30 years young

I must say I have been slightly dreading my birthday. I'm just not quite ready to leave my 20's. But the 30's are here whether i like it or not! My sweet husband surprised me with a party at my best friend Sara's house. It was fun to be with my dearest friends on my birthday!

The highlight of the night was Melissa and Carolina's parody of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" called "Your 30s will be divine". I laughed the entire three and a half minutes of the choreographed, personalized lyrics all about me! They definitely got some good stories out of my parents and husband for the song:) It was memorable to say the least! The time and effort that went into it, definitely made it one of my favorite "gifts"! I am so thankful for my friends!

Brian and Sara did a great job of surprising me. They both had me convinced we were just going out for dinner and really didn't have a plan for the night (which drove me crazy!). Sara even tried to back out a few times! Great job, guys:)

1 year Home and 2 years old!

It is so hard to believe we were in Ethiopia 1 year ago bringing Aven home. It seems like yesterday.....but then again it seems like she has almost always been a part of our family. We cant imagine life without her! One year later, her brothers still ADORE her. They still act like she came home yesterday. They cant wait for her to wake up in the morning! They still run to her room to tell her good morning!

On her birthday, I cant help but wonder if the woman that gave birth to her is thinking about her. I cant help but wish that she knew how loved and happy Aven is. I continue to pray that the Lord would give her a peace and that she would somehow feel that Aven is ok. We can't begin to guess the circumstances that surrounded her giving Aven up.  I was not present at Aven's birth and didnt even see her face to face until she was 7 months old, so in all honesty I don't feel sentimental about her birthday. Her birthday just makes me wonder about alot of things....things that will never be answered. It's hard not to think of those things on her birthday. BUT I realized this year, that although the 2 months of delays waiting for her to come home were tough, the Lord gave me a gift in that......She came home just a few days before her birthday and I am extremely sentimental about that! I watched our adoption video several times and went through all of the pictures taken at the airport and her first few days home. We do alot of celebrating around her birthday between Gotcha day, the day we became a forever family, and the day of her birth. 

A little about Aven....

She is finally opening up to other people. I would say just in the past 2 months has she gotten to the point where she willingly goes to some of our friends. She has been great with our families, but is finally loving some of our friends too! 

She is an amazing sleeper! She loves her crib and never makes a peep at night or nap time. And this has been every single night and day since day one! It's crazy. She has blessed us in that department!

She is very determined!

She is finally starting to put some words together. 2 or 3 at the most. 

She is struggling in the teeth department! She has all of 9 teeth. 2 on the top, 3 on the bottom, and 4 molars. 

She loves to sing! Although she doesnt say alot of words, she can sing all of the words to Jesus Loves Me! 

She is finally starting to show some interest in girl toys, although she prefers to follow her brothers around and play what they play:)

We are so blessed by this girl! She is a constant reminder of God's love to us!

Rolesville Christmas Parade

Exchange Church was part of the Rolesville Christmas Parade this year! The kids had a blast throwing candy and waving at everyone!

Christmas Cookies

 Every year since I was a little girl I have baked Christmas cookies with my Mema! I am so happy my kids get to be in on the tradition now! I SO missed my Papa this year though. It was so strange to not have him coming in the kitchen every few minutes asking if he could taste the cookies. I didn't realize how much a part of the tradition he was, until this year. He is missed.

Christmas Tea

 We had our first Annual (for sure!) Exchange Christmas Tea! All of the ladies from Exchange Church and the sweet little girls gathered at my mom's house for a fun morning of girly food, frilly dresses, and tiny tea cups! It was so much fun! And it was mine and Aven's first official Mommy-daughter event! I loved dressing her  up. When I put some of my pearls around her neck to wear, she was so excited! She felt like a little princess, and I loved every minute of it!

Divine Appointment with Santa

Rewind to a few weeks ago.....we attended an adoption conference put on by North Wake Church. It was such an encouraging night of hearing the difference adoption has made in so many lives. The emcee of the night was a man that looked strangely like Santa Clause. He assured all of the kids in the audience that he was in fact not Santa, but that his mom and Santa's mom were sisters:) He was a precious man that was adopted through the Baptist Children's Home and is now extremely involved with the children there. He also has adopted children and grandchildren!

So yesterday, we were out running some errands, stopped by the mall, and realized nobody was in line to see Santa since it was the middle of the week and 11:00 in the morning. We took the kids over and I could tell he was very interested in Aven. I left her in the stroller, knowing she would want nothing to do with him:) After he talked to the boys for a minute, he asked them "is that your sister? Let me see her." So I brought her over, and he began telling us how adoption was such an amazing thing, how he had adopted children and grandchildren, and had just attended an adoption conference a few weeks ago. Putting the pieces together, I told him that we had seen him at the conference! We stood there and talked to Santa for probably 30 minutes about adoption, church, and the Lord. With a few random questions stuck in there from the boys about reindeer and the North Pole! :) He told the photographers that he wanted to use one of his free photo packages for us. And asked only that we give him one of the pictures with our names and information on the back. THEN, before we left, this man sat down, pulled the boys in close, and reminded them of the TRUE meaning of Christmas being Jesus coming as a baby to be our Savior! What a precious moment!

 

There were tears in my eyes when we left. Every time we meet someone who has a heart for adoption, it is a special meeting. But THIS was extra special:) Nobody else came in line for the whole 30 minutes we talked to him. The Lord gave us such a gift in that time with this dear man! It was a divine appointment with Santa for sure!

Brody is SIX!!

My firstborn is 6! What a blessing this kid is! Brody is a joy to parent. He is so tenderhearted and kind. He is an amazing big brother. He is super smart and has the best imagination! He is rocking Kindergarten and has made our transition into homeschooling so easy and fun! I am cherishing this time we have together! Happy Birthday to my biggest boy! You are my HEART!

We celebrated Brody's birthday with some of his friends at the Bowling Alley! It was so much fun and Brody loved having all of his friends with him!