25 November 2008

randomness

i have had 2 encounters in the last week or so when people have made comments about how strong a bond is with a birth child. i find comments such as this odd.

michael and i have had a rough road to parenthood. it was hard and trying and exhausting and all of the above. but we made it. and we plan to have more children. i only bring all of this up because, since bringing stella home, this is the first time a baby comment has really 'gotten to me'.

did these people mean to suggest that we don't have a stong bond with our child because she is adopted? i actually just got up and left the room on both occasions. i haven't been able to shake these thoughts since then.

it makes me want to scream at them and lash out "YES WE DO YOU MORON" . . . but the truth is, i don't know. unfortunately, we won't ever really know. i read lots of blogs of people who have both biological children and adopted children and it never appears that there is a difference. however, the people who make these comments are always the ones who ONLY have biological children. at least in my experience so far. i actually don't ever really think about the fact that stella is adopted anymore. she is just ours. period.

she is perfect and beautiful and ALL OURS.

i feel better now. thanks for listening.

21 November 2008

welcome to america!

The Friday night after Stella's final adoption hearing, we had a WELCOME TO AMERICA party for her with just a very few close friends. We ate, drank and were merry., so thankful to have made it through this very significant step.

We had a toast to Stella Lu.


She played with Uncle Jason and Mater before bedtime.


Michael built a big, roaring fire outside.

We sat around the fire (in the FREEZING cold) and drank lots and LOTS.

We ended the night feeling reflective over what we have been through and how far we have come as a family (and by family, I am including our close friends - old and new).

Thank you to all who have shared in our journey. You each mean so much to us . . . even those of you we have never met.

sweet nothings . . .

november has seemed to fly by. it's less than a week until our first thanksgiving as a family. thought it was time for a post of our november so far.


this was michael's birthday : nov 4. stella was giving daddy his present before work.
when we picked up stella from daycare on nov 11, she had a fever of 104. YIKES! i got medicine down her and she didn't want to do anything but sit with momma on the couch. i hate when she's sick, but she is so cuddly then. it's the only time she actually WANTS to cuddle.
daddy stayed home with stella on nov 12. she was feeling MUCH better late that afternoon and daddy was getting a little restless being in the house, so he took her out to play in the leaves for a bit.
we went to my parents house in arkansas over the past weekend. this picture was taken nov 16. my mom and i got stella some new crayons and she LOVED them. she made her first picture for nonna and poppa d's fridge!this was taken nov 17. jon, becky, cooper and gabe sent stella this A-DORABLE bib that becky made! stella was SO excited to get it in the mail! thanks guys! mommy and daddy went to college with jon and becky way back when.
later that night, stella was lounging on the floor with mommy . . .
and with daddy . . .
she was totally comfy!
and almost fell asleep . . .
until she discovered that she loved the way daddy's beard feels on her piggies!
and in our BIG news : stella's final adoption hearing was yesterday, nov 20. the judge was SO sweet and the whole thing was painless.
afterwards, the judge gave stella this bear - which she couldn't WAIT to get her hands on!
and FINALLY, she's legit (as uncle jason says).
we are celebrating tonight - a little "Stella's Legit" gathering with just a few of our closest friends. it's been a really good november so far for our little family. more to come later . . .

03 November 2008

Our Weekend.

we had a very busy, FUN weekend! we were sad for it to end.

it started with stella's "first" halloween - first one at HOME with US anyways.

this is stella getting ready Friday night - Oct 31 :



all ready to go!

gotta show off my stinger!

wanting MORE candy!

our family of three.
playing with uncle jason.

having smores at josh and emily's after trick-or-treating!

my saturday started like this. our10k race was saturday morning! this is courtney & i almost to the finish line!


our training group after the race.
and this is how our saturday ended . . . our halloween party. good friends, good food, good drinks.stella wondering why she is dressed up AGAIN the day AFTER halloween and why reese is stuck in that weird seat . . .
hannah graced us with her presence.