make room for baby

so with all of the posts about capri, i haven't posted much about the fact that she's about to become a big sister.

favorite capri and gaven moments (even before he's born)

-every morning she sleepily kisses my belly and says, 'bye baby gaven' and then she pretends to give my belly a drink of milk (gulping sounds included). she is very nurturing and we think she will be a great sister, however are a little concerned about some jealousy issues so we are trying to have her take care of her babies for practice, also, we have a bribe...we have told her that when gaven comes, nana is coming too, so this seems to help with the jealousy...now we just have to get nana here in time.

-a couple weeks ago, i was attempting to put on my socks and shoes and capri was watching me with her thumb in her mouth and started cracking up saying over and over, 'mama look funny' apparently i look as odd as i feel when putting on socks and shoes, and i don't recall her offering any assistance in the matter.

-capri thinks that everyone is pregnant, especially nina and grandpa, each time we go to leave their house, she runs over gives them hugs, and then pats their belly's and says, 'bye grampa baby,' 'bye nina baby...' it sure is a good thing they are understanding and don't take offense to this.

the next few weeks hold big changes for our family, we are thanking GOD for providing not one, but two children within the past 6 months. our family is growing by the grace of GOD and we feel so blessed. we will continue to keep you posted on the birth of baby gaven and the stories of his crazy older sister.

oops...haven't posted in a while...sorry

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

ADOPTION FINALLY FINALIZED!!!

today we met with several friends and family at the harvey county courthouse to finalize capri's adoption! we felt so blessed by all who showed up. we were pleasantly surprised that the judge we wanted showed up instead of the judge we were assigned. judge walker has been the judge throughout capri's whole case and he really wanted to be there for the completion. we didn't get the best pictures, some were blurry, but it's hard to point and shoot with teared up eyes.

me and capri before court...check out that smile (but pay no attention to the remodel job in the background)

another picture of pri and mama before the big day....

we purchased special bracelets for the special day and gave it to capri before court

snuggling with daddy before heading off to court

ms. marcia, capri's former teacher and our close family friend checking out capri's new 'pretty' 'pretty'

capri also wanted to share her bracelet with dr. krasne, lindsay's boss

the courthouse was getting a massive shipment of paper and the guys and capri were watching them unload it...not to mention, capri licking the fly in the window (gross!)

our little lady playing on the floor while we waited for the hearing to begin

just before judge walker arrived

our new family with judge walker and our attorney marilyn

celebrating with nina and grandpa


some of the wonderful friends and family who joined us

these were all our former workers, melissa from s.f.a, our three c.a.s.a workers and ms. marcia (teacher/friend)

what a blessed day. and we can't wait to continue the celebration tonight as we take capri out and start a new adoption tradition with her. she will be going out for a sweet treat...she has selected ice cream with treats in it, so we think there is a cold stone in our future. thanks again to those who attended in person and those who were there in prayer.

bye bye two...hi twee!

so on december 1st, our baby turned three. on the eve of her birthday she kept saying, 'bye bye two!' 'hi twee!' she is still telling people that she's two, hey, it's hard to admit that you're getting older, but she's doing great. she looks so big. we keep talking about how she's going to be 3 1/2 when the baby's born and can't believe she'll be a big sister, it's amazing all that GOD has done in the past year.

here are some pictures of our big girl on her birthday...
before going to church and lunch with nina and grandpa

a little grumpy 3 year old
when we got home from her birthday meal, we surprised capri by setting up her new ball pit...she was squealing with glee

officially official!

we found out yesterday that as of december 12th...capri will officially be ours!!! we will be going to the court house for the finalization and then we plan to PARTY. we will be sending out invitations for the end of december/beggining of january to have a finalization celebration.

we feel so blessed to have successfully made it through this 2 1/2 year journey. thank you all so much for your prayers, encouragement and support!

fall pictures

we love fall and have had a blast enjoying the semi-warm weather (until this week). we've enjoyed a corn maze, papa's pumpkin patch, putt-putt golf, and a day at the park with capri's buddy, abby. we've seen the leaves change, but more important, we've seen a change in the past year with our little angel. enjoy the pictures...

today we saw her name!

we went to a meeting today which we thought was going to be long, drawn out and unpleasant...boy were we wrong. we were told that we needed to attend capri's subsidy meeting. this is a meeting to discuss funding for capri for the next 15 years. it is supposed to be a time for us to say why she needs subsidy, and they are supposed to basically negotiate with us. well, they didn't. we told them what we were thinking, they said, 'okay.' now lets sign the form...that was easy!!!

so then they brought in the form...it started like this...we, the undersigned, do hereby request to adopt cassandra, who will then be named capri!!!! how cool is that. that was the first legal document that has said her new name. so now we are on our way to adopt this little monkey.

we had no idea that we were supposed to sign our intent to adopt form. we are no longer her foster parents, we are now being referred to as her soon to be adoptive parents. what a blessed day!

Moving Right Along

just wanted to post real quick to let everyone know how things are going. we started to read capri's file last friday, this is all part of the process of the adoption, although it's hard, there has been much needed information found in that 1000+ page file. i will be going on tuesday to continue reading through everything, so please keep me in your prayers as some of the things literally bring me to tears. it is so hard to see what all she's been through, but at least we know she's going to be ours, and all of that is in her past...THANK YOU GOD!!!

as for capri...she's a total nut and she's been catching up developmentally. still behind some, but making huge progress. she's learning her abc's and her shapes and colors...she's picked all of this up faster than we expected which is encouraging.

hope all is well for you and yours and thanks again for everything!!!

Finally...a sigh of relief!

okay, we can finally let out that breath that we've been holding for years! capri is going to be OURS. we met with our attorney friday and she assured us that once she receives "the packet" we can officially proceed forward with this long awaited adoption.

it amazes us how things have changed over the past two years. we went from a couple longing for a child, to a couple fighting for a child, to a couple in love with each other as well as their child. GOD has provided so much, even through grief and heartache! we are stronger because of this fight, our testimony and capri's testimony can help others who are going through similar struggles and that gets us stoked to spread the WORD!

we are looking forward to what GOD has in store for us next. at the moment, we are requesting prayer that as HE brings other children into the picture, HE will lead us to the right child. we want to adopt again, but we want to make sure that it is with HIS leading, because we know how hard it is if it isn't HIS will. thank you for your prayers over the past two years with capri and the past nine years of our marriage!

July 25th, 2008

next friday, july 25th, there will be a staffing held to see if we get to adopt capri. at this point in time, no other families have come forward to request to adopt her, so things are looking great! we will keep you all posted as we learn more and will appreciate your prayers too...thank you!

Check out my Slide Show!

My Hero

Today I saw a precious moment that took my breath away
My husband and our baby girl pausing from their day

He held her in his big strong arms and showed her beauty all around
Then he kissed her precious head and placed her on the ground

I pray that you will always have the bond you share today
And the joy you share in each other will never fade away.

May your daddy always be your hero for he's my hero too
And each day we thank our Heavenly Father for the precious gift of you!

Mullet-Be-Gone!

we did it! we finally rid capri of her mullet! we took her to see the world's greatest beautician, kaley, and she worked her magic to rid our baby girl of her she mullet! at first, she was very scared, so i got in the chair with her, showed her my ring, and the cutting began. she looks so grown up now, and has an attitude to go along with it. she loves to show people her hair and say, "i cute!"




after pictures...isn't she cute!?!

tutu cute

it's a beautiful day, so capri grabbed her tutu and we went outside for some pictures...enjoy






then she decided she was done, and was letting me know about it...diva


"bye bye mama" "c-ya" "all done" (i guess she's trying to tell me something)

why toss a coin in a fountain when you can pray!

i have several things to be thankful for, but today, i am thankful for a new daycare!!! GOD is so good. we have been trying to get capri into carol's daycare for almost two years. people are always telling us how wonderful this woman is, and by the grace of GOD, three weeks ago, we met her. we were sitting next to her at a seminar for over three hours when we realized who she was, after the seminar, we introduced ourselves...not so subtly. i said, 'i've been praying for you!' normally i introduce myself first but hey, i was excited! so today, i phoned her and she has an opening starting june 1st. hooray!!!

let me tell you how wonderful this woman is...she has fostered SEVERAL children in her 22 years as a foster parent. she adopted a girl twenty years ago (named lindsay), and has TONS of experience with kids in foster care. GOD is so amazing how HE works things out. when we told our current daycare provider the news, she was ecstatic because apparently she doesn't feel like daycare is the right thing for her, so again, a GOD thing. we will keep you posted on capri's many adventures at daycare...we know there will be more to come.