Adoption Celebration

Can I just say it one more time? Adoption rocks and we know first hand because we finally got to finalize on our sweet guy. I don't know how many times I can say that before it gets old. I don't think it ever will. We were so excited to celebrate our Little Man.

Through the couple years leading up to it, we had so much support. Beyond our greatest expectation, friends and family stepped up to support us from day one. We were blessed with clothing and formula and basic essentials when he came to us. You never know how to prepare for a foster child until they arrive. There is no way to know what to expect, so once we had him, people rose up and brought supplies.

Since his birth parents were out of the picture in the beginning, when they finally came forward, we were shook pretty hard. Reunification is always the goal in foster care but when it appears to be an adoption, your world is rocked when it looks like it may not be. People came to us and prayed over us...for whatever may happen, that Nixon would be protected.

When things kept stalling, when the process took too long, our support system lifted us up. Assured us that he was ours and that these were just technicalities. They pushed us through when we felt like we were stuck.

Then came the autism diagnosis. We went from a simple, time consuming adoption (with a child who was just a little challenging) to being in the middle of a special needs adoption. Once again, we were met where we were at. We were given advice and resources and safe places to play and be real without worry or judgement.

We did NOT go through this journey alone. We went through it with friends. With many of you. So it felt silly to celebrate alone. We knew it had to be done with the people who went through it with us.

Once again, our people showed up...and kept showing up. The amount of people who came to celebrate our family being official was insane. Even the ones who couldn't make it flooded our phones with calls and texts. The same people who cried during our heartaches, shared our tears of joy.

I cannot begin to put into words how blessed we are by it all. You guys, the ones who keep showing up. The ones who keep pouring into our life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Family Fun

This weekend was amazing! Like I can't even put into words the fun we had as a family. We went to San Diego. First stop Yo Gabba Gabba Live. Next up, 2 days at Sea World. Seriously the best family vacay we have ever had.

Instead of telling you all about it, I'll just show you all of the fun. We took a ton of pictures...only on our phones since we were too bust enjoying it to be photogs :)

Here are some of our favorites, minus the face shots of Little Man. Hopefully one day we will get to share those with you one day too.

Fun at our favorite hotel.

Yo Gabba Gabba Live: Get the Sillies Out

Sea World Fun Day One

Sea World Fun Day Two

These kids are Orca whisperers

And the group Favorite was....THE STARFISH

Want to know what else is fun? We have a winner for our Tasha's Sweets Giveaway is in! 

The Winner is Melissa Steele!

We will be e-mailing you soon so you can claim your prize.

First Family Vacay

{Warning: This post is picture loaded}

This past week was our very first vacation as a family. I shared a little bit about it here.

We spent most of our week long vacation in Arrowbear. Arrowbear is a small little town about 2 hours from us, somewhere between Arrowhead and Big Bear. We were blessed by family friends from church with their cabin, for free. Without them offering their cabin we would not have been able to take a vacation period, let alone a week long one. Side note: We only spent $160 in 7 days for a family of 4 vacation!!!

::Making her wishes::

::Leaves are high in protein or vitamins or something, right?::

::She claims she was making brother pretty::

::He was so proud to sit at the grown up table::

Rhiannon and Talon l-o-v-e-d the mountains. Rhi referred to the cabin as our mountain home. It was quite adorable. The kids both loved the dirt and all the little critters we saw.

It was a little to chilly to actually go in the lake, so that erased many of our options.

::She is so odd. I love that little personality!::

::Talon's favorite part of the mountains was the leaves.::

::I love and hate this picture. She is just too grown up. I just see her leaving for college. Tears!::

We went on an amazing hike. It was perfect for our little family. If you are ever in Arrowbear and are looking for an easy trail. The Sequoia Trail at the Heaps Peek Arboratuem. It was simple, secluded and beautiful.

Although we were having a blast at our "mountain home", the kids were getting home sick. We decided to head back home and finish up our trip as a staycation. We live in Orange County, so staying home can be quite fun.

Our first night home we went down to Disney. Hubby doesn't have a pass so him and Talon hung out in Downtown Disney while Rhi and I caught the monorail and went on a few rides.


The next day, despite the drizzling, we decided to take our bikes down to the beach for a family beach ride. When we got there, low and behold it was a beautiful day. Opps. We didn't bring swimsuits. We let the kids play in the sand, fully clothed.


Friday was a redo. We went back to the beach and this time wore swimsuits. We had a blast! We played in the water and in the sand. Steven and I wore the kids out. In fact, they both passed out on the beach. It was a great day.

This week was much needed. Now it is time to get back to work and back to reality. I am not sure if I'm ready.

Does the battle sport a such contour?

Insta-friday

This week has been an absolute blast. I thought I would take a break from the vacay to share some fun with you.


The fun started on Saturday with Sew Funky Market. The place was overflowing with people. I am so glad I snapped a picture before it opened up.

I came home, packed and got ready for vacation. Vacation began the next morning. We headed up to Arrowbear. I will tell you all about it sometime next week. This was our view, gorgeous.

Our time in the mountains was 3 1/2 days full of laughing, playing and....

...Dirt. There was lots of dirt. So much fun!

After a few days the kids were home-sick so we decided to head home and finish off our vacation as a staycation.


We live in SoCal so of course we started off with a trip to the beach. A long family bike ride. It really tuckered these little love bugs out.
We are all having so much fun. And of course relaxing.

I enjoyed sharing some fun instagram pics with you BUT I'm back to vacationing. I'll be back Monday.

Our Adoption Plans

Since I was a little girl I knew I wanted a big family. I come from a big family. My dad has lots of siblings and so did his dad. In fact when my great grandma passed away her obituary said that she was survived by 317 grandchildren/great grandchildren. That was years ago and I believe the number has grown. Whatever the number may be, it is a blast having so many relatives. I want to continue that. Do I want 14 kids like my great grandma had? No. Well I don't think so. I do know that I want a lot of children.

Steven and I have always said that we would have what we could handle financially. I told a friend the other day that I thought this was God warming me up to His plan. I'll explain later.

As sure as I am that I want lots of kids, I am even more sure that I want to adopt. Again, the number I am not sure. (By I, keep in mind that I mean we, hubby is so on the same page) I am also not sure how we plan to adopt. International (the one thing hubby is not on board with), Local, Private, Open, Foster to Adopt...we just don't know. I love the idea of a baby from Africa or China but it is just not an option for us. For numerous reasons that I don't have time to get into. Remember I blog while my baby is on my lap or napping?

I have always had this dream of adopting a baby by standing outside of an abortion clinic and talking someone out of aborting the beautiful child they are carrying. Telling them that I will gladly adopt the precious life they hold. And although I still feel strongly about doing that or even just having you tell a friend who is desperate that I am here, I think God may have another plan.

You see the past few months the topic of Foster to Adopt has been brought up. Let me tell you how much I hate the idea of this. I just get these images of holding this amazing child that I have had for months and then having someone come in and rip them out of my hands to take back to the mom that abandoned them. Don't read to much into that, I don't think all moms that give their kids up are evil, only the one in my head taking my baby back. However, every time I hear or think about the option of Fostering to Adopt, I feel something pulling me. I don't want to say it is God because I am not positive and I don't want to put words into His mouth. But I think it might be.

At this time in our lives, we could not afford to have another child. We surely don't have enough for adoption. This is where the part about the thing I said before "God warming me up to it". Lately, whenever I say there is no way we could afford to adopt, I feel like God is saying "If you are willing to take a child, I am willing to provide" Not His exact words or even surely His words at all. You see a parent through Foster Care is given money to assist in raising the child. No, this is not the reason I would be doing it. I do not care about the money. It is only enough to help with the child. Key word being HELP. It does not cover everything but it would be enough to make another child affordable for us. Does that make sense? I don't want people to think I want a child for the money, so I really hope that is clear.

Does this make my fears go away? No! Not at all. I am terrified that if we go this route I may have a baby taken back, if not more than one. I am trying to wrap my mind around all of this. I feel overwhelmed. I am not saying that we are going to do this soon or at all for that matter. I want to confirm that this is really truly God speaking before we move forward but I want your input. Sooo...comment here or email me! Tell me your story or of someone you know. I want info and input on our plans.