Our Big Announcement...

Well....big for us. Did you wonder at my hint during my Easter post? Well, here it is....

We're about to become parents....AGAIN!!!

How exciting is that?!? Way cool and exciting for us, but also pretty scary. We're totally smitten with baby number 1 and wonder how in the world we'll ever love baby number 2 as much. Now of course, we know we will, but you get the point.

So when is this miracle joining our family, you ask? Well, we don't know. Don't you just love the adoption journey? But, we are planning on getting the ball rolling officially in January. Our agency holds mandatory clases twice a year (summer and winter). We're not quite ready for the summer round of classes, so we'll catch the next round in January. Last time when we started the process, we took our classes in July and were homestudy ready in October. But, we didn't submit our profile until February. We dragged our feet, because I was still in school. Little did we know, we'd get picked so fast once we were in!!!

This time, we're kind of swaping it. We're getting our profile and everything done ahead of our classes, so once we're done, we can submit right away. It'll probably be in Febuary again. Do you think we'll get picked just as fast this time? Only God knows, but we're trusting in His awesome plan for our family!

My New Fav Pics

These are three of my favorites. With a baby this adorable, it's hard to pick just one!!!

Come Sit and Stay for Faith's B-Day Party...

Are you ready to Paw-ty???

I have finally decided on the details of Faith's first birthday. It is going to be at a really great park with an amazing playground, petting zoo, beach and lake, kiddie-train, and mini carousel ride (can you believe this park is in our town?!?). We are going with... drum roll please... a puppy theme. I think it will be super cute and it really fits Faith. She adores her puppies. Plus, we never forget how blessed we are that J. picked us BECAUSE of our dogs. Now lets just hope for beautiful weather and NO bugs!

I went to the dollar store this weekend and went on a shopping spree! I got great party favors (a pail, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and playdoh), and it cost me just $1.50 a favor! Now that's frugal AND fun! We're going to have finger foods (pb and j sandwiches, cheese sticks, fruit salad and crackers), puppy dog cupcakes, bone-shaped sugar cookies, and lemonade. Then, I went to the party store and got more decorations. It's going to be the best first birthday party ever! We won't even pretend that Faith's excited, since she oblivious. But, I don't know who's more excited...me or my mom! (Derek's such a boy with this stuff...) Best of all, my mom is flying in. And, we invited Faith's birthfamily and it looks like they are coming!

(p.s. Yes, I know I'm cheesy and NO, I don't care!)

First Bike Ride :-D

(Faith was all tuckered out at the end...)

Derek loves to go for bike rides, so this year I got a new bike and Faith got a bike trailer. (Okay, let me just side bar here, and say that my new bike is so cool. It's a red, classic comfort cruiser. It is ultra simple - no gears, pedal backwards to brake - and I love it! I even got a nifty basket for it for those theoretical bikerides to the library this summer. Okay, sidebar done.) We took the bike trailer for a test-ride around the neighborhood. Faith looks so cute wearing her bike helmet, although she was less than thrilled at wearing it. We are odering a different one to see if she'll wear that one. She had so much fun though. I think our summer evenings will be filled with bike rides.

New diggs

Faith has just about outgrown her infant carrier, and we went out last weekend and got her a big girl car seat. I researched a ton and decided that it would be safest for her if we did extended rear-facing seating, and I found a seat that lets her sit rear-facing up to 35 lbs. She can also stay in a five-point harness until 65 lbs in this seat. It's a Britax which is the best car seat brand on the market, so I know it's safe, but it's super cute too! Plus, I LOVE getting a good bargin. This seat was on sale for 20% off. We bought two of the exact same seats (one for my car and one for Derek's), and we got an additional 10%. How awesome is that?!?

TEA Party

While in Virginia, we had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser party, hosted by my mom and Brian. The focus of the party was the TEA party they were organizing for their area. Can you guess who the life of the party was? There were yummy treats, and Faith especially enjoyed nibbling on the most delicious strawberries you ever did taste.

We came home before the actual TEA party, but we attended on near us. I'm not sure if you heard about these on the news, but these were bipartisian protests organized all across the country. TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.

My mom and stepdad's party in their city and had over 500 people in attendance. I think the one we went to in Fond du Lac had about 300 people (Large cities had as many as 16,000 people attend a rally!). Benjamin Franklin gave a great speach by us. Faith enjoyed people watching. We just really want to raise her to be aware of what is going on in the world around her, and to not be afraid to make her voice heard.

Photo Shoot and Reflections

It's been so long since I posted (who knew motherhood keeps you busy?), that I have so much to talk about. So forgive me for jumping around. Going back to our trip to VA, Faith looked so beautiful in her Easter dress, that I just had to take her outside for a photo shoot. She enjoyed playing in the grass and especially getting to eat the grass! All we can say is, "what a doll!!!!"

We feel overwhelmingly blessed to have such an amazing, beautiful, smart, and funny little girl. Derek said that he can really see J, Faith's birthmom, in Faith in these pictures. I sent these pictures to J, and she said that she is starting to see herself in Faith too. I don't see the resemblance so much. Not that I mind Faith looking like J, far from it. I guess it's just that I look at Faith and just see my little girl.

People say that I look like my mom (an amazing compliment btw, because my mom is honestly so beautiful), but I don't typically see that either. Once in a while, I'll catch it in a photo, so it must just be me. I hear my mom in me more than anything. Derek says all the time that we sound so much alike and our mannerisms are so close.

I wonder if J and I will share a mutual legacy in Faith. She'll carry J's genes and looks, but have my mannerisms and sound like me when she talks. I think that's a really nice thing...to share in who Faith is and becomes in that way. I don't often think of Faith as having two mom's (a biological and adoptive), but in reality she does. When we were beginning the adoption process, I thought I'd feel threatened by that, but the reality is, that I am overjoyed that Faith has a biological mom who cares so deeply for her. As we always say in our home, you can NEVER have too many people love you. Now, don't get me wrong, I AM Faith's mom, her real mom. But, I'm happy to share part of what it means to be a mom with J.

Alright, so this turned more deep than I was originally intending. My point is that we have the most beautiful baby ever. And, I can't believe she's almost a year old. With her first birthday just around the corner, she really is becoming a little girl and isn't such a little baby anymore. Toddlerhood here we come...

So Cute!

Like father, like daughter.

Derek's 30!

So we celebrated Derek's birthday three times!!! What a lucky guy. When we got home from my mom's, we celebrated with Derek's mom by going out to Uno's. Faith is such a ham, and I got a lot of pictures of her hanging out with us at the restaurant and enjoing a breadstick (She's getting SO big!)

Then, the day Derek went back to work after vacation, Faith and I went up to Derek's job to celebrate his birthday. Faith helped me to pick out some balloons, a cake, and her very own card to give to him. Everyone in Derek's office was happy to see Faith and the chocolate cake! We went out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Azteca. This is the place that Derek took me to on our first date when I moved to Wisconsin and we still enjoy hanging out there. Faith likes it too.

This was Derek's first birthday as a daddy. At his birthday last year, we didn't even know we would be parents in a month! How amazing is that?!? Everytime we think about how Faith joined our family, we both get all teared up. She is jsut so amazing and we LOVE being parents.

Now, time for me to brag...just a little. Derek is the most fantastic father in the world. He really is. Any child would be blessed to call him daddy. He is involved with Faith. He plays with her, reads to her, feeds her, and yes - even changes poopy diapers. But, more than anything, Derek is truly invested in every aspect of Faith's life. He ENGAGES her in a relationship. I love watching the two of them together!

Easter

Faith had a lovely first Easter. She woke up in her bunny pj's (a gift from my mom). Isn't she just such a happy baby when she gets up in the mornings? I just had to shoot a couple of pictures of her. And you can really see those bottom teeth! I think she has almost eight teeth now!

We got to attend my mom's church for their Easter service. Faith wore her strawberry dress to church that her nana (Derek's mom) got her, and if I do say so, was the most beautiful baby there. We had an awesome family dinner at my mom's. an extra special treat for me and my brother was the chicken and dressing my mom made. This is a dish that my grandma on my dad's side always makes at holidays. I don't know the last time I had some. It seems my grandma and I never cross paths anymore now that we live in different states.

We all said a prayer at dinenr. Derek and I talked about our big announcement (well big for us), and the blessing that is to us. Faith missed dinner since she was already in bed, but there was much talk of her. And, we celebrated Derek's birthday. I made him a cake, and we sang happy birthday.

It was a beautiful day, and not just because of the weather!

(Did I mention that I am so in love with this guy?!?)

The Ocean

Neither Derek not myself had ever seen the ocean before. That is, before our most generous gift-trip from my mom and Brian to Virginia Beach. They paid for us to stay at the Hilton. The HILTON!!!! Our hotel was on the beach. It. Was. Fantastic!

When we checked in, I mentioned that we were celebrating Derek's birthday (the BIG 3-0!), and we got upgraded to the executive 21st floor. You needed your key card to even get to this floor on the elevator. There was a "club" that had snacks and a mini fridge with tiny, cute glass bottles of pop. We sat in the lounge and looked out over the view while we waited for our room to be readied for us.

Our room was awesome! It was by far the fanciest room we've ever stayed in. It had an ocean view and a cute patio (too bad it was a bit too chilly to really enjoy it). The bathroom had a tv and telephone in it. It was the fanciest bathroom I've ever showered in.

We took a ton of pictures. It was pretty cool on the beach, but the sand was nice and warm. We enjoyed dinner at one of our fav restaurants that we only go to when we visit a larger metropolitan area (i.e. outside of Wisconsin), Macaroni Grill. Derek and I ate at this restaurant a lot when he would come and visit me when I lived in Virginia back in our courtship days. So, it holds special memories for us when we eat there. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant, and Derek had one of the best crab cake sandwiches I've ever tasted. In fact, I stole half of it. I was too wimpy to order my own, but if we ever go back, I definitely will be getting my own.

On the second day of our trip, we checked out of our room and hung out at the beach. Then, we visited a state park that had sand dunes. It was so much fun. This was also our very first weekend trip sans baby. My mom kept Faith for us for much needed grandma-baby time. We enjoyed some time to reconnect again as just a couple. What a blessing all around!

Now for some pictures...I enjoy taking pics in black and white, so the majority are in the median. Oh and of course, all pictures are copyrighted 2009. Hope you enjoy!

(Our hotel. Our patio is the very top floor, second one from the left.)

(A beautiful sunrise from our patio. Derek was up early and caught this amazing view)

(The view of the city at sunset from the roof of the hotel courtesy of Derek.)

(The hotel lobby had this really cool seashell water fountain that changed colors.)

(I love this picture. We could be on a vacation in Maui for all you would know by the looks of it!)

(The ocean)

(At the state park.)

(Those are birds on those posts, out on the water. It was pretty far away, and we didn't even see the birds until I zoomed in on my camera.)

(I always enjoy taking artistic pictures. Yeah digital cameras!)

(Derek took this really cool picture.)