This weekend, all 3 of the men (big and small) were in the wedding of some friends, Chris and Jessica Wilson. Brian Officiated and the boys were both Ring Bearers. It was a beautiful wedding at Camp Loughridge and the reception, at Southern Hills Country Club, was like none I've ever experienced. The food was delicious and we all had so much fun dancing and visiting with friends we don't get to see often enough. It was fun to get all dressed up and figure out which fork was for salad and which was for dessert! The boys were both smitten with their own reflection! I warned them not to accept any marriage proposals...thankfully the warning wasn't necessary. However, Cole had several older ladies (50 and over) asking him to dance. He bashfully turned them down. While we were all out having a ball, Hope was at home with our new favorite baby sitter, being loved on and well taken care of!

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with my parents and sister. Who knows, maybe I'll find the time to post about that tomorrow!

The Parties

We had the pleasure of celebrating Hope's birthday twice. First in Joplin with Brian's family over Thanksgiving weekend. Then at home with my dad whose birthday is the day after Hope's.

Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream in Joplin.

A little photo shoot before the party at home.

Just a little icing.

Maybe I'll just lick the top instead of using my fingers.

I'm starting to feel sick.

Uh Oh, I got a little bit of cupcake on the table.

BATH TIME.

We're back...

A year ago today, our little Hope graced us with her presence.

And now she's already ONE!

We love you sweet angel.

Dear Santa

Last week while Hope was taking a "mommy-I-don't -feel-good-marathon-nap" I was catching up in blog land. I stumbled upon this post. Let me first tell you that I loath mopping! It's become a well know fact in our hope that shortly after mom mops, someone in going to spill something very sticky. For those of you not interested in reading the above post -which you should because it's funny and much more well written than mine-it's all about the love between a woman and her robot vacuum cleaner. Which brings me to my mention of Santa in the title of this post. I want Santa to bring me this for Christmas. I can just imagine all the extra time I'll have to read books to the kids, ask my hubby about his day and knit hats for the homeless...maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But it sure would be nice to wake up each morning to a freshly mopped kitchen!

My little mess-makers at the Tulsa Zoo.

August means...

My Birthday!

Cole made me this awesome Birthday card out of Legos. It says "MOM" if you can't tell.

A visit to the QT Park and the Aquarium with Brian's cousin, Lisa, and her family. Our kids had so much fun with Connor, Trevor and Aubrey. That evening we got a a couple of babysitters for the 7 kids and went to the showing of Jeffie Was Here at the Tulsa United Film Festival. That was a first for Brian and me. Lots of fun and great people watching!

This Friday, we all went up to Hoover Elementary to meet the kids teachers. It was so much fun to walk the halls and finally know people. When we got back to the house, Shurabe tripped while climbing out of the van. She is now the recipient of 4 stitches. She did so well...lots of screaming and crying but she laid very still while they were doing the stitches. At one point, she screamed, "I'm so hungry!" After leaving the Urgent Care we went straight to Panda Express and got that girl some Orange Chicken!

Happy 4th

This was Shurabe and Hope's first 4th of July. It was almost a year ago that we traveled to Ethiopia to get our little girl. Shurabe is so excited about America. She points out every "America flag" she sees as we drive around town. On Saturday we got out her American flag dress to iron in preparation for Sunday. She knew that Hope was wearing her "America dress" too so she asked if I had America clothes to wear too. I told her I didn't but I thought Nana might. She immediately called Nana and asked her about her America clothes (I had to do a little interpreting before Nana figured out what she was talking about).

Hope had no idea what the 4th of July was all about but she sure did look cute!

Cole and Levi were really excited because we got to go out to "Uncle" John Burgett's ranch. They got to shoot the potato gun, ride in a boat, ride a 4-wheeler and do a little fishing! What a day!

Yum, Yuck and Yeah!

A few weeks ago, I was busy in the kitchen and was summoned to the living room. Shurabe said, "You have to take a picture of this. It's too cute!" (all with her sweet little african accent) She was right, so I hurried to get the camera before the cute moment passed.

Our sweet Hopey (as we affectionately call her) turned 6 months old on Sunday. I find myself enjoying her more than I ever thought possible. The knowledge that she will be my last baby is a big encouragement to savor every moment. The whole family was excited to watch her experience her first bites of rice cereal (except Cole... I'm not sure where he was but later that evening he was shocked to hear that Hope had eaten cereal). She really liked it and even succeeded at grabbing the spoon a time or two.

Cole was the celebrity at out house yesterday! Levi's sign says it best... "Cole haves his therd tooth out!" (interpretation : Cole has his 3rd tooth out) It was a really big deal because this is the first tooth for him to lose on his own (the first two were pulled by the dentist).

Late Sunday night (long after he should have been asleep) Cole came running into the living room to show us that his tooth was pointing forward at a 45 degree angle. Brian's brother and his family came down from Springfield for Memorial Day. We had a great time at the QT park and The Riverwalk. Every time I looked at Cole, he had his loose tooth sticking out over his lower lip. (see picture below)

Nana and Papa came over for dinner that evening and Nana had the tooth out before the enchiladas were out of the oven. I'd been telling Cole all day that his Nana was famous for her tooth-pulling skills. She didn't disappoint!

Tomorrow is the boys' last day of school. Yippee!! Get ready for some swimming pictures!

May Days

May has brought with it lots of fun and firsts.

Levi (third from the right) is on his first t-ball team. Brian is the coach. Their team is pretty talented if I might say so myself! Levi has made some fantastic plays at 1st base.

Brian and Cole (along with Grandpa Steve) participated in the Tour de Tulsa family ride. They rode along Riverside, so Levi, Shurabe, Hope and I cheered them on at Quik Trip park on 41st and then met them at the finish line. I must admit, I was a little teary eyed and proud of my son. Cole completed the 13 miles at the head of the pack, grinning from ear to ear. I think this might be the beginning of a life-long hobby for him. I'm anxious for when the whole family can go on rides together.

Shurabe is progressing in leaps and bounds. She is learning lots of American phrases and becoming the girliest of girls. She loves all things princess and wants to take ballet classes in the fall (actually she wants to start them "yesterday" but classes don't start until fall). People often ask how she is adjusting and I typically have tons of positive things to say. Today I spent quite a bit of time trying to comfort her through the challenges of being the only girl in her class with kinky african hair. She is beautiful and exotic but wants to be like everyone else. I'm not so sure this is an adoption issue as much as it is a "girl" issue. We spent three hours straightening her hair because "everybody in my class always says my hair is crazy everyday." (all said with tears streaming down her face) The results of our straightening session were less than acceptable but she loved it. Unfortunately, it is stormy and incredibly humid today so the straight hair only lasted a few hours.

Here is a picture of my pretty girls (curly hair and all).

Hope is growing in leaps and bounds (and rolls). I can't believe how big she is getting. She found her toes last night and I can tell she is just trying to figure out how to get them into her mouth. She is also becoming quite the talker. She babbles and coos and giggles, bringing so much joy to the whole family. We are so happy to have her in our lives. God sure does know how to give GOOD surprises!

Other firsts: Hope and Shurabe's first Mother's Day

Shurabe's first Tornado Season (she was full of "what if" questions this evening)

Cole's first loose tooth (hopefully he'll lose it before the May is over)

I am a very blessed mommy.

Easter

This was an especially great Easter at our house because it was Shurabe and Hope's first. It has been so much fun explaining the meaning of Easter to Shurabe. A couple of times she has asked me, "Mommy, Jesus coming?" I wish I had that kind of anticipation. It has been good for me to remind myself and tell her, "Maybe! Nobody knows when he is coming back."

Cole was really excited this morning to make it a meaningful day for his siblings. He made a special sign after breakfast and wanted to hang it up for everybody to see all day. Then he spent the rest of the morning formulating a plan to make special gifts for Shurabe and Levi (a baseball poster and a ballerina poster).

Poor little Levi did his best to enjoy the day despite his raging allergies. Bless his heart, his eyes were almost swollen shut when he woke up this morning. We hunted eggs in Nana and Papa's living room instead of outside to keep him out of the wind and pollen.

On a lighter note, I got to sew two little Easter dresses (one much smaller than the other). I've been eyeing this fabric for a couple of weeks and it went on sale just in time for me to whip up these sweet little dresses. Shurabe's entailed a little more work than I anticipated... petticoat and all. But I am happy with how they turned out and the girls liked them too!

Growing like a weed

The months are flying by faster than I can believe. Shurabe has been with us for almost 7 months. She is growing so fast that she's already outgrown 3 shoe sizes since we brought her home. Her hair is growing and she is starting to be excited about it being LONG. There is nothing that makes a little girl feel more beautiful than long hair!
Here she and her grandpa, Steve, are having a little nap together. She barely fits on our laps any more. But I am sure that we will always figure out a way to make it work.
Hope is 3 months old and such a sweet baby girl. We love to make her smile but her pouty face is pretty adorable too. We keep trying to get a picture of it but the camera always distracts her.

She has recently found her thumb and fell asleep sucking it for the first time last night. Brian and I were busy putting the big kids to bed and when we walked into the living room, there she was sound asleep in the middle of the floor, sucking her thumb. Here she is enjoying a spring-like day this week. We put her in her bouncy seat in the garage and let her watch the big kids ride their bikes. She had lots of fun cooing and blowing spit bubbles.

Happy Birthday Hubby

Does he look 35 years old to you? We got to spend all day with the Birthday boy due to the snow and ice outside. Brian took the 3 older kids out to play and shovel snow for a couple of hours while...

Hope sat and watched the fire in the fireplace...

I made one of Brian's favorite dishes - Beef Taco Bake (yikes, my oven is dirty) ...

and watched out the window in awe of the beautiful blanket of fresh white snow and sparkling branches covered in ice.

Later, the kids all made Birthday cards for their daddy and we enjoyed dinner with my mom and Cassie.

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Topic change...

Brian has declared this to be my best week of cooking ever. A couple of nights ago, I made some pancakes to have on hand for the kids' breakfasts. They were just from a boxed all purpose baking mix. Brian grabbed one off the counter and ate it with his hands (no syrup or anything) and said they were "Awesome - best pancakes he's ever had, etc.

Last night I made wild Rice and Ham Chowder and had my parents over to eat with us. This is going to be a new favorite at our house. I am really excited to have a dish that EVERYONE liked! I wanted to post a link to the recipe but I can't remember which blog I found it on.

I just remembered, last week I found a really good recipe for Enchiladas on another blog. They were delicious!

I also made some pumpkin muffins (recipe courtesy of my friend Kelli) in anticipation of a power outage. I figured they would be a good stand-by breakfast or snack if we were left in the dark! I've made them before but once again, Brian couldn't stop talking about how good they are.

You may be catching on by now that I'm not all that good in the kitchen. Thankfully, these few successful attempts are enough to distract Brian from the less than exciting menus I usually prepare. I'm a lucky lady (for many reasons)!

One month old

It's never too early to start looking for a godly spouse. So Ledger Moss and Hope put their heads together and gazed into their futrure together. What a cute couple!

Hope is now a normal part of our everyday life. We no longer find ourselves forgetting that we have her when she sleeps quietly in the corner.

While her older siblings still adore her, I no longer find myself refereeing who gets to hold her next (unless her namesake - Aunt Elizabeth - is in town.