Adoption/Birthday Party!

So my Cupcake is turning one and we are going to finally get to finalize Love Bug's adoption!  Cupcake doesn't turn one until March 19th, but Bug's adoption finalization is on March 9th so we are going to celebrate both in one big party!  I have been having a difficult time trying to figure out how to combine the parties and yet include something special for both of them!  On the way home from our wearhouse shopping trip last night Handsome and I finally got a moment to chat!  I was telling him how I didn't like how the Cupcakes and Ladybug themes were not meshing as well as I would have liked them too and how I love this song called "Blessings" by Laura Story and how it would be fun to turn part of that song into the inspiration for the party.  On both accounts (Cupcake and Love Bug) we spent much time in tearful prayer begging God to grow our family because we knew it was a desire He placed in our hearts!  And Handsome (who is such an amazing man) said we should do a garden theme because there is a quote "What if Your blessings come through raindrops, what if Your healing comes through tears."  He said that would work for a garden theme because of the tear drops from our prayers falling and watering the seed He placed in our hearts for a family.  That has grown into why we are celebrating; celebrating two little precious lives that are forever in our family!  SOOOOO, we are going to do a garden themed party in pale pink, white, green and we will use red and black lady bugs for accents! 

I am really excited about it, finally, something that is okay in my mind to fuse two parties into one!  Love bug will have her own cake that my wonderful Pastor's wife will make and Cupcake will have, wait for it, CUPCAKES!  I am not sure if I am going to try and make them myself or if I am going to have someone else do it...but either way, there will be cupcakes!  But the fact that we can use a song that is very meaningful to me is huge too!  Thank you to everyone that gave input while I was trying to find the 'perfect' party idea!  It will be fun to start putting it together now!  I will leave you with the lyrics to Laura Story's "Blessings" :

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise

Happy 1 Week Birthday Cupcake!

 Last week at this very time I was laying on an operating table as my beautiful Cupcake was being welcomed into the world!  The birth story will come soon, I just have not been able to bring the emotions together to write it yet! 

This week has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life.  I love my Princess and my Sunshine, but there is something about having an instant bond with a baby...the kind of bond that just being in my arms sooths her...just gazing into my eyes calms her...and just simply being enough for her makes her happy!  Now those things came eventually with Princess and Sunshine, but with Cupcake the minute Handsome placed her in my arms that was all there already!  I have shed many tears this week over what an amazing gift it has been to experience pregnancy and now having her here is even more amazing! 

Happy one week birthday Cupcake, Mama and Daddy love you so very much ~ you are our miracle baby!

The Minnie Mouse Party

The wonderful Heather made the fun and YUMMY cake!Happy Birthday to you...♫

She blew all the candles out!

Lots of fun gifts from family & friends!

Ethan even opened some!

The great doll house from Grandpa & Grandma!And a kitchen from Mommy & Daddy!

Eric eve got in on the fun!

Happy Birthday my Princess...

Thank you FAMILY TO FAMILY ADOPTIONS INC. for making it possible for me to write a post like this...for without you our family would still be two!

It is so hard for me to believe that time flies so fast. The 3 years before you came seem like eternity and the 3 years since you have been in our life feel like they have just slipped away! It is so much fun to see your personality grow and bud with each passing day. I hope that you will be able to see in your Mommy & Daddy's heart that even before we knew you that we loved you more than ANY words can discribe! When we made our trip to Texas the day you were born we were SOOO excited to meet you, and once we arrived your Daddy was able to hold you first, then Mommy, then Grandma. We were exhausted, but we wanted to be there for you SOOOO bad! The next day that we spent in the hospital waiting for the 48 hour mark was scary, but marvelous at the same time! Once we were able to bring you 'home' all we did was watch and snuggle you. The faces you made, the sounds you made...they are forever etched in my memory. We went to the Gulf of Mexico and you put your feet in at just 3 days old. We had to say good-bye to Daddy & Grandma that day...but you and Mommy then had 6 days to be alone, just getting to know eachother. You were welcomed home to SD at the airport by so many people it was great. Grandma surprized Mommy and was there too! Everyone was soooo excited to meet you! It was just the beginning of a great journey.

I remember your first smile, your first baby shower, the first time you were so mad with your huge tears and pouty lips....from the day you entered our lives you have been our Princess. I could never have understood how much you can love someone you just met, but wow!

It was amazing to me how easy going you were when at 3 months old you graciously welcomed your brother into our family and really never had a problem with it! How fun to watch you learn to crawl, go up steps, walk, feed yourself, talk, dance, love, and just live. You are so sweet, your heart is so kind (most of the time), and your personality is so fun! And your newest thing to stop me in the middle of something and ask to pray for your brother or sister to come home soon is melting my heart. I know you are getting that off of our desire to grow our family, but the fact that you are so tender is hunbling!

I know we have only 3 years under our belt with 15 to go until you are an adult and many more after that...but while I am thankful for your health and the fact that you are growing, sometimes Mommies just want to keep their little ones little. The days slip away minute by minute and the years slip away day by day. But I try not to let a day go by without telling you I love you.

Happy Birthday my Princess...

Happy Birthday to Me!

While it is my birthday today, most of my birthday related celebrations are already finished...
~ My HUSBAND gave me a fire pit and because there was no place to hide something so large, I received it on the 13th!
~ Another part of my gift/his father's day gift was getting to go and see Randy.Travis in concert on the 19th
~ We took off just after the concert to head out to my parents house for the big weekend of my home town - Saddle.Horse.Holiday - which was a happy blessing. We were not planning to go until out of the blue I called Dad the Tuesday before (16th) just to chat. He half jokingly asked if we would be interested in coming home because he needed someone to drive his truck in the parade, I (jokingly) said if you pay for gas we will be there! The rest is history, he helped with gas, we went!

I had been thinking for a while what kind of post I wanted for my 'Birthday Post' and couldn't come up with anything wise or witty...so I'll just leave you with this. Since this is our family blog, I have decided to start a new blog for ME!

It is called, 'JustExactlyNothingExciting' as you can see the first letter of each of the words spell my middle name. You can go here to see my first post and explanation of what the purpose (or lack thereof) this blog will be!

Happy Birthday Dear Husband of Mine!!!

Since my dear husbands birthday is today it only makes sense to be thankful for him, right? I know, I know, he was the subject of my Thankful Thursday post not that long ago...but after almost 7 years of marriage there are more that one post worth of things to be thankful for my husband for.

But seriously, I have had other ladies tell me that if they ever heard me say a bad thing about my husband they were going to get me because they just couldn't see anything wrong with him. Most of the time this is true (he is still human!) So since it is his 33rd birthday, I am going to list 33 things I like &/or love about him...
1. his smile
2. he has a big heart
3. the way he looks after really enjoying a meal I cooked for him
4. the way he takes so much care in having older, but nice & clean looking vehicles...have you seen how clean his truck is?
5. the way he can juggle both kids when they pile on his lap
6. the number of years he has been stuck with me
7. how he has put up with my emotional roller coaster called PCOS
8. how good he is at planting roses...we really should have kept a tally of how many you have planted for me!
9. how he has relaxed about life in general since we had children
10. how handsome he looks while he is singing with the praise team at church
11. the way he appreciates my blog
12. that he 'kicks' me out of the house once a week for me time
13. he isn't afraid to cook or clean
14. that he was in love with the thought of adoption
15. how he reads the Bible story to the kids every night
16. he knows something about everything
17. how quickly he learns new things
18. that he loves my family as much as I do
19. how crazy he gets when driving a stroller!
20. his tender heart
21. how if he wants a treat that he knows I love he will let me 'break' my rules so I don't have to watch him eat it
22. how he almost ALWAYS gets out of stinky diapers changes! (that is something to be amazed about with all the diapers changed at our house!)
23. how he has taken on folding the laundry as his task
24. how not being able to have children naturally didn't even throw him off his game
25. how much he loves me
26. that he is okay with the fact that I am not okay with some of his family
27. his laugh...the real, this is something that gets all the way to my belly, laugh
28. that is not legalistic
29. how he needs me to help him buy clothes
30. his faith
31. that he is always up for an adventure
32. how hard he works
33. how he is able to find good in everything

Now they are in no particular order, some silly, some serious...but I love him, all 33 years of him!

Day after Christmas

We were able to get together with my Mom's side of the family the day after Christmas. We loaded up in the suburban and headed for MN. It had been a while since we had last seen most of that side of the family, so it was good to get to spend some time with them!

We were thankful for the DVD players in the suburban...it helped make all the miles go very smoothly (or at least as smoothly as one could expect with two 2 year olds!)

It seems that there is some tradition of taking pictures of the only 2 granddaughters, however, Sara looks great and me, well not so much...thanks for taking it while I was talking!

One of Sara's jobs is working at an apple orchard, and the Honey Crisp apples she brought for us were a big hit for the kids...between the 2 of them they ate 3! Princess NEVER eats apples!

Grandpa was trying to take a nap and the kids (egged on my Sara) were saying "wake up Brampa, WAKE UP!"

Ever since Sunshine has been a little guy, Jess has had a soft spot for him...it continued during our short time with this side of the family...thanks for loving on him Jess!Princess thought that Kaylee's Rainforest stroller was LOTS of fun!
She had brought her new Baby Wendy (thanks Aunt Christy & Uncle Zachie!) So she pushed her around for a long time! Sunshine joined in on the fun as well!

Kaylee and Regan had a picnic for Princess & Sunshine while we were waiting for the real food!Since it was the day before Sunshine's 2nd birthday, they were all troopers and threw him a party! John Deere theme again ya know!
He did pretty well blowing out his candles!
Grandpa & Grandma gave hime two John Deere puzzles...thank you!The Johnson clan gave him this ADORABLE hat! He is also opening one of his gifts from Mommy & Daddy...a book called the Squire & the Scroll ~ a must for Christian families with little boys...also check into The Princess & the Kiss ~ a must for Christian families with little girls!We even let him have some ice cream, he enjoyed it. But no cake for this birthday boy!

Mom, Sara, Matt & Kaylee chatting it up/eating some cake! It was good to finally meet Matt!Uncle Bob! He has been such a blessing to Handsome & Myself since the very first time I brought Handsome to one of these family get togethers...R&K the only other Larson great grandchildren!

Princess turns 2!!! AKA ~ Grandma's Visit Pt3

We had a cake that was similar to her first birthday cake, perfect for a princess!
Blowing out her candles
Trying to get a taste of frosting while her guests sang 'Happy Birthday To You...'
Doing well with a spoon, enjoying her cake and ice cream


I LOVE this picture!
Some of the party guests
Opening her gifts
Grandma gave an umbrella, can you tell that Princess & Sunshine really enjoyed it! They laugh and laugh when you pop it open!
 Princess received some things to be a little mother, baby bed, baby stroller, baby swing, ironing board, play food...she is really fitting into the roll of mother well, just ask her brother!


She also received a pretty butterfly necklace and she wanted it on right away

Trying on Grandma's Crocs (the wrong feet!)
Having fun playing with her new toys
Lucas really had Sunshine laughing
 Sunshine was all tired out from our trip up the canyon and APrincess's birthday party
Thank you to everyone to came for sharing this special day with us! Thank you for the wonderful gifts, and thank you for your friendship!