It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

choo choo!

I saw this little foamie train at Wal-mart last night. I waited til Taylor went to bed before going. He's had a little cold and with his surgery being on Monday I have tried to keep him in. He's having a outpt urological surgery by the way. So he loves trains and I knew this would be a good diversion for the day.

Through the eyes of a child...

James and I had been married for 14 years before becoming parents and when it came to holidays we had really become fuddy duddy's. Birthdays weren't that big of a deal any more, we had even not put up a tree for a couple years at Christmas and as far as shopping for Christmas, it was a chore and sometimes we waited til the weekend or day before Christmas before shopping...which kind of made it fun! Anyway my point is when you have kids all of those things become fun again!! All of our birthdays were fun this year. I never used to make sure we had a cake with candles, but Taylor loves blowing out candles, not only his own, and he loves cake and presents. Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween and now Christmas all have been special this year. They are all fun and cherished and we are so thankful to feel this way. It's like being a kid again when you get to see things through the eyes of your child!

Strike

The tiniest bowling shoes.

He wasn't too sure about this Santa guy, but luckily

Santa's helper was able to snap a quick picture of

just Santa and Taylor.

Don't you just love having productive days!! This morning we gave Taylor a haircut then got him all dressed up and went out in the yard to try to catch some cute pics for a Christmas card (with success). I then got some housework done and while Taylor was napping got the pics downloaded and ordered our Christmas postcards, with the new adorable pictures. I also got in 30 minutes of cardio (newly committed to fitting that in), and then we went bowling and out to eat. This was Taylor's first bowling trip and he had fun. After eating we went by the mall and it was Santa's first day at the mall and there was no one there (small mall in a small town) so we walked right up and had Taylor's first picture with Santa. Last year we didn't get home from China until December 15th and we didn't venture out much before Christmas, so no Santa pic from last year.

It's all perspective...

The other day at work a nurse wanted to see a picture of Taylor, so I go get some pics and as I am showing them to her another nurse peaks over my shoulder and says 'is he yours' and I don't know her that well but she is very nice and so I said 'yes he is, we actually adopted Taylor from China almost a year ago'. So then she kind of whispers to me, (with pity) 'oh, are you not able to have your own' and instead of giving the great response of 'he is our own', I said well we weren't able to have biological children so we adopted. Then she says that it could still happen for us, and she would pray for us. It was a weird moment because she felt sorry for me and I realized that my response did not make her realize she shouldn't. I don't fell cheated or like I've missed out AT ALL. I feel so blessed and I feel this is the path James and I are suppose to be on. I also feel that God put adoption in my heart a long time ago and whether or not we had biological children we would've still adopted at some point. The whole adoption process for us was beautiful and awesome and I can't wait to do it again! So hopefully I'll be prepared next time with a better response. After you've adopted you get so many comments and you aren't always prepared for what comes out of peoples mouths, so as time goes I am sure I will perfect my responses.

A precious gift.....

We lived in Nashville until I was in 3rd grade at which time my parents got divorced and we moved south. I had a best friend that lived down the street. We were the same age and had so much fun playing and catching the bus together. We spent soooo much time together. My dad stayed in Nashville, in the same house, after the divorce. So when I would visit my dad of course I would get to see my friend. As we got older her parents would even let her come to our home about 80 miles away and visit and spend weekends. It was only in high-school when we both got serious boyfriends did the visits stop. My sister got married the summer I graduated from high-school and my friend came to the wedding. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see her. We both started college and life changed. She called me about 10 years ago to tell me that she was married with 1 child and living in Georgia. I have looked for her number and address for 10 years with no success. I looked for her parents, and nothing. My sister was shopping this past Sunday close to Nashville and was in the Gap store with her back to the entrance when my friend happened to be walking by that store and thought she recognized Traci and came in. Wow!! I mean it's amazing that they connected. She is now living only about 50 miles from me with her husband and 3 kids! I am sooooo thankful that I will be able to at least know whats going on in her life and know what her kiddos look like and who knows maybe we can rekindle such a precious friendship. I haven't seen her for 17 years and that is so hard to believe. I still want to believe I was just 18 like a couple of years ago.......not!

Happy Halloween

Cousin Emma-Pea pod

Taylor and cousin Trey

Cousin Olivia "witch" and the hunter
Taylor with cousin Gracie "chicken"

Taylor has been scared of masks and even bicycle helmets, he also didn't really understand picking out a costume and the whole concept of Halloween. Every time we went to Wal-mart he was scared of the Halloween isle. So for Halloween we just dressed him up like a hunter. I told him he was dressed like a hunter and he would just look at me confused because the only hunter he knows is his cousin Hunter who is a girl and 13. But none the less he looked cute and once he figured out he could say trick or treat and get candy it was on. He was soooooo excited and wanted more and more candy. His cousin Trey walked around the neighborhood with him and it seemed they would always give candy to Taylor first and then he would proceed to tell them "Trey in there" and point to Trey's bag. He wanted to make sure Trey got candy too, so sweet.

Wink Wink