Christmas Activity List

Thanksgiving is closely approaching so I thought I would post what I have so far for our Christmas Activity List this year (in no particular order):
1. Operation Christmas Child boxes
2. Gifts for children in foster care
3. Decorating Christmas Cookies with Mamaw (my mom)
4. Christmas train ride with Santa
5. Hot chocolate and driving around looking at lights in neighborhood
6. Mega Cavern light tour
7. Pictures with Mall Santa
8. Truth in Tinsel daily Bible verse & craft for 25 December days
9. Unwrap Christmas book every night
10. Put ornaments on the Christmas tree




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Adoption update

Today we got an email update that we moved to # 15 on the wait list!



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Hippotherapy

Bennett has recently started hippotherapy (fancy word for horse therapy) for physical therapy. He has completed 2 weeks of it. I knew he would like it eventually, but I didn't think he would love it immediately. Boy was I wrong. Bennett LOVES it! Bennett has a strong hatred/ fear of cows (random) and I thought that would effect his feelings about horses but nope. It's a nice middle of the week treat for him to go to horse therapy now. He gets to ride for about 30mins a week.




















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Big News

I'm not very good at keeping secrets from "social media", but I'm pretty proud of myself this time. I have kept this one since March of this year! We have told some family and a few friends so far. I think now is as good a time as any to announce we are adopting again! Yep, you read it right. We are adopting again! We have felt God's call for us to adopt again ever since going to Ethiopia the first time to bring home Bennett. In fact we had already told our agency we wanted to start again when we found out we were pregnant with Brayden. We took that as a sign that we should wait to adopt. We had just began discussing adoption again when I surprisingly found out we were expecting Bristol! Now we know God was wanting us to wait until now to adopt again.

We are adopting from Ethiopia again. We love Ethiopia. We love the people. We love the culture. We have seen the faces of children that need families there. We know God has called us back to Ethiopia.

We are adopting a Baby Girl this time. We are so excited. We are thrilled Bristol will be able to grow up with a Little sister to have as a best friend like I did.

We are also nervous! Having 4 kids will be an adjustment. Leaving our 3 at home for 2 trips to Ethiopia makes this mommy sick. I hate leaving my kids.

We are using Lifeline Children Services as our adoption agency this time. Everything in the process is different than when we did it 4 years ago for Bennett. It has been nice to have our agency be just a few miles down the road and have familiar faces in it :)

With Bennett's adoption we did not have to wait for his referral. This one we will be waiting about a year or more. Our dossier got to Ethiopia a few weeks ago and we were given our first wait list #. I am guessing it will be 18 months or more before bringing home our baby but only God really knows the timeline. I am at much more peace this time around with the unknowns!

With Bennett's adoption it only required one trip to Ethiopia for about a week. This time it will require 2 trips of that length. Both of us will travel for the first trip. The second trip Brian may stay home with the kids, we will see closer to time.

I plan on updating here on the blog more frequently about the process. Please keep us in your prayers through the process and that we will be patient and accepting of whatever timeline God has planned out. Also pray for our little girl wherever she may be and whenever she may be born, for protection, love and nutrition while she is out of our hands. Also for her birth family and whatever they may be encountering in the next few years.

I'm going to see how many people read the blog and not post the news directly on Facebook ;)
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Disney on Ice

We took the kids to see Disney on Ice the other night. On the way we stopped and ate dinner at McAlisters. While there i went to change Bristol's diaper and realized she had a total blow out all over her Cinderella outfit. I did not have a spare outfit so she had to leave in a diaper. Therefore a quick trip to Target before going to Disney on Ice. They loved it. When they first came out Bennett kept yelling "Goofy ! Goofy !" My mom and stepdad met us there to see the show. The kids danced and clapped throughout the whole show. It's so fun to watch them enjoy things like that.















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Bennett school trip to zoo

Bennett's school decided to have a family day at the zoo this year. They made matching shirts at school. We all went. Bennett had a blast hanging out with his BFF, Reese. They rode in the wagon together all day and her brother rode with us the whole day. It was fun to see all of his friends from school and get to spend time as a family together.














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First Day of School

This year Bennett is going to the same school as last year, four half days.Brayden is going to a different preschool two half days. Bennett is 4 years old and Brayden is 2 years old. Bristol is staying home with Mommy!Here are their 1st day of school pictures...can you figure out which one does good with pictures and which one does not?

 

Bristol and I enjoyed a special trip to Target alone while the boys were off to School.

Brayden had been talking about school for along time. He was excited to go. He changed his mind on the way to school and thought that staying home was a better idea. Once we got there he did okay though. He likes his new teacher and he really likes that his class has a hamster now.

 

Bennett was a little thrown off by going to a different room with a new teacher in it. I bribed him with getting to see his BFF Reese in class. He eventually got used to the idea and was okay once he saw Reese. After school Daddy asked Bennett if he had school the next day and he responded "no school. See Reese-eee here!" That was his longest sentence to date. So proud of him and how far he has come.

 

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Kentucky State Fair 2013

Every year we take the journey to the Kentucky State Fair. Our cousins, Mackenzie and Lynnsey typically show goats at the fair. We had lots of fun this year. The kids and Brian ( who tends to get annoyed with all the people at the fair for a whole day) did really well this year.

We played games! Brayden and Mommy won the giant purple monkey on the water gun game. The bats were won on the throw a baseball and see how fast you pitch game. Some little stuffed animals won on a kiddie fishing game and some in a little basketball game.

She loves her Daddy.

Bristol enjoyed the fair food more than anyone I think! She loved the corn on the cob (just like her mommy).

Brayden and his TeeTee with corndogs.

Bristol just loves Mackenzie!

The kids loved seeing Mackenzie and Lynnsey again.

Bray enjoyed the goats.

 

Bennett...not so much!

Bennett has an extreme fear of cows at the fair.

Nothing a little iPad and cotton candy can't cure.

We sure turned a lot of heads pulling all the kids around in the train wagon.

 

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Bristol 14 months

Its been way too long since I updated. Bristol is a wild woman. Se tries to keep up with her brothers and does a pretty good job at it!

She is a climber just like Bennett and Brayden. She makes is all the way to the top of our playground in the backyard and climbs the ladder on her own. She can climb on the couch and several other things.

She has been in 4 pageants. We have been having fun doing this. It gives me a chance to hang out with just her and my mom and sister as well. We are starting to learn the ropes.

 

 

I took her paci away about 5 days ago. It has been hard but not too bad. She has slept great and not missed a beat on that. The car rides are harder and it's harder to have to hear the whining during e day. But I know that it is best in the long run to get this over with the younger she is. It's sad for me to think the last thing making her a baby is now gone. She is such a big girl.

She is starting to talk more. She can say: mama, dada, braybray, stinky, cracker, dog, uh oh, thank you, and tries to mimics words often. She also shakes her head no.

She understands and can follow simple instructions way sooner than what the boys did.

She loves babies and baby dolls.

She still does good at church nursery and being dropped off, unlike Brayden at that age.

 

She always is standing in her high hair and hardly will sit now , ugh I forgot how early that started.

 

Se is starting to turn into a daddy's girl, boo :(

 

Look at how well she is holding that crayon!

 

She is so opinionated and knows just what she wants!

 

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