My New Life

Gosh … I hate that it’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to blog. I find myself keep thinking … “man, if I only had a few minutes to update my blog right now!” I think that all the stinkin time. I just don’t want any of these amazing first experiences with Josiah to be forgotten! Plus … sometimes I just need a place where I can express myself. I need to get it all out somewhere so I don’t carry a bazillion thoughts around in my head all day long. Alya is watching the little man while I am trying to update ... I think that this is my 8th post today :0) I'm cranking them out! Thank you daddy!

So much has happened since my last few posts of Josiah’s first weeks home with us. Man, those were such precious moments that I will forever hold in my heart. He looks so small in those pictures compared to how big he is now! He will be three months old on Monday … umm excuse me whaaat? Three months old!?!?! How in the world did that happen already? Getting to the day where we FINALLY got to hold him for the first time took FOREVER and EVER and EVER! And now time is going by so incredibly fast! He has gained such a little personality now. He smiles all the time and his little cheesy grin melts my heart every single time.

We have been so blessed by our little man! He has been such a good baby. He hardly ever fusses unless he's hungry or just wants some extra lovin (which of course I am willing to give!) He slept through the night last Friday for the first time and has almost made it a full week of sleeping through the night until last night. But I would say six straight nights is pretty dang good for a 2 month old! :0)

We just found out this past Wednesday that the TPR hearing went well and the judge approved it .... so now we are on our way to finalization! We are still trying to some how come up with the last bit of our adoption fund before we get to that date! We had a big event planned before we even brought Josiah home that was supposed to happen in March and bring in the rest of our needed money, but that kind of blew up in our faces. We don't really know where we are going to go from here. The reason why we even committed to the first adoption that fell through and then also with Josiah's was because we were depending on this event taking place. So, now we are back at square one. We still need over $5,000 before finalization to occur. Being able to fundraise now is even harder than it was before Josiah was here. Alya and I are still working full time and he is also going to school at night plus now taking care of our little man's needs. It's hard to find the time and energy to devote to fundraising ... which leads to stress and frustration. I'm trying to stay positive and keep the faith that God is going to provide. And I know he will ... some how. Yesterday one of my parents sent me a sweet card with $100 in it for Josiah's adoption fund ... I almost lost it in front of all my kids. Just when I start to give up God brings someone into my life that provides that gift of hope again.

Well enough of that fundraising talk ... none of us like that word anyways ... here are some more pictures of my handsome little man!


Josiah was helping mommy cook dinner and fell asleep ... must have been hard work!


my boys taking a nap together


I was helping Alya pull weeds in the front yard and Josiah fell asleep on my lap


little grin :0)


I love this little boy!

Summer break is just weeks away and I seriously CAN. NOT. WAIT. to spend the whole summer with Josiah! I've had to work the past two summers so I am super excited about having this summer off ... and nothing could make it better than being able to spend it with my SON! We are planning a trip to Ohio in July which I am so looking forward to! None of my family have even been able to meet Josiah yet except my mom so it will be a big celebration! Hurry up summer time! And hopefully with the summer coming I will be able to update my blog more. I really love being able to post things frequently but just haven't had the TIME to do it. Maybe with summer vacation I will. :0) My new life as a mommy has been simply wonderful! I am so in love and happy right now!

Josiah Is Two Months Old!

Here are some pictures of my sweet little TWO month old! I can't believe how fast time has flown by!


Two months old!


ohhh!


first time sitting in his bumbo :0)


2 month check up at the doctors. He weights 12.8lbs and is 23in long now!


What a big boy!


he loooooves his bath time now. It relaxes him so much.


Monkey Butt!


He looks like a little man in this outfit :0)


I seriously love love love that little smile. He melts my heart! His mamaw and pop bought him that little onesie ... it says: I still live with my parents lol

Month two has also been amazing. I love his little personality and fall head over heels more in love with him every single day.

Chili's Give Back Night!

We discovered that Chili's will do a give back night for anyone with a non-profit organization! We have an adoption ministry at our church that we worked through in order to have a Give Back Night. It was probably one of the easiest fundraisers that we have done! Chili's gives 10% of each person's bill to what ever fundraiser you are doing. All we had to do was advertise and pass out tickets. I made a Facebook event group and put an add in the paper about our fundraiser night. We also passed out a bunch of tickets (that they made up for us) to friends. We also passed them out at the door before people sat down. It was so fun and super easy! You should totally check out the Chili's in your area and see if they would do a Give Back Night for you and your adoption! The place got so busy we were on a 30 minute wait! Here are some pictures of the night ... wish I would have taken more!


our table at Chili's


my crazy teacher friends :0)


some more crazy teacher friends


church friends


foster parent friend


an old student of mine and his sweet family


church friends


school friends


journey group friends


journey group friend


foster friend

It was a great night and so much fun to get together for such an amazing little treasure! Josiah was passed all around the resterant that night. ;0) We ended up getting almost $300 from Chili's that night. But we were given other donations too throughout the night altogether totaling $600!

Josiah's Room is Complete!

It took a little while but we finally hung up everything in Josiah's nursery. I love love love his room! It's such a happy place and I love it! :0)


Josiah's amazing orange crib


His packed out closet from all the shower love we got!


curtains are now hung


the pictures are all of his new born shoot .. LOVE how this wall turned out!


The amazing craigslist dresser deal I found and then painted to go with his room. :0)


Here is the painting we got from a friend of ours at Josiah's shower.


I took some small canvas', painted them and then hot glued some cute little craft store animals on them.


I stole this idea from April's blog. She made this cute little family tree for her son's adoption finalization day. I LOVED it! And thought that it would be perfect for all of our friends and family to do. They each put their thumb print as a leaf on Josiah's family tree. I brought it to both of my showers. It's so awesome having all the people that have been apart of our journey with us be shown on a little keepsake. We already hung it on the wall ... but I would like to add some little flower finger prints from Josiah in the grass. And I was thinking about getting red paint and making Alya and I's thumb prints create a heart in the middle of the tree.



My other amazingly crafty friend and first college roommie made this awesome frame for Josiah's room. Seriously, so crafty!

I'm almost jealous of my own son for how fun his room is. lol

Pictures Galore of Josiah's First Month!

he was so not happy lol ... getting older is tough!


Josiah's first St. Patrick's Day wearing some super amazing socks. :0)


My sleepy little lion


Josiah's meeting Alya's mom for the first time


Josiah and his "aunt" Sarah at our school's talent show night


Josiah and mommy at the beach. This was his first visit and he did great! He's starting to smile now. :0)


Josiah and daddy at the beach


Oh, how I love him so!


my sleep boy


So happy :0)


Josiah's first Relay for Life!



Josiah fell asleep on daddy's lap.



His onesie says "I blame my parents" lol


smiley boy!


Could he be any cuter???

This first month has been glorious! I've loved how he little personality is finally starting to develop. He definitely knows who his momma is! I've never been happier in all my life!

Showers

Alya and I were so blessed to be given two showers for Josiah. One we had after we had been home from the hospital for about two weeks with our friends from our church. I have some of the most amazing friends ... and the day was perfect, especially being able to share our little man with everyone. We were given some very special homemade gifts for him that I will forever treasure!


cute decorations :0)


tons of friends that came to celebrate our little treasure


my fabulous journey group girls minus one that made this day so special.


more awesome ladies :0)


our awesome friend Shawn who made our cake for us!


how cool is that cake!?!


So this was one of the last presents that I opened ... and the one that made me cry. One of my sweet friends Mindy painted this verse on a canvas for me. It's kind of blurry because I was trying to read it outloud and started crying ... but she found a version of this verse that read: For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27 This particular version of this verse is so special to my heart because little did I know that my heart was praying for this little boy from the very beginning. I couldn't imagine not having him in our lives. I am so in love with him and have never been happier in all my lives.


One of my other amazingly crafty friends Candice made this hoodie towel with Josiah's name on it. You can't see the hoodie part but it has a cute ribbon on it. It's so fun and I can't wait for him to use it when he gets a little bigger. :0)


I think we made out pretty good! So thankful!

The second shower that I had was one at school. My fellow first grade teachers through a school shower for me.


Our gift table


my crazy first grade buddies



Both days were so special to me. It was so great being able to share our little miracle with all the friends that have been apart of this crazy long journey with us. They have watched us jump through every hoop imaginable, seen me fall apart, and then keep fighting all the way to the end. I'm so thankful for such amazing friends.