Who are you???

Ok so when I look at how many hits my blog has in a day compared to the comments I get.....wow.....there are a TON of people viewing this blog that I don't know. So who are you? Leave us a comment and come out of LURKER mode:-)

Do you read and want to be added to my blogroll??? Let me know and I will add you on!

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

LETS DECORATE!

Tonight we finally pulled out the decorations and put them on the tree! I got Mikayla all dressed up in a little Christmas outfit that her Grandma Cheryl bought for her last year and it was sooooo cute! I TRIED to get Alec to wear something that would match and he decided he would only wear a white shirt. LOL. Hey, at least it matched! My intention was to TRY to get a good picture of them together for our Christmas Cards....ummmmm...didn't happen. Big surprise! So we turned up the music, pulled out the tinsel, and got to work!

Kris is feeling a little better by the way. I am as well. In fact, I feel 100% better with very, very little pain now. Kris took the past two days off of work, he couldn't even see to DRIVE to work so he has been home all week. He is taking off tomorrow as well! I like having him home...maybe he should scratch his eye more often. ROFL! Just kidding, of course.

This tree is soooo pretty mom and dad!
Look at this neat ornament!
Are you kidding me!? I can't HAVE it?
OOOOOOOH....a CANDY CANE!
Can I eat it with the plastic on?
NO? Well then I am standing up on this chair! What are YOU going to do about it?
OK...I am done with the chair...off I GO!
Me, a plastic bag, and a pretzel in my mouth...now THIS is LIFE!
No mom, I am not putting down the plastic bag
Sweet Alec

Sweet Alec refusing to have his picture taken
Sweet Alec again:-)
HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT CANDY CANE FROM ME!!!
Well fine then...I will just take this snowflake
Yup...I am happy now!

GLITTER SNOWFLAKE...the BEST kind!
Ooooooooh Yeeeeeeeaaah!
Mommy and Alec
Mikayla and Daddy
Dancin' around the Christmas Tree

Well.....I tried to get a picture of all three of them....LOL
A failed attempt at a picture of both of them.....UGH
I'M FREE SO I WILL SMILE!
OK dad...this decorating business is tiring

Sweet Goodnight Kisses from Dada!

There is NOTHING like HOME for the HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!

Trip to the TREE FARM!

Today we went to The Pine Tree Barn in Wooster to get our Christmas Tree! It's a beautiful place and they had animals, a restaurant, amazing gift shops, and so much more. It was so much fun! And they have MILES of Christmas trees. We took the "Pine Tree Express" which was made up to look like a train back into the fields and that is where the adventure began. We must have walked over three miles in search of the perfect tree. We only wanted one specific type of tree because the needles are softer so that made it more difficult for us to find:-) We did, however, find the PERFECT ONE! It was a great, great time and even though I was still in some pain, it was sooooo worth it. Alec thought it was great and Mikayla was fascinated by all the trees and the decorations at the main shop.

Now you know it wouldn't be "us" if there wasn't SOME kind of drama....LOL. When Kris was cutting down the tree one of the branches poked him real good in the eye. REAL good. It was so bad that where is he now? THE EMERGENCY ROOM. My awesome neighbor came over here so I could take him down and drop him off, the kids are asleep, and Rich is right now on his way to go pick Kris up. What a great neighbor:-) We love Rich. So Kris called and said that he has an abrasion on his eye and has to put an antibiotic ointment on it. It's so bad that he can't drive or anything. He really did a number on it, poor guy, all in the spirit of Christmas! I love my hubby!

UPDATE: Kris is home and he has a Corneal Abrasion in his right eye. Please pray for him...he is in a whole lot of pain with it.

Riding on the Pine Tree Express
A quick shot of the trees
Mikayla was SOOOO excited by all of this
Alec of course was too!
He kept looking and looking for the RIGHT tree
HERE IT IS! "THE ONE"
Me and my Kiddo's
This was ONE excited child!

The fun begins
Down it GOES!
Did I mention that Kris had to HAUL the thing over a half a mile back to the main shop?
Playing in one of the shops
Would she look? NOPE

Alec playing trains...BIG surprise...HAH
Mikayla trying to steal the train parts
Back at home:-)
Alec wanted to hug the tree before he headed off to bed
Mikayla isn't sure WHAT to think of this new addition to the living room...we are going to decorate it tomorrow night! We have a fun night planned and there will be LOTS more pictures tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend!

Happy LATE Thanksgiving!!

OK..let me start by saying there will be NO awesome Thanksgiving pictures on this post. Sorry...it just didn't happen. In fact, I was so sick we spent the entire day in our PJ's. I did manage to cook a turkey though! So don't fret! Mikayla had Turkey at least on her first Thanksgiving home.

So I was really sad that I was so sick. It's my kidneys still...hence the lack of updates lately. I have been battling it for well over a week now. Went to Statcare yesterday because I knew that it couldn't just be stones anymore. I passed one earlier in the week and there was NO way I should be in this much pain still. Well....Statcare (which is ran by our hospital) took one look at my urine culture and told me to to go the ER right away. UGH. I was annoyed and in pain. I came home and Kris couldn't get out of his side job at such a short notice (working at the play-off games) so I had to call my mother-in-law to come up and watch my kids so I could to the ER by myself:-( Kris felt horrible...he wanted to be there but he couldn't. She got up here around 5 and I explained things to her for Kayla and headed to the ER. I was there SIX torturous hours. I won't go into the details...just know it was bad...but it ended up being a very bad Kidney Infection. They hooked me up to an IV, gave me some morphine, and then gave me an antibiotic through the IV. I also had to drink a Potassium drink which was NASTY because it was very, very low. Weird. I ended up driving myself home around midnight because my mother-in-law couldn't stay once Kris got home from the game for him to be able to come up and be with me. She needed to get home since it was late when he got home (10:30) and it was obviously dark and they had an hour drive. Kris called me and I just BAWLED. I was in so much pain and hated being there alone...but hey...that's what happens when your family lives so far away:-( I came home and crashed. I actually feel much better today...only took one painkiller so the antibiotics must be working fast which is GREAT because Alec is going to have a total meltdown if we don't get to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut down the tree tomorrow. LOL. So that is my story of the past few days in a nutshell...it was crazy but I know a lot of you know what was going on with me and I want to say thank you SO much for your prayers. I needed them and they worked...I am better now! Thank you also to Gina and my mom for calling the hospital so much and helping me feel not so alone last night. I appreciated that. I really did.

So I don't want to forget ALL about Thanksgiving because despite my crummy health that day...I am thankful for so many things and I am going to post them now.

*I am thankful for my family. ALL of my family. I truly have an amazing husband and sometimes I feel guilty even saying that but honestly...I couldn't have a more amazing man in my life to call my own. My children!? How can I even begin? Where do you start? "Thankful" just doesn't seem like good enough of a word to use! I am BEYOND thankful for my children. Both of them enrich my life is so many ways.

*I am thankful for amazing parents. Amazing MARRIED parents which is awesome. In my parents I have the most loving and supportive foundation in my life. They have taught me so many wonderful things and I am so proud of them, who they are, and what they have accomplished in their lives.

*My life. I am thankful for my life. Kris and I have been blessed with not only beautiful children, but a home to call our own. Things are tight with me staying at home and finishing school but we have so much to call "our own." I am thankful for that...thankful that I don't have to worry about how to put food on the table or how I can get my children a new pair or shoes. Simple things are some of the things I am most thankful for.

*I am thankful for my memories. This year has not been easy with the passing of my grandma. I miss her each and every single day. Life has a void now without her in it. An emptiness that I try to fill with all the memories and love that she gave me in the years that she was here. I am thankful for the memories I have with everyone...memories are priceless. Moments spent together in happiness are priceless.

*I am thankful for my friends. I have had very, very few friends over the years that I could call a BEST friend but I have one in Gina. Yup...I am calling you out girl. She is such an amazing person and we have a rare friendship that is so much fun and so awesome. I am so thankful for it because let's face it...every girl needs another girl for "girl talk and girl fun." Thank GOD that adoption brought us together...SOOOO cool.

*And last but most importantly, I am thankful for my God. Without Him in my life I would not be who I am...would not have the strength that I have, and would not have the peace in my life that surrounds me. I am thankful that God has blessed my family in the ways in which He has and I am thankful for the difficult times that He has seen me through...and in essence helped me build myself through. Thank you God for being a loving, giving God.

Mikayla on Thanksgiving Eve in all her tired glory!
I wanted to take these pictures so you could see her hair totally down but you can't really see it anyway...LOL
Sweet princess!
OK...this is the only picture I have of her on Thanksgiving. This is PATHETIC people. Kris took it and this picture is SOOOO FUNNY! Look at that wild hair and semi-snotty nose with the BISCUIT! OMG...this child is TOOOO much. Needless to say...she liked the biscuit a lot and as you can tell...mommy was NOT feeling good or my child would have NEVER looked like this. Still a priceless picture though:-)
And here is my sweet Alec who in this picture, looks just like me. Do you see it mom and dad? Do you guys ever look at him and think you are looking at ME in boy form? This child is just like me people...in SO many ways. I just adore him...even when he gets up at 5:00 am.

JOY...total and complete JOY!

As I sit down at my computer desk tonight, and look around at the complete chaos that I live in called a "home with children," I find myself feeling nothing less the total and complete joy. It has a lot to do with the impending holidays. The feel and look of the season are all around us now. Decorations are starting to be put up, the toys are beginning to sell out, and holiday music is starting to be heard throughout all my favorite stores. The holidays. My favorite time of the year. So much laughter...so much JOY. But not last year...not for me. Last year it was about this time that the reality of missing Mikayla's First Christmas was setting in. A reality that I tried, with all my heart, to face as best I could for the sake of Alec and the sanity of my husband. Last year I can very much remember going through the motions of the holidays, and dreading the family events where I would be asked countless upon countless times when our daughter would come home. When. When would she come home??? I didn't know and hearing that question being asked by well-wishers holding their OWN sweet children adorned in fantastic holiday attire bit me hard...right at my heart and soul. I would smile, answer politely that I didn't know when she would be home, and then come home only to end up in her finished nursery, melting down with raw emotions and tears. Those nights would end with Kris coming up to get me, to pull me up from my low, and to tuck me into bed, where I would cry myself to sleep...my arms and heart empty as Mikayla laid her sweet head on the pillow in her crib thousands of miles away from her mom, dad, and brother.

Thankfully, although we didn't know it, our time was almost due, and the day after a less then JOYful New Years, we received word we were OUT of PGN. Mikayla Faith....she was coming home...and that was when the JOY began.

Mikayla turned 17 months old yesterday and so tonight I wanted to post about the JOY that she brings to our lives. She makes me laugh and smile all the time. She is so funny...everything that she does and the ways in which she does them are so...well...so Mikayla! The pain the process brings is never forgotten, never, but it fades to a distant memory over time. And this holiday season, as I see the decorations and hear the music...I don't feel sadness...I feel JOY. I feel joy because my life has been so richly blessed with an amazing husband who is everything to me, and two completely beautiful and wonderful children. Both of which bring their own uniqueness and personalities to our family. I love them both so much..so very much...they BOTH bring me so much.....JOY!

Welcome to the World! This is our referral picture!

~One Month Old~
~Two Months Old~
~Three Months Old~

~Four Months Old~
~Five Months Old~
~Six Months Old~
~Seven Months Old and COMING HOME!!! (Taken on our pick up trip)~

~Eight Months Old~
~Nine Months Old~
~Ten Months Old~
~Eleven Months Old~
~Twelve Months Old~

~Thirteen Months Old~
~Fourteen Months Old~
~Fifteen Months Old~
~Sixteen Months Old~
~SEVENTEEN MONTHS OLD!!!~

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone for their well wishes and prayers for me this past weekend. I am still in a lot of pain and running high fevers. I will be calling my Urologist tomorrow to see if this is normal or if I should go in and see her. I will let everyone know of course tomorrow.