the journey to three 1/2

still here...

2012-01-04T12:36:00.002-06:00

thinking of starting a NEW blog...

haven't updated here in FOREVER...

might make a book and shut this one down...

hmmmmm...

WE'RE HERE!!!

2010-11-10T15:33:00.001-06:00

has it really been over a year? really?
wow.
well, for anybody still out there, i'm working on filling in SOME of the gap...so stay tuned :)

3.5

2010-10-02T21:18:00.000-06:00

stella's half birthday is on 10/1. we measure her on the door frame every birthday and every half birthday. she now declares that she is three point five!

KC

2010-09-13T16:02:00.000-06:00

a friend, corey, got married on friday night 9/10. the wedding was beautiful and the bride looked amazing! a wedding is always the perfect excuse for a fun weekend with old friends (and no kids).

a day at the zoo...

2010-09-04T23:53:00.000-06:00

because that is ALL she talked about while she was in the hospital. we promised when she got better we would go. she was SUPER excited! even though the springfield zoo is nothing compared to the st louis zoo...

just walking my baby...

2010-08-28T22:25:00.000-06:00

on a lovely summer day.

arkansas

2010-07-17T20:24:00.000-06:00

to nina and pop d's...just for fun!

summertime!

2010-07-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

a sun + water + chalk + paint + dress-up filled day!

spooky night.

2009-10-31T23:02:00.000-06:00

getting dressed up. (running a little fever and not very happy.)

ready to go.

seeing herself all dressed up the first time.

waiting for it to get dark.

getting impatient.

finally in her wagon and on our way.

a sucker on the way home.

happy halloween!

all i wanna do....

2009-10-27T23:49:00.000-06:00

is DANCE DANCE DANCE.

stella and daddy before bedtime (if you look really close you'll see daddy has a tutu on just like stella).

amber's visit.

2009-10-24T20:36:00.000-06:00

our friend amber has been here from south carolina for a few days. on thursday, amber and i spent some time hiking in the rain drizzle at wilson's creek national battlefield. it was beautiful. even in the rain.

this morning, while amber was getting ready to leave stella was saying "amer, where you going?"

we had coffee at our favorite coffee shop : the coffee ethic.

then it was time for her to go home. we had a fun half week!

patio.

2009-10-24T18:00:00.001-06:00

we have been working on a new patio area out our back door for the last several weeks.

this is michael working with the concrete.

while that was setting up a bit, stella played with willie. willie is her horse. some friends gave her willie for Christmas last year and it is seriously one of her most favorite toys.

playing with uncle jason.

and after the concrete had set up enough we put stella's handprints in it.

this is after the forms came out and the gravel went down.

and finally we have dirt...hopefully we will have grass growing in there next spring.

little rock zoo.

2009-10-10T23:53:00.001-06:00

this weekend we ended up going to arkansas to my parents. we took stella to little rock to the zoo (it was freezing!) and she had tons of fun :

seeing the turtles swim...

watching the tigers prowl...

growling at the bear...

waving at the bear...

jumping off the benches...

growling at the bear statue...

petting the bronze fish...

and running all over the place!

fall day = chalk

2009-10-04T21:42:00.001-06:00

half birthday!

2009-10-03T09:34:00.000-06:00

stella's half birthday was on october 1. we have been measuring her on the door frame between our kitchen and dining room since she was 14 months old. now we are doing it on her bithdays and on her half birthdays - so twice a year. she gets SUPER excited to get measured!

playtime!

2009-10-02T23:17:00.000-06:00

tonight we kept stella's best friend reese while her mommy & daddy went to a fundraiser thing.
aunt jess brought us happy meals for dinner.

then we played

and played

and played (reese heard a choo choo train and was pointing out the window)

and we kissed

and then everybody passed out!

fun was had by all. we didn't even have any meltdowns!

fall fun.

2009-09-26T20:42:00.000-06:00

after gymnastics, stella got into daddy's closet! silly goose.

this afternoon we met the garners at Rutledge-Wilson Farm for Harvest Fest. stella LOVED the animals! she didn't want to go on the hayride though for some reason...maybe next year! she looks so grown up and i don't think i like it! where did my baby go???

traumatic weekend number 2

2009-09-19T20:15:00.000-06:00

these are AFTER the incident. remember last weekend was stella's first fall accident. well, today was number 2. it's only been a week!!! i think this time was just as (if not more) traumatic for mommy. today after gymnastics we went to run some errands. it was just stella and mommy. on our list was to run by the mall to have stella's feet measured so we could get some new shoes for fall. while we were in the store, stella was running and tripped on the carpet and fell flat on her face. blood went EVERYWHERE. i'm sure partly because her lip wasn't completely healed from last weekend, but she ALSO had a bloody nose this time. it was horrible. i felt like everyone was staring at us. apparently some kind of "mommy calm and control" thing overcomes mom's in this situation, because i was completely calm (SO not like me) and completely controlled (SO not like me) and didn't freak out at all (SO not like me). i got the bleeding stopped and strapped her back in her stroller (thank goodness i had let her take her teddybear in with her that day)!!! when i got to the car i was so overwhelmed and stressed out that i just cried. HA! stella was fine by this time, but me, not so much. i had held everything in and then i just couldn't anymore! i felt better after i cried. once we were on our way again stella said "mommy, i go home"......poor thing, she just wanted to go home. she was DONE with errands that day. so i ran by the grocery store and picked up some popsicles. she loved that. then i let her take her nap in my bed and i stayed with her. it was a rough day for BOTH of us!

sleeping cuteness.

2009-09-13T21:34:00.001-06:00

these were taken AFTER stella's traumatic fall. my mom was in town this weekend to watch stella for us so that we could clean/paint/organize our garage and i heard stella start screaming in the house...then my mom came to the door and said "nat"...and i immediately knew something was wrong. luckily it was just a busted, bloody lip - no permanant damage - but GEEZ that makes alot of blood! i'm SO glad my mom was here because i would've freaked OUT. poor baby! i have to say though that i'm pretty impressed we made it past 2 without any bad falls...........funny story about my mom : so my mom and dad picked out what they wanted stella to call them, Poppa D and Nonna. they didn't really want to pick out something, but i made them so that we would have something to call them in front of her since she obviously wasn't talking yet. well, their names have morphed into Pop D and Nina :) that's what stella calls them and we love it!

BIG NEWS!!!

2009-09-03T08:43:00.002-06:00

this morning, stella told daddy she had to pee pee. then, she went to the potty and pee pee'd!!! i can't believe it!!! so far she has always seemed interested in the potty and she loves to sit on hers, but the only 2 times she has actually gone we think it was an accident. this was the first time ON PURPOSE!!! i see potty training in our near future...........i'm terrified.

THE BEACH [day six]

2009-07-31T20:01:00.005-06:00

our last day. it's bittersweet. we've had a fabulous week, but we aren't ready for it to end.
today was cloudy off and on and it rained off and on. the waves were huge - perfect for riding, so daddy spent most of the day in the water.

the water was too rough for stella to be out there today, so we played in the sand this morning.

this was meltdown number one. obviously she was COMPLETELY worn out from playing so hard last night :)

then, nonna broke out the fantastic bubble maker!!!

then, mommy and i had to clean all the bubbles off.

THIS, was meltdown number two :) WOW.

playing with daddy.

that was the end of stella's day on the beach. nonna took stella in for a MUCH needed nap, then it started storming. mommy and daddy stayed out and watched the storm roll in.

we made dinner at home tonight and started packing up. we had to have a LITTLE fun though! stella and meg played out front with the bubbles before her bath.

we are already excited for next year!!!!

THE BEACH [day five]

2009-07-30T23:45:00.000-06:00

LOTS of playing today. we had tons of fun in the sun and the sand.

we had dinner at camille's, one of our favs. yummy sushi and salad! stella ate with her chop sticks!

after dinner we headed to the spray park/play area. she would NOT go in the spray park, but had TONS of fun in the play area and stayed up WAY too late :) she was having SO much fun we just didn't want to make her leave!!!

THE BEACH [day four]

2009-07-29T23:12:00.001-06:00

sand + sun + ocean watching jack-jack with poppa d while mommy and daddy get dinner ready.

our yummy dinner : lemon-shrimp risotto + tomato moz salad + peach bellinis.

snuggling with nonna while mommy and daddy did some late night shopping.

THE BEACH [day three]

2009-07-28T23:30:00.004-06:00

it rained today, so stella didn't make it to the beach at all! this morning we shopped while it rained, then when stella napped the sun came out - so momma and daddy went to the beach ALONE!!! nonna and poppa d watched stella for us :) we read several chapters of our books...UNinterrupted!!!

we had dinner tonight at dewey's. BEST. CRAB LEGS. EVER. stella is 'patiently' waiting for her chicken.

then we headed to their dock for some photos.

then stella danced on the dock.

then she waved to some boats passing by.

then she played before heading home.

when we got home she did a little reading before bed.

vacation is the BEST. night night sweet girl.

THE BEACH [day two]

2009-07-27T23:40:00.000-06:00

up early and ready for some fun! must have hearty breakfast : waffles / eggs / banana.

then time to cover myself (head to toe) in sand.

need water for my sand play.

oh, wait....it's a little scary - need momma or daddy to get it for me.

time for some shade and a (sandy) snack.

daddy is ready to fly the kite! helping him string it.

holding it still with momma.

flying it all by herself! "i did it!" (in her own words).

we ate at home and went out for ice cream, where stella had her first knee scrapes from falling!!! we doctored her up and blew on it and cleaned it up and put a spongebob bandaid on it.

we had a great day at the beach! stella love it :)

THE BEACH!

2009-07-26T23:13:00.000-06:00

DAY ONE! stella loves playing in the sand this year and actually DOES love the water, but will not walk into the water by herself. we are having tons of fun!

we went to The Back Porch for dinner. it's all open air and we sat on a little side porch and watched the sunset. it was a perfect night for dinner outside!

BEST FRIENDS.

2009-07-23T14:49:00.004-06:00

aunt jess keeps stella once a week during the summer because she is off. aunt jess is reese's mom and stella + reese just happen to be best friends. these were taken on tuesday 7/21/09. they played at home for the morning, then in the afternoon they went to the nature center for a puppet show and a craft project. i'm sad i can't always do these fun things with stella...but love that she is having a fun summer with her best friend :)

2009-07-19T22:37:00.003-06:00

nana + papaw (michael's parents) came for a visit this weekend. this evening the weather was mild and beautiful, so we went for a picnic at the park! we had dinner then played and played!

play time.

2009-07-18T23:27:00.002-06:00

the garners came over for dinner tonight and the girls got some good play time in :) i'm not ready for the to get ANY bigger yet!!!

hugging.

2009-07-15T23:33:00.003-06:00

tonight we had dinner with jason + meagan at their house. daddy and stella always end up on the couch huggin and snugglin with mater:)

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T14:17:00.000-06:00

we spent the morning of the 4th at the James River. it was just the 3 of us + meg (our bulldog) + mater (mitchell's boxer). it was a fishing / chasing / rock throwing / kayaking / dog rescuing / splashing / muddy good time.

in the evening we had the van hover's and the billionis' over for a cookout and some fireworks provided by the van hover's. when the fireworks started i put stella to bed because she was NOT happy about it AND it was her bedtime anyways. thanks for coming over everybody!

happy 4th of july!

some favorite June moments

2009-06-30T21:26:00.000-06:00

Father's Day.

2009-06-21T14:01:00.001-06:00

we were in arkansas at my parents over father's day this year. we started the morning out giving daddy his present : a super fabulous, fantastic, fancy coffee grinder. (michael is a coffee snob.)

second on the agenda for the day : GETTING STELLA'S EARS PIERCED!!! i have been wanting to do it for awhile now but have always been too scared, so i waited until my mom was with me since she has done it once before - i knew she wouldn't let me chicken out.

the lady was SO good with stella and stella was SUCH a big girl! we held really still for the first ear.then, THIS is how she looked for the second ear :) POOR BABY!!! honestly, this picture looks horrible, but she only cried for about 10 seconds!

then, once it was all over, she was SO excited to see herself in the mirror! we had talked about it for a few days before and i kept saying "you will be SO pretty when you get your ears pierced!" trying to talk it up so she would get excited about it. so afterwards she kept pointing to her ears and saying "i pitty! i pitty!" she got 2 prizes for being so good - she got the movie the jungle book (which she ABSOLUTELY LOVES) and she got a giant coloring book and crayons. we all made a HUGE deal out of it when we got home (me, my mom, my dad and michael) and she was SO PROUD of herself :) as if she could be any cuter!!!

mommy and stella stayed in arkansas, but daddy left on father's day to go home, so we got these 2 photos before he left.
we love you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!

Mitchell's Birthday trip

2009-06-14T22:15:00.000-06:00

June 13 was Mitchell's 31st birthday. we all decided we needed a little getaway, so mitchell/meagan/michael/myself headed to herman mo "winecountry" and my mom drove up to keep stella. we had a great trip. clearly.

2009-06-03T08:31:00.004-06:00

yes, i know . . . i am SO behind on posting! i have TONS to catch up on, so i will be going back and post-dating alot in the next little bit, but i wanted to get something new up here!

May 25 was our 7th wedding anniversary :) i can't believe we have been married for SEVEN years. wow. we decided we wanted to spend some time just the 2 of us. since we had monday off (for memorial day), aunt meagan and uncle jason kept stella OVERNIGHT for us on sunday night. this was stella's first sleepover (except for grandparents of course). we were a little nervous about how she would do. but SHOCKER, she was perfect :) i think they had a fabulous time! here are some photos from stella's first sleepover.

some favorite May moments

2009-05-31T21:38:00.000-06:00

gardening

2009-04-26T23:51:00.000-06:00

today, we spent the day planting our mini veggie/herb garden and plant for our front porch. stella LOVED being outside all day getting dirty :)

all clean, waiting for momma to bring the plants to the back

ready to dig in :)probably just dumped a plant out of that pot she's holding

helping momma mix up the veggie soil

snack break

refueled and ready for action!

being silly

all dirty

carrying buckets

busy girl!

she carried those buckets back and forth for an hour or so, then sat in the middle of them and played - then she cried when i started pulling them away from her to plant our tomatoes in them!

it was a fun day outside - i know where we'll be spending most of our summer!

2009-04-26T10:37:00.000-06:00

we took a family trip to Denver to see baby marianne april 22 - 25. she is only a few weeks old and is so tiny and sweet! stella wasn't really jealous as much as she just pretended marianne wasn't there. we tried to get her to hold her so we could take a picture and she was NOT having it! it was fun to be a small part of welcoming marianne and get to snuggle her and love her while she is so tiny - and it was nice to be able to give my jilli a hand. as always the trip felt too short, but i'm sure jill and jerry were ready for the screaming 2 yr old to be gone :) even though they love her very much.

momma and baby

stella and aunt jilli

stella being extra excited trying to run away from daddy after brunch on sunday

all 3 of us after brunch on sunday

stella kissing marianne bye

we are so glad we were able to come visit. can't wait to see you 3 soon (we hope). we love you!

HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY STELLA LU!

2009-04-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

i can not believe my baby is TWO. it happened so fast. when we brought her home she wasn't moving at all. no crawling, no pulling up, no walking. she was still very much a baby at one year old. in the last year, she has changed SO much. she is running around like crazy and talking NON-STOP these days. i love the sound of her voice. we got some video of her talking today, i'll have to get that posted :) i am just completely amazed by her. she really is the center of our world. so many things have happened in this last week, i have been all warm and fuzzy inside. sometimes i look at her and i just can't believe she is mine. all mine. we love you stella lu! happy happy day baby girl!

for her birthday, we went together to pick stella up from daycare and went straight to the park to play!

after the park, we had our favorite for dinner. MEXICAN. then we went home for cupcakes! of course she had to blow out candles AGAIN since it was her ACTUAL birthday!

after cupcakes, it was time to get measured on the door frame! we have been marking her height every few months or so. she loves getting it done and stands up really straight for us to mark it.

then, stella had her bath and got all ready for bed. this is where we sit when i dry stella's hair. then we always play in front of the mirror for awhile. she is such a ham :)

28 March 2009

2009-03-28T23:47:00.000-06:00

today is the one year anniversary of the day we came HOME with stella. i can't even describe how good it felt to be HOME with her. once we landed on US soil and made it through immigration, we were so relieved. then, when we flew into KC, we were met by our 2 closest non-family family members :) aunt jilli and uncle jason picked us up at the airport. it was so odd to have other people see us as a family and see HER. everything seemed so surreal until we got HOME. i think i was terrified someone would take her away from me. we have been loving on her a little more this week and squeezing her a little tighter. we can't believe it's been a year :)

today we had her second birthday party. she doesn't officially turn 2 until wednesday, but today seemed like a good day for a par-tay. we had lots of good friends and family there. stella LOVED being the center of attention and played her part well :) i made these funny hats for everyone to wear and we had lots of food - and cupcakes of course!

opening a present from Aunt Cathy before the party.

playing with my new bowling set from nonna and poppa d.

daddy and his girl.

dancing with marti.

i LOVE the way she is looking at marti!

happy happy girl!

my favorite manly shot of the evening.

quite possibly my new favorite picture :)

dancing with marti again.

bowing with marti. she had a whole choreographed dance she was doing with stella all night!

blowing out my TWO candles.

eating my YUMMY YUMMY cupcake from little bird bake shop. aunt meagan owns it and make the BEST. CUPCAKES. EVER.

fingerpainting fun!!!

giving reese kisses night night.

playing ball at the end of the night.

uncle jason teaching stella to use her finger puppets he and aunt meagan got her.

she loves them :)

we love all of you for coming to the party! stella had SO much fun!

our very first GOTCHA DAY!

2009-03-24T21:48:00.000-06:00

i can't believe one year ago today we held stella for the very first time. i can't believe it's been a year, yet i can't believe she hasn't always been with us. she is the very best thing that has ever happened to me. the very best thing that has ever happened to us. i think i could cry at the drop of a hat at any given moment this entire week. i can't imagine my life without her and would never go back. i wouldn't change one. single. thing. all the heartache, all the pain, all the agony. all of it brought me to her and she is everything. nothing i could type could ever capture my exact feelings about this day. we are so grateful to be stella's parents. things are exactly as they should be. i'll just leave it at that and get to the good stuff . . .

mommy and daddy both took the day off to spend as a family. we started our day with a lazy morning in bed. all 3 of us watching cartoons in and out of a sleepy daze. smiling and knowing what today was. we had breakfast at home and got ready for stella's first trip to the zoo! it was really chilly this morning and our trip was cut very short because it poured down rain! i didn't get many pictures at the zoo because we were running around so that she could see as many animals as possible before the bottom fell out!

this is stella's first view of the "monkmees" as she calls them :)

she LOVES those monkmees!

stella and daddy watching a peacock! i wish i would've gotten a picture of her face when she stood right next to one. hilarious. she froze and just stood there with her forehead all wrinkled up and her mouth wide open!!! too funny :)

after the zoo we had lunch, then stella and daddy took a cozy nap together :) it was a perfect thunder-stormy afternoon for a nap!

after naptime, stella had art-time. she LOVES to color :) and of COURSE she needed to wear her tutu for that!

concentrating VERY hard!

this was our VERY FIRST family photo - taken in guatemala on 3/24/08.

we decided we needed a ceremonial photo to commemorate today - 3/24/09.

WE ARE FAMILY!
WE LOVE YOU STELLA LU! HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!

wow.

2009-03-23T08:55:00.002-06:00

one year ago today, we were on a plane at this very moment. on a plane to guatemala. one year ago today, we knew we would meet our daughter the following day. i can't even describe my feelings. i have been very emotional the last week or so. our lives have changed COMPLETELY in the last year. stella is our whole world. on one hand, we can't believe it has already been a year. on the other hand, we feel like she's always been with us!

things haven't always been easy in the last year. we've been through alot. i have chosen not to talk about alot of it because it's what i do. but i think it's time. stella's adjustment to her life here with us was amazingly easy. michael's adjustment to fatherhood was seamless. he is SUCH an amazing father. my adjustment to motherhood, however, is another story. i honestly had moments when i thought there wasn't a motherly bone in my body. i had read many, many stories on other blogs about mothers who had that "instant" connection with their children. i didn't expect that for myself, but i also didn't expect things to develop as slowly over time as they have. don't get me wrong. of COURSE i loved stella the instant i saw her. i just didn't feel like a mother. she always preferred michael over me and it was difficult for me. i spent tons of time crying wondering what was wrong with me. i was frustrated and sad.

well that was the beginning. things are totally different now :) very slowly, i turned into her mother. apparently, i AM motherly :) i DO have patience. i DO know how to handle her tantrums. i DO know how to make her happy. i DO know what she is saying when NOONE else does. i DO love her more than life itself. it just happened. i woke up one day and realized that i am stella's mom. she is my daughter. and this is exactly how things are supposed to be. we have SO much fun together. i am still a goer and doer. i have to constantly remind myself to SLOW DOWN and enjoy every second with her. we are going to wake up one day and she will be 13 and completely embarrassed by us :) so for now, i am loving having an almost 2 year old :)

i do wonder how being an adoptive mother is different from a birth mother. i wonder if i had given birth to stella if i would have felt totally differently. would i have still had a hard time in this transition to being a mother? this is one thing i will never know. it doesn't make me sad anymore. i know that i am stella's mother and that God made her just for us. i KNOW THAT inside and out. but it still makes me wonder. as every, single friend - one by one - gets pregnant and has their children, it actually makes me feel even more isolated from that world. it's a world that i will never know. it seems like a parallel universe for about the first 9 months and then seems to collide back as one. do i isolate myself, or is it just that all new moms need a transition period? i'm thinking it might be a little of both. for now, i'm just going to separate myself, both to respect "the transition" and to protect my heart a little. there are still some tender spots in there that i choose to ignore most of the time. it's easier to ignore if i protect them.

GUESS WHAT....

2009-03-22T21:23:00.000-06:00

STELLA POOPED IN THE POTTY TODAY!!!
this is us washing our hands afterwards :) she was SO proud of herself! she kept telling daddy "potty" over and over, so he put her on her potty and she WENT!!! she's been constantly asking to sit on it, but usually she doesn't actually do anything. this was the first time! i'm not expecting anything miraculous, i'm sure this was a fluke . . . PLUS i'm not ready for her to grow up so fast!!! but it was a BIG day at our house!

winter wonderland!

2009-01-27T20:36:00.002-06:00

it is FREEZING here right now. we got several inches of sleet that started yesterday and hasn't stopped, but about the time we got home this evening it turned into BIG, OLE snowflakes! stella has seen plenty of ice, but not big snowflakes like these. so, we took her outside. her mittens are in our other car at our office, so i had to improvise :)

stella and meg all ready to go outside.

grinning, but not so sure about it.

my attempt at a photo of the 2 of us in the snow.

we were out there for all of 5 minutes before mommy decided she'd had enough :) it's pretty - as long as i'm inside in the warm!

busy weekend!

2009-01-26T20:21:00.000-06:00

my best friend jill (and stella's godmother) was here this weekend. she is due with her first baby on march 21 and is THE cutest pregnant lady i've ever seen! she came into town for the baby shower i threw her on saturday.

we also exchanged Christmas gifts since we missed each other over the holidays this year. this is stella trying on all her gifts friday night before bed and playing with the others she got from her aunt jilli.

reading where's the poop with daddy on sunday morning.

playing in the kitchen with aunt jilli on sunday morning. stella LOVE LOVE LOVES ring around the rosey and just spinning in general!

riding daddy down the hallway sunday morning.

after playing aunt jilli was getting ready and stella decided she needed her hair dryed too.

me and my other half :) + with her BIG OLE BELLY. i love it and i love HER.

done it - haven't done it.

2009-01-26T09:56:00.002-06:00

I got this post from Jennifer & Shiloh's blog. but it was fun to read and made for an easy post, so here it goes...

RED are things I've done
BLUE are things I'd like to do
BLACK are the ones I don't want to do

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables [i am planning to do it this summer!]
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors -some of them
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater [i LOVE drive-ins!]
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle [been on a motorcycle, but NOT a speeding one!]
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House [just the outside]
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating [never. gonna. happen.]
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life [haven't done so yet, but i hope if i was in the situation it would just naturally happen]
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous [well, SEEN someone famous]
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Grosgrain

2009-01-21T10:31:00.002-06:00

can i just tell you how FABULOUS these clothes are?

www.grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com

i SO wish i could sew like this. my mother-in-law taught me how to thread a sewing machine and has helped me make some curtains for my house. i actually LOVE to sew. i also have made several clutch handbags and am always COMPLETELY amazed when they actually turn out. i don't know WHO figures out those patterns, but it is like GREEK to me. i'm hoping the more i do, the more it will start to make sense and HOPEFULLY i can do my own design eventually. how fun to make clothes for stella and for myself! a girl can dream anyways!

GYMNASTICS!

2009-01-10T20:18:00.001-06:00

today was stella's first gymnastics class. it's a mommy and me class and we are the only ones right now! she did so well and loved it towards the end :) we'll see how she does next week!

our beautiful girl.

2009-01-09T22:15:00.000-06:00

weekend.

2009-01-04T19:47:00.000-06:00

we have had a fun new year's weekend. michael's parents visited monday through thursday. on friday morning this is how i found stella in her crib. COMPLETELY NAKED. this all started before Christmas with just her removing her pants. she could get them off, but not back on and would proceed to throw a FIT when she couldn't get them back on. then, she figured out she could get her diaper off. well, now we know that she can take off her shirt too. we only have 2 pj sets that zip up - so i've had to resort to putting her in a onesie and tights when those are both dirty! little stinker.on saturday, stella and mommy went to discovery center. it's actually a science museum for kids, but they also have a little indoor play area for little kids. stella loved the gigantic lego house.

she also loved cleaning it.
and then decided the whole floor could use a good cleaning.

she put blocks in the little firetruck . . .

and then wore mommy out by demanding to be pushed around in it.

she played at the big pixel wall too and didn't really like sharing it with the other kids that day.

we played so hard we were really hungry afterwards, so we went and picked up daddy and uncle jason and had lunch at nonah's. you can never go wrong with bread and pasta.

this is stella playing after church that sunday.

sometimes i wanna wear my tutu.

2008-12-31T14:05:00.000-06:00

snuggling with momma.

watching my cartoons in the morning.

tea and cupcakes before bed, oh my!

2008-12-29T22:58:00.000-06:00

fun fun fun!

2008-12-27T16:46:00.000-06:00

the day after Christmas we went to janie & jamey's house to jump on the trampoline for the first time. stella LOVED it!

playing with janie.

jumping with mommy.

watching chloe jump HIGH.

playing with my kitchen later that night.

Stella's first Christmas!

2008-12-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

walking in with daddy on Christmas morning!

playing with my kitchen that santa left me!

opening more presents . . .

opening my BIG present from my nonna and poppa d - it's a TRICYCLE!!!

waiting on daddy to put together my slide!

concentrating on climbing up my new slide!

eating yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast :)
cooking up something yummy!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T16:19:00.000-06:00

well, i wasn't a very good momma about taking pictures on Christmas Eve this year. stella wore this A-DORABLE dress that night to church. my friend Chi sent it to us from south carolina (it was her daughter's and i LOVE it!). after church we do Christmas with my dad's side of the family. this is stella opening her cabbage patch doll.

and here she is when she realized it was her BABY! she is hilarious. she is all girl, but don't underestimate her! she can hold her own with the boys! my cousin has 3 boys and she was all up in the middle of their little football game in the hallway!

308 Christmas party

2008-12-21T16:00:00.001-06:00

theworkshop 308 had it's third annual Christmas Party last night. we do a dinner party with good food, good drinks & good friends. our little "family" has grown - there were 14 of us total. it was a cozy evening and tons of fun. we have the most amazing, supportive friends, who have become so much more. we are family.

my heart.

2008-12-16T20:58:00.000-06:00

2008-12-13T17:49:00.002-06:00

last night, the garners came over for dinner. we threw the girls (stella and reese) in the tub together after dinner. they are best friends already :) they love each other!

stella wondering why on earth she had "shared" all her toys?!?!?!

my beautiful girl.

they left early that night (to keep reese on her sleeping schedule) so we had fun, just the 4 of us (including meg)

meg was having a quite impressive drooling episode that night! we love her, drool and all!

decorating!

2008-12-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

my parents came up last weekend and we went Christmas shopping on 12/6. this photo gives new meaning to shop til you drop!

stella was so tired after our shopping day that we had to wait until sunday to finish decorating. she was SO excited to "help".

on 12/11 stella got a package in the mail from our friend amber in SC. she sent her a cupcake ornament. stella was SO excited to unwrap it and put it on the tree. as you can see from the look on her face!

Christmas tree picking

2008-12-10T14:59:00.003-06:00

we went to pick out our Christmas tree last saturday night. this is stella and daddy walking around to pick out the perfect one.

here we are with our tree! stella was fascinated with it and wanted to feel the needles!

we decorated on sunday morning. i WISH i would've gotten a video of stella's face the first time we plugged in the tree lights. it was so funny! her eyes opened up really big and she got a huge grin on her face and started running over saying "aaaahhhhhhhh" in a really high pitched screech and laughing. she is doing really well with the tree so far! she helped us decorate - daddy would unwrap the ornament and give it to stella, then she would bring it to me to hang on the tree. she was so excited to be helping! she knows she isn't supposed to touch it, but will go over and get really close and just stare into it every night. this is such a special Christmas. our first one as a family. we are having so much fun already!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-12-03T15:05:00.002-06:00

to me. yesterday was my 30th birthday. i have to say, i was totally dreading it. for those of you who know me, know that i am a TOTAL planner. always have been. THANKFULLY i actually didn't have a full list of things i wanted to accomplish by the time i was 30. if that had happened i would for sure be in some serious therapy. however, even though i didn't have a complete map to my 30th birthday, this place i'm at in my life is not where i thought i'd be. like i said before, i don't know where that is, but i do know this is not it. i'm not sure why i was so upset about though, because i honestly have SO much to be thankful for :
* i have the best husband EVER.
* i have the best, best friend EVER.
* i have the daughter i have always wanted and the exact one i was meant to have. it is amazing that she came from a place so far away, yet was made just for us.
* i have the best parents EVER.
* i am surrounded by people who genuinely care for me and love me for who i am. (which is a good thing, because trying to be someone/something i am not is just not in my dna.)
* i have a roof over my head and food on my table every single night.
* i have a job that pays our bills.
i could go on and on, but you get the idea. so mid-day yesterday i decided that turning 30 suits me. i figure my 20's i was a mess - well, because you're SUPPOSED to be a mess in your 20's. my 30's are when i will get my s*it together. so, by the time i hit 40 i should be good to go. not that i'm wanting to rush through it all, because this is my LIFE. i only get one. so, i've decided to enjoy the ride, whatever it may be. and since the ride entails turning 30, here i am!

Thanksgiving Trip to Indiana.

2008-12-01T17:19:00.000-06:00

we always go to indiana to michael's parents for thanksgiving. this was our first thanksgiving as a family and it was crazy - i know SHOCKER. we waited until 3pm for lunch so that the little kids could have their nap. that was good for their moods, but stella wanted nothing to do with food, so we spent all of lunch-time chasing her around to make sure she wasn't getting into trouble!

this is stella and noah coloring after lunch.

we took stella to the park to play the day after thanksgiving. it was a little chilly, but the sun was shining and it felt good to get some fresh air!

that night we went to kyle and jessica's so the kids could play and we could catch up. their daughter, jaelyn, is my god-daughter and their son kaiden was named after michael. they are fabulous friends and we SO wished they lived closer and that we got to see them more often!

stella and her god-sister watching cartoons together.

most of the brood.

stella and her god-sister again. stella was getting sleepy in this one.

stella and kaiden. they are going to have crushes on each other when they get older!

this is a random photo of stella and her daddy that i took the saturday after thanksgiving. she had just got up from her nap and was extra cuddly with her daddy. i love this picture!

randomness

2008-11-25T10:12:00.002-06:00

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.

welcome to america!

2008-11-21T16:35:00.000-06:00

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 . . .

2008-11-21T14:06:00.006-06:00

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 . . .

Our Weekend.

2008-11-03T14:37:00.011-06:00

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.

2008-10-30T13:25:00.009-06:00

this past weekend we went to indiana to visit michael's parents. we had tons of fun stuff planned and were completely worn out after our adventure!

it's a 6.5 hour drive that is really difficult for miss stella.

this is what we see behind us these days

and this is what we see behind us on weekend trips.

stella and meg have gotten to be good friends most of the time. some of the time they just tolerate each other. sometimes when stella gets cranky in the car she HATES anyone (or anything) touching her car seat. meg loves to lay her head on the arm of her car seat, so it's a constact battle to keep her from hitting meg. must be what it's like to have 2 kids!

saturday afternoon we went apple picking. i was so excited to take stella! this was actually my very first time picking apples too!

and this is what stella did the whole time we were there. she missed everything!

after apple picking we took stella to the park. it is a little park nestled back in a neighborhood that michael's mom used to take him to when he was little. she LOVE LOVE LOVES the park!

this is us swinging.

she LOVES to slide!

stella and her daddy after sliding over and over and over and over.

playing with daddy.

saturday night we had a bonfire with family and friends at michael's aunt sue's house. we ate and had smores and visited. stella got passed around of course and played REALLY hard!

swinging at aunt sue's with daddy.

watching the fire.

sunday on our way home we stopped to see some friends. this is my God-daughter and her brother (who was named after michael). they are always SO excited to see stella and we always have SO much fun seeing them! we wish they didn't live so far away!

this little clip was shot last night. STELLA WALKING! ignore my completely annoying voice and the fact that it's sideways. just tilt your head to the left and enjoy!

lots of new things going on around our house as you can see! we are taking stella trick-or-treating tomorrow night with some friends . . . can't wait to see how that goes . . . hopefully she has fun! then we will be going to their house for smores afterwards.

i'm trying REALLLLLLLY hard to post more regularly . . . so i'll try to get Halloween photos up soon too.

ANNOUNCEMENT . . .

2008-10-28T16:01:00.002-06:00

STELLA IS WALKING!!!!!!
on thursday night last week she randomly started taking single steps. then on saturday while we were in indiana at michael's parents, she took 4 steps (only once though). then yesterday when her daddy picked her up from miss jo's she apparently had decided that day she wanted to become a big girl. miss jo said she was walking all day long! she will take about 10 steps at a time and thinks it is hilarious. probably because she knew she could do it all along and was listening to my conversations with various people about her not doing it. that little stinker.

thank you so much to all of you that called and emailed and sent comments! it's good to know i'm not crazy and that you people support me.

we didn't get any photos or video last night cause we were having too much fun with her. we will try to get some video tonight. and i do have new pictures to post, just no time to do it now. i'm training for a 10k race on saturday and i have to go meet my running group.

more later.

calling for suggestions and thoughts!!!

2008-10-21T20:17:00.003-06:00

stella had her 18 month well visit today. at out last appointment, the dr told us if she wasn't walking by her 18 month appt she would refer us to a physical therapist. we both (michael and i) had mixed emotions about this, but we really thought she would be walking right now so weren't too worried about it. well, she isn't walking. at least not on her own. at her last appt she wasn't even pulling up on things. since that last appointment, she is pulling up + walking along furniture and the walls + standing up on her own + walking holding only one of our hands (for short distances). we have been working really hard with her and encouraging her constantly. we feel like she has made AMAZING progress just in the last couple of months. the dr today was not all that impressed.

at our very first appt with her we explained that when she first came she had NO leg muscle development and she was right a one year old. we were putting her in a johnny jumper (the one that hangs in the doorway) for at least 30 minutes every day. before too long she was jumping like a pro! obviously she has outgrown that thing now, but it gave us what we needed at the time! she seemed concerned then about the fact that she wasn't pulling up yet, but we explained that she is not an American baby and should not necessarily be compared.

obviously, compared to American babies she is behind. but the fact remains that for the first year of her life, she wasn't here. she was carried and held and loved on constantly and i would not change for anything in the world the fact that she was so loved for that year she could not be with us.

now, the dr is telling us we have one more month. then, if she isn't walking, we have to see a physical therapist. i actually couldn't go to her appt today, michael went. i'm just wondering how much (if any) experience she has with internationally adopted children. now, i'm not against seeing a physical therapist. we just haven't seen ONE SINGLE INDICATION that something is wrong. and BELIEVE ME, we have been watching. we honestly think she just doesnt' want to. she scoots around on her behind and gets around SUPER FAST, so why walk when it takes her twice as long to get anywhere . . . that's what we think.

my quesion is whether or not we should be concerned. have any other adoptive parents out there in blog world had issues or experience with this? i know there are a TON of blogs out there that i read regularly, but don't usually comment, so those of you that DO read my blog . . . please forward to anyone you may be able to send me thoughts . . . i would love to hear from someone who's been through this!!!

i'm thinking of doing a little research for another dr, but it's not as if we live in a big metropolis, so the pickins are a little slim . . .

long update.

2008-10-17T09:43:00.014-06:00

well, it's the middle of october and i'm just now getting around to posting pictures. better late than never.

on october 4 we took stella to Silver Dollar City for the very first time. we had tons of fun and can't wait to take her back.

our first stop was the ball treehouse. she LOVED it and threw a complete fit when we made her leave.

you can see the excitement on her face.

she is screaming in this picture.

after the ball treehouse we went to see the animals. there was a goose following us around and i stood stella in front of the goose and she couldn't get away from it fast enough! she LOVES ducks (mostly because she can say the word duck i think), but i think that goose was just a little too close for comfort for her!

michael took stella on her very first ride. she had to sit in her own seat, so michael was holding her from behind so she didn't fall over when it jerked. it just went in a circle and bounced up and down. she had this horrible look on her face the whole time. when they got off i asked her if she liked it and she shook her head no. then, we pointed to another ride and asked her if she wanted to go on another one and she wrinkled her forehead all up and violently shook her head NO. it was so funny!!!

our last stop before we left was to get some photos of stella with the pumpkin displays. she cooperated pretty well for a few shots!

after we drove back from Branson, we had dinner plans with our group of close friends. stella had a TOTAL nap of 20 minutes ALL DAY that day so i thought she was going to be a complete NIGHTMARE at dinner. she was really good though, all night long! she played really hard over at their house and by the time we got home, LATE that night, this is what she looked like.

she passed OUT in the car before we even got out of their neighborhood. she was DONE. it was a long and fun family day :)

this is a random october thursday night. on thursdays, my friend jess and i walk with our girls so our husbands can go mountain biking. when we got home stella needed a snack. you can faintly see reese's little baby arm in the picture and aunt jess's leg :)

this picture is from october 10. we were waiting on daddy to get home from work so we could go to dinner and decided it was so nice outside we needed to go to the park. so we walked to the park down the street from our house. stella loves to scoot around the play equipment by herself. she still isn't walking by herself yet, but she pulls up and stands up by herself constantly! she'll be running around before we know it!

this is from First Friday Art Walk, october 3. we usually go to the coffee ethic to visit with friends and people watch. stella gets excited because she knows she gets to climb around all over the tables.

more First Friday Art Walk.

more First Friday Art Walk. playing with mommy.

hopefully some people are still checking this blog! it's so hard to try to stay caught up. leave me a comment so i know you're still out there!!!

PAT + post-placement + re-adoption

2008-09-18T09:38:00.002-06:00

no pictures today, but i did want to post a quick update :

+ we had our first parents as teachers visit last week. it went surprisingly well! stella is not as far behind as i thought! i guess i've been focusing too much on the fact that she isn't walking yet. she is about half way through the 12-24 month list of tasks she should be doing, which is about right! she is more and more interesting in walking and gets closer every day!

+ last night was our LAST post-placement visit with a social worker. it feels amazingly good to be done with those. not that they were hard, or terrible, or negative in any way . . . i am just ready for all this STUFF to be over and for us to just go on with our 'normal' lives, whatever that is. adoption is so exhausting at times. there is just SO much extra STUFF that must be done. and even after our children are home, there is still much more to do.

+ speaking of much more to do - we have our first appt with an attorney today to get started with our re-adoption. since we didn't visit stella in guatemala before our pick up trip, we have to re-adopt her in our county of residence. another annoying task we must complete. i really think this will be the LAST step though. but honestly, at this point, i wouldn't be surprised if something else comes up.

life with stella is amazing. we can't remember what it was like before we brought her home. she will be 18 months soon and i can't believe it. she already doesn't look like a baby anymore.

funny story : stella and i were in the car waiting on daddy earlier this week and she was pointing towards the floorboard and said 'book'. of couse i almost screamed 'did you just say BOOK???' so i handed her the book and she got SOOOOOOO excited that i understood her! she squeezed her little hands into fists and wrinkled her nose up and laughed and screamed! it was so funny!

UPDATE - finally.

2008-08-06T09:53:00.016-06:00

playing before leaving home for the office.
playing at mommy and daddy's office.
ready for my best friend reese's baby shower.

playing outside with mommy.
playing after my bath.

scooting around the floor before leaving for work with mommy & daddy.

YAY for my very first andy's frozen custard.

our family after dinner one night on vacation. july 08.

playing in the sand at the beach. july 08.

playing at the beach. july 08.

COVERED in sand at the beach. july 08.

my very first 4th of july party in the USA.

passed OUT at the beach. july 08.

loving the beach. july 08.

my adorable 'sleepy face'. july 08.

my very first popsicle. july 08.

my 'silly grin face'. july 08.

i know i know. i am a TERRIBLE blogger. the summer is always crazy for us, so add to that 2 1/2 jobs and a 1 year old and you know how it goes.

here is a little of what stella is up to these days.

* we went to the beach (destin, florida) for a week in July. she loved it! well, she loved the sand anyways. the waves scared her, but she was ok as long as one of us was holding her.

* she still isn't walking yet. she just isn't all that interested in it yet. her preferred method of travel is scooting sideways on her hiney. she is pulling up tons now. but we do have a nickname for her (cautious lu). she is a VERY cautious child. it's funny. if she is scared of something or doesn't feel comfortable doing something, you know it and she absolutely refuses to do it. at least it doesn't seem like peer pressure is going to be a problem with her!

* we went to the doc on July 21 : she weighed 23 pounds and was 30 inches tall. her head is in the 75% and her height is in in 25%. too funny :) i LOVE her big ole noggin.

* she absolutely LOVES chicken / bananas / blueberries and her newest obsession is tortilla chips. she freaks OUT when she sees the bag!

* she says momma / dada / duck / dog / no / yes / hey + she waves hi and bye (usually after the person has already closed the door) / she loves to pretend she's on the phone / she LOVE LOVE LOVES books /

well, that's a little of what's been going on with us this summer. we hope everyone else is enjoying the summer. it will be gone before we know it!

Welcome Home Party.

2008-04-29T16:27:00.018-06:00

My other half (Jill) and Michael's other half (Mitchell or Jason - same person) threw a welcome home party for Stella this past weekend. It was at the park and we had TONS of fun!!! we had homemade ice cream, strawberries, brownie cookies and jones soda. the perfect day.

time for a party.

spending some aunt jess time.girl gabbing.

playing croquet.
enjoying the lovely weather.

getting some aunt jilli and big jer time.
lovin on bella. this is my friend angel's daughter. they were here visiting from south carolina. WE MISS THEM ALREADY!!!

uncle jason playing with the kids.
lovin on angel.

stella and bella. yes, she is crying because we put her on the ground.
daddy cheering stella up.

saying bye to marti. stella LOVES her marti visits.
spending quality time with nona.

we love ya'll for throwing stella a party! it was LOTS of fun!!!

stella swinging for the first time. i think she was too exhausted to enjoy it!

THANK YOU to everyone who joined us in body and for those of you who were there with us in spirit :) We love having you in our lives and hope those of you who haven't met stella get to very VERY soon!

yesterday was our official 1 month HOME anniversary. April 24 was our official 1 month GOTCHA anniversary. we can not believe it's been a month already! we really can't remember what our lives were like before we had stella. this girl has got some SPUNK and amazes us every single day. WE LOVE YOU STELLA LU!

quick catch up post.

2008-04-17T13:42:00.006-06:00

WOW. tomorrow ended up being a LOOOOOOONG time :)

yes. it's true. i am the WORST blogger ever. i SWORE to myself that when we came home i would not stop posting :) yet here i am . . . i'm not even sure anyone is still checking this thing?!?!?! so if you are, please leave me a comment!

we are doing really REALLY well. stella is perfect. she has adjusted SO well & already knows who michael & i are. she is COMPLETELY laid back and handles every situation amazingly.

she LOVES her bath, LOVES to eat, LOVES to play. she is ADDICTED to her bottle. we have cut down the # of bottles per day and have just started mixing her formula with milk so that we can EVENTUALLY get her off the formula :) she is having NO PART of the milk alone :) she isn't walking yet or crawling. she is just starting to get a little mobile. we call her a crab because she will only move backwards. she LOVES her jumper (which is a good thing because we are putting her in there every day to get her legs stronger). she sleeps all night in her crib. occasionally she will wake around 5am for a bottle, and other times she will sleep until morning.

meeting nana and papaw for the first time
(michael's parents) : 3/28/08

meeting nona & popa d for the first time

(my parents) : 3/28/08

waking up at HOME for the first time

3/29/08 : momma and stella were SICK

my first birthday party

3/30/08 : my actual birthday was on 4/1/08 but we wanted to celebrate while everyone was here.

those are just a few photos to tide you over. blogger is being a PAIN and won't let me load any more photos . . . so i shall try again later . . . there are LOTS more . . .

home sweet home.

2008-03-31T10:37:00.003-06:00

we made it home on friday. safely. stella didn't mind her carseat at all! i was totally shocked! the grandparents were here all weekend and are OF COURSE totally in love with stella already! stella and i are both SICK SICK SICK. we are both going to the dr tomorrow.

stella's first birthday is tomorrow. but we had a little party for her yesterday while the grandparents were still here. i have some AMAZING friends who took care of making cupcakes and organizing everything for us! THANK YOU MICHAEL & JESS!!!

and my Jilli has been here with us cleaning and doing dishes and keeping me SANE. i wouldn't have made it this weekend without you and there is NOONE else who could EVER take your place!!! stella will ALWAYS know and love her aunt jilli!!!

and i also have to say a HUGE thank you to uncle jason :) he has been here through all the tears and tough waiting and anxiousness. he is always here to do whatever we need and we LOVE LOVE LOVE you uncle jason :) he is also stella's paparazzi. he was CRAZY with the camera this weekend - which we LOVE :)

i have tons of photos to post from this past weekend. will try to do that tomorrow.

Last Day.

2008-03-27T18:13:00.002-06:00

today we went to antigua. we saw some of guatemala's beautiful countryside and were excited to get out of the hotel! we are exhausted! it's tough toting around a 25 pounder . . . especially when you haven't slowly worked up to it! stella was amazing all day, despite missing a nap AND lunch! we have some good photos from today, but have WAY too much to do for that tonight! we have LOTS of packing to do! TOMORROW we will be HOME :) we have enjoyed our time here and definately have plans on returning, but next trip we want to stay in antigua! it's such a quaint little town! our tour guide today was Victor (www.getaroundguatemala.blogspot.com). he was AWESOME. i highly recommend him. he does tours, errands, WHATEVER! he has very high knowledge of guatemalan culture too! we learned a TON from him! but HOME is all that is on our minds right now! we can NOT wait for our family (and when i say family, that means our close friends too - cause ya'll ARE family too!) to meet this girl! she is unbelievable in every way :) we LOVE you all!!!! we will see you TOMORROW!!!!

today in photos.

2008-03-26T22:19:00.009-06:00

our breakfast picnic.

clapping.

poolside lunch.

ready for the pool.

playing.

swimming.

dinner.

mashed potato head.

happiness.

2008-03-26T10:30:00.002-06:00

we are having so much fun.
stella had a rough night on monday night. she screamed for 2 1/2 hours straight. she woke her self up coughing and that's what started it. luckily we have a very sweet adoptive mom right next door who heard her screaming and came to see if we needed anything. luckily, she had gone to the parmacy the day before to get cough syrup for her daughter who had the same cough and gave us some for the night. she FINALLY went back to sleep. despite the long night, she STILL woke up in a good mood! she was all smiles and ready to play. we had to rise at 530 am on tuesday for our 715 am embassy appt. we were there for 3 hours and stella handled it like a rock star :) i, on the other hand started getting sick on monday night - TERRIBLE sore throat - and by the time we got back from the embassy felt like TOTAL crap. so i was in bed down for the night by 8 pm. HA! so not like me! michael knew i didn't feel good! he went to the pharmacy and got me throat spray and cough syrup for stella. we are all MUCH better today though! she did wonderful last night! only woke once. we gave her a bit of a bottle and she was right back out. she slept until about 830 am. we've had a lazy morning. we ordered fruit and yogurt for breakfast and all had a picnic on the floor :) stella pooped a little on her daddy and we had to throw her in the tub this morning :) we just put her down for a nap. when she wakes we will have some lunch and then maybe go play in the baby room. the sun just came out so we might go to the pool too! we get stella's visa and passport today. we are EXCITED to have those because it means we can come HOME. it's fun to be here & have this time together, but we are ready to come HOME. pictures later today.

POOP!!!

2008-03-24T21:49:00.002-06:00

well, michael has had his FIRST traumatic diaper experience :) i changed the first one so he could watch, but this time was supposed to be him . . . that was UNTIL he SAW IT!!! wow. how is it POSSIBLE that someone SO TINY can produce SO MUCH POOP that is SO severely STINKY?!?!?! i watched michael gag, and stare, and ask me how he should proceed with attempting to clean THAT up?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! in his defense - it was REALLY bad :) so i helped him . . . being the good wife and mommy that i am. we even had to change her clothes. luckily though, it didn't get on us or on the bed. i quite enjoyed watching him though. maybe a little too much. this girl HATES, i repeat HATES getting her diaper changed. she must have enjoyed watching daddy gag and mommy laugh though, because this was the first and only diaper change that she didn't cry the entire time :)

our first day as a forever family just came to an end. we fixed stella her bedtime bottle according to her usual routine with her foster mother, but she only drank about half. then she was OUT like a light. hopefully she will sleep until 6 am, which is her usual schedule. it will work out perfect if that is the case because we need to get her up at that time anyways. we have to be downstairs for our ride to the Embassy at 7 am.

our first day was perfect. her transition has been smooth so far. we haven't had a total meltdown yet. i know LOTS of people have been praying for her transition and we hope you all will continue the prayers : for stella, for us, for the foster family, and for her birth mother. adoption is such a blessing, but there are many people affected by the life of miss stella who will not be fortunate enough to spend her life with her. we are so thankful for the opportunity to be her parents. i was honestly nervous that i didn't have a motherly bone in my body, but it turns out I DO! as i sit here watching her sleep, i know that i love her. i know that she is ours. i know that she was always meant to be my daughter. it's such an odd feeling. knowing that this little person was made for you a world away. but in my heart i know it's right. she is ours. we are hers. family.

YEA FOR THE DAY!

2008-03-24T14:00:00.005-06:00

a few more....

WE ARE FAM-I-LY......

2008-03-24T13:42:00.002-06:00

Finally.

Forever.

almost time.

2008-03-24T09:36:00.002-06:00

it is currently 934 am. we just received our call from the agency! they should arrive between 11 and 1130! as soon as the phone rang both of our stomachs DROPPED! wow. jilli, the pins and needles are starting!!!!

WE'RE HERE!!!

2008-03-23T16:27:00.002-06:00

we arrived about an hour and a half ago. we are unpacked and organized (i think). exhausted. hungry. happy to be here. ready for stella! we should here from our facilitator tomorrow morning around 9 am and hopefully receive her around 10am. more tomorrow.

locked & loaded.

2008-03-22T21:20:00.002-06:00

yep. we are ready. as ready as we can possibly be.
we left springfield this morning around 1030am and spent the day at the Nelson Atkins Museum with friends from college. They also just got engaged recently (CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN GREG & AUDREY!), so it was fun to be celebrating all together. After the museum we went to dinner and enjoyed catching up.
we are now in our hotel in KC for the night, although it's going to be a short night. our flight leaves in the morning at 750am so we shall be rising bright & early. for those of you who know us are probably laughing really hard right about now at the thought of US actually being UP early enough to get ANYWHERE by 750am. but to be honest, we have been waiting SO freaking long for this to happen, i'm pretty sure we can handle it.
this is really happening. and we totally can't believe it.

next post from guatemala!

almost time.

2008-03-21T08:50:00.002-06:00

have we packed yet? no.
yes, i think we are crazy too. we have dinner plans tonight with friends then we go home and will probably be up ALL night packing. we leave tomorrow morning to drive to KC. we are spending the day with friends from college who live outside KC going to a museum and then to dinner. then, we shall rise bright & early for our flight to GC.
it's starting to bother me that this all still doesn't feel real. i'm hoping that once i have work under control (by the end of today) and can officially leave the office and go home that it will start to feel real. we shall see, in a few hours!

stella, we love you oh so very much and can't wait to be with you forever! there are SOOOO many people here who love you and can't wait to meet you! we will be there in a few days!

lists.

2008-03-18T19:51:00.002-06:00

so i am sitting here this evening make my THOUSANDTH list for this trip. how does one make a list for a trip to meet & pick up the child they have been hoping and praying would become a reality? i have no idea. which might explain why i have so freaking many of them. whatever. i think making the lists is keeping me sane right now. so i'll just pretend they really do make sense.

i was reading some other blogs tonight. some of them for people still stuck either IN pgn or in limbo trying to GET IN pgn. my heart is so heavy for you right now. i go back and forth between being so happy to be out of that position and feeling completely guilty for being out of that position. i know all of our situations are different. some of us have tried for YEARS to have children. some of us have biological children. the circumstances don't actually mean all that much. what matters is that each of us have a child in Guatemala (or some other country) that we are aching to love . . . aching to bring home. please know that i am thinking of you. that i hope one day we meet with our guatetots. that i remember the aching. that there is still a part of me that does not believe i am really leaving to get my daughter.

i have tried so hard to be positive throughout this process. but i wasn't most of the time. i can put a brave face forward, but i have been in some very dark places over the past 4 years. do i believe those dark days will end once i have Stella home? no. i know i still have lots of work to do. but just for a little while i am going to allow myself to be blissfully and truly happy.

ready.

2008-03-13T08:41:00.002-06:00

so the anticipation is starting to get to me. at first i wasn't really all that excited because it still doesn't feel real. we have been trying to have a baby for about 4 years. now, all the sudden, after alllllllll this waiting, we are down to TEN DAYS. that is just the weirdest feeling ever. i can't even explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it. i honestly think in my darkest deepest soul that i was beginning to believe we were never going to have a child. and yes, it is a dark deep place that i would rather not visit again, thank you very much.

last night i pulled out most of stella's stuff we are taking with us and started a list of little things we have left to buy this weekend. i also made the list of things we need to get DONE this weekend. i am a little daunted that in TEN DAYS our lives will be forever changed. michael and i have been 'officially' together for 8 years and married for 5 (almost 6) of those years. that's a long time with just the 2 of us in our own little happy world. now, it will be stella's world. we are totally excited about that, it will just (obviously) be an adjustment for us. but as the title of this post indicates . . . we are ready.

i couldn't sleep last night just thinking of stella. i so afraid of so many things. i'm afraid she won't like me. now THAT is something only another adoptive mom could say and definately something i never thought i would worry about. yet here i am. i also am terrified that i will not have any patience with her. i used to have ZERO patience, but i like to think that over this LONG wait we've had i grew some. i know i have more than i used to, but i'm still a little nervous about it. i could go on and on about my worries . . . but i think i'm going to try REALLY hard to focus on all the exciting things and try to soak up every second of this crazy thing called life. especially during these moments. we are going to an amazing place to get our first daughter and bring her HOME. it's moments such as these that define the term - significant.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." ~Ferris Bueller

TRAVEL.

2008-03-11T12:17:00.003-06:00

flights - check.
hotel - check.

we are really going. we leave sunday 3/23 and will be home friday 3/28. it was MUCH cheaper for us to fly out of Kansas City, so we will also be in the car for awhile. Who cares though. We are coming HOME. with Stella.

it's about time.

PINK!!!

2008-03-10T20:41:00.003-06:00

PINK is what we received this evening. obviously we are beyond excited, but we still feel like it won't feel totally real until we actually have her in our arms. i actually still can't believe we are really going to get her!!! our appt date is March 25. we received the news so late in the day that we haven't yet been able to book flights or hotel. that is on the agenda for tomorrow. Of course i will update as soon as we have anything definate. YAY! we're goin to the mala!!! we will be there for Easter, so PLEASE pray we don't have any trouble getting flights and hotel!!! i can't believe we are REALLY GOING!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!! time to make my LAST list . . .

no pink today.

2008-03-07T16:00:00.002-06:00

i'm not really surprised. but i was DEFINATELY hoping. but i KNOW it will come next week :) i have had a really hard time focusing on work since yesterday . . . it's going to be a long few weeks until we go get our stella!!! i can't wait to post our travel news!!! everyone have a LOVELY weekend!

WAITING FOR PINK!!!

2008-03-06T14:06:00.002-06:00

wow. this is really going to happen. this month. it has been 13 days since stella's dna sample was taken, so i was getting nervous that something was lost or wrong or who knows. i emailed our caseworker and she found out today that the results were overnighted to the US Embassy on March 3!!! So we are REALLY just waiting on our PINK slip!!! our cw also said right now they are seeing pink slips issued approximately 7 days after dna submittal . . . so it could be ANY time now!!! although after that email i'm thinking it will be next week . . . but STILL . . . this wild and crazy trip is almost over . . . and it is going to have a happy ending!!!

some heavy reflection.

2008-03-04T16:00:00.002-06:00

so i've been thinking alot about the choices we have in life. our lives personally have changed drastically over the last 3-4 years. in 2004 we were living in south carolina completely oblivious to the things in store for us. we knew at some point that we wanted to move back to springfield mo to start our family and be closer to our parents. in 2005 we michael started chatting with an old friend from college about a business venture and we dove head first. michael moved here and i stayed behind to sell our house. we went from a comfy 2 income family to a 1 income family. we lived apart for just over 2 months. i finally moved here in early 2006. the first venture ended, but another fabulous opportunity presented itself and we have never looked back. it has not been easy, yet here we are. i keep thinking back to when we did IVF. if it had worked, we probably would not have considered the first opportunity and would not be where we are today. we would not be about to go get stella. we would not have our house. everything would be different. it's just so weird to think about the various roads we can choose to take, and the reasons for the ones we choose. the thing that i've learned is that if you don't take advantage of the opportunities that arise, they will pass you by. sometimes, if you're lucky, you might not necessarily know it. othertimes, you wallow in regret. the point is this : carpe diem.

Stella's Room

2008-03-02T18:52:00.008-06:00

i know i know . . . finally you say! i have had many requests to see the finished product. i still have a few very minor things to do. just some artwork for a few very bare walls. i'm hoping to maybe find something in guatemala . . . so i wanted to keep my options open!

this is her bedding. i got just a generic green with white micro dots fitted sheet from target. i ordered the fabric online and my mother-in-law made the quilt and bumber. it's pretty much perfect.

these are the 'poofs' that hang around her light fixture. i made all of them and they are kindof a pain in the you know what to make :) but they definately make a statement in her room!

don't think i've ever mentioned this before, but stella is named after my great-grandmother. i am a big fan of using old family names (as long as they are appealing). this rocking chair was my great-grandmother's. we also have an old iron bedframe that was her's for stella to use when she moves to a big girl bed. i absolutely love that we have 2 significant things that are tied to the person stella is named after. it warms my heart.

this is kindof a dull picture. i bought a fabulous chair for stella's room at a flea market, but we decided to leave this couch in there because it has a fold out bed. we figure we will be having LOTS more company now and might need the extra bed. my best friend jill got stella the blanket draped across the back. it has orange butterflies stitched to it in felt. we found the little bent fiberglass chair at a flea market.

at the very right you can see a little table. my mother-in-law found it at an estate sale. i refinished it and replaced the knobs. they are green flowers. and of course the famous crib that michael made. it is absolutely PERFECT. the head and bottom are veneered in bamboo and the other 3 sides are painted white to match the rest of her furniture. it also converts to a toddler bed. yes, my husband is amazing. he cooks too!!! why yes, you should be jealous.

another photo of the crib. the artwork on the wall inspired the colors of the room. michael got me these several years ago for my birthday and i had saved them for this exact purpose.

lastly . . . the dressers in her room are totally not exciting, but they will last for a bit. the lamp on the dresser was my very first purchase for her room (after the artwork of course). i knew i wanted orange to be an accent color and knew i HAD to have that lamp when i found it.

i completely love everything about her room. i think it is my favorite room in the house. that could possibly be because it is the only one that is completely FINISHED. but that is another story for another day! hope you enjoy the photos. next time you see any miss stella will be the focus. which is EXACTLY how it should be.

NEW PHOTOS :)

2008-02-27T18:36:00.002-06:00

i had a lovely little surprise in my inbox today. what a perfect end to my day. we can't wait to meet and hug and love you forever miss stella! we are hoping for PINK next week sometime! prayers welcome!

fingerprints . . .

2008-02-25T14:47:00.002-06:00

just got off the phone with KC USCIS . . . YAY! our fingerprint renewal was completed TODAY and will go out in the mail tomorrow! one less thing to worry about! i can't believe we will have our daughter in a matter of WEEKS.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand . . .

2008-02-25T13:43:00.002-06:00

2nd dna - CHECK! stella's dna was taken last friday, feb 22. WOW. that was really FAST! any of you that know our story know that we have been trying to have a baby for the past 3 (almost 4) years. we have done more waiting than i care to even say. now that this process is coming to a close it feels like things are happening SO FAST! it's so odd. i can't believe it's really going to happen. i feel like i should be doing more to get ready. i feel like i should have more lists or more things to buy or more things to do?!?!?! i do need to work on another list of final things to buy for our trip. however, i'm not entirely sure what else i need?!?!?! i feel so unprepared for this entire thing?!?!?! is this normal? any other adoptive moms out there feel this way when it was almost time for pick-up? anyone have any suggestions of things they didn't take but wish they would've had or things they absolutely could not live without???? suggestions would be fabulous people!!!

NEWS!!!

2008-02-21T13:14:00.003-06:00

we have ORANGE! our case worker emailed me from home today :) they don't know yet when the dna sample is scheduled to take place . . . but it should be early next week. hopefully we will get our pink slip (aka embassy appointment date / aka dates we have to be in Guatemala) in the next 2 weeks!!!!!! WOW!!!!!

and nothing . . .

2008-02-21T12:34:00.002-06:00

we are having another ice storm today. it's cold and messy outside. i am SO ready for spring. no updates. we were told last week that our file was to be submitted to the Embassy early this week. it is now thursday and we know nothing. our agency is closed today due to the weather. i feel like we should've already had our orange slip by now?!?!?! it's been 2 weeks since the birth certificate was issued! i want to know what is going on?!?!?! AAAAAHHHHH.

2 more updates :

2008-02-14T09:41:00.002-06:00

yesterday we drove up to Kansas City to have our fingerprints re-taken. HOPEFULLY we will get our re-approval SOON. it looks like we will be traveling around the time our previous approval is set to expire (3/13/08) . . . so we REALLY need the re-approval SOON. i HATE this last minute stuff. it's possible that we might travel earlier and not even NEED the re-approval, but that's not something i want to chance!

we also received a medical update yesterday. stella now weighs 20 lbs. she is crawling and walking if led by the hands.

i'm a little sad that she is walking . . . sad that we are missing so many things. i am praying that we get down there before she takes her first steps on her own.

only a few more steps to go. we are coming baby girl!!!!

BIG UPDATE!

2008-02-11T19:34:00.000-06:00

we found out today that stella's new birth certificate was issued on Feb 8 AND that her new passport was issued today!!!

it was an exciting day!!!

now i have stack of travel paperwork to complete and need to start looking at flights.

so much to do. and YES. we are SO SO SO excited!

wow. we are officially parents. stella has our last name now :)