Changed lives

6 years ago after 2 years of waiting, our referral arrived and we first saw this precious little face...

It was really because of our sweet girl that we took the leap and adopted again. In China everyone we met said, "She is a lucky, lucky little girl!" Dan and I strongly feel that 'we' are the lucky ones. All our lives have been forever changed...and for that we are thankful.

You are my child, now with all things I am blessed. ~unknown

Summer giveaway!

Emilie Sloan tote.



I realized recently that I hadn't done a giveaway in quite a while, so chose one of my favorite things at the moment. I have a tote bag almost exactly like this one but it's a different shape. The one I'm giving away is the above Emilie Sloan bag that measures 14" wide by 12" in height by about 4" wide on the bottom. The reasons why I love mine so much is that it's extremely lightweight, it's a cotton fabric that's coated so it's waterproof and obviously very cute. I use mine as a carry everything bag for the items I'd normally put in a purse plus all the kid stuff that comes along...like a pull up or 2, baby wipes, the misc. little plastic toys that must come along and of course a few snacks. I'll have Grace or Will draw the winner on Thursday, July 2. Good luck! Please leave a comment if you'd like to be in the drawing. :)

trying to stay cool...

These were taken 2 days ago in the evening...
a little boy's view of the world...

Well Summer has arrived with a wave of heat and humidity in the Midwest, I guess it's been this hot in many places in the U.S. and Canada. We've had a couple of days with 105 degree heat indexes...it's icky, sticky hot outside. Grace and Will started Summer school 4 mornings a week and are loving it...to have time with friends, learning some new things and having fun. This week we've been spending time outside in the sprinkler and kiddie pool and inside in the cool a/c. You can see Will's lip is looking great, his surgeon saw him and was extremely pleased. The culture came back growing Staph (the kind that's grows on our skin), so it wasn't an abscessed tooth. We still aren't sure how the infection started...just so happy it's gone and our little guy is 100%....no make that 150%! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Father's Day

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. ~ author unknown

We never know the love our parents have for us till we become parents. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Happy Father's Day to the 2 dads in my life...my dad who I had the great pleasure of spending the day with yesterday. I cannot imagine having a better dad...he's always been there for me and my 3 siblings, and parented with love and a great sense of humor. And to my husband Dan...who took on a 'package deal' with me and Nick( at age 4) almost 20 years ago. He loves his 3 children unconditionally and is the most patient man I've ever known. I love you!

Summer afternoon

Will playing in our neighbor's kiddie pool.
After all the craziness lately with figuring out what was wrong with Will's lip and finally surgery, we've enjoyed some Summer afternoons with going to a movie{UP} and yesterday playing in our neighbor's pool. Will loved the water toys and especially the squirt guns. This weekend we have plans spending some time with Grandpa and Grandma and I'm going to the big Sandwich, Illinois flea market to look for some bargains. Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

a Mother's heart

These were taken last Thursday morning at a nearby park.
My sweet little son William.

The past week has been a roller coaster of emotions, several visits to the pediatrician, surgeon and almost ER visits with William. Yesterday he had exploratory surgery on his upper lip to see what was causing the swelling that was getting worse. His surgeon found a very infected inside of his upper lip that was cleaned out...we still don't know how it started but are speculating an abrasion inside his lip that didn't heal and formed an abscess. He came through yesterday's surgery outstandingly well and we're relieved and so thankful. I always tell people...I can deal with almost any emergency or event with children, but when it's my own...it is really, really hard...

Will is getting lots and lots of TLC, snuggles, and Popsicles ad lib.
Thank you so much for those prayers and good thoughts for our little boy!

And I wanted to add...one funny thing that's happened in the midst of all this excitement(stress) lately...Will has decided that it was time for him to be potty trained...so potty training we are doing too! ;)

best friends forever