THREE Years Old!!!!

Our baby boy is THREE!!!  He will always be our baby no matter how old he gets, but I guess three makes him officially NOT a baby.

 I don't even know where to begin with this boy.  He is ENERGETIC.  He is FUNNY.  He is SWEET.  He is SENSITIVE.  He is ADORABLE.  He is WONDERFUL.

This morning, he said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME!"

He demands that everything ALWAYS go his way.  He demands that you listen to him whenever he speaks.  He demands things on HIS time-table.  And I love it.  (I also hate it sometimes.  Haha)

When I look back on the time that we spent waiting for him -- the HOLE that I had in my heart and in our lives because HE was missing...I just praise the Lord that I didn't give up hope.  And I never stopped searching for him.  There was something in my heart that told me that our family was not finished yet, and I didn't know how or when that would be accomplished, but I had faith.  And then, he came to us.  And he completed us.

Not a day goes by when I don't think about his first mom and first dad.  I am SO thankful that they chose life for him, and we love them SO much.  Today, we celebrate them, as well.  They created the most beautiful little boy and he has joined our lives with theirs forever.  Not only did we gain a son on September 12, 2016, we gained an entire family.  And we are so, so grateful for all of them.

What an AMAZING gift and blessing open adoption is.  Just look at that precious boy!

Wyatt James Alexander -- we love you more than words can say.  Happy, happy birthday sweet boy!!!!

And...in a little over a week, we will celebrate at DISNEY!!!

Sweet Summertime

We are having a great summer!

We went to Germanfest for the first time.  Logan did an Ancestry DNA kit this past winter and found that he is 23% German, so he's been super interested in that.  The boys got hats and flags and were totally feeling German!

Summer is a great time to just do some fun things that our schedules might not normally allow....like pick mommy up for a lunchdate during the week!  We went to Blaze Pizza.

Father's Day is always special time to stop and appreciate what a great daddy Zeb is.  He loves our boys so much.  I hope they always know that!!

On Father's Day, Logan left for his third year of church camp.  He's a pro now.  He didn't even really want to hug or kiss us goodbye. *sigh*  But I get it.  It's how it is.  But boy, Wy sure missed his brother!!!

Everytime Wyatt sees a tree, he makes us take his picture.  I ain't mad about it.  I'll take all of the tree pictures!

We got a new student, Amilcar, from Panama.  Wyatt immediately took to him.  We are so excited to have him here for the next six months!  Last weekend, we all went to Powers Burgers in downtown Fort Wayne.

Of course, we find time to play dress up!

Grandpa Dave came over with his Corvette, so everyone had to take a ride!

We've been to the zoo about a thousand times, and we still aren't sick of it!!!

Summer is only half over, so we are excited for more adventures!!!

Weekend

We had a great weekend.  We thought it was going to be raining on Saturday, but it held off long enough for us to go to the zoo in the afternoon!  We just love it there.

 And then on Sunday, Sam came by to visit!  He is moving to Washington state on Tuesday.  We miss having him around so much.  But when he's here, it's like he never left -- he just jumps right in and helps and spends time with us, and it's the best.  His parents asked when we are going to come visit them in China, so I guess we need to start planning a trip!!! YAY!

Since it was Mother's Day, of course, I thought of all of the blessings that I have because I get to be mama to these precious boys.  It is my favorite thing in the world.  They bring me so much joy.  I am so, so, so thankful to their first mothers who love them so much that they wanted to give them a life that they couldn't at that moment.  And my life is forever changed.  I never take being their mama for granted!!!

Easter 2019

Easter was fun this year!  Logan requested that I do a scavenger hunt for them, so I obliged.  The only trouble came when one of the clues fell behind a coat rack, and so we didn't know where to go next.  And I guessed, and it was wrong.  But we found the baskets in the end, and that's all that matters!

I sure do love these boys and am so thankful that I get to be their mama.  They bring me more joy than I ever thought possible.  I cherish each and every day with them!!

Easter Flashback 2017

Playing Outside

We are LOVING the warmer weather!!!!  Every night after supper, we head out to play!  Last night, it was BUBBLES!  

 One of the things I'm learning as a mama of two is that I have to get TWO of everything!  If I do not, a fight ensues!  Logan is pretty good about giving Wyatt whatever he wants, but I don't really want to raise Wy to think that he can get away with that :)  Life is not always like that.  So, we are learning to share, but most of the time, I just buy two!!!

 Logan set up a "park" for Wyatt in the backyard.  It was so cute.  I heard Logan say "Wyatt, I made you a park.  Here is your slide and here is a car and here is a place where you can sit and eat snacks."

 And Wyatt heard the word "snacks," and so he ran inside and grabbed some fruit snacks, and they sat at their picnic table.  It was adorable.

My heart is SO full watching these two sweet boys together.  They have a bond like no other.  Logan wanted a little brother SO bad, and of course, I always wanted Logan to have a brother, so I hope that Wy grows up knowing how very loved and wanted he is!  BOTH of our boys -- so, so very loved and wanted!!!  They bring me so much joy!!

And then there's Bruno.  Haha.  He's been going to puppy class and he's getting better -- he's learning to obey more and more.  I love seeing those three play together.  LONG LIVE SUMMER!

Trying this again...

I just wanted to do a test and see if I could still post.  I'm loving being able to go back and read all about Logan at this age, so I want to be able to record some stuff about Wy, and I'm bad at baby books and all that other stuff.  Social media is more my thing.

W had surgery to take care of his tongue tie, and in a surprising turn of events, he weaned himself from the bottle AND the paci after his surgery because he said "hurts," when he tried to use them.

We have been much more laid back with timelines when it comes to our second child than with our first.  I supposed it's because we have nothing to prove.  We are confident in our parenting abilities (as confident as one can be....do any of us really know what we are doing?  I think not.), and we don't have to impress anyone.  And it's great.  And look, he's done with the bottle, and he's FINE.

He isn't talking a lot, but we aren't worried.  He continuously improves, so we know he will get there.  He didn't sleep through the night until we tossed the bottles, and so now, there's nothing baby left except diapers.  And we'll take care of those in time.  No rush.