Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope that all of you and your kids have a safe Halloween tonight! Elias is going to be a pirate and I will post pics tomorrow sometime!

Be safe!!!

Brownie Points....

We went to my dad's 60th birthday party last night and for decorations they had lanterns hanging from the big trees in their back yard. Before I even noticed them, Shannon said, "Those would look so cool in Norah's room!"

Serious Brownie Points.....

Don't forget that November is National Adoption Month!

Later I will include some links for various organizations that provide care for orphans in China!

Be back soooooon!

XOXO

What exactly is a "Mom"....

I just really need to get some things off of my chest... I think I will feel so much better. This may be a bit long but I just need to get through this...
I always knew that I wanted to be a mother. Always. When I was little I had the doll that pee'd and pooed and you had to feed them or they would cry. I loved it. I am a very nurturing person by nature. But I always wanted to be a mom. I was BORN to be a mom. When I was 19 I got married. I was so young and innocent. We tried for about 5 years to get pregnant and no luck. We ran the whole gamete of infertility drugs. It really took a toll on my body and my head. But I would forge on for the sake of being a mother. We divorced after about 6 years of marriage. I think we were just to young, I don't know. Sure I mourned the unknown. The once upon a time. The happily ever after. But what I mourned the most was that I never got pregnant. Everyone said that it just "wasn't meant to be". How could it not be meant to be? Babies are wonderful and I was sure that being a mother was even more fantastic. I just knew that I would be that old lady that lived by herself forever and had 8 cats and always had cat fur on her. You can even ask my mom... that was what I was going to do. About 7 months later I was working with a dear friend of mine and her husband was a police officer. She said that she had a really great guy that she wanted to introduce me to. Yeah right... I wasn't falling for that. Been there, done that. After a month or two of begging on my friends part, I agreed to meet this mystery man. Boy am I glad that I did. He captured me heart and soul after I swore that I would never marry again. I did this, but not before telling him that I would never have children... the doctor said so. Sorry guy, if you want to bolt I will completely understand! Guess what... he stayed! He sure did. Nine months after we were married, guess what. Yep, I was going to be a mom! I could hardly stand it! I told everyone the very second that I found out! I had the most amazing pregnancy! Never sick, gained about 26 pounds, my hair was thick and shiny and I felt beautiful! I was going to be a mom! At 8:02pm on May14, all of my dreams came true. A bouncing baby boy! Oh and he was beautiful! He still is to this day! Of course we wanted more kids, but one thing lead to another and at 32 I had a hysterectomy. Yeah, that was no fun, but it was closure and I so needed that. We were already in the process of adopting and to be honest, I was more excited about having a daughter than I was sad about never carrying a child in my tummy. So we are waiting now on sweet Norah. I can't wait to see her and hold her and let her know that I am her mom. What I have learned through all of this is that being a mom isn't about carrying a baby in your tummy. It isn't about the maternity clothes and the labor and delivery. It is about carrying that desire in your heart to want to love and protect another little being and being the best mom that I can be. Who knows how many more kids we will have... does it matter that they have the Sharp features? The dark brown eyes, amazing skin, perfectly straight teeth? No, it doesn't matter to me. What matter to me is that all of my children, regardless of skin color and nationality, know that their momma loves them and feels so blessed that God chose ME to be their mom. I AM blessed. I know that everyday when he calls me his "girly-girl".

Good Choices!

This is the number of bears that Elias had to pull today! On Thursday of last week he had to pull one. Friday = None! And today, none!
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about... The first teacher that Elias had he had to pull frogs when he was bad. He pulled like 3 or 4 everyday. He got a new teacher the second month of school who is just awesome. He has done really well, and she is really working with us and knows that Elias has/had a hard time in school. She has really been working with him and we have been working with him at home about making good choices and stuff. I am really proud of him! Last Friday he got "treasure box" and I thought he was going to explode he was so proud of himself! Way to go buddy!!!!

Please....

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I have really enjoyed keeping up with it! If you do stop by, leave me a message if you have time! I am planning on keeping it and saving it to disk so Norah and Elias can look back at it when they are older! And unfortunately they will realize what a silly mom they have.... Peace and Love!!!

I Do Believe...

Elias said his prayers last night and the end went a little something like this:

"And Dear God, can you please tell your friend Santa I said hi? Because I have really tried to be good this year for you guys but sometimes it is a little hard. But I do believe in you God and I do believe in Santa. You guys are great. Thank you. I love you. Bye."

How precious. I love this time of year. I went into Walgreen today and they have started to put Christmas stuff out. Just some boxes and bows, but it makes me happy inside!

Oh, Christmas through the eyes of a child....

Thankful

I know that it isn't Thanksgiving... yet. But I just feel really blessed and wanted to share all of the things that I am thankful for. Some silly, some not so much so. So here goes:

• I am thankful for my amazing husband. Not just some days, but everyday. He is the love of my life.
• I am thankful for Elias. Even on the days that he makes me want to rip the hair out of my head and jump off the nearest HIGH bridge. He is smart, he is cute, he is healthy and he is happy.
• I am thankful for our house even though it is right on top of the neighbors and there are no trees for a 5 mile radius. I am thankful that we have a roof (a new roof) over our heads and a warm place to sleep.
• I am thankful for my family. They are the glue that keeps this crazy head together.
• I am thankful for my mom. For those of you that have met her, I don't need to explain. For those of you that don't know her, you are really missing out :)
• I am thankful for my sister. We are 13 years apart and seem to be best friends despite our age difference. She is beautiful, full of life and love, and has the most amazing heart of anyone I know.
• I am thankful that I have a job that I love.
• I am thankful that my husband has a job that he loves.
• I am thankful that our dog has finally shaped up so we don't have to give her away. Little Lucy Goosey is such a neat part of our family.
• I am thankful that we make enough money to pay our bills, even if we don't have much left over....
• I am thankful that my family is healthy.
• I am thankful for all of the friends that I have met this past year and years before, and I am especially thankful for my Anam Cara..."You see the smile that's on my mouth~Is hiding the words that don't come out~And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed~They don't know my head is a mess~No, they don't know who I really am~And they don't know what I've been through like you do."
• I am thankful that I drive a pretty cool car... although I just had to put a battery in it a few days ago and it is going to need new tires soon...
• I am thankful for all of the things that I went through, because I am really enjoying who I am today
• I am thankful that God prepared my heart a while ago to adopt from China. Had he not done that, I feel quite sure that I would have suffered a broken heart for the rest of my life not being able to carry more children. He has such a good plan for my life.
• I am thankful that our daughter will be home with us one day and I am also thankful to the people that are taking care of her right now.

It is amazing to me that one heartbreak will turn into happiness. I have so much to say and maybe one day I will brave enough to write it all down. But I know that God is good. All the time.

Butterflies....

I always knew that Shannon would be a good dad. But over the last few months, maybe even the last year he has turned into Super Dad. Now don't get me wrong, he always helped when Elias was a baby. He got up for middle of the night feeding, changed diapers (even stinky ones!), I never EVER asked him to "babysit", and when I was in school he was the primary parent while I studied and then studied some more. I do not want to discredit him for that! He is a wonderful man! But this year since Elias has been in school, he has been a very hands on, very wonderful dad! He knows more about his day than I do sometimes! I just can't thank God enough for this man and he has made parenting incredibly easy for me! I feel so blessed to have him in my life and am honored that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with and to be the mother of his children. And yes, after almost 7 years, I still get butterflies...