It's Christmas Time!

We have been getting into the holiday spirit at our house for the last couple of weeks and it's been so much fun to see it this year through new eyes with our 2-year-old.  He's big enough to help now and so of course he wants to at every turn.  We've come to the happy conclusion that while everything we do may take us longer these days, it sure is more fun too.

Putting the angel on the tree

Adding his own "Baby's
First Christmas" ornament

Sharing a Christmas wish with St. Nick

Gavin totally surprised us and willingly got on Santa's lap when we took him for a visit.  I just knew there was no way that was going to happen.  I love how he surprises me with his big boy actions here lately!  When we had asked him earlier that day what he was going to ask Santa for, he promptly replied "Baby sister!"  (We told you he'd been asking!)  By the time we got to Santa that evening though he'd just shortened it to wanting a baby.  Santa said, "I think you'll have to talk with your Mom & Dad about that one - anything else you'd like?"  Tee hee.

We also embarked on the annual holiday tradition of making frosted sugar cookies this week.  This is something that I have been doing with my Mom for as long as I can remember and it was great (and messy!) to get Gavin in on the fun for the first time.  I guess he has been involved before, but on more of an observation level . . .

Baking cookies on his first Christmas

This year he really got in on the action with a little help from Daddy.

Oh, the excitement!

Carefully applying red hots

Shake that sugar!!!

Sweet success

Mommy also got a little time away to get her holiday crafting fix and went to a wreath making class.  It was a fun excursion for a night of relaxation.  I used to teach crafting classes at the civic center where I enjoyed this class and it made me wish I was doing it again.  Maybe someday!

Before

And after!

An amazing adventure

As I've spent some time updating the pages of this blog today, it's been fun to go back and read the posts.  It was especially meaningful to read the ones between April and July of 2011.  Each one was such a mixture of joy and uncertainty.  When I go back to that place in my mind, I can remember those feelings so clearly.  Since that time, our lives have been packed with lots of joy and uncertainty as well - the kind that learning how to be a parent can bring!

The ultrasound picture from this post has now grown into an adorable and busy 2-year-old . . . an adorable 2-year-old who now quite frequently says, "I want baby sister!"  We had been considering whether it was time to begin the process of updating our profile and paperwork for a while before his friends at church starting having siblings and I guess that was a good thing!  The truth is, his Mom & Dad are ready for a baby brother or sister too.

I'm looking forward to sharing our journey with you again.  This time I'll also get to tell a few stories about what it's been like for us to be parents to this amazing little boy that we were graciously chosen to love and nurture.  What an awesome experience it has been!

Will you please join us in prayer for:

• guidance in the search for our baby
• patience as we wait for the right timing
• the mother and father who may even now be discovering they are pregnant

We would also be honored if you would share our information, including this page, with anyone who you feel might be able to connect us to birth parents who are looking for a family to raise their child.  The circumstances around our first adoption surely proved that so often it happens because someone knows someone.

Here's to the next chapter in an amazing adventure!

Love and blessings,
Janell