Merry and Bright

We have been in full swing holiday mode around here since the beginning of November. Finn's class had the sweetest little Thanksgiving party complete with a performance. Ryder and Jude were my little tagalongs . Ryder loves going to Finn's class, because he knows it means he'll get snacks and usually a baked good or five.

Someone wanted in on the action and wasn't napping like I'd hoped.

Jude is getting a little better at tummy time, so long as he's facing the Christmas tree.

This Thanksgiving was the first one we've ever celebrated with just our little family. Since we are now a party of five and Jude was only 8 weeks old, we made the hard decision to stay home. The day ended up being such a sweet little time for our family and was the first one we were able to celebrate in our new house.

We snuggled in blankets and watched the parade.

I made a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but halved all of my casserole recipes so we wouldn't have a massive amount of food. It ended up being the perfect amount for our meal and a day or so of leftovers. I was very impressed with myself. Dustin ate every bit of it and the boys each ate one roll. I know one day I will miss these days when we have three teenage boys eating everything in the fridge.

The next day we went and got our Christmas tree at such a cute little lot at a nearby church. The proceeds supported a women's and children's shelter and the trees were just cut down the previous week. Win. Win.

Finn and I went on a little date to see the movie, The Star and loved it! We met my friend, Heather and her oldest son, Ryan. The boys loved it and the mamas couldn't get over how easy it felt to just be at the mall with one preschooler each instead of our usual six combined.

Our church is full of sparkle and twinkly lights.

I dressed #3 in an actual outfit instead of just leaving him in pj's all day, so I had to take a picture.

We went to the mall to ride the Pink Pig and see Santa.

And this was the best we got only after some jelly bean bribery.

Ryder hasn't fallen asleep on me for at least two years. He wasn't feeling well and all he wanted to do was snuggle so I soaked it up.

Our Tigers are #1 in the country and headed to the Playoffs for the third year in a row!

Our neighborhood does the cutest little cookies with Santa event. Since Ryder was sick, I just took Finn on a "mommy date" as he calls it.

We've watched a lot of Christmas movies.

We built an assortment of gingerbread houses.

And during naptime, I watch cheesy Christmas movies with hot chocolate in hand.

Until this one wakes up and I get some one on one time.

Yesterday, we braved the biggest Southern snowstorm in 25 years to make it to South Carolina for Christmas with Dustin's side of the family. We were only there for a few hours, as we had to be home that night, but we made the most of it. The baby cousins finally got to meet. Miller and Jude are only 3 months apart.

Two Months

Our sweet Jude, your second month has been even more fun than your first. We have somewhat of a routine now and I think that's made it easier on all of us. We celebrated your first Halloween and first Thanksgiving.

At the time of this post you are 10 weeks and you just started sleeping 6 hours at night. I am learning now that your big brothers were/are both exceptional sleepers. They were both sleeping 10 hours by 10 weeks, and we patted ourselves on the backs and assumed that was normal. You are your own little person and seem to be doing things on your own time. So with that, we will count 6 hours as a win.

You are definitely more aware of what's going on around you. You hear your big brothers all day long and turn your head to see what they're doing. You've started smiling and will give us the biggest, gummiest smiles when we're talking to you.

You love bath time, but you do not love being cold after bath.

You're wearing 3 mo clothing and just moved up to size two diapers. At your two month check up, you were 12lbs 12oz and 24 in so you are still our biggest little guy.

You love being in your carseat and actually nap pretty well in it, which is good, because you spend about 4 hours in it on days that your biggest brother has school.

You hate tummy time, but love laying on your play mat by the Christmas tree.

I've been using the Moms on Call schedule with you since you were 4wks old just like your brothers, but I've had to adjust the times slightly to work with your brother's school schedule. Here is a look at what your schedule is currently. This is more for my reference or anyone who might be interested in what our days look like.

5/5:30AM- I feed you and put you right back in bed.

7:15- Your brothers' clocks turn green, so I get them up and they get breakfast.

8:00- I feed you and you have some awake time.

9:00- We leave to either take Finn to school or run errands depending on the day. This is when you take a great nap in the carseat.

11:00- I feed you

12:30- We pick up Finn from school on school days and you're usually napping in your carseat again.

1:00- Lunch for the big boys

1:30- The big boys go down for a nap. Yes, Finn still takes a nap and it's glorious.

2:00- I feed you and we have some one on one awake time for a bit while your brothers are napping.

3:00- You nap in your crib.

4:00- Your brothers are usually awake and we watch a show until daddy gets home while I start dinner prep.

4:30- Daddy gets home around now and takes your brothers outside to play while I finish cooking dinner.

5:00- I feed you

5:45- You take a short catnap in your crib while we eat dinner.

6:30- Bath time for big brothers and I wake you up.

7:15- Books and bedtime for big brothers who are usually in bed by 7:45. You get a bottle and are in bed between 7:30 and 8:00.

11:00- Daddy gives you a dream feed in your room and puts you right back in bed until you hopefully sleep until 5AM the next morning.

Does every day look like this? Absolutely not. This is what we strive for and everyone operates a little bit better when our days do look mostly the same. Honestly, you're still fighting off the 45 minute intruder most days with your naps and the less sleep you get, the less sleep you get. We now double swaddle you with a Swaddle Me wrap over a miracle blanket and that has seemed to help. Have I mentioned you are our biggest and strongest little guy yet?

"Baby dude", we love you to pieces and are so blessed to call you ours. You are the perfect addition to our family and I know very well how fast these coming months will go, so I'm trying to soak up every minute- even in the middle of the night.  Here are some pictures from the past month.

Your spent your first Halloween like this in the stroller while we chased your big brothers up and down the streets of our new neighborhood.

We cause quite the scene at the grocery store now.

Your brothers are still pretty obsessed with you.

You took your first trip to Clemson when we went up there for the day.

We spent your first Thanksgiving at our house just the five of us.

Your hair might be one of my favorite things, even though we're still waiting on your cradle cap to clear up.

World Adoption Day

The fact that Finn is adopted is not something we think about everyday. If I'm being honest, I forget about it most of the time. It's not something we even mention to anyone unless they bring up adoption or it's medically necessary. Let's face it- he looks more like me than Ryder does and has the same sparkling blue eyes as his daddy and Ryder so there's really never even been a question of it. I may not have carried him for 9+ months like his brothers, but the truth is my "pregnancy" with Finn was the hardest one yet. It took over two years and involved losing 4 of his older siblings for him to be ours and those are things that I won't ever forget. Adoption comes in many forms. We didn't travel to some far away country and rescue him from an orphanage. He wasn't in the foster care system in our own country. Both of which are incredible and necessary ways to adopt and come with their own challenges. We've been with him from birth and we're all he's ever known.

I wrote a post similar to this almost two years ago to the date. I have now been blessed to have two biological babies and all of my thoughts are just as true today. Adoption is merely the means in which Finn joined our family, but it does not define his role in our family. He is our first born. He is not our adopted son. He is our son. Not to take away from how God placed him in our family, we love sharing his story. We plan to tell him as he gets older, so he knows it's always a part of him. If you ask him, he'll tell you that "God placed Ryder and Jude in mommy's belly, but He put me in mommy's heart". We got Finn this book for Christmas last year and it is just the sweetest story that sums up adoption in a very preschool friendly way. I still can barely get through it without tears, but he loves reading it even though he doesn't get the depth of the words yet.

I don't take for granted the gift it is when Finn calls me "mama", "mommy" or "mom" as it reminds me of the blessing that he is to our family. So on this World Adoption Day, I wish I could hug all of you mamas out there that have adopted, are waiting to adopt or are in the process of adopting. It's a sweet sisterhood that comes with many challenges and heartaches but also the best reward you'll ever get.