Sola Deo Gloria

Christmas happenings and into the New Year

2012-01-14T21:36:00.000-06:00

Happy 2012

We woke and started our drive to Panama City, Florida (or Grandma City as Skyler called it) at 5 am on Friday, 12/23. We were shocked that Skyler stayed up the whole 13 hour drive. I guess he was really, really excited and we were pleasantly surprised that he did really good on the long drive. He was excited when we drove into Louisiana and asked if we were close to Panama City...Ha if only it was that close. When we hit Mississippi he asked who Mrs. Sippi was, it took us a second to figure out what he meant, then we couldn't stop laughing. He started laughing too, which made it even more funny. And, I think we were all sleepy.

Sky was shy for about five seconds after he met each new family member and then it was like he had been there his whole life. He loved everyone but he really loved his grandpas, he would follow them around and want to play. We have some great pictures.

We had fish, shrimp and oysters one night. On the way home we asked Skyler if he wanted to try one. He said "I'll have to look at it first". He saw Momma Dot and Pop Pop eat one, and he watch Pop Pop shuck them. He finally decided to try one, it was so funny, he bit it and chewed a few seconds. Then he could not swallow it, so we let him spit it in the trash. He said I swallowed the juice and didn't like it. HA ha, he is braver than I am, I only eat cooked oysters.

He loved going to the beach, it was a bit to cold to go to far into the water, just ankle deep on a sunny day. He just cannot wait to go back to Florida in the summer to go swimming. He asked about swimming a lot.

Skyler didn't want to come back home, he was so disappointed that he had to come back with us. He slept a lot on the way back. He would wake up and ask "Are we still in ....(he would say the state he fell asleep in)" It was just like I used to do on road trips. All three of us were in one or another stage of having a cold/cough on the way home. We were all (including Vern) car sick by the time we pulled into the driveway.

First week we were back Skyler had a fever on friday so he stayed home, come to find out he has strep throat. Boo!! Thankfully Scott and I did not get it. Whew dodged that sickness.

We are on to the next adventure and I'll have to explain it another day.

Pre-Christmas

2011-12-17T13:39:00.001-06:00

Skyler has his last week of school this week. He can't believe it is his last week of school for this year...He is still trying to grasp the concept of a new year.

He has been a little naughty the last couple of weeks. I asked him today which list Santa has him on, he looked at me, looked down, then back at me and said "The Naughty List" with the saddest face he could muster. It is totally true, but I felt bad for him...a little bit. I think it is totally normal for kids to go a little coo coo around Christmas, but some of the things he has pulled there is no excuse.

We went to see The Trains last Saturday, it was really cool and the admission goes to the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas. We met another couple there, Kevin and Maureen, they have four sons, three of which are close to Skyler's age. Anyway there were all kinds of trains and different scenery's like the Grand Canyon, New York, and the Dallas Fair. The boys were a little over whelmed when we first went in, but they started noticing all the different scene's and moving parts. They were all really cute.

Aren't they just the Cutest things you've ever seen?

After lunch we went to Half Price Books and Skyler saw another Santa, this Santa was so funny and really took time to talk to the kids. Skyler said "He was the real Santa" I'm not going to post this picture yet, so the Grand Parents can see it first. :0) But here is Skyler with a Santa Hat.

Last Sunday after Church and rest time, Scott recruited Skyler to help in the yard. They cut down some limbs in the front yard (which is why I think Skyler was wearing his bike helmet). When I got home they were still dragging all the limbs to the back yard, cutting them up and burning them in the fire pit. Skyler or should I say Crash Test Skyler was running and jumping into the tree limbs. I don't think he realized that a pile of leaves are totally different than leaves still on the tree limbs. He loved it and I cringed every time he jumped into the limb/leave pile.

Yesterday, Friday Skyler's class had a party. They had a big snowman cookie with icing and other decorations to make their own snowman. They had cupcakes, fruit, cheese, crackers, some meat slices and carrots. Most of you probably know the kids went for the snowman cookies and cupcakes. Then they realized that they could cram the icing in their faces and it went all over their face and mouth. I think if I had not been there, Sky would have had icing in his hair too. HA. Here are some pictures below.

Sky gave his snowman eyes and ears,

but it looks like four eye's.. :0)

We'll post more Christmas pictures and activities in the next week or two.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T11:30:00.001-06:00

First Thanksgiving with Skyler

The Kindergartner's had a Thanksgiving Parade in the school. They were cute and all shy since the parents were lining the hallways. I ate lunch with Skyler and met a few of the kids in his class. And, one special girl he announced was "My Bella", then he turned red and gave me the shy, cute smile. HUM... I think he is a bit young to call any girl his. He was so excited that I came to lunch, I was too.

Skyler in the parade

He wanted to show off the necklace he made.

Thanksgiving ~ We went to Uncle Will and Aunt Michelle's house for Thanksgiving. We ate, relaxed, fished, spent time with family, and went to a Christmas Light Parade. Skyler loved the thanksgiving hat I found for him, below.

Big cheesy smile. He didn't sit in front of the fire for long

"It's HOT!!!"... lol, he jumped up right after I took his picture.

We went fishen', "With WORMS!!!!"

Skyler loved fishing with worms,

and telling everyone else that was near us.

Skyler loved it, we all had fun!

Skyler got his first kiss, and face slap....from a fish.

To bad I didn't catch those on film.

It was a whole family event.

This was one of the highlights for Skyler, looking for worms.

He was so proud

Scott, Skyler, Forrest and Ethan sitting

and waiting for the parade to start.

They had a few big trees around the square.

Skyler sat on Scott's shoulders for most of the parade.

He walked funny all the way back to the car, his

leg's went to sleep. "My leg's feel funny, Why???"

Skyler has really settled in, and for the most part his emotions have shifted. We have not seen the anger/rage in awhile. I think that he was unsure if we were really going to go to court and keep him, so he was pushing every button possible. Every once in awhile, I'll catch a glimpse of something in his eyes that he is not ready to reveal. He may not even realize it is there, but we will be here when he is ready to let it out. He is so, so excited about Christmas. He is ready to meet the rest of the family. I don't know if they are ready for him, little speed, fire ball of energy. HA!

Scott's Birthday and Our Court Date!!!!

2011-11-12T20:46:00.000-06:00

Skyler was so excited that he got to celebrate Dad's birthday. Sky helped me make a cherry pie, my first pie. The crust on the top didn't look very pretty, but it tasted really good, success!! :o) We also cut out "Happy Birthday" out of construction paper, and we (I) blew up balloons and we taped them on the wall. Sky wanted to surprise Dad. He ran upstairs to get something and Dad ended up surprising Sky, it was funny. We learned not to put birthday candles in the pie...they melt...ha ha. Vern had a great time too, Dad let him pop all of his balloons. Sky held his ears and laughed the whole time, it was so funny!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Sky wanted to blow the candles out so bad.

Sky was so excited last Sunday, we traveled to Dad's school, DBU. We walked around and took some pictures. Then we went to the hotel and he slept on another Transformer Bed. Vern slept with him at first, but Sky is such a wiggle butt, Vern left and slept next to Momma. None of us slept very well we were all to excited about the next day.

The chapel at DBU it is beautiful!

We woke up early on Monday and met Great Aunt Michelle and Great Uncle Will for breakfast. We left thinking we had plenty of time to get about 2 miles down the road, but we didn't realize there are about 15 lights in between, and we hit a few red lights. We park in front of a beautiful court house, walked all the way around to it and then we found out it is the wrong one. Boo! At least there was a lady there who pointed us to the correct building (which was on the same side of the road we parked on).
We finally get in and have to go through security.....man.... I wore my high heals that buckle, what was I thinking? HA. Up to the fifth floor and the lawyer was waiting on us, we were 15 min late, we were supposed to be there at 7:45 am. We only had two more papers to sign, and he preped us on the questions he was going to ask.

We went into the court room, just on time :o). All this time we have been waiting, praying, filling out paper work, talking with CPS and our Agency and it only took 2 1/2 minutes for the adoption to be final. How crazy is that? There were a few other couples waiting and they all had cute babies. The judge told Scott he could put Sky up on the bench so the judge could see him. Sky got really nervous and talked in his cute/shy voice. The judge also let Sky hit the gavel to make it official, really cute. I am so glad we had someone taped it so we could remember everything that happened, and that Uncle Will took some pictures for us. Our lawyer did ask Sky if he was going to obey us for the rest of his life and he said Yes (we have this on video, ha ha ha). I think all of us were really nervous. We got back to the hotel around 9 am and we were all exhausted.

Sky making it official

Yay it's official!!!

After we rested for a little while, we headed out to watch the cattle drive in Ft. Worth. Sky thought it was "So Awesome!!!!" that the bulls walked down the road, and the police man road a horse....lol. The animals are so beautiful.

We put Sky on the train tracks...

there was no train, don't worry.

Sky being a happy cowboy

This is his don't mess with me look,

it is quite funny!!

Scott and Sky made Sausage Balls last night, YUM my favorite!! Sky says Saw Shege Balls.....lol

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving making Indian vest, and some turkey cut out thing. And, we are so excited for Christmas this year, we put the tree up today...yes today. I love, love Christmas and this year I had helpers to put the tree up! I love having Sky, he gets Scott involved a little more than normal. :0)

This next week Sky's class is supposed to have a parade in the school. If I can get some pictures of them I'll post them next week sometime. I believe they are supposed to be Pilgrims and Indians.

First tooth is coming in pretty good.

The one next to it is on it's way.

What Just Happened?

2011-10-20T09:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday morning we went to the dentist.

Sunday at church, Sky said I have a bump in my mouth. We looked at it when we get home and the top of his adult tooth has already come out from the gums. What? His baby tooth was solid like a rock. We had a dental appointment, perfect timing. Sky is super excited he has a tooth coming in and about the dentist visit (if yall didn't know he wants to be a dentist when he grows up, he is very instant about it).

We go to the dentist everyone is super nice and really good with him. We take ex-rays, they apply a sealant and we end up pulling TWO teeth. Tooth number 2 is coming in like tooth number 1. Sky had no clue until the assistant asked if he wanted to take them home for the tooth fairy. Then he walked out staring at the teeth in the package, with the look of "What just happened?", "How did they get my teeth?"... it was so funny.

I asked him when we got in the car, "Do you still want to be a dentist?" his mouth was full of gauze, so he nodded yes, with a mumbled sound.

Glasses for the bright light,

cool cherry clown nose for the laughing gas,

and mouth full of gauze...priceless!!

Can you see the new tooth #1?

Tooth #2 is almost out too.

He is SO Excited!

The package has his teeth in it.

Momma Dot & Poppa used to use a smaller pillow to put the tooth/teeth under.

Makes it easier for the Tooth Fairy. Good Idea!

Dad bought a new book, that Glows in the Dark!!!

Pretty Cool!

This morning: He was so excited to see his dollar, he made a song about it. "I got a dollar, Yeah!" lol.

"My Other Cozens!!"

2011-10-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

Skyler was so nervous and excited about meeting his cozens from Florida. We have a little book of pictures, so he knew what they looked like. I think he was excited that he has more cozens and this was the first time he would meet them, Aunt Laura and Uncle Heath. The weekend went by fast and they all had a great time. Skyler was worried about them when they left, if he would see them again, and if we were going to eat with them ect... Here is a play by play...

Thursday they dropped in for dinner and we had a fun crazy Hat night...

Laura and Audrey

John, Meg and Sky

John and Sky (funny face...ha ha)

John, and Heath

Scott...didn't want a pic... lol

Meg, Scott and Sky

Friday we went to Magic Time Machine Restaurant. Sky, John, Meg and Audrey all got Bubbly drinks. Sky's was "Ugly" ha ha

Sat Morning they all came over for Breakfast.

They colored the animal mask they liked best.

John - Lion, Meg - Ostrich, Sky - Saber Tooth, Audrey - Monkey

Then we went to the fair. We watched and listened to the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. They were so good, afterward we got to talk with the guys/girls and look at the instruments. I also got to visit with an old friend, Lee who travels, records, takes pictures, mixes sound ect....

Kids went Farming at the Fair, it was so cute!

Sunday we went Swimming. 1...2...3..Jump!!!!

The pool was a bit cold for Laura and I. Heath and the kids swam in the pool and then would come visit us in the hot tub.

Berrrr, cheese smile... lol

After swimming we had dinner at Fuzzy's (Taco's...Yummy!). Skyler and Megan were trying to say tongue twisters. Megan is pretty good at it already, and Skyler can get a few of them..."Daddy Draws Doors"...say that one fast. He was really sad to see them go and wanted to clime in their van. When he realized we'll see them again in a few months he was excited.

Lets Go Back to the....

2011-09-30T13:45:00.000-05:00

First Weekend of September

The first week of September is normally a big deal, because it is our Anniversary which sometimes falls on Labor Day. :-)

During some of our anniversaries, we have been evacuated from Hurricane Katrina, moved from Richmond, VA to Dallas, TX and this year our A/C and a water main cracked (plus we have our five year old son, who is still not quite sure he believes we are his forever family). Katrina by far out weighs everything else, and as we all know each year has it's own complications. Back to what happened this year. Our a/c went out on Saturday night, during one of the hottest summers we have ever experienced. Thank God this weekend was the weekend the weather got cooler. So, we thought we could tough it out. Sunday after we got home from church and fellowship with our Sunday School class, we were eating Ice Cream on the back porch enjoying the cool breeze. Scott went inside to take a call and Skyler started saying water was coming out of the drain. Next thing I know Scott yells "Chrissie Come Here".... I go to the front of the house and there is water everywhere and it is coming from under the bushes. As we have come to find out each state/city is different. Our main water turn off has always been in the house, that is until we moved here. The main water turn off is under lock and key in the front of our drive way. We now know you can purchase a key and keep in your home (which defeats the purpose of the key, right?). Anyway, I went back inside found the number to call, Scott called and Skyler is at the door saying "I didn't do it". I turned to look at him and he has mud all over the front of his body and on his face. Apparently Vern got him first...Ha Ha! So I told him, he could go play in the mud. I thought why not and it will keep him in the back yard. Skyler and Vern had so much fun, and both got a bath outside.....using the neighbors hose. So funny! Skyler announced "I like taking a bath outside!"
Our friends were kind to let us stay at their home for Sunday and Monday night. Longer story short, on our Anniversary (this year the day after Labor Day) we had the A/C man in the back of the house, the plumbers digging in the front. A neighbor came by and said "Looks like yall are having a bad day", he didn't know, we have learned to expect the unexpected. Ha ha.

Hope yall enjoy the pictures.

This is how it started

Mud, Boy, Dog....What could be better?

He is pretending to be a monkey, sound and everything

Ornery face

Soooo Muddy!

Shower outside using neighbor's water, :0)

Just about clean

First Weeks of School and ect...

2011-09-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

August and September....Flying by!!!

Skyler enjoyed his first weeks of school. His first week of school there was birthday celebration for four of the five days. Thankfully this has not continued. The school does not allow cakes or food of any kind any more, so of course some smart parent decides to send little trinkets. The first one was a whoopee cushion, and yes Skyler absolutely LOVED it.

A few weeks ago our friends invited us over to their house to swim and celebrate a birthday. They have four boys, three which are close to Skyler's age. Their boys were so sweet and they all said "HI SKYLER" at about the same time. We cannot wait to get all of them together again. There were also three girls, which was ok (per Skyler).

Picture of them all eating icey's. Skyler's was Blue, can ya tell?

Dad and Skyler were given tickets to go to the Bronco vs Cowboy football kick off game. Skyler was very upset that Dad and I both don't care for the Cowboys and actually wanted the Bronco's to win. Anyway, Skyler loved the magic tricks, the balloons, and face painting the best and the game was ok too.

He also got to meet Ronald McDonald

We had some new friends visit. They are soooo cute! Skyler didn't want to share his stuff and then realized what Brothers and Sisters would be like. He did share, but it was under a little protest.

We made the largest plastic cup tower ever!!!!

Skyler also go to go to a Rangers game with some other friends from Church...also soooo Cute!
We need to find some more Boy's to be friends with Skyler...lol.

We have heard that our court has been moved up here and we are now waiting to hear from our lawyer about Adoption Dates. YAY we are getting closer and the good news is it is going by fast.

Please continue to keep our family's transition in your prayers as we are all still learning about one another.

3 Months.... What

2011-07-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Here we are at three months (crash coarse in parenting a 5 year old).

Skyler has continued to soak up all he can and has learned so much. He can now Jump Rope 20 times in a row, What?? Which means he figured out how to cheat, flipping the rope around slower and stepping over it....lol. He can jump rope normal, just once then he has to reset everything and jump again, so the other way seems more productive... ha ha.

The other day we were outside, he is just getting to where he likes going outside (Scott and I never had this problem when we were little....it was kinda weird a kid not wanting to play). Anyway, after he road his bike, scooter, and jump roped, he found some dead snail shells, (they were just empty) he buried them, then said "Goodbye". At bed time he prayed that the snails were with God and playing with Him. So cute!!

We have had our monthly/weekly agency visits, CPS visits, therapy visits and CPS calls... who said adopting was easy.... right? Sometimes I wonder how anything can get done, when communication is not so great. Before I get on a soap box, let's change the subject.

Skyler has gone above and beyond what we were expecting, or should I say what we were told about him. I know that he is a great kid. But, we still have some days that are just bad. One time I asked him "What just happened?" and he said "I am just in a Bad Mood", I thought, well yeah, I already figured that out...lol. Most of the time I am good at not laughing or smiling when he needs to know that something is not ok, but it was hard not to when he said that. In June early July we started a sticker a day for good behavior. If he gets two in a row he can either get a prize or get something back that has been taken away. Right now we are working on getting things back. Yesterday he got the majority of his books back, the only books I didn't take out was his Bible,10 Commandments book and I don't want to go to sleep book. I figured he needed to hear those the most, lol.

Yesterday we went into a store that has Christmas stuff up and Yes I said Christmas. We went up and down the aisle's and apparently Skyler has never seen a big Christmas tree (above two feet)...I can not wait to put ours up!! Anyway, he started singing Jinker Bells, Jinker Bells, it was funny. We have a clip of him singing Jinker Bells and Ho ho ho, Ho ho ho, HO HO HOOOO, in the bathtub.

Skyler is all ready for school. We have all the supplies we need and his clothes are just fine until he grows out of them. He knows he goes to school in August and August starts next week. But, I am not sure if he gets the days/weeks yet. I am excited for him and I have to say it is kind of weird to say I have a kid in school. Only being a Mom for three months, ya know. So here we come, onto the next adventure.

These two are from the 4th.

This was last sunday at lunch.

A couple of First

2011-07-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write these down before I forgot.

The Sunday before last....yes 6/10/11 we went Bowling. Now Skyler has never bowled before in a real bowling alley. He has played bowling on Wii (which he tells us is not a Video Game... ha ha). Anyway Scott would help him, and the bumpers were up when it was his turn. Skyler would bowl, then spin around to his left, squat down and jump up, lean and wave his arms around, he had plenty of time to all of this since his ball was not even 1mph, lol, quite funny. I have to admit I was worried that the ball would not make it down the alley. I think the fastest was about 3mph. I have videos, below is one of them.

Saturday 6/16 we went fishing. Skyler and I, were catching catfish left and right and poor Scott had to help us take them off. I don't mind bass or any other fish, but Catfish are a little creepy. All of the fish we were catching were little. Before we left Scott said "Just one more, then we'll leave" and of coarse that is when he caught the biggest fish of the day. So he had to cast again, right? And, he caught another big one...ha ha Skyler loved it. We didn't bring anything to take the fish home so we were catching and releasing and Skyler was ok with that. When we put the fish back in the water and they splashed us he would say "Take That!" as if the fish were splashing us on purpose. Cute. He really liked fishing and didn't want to leave, he asked "Can we go tomorrow?" when we said no he asked "What about Monday?" the next one was "I want use WORMS next time" Here are some pictures.

Dad's Big fish

The Boys

This was the second big catfish Scott caught.

When he pulled the fish up to take it off, it flipped right off the hook and got himself back in the water.

"Go Catfish Go"

The last First is, we went to a Rough Riders Baseball game "A Real Big Game" as Skyler put it. Someone gave us tickets to go and I personally love this field. Skyler loved it, but was disappointed that we didn't catch any fly balls. Towards the end Skyler picked up that you can dance and/or act funny to try and get on the "BIG Screen"....we'll have to keep an eye out next time we go. :0)

This picture turned out better.

Two Months and One Week

2011-07-11T11:25:00.002-05:00

So I think I am doing pretty good just to write something once a month... although I am sure some of you wish it was more often.

Skyler is super excited to start school in August and has asked what month we are in...almost every morning. School will be here before we know it and I'll have to remind Skyler that he was excited at one time to go to school.

Skyler says that he wants to go to China with Dad and I so he can get a cross like Dad's. While in China Scott found a man carving wood necklaces, the man only had one cross and Scott bought it. The crazy thing is Scott has been looking for a cross necklace for about four or five years and we never would have guessed he would find the one he liked in China.

We got a little pool (about two feet deep and ten feet in circumference), at first Skyler did not want to do anything but stand. But, now he can swim, kinda doggy paddle with his arms and kicks with his feet, not to pretty, but he gets around. All of that to say his confidence has really grown. He used to say he can't do anything, but now he at least tries. We went to a friends Big Pool, by the end of the day he was jumping in the shallow end with no float...trying to make a cannon ball...lol.

Skyler loved that he got to stay up way past his bed time for the 4th of July. I don't know if he really watched the fireworks though, since he talked and asked questions the whole time. He loved that he and Dad got to sit next to one another and that he got to have a glow in the dark necklace.

The other day he told Scott that he missed his old friends and foster mom. Scott told him that it was ok and natural to miss them. It was sad to hear him say that and his little voice got all quivery and he started to tear up. But it is good that he knows he can talk to us about stuff like that and he is starting to open up with his feelings and things that have happened to him.

Skyler started summer advanced T-Ball. They throw three pitches to the kids and if they don't hit the ball, then they get to hit off the T. Pretty good idea, huh? Skyler is doing really good and is super happy that he is on a team. Skyler was told before that he is Left handed, but he clearly is Right handed. He has only batted Left handed, that is until now. We were playing whiffle ball and Scott and I took turns batting on both sides. To Skyler's amazement he can bat Left and Right handed.

Skyler at a game, he was so excited that Dad

and I were there to watch him. (He told

Dad that he didn't think I was coming, so he was SO, so

excited when he saw me taking pictures of him)

Shark Face...lol

Before we went in the Big Pool

Mrs. Becca asked Skyler to keep the ball up high,

so the girls could get sunscreen on...they didn't like it.

Skyler did so well with them and he loved that they watched

him swim and tried to copy him....that he could teach them something.

Scott and I nicknamed Skyler little mocking bird. For us it was quite an adjustment having a little one follow and repeat everything you do and say. Which we know is good and quite normal, however we kind of threw ourselves into it. Skyler has reminded us that we are supposed to repeat and follow Christ everyday and that HE is pleased with us when we do follow and repeat and follow and repeat (you get the point).

Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children"

One Month and Counting

2011-06-14T14:23:00.001-05:00

Wow how time has flown by!!! I know that some of you are not happy with me for not keeping up the Blog but, I didn't do it well without a kid .... lol.

All the family visits have all come and gone... for now. Time with them went by so fast and Skyler loved every bit of it. It was really good for him to connect with everyone and now he is so ready to go to Florida, see Pop Pop and make "Sand Rivers".

Scott is back from his trip with DBU to China. He had an awesome time and was blown away by the people/students. They went to teach English classes at a few University's and a High School. I have still not heard all the stories but from what I have heard the trip was well worth it. Scott said next time he goes he wants Skyler and I to go with him...Skyler has not forgotten he said that :-). I will post some pictures.

With all the visits, dropping people off at the airport and picking them up we are just starting to get our schedule down. Whew! We are all adjusting well. This week is VBS at our church and since I am helping with 1st Graders, Skyler gets to come with me. He LOVES it and can not wait to be with the Big Kids next year.

Some people are from DBU and

one of the teachers (and his family)

from Chongqing Normal University

Chongqing, China

One of the groups they talked with.

I believe this was the front of the High School... 11 Floors up

Yum

Like I said earlier Scott had a great time and loved teaching the students. We have talked about going back for two weeks next year for their summer classes.

Psalm 47:2

"How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! "

First week at the Smith house

2011-05-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

Hey :o)

May 4th Skyler was placed with us, we picked him up at the airport at 8:30 in the morning (with a "Welcome Home" balloon and two blue balloons). Now we are trying to get the court "moved" up here and the court date set. Then we will have a new birth certificate with Scott and I as the parents and a new SS# for him.

Well as you can imagine this first week has been all about adjusting, learning and only one time out. Skyler picked out a fish (he named him Skyler... lol), we went to two different parks, had a water fight washing the cars, ran in/around/and through the sprinkler, found Rollie-Pollies, clogged the toilet, got dirt in one eye, went to the doctor and as anyone knows the list just goes on and on. This week has gone by so fast, I can not believe it. Below are some pictures.

Welcome to your Forever Home Skyler

He loved this park.

We fixed his training wheels and had to teach him

how to turn around and to use the pedal breaks.

Mother's Day - I got a card and a

"Happy Moders Day Momma Chrissie"

This is also the first day we had to put him in Time out... humm

For those of you wondering about Vern

Well He loves being the big fur brother

Sitting at Forever Daddy's Desk

So many people have said we must be somewhat crazy for going from zero kids to a five year old and on top of that Scott leaves for China on Saturday. Well we are a bit crazy but we could not wait any longer for this little guy. He is such a crazy, whistling, finger snapping, five year old blessing and I am loving it.

Saturday Fun and Great News

2011-05-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone,

We had such a busy day Saturday and Sunday we didn't have time to update, but here are some great pictures.

He loves rides

We had a lot of fun on the battleship

A ton o-buttons

It was super windy!

What a cutie!

He had two bouncy balls behind his ears.

The best news is...

We found out today that we will get him this Wed Morning, May 4th.

Thank you for all of your prayers.

We are so excited and we are ready.

Now we start the process of more paperwork, if you can believe it. We have to see if we can move the appointed court to one closer to us. Then we will go to court to have permanent custody of him.

Meet and Greet

2011-04-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

Hello to all,
What an exciting, nerve racking, wonderful day. Thank you for praying for us, today your prayers were obvious.
We arrived at our hotel about 1:30 am this morning and crashed. We met Skyler at his foster mom's house "Momma J" and at first he did not want to come see us. All of us ended up moving into his room and got acquainted for about an hour.
We left the foster house and spent a full day at the aquarium, going to the animal shows, getting ice cream and smashing penny's with different animals on them.
When we got back to the house, Scott and Skyler played out front while Momma J and I went over some things about Skyler. Of coarse Momma J and I ended up crying, but it was really nice to be able to talk.

Keep Praying for us, tomorrow we pick him up in the morning again. We'll have him all day and he will be spending the night at our hotel. :-) Fun, Fun.

Here are some pictures of the day's events.

He liked the turtles... I like them too

He really liked petting the sting rays

US Lexington Battle Ship is next to the aquarium

We looked far

We found Nemo!!!

We had to see the turtles one more time

Update

2011-04-20T17:52:00.001-05:00

We are hoping that all of the paper work will be done this week. We still don't have a date, Boo! Hopefully soon though.

Keep praying for us, this has been a long three months. Pray that God will work in Our Little ones heart and that God will give us the patience to keep up with him and show him we are his "forever" parents.

Beautiful Sunday

2011-01-30T16:30:00.000-06:00

Scott did a lesson today on obedience. How we obey God not because we are fearful of the consequences but because we love Him and want to obey Him. Just like we do things for our spouse because we know they prefer things done a certain way, not because we are afraid of them. For us it is keeping the kitchen clean and clutter free. I could care less if the dishes dry for a day or two ha ha, but that drives Scott crazy, so we put them away. Anyway once we know our Father through meditating on His word and praying (communicating) with Him, our hearts turn more towards Him and His will for our life, for our family. I know that this has been true in my life, the more I focus on God the easier it is to be obedient....not to say that we don't get a curve ball or two, but for the most part life is easier.

As far as our little one....we are waiting for more paperwork. I personally will be happy when the paperwork will stop... ha ha. We don't know his favorite thing, color, food or what size clothes he wears, but we are still so excited. We know that God's
timing is perfect and that our son will be here before we know it :-). We did get a picture, but we are waiting until we have a date to go get him before we post it on the blog.

Great News!!!!

2011-01-26T20:29:00.000-06:00

SO EXCITING!!!!

We have been selected for a little boy from Corpus Christi, TX. He will be five next month and is adorable. We still have some paperwork to do like..... files being sent to us, we read them, mark them up and send in our questions. So, we still have a way to go, but we are so much closer. We are also excited because we can start getting things and put the room together .... YAY.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and our little one, please continue to keep us in your thoughts.
God is so Good.

Last week and Thanksgiving a little late

2011-01-10T08:43:00.010-06:00

This last week we have had rain, hail, and snow. I like the snow because it is just enough snow to enjoy it, but you are not digging yourself out for any period of time. We cannot wait to share this with a little Smith(s).

We will keep everyone updated

as soon as we hear anything.

Thanksgiving 2010 in Panama City, FL

We came, we saw,

Scott golfed, we cooked,

I got sick....Alicia, and we came home.

Scott and Beth went Golfing...I took pictures

It was very foggy and cold when we first started but turned out to be a beautiful day.

My coz Sabrina and Brandon Thanksgiving day.

Alicia got a picture of me cooking something yummy for T-Day.

It was great visiting in Florida,

we just wish we had a longer time to visit.

Sunday School/History

2011-01-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

Here is one of my thoughts for the day: I have listened to many "wiser" adults say that we "younger" adults have no idea why we believe what we believe. I have to say I think they are on to something, most of us don't really know our history. Many of our forefathers were Christians with a strong Christian foundation, they knew their own history. I am not saying that I know everything, I do fall into the younger adults who do not know as much as I should. I am interested in knowing and digging deeper into God's word, and history (and yes I can say I am a nerd...I have embraced my nerd qualities) :-). I never liked history growing up since most of the time you had to learn dates, years and teachers just never made it interesting. I have found out history is not how I thought it was.

Sunday School or ABF as they call it at our church is going well. For those of you who don't know Scott is teaching a Nearly/Newly Wed class. We have a total of 12 people coming on a pretty regular basis and everyone is sweet. We are about to move to a new room and a new time, which we think will be beneficial. I think if your married or not, we are supposed to live our lives following Christ example. A lot of times as you work on your own relationship with God, you start to notice other relationships you have also become better.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers (sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

We received an update from Gladney Adoption Agency today. There are six different sibling groups they sent our profile to the CPS worker(s) to look at. Two groups are three siblings, Two groups are two siblings, and Two groups would be a single adoption. We are excited, but trying not to get too excited. Please keep us in your prayers.

Austin #2

2011-01-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone it has been an interesting fall, between Scott and I getting sick and we are not quite out of the woods yet.
We had a wonderful Christmas with my Uncle, Aunt, cozens and their friends who live in Grandbury, TX. We hope that everyone has a Happy New Year 2011....for all of us "old" people we can not believe it is already 2011. ha ha. Just proves that you need to enjoy life because it really does pass you by in blink.

As promised here are some more pictures of austin, enjoy.

Scott Inside the Capital

I love that they still have the old hardware on all of the doors.

So many stairs

We did make it to see the Congress Avenue Bats

We walked along the trail, Vern loved the pit stop in the water.

Austin, TX (#1)

2010-09-26T14:13:00.001-05:00

We went to Austin, TX, Labor Day weekend, which was also our 7th Anniversary. We had fun in Austin and even took Vern with us. Since I can only post so many pictures a day I'll add a few the next few days.

They were cleaning up the top of the capital.

The glass on the bottom of the picture has many offices underground, there at least two other halls like this one to the left and right.

This is the middle where all the hall connect. Looks really cool.

We got to go inside and walk around, really really cool.

I believe it was built in 1882 and I love all of the detail.

Love the stairs...There are four floors (that we know of).

Our Adoption Re-Cap

2010-09-20T22:39:00.000-05:00

From a lot of e-mails I have been getting, many of you did not know about our adoption. Let me re-cap for yall. So here we go....Scott and I had been talking about adoption for awhile, but we always thought it would be later on. You know you just keep pushing it back and back after Katrina. Anyway, we have met about 5 families who have adopted from all over the world. We talked with two different couples, one adopted overseas and one adopted within the state of Texas. The more we prayed, and talked with these couples, we both felt it was time to start the process.
1. Before 2009 Christmas vacation we filled out our paperwork and started the process with Gladney Adoption Agency.
2. We filled out a ton o paper work...let me tell you people are not lying when they say it is a mountain of paperwork. And, it isn't the easy questions either, you really have to think about your whole family and what you "think" you will be prepared for.
3. We went to a three day course, goes over all the worse case scenarios, first aid, cpr, growth stages, car seats, you get the jest.
4. Home study~ two parts. a) They come and inspect your house, like how many kids can your house hold, is it clean, is it safe that kind of stuff. b) You sit and talk with a Gladney worker and talk about your childhood, mom, dad, the good, the bad and the ugly. {I was more nervous about this part, than them coming to look at the house}.
5. Wait for your home approval from the State while you wait you put together a picture book and a one page profile of your current family. (We are approved but we are still waiting on the Letter itself to be signed).
6. This is where it could take awhile. You have to wait for your agency to pair you with kids, then you wait on the cps worker to approve you (could take 6 weeks or more), then the cps worker sends the kids profile to your agency and they check the kids background profile. If they think its a match then we'll get the kids backgrounds and say yes or no.
7. When we say yes we'll go meet the kids at their foster parent house. Then we'll go back to their city and they'll spend the night at a hotel with us. Then we'll drive/fly them back to our house (This could happen all in one weekend, depending on the situation).
8. Once we have them here a Gladney worker will come visit us once a month for six months. Which I think is a good thing, we are free to call ask questions/advice.
9. After the six months we go back to the kids original city court house and we'll be their legal parents, new birth cert, social, they'll have our last name and if they want to change their name (within reason) they can do that too.

We have found quite a few on the TEAR web site, but have not heard anything back yet. We are looking to adopt two - three, boys or girls, ages 2 - 12, we are kinda scared to get four right off the bat. Right now Scott and I keep telling ourselves that God's timing is perfect, He knows where our kids are and when we'll get them. For now we keep praying for them, and hope that they'll be here before we know it.
Adopted for Life is a good book I have recently read.
I love this verse "Rejoice in Hope, be Patient in Tribulation, be Constant in Prayer" ~ Romans 12:12

September 11, 2010 at OSU

2010-09-19T21:22:00.002-05:00

It was really nice they honored everyone who lost their life due to the tragedies on 9/11 before the game and during half time. They had a representative of almost every branch of government it was really nice.

This little guy was so cute...all decked out in OSU stuff.

Their cowboy had a cannon and a shot gun he would fire "at will"

I just about jumped every time he shot it. It was fun though.

OSU we'll be coming back

This year Scott and I drove 4 hours away to Stillwater, OK. After we went to the Arkansas game last year and we happened to run into the one fan who was trying to provoke a fight, I was nervous going to another out of state football game. I understand there is smack talk but what the AR fan was saying was so unappropriated that some of his college friends made him leave us alone. We were almost there and we drove through Perkins city...can you believe it (We have friends in VA, their last name is Perkins). We found a whole Perks city and I have to tell you their High School are the Perkins Devils (or Blue Demons something like that) ... ha ha. Anyway we get to Stillwater and park a mile away from the football field. The guy selling parking spots said " Have a safe game"...we were like WHAT did you say, maybe we should go home. He laughed and told us he meant he hoped Troy would have a safe no injury type of game. So I was still really nervous, we had to walk by all the student housing and hangouts, with no Troy fans in sight...just a sea of Orange. We had a blast, we sat in the middle of a OSU section and had a great time. Some people would walk up to us and say "Thank you for coming to Stillwater we hope you enjoyed it." Troy lost but we did have a good time and we will be going back.
We had some people for Sunday School today, but I'll write about that tomorrow.

Babysitting

2010-09-18T21:39:00.002-05:00

Now that we have been approved to adopt we are over qualified babysitters....ha ha.
Scott and I are babysitting a one year old little boy tonight. He is a cutie, big eyes, a couple of little teeth, he wobbles when he walks, and for a little one he has a little deeper voice than most. He is full of energy and Loves Vern, and visa versa. If Vern goes downstairs he wants to go too, he'll say dog. The poor little guy is teething and has some snot issues, which became even worse when I tried to rock him asleep. Vern was so worried when he cried, I guess it hurt his ears and knew something was not right. Anyway all is well, he is sleeping with his little bear and we are listening to him with the baby monitor.
Hopefully a preview of what our little ones will be like.

We have had a busy last month. Scott started a new job with Guidestone in "uptown" Dallas. So far he and the new crew have been training and will soon be let loose to go write insurance. From what I understand they are starting almost from scratch, which is exciting and scary at the same time. But, I am pretty sure it is all going to work out fine.

Scott has also started teaching Sunday School again (Adult Bible Fellowship). So far no one has shown up, which is sad because he is a good teacher. But, maybe it is just bad timing.

Scott also started going back to DBU last spring and has three classes this semester. As you can see Scott is pretty busy.. :-). I have been debating whether to lead a bible study or not. I have also been busy thinking about my childhood, dealing with issues there, growing and moving on.

I am going to post some pics of our Austin and Stillwater trips from the last two weeks. Stay tuned.