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She is FIERCE! Sweet girl, after being home nearly TWO MONTHS from school with mono I have learned so much more about you. One, you are tough to keep down. Every day is the “Best day ever” in your world and despite running 45 straight days of fever you were still little miss sunshine. I adore your spirit. Love the way you make the best out of 10 days in a row in your pj’s not leaving the house. You painted every picture, made bracelets, filled our house with artwork, snuggled your bubby endlessly, and showed us once again that nothing keeps you down. We worried, called the doctor, called the doctor again  - not understanding how you could be so tired day after day. You slowly got better and will head back to school this week. You are so excited, you miss your friends and your teacher. We will miss you and even though it was not a good thing you were sick for so long – we learned to never ever take your health or anyone in our family’s health for granted. We never will. So glad you are healed and the light in your eyes is back. You have your giggle going again. Love you so sweet sunflower. love you so….

I remember auburn turing one and being so sad that all her “firsts” were over….I soon realized she had a million ahead of her…riding her bike being one of those. she was SO DETERMINED when she woke up that today was the DAY! she tried and tried for hours. up and down the sidewalk. I just loved watching her try again and again, never giving up. her spirit is so strong and I could just eat her up I love her so…..

enjoyed an AMAZING 4th at my favorite place on earth, seaside florida. surrounded by friends and fun we soaked up the RAIN but didn’t mind a bit. oaks was not sure about the sand and sea at first but quickly warmed up and was hard to keep our of the waves by day two. auburn loved every bit of it as always and it was amazing to see her take it all in. she loved crab hunting, wrestling with the boys, eating frog legs, and fire works over the ocean. such a wonderful time! dusty and I got to spend our 9th wedding anniversary at the same place we honeymooned…so great. love the man so very much!

she is every bit as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out…..

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!

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!

my baby. my little love. off to kindergarten. she is so excited. loves her new backpack. loves her school uniforms even more. we went to back to school night and it was hard even then to hold back the tears. it just does not seem possible. that little girl i just rocked to sleep at night not that long ago was off to school. we could not be happier about where she is going. an amazing school that truly feels like home already. like a family. a place i know she will blossom and her true gifts be valued. even still it is hard to loose her. she is my breakfast buddy. my side kick. loves to come hang out at the studio and play. will i get in a morning workout now, maybe. will i get a little more work in before starting sessions each day, sure. would i trade it all for just one more year to have her snuggled up under my arm in her p.j.’s all morning while i edit.  IN A SECOND.

little sunflower you are magic. i love you to the moon and am proud of you each and every day. you inspire me. watch out for me (really, she does “mama, do you have your wallet” is a phrase she says when we leave daily because she knows i can be forgetful and i love you for exactly who you are. big things are in your future and i hope your first year of school is as amazing as you are. i promise to support you, love you and smother you in kisses each day of your kindergarten year. no one could be prouder of you than your daddy, bubby, and mama.

xoxox sunflower

cannot believe you are five! school age, big girl, FIVE! everyday you grow and learn and amaze me with your little heart! love you to the moon baby girl. keeping this short and sweet because we are out the door to celebrate YOU!

my sweet little sunflower…precious little soul…how I got so lucky to be your mama, i’ll just never know….

no cell service, snowed in with family, it was perfect! auburn had her first experience on the slopes and she loved it! she snow tubed, skied, and had the best time chasing around her cousins. what a wonderful little break before the spring season begins! the mountains of north carolina (asheville) were a perfect little retreat