More Baby Love!!

An update on my precious boys!!

CA-UTE.. is what they are!! Here are a few pictures of them when they were in our care over 2 years ago.

( I have been wanting to post about them, but I never post about a child without a go ahead from the parents.. I got it.. so hear ya go.. you'll love these little buggers!)

They too have an amazing story ( you can clearly see God's hand in each case)

Meet Jonathon and Jacob

Jacob was diagnosed with Hemophilia while he was in our care and I was completely devastated. I cried and prayed over this baby like you wouldn't believe. I had no idea what hemophilia even was! ( here is where God said.."watch this" or that's what I assume he said ;)) Would you believe that his adoptive mommy was a nurse in the neonatal unit?? He was going to be in the best possible hands, what an answer to prayer! ( he's the cutie with his eyes open in the picture, lying next to his oh so precious brother.)

Aren't they just the most precious babies??

We became very good friends with their mommy and daddy and are so happy to get constant updates and pictures. Their mommy has also been kind enough to send me boxes of their outgrown clothes to use with future children. There is this unspoken bond there.. well, maybe not unspoken but a bond none the less. The friends we have made through this entire process is unbelievable!! People who we never would have met otherwise, Many of them clear across the country.

Here are a couple of recent photos, are they not a beautiful family? I am so happy to call them my friends, they are just amazing, amazing people!! If your reading this.. I love you guys!!

I have some exciting news to share soon.. It's hard not to blurt it out, but we have to get all our ducks in a row before the announcement which will probably have a blog to itself!!

Reflections of love and a nice surprise Part 2

One thing that I love about Christmas is that our mailbox is over flowing with Christmas cards, letters and pictures of our babies that have gone to their forever homes. We look forward to running to the mailbox everyday during December for the gift of a photo from our babies. When I say we get ALOT of cards, I mean just about every family that we have had the honor of meeting sends us a card and update along with a photo ( we've had 60 babies in 6 years) so yea, ALOT. It's wonderful!! to see how they've grown, to hear about their milestones and to just reading the letters, they are dripping with love and pride, it's a priceless gift to us.

We had a baby last year, Aaron. Oh my goodness, how we loved him!! he had the biggest, brightest eyes. Gabbie fell instantly in awe and even though he was newborn, he seemed to sense her love for him. If he cried, she could walk up and touch him and it calmed him. It was amazing. It was very, VERY hard on her when he left, although she fell as much in love with his new parents as she did him. I can't explain the bond she had with him.. only she and Aaron understand that!

Aaron's parents sensed it too ( it could be that she rambled on and on ...and on.. about him their entire stay) As a surprise, Aaron's mommy made her a scrapbook of him for a Christmas gift. Gabbie walks around with it tucked under her arm. She shows everyone she comes in contact with and as they are looking through the album she tells them that "her" baby is growing up. ( cute, I know) and then when she talks to someone on the phone, she makes sure to tell them about the album and says " Did you know my baby is a kid now? ( again.. cute..)

They were also kind enough to send Logan a care package full of his favorite goodies, Cookies, candy, cologne, etc.. a very nice gesture. She thought that Logan might think that a scrapbook may have been a little sappy for a 15 year old boy, Truth be told, it wouldn't have been. He looks at Gabbie's and talks about how much he misses him and how special he was. Logan isn't much for having his picture taken,but trust me when I say that he is right there along with the rest of us, holding, kissin' on, loving the babies.

Here are a few shots of the scrapbook. There are many more pages, but I didn't want to keep you here all day!! ;) If I had to say goodbye, I am so glad to was because he was going somewhere where they would treasure him!

Below are a few of the photos from his time with our family.

Here are a couple of shots with Gabbie and Aaron. If he was awake, she wanted him, if he was sleeping, she was right by his bassinet checking on him, if he grunted, she jumped, she truly bonded with this baby.

Sweet baby Aaron!

Gabbie and "her" baby.

Here is baby Aaron with his mommy and daddy on the day they came to pick him up from our home. I will never tire of the serene looks on the faces of the parents when they hold their baby for the first time.

I feel so honored and blessed to be a part of their story. When Terry and I began our ministry as foster parents, we thought that we were just going to love and bless these babies, never realizing how much they would bless us in return. I can't even put into words the joy they have brought to our home and hearts. God didn't only use us to change their lives, he used them to change ours.

Reflections of love and a nice surprise!

This little guy is our Samuel. He came to live with us straight from the hospital. Samuel has such a beautiful story, we named him Samuel and the adoptive parents were given his information and they asked what we were calling him, when she was told that we were calling him Samuel she cried, that was the name they had chosen for thier new son. She said it was if it were a confirmation from God that this was really happening and they soon would bring their son home. They chose the name Samuel because they had prayed for a child for a long time, She would always refer to the story of Hannah and said that if God were to bless her with a child, if that child were to be a boy, she would name him Samuel.

This is Samuel with his mommy on the day they came to pick him up from our home. I still can't get over the way they gazed at each other, it brings tears to my eyes still to this day!

This is Gabbie with "her" Samuel. She was ( is) nuts about him!! He lives far away now, but he's forever in our hearts and memories!

This was one of the very first photos I took of him after bringing him home. I can't even tell you how wonderfully sweet our time with him was. ( yes, I'm crying again.. dang it!!)

We will love him for the rest of our days!! Samuels parents surprised us by writing an article about their adoption experience and did a write up on our family for an adoption newletter, We got it right around Christmas. It was my favorite gift! To know that someone see's our hearts and knows that we loved their child with all our hearts was such a blessing to our family. They got it, they really got it. It's hard to convey how much we love these kids.. we get alot of " well you should be used to it by now ( the goodbyes)" or " You don't have them long enough to get too attached" Huh? WHAT? I'm attached when I get the call, sight unseen. The thought of them disapearing out of our lives forever is a scary one. Thank you, Thank you for knowing how much we loved your precious little Samuel and now we have been given the gift of your friendship to boot! We love you!!

Bakerella

Gabbie is a Domestic Diva in the making!!

My Parents got Gabbie lots of baking products for her birthday, she loves to be in the kitchen with me baking and cooking! Included in the gift was this snazzy Apron and chef hat, it has an oven mit too. She wore the entire ensemble to the grocery store to pick out her ingredients. She did this all by herself.

After cracking a couple of eggs on the counter and floor, she got the hang of it!


and now for some oil..


This was her favorite part! ( isn't it all of ours? )

Finished cakes! fresh from the oven.

Cupcake anyone?

Voila!!

She was quite proud of herself!

"They look AMAZING" she said..

Tasting the goods

Yummy!!

I'm so proud of her!! She is so happy to have her own set of cookware ( Thanks mom and daddy!!) I see some holiday baking in our very near future!! :) Now if I could only stop being so wimpy and teach her how to sew..sigh.. I'm so afraid she's gonna get those cute little fingers caught. :(

The elusive Logan and some sewing projects..

Well, at long last, here is a picture of Logan. This is from a few months ago, but it's the most recent I have ( hence the name), I have to sneak up on him. He's quite the cutie don't you agree? ( I know I'm his mom and all.. but seriously, he's cute!)

So you know how I've been MIA lately on my blog? This is what I've been up to. I have to find a balance..( is that possible? I see people do it.. update their blogs every day and still have lots of crafty goodness to show) I'll try to be better...really I will.

I got these pictures a little backwards, this is the back.

Front

I love the Anna wrap dresses. You can get the pattern from Jona as well as some other great patterns and fabric. plus, you've never met anyone nicer, seriously. ( is nicer a word?)

and some aprons for cooking up some Christmas yummies!! :) I'm taking several of these to a local boutique here.

And last but not least the tutu twirl, This has been my most popular seller.

So there you have it, one of the reasons for my long absence. Anyone else sewing up some Christmas goodies?

Nothing like a best friend!!

This is Gabbie and her friend Sayla, they have been the best of friends from around the age of 2 years old. These girls crack me up!! Watching them together always brings back memories of my childhood friend. I'm sure one day they will cherish these pictures, or at least I hope so!!

And of course I couldn't leave without posting a couple pictures of Hope!! This was Gabbie's dress and moses basket that I saved and I couldn't resist taking pictures of her in it. She is such a little dream.. I just love her so much!!!

I would love to get some pictures of the elusive Logan, but y'know, he's 15 now, and getting his picture taken is not one his favorite things to do. Soon though, soon!! ;)

I have been doing some sewing, lots of Christmas aprons and a few dress sets for a local boutique. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! What are you working on for Christmas??

Gabbie and Hope ( Fall Festival Fun)

Saturday we went to our towns annual Fall Frolic and the kids had so much fun!! Gabbie, Hope and I went to another smaller one at a local church and then Terry and Logan met up with us at the big festival. It was fun, there were booths set up for games, they had a costume contest and trick or treating and then at the end of it, they had a 25 foot high movie screen where they played Scooby Doo. Families brought blankets and picnic baskets and everyone sat around and watched the movie. Hope started getting sleepy and cranky, so we left about 30 minutes into the movie. But all in all.. it was a great time!

Gabbie and Hope are crazy about each other

If it were up to Gabbie, she would stay forever!!

Seriously, is she cute or what?

One more, this wasn't at the festival, but I love this picture!!

In the kitchen with Gabbie

Gabbie and I have been having fun in the kitchen making fall goodies! I found a recipe in the family fun magazine ( September issue) for mini caramel apples and Gabbie loved making them. ( she got a bit carried away and decided to dunk some marshmellows too, the kid is crazy about marshmellows) I wondered why the recipe called for butterscotch or peanut butter chips rather than actual caramel, well... do yourself a favor.. follow the recipe, we had a big caramelly mess on our hands when we attempted to do it our way. The caramel refuses to stick to the white of the apple no matter how much you dry it. but if your just dying to have caramel, I did find this twist to the recipe at little birdie secrets. The picture below is our second batch with the butterscotch chips.

After we finished with the caramel apples, we decided to make some cinnamon/applesauce dough ornaments to add to our christmas packages. If you have never tried this before, I would encourage you to try it, Gabbie had a blast and my house smelled like a slice of heaven all day.

Here is the recipe.. give it a try, you'll be glad you did!

1 Cup Applesauce
1 Cup Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Elmers Glue

Mix all the ingredients together.

roll out and cut out with cookie cutters

let air dry for several days.

Here is one of her finished little gingerbread men. we will make him into an ornament and tie him to her teachers christmas gift.

( one down, lots to go..)

What are you and your little ones working on?