18 Months

Our precious daughter is 18 months old today!  She is growing up way to quickly for our liking, but nonetheless, we are enjoying witnessing every moment!

This girl has quite a personality that continues to develop with each passing day.  She brings such joy to our house, and she is a constant source of entertainment.  Here is a little about what she is up to lately:

1.She is talking quite a bit, and she has no problems making her needs known! Some of her favorite words are ‘me’(when she wants something to eat that Silas has), ‘Si-Si’(what she calls Silas), and ‘see’(when she wants to see pictures on daddy’s phones).

2. She loves to eat,and fruits tend to win out over most things these days.  Of course, she also loves her sweets like the rest of our family.  Her drink of choice is whole milk.

3. She loves to dance! She can really get her arms and/or shoulders moving when an upbeat song comes on the radio.

4. She loves to help us do things around the house such as emptying the dishwasher, putting in the laundry, and throwing things away in the trash can.  I am hoping this love continues for a LONG time;)

5.She is such a lovable little girl, and she is very quick to give a hug when she knows she has done something wrong. 

6. She likes her shoes!  She regularly goes to her closet and brings out shoes for me to put on her.  This is cute now, but daddy may not think so when she’s a teenager!

I could go on and on, but I will stop to let you see a few pictures of this precious girl (with a few from Thanksgiving weekend thrown in).

 

Happy 18 months Saylor!  We continue to thank God every day for your life! You are the perfect fit for our family, and we will forever be grateful!

Silas turns 5!

Five years ago, a precious baby boy was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and today we celebrated big!  Last year, Silas didn’t have much of a celebration for his birthday due to Saylor just being home a few weeks; therefore, we decided he deserved a real party this year.  We decided to have his party at a park near our home.  They have a building called the Wilderness Station where they house various animals as well as put on a lot of educational programs.  They also do various animal themed birthday parties, and Silas chose a ‘snake’ theme.(I secretly think he did this on purpose because he knows his mama wants NOTHING to do with these creatures!)  He picked which friends he wanted to come, and he also chose to have his favorite foods at his party.  Needless to say, he had a great time as you will witness in the pictures below.

 

Silas wanted us to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him when he woke up this morning so we fulfilled that request.  Here he is dressed and ready for his party!

 

 

This sign is about the extent of my artistic abilities.  Once again, I am reminded why I was a biology major!

This adorable chocolate cake was made by a friend of ours who also occasionally babysits Silas and Saylor.  She knows Silas’ love for peanut butter so she sent a side of peanut butter for him to enjoy with his cake:)

The party started off with learning different facts about snakes.

 

Each child then had the opportunity to pet the snake.

 

The program leader with ‘Charlie’ the snake.

 

Saylor thought it was more fun to make faces at daddy then to learn about the snakes.

 

After petting the snake, each child made a snake craft to take home.

 

After that, it was time to go outside for a short hike. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful today!

 

Silas and his buddy, ‘E’.  They share the common bond of both being born in Ethiopia.

 

Present time!

 

I think this was his favorite present of the day. He has been asking us for a camera for quite some time now.  Daddy did some research, and he found one that was a hit according to Silas!

 

We rounded out the day with dinner at Silas’ favorite restaurant.  We forgot to take pictures inside, but we managed to take this one as we were leaving.

 

Silas had two presents left to open from extended family so he did this before bed.  He got Laser Pegs which he was excited about because he played with these at a toy store when we were on vacation.

 

 

He was happy to get a scooter like his cousin Ross used to have.

 

We had to do a trial with the scooter before bed.  Silas, mama and daddy love you to pieces.  We cannot believe you are five, but we know God has great things in store for your life.  It melted both of our hearts that you wanted to say the prayer for your party today, and you said it loud and clear.  You are a precious child of God, and we count it an honor every day that God chose us to be your parents.  Happy 5th birthday!

Happy Fall Y’all (2013)

Summer remains my favorite season, but fall is a close second!  Our family has a lot to celebrate during the fall including two birthdays, one gotcha day, and our wedding anniversary so it is always a fun time of year for us.  I thought I would share just a couple pictures that were taken on my birthday this past Sunday.  Saylor’s dress and Silas’ bowtie were another sweet blessing from Mammaw.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up”. Galatians 6:9

Happy Gotcha Day Saylor!

I cannot even believe it has been an entire year since our precious daughter was forever placed in our arms.  I will never forget that day as we had completed a very long flight, and it was assumed that we would want to go to our hotel to get some rest prior to heading to Hannah’s Hope.  Despite our exhaustion, all we wanted to do was get back to our sweet girl!  Much to our delight, Wass(our driver) took us straight to Hannah’s Hope and we made a beeline to pick her up:)  We haven’t looked back since!  God has been so faithful to us over the past year, and Saylor has adjusted amazingly well.  We truly can’t remember what life was like before she joined our family.  I thought I would pick a picture from each month over the past year so you can see just how much she has grown.  Words cannot adequately express how much joy she brings to our family, and we are forever grateful that we are the ones God chose to be her parents!

 

September 2012

 

October 2012

 

November 2012

 

December 2012

 

January 2013

 

February 2013

 

March 2013

 

April 2013

 

May 2013

 

June 2013

 

July 2013

 

August 2013

 

September 2013

 

Tonight, we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate Saylor’s Gotcha Day.  We then came home to enjoy cupcakes!

She had some tomatoes with spicy sauce on them, and she kept saying “hot”; however, she kept reaching for more.  Such a funny girl!

 

She thought she was big stuff with her big straw:)

 

Family picture at the restaurant

 

She wasn’t sure what to think of her cupcake and the singing, but the smiles came as we imitated blowing out a candle!

 

Here is one last picture of our precious girl! Happy Gotcha Day Saylor!

Saylor’s One Year Pictures (finally!)

We were so on top of everything for Silas, but time managed to get away from us for getting Saylor’s one year pictures scheduled. We were so blessed that our friend, Kelsey, agreed to take pictures for us again.  She has been through more than one person should have to endure in a year, and she graciously made time to squeeze us in. As usual, we loved them, and we are so grateful for Kelsey’s God given talent! So, without further ado, I have picked my top ten favorite pictures to share with you below.  Saylor was not the most cooperative with smiling, but we(o.k. mostly daddy) managed to get a few out of her!  Mammaw made Saylor’s watermelon outfit and her hat which were what she wore for her birthday party.  The tricycle is from Troy’s childhood, and the rocking chair was Troy’s mom’s when she was a little girl.  These personal touches make me love the pictures even more. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  They are a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness!