NATE'S ADOPTION DAY!!!!

Kissing Nate before heading to the courthouse

Taking a picture with Judge Sloan after finalizing the adoption

Showing off his new shirt!

WE ARE OFFICIAL PARENTS!

The one word that comes to mind when I think of July 9th is...BLESSED. We were very blessed with an amazing, special, and perfect day with Nate and our immediate friends and family. The adoption hearing was set for 1:00 and I joked that my 'labor and delivery' only lasted 15 minutes! It did not take long for the judge to sign off on Nate's adoption and start showering us with kind words, hugs, a few tears, and lots of smiles. We had balloons for Nate symbolizing every person that was there to support him, the Judge gave Nate a book and allowed him to pick 2 stuffed animals in her chambers, and we had professional photographer to help us remember these wonderful moments.

A year and a half ago, we had no idea what the future was going to hold. This was an emotional situation for every person involved and we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into. On February 1, 2009, we opened up our home and hearts to Nate as his Aunt and Uncle and we could not have imagined that he would call us Mommy and Daddy and that we would become his legal parents 18 months later. There is NO doubt that God has had his hand on this entire case from the very beginning to this point in time. We feel very blessed to be entrusted with this wonderful child and to be his forever family. We are so thankful for all of the amazing people in our lives who have been huge supports in Nate's case and who kept his best interest at the forefront.

Independence Day!

Nate getting ready for the big parade!

Nate helping me make Papa's cupcake cake!

The whole family! From left to right...Jessica (Branden's girlfriend), Branden, Nater, me, Jeremy, Marsha, and Dan!

Papa and Nate in front of the cupcake cake I made!

***JULY 4th WEEKEND!!!!***

The holiday weekend started with a fun neighborhood parade on Saturday morning that Nate and I participated in! I decorated his tyke bike up and we followed a fire truck through the neighborhood with other families on our street. It was super fun and Nate enjoyed checking out the fire truck after we were done! The next day we were very blessed to spend a wonderful day filled with lots of family! We headed down to Garnett to my in-laws house for a small family reunion and a birthday celebration for my father-in-law, Dan. Marsha had made contact through Facebook with some cousins that she had not seen in many, many years, and they came into town for the Fourth of July weekend! We shared a lot of memories, food, and laughs and enjoyed spending time with family that we don't get to see as often as we would like.

Whitscation 2010!

Jeremy and I finally planned a long-overdue honeymoon and went to Jamaica! We got the best of both worlds too...we got to spend time together but we also met 8 friends there to hang out with! We had a blast! We called the vacation "Whitscation" because it was all of our friends from Whitsbury Court in FL where I lived with my brother and Joshua.

Jamaica was absolutely beautiful and we we enjoyed every minute of our vacation! We stayed in Ocho Rios in the Grande Sandals Resort on the Rivera side. The weather was great, the drinks and food were fabulous, the water was perfect, and the excursions were SUPER FUN! We arrived on Wednesday evening and had dinner with all of our friends. Thursday we just hung out at the pool and beach and enjoyed lots of amazing food at the resort. Friday was our excursion day...we rode a zip line through the rain forest and then hiked up Dunns River Falls...AWESOME!!!!!! We were told that these were the best 2 excursions to do while we were there and we were so glad that we went on them! They were definitely must-dos in Jamaica!!!! (We would love to take Nate there when he is old enough to ride the zip line! Our little daredevil would LOVE it)! Friday evening we went to the Beach Party that the resort put on and Stephanie and I (there was another Stephanie on the trip) ended up having to dance in front of everyone! We looked quite silly but it is an experience we will never forget! Saturday was another fun and relaxing day by the pool and beach. Since we had 2 professional photographers with us on the trip, we all had photo shoots lined up for Saturday afternoon and then we ended the evening with a FABULOUS meal (and a couple of shots)! We had to get up early on Sunday morning to leave and spent all day traveling back to the states.

While we were gone my mom stayed with Nater. He was quite the handful but they did a lot of fun stuff while we were gone and there was no doubt that Grandma DeeDee spoiled her grandson! Ha! Even though we had a fun time in Jamaica we were certainly excited to see Nate. We bought him a Jamaican beanie hat and a guitar and he LOVED his presents!

All in all the trip was "IRIE MON"!!!!!!!

Nate and I's first DATE night!

Daddy went to the Royals Game one night with friends so Nate and I decided to go out! I told him that him and Mommy were going on a date and that there were some rules. #1, he had to hold my hand. #2, he had to help open doors. And #3, he had to call me a pretty girl. He was SUCH a gentleman and we had so much fun! We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, went to MY GYM for some playtime, went to the movies to see "How to Train Your Dragon", and then ended up at a graduation party where Nate was quite the entertainer! We both were very tired when we finally got home but it was a memorable evening with my little man. He obviously remembered it too because several weeks later after waking up one morning, he told me that he needed to go on a 'date'. I said, "You do huh?" He looked at me and said, "You're a pretty girl Mommy". I could not resist...we went out to lunch and to Jumping Jax for a date that day. This crazy kid knows how to melt my heart sometimes! :)

Nate's transportation room!

We really enjoyed our townhouse, but we were so excited when we found a house to move into! We were needing some extra space and once again, God had perfect timing and had ordained the perfect place for us. I wanted to give Nate a whole new room and this is how it turned out! Jeremy helped me paint the base colors, I painted the murals, my dad made Nate's amazing new train bed, and my mom had the curtains made. Nate LOVES his new room, and we do too!

Fun with friends!!

I am soooo behind on blogging! So I will do my best to hit a few of the highlights over the past few months. We took advantage of the beautiful Spring weather one evening and headed out to my best friends house to BBQ with her family. This is just one of the many reasons it is nice to be back in the KC area...we are not far from the Harringtons!!! The boys had a blast playing, the dogs tried their best to eat Hudson and Nate's food (the 1st picture is the dogs eyeing the boy's smores), Rachel and I enjoyed some good margaritas and Bill and Jeremy caught up on sports talk. It was such a fun evening! We are blessed with great friends!!

Easter 2010

I just realized tonight that it has been awhile since I have blogged! My mind has been a bit frazzled as we are moving this weekend! No worries...no cross country move again...just a move to a house about 5 miles away from where we are now! We feel very blessed as this was an absolute GODSEND. God NEVER ceases to amaze me at how he orchestrates things. I just LOVE it when God SHOWS OFF!!!

I wanted to share some pictures from Easter! We had a wonderful Easter this year, and Nate got double the Easter Egg Hunts! He got one when we went down to Grandma DeeDee's house and another one when we went to Grandma and Papa Dulin's house. He IS a one lucky kid!

Nate loved finding eggs at Grandma DeeDee's house not only for the candy but because Lauren was there! (I tell ya...Nater really does like the older girls! LOL)! Lauren is my mom's neighbor and she came over and enjoyed hanging out with Nate, and taking him to her house to jump on the big trampoline! Then he found another great Easter basket on the hunt at Grandma and Papa Dulin's house! This is where he got the super cool bunny glasses...too CUTE!

We are so grateful to be loved by God SOOO much that he would die for us. Easter is NOT about the bunny, it's about the blood. It is an undeserving act of sacrifice and love and one that should not be taken lightly. It is fun to look for eggs and get candy, but hopefully we all took time to thank God for the awesome debt He paid for us and will hold onto this gift all year long.