Our beautiful blessing!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to find out we are having a little girl! Yes I cried after seeing how beautiful and perfect she was. She was moving all around and posing for some pictures. The u/s tech kept telling Mason he was in trouble already because she kept putting her hands under her chin in a cute little pose already.  Mason spent the day in shock filled with lots of excitement of course....then immediately stressing over what he was going to do with a teenage daughter.

We are all so completely in love already...I can't stop staring at her pictures.

I can't get used to saying 'she' or 'her' either! After having two boys I suppose that will take some getting used to.

Breyton as usual has his priceless input! He has been so excited about the baby in mommy's tummy. He really enjoyed going to see the u/s with us. While in the waiting room we asked him again if baby was a brother or sister? He said it was a brother and he was gonna have '2 boys' (referring to baby D and new baby). Once in the room when we saw she was a girl we were telling him and he was excited of course. However when we got in the car and showed him the picture again he said, "That's not a girl! Her head looks like a boy-there is no hair!" Lol. We explained to him that hair doesn't show up on u/s really and she would have some later on.

Then later at home my mom had bought a sign that says 'Its a girl!' and Breyton was carrying it all around. After a little bit he said, "I'm taking this sign outside. Then everybody will see it and say 'oh, that's where I can get a baby'."

                                          (Excuse his crazy hat........he dresses himself)

    Here is her 'profile shot'..had here little lips moving and her hand under her chin!

This picture below with the balloons was taken at our land..it was kind of a 'flop'. I got this annoucement idea off the internet of course and since my mom came up for the ultrasound we wanted to take her out to see the progress on the house. I never took in to consideration how muddy the land would be from construction and how windy Oklahoma is! It was a great memory as we tried to get the balloons in a row while they blew all over and then before we got a picture baby girl's balloon popped! lol We had a good laugh then gave up:) I did snap this one picture during a calm moment, so I'll save it.

Oh, here is her arm and hand. We had a hard time getting pics of hands or feet beacuse she moved them around too much!

We are on cloud 9 today and I can't keep from having a smile on my face. Just thanking God for another beautiful blessing!

Pregnancy tracker: Week 14

 

Size of baby: Lemon!

Total Weight gain: 2-2.5 lbs...this dress definitely accentuates the baby bump;)

Maternity Clothes: no

Stretch marks: no

Sleep: Little of it! I'm lucky to get 5 hrs most nights. Then no chance for naps usually...I will be well prepared or at least well behind when this baby is born:)

Food cravings: My one craving that has remained consistent is fruit and citrus stuff. This week I had toast with cream cheese as a favorite snack as well!

Symptoms: Just a growing belly..feeling pretty good! This week when I lay flat on my back I can distinctly feel the outline or large lump protruding-that is my uterus of course...kind of neat to me:)

Best moment this week: Most definitely feeling movement for the first time!

Gender: ?....We actually have another ultrasound scheduled for April 29th! I will be about 16 weeks and therefore I may be able to find out boy or girl!!! I can hardly wait:) I still have no intuition one way or the other so I hope he/she cooperates and we get a look!

Movement: about 2 days before I turned 15 weeks (after eating cake=plenty of sugar) I had the chance to lay still and I'm very positive I felt the baby moving around! Just the slightest taps down low right where baby is right now....
So exciting:) about 2 weeks sooner than I did with Breyton.

What I miss: nothing!

What I'm looking forward to: These little movements to become more frequent and stronger of course!....and April 29th! Can't wait to see my baby again, let Breyton see the baby actually looking like a real baby in there, and possibly find out gender. Yay!!

Days like today:)

I needed today.

Today was one of those days that was so wonderful that you pray the whole day moves in slow motion.

Last Saturday was a very hard day for me...blame it on lack of sleep, hormones, exhaustion, or the combination of it all with cranky kids it made for a bad day. I just reminded myself over and over that day that yes 'today is a bad day, but not every day is bad.'

Today was that refreshing reminder that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. That there is no other occupation to which I am called and God is in every day.

All of this is partly due to the fact that it is my hubby's weekend and I love that man:)

Anyways, today we got to spend time with both of our families. Had our first picnic of the day out on Grammy's deck.

Then walked around barefoot in a 'field' of clover. Breyton found a turtle and a big fuzzy caterpillar which he enjoyed playing with. Here is a picture of D thoroughly enjoying picking clovers and eventually rolling around in them.

Today Breyton was "Mustache man" and he sported this mustache proudly all day long.

 

On the hour drive home the boys napped and the hubby and I chatted about the endless list of things we are excited about.

 

Once home we packed our 2nd picnic for the day and headed to the duck pond to enjoy our meal in this perfect weather! Followed up with getting snocones:)

Then anytime Breyton is outside he finds a flower to bring to mommy and today he picked this gorgeous one. He loves it when I put them in my hair and usually requests it now.....

 

 

......Of course Breyton thought baby D needs flowers for his hair as well LOL.

 

Now we have the kids tucked soundly in bed and it's movie time with the hubby.

Thank you God for days like today!

Things to remember: April 2013

Soo..back in January/February we were busy trying to finish up foster care classes, finding out I am pregnant, getting placed with baby D, taking turns being being sick with the flu, buying house/land and then being sick with pregnancy and exhaustion. Therefore, I pretty much stopped doing my monthly posts about the funny, crazy, and sweet things Breyton says or does due to lack of sanity:) haha jk.

Anyways now things are settled down again somewhat as we've adjusted to new routines... I seriously doubt I will be doing them monthly anymore...maybe quarterly haha. Here and there I make mental notes or jot things down, so when I collect a few I'll share. Mostly because I love having these little things to look back on because these moments are priceless and I don't want to forget that.

Most of these random things I post only mean something to me..whether the melted my heart, made me laugh out loud, or cry because my baby is growing up- I will cherish them!

Here's a few from the past month or so....

1) Breyton tells me while laying in his bed one night-"Your my best sweetheart ever". Love it when he says something sweet that's totally unprompted or unexpected.

2) Apparently B has been observing how our life works and when mason left for work one day he stated, "So Dad has to go to work..because you have to stay home and take care of the kids?".

3) A father and son moment:)
Mason informed me one morning that Breyton woke up when he got home from work, so naturally he had our 3 yr old awake playing video games at 2 am...it's all good though bc I actually got to sleep through it and I woke to find them snuggled in B's bed together that morning:)
....Though I did kind of panic when I woke up and Mason was not next to me lol.

4) For some reason the other day B was coloring and calling it 'crayoning' instead. Seemed fitting!:)

5) B was pestering Mason when he was trying to read...So Mason said, "I just want to be left alone for a minute." Immediately B looked at me and said, "daddy is a toy, lets play with him!" Lol

6) We drove down to vote(in a city election) so naturally B wanted to come in with me and I didn't want to get him out bc it was raining and cold....so Mason was trying to talk him out of it and told him you don't want to go in there it's just a bunch of old people. B thought for a quick second and replied, "I like old people."

7) This was the other day after it rained for like 48 hours straight and we walked outside the next morning and B said, "Momma, it stopped raining!! Is God gonna send us brand-new rain soon?"

8) This is Breyton a few mornings ago in his room- "Hurry mom!" (as he is filling his bed with stuffed animals)..."Jesus told me to build an ark and all the animals, you, baby D, have to get on before it rains!"

9) For 3 days straight Breyton pretended to be a police officer and upon waking up one of those days he walked in to the living room (where I was) and said to me, "Say good morning Mr. police officer."

10) Then giving baby D a kiss the other morning he said, "baby D you are the bestest...and you are my favorite!"

Soo sweet:) I won't mention all the times he tries to take D's toy, hits, or says something mean lol...really those are more rare. He truly does love having his baby brother. Breyton gets excited just like an adult when D reaches a new milestone. It's so cute he will shout for everyone to look when D claps, crawls, feeds himself, etc.

As a parent part of me of course wants D to stay a baby forever...but I seriously can't wait till D is talking because I think those two boys conversations are going to be priceless and unforgettable! I look forward to so much with the two of them...soon to be 3 of course!

Here are some random photos....as usual I sooo wish I could share the freakin adorable ones I have with baby D in them!


                  This pose and expression needs the caption....'Hey ladies...'

Stopped to get ice cream after his class one day! He was a little excited!

Wearing a pair of old glasses his Grammy gave him and I jokingly told him to make a 'smart face'...he immediatly did this...which seemed like the perfect nerdy pose lol!

                                                   Sporting a beard at bath time!

Having not a 'tea party' but a 'coffee party' accoording to Breyton with baby D and some stuffed animals. There is not really coffee in the cups lol.

Pregnancy tracker: week 13

Size of baby: Peach

Total Weight gain: 2lbs...the bump is growing though as you can see!

Maternity Clothes: not technically yet..wearing my more loose fitting items most of the time though. I also have to use a rubber band looped through my jeans to make them comfy:)

Stretch marks: no

Sleep: About the same. Not much of it around here between both the boys..but I think I've adjusted because I don't feel so exhausted all the time anymore.

Food cravings: Salsa, salsa, salsa. Fruit. Chili dogs!(since regular hot dogs are supposed to be a no no in pregnancy I went and bought organic nitrate free ones to indulge this craving-very yum still!) Oh, and still lots of pickles and citrus stuff of course:)

Symptoms: not many this week...other than 'round ligament pains' aka growing pains here and there. I've felt pretty good this week and I'm very thankful I can be back to keeping up with the boys a little easier!

Best moment this week: Everything is still going great with pregnancy= me happy! My sis-in-law is pregnant and due just 2-3 weeks after me, so I finally got to see the u/s pic of my new niece or nephew. We are so excited to be pregnant again together and have everything be going smoothly. Can't wait for these baby cousins to be here and grow up together!

Gender: ?... No 'intuition' one way or another. I will be completely surprised either way.

Movement: not positive yet...thinking for sure in the next 2 weeks bc I still keep thinking I might feel a flutter about 2-3 times a week when I'm laying real still.

What I miss: nothing really! Just watching my waistline slowly disappear and that's a good thing!!:)

What I'm looking forward to: Lots of things:) Though at this point I know I'm close to feeling movement, so I'm anxiously awaiting for the moment when I KNOW it's the baby.

Is love blind? Transracial adoption thoughts.

Sitting here feeding D his bottle. It's so easy to stare into his deep brown eyes...they just study my face right back. I look at his beautiful complexion and it makes it so much more apparent how pale I am for this summer:)

He is perfect though, adorable and beautiful, in every way.

Funny, I realized the palm of our hands is the same color. It's so sweet how his palms and the bottom of his feet are so very light in contrast to his skin tone.


You can see the contrast here.


Had an African American lady stop me in the grocery store and comment on how cute D is..then she made the remark, "He looks just like you." And walked away. Still not sure if it was meant in a nice way or otherwise.

I actually get stopped EVERY time I go somewhere with D. It's actually crazy. Thankfully it's never judgmental words people approach me with, but they can't help but come over and tell me how adorable D and B are..and of course usually touch D's wild hair. No one can resist that:) Rarely do people ask the circumstances, so I don't know what they assume.

I do see plenty of judgmental eyes when we go out, but thankfully those are the people that keep their comments or questions to themselves...so far!

Being an interracial family is not something you can just pretend is not there. People still notice skin color and it still matters.

I think the reason some people have a problem with a couple adopting interracially is because they perceive that a child is best suited in a family who looks like him. I'd have to agree. In an ideal world children would stay with their parents or there would be such an abundance of adoptive homes that each child could be with their own race. That's not the case though and sadly African American males are the 'least desired' by couples adopting. If you haven't noticed in foster/adoptive there is a high percentage of caucasian families. Yet there is children of every race in the system. In fact not too long ago when feeling out our paperwork we checked 'no preference' next to gender or race....but in the back of my mind I had a 'preference'. I never voiced it out loud, but my ideal child (I hate to use the term) I thought would be a girl this time around and preferably my race. How limited my view was then and little did I know God had plans to push me outside of my comfort zone and bless us more than I could imagine.

As disgusting as it is to even say some private adoption agencies in the USA actually charge less fees for adopting a black child compared to other races...sort of an incentive.

That alone shows me how racist our country still is.

God's word says it best Acts 17:26 "...and He made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth...." and John 7:24 "Judge not according to appearance but judge righteous judgement."

Though stereotypes remain very strong and even for these precious babies who need a place to belong are labeled from birth. Like there isn't plenty of gangsta white teenagers who are on drugs and in juvy.

My child's race does not determine who he will become.

My family in just this short time has not been confronted by strangers with this harsh reality...that will likely come when D is much older..or maybe we never will be. I don't claim to know all the hurdles we will face.

I know God has blessed us immensely through having baby D in our home. He has a smile that scrunches up his whole face and lights up the whole room. His laugh is contagious and his chubby cheeks are irresistible. I'm so glad my 'ideal child' I conjured up in my head was not placed in our home. I'm glad God chose to stretch us and change our lives.

We still do not know what the future holds and as I've mentioned before it may be while before we do. I want everyone to know I love this child just as my own and can't imagine him better suited for another family...he makes my family so much better by being a part of it.

We may never look alike...and I will never pretend that we do. "Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see.” I simply see a child that is our son and is also Breyton's brother and best friend. He's just family...whom I love like crazy.


So on a very random note I had a cute picture to share:) No matter where you put D in the room he will crawl to the tile to slap it....I suppose because of the noise it makes. It's so funny...not sure why...but before you know it all 3 of them are down there doing it while D laughs hysterically:) Love them!

Pregnancy tracker: Week 12!

Picture taken the day before I turned 13 weeks-more than ready to say good-bye to the first trimester!

Size of baby: Plum

Total Weight gain: about 1.5 lbs still

Maternity Clothes: no

Stretch marks: no

Sleep: Not so great this week. One night B was wired till after 10 then I finally get to bed to have baby D wake at 1, 3, then 6 for the day....partly due to bad congestion...though he's getting better! Makes for a tired mama still. Hopefully next week will be a little better:)

Food cravings: Fruit still...beginning of week 12 I had a hard time finding things that sound good. Eating was sort of a chore bc I stould in the kitchen half the day searching for something! lol These other random things sounded good all week-potato chips, pizza, pickles, chocolate milk, sno-cones, and citrus stuff.

Symptoms: occasionally nausea still and a growing belly...and terrible back pain. I know your thinking already? I don't think it's the pregnancy really so much, but just a combination of being pregnant and carrying a very chunky baby D around all the time.

Best moment this week: Went to my 12 week check up with my midwife and got to hear our baby's heart beating strong. Love it... Always reassuring!

Gender: ?

Movement: not yet really....Though once or twice I thought I felt the slightest flutters when laying down at night. I didn't feel any movement that I was sure was Breyton until 17 weeks, so I don't expect much quite yet. However, I think it will be soon!

What I miss: I still have my coffee cravings. Really just need to buy some decaf, so I can have it whenever I want...I just always forget at the store lately!

What I'm looking forward to: Feeling some movement that is undeniably this little one! Feeling the kicks and rolls is definitley my favorite part of pregnancy. This time around I can't wait for Breyton( and D )to feel it as well!


                                                       Hello second trimester!!!!

Exploring our homesite.

We drove out the past two days just to visit our land and see what progress has been made. Now that its not just a dense forest and our house pad is down we were actually able to walk around all of our lot and get a better vision of what our yard will be like:) Makes it even more exciting to see because its even more perfect for us than I thought! There is a creek bed the runs on the back side of our lot and so many trees and things to explore. Breyton already loves being out there and we have to bribe him to leave lol.

The above picture is the whole fam standing on our future home site:) Breyton is eating cookies that our already awesome neighbors brought us to welcome us. So blessed to have already met them twice and know that we will get along with our new neighbors. Plus they have a little boy who I can tell will have fun playing with my two boys. Neighbors are a big deal(meaning whether you get along or not) and at our old house and now at the new place we have been blessed to call them friends!

B was loving all the dirt and cut down trees. He was quite filthy by the time we left.

Mason and B standing on back side of our lot..pretty sure by that tree to the left is where I eventually want to have a tree house for the kiddos-it's got great branches for it!

The boys down in this cleared off spot that I have lots of ideas for. We will have lots of cleaning up to do as far as clearing off brush and thorn bushes to 'clean' the place up a little, but we are looking forward to working on our future yard!

Anyways those are just random pics from hanging out there yesterday..I know watching the house go up and it all come together will be a blessed opportunity...especially as long as it all goes up before baby is due lol. We definitely give God the credit for leading us in taking this apartment job, selling our house, then guiding us to this neighborhood and this lot! I feel so blessed that we will be able to watch our kids grow up here!

Pregnancy Tracker: 11 weeks

 

Size of baby: Lime...I just happened to have one in the kitchen due to my lime/salt cravings so I included it in the pic!

Weight gain: 1-1.5 lbs. My bump usually looks bigger than it is in this picture...must be because black is slimming lol.

Maternity Clothes: no..but I have been wearing leggings and skirts more often lol.

Stretch marks: no

Sleep: eh, been a little better.

Food cravings: Fruit, Mexican food, cereal.

Symptoms: My morning sickness has been better thankfully! It doesn't last all day and is only in the mornings occasionally.

Best moment this week: Feeling a little better and getting back to being productive...also a slight bump starting to slowly appear! Breyton is so sweet though he talks about how he wants TWO babies(baby D and a new one lol). He will come hug my belly and say he is keeping the baby warm:)

Gender: ?

Movement: not yet

What I miss: Nothing really. I had a cup of coffee one time this week and it was delicious... so it will be a rare treat ill have on occasion!

What I'm looking forward to: I'm 12 weeks tomorrow! I always take my pic the last day of that week bc somehow taking 1 picture a week is difficult lol. My next dr appt is less than a week away...that's always exciting:)