Big News

So. We have a secret. And it's big. Can you guess??

No, I'm not pregnant. But we are having another baby!

We've been sitting on this for a while now, telling only a few people while we started the planning. Basically, here's how it all got started: Ben and I have always wanted to adopt. We want {at least} four children, but we're also realistic: with my diabetes and then also my fertility issues, having kids puts a serious strain on my body. {Don't get me wrong, we totally intend on trying for more biological kids.} So we've always known that at least one {maybe more} of our children would be adopted, we'd just always thought that it would be our third or youngest child. Flash forward to June 3. One of the couples in our small group mentions that their niece is pregnant and is thinking about adoption. Half-serious, half-joking, I tell them, "I'll take the baby." That following Sunday I received a phone call from the couple asking if I was serious! Of course, after talking with Ben {who, at the time of the phone call, was on a plane to CO!} and praying about it, we agreed that we were very interested.

Over the course of the rest of the month, phone calls were made and information was shared and the weekend before we left California, we finally spoke with the Birth Mom over the phone for the first time. I seriously was on the verge of tears while we were talking - here is this young girl making the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate act of love: giving up her baby. I simply couldn't imagine. And yet, she was so excited to talk with us, maybe even as much as we were to talk with her.

We've spoken with her several times since then, and she even called us while we were house-hunting in Abilene to let us know that the baby is a boy! We're thrilled beyond measure that Noah is going to have a brother so close in age. We've retained a lawyer and are now in the process of getting everything together for the home study. I know we're doing this a little bit backwards to the way that most people experience adoptions, but since we see God's fingerprints all over the situation, who are we to question it?

I'm not really sure what other information to share, except that we are so excited and already ready to meet the little guy. He's due November 25. We do covet your prayers - prayers for our dear Birth Mom, for the sweet little boy that she is carrying, for our legal team, and of course, for us.

Too Girly?

So I finally checked something else off my sewing to do list that has been on there FOR EVER.

Before I had bought Noah a pair of swim trunks, I had bought some fun Hawaiian style fabric to make a swim diaper cover and a matching hat. However, now that I have it made, I'm a little scared that together, they look a little girly. Not too much, but, just enough that it would continue to encourage people to ask, "How old is SHE?"

I do, however, LOVE the way the hat has turned out. I'm not completely finished {it still needs the binding on the inside}, but I added a few extra touches to make it look more "off the rack":

He's definitely pool ready now with two sets of swimwear!

Sleepy-Head

Noah drives me crazy sometimes.... like when he's sleeping:

Whenever he goes down for a nap or down for the night, he must have one of his blue plush blankies, or the nap will not last as long as it should. And he will always bury his face into the blankie. No matter how many times I move it away from his face, he will move it back. And if you take the blankie away, within minutes he will wake up. Sheesh. He might be a sleepy-head, but he certainly knows where his blankie is!

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And, to all our friends in LA, we're SO glad that you are okay. :)

Book Reviews

I totally forgot to take any pictures today and since I'm behind anyway on my "book reviews", I figure I'll take the opportunity and get them done. :)

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When I had originally started my book list {from my goals for this year}, I had intended on reading one fiction and one non-fiction book a month... however, I figure as long as I average two books a month, it doesn't really matter if both come from the same category. So, all the books {all four} that I am about to review are from my fiction list....

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks: I'm a sucker for anything by Mr. Sparks. And, while it was as predictable as many of his novels are (set in North Carolina, near the outer banks, a romantic love story, etc.), this one took me by surprise - what I had thought was happening {i.e. a separation}, wasn't really happening and it really got me to thinking about how Ben and I would handle this particular situation, even though we have talked about it. {If you haven't read this book and plan to, stop reading here!!} It's such a tough choice: to "pull the plug" or not. And, after having read this story {however fictional it might be}, I think we've made a good choice {pardon the pun!}.

Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer: {I'm doing all three at the same time to save my energy.} So when my friend Katy first recommended this book to me, I wasn't so sure. And even when Angie read them {at Katy's recommendation}, I still wasn't sold. Don't get me wrong, I like a good vampire novel.... I read all the Vampire Chronicles {Anne Rice: Interview with a Vampire, etc.} when I was in high school. But these, well, I just wasn't convinced. AND THEN, my sisters started reading them. Who talked my mom into reading them. Which left me with no choice at all - I had to read them. And WOW. I haven't liked a series this much since I started the Harry Potter series in college!! Mrs. Meyer is a fantastic author - her simple to read and irresistible writing style makes her books hard to put down. Not to mention {and my sisters will say I told you so as soon as they read this} she makes her characters very easy to love - the male lead character, Edward, is exactly what you would expect a vampire to be and yet, still has his morals and a sense of virtue. There is so much to say about these books and yet so much that I don't want to spoil for anyone who is planning on reading them. {sigh} I can't wait until Saturday afternoon... I figure by then, one of my sisters will have finished the new book, Breaking Dawn, and I can start reading it.

Roley Poly Noah

My little Chunky Monkey has become my little Roley Poly:

He literally rolled from one end of the living room to the other! It won't be long now until this little guy is crawling, especially when you consider that he just learned how to do this yesterday!!

Bowling Time!

This afternoon, we spent some time with Eric, Amanda, and Little Marian. We ate lunch at Old Chicago {SO yummy!} and then went to Tinker AFB to go bowling. We had such a great time!

Good job Ben! :)

Noah, Ben and Lil' Marian

Noah's crazy face... he loves sucking in that bottom lip!

One of the two times that Little Marian fell while bowling... we weren't prepared the first time with our cameras, but the second time, we were! ;)

{Amanda, how did I end up with no pictures of you and Noah??}

And, remember one of the last times we saw Little Marian, how she won the stuffed animal in the crane game? She did it again!! This time, I had her tell me how she wins them so that perhaps next time I could try it myself! Here's her explanation of how to win at the crane game:

Noah's Newest Trick

LOOK!!

He's been consistenly rolling from tummy to back {we were seriously starting to think that he really hated tummy time} but today, while Ben and I were sitting on the couch, Noah rolled from his back to tummy! And now, he's practically doing it on demand.

I have such a smart baby!

Frontier City

It's been years {quite literally} since I've been to Frontier City and White Water Bay. Mom and Daddy-Man used to get us season passes to play the summer away at those theme parks, but once we started working, well, little time was left for making the most of a season pass. So yesterday being at White Water Bay made me kind of nostalgic, but today, when we went to Frontier City for Daddy-Man's work appreciate day, was a complete blast from the past! I remember going out there and riding the rides until I was dizzy and meeting up with friends {and a boyfriend or two... don't tell Ben!}. It's a little different though, when you go out there with your child, especially when he can't ride any of the rides yet. One of these days though, he'll be able to... and I can't wait until he can!

BB and Jessie making funny faces at Noah while riding the Sidewinder.

Daddy-Man and Mom waving to Noah - he would laugh each time they came around and talked to him!

Thank you for the free day {and free lunch} Evans and Daddy-Man! :)

Daddy-Man and Zack

Mom talking with Viola and Paul

Noah FINALLY taking a nap... poor thing, he was so hot by the time we left, that we had to get in the pool to cool off once we got home.

White Water Bay

Now that we're back in the south where it gets really {REALLY} hot, we're loving being able to get in the water. Noah, Mom, BB, Aunt Connie, Andy, Amanda, Mae-Mae, and I all went to White Water Bay, a local water park, this morning. We had SUCH a great time! We stayed mostly in the Lazy River {now called the Castaway Creek} and in the Kid's Kove. All the kids {and even us adults} just loved playing and splashing.

Noah and Aunt BB enjoying the kiddie pool.
He loved to sit in the water and kick or sit in people's laps and splash with his hands!

Sometimes he needed something to chew on to give relief to his poor sore gums.

Amanda, Noah, and me floating along in the Lazy River.
Mae-Mae and Amanda in their matching swimsuits - they are SO cute!
Mae-Mae and Andy sitting on the frog that sprayed water... Mae-Mae kept crawling towards it - good thing the water was so shallow!

Mommy and Noah enjoying the sun {with their 50SPF sunscreen on!!}.

I can't wait until Noah is big enough to get season passes!

WE HAVE {the start of} A TOOTH!!

Noah has the beginnings of his first tooth!! This afternoon, we noticed that he had a little slit on his gums {his bottom left side} - and it's been getting larger all day! We can't actually see the tooth, but I'm pretty sure since his gum is slit, the tooth will be here shortly!

He's actually been pretty miserable here lately, so I'm glad the first one is almost over.

Visiting Sulphur

Mom, BB, Noah and I went to Sulphur today to visit our friends, Noel and Geloria, and see their vacation house on Arbuckle Lake. We met up with them at Chickasaw National Recreation Area, one of my all time favorite National Parks. I love it there because no matter how hot it is, the water is always freezing. And even though I am a little too scared to jump off Little Niagara, I enjoy swimming around in the water and have so many great memories at that park. The last time that I was there was just weeks before Ben and I left for California, so it has, quite literally, been almost exactly three years!

After being in the car in a sleep and play outfit, I let him go "naked" while he ate his big boy food and splashed in the water - it might have been cold, but he still liked it!

Yay for Noah's first trip to Little Niagara!

Little Niagara

Noah, the Junior Ranger, in the Nature Center.

He really wanted the turtle and would get a little upset when he couldn't grab it.

Noah and Geloria, enjoying some time before we headed back home.

Busy, Busy.

Some days seem busier than others and today was one of those days - we ate lunch with Brenda and Marissa {friends of the family since I was young} and afterwards picked up Amanda so that she could come over and swim with us. We all had a great time.... even Noah! He loves his little crab float, which makes me even more excited to go to White Water Bay on Friday with the Stanley's. Afterwards, we called Grandma Haze on Skype to wish her a Happy Birthday {Happy Birthday!} and Grami came by for a visit too. I also finally finished up a couple of gifts for the "other" Smith boys - I wanted to send Greg and Tamieka's newest additions to their family a "Welcome to the Family" gift, and thought these would be perfect {I had to make one for Christian too!}:

A Mickey Mouse blanket for Isaiah and aprons for Mommy's Sous Chefs, Christian and Joshua!

And, now that I've finished these projects, I can read Eclipse! ;)

Ready, Set, Bumbo!

Noah was such a happy camper this afternoon that we had to have a photo shoot:

{This is the point in time though, where he decided to watch the TV instead of the camera. Silly boy.}

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After talking about the Ready, Set, Bumbo! video {again} at dinner, I caught Daddy-Man making Noah think that his Bumbo could do the same thing:

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After dinner, Noah and I went over to Marsha and Mike's for a visit. We always enjoy our time with them and I'm pretty sure they love to spend time with us, especially with Noah {and who doesn't?}.

Monkey-Butt

I finally got Jessie's song for Noah on video:

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And, just because all of us here think it is so funny {for multiple reasons...}, here's another video of the Noah-Nugget:

Happy Days

Ben came into town last night so that he could spend a good portion of Sunday with Noah and I and the rest of the family. After staying up late last night and getting up early for church, we were all pretty tired in the afternoon - but only Noah, Ben and I took a nap while waiting to hear back from Eric and Marian {unfortunately, we didn't get to see them}. The rest of the family went to renew their cell phone plans and by the time they were finished, it was time for dinner. Ben, Morgan, Noah and I met Mom, Daddy-Man, the girls, and Michael at Pizza Hut - it was SO good. {I'm still a Papa John's girl, but I do like Pizza Hut's thin crust!}

Morgan, Mom, and Jess were playing with all the new phones while we waited for our pizzas.

Noah kept us very entertained with his laughs and kicks.

A few more snuggles and kisses with Daddy before he heads back to training.

I love happy days like these.

Noah's New Face

Noah woke up this morning making this funny face:

and has been making it all day long. Maybe he likes the feel of his bottom lip on his poor sore gums.

ETA: He wore that onesie to bed... that's why it *looks* like he wore the same thing two days in a row! :)