www.angelporchphotography.com

he has the sweetest heart….biggest laugh….most loving little soul!

my little pumpkin is quite possibly the most adorable little man EVER! Plus, he yesterday said, MAMA!!!!!! big moment in this little mama’s life!

Yes, he is the most precious little man in the world….yes, we are beyond in love with him! no, he had no interest in the candy corn…too busy laughing at me and the girls making faces at him

Our little man is 8 months! hard to believe he has been home two months now. goodness he is the sweetest little man. all smiles. all love. all ours…he now has 6 teeth. we thought they would mess up his sleeping but he sleeps like a champ. still two naps a day and down for the night at 8pm and sleeps all the way through tell 7 or 8 am. could not ask for more! he lovesssss snuggles. prefers to be held all day. quite the observer, stares so deeply into your eyes for long periods of time. it’s like he just wants to study you. i have created a monster with quite the mama’s boy. he hears my voice anywhere in the house and about breaks his neck trying to find where i am. i don’t mind it. most often at home he is in the carrier and i just wear him around the house. people ask us alllll sorts of questions. we take it in stride. we get stopped A LOT to talk about our precious little man. we take the questions as they come and think of it as an opportunity to shed some possibly unknown light on adoption as a whole. we are asked by many how he is adjusting. our answer….LIKE A CHAMP! he has bonded so much quicker than we ever thought possible. he lovessss his daddy. lovessss his sissy. lovessss his snuggy crib. lovesssss meeting and seeing all his family and friends. health wise he is making huge strides as well, up to 16 pounds in 2.5 months. that is quite a jump from the 8.5-9 pounds when my husband arrived in the congo. he has caught up on all his shots and we are now on to mostly dermatologist  appointments for lingering skin bumps. those look like they will just take time more than anything to go away. most likely left over marks from scabies while in the orphanage. we are planning on keeping him home tell the new year and then starting mothers day out once or twice a week so he can interact with other little ones his age. all in all life is GREAT! Seems like he has always been with us. we are so overly blessed to have him home with us after such a long process of ups and downs. he is everything we ever dreamed of and SO MUCH MORE! sometimes i find myself getting sad that he will so soon be one and i quickly catch it and think how LUCKY we are that he will live to see the age of one when so many babies in his country never have that chance. and, that we got him soooo much sooner than we ever dreamed and get to soak him up for more months than we even planned for.

happy 8 months to our son, oaks thomas mathias. we LOVE YOU!

it’s been a whirl of love and more love since bringing home our little man! he is everything and more. auburn is in heaven. adores him. kisses him all day long. it is like he has always been here. a part of us all along.

my sweet and precious son…..we wait and wait to have you home with us. dream of your sweet smile and little giggles. we stare into your loving eyes and see your future. our future. our path was always you. thank you for showing us the way. you have taught us all so much in this journey to you. we are kinder. we are more understanding. our hearts are opened even wider to all things in the world and all people on this earth.  i wake up at night just to look at your face once more and send up prayers for your safety and health. your big sister talks about you like you are already here. get ready, baby boy, she is going to smother you in love, even though she has already classified what toys you are “not allowed” to play with…in true big sister fashion we have been preparing you a space all your own. making it as unique as you are. your daddy loves you so much. taking HOURS and HOURS on your striped ceiling. showing his love in actions and faith. oh, sweet boy, his love will amaze you. he is the best man there is. he will snuggle you – love you – take you fishing and spend every second building you up. i should know, he has been doing it for me over half my life.  so many things are still unknown on when we can bring you home. paperwork…more paperwork…and, then more paperwork.  just know we will fight for you. we won’t give up. we will do everything possible to get you home to your family. no more sleeping on cement floors. no more hoping for a fully belly. no more. no more. you are our heart. you are our son. thank you for blessing us so much already.

peace and love, mamma

this shoot was so special for so many reasons….one: he was the most precious little man…..oh, steal my heart…..two: i had been so excited to meet little sam after his sweet family brought him home from ethiopia – my heart could just explode for adoption! three: it was a look into the future for me, because we are also adopting from ethiopia. we have shared it with family and friends, but i thought it was time to share it with the blog world feel free to follow our adoption journey at:

http://www.porchespathtoafrica.blogspot.com

We just finished our first home study and lots and lots of paper work but we do have a long journey ahead before making the two trips to africa to bring home our baby boy. until then, it is so amazing to meet the wonderful support group of all the adoptive parents and adoptive parents of sweeties like sam, from ethiopia. thanks so much for sharing sweet sam with art and soul. he is absolute heaven….

this shoot was so special for so many reasons….one: he was the most precious little man…..oh, steal my heart…..two: i had been so excited to meet little sam after his sweet family brought him home from ethiopia – my heart could just explode for adoption! three: it was a look into the future for me, because we are also adopting from ethiopia. we have shared it with family and friends, but i thought it was time to share it with the blog world feel free to follow our adoption journey at:

http://www.porchespathtoafrica.blogspot.com

We just finished our first home study and lots and lots of paper work but we do have a long journey ahead before making the two trips to africa to bring home our baby boy. until then, it is so amazing to meet the wonderful support group of all the adoptive parents and adoptive parents of sweeties like sam, from ethiopia. thanks so much for sharing sweet sam with art and soul. he is absolute heaven….

Nothing gives me greater joy than capturing families that have recently adopted!!!! This beautiful family just adopted a third child and third girl! I wish I could put into words how amazing each of these girls are…..they  melted my heart into a million pieces!

peace, love and celebrating adoption!

I was SO VERY excited to meet this little man…..I feel like I already know him through photos but it was so wonderful to meet him in person….Jude is amazing. All boy, all sorts of personality, all kinds of sweetness. His momma, sunny, is a fellow photographer that made the decision to take time off while her three amazing kiddos are young. I am telling you, they are the three cutest kids you will ever see!!!! I can’t wait to capture the entire family. I followed the journey of this family as they went through the adoption process of jude, and my heart was filled with joy as they brought their baby boy home. Such an amazing story……Sunny and I could talk for hours and we always comment on how even though we have only met a few times, we feel like we have known each other for years – keeping up with each other’s blogs all the time . We made our way around the studio and got so lucky to have a beautiful morning for our shoot. Jude led the way and could not have stolen my heart any more. Thanks so much for sharing him with art and soul. He is a blessing beyond words……Happy gotcha day!

Peace, Love, and ADOPTION!

I love these two shots…..The shot below has a dream like feel that makes me smile….