Hut, hut!

Someone has been all about football for quite some time now, so naturally there's a game played in the living room, in the backyard, or at the playground at least once a day.

So you can imagine how excited we were to be able to take him to the Pro Bowl practice on Thursday, and then the game on Sunday.

We got poured on at the practice, but AJ had fun playing in a huge pile of sand and we got a kick out of hearing him yell "Mr. Peppers! Mr. Peppers!" while we waited to ask Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers for his autograph.

The ProBowl was fun, too, even if traffic was crazy and "dinner" cost way too much. At least those things were to be expected, and AJ's interest in the game more than made up for it. He asked questions and tried to follow along with what was happening the whole time, so there was lots of talk of quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, tackling, incomplete passes, interceptions, touchdowns, and field goals; hearing all of those words in a little person's voice makes us smile every time.

{this moment}

{this moment} à la SouleMama - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Nora: Two Months Old

Another entire month has gone by, and I (surprise!) just can't believe it. Our sweet baby girl is getting even bigger: twelve pounds five ounces as of Wednesday afternoon, to be exact. She's already outgrown all of her newborn and some 0-3 month clothes; she probably could have just started out in 0-3 and they wouldn't have been too roomy for long. Maybe the three- and six-month clothing (yes, she's already in some six-month clothing!) will get to stick around a bit longer. Her little diapers are on the verge of being too small; when they are, she'll be in the same diapers as AJ. That makes her seem way too big, so we're sticking with the little diapers as long as we can. Silly, but true.

In the last few weeks, she's started smiling and making sweet little noises at us. I love it, and I really need to record a few seconds of her little smiles and little sounds so that, once I've forgotten, I can look back and remember again. Half of me finds it hard to believe that one day it will be so difficult to recall these early months and the little things; the other half of me knows how little I really remember of AJ's days as a little baby, and so I know that these days too will become a blur, remembered mostly by the photographs we've taken.

I hope we can find that balance between documenting these days well and staying present in the moment, enjoying this fleeting time with these precious little people who have been entrusted to our care. I don't want these days to simply pass us by for all of our busyness, rushing, and should-dos. Instead, I hope we can re-prioritize, refocus, and put people - those in our family and those outside of it - first, always.

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." - Goethe

{this moment}

{this moment} à la SouleMama - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

What a Year Can Hold

One year ago today, we shared this:

It's so hard to believe that was a whole year ago. In that time, we've completed a home study and found a placing agency, we've traveled to New York, we found out that another baby was on the way, we've traveled to Virginia and Philadelphia, we traveled to New York again while James went to the Philippines, we've learned many truths about adoption and consequently asked to increase the age range on our paperwork, James had an emergency appendectomy, we've enjoyed a visit from far-away friends, we had an amazing home birth and welcomed Nora Lorraine into our family, we've enjoyed a visit from my parents, we've completed the adoption training required by our placing agency, and we've begun our home study update.

And those are just the big things.

Wow. What a year we've had! I feel like all of that excitement could be several years worth, and yet, here we are, looking toward another year that has at least as much excitement in store for us. James will have shoulder surgery in a week and a half, we'll complete our home study update, receive a referral, and travel half way around the world and back again. We will (we hope) grow from a family of four to a family of five. And all of that will likely occur in the first six months of this year. Wow.

While we have a little bit of an idea of what will happen this year, I know that, just like in years past, we cannot even imagine what God has in store for us. I'm so excited to find out, and I pray that we will handle all the craziness of the coming year with thankfulness, grace, and joy, no matter what comes our way.

{this moment}

{this moment} à la SouleMama - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Second Child, Indeed

When AJ was a baby, he could always be found in our arms, in his little baby seat, in the pack-n-play bassinet, or in his crib. You know, the places where babies are "supposed" to be. While Nora can often be found in our arms, she's also be frequenting some, uh, less conventional locales. If you've never used the laundry basket as a safe resting place for baby while you're helping big brother on the potty/hanging wet clothes/braiding your hair/insert-any-other-two-handed-activity-here, I highly recommend it. Nora seems to like it, too. Really.