O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Our newest member, Max (the dog), had his first birthday!  Walt (ok, I have to admit I was really excited too!) was so excited to have a birthday party for him where Max's cousins (Walt's cousin's dogs) came over to celebrate Max.  This precious dog has our family's personality and fits right in with us.  The dogs had a special birthday cake just for them, and I made my first cookie cake for the humans at the party.  The dogs were allowed to bring their human siblings.  Dog cake The honored guests Max got some great gifts! Human cake So proud his dog is 1 year old!

I have not been so good about posting updated pictures of all of us, so here it is!  Of course, Max, as a member of the family, joined in the picture too!

My mom taught me to have and enjoy so many traditions, which is one of my favorite things about the holidays.  We are so blessed to all be together this Thanksgiving Day, and I adore my sweet family! Pumpkin Pie! Blueberry Muffins with Chocolate Milk! Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Walt attempting to take a big bite out of the turkey! Cousin Fun!

I am so thankful for my sweet family...

Happy 40th Birthday to an amazing father and husband!  We love you bunches and forever!

I don't believe you have met the newest member of our family.  He is so much of a member that I wanted to put that as the header to this blog post, but I feared that so many of you would think that we had been chosen as parents for a baby out there. (We are still waiting on the child that God's has planned for us.) But Max has joined our family!  Walt and Max are the best of buds, and we are so glad that they have each other.  We had discussed getting a dog, but we weren't really interested in moving forward with the idea of it, yet.   Then, someone offered to give us Max.  Having him was one of the best decisions we made! Millie (on top pillow) is Max's cousin, and they spent the day together Max driving to spend the day with Gigi and Millie (Max's dog cousin) Nothing like having a good buddy to play with on a sunny day Walt is learning to love and care for Max

Noah and Walt gave me the movie The Sound of Music on blu ray that had all of the extras with it.  It's funny because if you knew me in person, it wouldn't surprise you that I love that movie so much.  I wish that we could walk around singing "The Hills are Alive" all day when we are happy.  This innocence and "why can't we all just get along" mentality is good in so many ways, but in some situations it is good to be able to know that it isn't reality.  I think Noah helps me stay grounded and out of the clouds so much, and he never shies away from answering a question!   Walt, Noah, and I watched it together, and since it was Walt's first time seeing it, I took this picture.  He loved eating apple and peanut butter while watching it.  Later he requested to turn on the movie, and he wanted to keep watching Julie Andrews sing "The Hills are Alive".  One of the first things he learned about the movie was the actress' name, so I think ...

When Noah preaches away at a different church, Walt and I enjoy going to worship with Mimi and Papa.  Walt was incredibly good during the entire service, and towards the end was able to catch a little snap while snuggling with Mimi.  I probably should not have had my phone out during church, but this was too adorable to pass up putting in my future photo book!

Celebrating Magdalena's birthday is always draining emotionally, but this week Walt's excitement over cake made it a little more light hearted.  My birthday is less than a week after Magdalena's birthday, and so we began to prep Walt that we were having more cake and celebrating again!  Birthdays just don't seem the same as when I was young and innocent.  That is what makes having kids around even more fun.....I get to be a kid again, even if it is for a moment.  And every year my age decreases in number instead of increases! :)   The night before my birthday Walt's cousin had her birthday party.  Walt's finger is inching towards that cake!   Walt and Noah made me breakfast the morning of my birthday! Walt smiling for the picture was definitely part of my birthday present!  I love this sweet pic!  But it kept on getting better! We took our picture at the restaurant before we ate lunch together.   What's a birthday without...

Sometimes I look down at Walt and think "You are too big to be mine!".  He has grown so quickly, and I forget he is not my innocent little baby anymore.  Now-a-days his imagination is running wild, and his memory is incredible.  And he remembers what you said in previous days, so Noah and I have quickly learned not to say anything that we don't truly  mean.  At the same time he has learned series of events, so "not now" is acceptable to him....which I LOVE.  I can say first you will take a nap, and then, you can go to Mimi's, and he gets it!  Parenting is tough, but Noah and I have learned that the more we communicate how we handle situations individually, we are on the same page a lot better than just trying to do it on our own.  We are still learning A LOT each day!!  I am so glad that God doesn't give us teenagers initially because I think that it's these days that slowly prepare us for what's coming.  Isn't that how God does it a lot...

Walt LOVES to eat at chic-fil-a, and that makes going even more fun!  Since Noah was working past dinner time, Walt and I had some special dinner time before his swim lessons. This particular moment was priceless because he began to dip his chicken nuggets in his peach milkshake.  I thought it would only happen once, but he continued this until he had finished eating his chicken nuggets!  Maybe I should try this with broccoli?

Unfortunately we don't have any updates on the adoption right now!  We are just in the "patiently" waiting process where we are completely done with all of our steps except for the one where a child is placed in our arms.  We are looking forward to meeting whomever God is calling us to parent, love, and adore!  We have had a lot going on this summer, which has definitely made time fly by way too fast!  Walt is growing at unrecognizable speed, and he makes me aware more each day how important parenting is.  Some things are clear on how to do, but sometimes things aren't.  The idea of praying for my child before I even had children was always there, but now, as we are bringing up Walt, I don't see how we can do it without God's clear guidance.  Walt is a fun little guy who continues to be a blessing to us, and through him God is molding both Noah and me to be the people who He has called us to be.  And as more children enter our lives, I know that G...

If you read comments from my previous post , you will know that my sister Jennifer took all of the pictures during the weekend for me, and I didn't post a single one of her!  So....in honor of her..