Happy Birthday Karis from Mommy!

My Precious Karis,

I can't believe that today you turned two years old! Well in some ways I can believe it because you have acted two for quite sometime. But in other ways it seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital waiting for you to be born. You have been talking a lot since you were about 18 months old and now you are putting together very long sentences! You also know your manners very well. You have the cutest little voice when you say "please" and "thank you" or " no thank you". You are very funny because even when you are trying to tell us that you don't want to do something like go to time out, you still say "no thank you", and sometimes you are in time out yelling " NO THANK YOU!". You are always keeping us smiling and laughing. I have nicknamed you my sweet and spicy girl because you have such a sweet heart and you love to say " I love you" and cuddle and you give the best hugs and kisses but you also are very determined and if you don't get your way you love to throw temper tantrums to try to get your way. I think it just means that you have a passionate and determined heart. I think God gave you a sweet spirit and a passionate, determined heart for a reason and I can't wait to see what God accomplishes through you as you grow. You also have such an adventurous spirit.You love to run around and go outside and be chased. This year we went to an amusement park and we thought you would love the rides because you seem like a dare devil but you didn't like any of the rides. But last week when we went to the fair there were pony rides and I thought you would be scared to ride the pony but you climbed right on and moved my hand away and said "giddy up"! You shocked us all but the smile on your face as your rode that pony is something I will never forget. I don't know what you will be when you grow up ( maybe a horse back rider!) but I do know that God has big plans for your life and I love watching you grow into the person that God created you to be!

You are so special to me Karis. I am so thankful that God brought you and your sister to me to be my precious daughters. I am so and amazed at how God has blessed me. You are so loved by so many people but most importantly by God. Just like I tell you every night before bed, God made Karis, God made you special and God loves you! I hope you grow to know just a glimpse of how much you are loved.

Happy 2nd Birthday My Precious Karis!

Love Always,
Mommy

Summer Fun

Happy about her ice cream!

This one doesn't mess around when it comes to ice cream!

 Sisters getting along :)

 Karis loves dunking her head into the pool.

We have been having a lot of fun already this summer. It has made a big difference to have a yard this summer. We thought for a little while about joining a pool this summer but decided not to do that. We are really working hard at budgeting our money and we decided a pool membership would not be a wise choice right now. Plus I really am not sure how I would handle both kids at a pool by myself as neither of our kids know how to swim solo yet ( hopefully Raegan will finally learn this summer at swim lessons starting in a couple of weeks). But one hot day at the beginning of summer I brought home a kiddie pool with the slide and you would have thought my kids had won the lottery! Josh blew it up and they proceeded to play in the pool for a good two hours. At one point Raegan said "mommy this is the best pool ever!". It was a lot of fun to watch them play together ( nicely at that) in the pool. It might be the best $30 I have spent in a while! We also planted a garden in the beginning of the summer and it has been fun to see the kids get excited watching everything grow. We will hopefully have some fresh veggies to eat soon! We have also been frequenting the local snowball stand and the girls have been enjoying smoothie pops and an occasional ice cream cone as summertim treats.  We look forward to more fun summer memories!

Father's Day

We spent today celebrating Father's Day with Josh. The girls made Josh a guitar picture frame and gave him some fancy dark chocolate toffee from Trader Joes. I wanted to get a picture of the girls to put in the picture frame. Karis was not as cooperative in this venture as I would have hoped but she is our little (almost) 2 year old who doesn't like to sit still. Maybe one day Josh will get a picture of his kids looking at the camera and smiling but not this year! I am sure he doesn't mind though! He played guitar at church this morning and then we took him out to lunch afterwards. We ended the day going to my brother's house to swim in his pool and have a delicious dinner of crabcakes and ribs. I hope Josh enjoyed his special day!

I am truly thankful for the wonderful husband and father Josh is. He works so hard to provide for our family and then he comes home and plays with the kids and completes all of the projects I come up with to make our home nice. He is such a Godly example to our children and I am so thankful for him. He is so in love with our children and I know he feels the same way that I do about the beauty of adoption. I am so glad to be on this journey with him. I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else.

We all love you Joshua ( daddy)! Happy Father's Day!

Just Like Her Sister

I took the above picture because it looks like something Raegan would do. In fact I thought Raegan had done this until she came in the room and asked who lined up the horses on the Cars book. Then I realized that Karis had done this while she was playing alone in the living room. It was so cute to me because Raegan used to ( well still does) the same thing- lining up animals all in a neat row. This past week or so Karis also started pointing to things ( everything) and saying "what's that?". I always loved when Raegan did this and was sad when she stopped. So when Karis started saying it it was like music to my ears. It is fun to see how Karis is like Raegan and brings back memories of what Raegan used to do when she was Karis' age. They grow up so fast! And it's fun to see that even thought they are not biologically related they are still very similar in a lot of ways. It's also nice to see Raegan and Karis playing together more and more. They still fight and Karis is starting to put up a pretty mean fight these days but they also will go off together and play for longer periods of time. A lot of the time they are getting along when they are doing something they aren't supposed to be doing but these days as long as they are safe I let them play as long as they are getting along. I am confident they will be best buds before long :).

School's Out for Summer

Today was Raegan's last day of preschool for the year. They had a closing ceremony that I went to. I was planning on taking pictures but the other parent's were way more aggressive papparatzi's than I was so I only came away with one not great picture or Raegan holding her certificate. But anyway Raegan had a great year at a new school this year and she is looking forward to going back in the fall for one more year of preschool before ( gasp) kindergarden ( this mommy is definitely not ready for that yet!). I am actually looking forward to the summer with her. Even with her in school just 2 mornings a week it doesn't give me that much time to spend time with her and teach her myself. I am excited to do lots of fun activities before she heads back in the fall! We are so proud of Raegan for doing such a great job and being such a well behaved student this year!

Mother's Day

Every year when Mother's Day rolls around I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to be a mom. And not only am I am mom but I get to be mommy to two wonderful, beautiful precious gifts.. Being a mommy is a tough job, a tiring job but it is the best job and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Today it was nice to be able to go have a little time to myself and to not have to cook dinner and to be given a few gifts like a new vacuum  (yes I know I must lead a boring life to be excited about a vacuum) but I have already been given the only Mother's Day gift I ever need, the chance to be mom.  I am so thankful for the women who gave us the gift of these precious lives. Today I pray for the women who were mothers to my daughters before I was that they have peace in knowing that their children are loved, cared for and cherished. And today I also pray for all women who are waiting and longing to be a mom for the first time but I especially pray for the friends I have met recently who are on similar paths that I was on through infertility and adoption. I know that this can be a really great day for people who are already moms but it can be a really tough day, a hurtful reminder to others who are still waiting to hold their dreams in their arms. I lift these women in prayer today and pray for them to have peace and comfort as they wait. Today I was reminded once again of God's great love and His perfect plan that He is unfolding for my life and I am so thankful for the precious gifts He has given to me. And today I am also very thankful for my own mom who has always loved me, supported me and given selflessly to all of her children and grandchildren. She is a wonderful example of a Godly mother and I am so thankful for her.

A Big Girl Haircut

I am really behind on my posting ( again). I am slowly but surely working on my organizing and decluttering and that includes getting pictures organized so I am hoping that soon I will catch up on my blog and figure out a better system to keep it updated. But that is the explanation for several late posts that I will be putting up!

Anyway I wanted to post about Raegan's first official haircut. I have been trimming Raegan's hair which usually would be done when I encountered tangles that no amount of conditioner was helping. I think had done a good job and Raegan was fine with me cutting her hair. But it got to a point where I thought she could use a professional haircut. I was nervous to take her because I was afraid that her curls would be cut out and be gone! But it was time so we took her. She didn't like getting her hair washed but after that she did really good. And her hair cut looked really cute. Her hair definitely wasn't as curly as it was before her haircut but I think the loss of curls is inevitable. I think eventually her hair will be just wavy. But she looks just as beautiful as ever with her new big girl haircut and we finally reached that milestone of a first hair cut!

The after picture ( I couldn't get a smile :)