baby boy, Josiah! If you want to read about when we were chosen you can click here. We are currently in the process of trying to adopt our second child! We are not sure what God has in store for our family but we trust Him.

Before we started our first adoption both Josh and my family had been touched by adoption. My dad was adopted and Josh's cousins were adopted. Once we started the process we heard from many other people about their adoption stories in their families.

I asked that you please not only pray for our family, but pray for the birthparents, other families that are adopting, the children that are involved, and our adoption specialists!

Lindsay's Shower

2011-11-02T22:38:00.002-04:00

Most of you know my BF, Lindsay, is getting married in January!!!! Well wedding festivities have started and I can't be more excited! I love seeing her happy and it gives us all excuses to see each other many times over the next few months! Saturday the 29th our friend Amber through a very cute shower for Lindsay and it was so much fun!!

Here is Lindsay and Jenny

Lindsay and Me

Amber had all of us fill out Mad Libs and we had to read them out loud. It was hilarious! I am thinking about doing some of these at Lindsay's bachelorette party! We had so much fun!!!

Sweet Carter man came to the shower! He is such a good baby!

We have a group of girls that have been friends for about 15+ years. We started a tradition after my wedding that we all wear the same garter on the day we get married. After each person gets married they sew on a piece of ribbon that is their wedding color. It started with my wedding (black), Rach (red), Jaime(brown), Lauren(yellow) and Amber(teal)... now its Lindsay's (pink) turn! Here is Lindsay opening the garter and reading the little note! :) I love that we have such a close group!!!!

Here is the cute invitation

Mrs. Cathy (Lindsay's mom), Lindsay, and Lindsay's Aunt!!!

How cute is this "S"

Rach and Amber are 3 weeks apart!!! Rach is having a girl and Amber is having a boy!!!

Here are some of the girls at the shower... Jaime, Me, Rach, Jenny, Lindsay, Carter, Wendi, Lauren and Amber

The shower was adorable!!! I can't wait for the rest of the festivities and I definitely can't wait until Lindsay says "I DO"! Next on the list is the lingerie shower Saturday! I have the cutest gift...come back next week and I will share it with you! ;) I need to start working on it!

It's a bird...

2011-11-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

It's a plane....

It's SUPERMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!....or Clark Kent!

Is he not the cutest Clark Kent ever!?! We got him dressed and headed to Rachel's church for Halloween! They have trunk-or-treat, slides, hay rides, and food! We had a good time!

Rach and Bryan! She was dressed up as a cupcake!

After we left the church we headed back to our neighborhood to walk around. Josiah had so much fun and loved seeing everyone dressed up! I decided that he would be Clark Kent because he didn't have to have an actual costume! I don't know if he would have worn a costume..he is weird about stuff like that. Everything I bought he could wear again somewhere else! I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I am ready for all of this candy to be gone! I think I am going to send most of it to work with Josh tomorrow before I gain 20 lbs!

Fair 2011

2011-10-31T00:01:00.002-04:00

Wednesday night Josh and I took Josiah to the fair! These pictures are all out of order, but I don't have time to change them up! Josiah had so much fun! He rode everything! I was a nervous wreck the whole time! The first ride he rode was the ferris wheel! I thought he would get up to the top and hate it, but I could NOT have been more wrong! He loved it! Josh rode all the rides with him and I went and fed the animals with Josiah! We had a blast and Josiah won't quit talking about it!! :) I may have lied to him and told him they were closed down every time we drove past the fair! I know that is horrible but it can get costly!!! We will definitely be going back next year!!! Here are a few pictures!

We had a really busy and fun weekend! I will share some pictures tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great Halloween! I can't wait to take Josiah to trunk-or-treat!!!

27

2011-10-25T15:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend I turned the big 2-7!!!

I have really been wanting to go to Georgia for a mini vacation. It is so pretty there this time of the year, I really miss the fall and the pretty colors!! So my sweet, adorable husband is the best and decided that we should pack up and head that way on Thursday night! I am so glad we went! We had an awesome time! Minus the whole getting pulled over in Alabama and NOT having my driver's license. I think Alabama police officer are after me. If you remember a little over a year ago one gave me my first ticket ever! This cop let me go and didn't give me any ticket thank goodness! If you see my driving down the road I will be driving like a granny from now on.

We started out Friday going to Josh's old work to see everyone! It was so good to see them!!! We left Tyson and headed to Atlanta to the aquarium! Josiah loved it!!!

This was his favorite part! You could stick your hand in the water and touch stingrays and little sharks!! He would have jumped in and swam with them if we would had let him.

Here he is touching a starfish!

We had to go back to the stingrays so he could touch them again!!

Friday night we went out to dinner with some friends to a Mexican restaurant. It was delish! Saturday we headed to Burt's Pumpkin patch! They had so many BIG pumpkins! This little boy was excited!!!

This is our pumpkin! It's almost as big as Josiah! :)

Saturday night we went over to some friends house and Josiah played with a little girl Hollie! I didn't take any pictures! It is always fun to see him play with other kids! Even if he doesn't like to share! We are working on that though! We had such a great visit with some of our friends from up there! I really do miss that place! Can't wait to go back!!!!

Last weekend

2011-10-24T15:45:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we decided to take Josiah to a little festival at a school around the area. He is all into "bestibals" (festivals)! He thinks that every festival has a slide!! :)

They had this cute little hay maze and Josiah had so much fun running through it.

Taking a break! It was so hot that day! We didn't end up staying too long!

Randomness

2011-10-11T17:03:00.002-04:00

Josiah is sleeping in a big boy bed!!! Well sort of...he has his new twin mattress on the floor and his bed is in a box in the living room that got delivered yesterday. Hoping to get that put together this weekend! He has slept in his big boy bed for two nights now and has done awesome! First night went really well. He played a little and then finally went to sleep. Last night he did the same but didn't fall asleep on the bed..but on the floor! He then woke up crying for some reason at 2:45 but went right to bed! He is such a trooper!!
Josh and I cleaned our house from top to bottom on Saturday night. We rearranged rooms and now have a baby room set up for a new addition in the future, a play room for Josiah, a big boy room for Josiah and moved around furniture in the living room. We did this not only because it needed to be done but also because our homestudy for the adoption is soon. It was rescheduled for Monday! We will be doing some more cleaning this weekend!!
Josiah is really liking "cool" (School/Mother's day out) He still cries when I drop him off but the teachers say he is fine once I leave! I love seeing all the fun things he makes while he is there!
Josiah is talking so good now. Repeating everything we say!! He wears his ear muffs a lot...jk! The other day my brother said something about screaming like a little girl and Josiah said "Bobby scream little girl!" it was hilarious! He always says funny things. I asked him the other day what he wanted to eat and he said "bugs"...boys will be boys! :)
He loves frogs. We have to go outside every night so he can make the hop! He even touches them...GROSS!
My semester is almost over and I can't wait! I have been studying the last two days non-stop for my final tomorrow and then I have another one on Friday that I have not even started studying for! Oops! Late nights here I come! Nights like these I wish I drank coffee..or coke...or something with a lot of caffeine in it!
Josiah has decided that he likes to run. Well, since I have my lung issue..I cannot run after him and we have been trying to teach him that because I don't want to be somewhere and I can't run after him. Well funny little story..well kinda...Josh, Josiah and I went to Sam's the other day and he took off. Luckily Josh was with me, but he literally ran across the store, ended up at the jewelry counter where he climbed underneath it and would not come out. Hopefully after our little talk that will be the last of it! If not I will be the mom with the leash for my child. haha just kidding!
I am planning a baby shower for Rach along with Jaime, Amber and Ashley! It is going to be so cute! I cannot wait for Rach to see all the cute things for her lil' baby girl!!!!!
My other friend Amber found out the other week that she is having a boy!! So many babies and wedding happening soon! Our group of friends have some type of shower/party/get together every weekend almost until January!

Ok..I think I'm not rambling! Josiah is sleeping next to me and I am hoping he wakes up soon so we can go play! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Peanut Festival

2011-10-07T16:50:00.002-04:00

I love the fall! When I was younger my favorite season was spring, because that meant beach weather! Don't get me wrong I still like the spring, but I am starting to love the fall now that we have a child! The festivals this time a year, the fair and halloween are so much more fun!!! Last weekend we went with my mom, dad and brother to the peanut festival! We had so much fun! As I am typing this he is sitting here looking at the pictures saying WEEEEEE now mom!

I don't have too much time to type and I know most of y'all are here for the pictures! I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have one more week of school and I am done this semester!!! Thank goodness! I am taking a break next semester and can't wait to just be a mom!!! :) I will write a post about that later! Have fun y'all!!!

Five Years Ago

2011-10-01T18:28:00.002-04:00

Ok..I am going to try to make the short and to the point! I just want people to know that God is awesome. If you don't believe it you should read my story!

Five years ago today my life was changed forever. It was a bittersweet day. I was rushed to the hospital because I passed out and Josh (we were only married for 6 months at the time) had to give me CPR. I owe this guy, he saved my life!!!! I stayed in the hospital for 30 days. This was tough. The first few days they ran tests and more test. They didn't know what was wrong. I continued to get worse and they didn't think I was going to make it. My awesome close friends and family flew all the way to Missouri to see me. I thought my last day was going to come soon. I prayed and prayed. The doctors finally diagnosed me with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and said I was going to have to get a double lung heart transplant! HELLO?! A what?! Yeah I was scared. The doctors talk to other doctors in different states that had dealt with patients with PH and found out there was a medicine that would help treat it. I started the treatment right away and I also started feeling better right away. It was great...the downfall was that I was hooked up to a pump that pumped medicine in my central line 24/7. I was not to be disconnected for more than 6 minutes or I could die. I went home on this medicine October 31st.

Since then I have switched to two different medicines and I am now on an inhaler and no pump!!!! YAY!! I can go swimming and I am free of being on a pump! God is awesome! I'm not glad that I have PH but I am glad I went through that. Sounds crazy right? Well, it changed me. I am now a better person because of that. I try to take every second of everyday and live in that moment. My life could have ended very quickly five years ago but some reason God wanted me to stick around for longer. How much longer? I don't know but I don't want to miss whatever he has in store for me. I look at situations totally different now. I sincerely love this life that I am blessed with and thank God every day that I am here. Life is short so enjoy it while you are here!!!

Sleepless is Florida

2011-09-30T16:38:00.001-04:00

Josiah has always been a really good sleeper, well except when he was a wee little baby. He usually falls right asleep for naps and nighttime, but something changed last week. He didn't want to go to bed and he definitely didn't want to take a nap. If we took a nap with him he would do fine, but he did NOT want to stay in his room by himself. Well...I think I figured out why. We started watching Dino Dan last week. Have y'all ever seen that show? I never liked it in the first place but Josiah kept asking for it so I let him watch it. It is not scary by no means, I think the dinosaurs just were something new to him. I think it is between that and the Curious George movie. I think that movie is so cute, but there is a part in it when a big guy is somewhat loud and mean looking and Josiah always talks about the monkey Guy. He would wake up from his naps talking about him so that is when I figured that some of his favorite shows might not be the best for him to watch. I quit letting him watch both shows yesterday and I think it has helped a little today. We will see. Hopefully he will continue to sleep better!

Seafood Festival

2011-09-27T15:24:00.002-04:00

Ugh..I hate that I only blog once a week! NO fun! But hey...guess it is better than none! Friday Josiah and I headed to the mall. The only time I get to go to the mall is when we go to ride the train. I snuck in running into Old Navy for a few minutes, but of course, I didn't buy anything for me! Ha! What's new? I went to look for some winter clothes and they had buy one get one 75% off! I got two zip up sweater jackets for Josiah for $16!!!! That is what I am talking about!!!!

Here is little man riding the train!!!

Saturday we decided to go downtown for the seafood festival. Some of our friends were playing in their band. It ended up being way to hot so we didn't get to see the boys play, but we still had a good time!

This is absolutely gross to me, but Josiah had fun doing it. The kids painted an actual mullet and then used it like a stamp on a piece of paper to make their fish painting. I can't imagine how bad that stunk after a few hours.

Sunday we went over to my mom's to eat. Every time we go over there to eat she bakes something!!! Here is Josiah helping as usual! He loves the beater!? Who can blame him?

I wanted to keep everyone posted. We are almost done with all of our paperwork for the adoption! We got the dogs immunizations Monday and Josh and I have doctors appointments this week and I think that will complete everything that we need! We are trying to set up our home study for Friday, October 14th! Can't wait!!!!! It seems to be moving pretty quickly this time around!! Please keep us in your prayers!!!

Baby, Beach, and Biloxi

2011-09-19T11:14:00.004-04:00

Friday it was so nice outside. I opened the windows and doors and let the cool breeze blow through the house. Josiah played in the bubbles while I watched him from the inside of our house and I washed the dishes. (I could see him through the back door!) He had a blast playing with the soapy water I made him. (these pictures are all from my phone so sorry!!!)

Jaime and Baby Carter came over for a little play date! Look at this sweet baby! He is growing up so fast! He already has two teeth!!!! Soon him and Josiah will be running around getting in trouble together! We were about to eat lunch when Lindsay and said she knew we were together and we had no choice but to meet her for lunch! :) We packed the boys up and headed to Subway! We had a nice lunch together! After lunch Josiah and I hit up TCBY! I am totally obsessed with that place. If I am anywhere near it no matter what time it is I will stop by! Not good for the waistline, but it is better than Marble Slab ice cream right?!!?!

Friday night we didn't do anything. Josh and I both had homework so we stayed home and worked on that.

Saturday we got up and headed to the beach! We went to Josh's aunt's house and then went over to the beach! Josh's aunt and uncle got him this new surfboard for his birthday!!! Josiah loved "surfing" on it! I have to say I enjoyed it too! There is just something about getting up on the surfboard! Josh also was teaching our little cousin Micha how to surf! She did really good! We were so proud of here!!!! I'm hoping we get to go back to the beach a few times before it gets too cold! The water was already a little chilly!

We headed home from the beach and put Josiah down for a nap and Josh and I got ready to head to Biloxi to the Hard Rock with Brandon and Jordan! We did not win anything! Well, Josh won $400 on his first card game he played but ended up playing and losing it all! We didn't lose too much because all we spent was Josh's birthday money! I have to say I am NOT a gambler...I just can't help but sit there and say oh my gosh..I could have bought a shirt or shoes with that money! But we had a really good time with our friends!!!

29th Birthday

2011-09-12T21:40:00.000-04:00

My sweet, sweet husband turned 29 yesterday!!!! We had a fun weekend! I took him to the gun range on Saturday which was so much fun. Saturday afternoon we went to Josh's parent's to celebrate his birthday and the Sunday we had my family over!

I decided to make Josh a rainbow cake! I know what you are thinking....NO he is NOT fruity! Ha! I just thought it was a fun cake!! It took sometime to make it but I had fun doing it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE! You rock my world!! :)

9/11

2011-09-11T16:34:00.001-04:00

Today is a really sad day. I cannot believe it has been 10 years since the tragedy of the twin towers. It really does break my heart to even think about it. Every time a commercial comes on or someone talks about it my eyes just start watering. I really want to watch the shows that are remembering today, but I don't think I would even get through two seconds of it. That day change the United States forever. Lives were changed forever. And people will be missed forever. But I will never ever forget that day.

Where were you that day? I was sitting in homeroom when our teacher turned on the t.v. and it was a live feed from New York and it was showing the first tower that was hit. As the news reporter was talking about the first tower going down, we then saw the second one going down. It was unbelievable. I was scared. I didn't think anything like that could ever happen here where we live.

Today as I remember that day I think about all those lives that were taken. Innocent lives. People that were just doing everyday stuff...they had no clue what was about to happen. Family members, friends, co-workers all lost loved ones. Devastating. This day will never be forgotten and all those people that lost their lives are Heroes in my book. The men and women that are fighting for my freedom are also my heroes. I hope we never have to experience something like that ever again.

Even thought today is remembered because of that...it is also someone's birthday around here! I will post about that later!! :)

Golden Oreo Cheesecake - Yes Please!

2011-09-07T23:15:00.001-04:00

Who loves Golden Oreos? I do! We don't have these at our house because I will eat every single one of them. I'm not a huge fan of regular Oreos but put the Golden Oreos in front of me and I will eat every.last.one.of.them.

Ingredients:

28 Golden Oreos, divided 18 and 10

3 tablespoons, melted Butter

1 cup Caramel bits (or 24 wrapped caramels)

1 tablespoon water

2 pkgs (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Marshmellow Fluff

1 egg

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take out cream cheese so it will be soft. Crush 18 Golden Oreos (cream and all). I used my Pamper Chef chopper, but you could use a plastic bag or food processor.

Pour crumbs into a 9 inch square pan. (My pan wasn't cleaned so I used a 9 inch round pan) Add 3 tablespoons melted butter and combine using the back of a spoon to mix and press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until golden. Let cool 10-15 minutes.

While crust is cooling unwrap your caramels, or if using caramel bits, pour into a bowl and add the 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside.

Now coarsely chop the remaining 10 Oreos. Set those aside as well.

Beat the softened cream cheese and marshmallow fluff with a mixer on medium speed. Beat until combined and smooth, scraping down the sides half way through.

Add the egg and beat for 30 more seconds on medium speed until all mixed together.

Stir in the coarsely chopped Oreos.

Pour the batter into the crust. Spread evenly into the pan. Now melt your caramels and water in the microwave for 60 seconds. Stir halfway through. When melted, drop by spoonfuls onto the batter. (I did not end up using all of the caramel)

Using a knife, swirl the caramel into the cream cheese batter. Don't go too deep or you'll mess up the crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is set. Cool for 20 minutes on wire rack and then transfer to the refrigerator for 4-24 hours. Cut into squares when completely cooled. Enjoy!

I will have to tell you that this was so much better the second day. So if you can bake it in advance! You will not be disappointed.

No baking is complete without this little man helping and eating the batter! I love baking with him!

Shaving Cream Anyone?

2011-09-06T08:17:00.001-04:00

I don't know about y'all but we have been having some bad weather here. We have been stuck inside almost the whole holiday weekend. Last night it felt amazing outside and finally no rain. Josiah loves to play with shaving cream, so I decided to buy him some cheap shaving cream when we went grocery shopping yesterday. When we got home I said let's go outside and having a shaving cream fight. Josh looked at me like I was crazy. He said "Really?" I said well, not really a shaving cream fight, but we are going to let Josiah get messy and have some fun with it! Here are some pictures.........

Josiah had so much fun!...and so did Josh and I. We will be doing this again!!!! :)

MDO and Whitey Tighties

2011-09-03T16:58:00.001-04:00

I know the last post was a little boring so I thought I would put up some pictures. Two weeks ago Josiah started Mother's Day Out (MDO). It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Josiah only stays with my parents, my aunt and uncle and Josh's parents. He has NEVER stayed with anyone else except maybe when he was really little. I had been telling him all about school and he seemed so excited. Well, as soon as we got to his classroom he started to ball. I mean scream bloody murder. This broke my heart. I know it is extremely good for him to be around other kids, but I did not like seeing my baby boy so upset. Well, he made it all day long (or should I say I made it all day long) and when I picked him up he was clinging to the teacher and his eyes were so red. The next day I was home with him and asked him what he wanted to do and he said "school"! He didn't go back until a week later and he did a lot better. He still cried when we left him but he stopped soon after we left and he participated in the activities and played with the other kids. When we went to pick him up he was peeking over the little gate and his smile just melt my heart. I love watching him grow!

This is his art from the second day of class! He didn't have anything colored the first day! I have to say I am one proud momma and that picture is on or refrigerator! I will probably keep it forever!

We have been potty training! This is what I see most days now! I thought I loved the diaper butt, but I don't think it gets any cuter than a little tiny in whitey tighties or boxer briefs! Some days he wants to wear big boy underwear and sometimes he doesn't. I am not forcing him at all! He just turned two and I am in no rush, but I can't complain if he wants to pee pee in the potty.

Lately...

2011-09-01T11:08:00.000-04:00

.....I have been doing homework every moment I can...when Josiah takes a nap, when Josiah sleeps at night....He needs sleep but I guess I don't?? This semester is tough, but I am learning a lot and trying to reach my goals!!!

......I have benn hearing Josiah say "no mom" constantly

......I have been laughing at the way Josiah says "no mom". I know it isn't funny, but I can't help but laugh when he says it. He is just to darn cute!

......I have been saying "no Josiah" 3,423 times a day

......I have been trying to balance being a mom, wife, student, worker, maid, friend, daughter and everything else. It is tough, but I think I am finding what works and what doesn't.

......I have been soaking up every minute with Josiah, it won't be long before he is too busy for me, so I am enjoying every moment.

......I have been trying out new recipes and I hope I have time to share with y'all soon!

......I am preparing myself to be a football widow! Football is about to start and Josh will be stuck to the computer/t.v. for the next few months! The only reason I like football season is great time with friends and good food! :)

......I have been loving this wonderful, crazy, adventurous life with my two favorite boys! Life is definitely good!!!

Hopefully life will slow down for a little while and I will be able to blog a little more! Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!

New Favorites

2011-08-22T09:28:00.004-04:00

We had an awesome weekend, hopefully I will get my pictures uploaded (the few that I took) and post something in the next day or so, but for now...here are a few things that I am loving.

I have said this 100 times already, but I love Pinterest! I am finding some DIY projects and recipes that are great! I am also finding things that I know I will never be able to have, but a girl can dream right?!

Leap Frog DVD - My mom got this for Josiah a long time ago and he never was interested. Well, it is his favorite video to watch! I don't think kids should watch a lot of t.v. but this is different. He actually is learning his ABCs. He knows every sound that each of the letters say! It is crazy to me that my 2 year old knows all of his sounds! He is a smart cookie! I think I am going to buy the numbers video next!

You know I couldn't have a favorites post without something food related right?! Well, I was grocery shopping the other day and saw this....

So I thought I would try them! They are my new favorite bread! You can do all kinds of things with them! You can use them with lunch meat, chicken salad, and you can even make pizzas with them! :) Josh even liked them! I will definitely be purchasing some more when I go grocery shopping again!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

2011-08-17T14:08:00.003-04:00

I am in LOVE with the new recipes that I have been trying. This is another one I saw on Pinterest. It is Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps. The website I went to was Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I made mine completely different, but I got the concept from her website. (if you like to use fresh onions, tomatoes, etc. check out her website!)

Ingredients
Can of Chicken
Taco seasoning
Can of Black Beans
Rice (I just had about a cup leftover from the night before)
Can of Rotel
Cheese
Flour Tortillas of any kind
Toothpicks
Butter
Sour Cream (optional)

I warmed up my can of chicken and added the taco seasoning. In a separate pan I warmed up my black beans. In another separate pan I warmed up my rice and added the can of Rotel (I emptied out most of the juice). In the pan of rice and Rotel I even added a little bit of taco seasoning.

I buttered the tortillas (next time I will probably just use EVOO or cooking spray). On the non-buttery side I started with cheese, chicken, beans and then rice. They wouldn't stay shut so I used toothpicks to hold them together.

I turned my oven on broil and popped them in the oven.

This is what they looked like right before I bit into them. I have to admit..they were delicious!

I'm not a fan of sour cream, but Josh added some to his afterwards.

Beebee Daw

2011-08-17T09:01:00.002-04:00

Micha came over to stay the night with us last Friday and brought here American Doll Sophia. Josiah loved her beebee daw (baby doll). Josh would disagree but it was so cute watching him play with her. He would kiss her, hug her, cover her up. It was just so dang cute! He loved her so much he wouldn't give Sophia back to Micha. So what did I do? I broke out a few of my old dolls for him. Some of them still had diapers on. Josiah would take the diaper off and tried to put it back on.

He has been napping with his beebee daws. I told Josh that this was just a phase and he would soon be over the babies. I just thought it was so cute how he loved on them! Maybe he will be a great big brother one day! :)

I have so much to blog about, but classes have started back again! Hopefully I will get to post a few more recipes that I have tried and that were a big hit around here!

Handy Man!

2011-08-11T22:03:00.001-04:00

2011-08-11T08:27:00.000-04:00

Cake Batter Blondies

2011-08-09T21:56:00.005-04:00

Josh and I were craving something sweet so he ran to the store and got a few ingredients to make Cake Batter Blondies.

Ingredients:
1 box Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 cup canola oil (i only had vegetable and it worked fine)
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
In a large bowl combine cake mix, oil, egg, and milk. I just used a spoon to mix. I then got this cute little boy to mix in the sprinkles and white chocolate chips.

The batter is very thick

I preheated the over to 350. I sprayed a 9 inch cake pan and poured the batter in.

I baked it for 30 minutes. When you first take it out of the oven it looks really gooey, but don't put it back in the oven! Let it cool, and enjoy!

I thought this was amazing! I will be baking this again!!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

2011-08-09T14:40:00.003-04:00

I know I have said this before but I love pinterest! I love to find a new recipe and try it out. Last week I made these ham and cheese sliders. Click Here for the recipe.

These are my pictures (from my cell phone) they do not do the sandwich justice. They are amazing.

I can't wait to try more recipes that I have found on pinterest and I will let you know how they turn out! I recently tried a smoothie idea and I will post about that later!

Weekend Recap

2011-08-08T15:07:00.004-04:00

I know this sounds crazy but I am glad it is Monday! This weekend was so busy I needed a break from it! I had a wonderful time this weekend but it was seriously way to busy! I'm hoping for a relaxing next few weekends but we will see!

Friday Jaime and Carter came over! The boys love each other!!!!!

Rach then came over and we headed to Vallartas to meet up with Amber and Cooper! We had a great time at lunch! I wish everyone was off so we could hang out more! But I am thankful for the time we have together.

Friday night started the festivities for Josh's 10 year reunion. His best friend JD and his girlfriend Kelly came in town! We headed down to Seville to hang out for a bit. After the reunion we stayed downtown and met up with a few more friends. We are OLD so we came home pretty early! I didn't take very many pictures this weekend because I didn't want to carry my big ol' camera around.

Saturday we went out to the Holiday Inn on the beach to meet up with Jennifer and her family. I wish I could stay out there all the time. The pool is absolutely amazing and so relaxing, well it would be if you didn't have a busy two year old! We had so much fun! We had to get Josiah home for a nap and Josh and I got ready to go out to eat with some of the people from the reunion! Here is JD, Kelly, Me and Josh before dinner.

After dinner we headed out to the beach for the bushwacker festival. Again, I.am.too.old.to.go.out. It was so hot, but it was good seeing everyone again before they headed back all over the U.S. We wish everyone would just move back! :)

Josiah and I have just been playing around the house today! It has been nice to just relax and enjoy my sweet boy! I missed him this weekend!

Oops...

2011-08-04T14:47:00.002-04:00

Ok, if this tells you how my week has gone...I just realized I did Wee Bit Wednesday on my last post thinking today was Wednesday! Ha! Oops...

Wee Bit Wednesday

2011-08-04T14:35:00.003-04:00

I have not falling off the face of the earth! The weather wasn't very pretty last week and we really didn't do anything worth blogging about! Hopefully I will get out of this rut soon! But for now...

{one} what was one thing that you valued when you were a kid?
family time

{two} what was your favorite (+ lease favorite) subject in school?
i loved math (i used to get my dad to make up math problems for me during the summer..i know i was/am a nerd) i hated history..i still am not a fan of it, i just can't get into it..i know that sounds awful

{three} do you remember your first love?
yes.

{four} what one pet would you love to have?
i love animals, but right now there isn't one that i would have to have. i am so over dog hair!! ;)

{five} would you rather live in the country or in the city?
i would say in between. i don't want to live somewhere that it takes 45 minutes to get to a grocery store, but i don't want to live in the city where traffic is horrible.

{six} what do you love about blogging?
i love that my family and friends where ever they live can keep up with our lives! i also hope that it can encourage people about adopting!

{seven} what is the first website you visit everyday?
facebook

{eight} will you or have you joined google+?
i'm not even sure what it is...but i don't need ANOTHER website to be addicted to

{nine} what is your favorite scent of candle/air freshener?
i like coconut lime verbana or clean linen

{ten} how would you describe your style?
hmm..i don't think i really have a style. i would like to dress up everyday, but that is not who i am. i love comfy and cute! maybe one day i will enjoy buying for myself for now i will buy Josiah cute clothes!!

Laundry Room Before & After

2011-07-27T09:48:00.002-04:00

Ok so if y'all have read this blog for awhile you know that I am not a clean freak! I would like to say it has to do with school part time and work part time and being a mom full time, but I wouldn't be telling the truth! I really just rather be hanging out with my little man or Josh! So here is what my laundry room used to look like... I am not completely done, but it is looking better

I have seen these cute little signs for the laundry and have wanted to make one, but just haven't. Well Pinterest has brought out the craft in me! I went yesterday and bought some vinyl. First I cut out letters on scrap paper with my Cricut to make sure of the sizes.....

Then I printed the lettering out on vinyl. After that I had my sweet husband help me put it on the wall. We finally got done at 10:15! I love the way it turned out. It may not be perfect on the wall but its perfect for me! This picture didn't turn on the greatest but it works!

Weekend Fun and Pinterest

2011-07-25T15:03:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! We really didn't do a whole bunch! Friday night we went out to eat with a few friends! Here is Josiah and Cooper playing outside!

Saturday I got up and Micha called and wanted me to have a girls day with her and her Grandma so we went school clothes shopping! It was a lot of fun! In the mall they have this jumpy thing and Micha wanted to do it! She had a blast!!!

Sunday we hung around the house! Josh and I dropped Josiah off at my parents' house in the afternoon and we ran to Berry Yogurt and then went grocery shopping! We needed some alone time even if it consisted of going to Walmart!

Ok..I'm pretty sure most of you have heard of Pinterest. It is AWESOME!! Like I really needed another website to be addicted to right?! Well, it is genius and love it! I saw this recipe on their and decided to buy ingredients yesterday while we were grocery shopping. We are having it for dinner tonight! Looks pretty good to me (minus the onions). I will let you know how it turns out later this week!

Have a great week!

One more thing...we have officially starting the adoption process!!!!!!! We have tons of paperwork that we have started to fill out - hopefully we will get it all done soon and we can move to the next step of many! I met the ladies at the agency the other day and they all seem very nice and we are so excited to work with them!

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Mickey Mouse Party

2011-07-19T15:34:00.011-04:00

Saturday we had Josiah's Mickey Mouse party! We were supposed to have a pool party but the weather didn't hold out but we still had a blast! I forgot to take pictures of the decorations so here are some I took while I was making them.

This is the front of his invitationsHow cute is Minnie Mouse!

Mom found this cute cookie cutter so we made Mickey Mouse cookies

Funny story about this cake. I called a week ahead of time to order the cake from Publix. Josh went to go pick it up at 10:00 Saturday morning and guess what?!?! They didn't have it!!! They said that they could make on in 30 minutes. Josh went to go pick it up and they gave it to him for FREE!!!!!!! I love you Publix!

I also made oreo pops! They were a big hit!

The rain let up a bit and the kids got to play on the slide and in the pool

Sweet Presley giving us "the look"

Cute lil' Ava

Cooper, Garrett, and Presley

Please forgive me for the pictures being all over! I have been trying to get this post together for a few days and I just don't have the patience to fix it!

TWO

2011-07-17T22:24:00.003-04:00

Where has the time gone?! Josiah turned two on Friday!!!!!! Josh took off so we could spend the day as a family! We got up and headed to "choo choo mall" as Josiah says. We rode the train at the mall, ate at the food court and got cookies! This is some of Josiah's favorite things to do!

Here is our big boy getting ready to ride the train We came home and put Josiah down for a nap and I ran to Walmart to get a few last minute items for his birthday party. When Josiah got up we ran over to my parent's house to get some stuff setup for the party. We ran to McDonald's for Josiah's dinner and Josh and I went and grabbed a sandwich from Philly's! I went in to Publix to get some cupcakes so Josiah could blow out candles on his actual birthday!! :) He was so excited!

The rest of the night we played with some of his toys! He loves this tent. I on the otherhand get claustrophobic in there, but I play in it anyway! Anything for him!! :)

Daddy and Josiah were playing in the tent here and Josh was tickling him!

We had a really great day! Josiah had so much fun doing some of his favorite things! Josiah's birthday party was Saturday! I am hoping to get a post up tonight or tomorrow! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!!!!

Adoption - Orientation

2011-07-12T15:37:00.003-04:00

As I said in my last post we were meeting with Bethany (the same agency we used with Josiah) last night. It was just an orientation meeting for people to understand what Bethany is and how they work. Since we have used them before it was mostly just a refresher course, but we did learn a few new things. There were only 2 other couples in there with us and they were just getting information so they could decide whether they wanted to use Bethany and if they wanted to do domestic or adopt a child through a different country.

We feel that God has lead us in the direction of adopting from the United States. I believe there is so many kids here in the US that needs a good home. I think it is absolutely wonderful for other people who go into another country, but that isn't for us!

Currently the Pensacola location has 8 waiting families and the director mentioned that they have been on the waiting list for quite awhile because they are not ok with the fact that their adoption may be "open". We have a semi-open adoption with Josiah's birthmother, this just means that we have some contact with the birthmother. In our case we speak to Josiah's birthmother's mom.

We stayed after the orientation and talked to the director for a little while and she gave us some more paperwork since we were pretty sure we were going to start the process!

*I also want to let you guys know that we never heard anything about the friend's friend that was placing her child for adoption. We are totally ok with this because it was obviously not in God's plan and as we have seen again and again, He knows what is best for us!

So here's to our next adoption adventure! I can't wait to see what God has in store for our family! I will definitely keep everyone posted!!

Friends, binkys, and a busy week

2011-07-10T23:06:00.002-04:00

This weekend was pretty low-key! We had some friends over Saturday and tried out Josiah's new birthday present! The kids LOVED it!!!

Friday night we decided it was time to get rid of the binky! Josiah only gets it at bedtime and naptime but we were ready for him to get rid of it completely. Josiah has been wanting a pillow in his bed so I thought it would be a good idea to trade him a pillow for his binky. I was a little scared and thought we would be up all night with him, but he did GREAT! The only thing is that he woke up at 6:00 a.m. and his first nap without the binky didn't last but an hour but we are working on that!

We have a busy week...Monday we go to our first meeting with Bethany to start our new adoption journey! I can't wait to see where God leads us! Tuesday and Thursday we have swim lessons and then Friday our little boy turns 2!!!!! Josh is taking off the day so we can have a fun-filled family day! Saturday is his Mickey Mouse birthday party!!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

4th of July Weekend!

2011-07-05T21:28:00.004-04:00

Friday we packed up and headed to Alabama to the river with Josh's brother's family and his friends. I have to admit I'm not a big country girl, but we had a blast! Memories were made and I really enjoyed every bit of it! Josiah got to hang out with his cousins and a few other kids! It was awesome to see him play with other kids since he doesn't get to that often. They had this water slide out front and Josiah had a blast! I am looking into purchasing one similar for him to have since he had so much fun! Samantha helping Josiah
Taylor

Can you tell he had fun?!

We got back Sunday and headed over to Josh's parent's house! Aunt Tammy and her friend Sue were in town so we went and hung out with them!

Monday we got up went to my parents' for breakfast! We then went to a cookout at some friends' house and then headed downtown to watch fireworks! I was a little worried because the fireworks didn't start until 9 and Josiah's bedtime is 7:30 but he do great!

Mr. Patriotic!

My two favorite boys!

Lindsay and Chris

Lindsay reminded me that at the fireworks last year I told her that they were going to get married!! And here we are 6 months till there wedding!!!!

Rach and Bryan

Josh and I
My Life

I love this picture!!!!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Josiah woke up this morning with a fever, so did nothing today. I am hoping he feels better tomorrow!! We are celebrating his birthday tomorrow early with my Aunt and Uncle because they are leaving to go out of town! He is going to be so excited!