Christmas Tree Farm

Yesterday we took Molly to pick out her very first Christmas tree. We went to Lil Grandfather Mountain Christmas Tree Farm with Michael, Nicole, and Cooper (and some of their other family). Molly just LOVES Cooper--she always wants to see him and touch him. Daddy says she's a little too young to be so interested in the boys! :-)

We had a great time and picked out a great tree for Molly's first Christmas at home.

Thanksgiving and Molly's First Steps!

What an exciting day! We had lots of friends and family over for Thanksgiving. Although it was a very busy day for Miss Molly, she loved the attention! She loved it so much that she got really brave and took her first steps!! She's been "cruising," but anytime she lets go, she gets scared. Well, today she got a little braver and was letting go a little more. Then she took her first little steps! So many of our friends and family got to be there! How special! We may have a walker on our hands soon!

Oh yeah--I know I'm cute!

Mommy, you are SO funny!
(I LOVE this picture my friend Tara took!)

So, Molly.....what did you think of your first Thanksgiving?

Anniversary and 13 months!

Brian and I celebrated our four year anniversary on Thursday. We went out on a date last night to celebrate. We left Molly for the first time (with anyone other than Nana)--luckily it was her Auntie Tara and they had a great time. Molly even went to bed for her Auntie with no problems! What a good girl!

We ate dinner at Qdoba (yes, I was given a hard time for Qdoba being our anniversary dinner!) and saw the movie Fireproof. It was SO good! If you haven't seen it yet, you should!

I am so thankful for my husband. He is my best friend I could not imagine my life without him! :-)

In other news, our baby girl turned 13 months old today! Happy 13 month birthday, sweet girl!

It's okay, Mommy! Auntie Tara will take good care of me and you'll be home in a few hours!

A picture first thing in the morning? Really, Mom?
I'm going to be 13 months old for another 29 days!

Coffee Night

A lot of Wednesday evenings, Annie Beth and I meet at Target and do some shopping and have coffee at Starbucks. This Wednesday, Tara joined us which was an extra special treat! Even though I'm not out very long, I look forward to these evenings and always have a great time of fellowship. I think everyone should have a coffee night! :-)

Sweet Lexy

Molly has a good time playing with her cousin Lexy. I took these pictures last Tuesday when I spent the day with both girls. While they are both sweeties, Nana definitely has her hands full every day!

Fun Friday!

Molly had a HUGE play-date today with several of her friends. Mommy also had a play-date with several of HER friends! We had a great time!

Our little stinker! :-)

Our sweet baby girl is learning all kinds of new things! Just this week she has started drinking from a straw! But that's not all she's learned! See the cute little shoes she's wearing in the above picture? Well, this week she has learned how to take them off. And she's fast! She's been taking her socks off for quite some time so we've had to put one sock on then get that shoe on before she can get her sock off. But now that she's taking both her shoes AND her socks off, it's a losing battle! (For Mommy and Daddy!) Just ask our friends Allen and Amy who watched our poor little baby go barefoot for most of dinner tonight because she wouldn't leave her shoes and socks on! I used to complain about little buckles on her shoes--now they are our only option! Little stinker! :-)

Who? Me?

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Tonight we went to our favorite birthday resturant--El Vallarta--to celebrate Chris' birthday. It was great spending time with our family.

Then we went back to Nana's house for cake and ice cream. What fun! Happy birthday, Chris!

November is National Adoption Month

"Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son."
--Ephesians 1:4-6 (The Message)

I wrote this last year about National Adoption Month. I decided to modify it slightly as we now have our beautiful daughter home. :-)

As I'm sure many of you know, November is National Adoption Awareness Month. As we enter into November, I am more excited than ever about adoption. I am so grateful that God has included adoption as a part of His plan. I am so grateful that God has adopted us as His sons and daughters and I am grateful that He has allowed us to adopt our precious Molly. It's easy to think that adoption is only for someone infertile, someone older than you, younger than you, more financially stable than you--but if God has put the call to adopt on your heart, I would encourage you to pursue that call. After all, "you don't have to be a perfect person to be a perfect parent." :-)