cruisin' along

I have a sneaky suspicion he's not going to need this walker for long....

Keaton wants to walk so badly....I have many many mixed feelings about this!

someone is SO big....and other things...

Someone decided that just sitting around looking cute wasn't enough, now he's into doing really cute things on command.

I give you....

SOOO big :)

Wasn't my enthusiasm contagious {and loud}? If you're not going to have a little gusto in your "SO" then why do it at all, right?!? K-man also likes to do "SO big" all through meal times with food in his hands. Bahahaha. That's equally as cute, but a lot more messy. 

And when I'm not asking him to show me how darn big and cute he is...he's getting into mischief. Namely, the window clings. He LOVES them!

Hope you had a great weekend! We're excited to have Ryan home for a few days since he worked all weekend :)

life lately

We have been on project mode around our house. It's kind of incredible!

The playroom is all but finished! I'm working on the last big project this afternoon and then I'll reveal! I had no idea how good it would feel to have that space done!

One of the things I've been working on are these magnetic fabric letters...

I'm kinda wild about how they turned out! haha I had some extra materials and made a set of numbers too. You'll see those during the playroom reveal :)

Another project we finished up is our fireplace hearth. It's stone and was just asking for Keaton to knock his head on. While we know we can't pad our entire house to keep Keaton safe, we thought covering the stone might be nice ;0) 

Ryan built the frame and attached thick pieces of foam. I stapled on fabric. It was a pain and is far from perfect, but will work for now!!

Mr. K has been getting into almost everything. It's fun watching him explore the house and discover new things.

Sometimes I'll find him just sitting and playing nicely {he actually does this a lot!}....

And other times he's making himself at home in the pantry. Right now he's particularly a fan of standing up at the toilet in the powder room. Cough. Gag. It's SO gross. haha

He's a funny little guy and has been in the BEST mood recently! He smiles and laughs all the time! Sometimes I find him just smiling at the wall :)

He likes to pull himself up around the house {see about the toilet above}....

And eat. He really likes to eat.

The weekend is almost over, but we have a few more days with Ryan before he goes back to work! yay!

a waiting family...

Many are the plans in a persons heart, 

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

Oh how true this verse is! It has been speaking volumes to me over the last several weeks.

In the summer of 2013, Ryan and I became a waiting family - waiting to adopt a sweet little baby and grow our family. We had our home study complete, our family profile available to birth parents, and a gender neutral nursery in progress. Our plan was to adopt, it seemed simple & straightforward. THEN.....surprise, we got pregnant and 9 months later welcomed Keaton into the world. 

Once Keaton was born, Ryan and I basked in the joy of having a sweet baby to love on. It was all so much more than we could have imagined. To say we love Keaton is an understatement - I don't even know what you'd call it, but I cry every night that he puts his little head on my shoulder before I put him down for bed. I pray with my entire being that God is growing in his heart and thank Him for Keaton's little soul.

I have this incredible and indescribable love for K-man, yet thoughts of the child we started to wait for has always been on my mind....Ryan's too. And so we started talking about re-pursuing adoption shortly after Keaton was born. It felt like the right step, but too soon for actual movement. So we didn't move, we just talked about it. And talked. And talked. And kept talking for months.

Was adoption something we felt God calling us to do...even after I got pregnant and had a super fabulous and successful pregnancy?

YES

Was now the right time?

A few months ago {even last month} it wasn't the right time, but now? YES

We met with our social worker in October to update our home study and get freshened up on the process, especially now that we're a family of 3! I'll be honest, it was weird talking about adopting a baby while I was holding a baby.

In October, we were still a little unsure if it was the right time to become available, so we took our time getting our profile & clearances updated. In the next few months we celebrated the holidays and talked {more} about what our family would look like with another baby and Keaton as a big brother.

I causally mentioned to Ryan one night about what other people might think about us getting ready to adopt with Keaton being so young and he responded the way I knew he would....with a great big "I don't care what other people think - it's our family."

Ah yes. This is true.

It's also true that we have no idea how long it will take to be chosen by a birth mother. It might happen right away {we've been waiting just 2 weeks now}, in a few months, a year, or even longer. Keaton and his little brother or sister could be very close in age or a year or more apart - we.have.no.idea. The unknown timing is something we really struggled with, but in the end decided that we were placing the whole thing in God's hands. When the time is right, we'll be available.

So for right now are an official waiting family!

Excuse me while I....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Okay.
That was both excitement and nerves. It feels crazy to be back at this place!!

We're getting a nursery ready {more on this later}, buying newborn diapers, packing bags for a potential emergency placement, talking to Keaton about being a big brother, pumping & freezing milk so I can hopefully feed our new baby my milk, growing our hearts, and most importantly enjoying our life right here and now as we wait.

We have our plan in action, but more than anything we want the Lord's will to prevail. I'm not sure how smooth this ride is going to be and NO idea what to expect, but I think with the Lord's strength and praying all.the.time. we'll be able to hold on tight enough to get through....maybe with even a few {more} happy screams along the way. Or maybe I'll be scared stiff and barely breathing. But we're in it as a family and doing this together!! I'm so SO glad to share this life with Ryan! It's not always easy making big life decisions, but definitely better when you get to make them with your best friend.

We love you sweet baby to-be!  Mommy, Daddy, & Big Bro K-man love you.
xoxoxo

keaton mark - 10 months

Happy 10 Months Baby Boy!

News Flash: you'll always be my baby.

You are 2 months shy of being ONE though! That's crazy.

Keaton you are turning into quite the busy boy! It's fun watching you explore and investigate. You've started to venture out of the family room this month and into other rooms. I find myself losing track of you sometimes!

You crawl from one room to another and just look around :) The bathroom was particularly interesting the other day. haha Daddy put the baby gates up a few weeks back and it's a good thing - I have a feeling you'd be alllll over those stairs!

You {and Phinley} love the dishwasher! You army crawl over to it as fast as your arms can pull you whenever it's opened. You also love the big blue rhino you got for Christmas - you practice your wrestling moves on him all.day.long.

Keaton you have such a great sense of humor. You're still happy as ever, but had your first cold/fever/teething unhappy day just this past Sunday & yesterday and we saw a side of you that was sad and pathetic. I just didn't know what to do for you, so we snuggled, I tried to make you laugh, and did anything you wanted me too.

This morning you were feeling MUCH better!

Keaton, physically you're a strong little guy. You're always on the look out for something you can grab and pull yourself up on. Or even just grab. You army crawl, but recently have moved a bit on your knees. You love to climb over and under things. Musical toys are your favorite and you sometimes sing along with Daddy when he plays guitar :)

I give you a 10 for sleeping. You have not once {since you started sleeping through the night} gotten up in the middle of the night. It's weird and fantastic all at the same time. You love your bath and nursing before bed....getting jammies and lotion on isn't your favorite.

I give you a 9 for eating. You're so close to a 10 on this one, but have recently decided to shake your head no and keep your mouth closed when I try to feed you...even if I know you'll like it. Sometimes you'll let me put the spoon to your lips and you'll take a little lick to make sure it's delicious. haha You definitely prefer picking up food and eating it with your hands, rather than me feeding you. I'm so thankful you like almost everything we give you to try and work hard to feed yourself! You seriously loved the pasta I made a week or so ago!

We think you're pretty awesome all around K-man!

Every night I whisper in your ear the same thing, a sweet simple truth that I pray will grow deep in your heart.

No one loves you more than me, except Jesus. Jesus loves you the most of anyone. 

It's true. We love you Keaton & thank God every.single.day. for you!

xoxo

Fun Facts: 10 Months

*Weighs - a lot

*Length - around 29"

*Wears size 3 diapers

*Wears 12 month pants and tops

*Sleeps 6:30 - 6:30 {give or take 15 minutes}

*Naps 2-3x a day @ 9am, 1pm, & between 4-5pm {45mins - 1hr} OR longer at 1pm and skips last one

*Army crawl with a few moves forward on the knees

*Plays up on his knees

*Tries to pull up and stand on his own, can do it when we put our hands out or at hall banister

*6 teeth {4 top & 2 bottom}

*LOVES to feed himself food. Current favorites: avocado, bananas, graham crackers

*Enjoys biting Mommy's shoulder & grabbing her nose and lips {it's as fun as it sounds :0p}

*LOVES to wrestle with big blue Rhino

*Can flip the page in a book upon request

*Will smile real big when asked "do you want to read a story?"

*Say the words: "da da da da da" and smacks his lips for "Mommy" {hahaha - he doesn't really say any words yet!}