Dinner Bells

A Very Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T15:50:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday! Evan and I went on a date last night but we wanted to do something special with Seth during the day so we had a fun Valentine lunch!

We had heart shaped pepperoni pizzas and caesar salad (and Seth had grapes :))

For dessert, we had heart shaped brownies!

I love the excitement on Seth's face in this picture!

After lunch, Evan read Seth the new book that we gave him...

And Seth got a surprise Valentine package from his Nanny and Pop!

Then, we got ready and I took Seth to therapy. When we got home from therapy, there were even more surprises waiting on us! My grandparents were at our house (Evan had asked them to come spend the night with us and babysit Seth!) with a gift for Seth and cupcakes for Evan and me AND a Valentine package was waiting on our front porch from Gigi and Papa!!

And last night, my grandparents took Seth on a date to Chuck E. Cheese while Evan and I went to dinner and a movie! :)

It was a great day and Seth LOVED getting to spend the evening with his great grandparents and he was even more excited that they were still here this morning! I love this picture of Seth and my grandpa watching cartoons together this morning :)

I hope you had a fun Valentine's Day too!

A Dino-Mite Valentine Party

2012-02-10T09:25:00.000-06:00

Seth's Mother's Day Out Valentine party was yesterday. Evan took off from work to attend and they decorated cookies and Seth exchanged valentines with his classmates!

I found these adorable Valentines on Etsy. The seller just emailed me the file (after updating the name and changing a tiny bit of wording for me) and I printed them at home... so quick, easy and inexpensive!

Then I went to a candy store and bought Jelly Belly jelly beans in the colors of the Valentines (my goal was for them to look like dinosaur eggs but I'm not sure that anyone noticed! haha) and tied them up in little cello bags and attached the card!

I also made some little Valentines for the kids in the class that I teach. I just put three little chocolate hearts in a cello bag, tied them up with the same ribbon that I used for Seth's valentines, and attached a heart that I cut out of scrapbook paper and then I wrote a little note on the back side of the heart :)

And here's my handsome little Valentine at his party... Even though his shirt is horribly dirty, it was my inspiration for choosing the dinosaur valentines... I love a theme! haha

Have a great weekend! :)

Breadstick Fun and Breakfast Enchiladas

2012-02-07T12:30:00.000-06:00

A while ago, I bought some Pillsbury breadsticks to go with the soup that we were having for dinner. Evan was helping me cook and he offered to put the breadsticks in the oven. When he got them out of the can and put them on the baking stone, he made one of them into an "S" shape. Obviously that one was for Seth and he LOVED it!! So, last week we had soup for dinner again and I grabbed a can of Pillsbury breadsticks for us to play with/eat!!

Great idea, Daddy!! :)

And last night, for dinner, we had Breakfast Enchiladas. I was looking in my Southern Living cookbook for something fun that we hadn't had before and these are what looked best to me! They were easy to make (but not super fast) and we all three thought they were delicious!

Breakfast Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 lb package of ground pork breakfast sausage

2 T. butter or margarine

4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

14 large eggs, beaten

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

Cheese Sauce (recipe to follow)

10 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeños

Optional Toppings: halved grape tomatoes, sliced green onions, chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Cook (scramble) sausage in large nonstick skillet; drain well; set aside.

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and cilantro, and sauté 1 minute. Add eggs, salt and pepper and cook (scramble the eggs). Remove from heat and gently fold in the sausage and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese sauce.

Spoon about 1/2 cup of egg mixture down the center of each flour tortilla; roll up. Place seam side down in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Pour remaining cheese sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle evenly with monterey jack cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Serve with desired toppings.

***********

Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour

3 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles, undrained

3/4 t. salt

Directions:

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese and remaining ingredients until smooth.

Tip: cook the sausage first, then make the cheese sauce, then scramble the eggs... that way you are ready to assemble as soon as the eggs are cooked!

He gets really excited about dinner... like his mommy! haha :)

January 29

2012-01-30T14:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Evan took several pictures of Seth. When I loaded them on our computer last night, I thought one of them really reminded me of another picture that we had taken of Seth the first time that we ever kept him at our house (before he was placed with us permanently, we had to complete several day and overnight visits with him to meet a DHS requirement). So, I looked up the other picture in our iPhoto library... and the weirdest thing... it was taken on January 29, 2011!! Meaning that these two photos that reminded me of each other were taken on the same day one year apart! Nothing significant or special about this, but I just thought it was cool!

What do you think? Do you see why the photo we took yesterday reminded me of the photo we took last year? And doesn't he look so old in the photo we took yesterday! Such a big boy now! :)

And let's all notice that the bed was made in the picture from last year and this year... well, not so much! haha That's pretty reflective of life last year vs. this year too! :)

Happy Monday!

Moving Blues and Saturday Fun

2012-01-29T15:30:00.001-06:00

We have lived in Northwest Arkansas for almost 6 months now... and I still get the moving blues every once in a while (like this morning before church)... but I am doing much better. Before moving to NWA (and not including college) I had lived in Little Rock, AR, for my entire life. I LOVE Little Rock. I am comfortable and connected there. My family lives there, my friends live there, my church is there, my favorite restaurants are there, I know the roads and the shortcuts and the stores and the schools, and the doctors, and the neighborhoods etc., etc., etc.

When we moved here, on August 1, almost every single aspect of my life changed... and though we are extremely blessed and I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has provided for us in NWA... It has been hard for me to feel blessed because of the pain of the move. I feel guilty about that, but I'm just being honest. I have felt very alone and frustrated for much of the last six months. But I am working through those emotions and we are working to become connected in NWA and I am doing much better. I won't say that I wouldn't move back to Little Rock tomorrow if the opportunity presented itself but I have decided to enjoy my time and find my purpose here whether it's for the next six months or the next 60 years.

And on a happy note, one of the best things I've found about moving to a new town is that it feels like you are on an extended vacation. There are so many new things to learn and explore and enjoy. Yesterday, we took the opportunity to explore our new(ish) home and we came across some pretty wonderful places and we had a really great day!

We started the day out by going to Hobbs State Park. The visitor's center has a museum type area with live reptiles and amphibians and some fun and interactive learning areas.

Then we went to War Eagle Mill for lunch. It was SUCH a cool place!! After lunch, we threw rocks into the War Eagle Creek.

Love, love this picture of my boys in their boots!!! :)

Our last stop for the day was Turpentine Creek- a wildlife refuge for exotic cats (and they also have a bear!). It was feeding time when we arrived and the roaring coming from the cages was pretty scary but Seth LOVED it!! I couldn't believe how close we were to some of the animals- way closer than you can get to them at a zoo!

We ended our day by having pizza with our friends, Haleigh and Logan, but I didn't take any pictures! Haleigh is also a NWA resident originally from Little Rock and we went to high school together... so she understands my situation and it has really helped to have her up here! :)

Here's to having a good attitude; making the most of the situation that you are in; and figuring out what God has for you no matter where you are!

Have a great week! :)

Miracle

2012-01-27T09:50:00.000-06:00

For the last 2 weeks, we have been in a funk at our house! Last week, I was REALLY sick. I was coughing so much that I couldn't sleep or talk and I just felt SO awful. We basically stayed home all week and Nick Jr. babysat Seth while I laid on the couch in a daze. Ha! And this week, Evan missed 2 days of work with the same stuff that I had last week and Seth has missed MDO and therapy this week because of pink eye and an ear infection... I am SO over being stuck at home! haha

I took this picture yesterday morning... this is all the medicine that was sitting out on our kitchen counter (to be honest, we are keeping my parents' lab and she has arthritis and two of the medicines are things that Seth takes every day of his life... so all of these meds aren't because of our current sickness! But I still thought it was funny!).

On Tuesday, before Seth got sick, we went to his 2 year check up. He had to get 2 shots and we found out that he is in the 96th percentile for height and the 85th percentile for weight... poor tiny child. :) That afternoon, we went to get frozen yogurt as a reward for surviving the shots!

The next morning, I had to finally wake Seth up at 10:30! He had been asleep for almost 14 hours and I was starting to get worried about him! When I woke him up, I discovered why he had been sleeping so much... his eye was super red and his snot was super green! So we headed back to the doctor for the second day in a row!

And now on to the reason that I am actually writing this post... In the last two days, we have seen two new doctors. When we moved to NWA at the end of the summer, we chose a pediatrician and went to one appointment with him before he moved to another town and left the clinic. So, we chose another doctor in the same clinic but we had never actually seen him (before Tuesday) because Seth hadn't had any check ups or sick visits since September. Then on Wednesday, when we had the sick visit, our new doctor didn't have any available appointments so we had to see yet another doctor.

So, twice this week, I have had to update a new doctor (and complete stranger) on Seth's rather extensive medical history. As I sat there rattling off all of the things that have happened to Seth in the last 24 months, both of the doctors looked at me in amazement and commented at different times on how miraculous Seth's story is... something that I have almost forgotten because it is so everyday life to me now. It was so good for me to watch a stranger experience the miracle of Seth's life. It was so good for me to remember that although I have experienced God's goodness many times in my life, I had never witnessed a true miracle before Seth.

I am so thankful to God for the miracles that he has done in Seth's life... and I am talking TRUE miracles like "raised the dead to life" and "made the lame to walk" and "made the blind to see" type miracles. The expectations on Seth's life after he was injured at 6 months of age were grim but God is bigger than grim expectations. Among many other miracles, my son, who was once near death, is now full of energy and zest for life. My son who wasn't guaranteed to walk, who wore braces on his feet and didn't take his first steps until he was 15 months old, now runs and climbs and dances. My son, who lost his vision completely after the injury, now has the vision of a typical 2 year old.

My son is a miracle and I don't ever want to forget that. My son is a miracle and I don't want to ever stop telling his story. My son is a miracle and I don't say it enough.

"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." -Psalm 77:11-14

Our First Family Christmas

2012-01-24T12:55:00.001-06:00

Better late than never, right? I could have just skipped it but I really wanted to record our first official Christmas as a family of 3! So here is my attempt at a quick overview...

The night before Christmas Eve (which I like to refer to as Christmas Eve Eve), we rode a Christmas train! It was wonderful and Seth LOVED it!! It was a real train that traveled from Springdale to Fayetteville and then back to Springdale. The kids wore their pajamas and we were served cookies and hot chocolate. We also sang Christmas carols and got a visit from Santa and Frosty the Snowman! :)

About halfway through the train ride, we gave Seth a Christmas present... "The Polar Express". We plan to ride the Christmas train every year and we wanted to commemorate the first year of our new tradition so we gave him the book and wrote a little note in the front of it!

When we got home from the train ride, we made cookies for Santa!

We had our "Christmas Morning" on Christmas Eve morning this year because we wanted Seth to be able to have a Christmas at home but we also wanted to travel to see our families during the weekend.

After we opened presents, Seth and Evan went outside to try out Seth's new ride while I made pancakes!

We had double chocolate Santa pancakes and they were delicious!! I saw some similar Santa pancakes on Pinterest but decided that I wanted our Santas to be made with chocolate pancakes and fresh fruit. I found the recipe that I used for the pancakes here. We also did "Elf on the Shelf" this year and our elf, "Gus", came to our breakfast to say goodbye until next year! :)

And don't worry, we didn't forget about Jack this year! He had some goodies in his stocking too! :)

We spent the rest of the day at home playing and packing and we headed to Little Rock late that afternoon. We got to Little Rock around 8:30 and we went straight to my grandparents' house for dinner and a few gifts.

My grandmother, my mom and me playing in our new hats :)

My grandparents gave Seth this superhero costume and I thought he looked SO cute playing in it!

We spent that night with my parents and on Christmas morning we opened more presents, ate brunch together and read the REAL Christmas story together before packing up and heading to Arkadelphia to be with Evan's family.

At Evan's parents' house, Seth got to meet some Aunts and Uncles that he hadn't met, we ate dinner together and we opened MORE presents... and we learned that Seth is a really great drummer! :)

We spent the night with Evan's parents that night and the next morning, Seth was FINALLY ready to hold Preslee. She was almost a month old at this point and every time we had tried to get him to hold her before, he quickly opted out! haha

He loves his sweet baby cousin (and I LOVE how he is holding her tiny little hand in this picture)! :)

Evan and I have officially decided that Christmas as parents is WONDERFUL and we look forward to many, many more! :)

A VERY Long Day and Pretty in Pink

2012-01-20T13:30:00.001-06:00

The week before Seth's birthday, we had to make a special trip to Little Rock for an 8 hour EEG at Children's Hospital... it was a LONG day, to say the least. Seth has a history of seizures and his physical therapist and occupational therapist thought that they may have noticed him having some "absent seizures" so that was the reason for the testing. It wasn't painful at all but it was a VERY long time for an almost two year old boy to sit still and he was very frustrated. I felt so bad for my sweet boy and we were SO glad when it was over!

We spent the night in Little Rock after the EEG and then the next day, my mom and brother came back to NWA with us... because I needed their help! As you may have noticed, my family has a LOT of double birthdays!! My mom's birthday and Evan's birthday are one week apart; my grandmother's birthday and my brother's birthday are one day apart; Seth's Forever Day and my birthday are one day apart and my sister's birthday and Seth's birthday are 3 days apart!! So, Seth wasn't the only family member that we celebrated last week! My sister, Anna, turned 23 on the 12th and we had a little birthday party for her on Thursday night when the rest of my family arrived at our house for the weekend.

Here are a few pictures from her girly party...

My mom had the napkins imprinted with Anna's monogram!

This picture was taken when Anna was 18 months old!

It's hard to see but one of the cakes says, "Happy Birthday" and the other says, "Anna Victoria".

The birthday girl with her table :)

Seth loves his "Nanna" SO much!!

Now, if I had only blogged about Christmas, I would be all caught up! haha

Maybe next week :)

Seth's Birthday Day

2012-01-19T16:00:00.001-06:00

Seth's birthday was on a Sunday this year so we started the day out by going to church. My parents and siblings were still in town so they went with us. When Seth's name tag printed for Sunday school, it said, "Happy Birthday!" on it! I thought that was so fun but I forgot to take a picture of it!

After church, we all went out to eat. Seth opened a few little presents and the restaurant brought him an ice-cream sundae with a balloon tied to it and sang Happy Birthday to him!

After lunch, my family went back to Little Rock and we went home to take a nap! On Sunday night, Evan, Seth and I went to a movie! It wasn't technically Seth's first movie but it was his first kid movie and he LOVED it!!! We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

It was a fun day with our sweet TWO year old! And it feels so weird to say that! :)

More Party Fun!

2012-01-18T15:20:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of the people and activities that we enjoyed at Seth's cowboy party last Saturday!

On Friday night before Seth's party, I was in the kitchen working on some party things and a HUGE surprise walked through our door...

For those of you that don't know, Seth was in foster care for the first 14 months of his life. He had a WONDERFUL foster family... the family has four children and during the 14 months that Seth was in foster care, they cared for 2 foster children... Seth and Micah. Micah was adopted by an amazing family last June (click here to watch his adoption video) and he now lives in South Dakota with his parents and 3 older brothers. Seth and Micah were VERY close because they are 7 months apart in age and they lived as brothers for almost 14 months... but because of the distance, they haven't been able to see each other since June.

Back to the story... so I'm in the kitchen and Seth's foster parents and two of their daughters walk through our door... I knew they were coming to the party on Saturday but I was surprised to see them on Friday night... and THEN I noticed that Micah and his mom were behind them!!!!!!!!! I was SO excited and SO shocked!!! I couldn't believe that they had flown all the way from South Dakota to come to Seth's birthday party!! It meant so much to us and we were SO happy to get to spend the weekend with them!

From left to right...

Ella (Seth's foster parents' daughter), Laura (Micah's mom) and Micah!

While the pony people were setting up in the front yard, we "line danced" on bubble wrap!

Seth's precious cousin, Preslee, wore her sweet little cowgirl duds to the party :)

Seth was a little overwhelmed by everyone singing, "Happy Birthday", to him!

Blowing out his candle...

He did it!!!

I love his face in this picture... he was seeing the ponies for the first time! :)

Seth's friend, Brody!

Looks like Seth's telling the pony something pretty important...

Sweet Micah loved the ponies too!

Mariah (Seth's foster parents' youngest daughter)

Cowboy Braeden!

There were brushes for the ponies and even bows to put in their hair! haha

The best foster mom in the whole world! :)

Carriage rides...

This is one of about 6 pictures that all look very similar... Laura and I really wanted a picture with our boys but they were being so silly that this is just about the best that we could do!

After looking through all 400+ pictures from the party, I realized that we forgot to take pictures of a lot of important people! Maybe we should have a checklist for next year! haha Both sets of Seth's grandparents, one set of his great grandparents and all four of his aunts and uncles were there and we didn't take his picture with any of them! :(

Up next... what we did on Seth's actual birthday! :)

Our Little Cowboy's Birthday Bash

2012-01-16T15:30:00.001-06:00

Seth turned 2 yesterday and we celebrated on Saturday with a Cowboy birthday party!! We had a GREAT weekend... so great that it's impossible to fit it all in one post... so I'm going to have to break it up. Today, I'll share the party details... and maybe a few pictures of the birthday boy :)

We chose the cowboy theme because Seth loves horses. He has been around horses his whole life because his foster family had two of them and we have taken him to ride ponies several times in the past year and he just gets so excited every time! So, last fall, when I drove past a sign advertising ponies that would come to birthday parties, I just knew that's what we had to do!

This is the invitation... designed by my friend, Leslie, at Giraffic Arts!

The front door... I made the wreath, found the mat at Hobby Lobby and we borrowed the horse from a family friend that teaches horseback riding lessons!

A wide shot of the table!

I had the "Circle S" monogrammed on the cow print fabric for the "Circle S Ranch" and then my grandmother made the table square for us!

The cake was made by Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville!

"Cowboy Campfire S'mores"

"Chuckwagon Cherry Pies"

"Wagon Wheels"

"Pigs in a Blanket"

"Cow Tales"

"Chick-O-Sticks"

"The Watering Hole"

Water bottles, Cream Soda and Root Beer for the adults and Apple juice for the kiddos!

I had a hard time taking a good picture of this table because of the lighting... but these were the party favors: cowboy hats, bandanas, sheriff badges and little horse stuffed animals. The sign says, "Howdy, y'all! Thanks for comin'! Get your get up and your giddy up here!"

The nice people from "Backyard Barn" brought four ponies... two for petting, one for riding and one for pulling a carriage up and down the street!

And finally, our precious little cowboy :)

Thank you so much to our friends and family who came to the party and made Seth's birthday extra fun and memorable! And a special thanks to my whole family who came up Thursday night and helped us with everything from cleaning the house to cooking the party food to setting up the party... We couldn't have done it without them!!

More to come in the next few days! :)

Happy Birthday, Seth!

2012-01-15T18:02:00.008-06:00

2 years ago today, my life was forever changed... and I had no idea.

One year ago today, I was an emotional (but hopeful) wreck... praying and clinging to the hope that I would be given the gift of becoming Seth's mommy. I may or may not have had a breakdown at his birthday party...

Today, I am the happiest and most blessed momma around because God gave me Seth Clayton Bell... a gift that I will never ever deserve.

Thank you LORD for my precious gift!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet Seth!!

Seth's MDO Christmas Party

2011-12-16T12:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Seth's MDO class had a Christmas party! They wore their pajamas and decorated gingerbread men and then watched a Christmas movie! I teach the class next door to Seth's so I am never able to go to his parties :( but Evan is always sure to be there! :) Seth gets SO excited when Daddy comes to MDO!

Also, I made these gifts for Seth's MDO teachers... I saw the marshmallows on Pinterest and found the cute little containers at Walmart!

The cans are filled with Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Marshmallows (to go in hot chocolate) and they are so easy to make... you just melt dark chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips), dip the marshmallows in the chocolate and then roll them in crushed candy cane, place in a wax paper lined dish and allow them to cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate sets. After the chocolate sets, store them in an airtight container. I wrote, "Just add hot chocolate!" on the lid to help his teachers know the intended use of the marshmallows!

Seth was so cute taking his gifts to his teachers! He was so proud of them! haha

Hopefully, I'll get caught up enough to share a few of our Christmas decorations and traditions sometime next week! Right now, I'm just trying to get our Christmas cards in the mail sometime BEFORE Christmas! haha But hey, if I don't, who doesn't like a nice Christmas surprise just when you thought the fun was over? :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Pictures With Santa

2011-12-11T18:10:00.000-06:00

On Friday night, we got Seth all dressed up and we headed to the mall to see Santa.

I was a little nervous because he has never done very well with characters...

And just as I suspected... as soon as Seth saw Santa, he burst into tears and clung to me for dear life!!! So, Santa (who was an exceptionally kind and understanding Santa) suggested that we take a family picture instead! haha Not exactly what I was hoping for... but it's a funny memory and since Seth is big enough to get down and leave now, I'm pretty sure it was the only way we were getting a picture at all!

I'm wondering when kids transition from being terrified of Santa to thinking he's magical and wonderful? haha I guess we'll keep trying until we get there! :)

Preslee Bell Turner

2011-12-02T15:25:00.000-06:00

Our niece is finally here!! Preslee Bell Turner was born November 29 at 6:56 am. She weighed 6 lbs and 13 oz and was 20 inches long with tons of dark hair! She's definitely a cutie! :)

Julee went into labor late Monday night and we got word that they were headed to the hospital after everyone in our house was already asleep. Evan and I laid in bed for about 30 minutes after we got the call trying to figure out what to do... we were dying to get to the hospital but we weren't feeling great about dragging Seth to the hospital at 2 am if Julee was going to be in labor for a long time. But the texts kept coming that she was progressing quickly so around 4 am, we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital!

Heading into the hospital... In his pajamas :)

Thanks to Nanny for bringing Seth a "goody bag"! He was very entertained while he waited to meet his new cousin!

Mommy and Daddy waiting to meet their precious girl!

We finally got Seth dressed around 5 am... in his "I'm the Big Cousin" shirt!

Getting some loving from Pop and trying so hard to stay awake!

The proud parents and their little sweetie!

Seth was so worried about Aunt JuJu laying in the hospital bed... he thought she needed some kisses!

Uncle Evan

Aunt Rachel :)

Passing out some more kisses!

He loves his new cousin... he's been calling her "Pres"!

Checking out Aunt JuJu's bracelets

After a few naps (and showers) we went back to see Preslee (and her parents) again! Look closely and you will see Seth's jealous face! haha :)

Momma and her precious and long awaited baby girl!

We are SOOO happy for you, Matt and Julee!! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-28T15:45:00.000-06:00

Get ready for picture overload!! haha But I have to put all of my Thanksgiving pictures in one post because I'm hoping that our new niece, Preslee, will arrive any day now and I will need to post pictures of her! :)

We spent the first part of Thanksgiving Day with Evan's side of our family...

Papaw and Seth checked out Seth's latest obsession... a police car that sounds real and makes me think I'm getting pulled over every single time we're in the car! ha

Seth loved hanging out with his Aunt Ju Ju and Uncle Matt!

Nanny helped Seth get ready for Christmas with a new book :)

Julee and me... I can't wait to be an aunt! Any day now...

And the whole gang :)

After lunch, we drove to Little Rock to have Thanksgiving dinner with my side of our family...

Gigi and Seth

Seth and his Great-Great Uncle Bill!

Hanging out with Daddy and Uncle Luke

And Aunt Anna (also known as "Nana")...

We shopped and watched the Arkansas/LSU game :( on Friday. On Saturday we were supposed to go visit my dad's side of the family in NE Arkansas but my aunt and grandmother got sick on Saturday morning so our trip got canceled. I was really bummed because most of that side of my family has never met Seth! :( But we made the most of our day by rolling pumpkins down the hill in my parents' backyard and going to the Christmas tree farm!

Seth LOVED pumpkin rolling!!! He rolled all the little pumpkins down the hill and cheered for the big pumpkins as they rolled! :)

Lucy, our labrador RETRIEVER, also loved the pumpkin rolling because she thought it was a game of fetch! haha We got so tickled when she chased the pumpkins down the hill and came running back up with them! She was SO proud of herself! :)

Right about the time we got to the Christmas tree farm, it started pouring down rain!!

My dad got completely soaked cutting down their tree...

And my sister and I stayed nice and dry inside the car :)

Eventually, we all ended up getting out to drink hot chocolate and shop in the little Christmas store!

Rain or shine, it was a GREAT day! :)

And a great long weekend!

We are so thankful for our families and all of the blessings we have received in the last year... especially the blessing of becoming parents to our sweet little man!

Teepee Cupcakes

2011-11-18T11:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Seth's MDO class had a Thanksgiving party. I teach the class next to his at MDO so I couldn't leave my room to go to his party but Evan was able to be there (and I may or may not have peeked over the door a few times)! :)

I signed up to take cupcakes and I found the cutest teepee cupcakes on Pinterest! I thought they seemed very boyish! :)

They were a little trickier to make than I anticipated but I still thought they turned out to be pretty cute... flaws and all! haha

And Seth and his friends seemed to enjoy them... once they figured out how to eat them!

Haha Have a great weekend! :)

Appointed

2011-11-17T16:00:00.007-06:00

November is National Adoption Month and today, National Adoption Day was celebrated in our hometown with a press conference and a balloon release in honor of all of the children that were adopted through foster care in 2011. Because of our recent move, we couldn't attend the balloon release but I couldn't let today pass without sharing my heart for adoption.

Adoption is an indescribable blessing and gift from God.

I believe with all of my heart that God (alone) creates all children and he creates them to be cared for and loved. He has a plan AND a family for each child. I believe that sometimes He places children in their families through pregnancy and sometimes through adoption... and there is no difference. I believe that before God creates every child, he chooses their parents and he doesn't make his decisions based on skin color, eye color or DNA. The very reason for our existence is to bring glory to God and I believe that is the only factor that He considers when choosing the makeup of families.

I don't, by any means, believe that every family is called to adopt, but I do believe that a family has been called to adopt every child. I believe that there are so many orphans and waiting children worldwide because something is holding those families back. Because I have experienced the immeasureable joy and blessing of adoption, I find it almost as heartbreaking that families are missing out on raising the children that God created for them as I do that children are missing out on being raised by the families that God created for them.

Behind every adopted child, there is a God-sized story... A story that is so amazing, that you know that the child in the story was meant to be in his or her forever family.

At the beginning of this year, I shared a lot about our adoption story... but I want to share a few more details today to show the evidence of my belief that our son is absolutely meant to be in our family and to prove that God is SO much bigger than obstacles or fears.

-Seth's biological mother was not from our state. She should never have given birth in our state, much less our city. If she had given birth in any other state or city, Seth would have been in the custody of that state and we never would have met him or had the opportunity to adopt him.

-Seth's foster parents (family friends of ours) were never supposed to be Seth's foster parents. They were supposed to take in another foster child a few days before Seth was born. However, when DHS went to get that child, he could not be found. So, when Seth was born, they became his foster parents instead. Then, a few days later, the child that they were originally supposed to take in was found. Although, in the past, that family had only taken in one baby at a time (and they already had a full house with four of their own children and a teenage foster child), they decided to keep both babies.

-When Seth was four months old, his foster mother needed a babysitter for both of her foster babies for the day. My mom volunteered to keep one of them and Seth happened (though I don't believe in coincidences) to be the one that his foster mother chose for my mom to babysit. That was the day that Evan and I met him for the first time.

-Seth changed foster homes when he was five months old. When he was six months old, he was physically abused and hospitalized. Although Seth came near death, the Lord miraculously chose to spare his precious life. When he was discharged from the hospital, he was returned to our friends- his original foster parents- where he was safe and loved.

-According to the rules in the state of Arkansas, a couple must be married for at least 2 years before adopting or fostering. When we started the process to adopt Seth, we had only been married for 16 months (and we were honest with our social workers about this). We brought Seth home two months BEFORE we had been married for 2 years.

-Seth became available for adoption before we even started the process to adopt. Usually, children under 2 years old are the first to be adopted. All odds were stacked against us for him to still be available by the time we were legally approved as an adoptive family.

In addition to the above obstacles that we faced, we also dealt with financial concerns, the pressure of social norms, disapproval from family members and fear of the unknown... but God was bigger than everything holding us back and standing in our way.

Adoption is not some big, scary, unattainable thing. It's not a community service and it's not something that only rich people or middle aged people or people with two or three biological kids or people with infertility can do. It's a blessing and a gift. Evan and I are nothing special and we haven't done an extraordinary thing by adopting Seth. We are just proud parents, thankful for the son that God blessed us with.

If God is calling you to adopt... if you are feeling even the tiniest of tugs... don't ignore it, don't downplay it and don't put it off. My guess is that God is not calling you to "adopt", he is calling you to parent a specific child with a face and a name and a story and a future. A precious child that may or may not share your skin color or your eye color or even your favorite subject in school... but he or she was created for you and God doesn't make mistakes.

This is the beautiful face, meaningful name, heartbreaking but hope-filled story and bright future that God created for us (and we so don't deserve him)...

Don't you want to meet the child or children that were created just for you?

Family Photos

2011-11-11T22:08:00.003-06:00

Remember this photo that I posted a few weeks ago?

Well, our fabulous photographer, Mindy, at MJW Photography, posted several more pictures from our session on her blog tonight... if you want to check them out!

Wanna know what's really cool about Mindy? She participates in a program called, Celebrating Adoption, that gives one free photo session to adoptive families within the first year of their adoption. We are so grateful for this gift and we will treasure these pictures forever!

Thanks, Mindy! :)

Announcements

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

I was finally able to send off all of Seth's adoption announcements at the end of last week, so I am finally ready to share them!! They were designed by my friend, Leslie, at Giraffic Arts, and I LOVE them! She always does a wonderful job! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Our Little Robot

2011-11-01T11:20:00.001-05:00

A little over a month ago, my mom and I were running some errands in Little Rock and we found the CUTEST Robot hat at the most random store. I knew right then that I wanted Seth to be a robot for Halloween! I bought the hat and then went on the impossible search to find a pattern for a robot costume so that my mammaw could sew the rest of the costume! After almost a month of searching, I never found one... so we sort of made one up! I found a pattern that looked robotish and then we changed all the embellishments on it to make it look more like a robot! I LOVE LOVE the way the costume turned out and I am beyond excited that my mammaw was able to make it for Seth! She ALWAYS made costumes for my sister and brother and me when we were growing up and I think it's so awesome that she was able to make a costume for my son too!

Seth was able to wear the costume three times...

Trick or treating at Evan's office on Friday:

The robot entering the building :)

It was such a fun event! All of the pods had decorated their office spaces with a different theme and a ton of people wore costumes and handed out candy to the kids! Seth LOVED it... but he didn't really get the concept of trick or treating... every time we got to a new pod, he would try to give the candy that he had already gotten to the people handing out candy there! haha

Family picture.... Evan doesn't always dress like that... He was dressed as Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart) for the Halloween party. He won "Most Creative Costume"!!

In the costume parade at MDO on Monday...

And trick or treating last night!

Seth's Aunt JuJu came to see him last night and brought him some yummy treats! :)

And by last night, he TOTALLY had the concept down... he didn't try to give any of his candy away! haha

This is one of my favorite pictures from the night... I wish it wasn't blurry!

In this picture, you can see the candy bag that Mammaw made to go with his costume!

Checking out his loot! :)

We've had so much fun over the last few days that I'm already looking forward to next year!!! :)

Fun Family Time

2011-10-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the first weekend in a long time that we didn't have a busy schedule and we were able to just hang out as a family. It was really nice to just relax and enjoy each other! :)

On Friday, Evan's office had a huge trick or treat event... but I'll post more on that tomorrow so I can post all of our trick or treating pictures at one time. Then Friday night, we watched the last game of the World Series and ate junk food.... at Evan's request! :)

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning and then we went to a place called "Farmland Adventures" in the afternoon.

Before we left the house, I took pictures of Seth and Jack because they were both wearing navy and green striped sweaters. This first picture is my favorite... you would think I said, "Show me your roller coaster faces!!" Instead of a simple, "Smile! Look at Mommy!" haha

Farmland Adventures was so much fun! They had pony rides, a corn maze, a petting zoo, a hayride and a pumpkin patch!

Seth loved everything but he REALLY loved the pony rides...

After we left Farmland Adventures, we went out to eat and we were surprised to see 8 clowns eating dinner in our restaurant! At first I thought they were just in costumes for Halloween... but they had rolls of stickers and balloons in their pockets and they even knew how to make balloon animals... they were the real deal! haha And although they were very nice, we were all a little creeped out by them...

Then on Sunday, we went to a festival at the church where Seth goes to (and I teach) mother's day out. It was called Blocktober Fest and it was really fun! There was another petting zoo... so Seth was in heaven!! He LOVES animals!

And he also got to "ride" a motorcycle which he thought was WAY cool! :)

I hope you all had a great weekend too!! I can't wait to take my little robot and my furry pirate trick or treating tonight!!

And just for fun... here's a picture of Seth last year on Halloween... this is the first picture that Evan and I framed of him and put in our house... MONTHS before he came home or we even knew for sure that we would get to be his parents. It was in our bedroom and every time I saw it, I would pray that God would grant us the privilege of being his parents! Needless to say, it's a special picture. Wasn't he the cutest St. Bernard puppy you've ever seen? :)

Happy Halloween! :)

Happy Birthday, Jack!

2011-10-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

Today is Jack's 3rd birthday!!

Last year, (since we were in the adoption process and I was hoping it would be Jack's last year as an "only child") I went all out on a Birthday Paw-ty for him... this year, he's getting a blog tribute and maybe a trip to Petco! :)

3 years ago, Evan was in law school, I was a pharmaceutical sales rep for Pfizer and we were on the hunt for male Westie puppy. I still remember sitting in the parking lot of a doctor's office in Helena, AR, (on my lunch break) and finding an ad for Westie puppies in the newspaper. I called Evan, who called the breeder and we bought our puppy over the phone. We were SO excited!! However, a few days later, the breeder called to tell us that she was mistaken about how many boy puppies she had and we could either a) have a girl for the price of a boy or b) wait and see if the litter she was expecting from a different momma dog had a male puppy in it. We really wanted a male, so we decided to wait! Sure enough, Jack was born about two weeks later and he was the ONLY boy in his litter! :) Three days after he was born, we drove 3 hours to meet him even though we couldn't take him home yet! haha We were crazy... But he was precious!! :)

We finally got to bring him home on December 19, 2008... he was our Christmas present to each other! :)

We are pretty much obsessed with our little Jack Man. He brings so much joy to our lives!

When we first started trying to adopt Seth, I was SO nervous that Jack wouldn't be good with him.... because Jack had never really been great with kids. He was really sweet to adults and other dogs but kids kind of freaked him out! But he has always been SO sweet with Seth and they have become the best of friends. Every single morning when Seth wakes up and Jack hears him on the monitor, Jack runs to find me and either licks me or jumps up on my leg until we go into Seth's room to get him out of his crib! Sometimes, I even find Jack laying outside of Seth's room when Seth is asleep... which melts my heart! :)

Happy Birthday, sweet Jack!! We love you so much!! :)

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago, Seth and I made pumpkin cupcakes! I have been seeing this super easy two-ingredient recipe around the internet AND I found the most precious pumpkin shaped cupcake pan at Hobby Lobby... so we gave it a try! Honestly, the cupcakes weren't as delicious as I would have hoped but we had a TON of fun and Seth seemed to think that the cupcakes were delicious! :)

Warning: Please excuse the way I look and my messy kitchen! haha

Not long after this picture was taken, I let Seth beat the ingredients all by himself...

Which may or may not have been a bad idea...

The finished product!

The super easy two-ingredient recipe is as follows... Mix together 1 cake mix and 1 can of pumpkin. Fill each space in the cupcake pan 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

I used a butter cake mix but I think if I tried it again, I would use a spice cake mix. Also, we iced our cupcakes with Paula Deen's cream cheese icing... which is always delicious! I posted that recipe here when I used it to frost a carrot cake for Easter a few years ago! The recipe is toward the very bottom of the post... and I left out the nuts when I made it for the cupcakes!

A Quick Trip to Little Rock

2011-10-25T11:05:00.002-05:00

This past Friday and Saturday, Seth and I drove down to Little Rock for a few appointments (it takes a while to transition your whole life to a new city) and a little bit of fun! It just so happened that we had appointments in Little Rock on the same weekend as the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and the Arkansas State Fair! I have been participating in the RFTC for about 10 years now and I look forward to it all year long... also, for the past 10 years, I have been looking around at all the precious kids participating in the race with their moms and dreaming about the day that I could take my own child to the race in a tiny RFTC shirt! So, I just couldn't miss out this year!

We took care of all of our appointments and errands on Friday, then we woke up early Saturday morning to participate in the race, then we went straight to the fair, took a quick nap and headed back home on Saturday night. It was a fast but GREAT day and a half in my favorite city! :)

Usually, Evan and my dad and brother stand on the sidelines with the dogs while my mom and sister and I run (walk) in the race... but since Seth and I had to be in LR on Friday, Evan had to work and couldn't make the trip and my brother is in college now... so it was just my dad and the dogs on the sidelines!

Jack and Millie in their RFTC attire :)

Sleepy head in his RFTC Shirt... it said, "Real boys aren't afraid to wear pink!"

We ran into Seth's adoption specialist/ caseworker, KaSheena, and her family at the race!

Then we headed to the fair!

Seth fed a baby llama...

Picked apples from an apple tree...

Dug for potatoes...

Fell face first in the sawdust :(

Held a sweet baby bunny...

Enjoyed some pineapple ice-cream!

rode the carousel...

Fed a baby zebra...

And my sweet TALL boy met the height requirement (36 inches) to ride his first ride all by himself!!

Have a GREAT Tuesday! :)

Chicken Corn Chili and Cold Weather Recipes

2011-10-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

On Monday, it was at least 85 degrees... and then yesterday and today, the temperature hasn't gotten out of the 40's and 50's... welcome to Arkansas! :) But I'm not complaining! I LOVE the cooler weather and it has me thinking blankets, fires, warm drinks and soup! Here is one of my new favorite soup recipes... I found it in the Food Network magazine! Enjoy!

Chicken Corn Chili

Ingredients:

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large jalapeño pepper (1/2 chopped and 1/2 sliced)

1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles

1 t. ground cumin

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

2 15-ounce cans large white beans (I used cannellini beans)

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup shredded monteray jack cheese

sour cream (for serving)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, chopped jalapeño, green chiles and cumin and cook, stirring, until the cumin is toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, chicken, beans and corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and 1/2 cup of cheese. Divide among bowls and top with remaining cheese, sour cream and sliced jalapeños.

Not very photogenic... but I promise it was delicious!

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And just for fun, here are a few other cold weather (stick to your ribs) recipes that I have posted in the past...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

White Hot Chocolate

My Favorite Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Chicken and Dumplings

Biscuits and Gravy

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Taco Soup

Branson Weekend & Family Photos

2011-10-18T13:45:00.001-05:00

My brother's college had a "Fall Break" on Thursday and Friday of last week so Seth and I went to Branson, MO, with him and my mom! Evan and my dad and sister joined us on Saturday and Sunday! We had a lot of fun shopping, eating, going to shows and on Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City. Here are a few pictures from our fun long weekend...

Buddies :)

This silly boy BEGGED to put on Gigi's boots so (of course) she let him and he was thrilled!

On Friday, we had lunch at a restaurant called "Hard Luck Diner" where the waiters and waitresses sing to you... Seth thought it was very interesting! haha

Branson was all decked out for fall! I LOVE this picture of my sweet boy! :)

Our little cowboy :)

Right after this picture was taken, all three of them started trying to shoot Papa with the water gun! :)

The petting zoo... which was really more like a goat zoo... but Seth loved it anyway!

And last night, Mindy, at MJW Photography, took family pictures for us! She was so sweet and SO patient with us! She posted this picture on Facebook this morning and I can't wait to see and share the rest of them!

Tiger Tunes

2011-10-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was homecoming for Ouachita Baptist University. Seth and I drove to Little Rock on Wednesday afternoon (for a Dr's appointment at Arkansas Children's Hospital on Thursday) and Evan drove down after he got off of work on Friday night! We spent the rest of the weekend driving back and forth between Little Rock and OBU for homecoming festivities! :)

The main attraction for OBU homecoming is Tiger Tunes... which is a show that takes place over three nights and ticket sales raise money for scholarships. Several different clubs and organizations on campus each put on a six minute show. Each show has a theme and elaborate costumes. They sing and dance to popular songs and change the lyrics to go with their theme. In between each six minute show, "hosts and hostesses" (3 to 5 guys and 3 to 5 girls who auditioned for their role) sing and dance to entertain the audience. At the end of each show, awards are given out in five categories and there is an overall winner on Saturday night! Anyway, I LOVE the show and I really miss participating in it!

I was extra excited about going to the show this year because, my brother (who's a freshman at OBU) was in the show for the first time AND Seth was getting to see the show for the first time!

We had a great weekend, Seth LOVED the show, my social club (sorority) won Tiger Tunes for the first time in 8 years, and my brother's show won 3rd place!

Luke's cheeks aren't always so rosy, he was wearing stage makeup! haha

Seth LOVES his Uncle Luke!

My parents are really going to be sad when they don't have a child in Tiger Tunes anymore! By the time Luke graduates, they will have had a child in Tunes for 10 straight years!

I LOVE that both of my siblings have chosen to go to OBU too!

Luke with several of his new friends!

My whole family :)

Caramelized Onion, Sausage and Basil Pizza

2011-10-04T11:00:00.001-05:00

I made this pizza (from Giada on Food Network) several weeks ago and I keep forgetting to share the recipe! It was pretty simple to make and tasted delicious!

Caramelized Onion, Sausage and Basil Pizza

Ingredients:

Cornmeal, for dusting

3 T. extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 T. unsalted butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

1/4 t. kosher salt

1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. spicy turkey or pork sausage, casings removed, crumbled

1 pkg. refrigerated pizza dough

3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Sprinkle a heavy baking sheet or stone with cornmeal and set aside. In a large skillet, melt olive oil and butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the sausage. Using a wooden spoon, break up the sausage and cook, stirring constantly, until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Roll out pizza dough on prepared baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the onion-sausage mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped fresh basil. Cut pizza into wedges and serve.

Name That Tune

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I realize that some of you probably think my family is crazy but we LOVE birthdays and we LOVE parties. No matter the age of the person, we go all out for the birthday. This is something that we have always done and something that I am excited to continue in the next generation! Sometimes we have a sophisticated party and sometimes we have a fun party... but we always have a party... it's just what we do and I love it! We really try to come up with a theme that reflects the person we are celebrating and after years and years of this tradition, it can get kind of tricky to come up with a new idea! So, I was very impressed with my mom's creativity this year when I walked into a "Name That Tune" birthday party for myself!

I love music and I love games... and I may or may not be extremely competitive (ha!)... and I have always LOVED "Name That Tune". We always played it in the car, on long trips, when I was growing up and now Evan and I love to play it together!

Because "Name That Tune" was actually a television game show in the 1950's, my mom also gave the party a 50's theme! SO fun!

These are real records hanging from the chandelier!

It's hard to see in this picture, but these candles said "Name That Tune" and there was confetti on the table that said "Rachel"!

I thought these sodas were so cute! She made the labels using the logo from the original game show and called the sodas "Rachel's Rhythm-Ade"...

These were Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes displayed on a real record player! (My mom used this recipe that I posted for Fresh Strawberry Cake and just made them into cupcakes!)

Hummus and Pita Chips (one of my favorite snacks!)

Sausage Balls

More records mixed in with the gifts...

And my sweet boy who helped me blow out my candles this year! :)

This picture makes me want to laugh and cry all at the same time because it reminds me of my birthday last year... I remember eating dinner with several of my friends and telling them that "25 felt so weird because my mom was 25 when I was born and I always thought (when I was a little girl) that I would become a mom when I was 25 but that just wasn't going to happen!" The funny thing is that Seth actually became available for adoption on my 25th birthday and we started trying to adopt him just a few days later... and then a year later, we became an official family on my last day of being 25! haha I guess you never know what's just around the corner and what a new year will hold! I am SO glad that I had no idea what I was talking about and that I became a mom when I was 25... God's plan is always better than mine... so I'm not making any plans for my 26th year of life! ha! :)

A Shower for Julee and Preslee

2011-10-02T12:45:00.001-05:00

Due to a crazy (but wonderful) week, I'm a little behind on posting about this shower and most of you have probably seen it on someone else's blog by now... but here it is anyway! :)

After several years of infertility, my SIL, Julee and her husband, Matt, are expecting a sweet baby girl named Preslee, in December! We are all very excited to meet her! I helped host a shower for Julee and Preslee last Sunday and here are a few of the fun details...

These are the invitations. They were inspired by Preslee's nursery and designed by my friend, Leslie, who was also one of the shower hostesses!

Julee loves sleek and modern decor and Preslee's nursery is a reflection of that... so we tried to continue that theme in the shower decor!

The mirror hanging over the cake table is actually from Preslee's nursery and Julee let us borrow it for the shower!

These are live spray roses attached to curly willow using floral wire and grapevine... a simple but painful task! haha

The cake (by Rick's Bakery, of course) and parfait cups filled with pink banana pudding!

A better view of the cake...

The favor table... Julee LOVES cotton candy!

The sign in table...

All of the hostesses with the guest(s) of honor! :)

Julee and me!

Can't wait to meet sweet Preslee and become an aunt for the first time in 9 weeks or less!! :)

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Whew! September has been quite the party month... and just when you thought I was through posting about September parties... I still need to show you the fun party that my mom planned for my birthday last week! haha! Hopefully we can all slow down a little in October! :)

Forever Day

2011-09-30T15:50:00.001-05:00

On September 27, 2011, Seth officially became ours forever. We plan to celebrate this day every year and we have chosen to call it, "Forever Day". Here are the pictures from our very first "Forever Day"!

The day started out with a 1:30 pm court hearing... which actually became a 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm court hearing :) But the judge declared us a legally official family so it was worth the wait!

My parents and siblings, Evan's mom, Seth's foster parents and our Adoption specialist (caseworker) were all able to attend the court hearing so we all took pictures on the courthouse steps after the hearing!

All the family that was at the hearing!

The world's greatest foster mom!!

Our wonderful adoption specialist!

Finally an official family! :)

That night, we had a "Forever Day" party with both of our families and Seth's foster family!

Here's a close up of the cake... it had a tree on it... there was a heart "carved" in the trunk of the tree that said "Forever 9-27-11" and a daddy, mommy and baby bird sitting on one of the branches. I dreamed this cake up in my head and Rick's Bakery did a pretty great job of interpreting what I was trying to tell them! haha :)

A close up of the napkins!

Evan taught me how to use a wood burning tool and I burned these words into this birdhouse...

One of Seth's adoption announcements... which I'll share on here as soon as I send them out! :)

A little station for our guests to write letters to Seth.

The sign says, "Please leave Seth a note to read every year on his 'Forever Day!'"

I also used the wood burning tool to make this box for Seth to keep letters and pictures from "Forever Day" and I plan for us to look through (and maybe even add to) the box each year!

Everyone was so sweet and brought Seth gifts to celebrate the big day!

I would love to share all of the sweet and thoughtful gifts but this post is already way too long... so I'll just share this one... My sister and brother gave Seth a child's rocking chair and it was engraved and said, "We are forever yours! Love, Aunt Anna and Uncle Luke"

For some reason, this gift just made me cry! I am SO thankful for the way that our families have loved and embraced our son!

And finally, here is the link to a video that Evan and I made to celebrate the last year of our lives and our journey to Seth and with Seth. It has been a remarkable ride and I am SO thankful that God chose us to be Seth's parents. I truly believe that Seth was created for us and us for him. Adoption has changed my life and made me realize in a whole new way how much God loves us as his adopted children!

Seth's Forever Day

Seth Clayton Bell

2011-09-28T13:10:00.000-05:00

Introducing...

Seth Clayton Bell

We finalized his adoption yesterday and it was a GREAT day!! No more hearts over his face! I will blog about the whole day as soon as I return home but for now, I just wanted to share these two pictures! :)

Mammaw's 80th Birthday - Shabby Chic Sewing Party

2011-09-22T07:00:00.004-05:00

My Mammaw turned 80 on September 18. To celebrate this momentous occasion, my mom and I planned a shabby chic sewing themed luncheon. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to go with the sewing theme because Mammaw has been a seamstress for over 60 years. Custom draperies are her specialty and she is SO talented!!

Here's a wide shot of the dining room (using my lovely photography skills! ha!)... We found the 1920's antique sewing machine, in the center of the table, on Craigslist for $30!

Each place setting was a little different...

And how cute are these mini cakes??? Once again, I am IN LOVE with Rick's Bakery! :) And I got the idea for the cakes from this post on Kara's Party Ideas.

The napkins...

We had this platter made at a pottery painting studio in Little Rock... and we each wrote a note on it! It says, "You hold our hands for a while and our hearts forever!"

The next two pictures were taken before we put flowers on the sewing machine...

And after we put flowers on the sewing machine... I know this is a lot of pictures of the same thing but you can see different things from each angle so I couldn't choose! :)

And here's what it really looked like after we brought the chairs back in the room!

Seth's sweet little place setting :)

Mammaw seeing her party for the first time!

Blowing out her candle!

The platter made her cry!

It was such a fun day celebrating such a special lady! I love my Mammaw and I was SO thankful to be able to celebrate the past 80 years of life that she has lived so full and so well!

Here's to many more! :)

Luke's Birthday

2011-09-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

For those of you that don't know, Evan and I attended Ouachita Baptist University for college. In fact, it's where we met! Evan's mom, sister and brother-in-law and my sister are all OBU graduates as well. SO, needless to say, we were all thrilled when Luke (my brother) chose to attend OBU! He just started his freshman year and he is loving it already... as we all knew he would! :)

So, in honor of him being the newest Ouachitonian in the family, we threw him an OBU themed 19th birthday party! I did my best to make the party special but still keep it 19 yr old boy appropriate! haha Here are a few of the pictures:

This is the front porch...

The cutest decoration of all in his OBU shirt! :)

I made this door hanger out of burlap, ribbon and paint! It was SO easy to make and I love how it turned out! I got the idea from a fellow blogger and adoptive momma (who I actually know in real life too)! I love reading her blog for all kinds of reasons... but here is a link to her tutorial on these door hangers if you want to make one too!

The table...

The cake... from Rick's Bakery... I am officially IN LOVE with that place! It's my new favorite thing about living in NWA! :)

On one side of the table there was a calendar... with mock events written on it... basically I just wanted a way to incorporate "Ouachita words" into the party. For the most part, if you read this calendar as a Ouachitonian, you totally get it and if you weren't a Ouachitonian, you have no idea what it says! haha At least, that's what I was going for.... It was fun because Luke "gets" the lingo now :)

And on the other side of the table was a bulletin board with pictures of Luke and his friends from their first few days at OBU... that I got off of Facebook!

And the drinks... Starbucks coffee... because there is a Starbucks on OBU's campus and it's the only Starbucks in the entire town of Arkadelphia!

Seth and Uncle Luke

The super fun... but kind of scary... sparkler candles!

Next up: Mammaw's 80th Birthday: Shabby Chic Sewing Party :)

Our Fun and Busy Weekend!

2011-09-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was definitely a memorable one! My parents, grandparents and siblings all came to NWA to stay with us. While they were here, we celebrated my brother's 19th birthday, my mammaw's 80th birthday, attended the Razorback game (Seth's first) and painted Seth's room and the guest room!

They all arrived late Friday night and that's when we celebrated Luke's birthday! We had an OBU themed party since he is the newest Ouachitonian in the family!

And poor poor Seth didn't get any attention all weekend... haha! I just kept laughing because everyone that came through our front door on Friday night brought the child a gift! This is his new race track from Gigi and Papa... Can we say spoiled? :)

On Saturday, we hung out at the house, went out to eat lunch and then we went to Seth's first Razorback game! :)

Uncle Luke got Kayaks for his birthday and Seth LOVED them!!

Seth and Papa in their matching outfits :)

On Sunday, mammaw turned 80 and we celebrated with a sewing themed party since she's been a seamstress for over 60 years!

Then on Sunday night and Monday, my pappaw painted Seth's room and the guest room!

On Monday, my mom and I went shopping and then after they all went home, Evan, Seth and I ate dinner with Evan's sister! It was GREAT weekend! In fact, I'm kind of sad it's over! I guess I'll just have to relive it on the blog for the next few days as I share pictures from the two parties and the newly painted rooms! :)

See you soon!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-14T13:50:00.015-05:00

Better late than never, right? :)

On Labor Day weekend, we went to Branson, MO, with Evan's family! We had a great time shopping, eating and we even went to a show! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Seth (and maybe mommy and daddy too) LOVED the bouncy slide at Branson Landing!

Riding the Branson Landing train with Honee and Daddy!

This picture cracks me up... Evan, Seth and I were all walking through Bass Pro Shop and Seth saw this four wheeler and took off running and climbed up on it and started saying "vroom! vroom!" before we could even get to him! haha That's a boy for you! :)

Checking out the fish tank at Bass Pro Shop!

Waiting for a table at Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse

We went to Dixie Stampede (a civil war themed dinner show) and we walked through the horse barn on our way in so Seth could see the horses!

Waiting for the show to start!

And last but not least, Seth practiced shaving in the hotel room on Monday morning before we left! :)

Happy Wednesday! Only 13 more days until Adoption Day and no more hearts over faces! Not that I'm counting :)

Evan's 25th Birthday

2011-09-02T13:42:00.010-05:00

We celebrated Evan's 25th birthday on July 1st. We went out to eat at a Hibachi restaurant and then went back home for a casual summery party with a hint of a baseball theme (baseball is Evan's favorite sport). Here are a few pictures from the evening and the recipe for the Fresh Strawberry Tart that served as Evan's birthday cake! :)

Fresh Strawberry Tart

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe of 1-2-3 dough

2 T cornstarch or all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 piece of vanilla bean

2 egg yolks

1 quart fresh strawberries

1 cup heavy cream

1-2 T Kirsch apricot glaze (or apricot jelly)

Directions

Butter and flour a 9 inch tart shell with a removable bottom. Pat the dough into the shell. Prick well with a fork and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

Heat 3/4 cup of the milk with the vanilla bean. Mix the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and remaining milk. Add the egg mixture to the hot milk, stir and cook until thick. Spread on a plate and sprinkle with sugar to cool. Whip the heavy cream. Stir the Kirsch into the cooled egg mixture (pastry cream). Fold the whipped cream into the cooled egg mixture (pastry cream). Spread the mixture into the baked and cooled crust. Slice strawberries and arrange on the cream. Brush more apricot glaze on the top of the tart. (tart needs to be served the same day that it's made.)

1-2-3 Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups butter

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 egg

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Chill. This amount of dough is enough to make 2 tarts.

Happy LONG weekend! :)

Croque Madame Casserole

2011-08-31T07:00:00.001-05:00

Keeping it simple today... Just a recipe! I made this last night and it was super simple and super delicious! Apparently, it's a french thing... but I got it from Paula Deen... so we'll call it French Southern cuisine :)

Croque Madame Casserole

Ingredients:

6 T butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

2 T Dijon mustard

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1/2 t. nutmeg

12 slices of white bread

3/4 lb. deli ham

2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

6 eggs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease a 13x9 inch casserole dish. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over low heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thick and bubbling. Whisk in the mustard, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Pour a thin layer of the sauce into the prepared casserole dish and cover it with 6 slices of the bread, then slices of the ham and an even layer of cheese. Repeat the layers once more, ending with a third layer of sauce to cover all. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Working in two batches, fry six eggs in a skillet (3 at a time)- cooking until the whites are set on both sides. Top each portion of the casserole with a fried egg. Top with remaining gruyere and return to the oven until the cheese melts.

*****swiss cheese is the cheese that is most closely related to gruyere... if you can't find gruyere or it is more expensive than you want it to be! :)*****

Before the eggs...

With the eggs...

It's a pretty rich dish, so I served it with a salad :)

Happy Wednesday!

Just 3 days until Razorback football starts! :)