Grayden finished up 2 weeks of swimming lessons last week at our soon-to-be neighbors’ pool.

He’s never been a huge fan of water so I thought it would be good for him to become a little more comfortable around lakes and pools. The first lesson he said “all done mommy, get out please” about 50 times, no joke! Every day he got more and more relaxed…he was by no means jumping right in by the last lesson, but there was some definite improvement!!

So proud of him!

We came home last night from a fun weekend up North at Robb’s parent’s cottage. The weather was PERFECT!

We had a great time!

testing out the water, grayden is getting braver and braver in the water!

playing ball with uncle ryan

castle building with uncle jeremy

this little cutie was a little outta sorts this weekend, seems to me like he’s gonna be my schedule/routine boy!

telling grandma stories

the whole family

alyssa gave me feathers!

grandpa and grayden sitting on the sea-doo

How did that happen? You’re growing too fast!

you are such a little thing, in the 10th %ile for weight weighing 9lbs 15 oz and 22inches long in the 25th %ile.
You have chubby cheeks and big brown eyes that everyone LOVES!
you started sleeping through the night (8 hours)  last week Sunday at 8 weeks old and have been ever since! We are so PROUD of you!
your reflux is 100x better, you are off the zantac and doing great! thank you chiropractor!
we get smiles and coos all day long, what a happy boy!

you’re not big on naps, you love to be held and the minute I lay you down you’re wide awake! little cuddle stinker bug!

you are starting to show interest in toys
 

you are so strong, during tummy time you lift your head high and move it all over!
you eat 4oz every 4 hours during the day.
Newborn clothes still fit you the best but you’ve been wearing mostly 0-3 month things to exp[and your wardrobe!
you wear newborn diapers but once this pack is gone we’ll be switching to size 1’s
you love attention, tend to be a little dramatic and are full of feisty-ness!

Love watching you grow buddy! We love you bunches!

there's been lots of questions floating around here lately and most of the time i don't get the chance to answer them if you don't have an email address attached to your blogger account or if you comment as anonymous. so today I'm going to devote this post to answer your questions, just leave me your question in the comments section and I'll answer them there too.

love, brenham jay

love, grayden robert

love, sadler graham

our annual ‘in daddy’s tie’ pictures!

(look how big he looks, oh my word!)

Happy fathers day to my babies’ daddy! You are the best dad our 3 boys could ask for! we love you so much!!

And happy father’s day to my daddy, love you Dad!

Grayden ADORES Sadler! He asks me ‘brother awake?’ every morning when i get him out of bed and he can’t wait to see him! He loves to get him to smile at him and talks in little baby talk to him! SO presh! I love to see the love he has for Sadler, makes him seem so old! He’s been such a good helper for mommy.

There is not a hint of jealous yet (unless Sadler uses one of Gray’s ‘blanklees’ (blankets) that he’s attached too). I’m not expecting it to stay that way but so far so good!

They are so completely different in terms of personality from what I can tell at this point and I pray that will be a good thing in their relationship.

I hope they will always be best friends!

“Child of my heart, forever you are mine”

today we received the long awaited great news that Sadler will forever be ours! Thank you all for your prayers! God is good!

All Glory to you, God!

(all pictures have now been enlarged in past posts, so go back and check out more of his cuteness!)

We had a great weekend, a nice distraction.

Friday night Robb and I headed out to the Parade of Homes in GR one more time, we toured a few more homes and then grabbed some dinner and hit up Lowe’s for a shovel for Saturday’s big dig!

Saturday Robb headed to the lot at 6am to break ground for our new house!! We waited so long for this day, so exciting to be officially under way!

The boys and I, Kyle, Mindy and Makenna all headed to Kollen’s park to participate in the annual Lakeshore Pregnancy Center LifeWalk, we raised over $500 to support this great ministry!

After the LifeWalk we headed to the farmer’s market to stock up on some home grown goodness! We got a lettuce plant, a tomato plant, rhubarb, asparagus and granola! YUM!

We made a quick stop to the lot to check in on the guys and see the progress!

dig, baby, dig!

In the afternoon I made strawberry-rhubarb pie at my mom’s house with my sister. SO yummy! I only make 2 pies a year, a strawberry-rhubarb one and a peach one! It’s nothing pretty but it was so good! The pie plate was empty by Monday!

The guys finished up with the hole by 5ish and then we left for Target and Lowe’s (again). We ate at Carino’s with all the young dating couples :) *you’re not old, babe*  On the way home we drove around a couple of neighborhoods looking for exterior color inspiration!

We all needed a good night of sleep after a busy day so we planned on sleeping in and going to the late service at Ridgepoint church. Sadler slept 8 hours that night (and has been ever since!), it felt so good. After church we went to my Aunt and Uncle’s house to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday.

Then we headed to my parents cottage. It was a little chilly on Sunday, but it was nice to relax!

It was a great weekend!

thank you all once again for your prayers, they are appreciated so much. I’m sorry to have left you hanging so long, it was not intentional. The truth is I've had a hard time finding the words to say. It’s hard because this is Sadler’s story and I can’t nor want to give out all the details. (thanks for your support and understanding)

We are still very hopeful that God will bless us with Sadler as our forever son in HIS timing, but that time just hasn’t come yet.

We had a guest pastor in our church a few weeks ago and he talked about how God sometimes answers our prayers with a “no” and sometimes he say’s “slow'”. This is one of those times he’s saying ‘slow’. We continue to wait and go through the hills and valleys of this roller coaster ride we call ‘adoption’! Trying to be patient and wait for His timing.

We covet your continued prayers for our family and Sadler’s birth family.

All glory to Him

The things that I seek are from You
Like the strong healing touch of your hand
But when You say no help me trust even though
There’s a reason I can’t understand

When that miracle comes cause Your answer is yes
I will praise you for all of my days
But when Your wisdom declares that a no is best
I will praise You just the same

You have a much better purpose
And You have a far greater plan
And You have a bigger perspective
Cause You hold this world in your hands

waiting room~jonny diaz

thank you all for your prayers today, it means so much to us! your emails and comments to let us know you were thinking and praying for us on this important date warmed my heart! things didn’t go exactly the way we were hoping, we so badly wanted this final step in the adoption process behind us so we can all breathe again and relax with Sadler as our forever son.  Well, we’re not quite there yet but are praying in confidence that we will be soon. We covet your continued prayers as we await another court date later this week.

I feel kinda silly sharing such a simple recipe with you, its not complicated or ‘gourmet’ by any means but simple is good too sometimes, especially in the busy summer!

**Chicken Fajitas**

~cut up 3 medium sized bell peppers in a variety of colors, I used red, yellow and orange but green would have been prettier!

~cut up half an onion

~sauté in olive oil until onion and pepper are tender, stir often and don’t get distracted by checking facebook like I did and burn them a ‘lil!

~add cut up chicken (i buy the pre cooked strips, so easy)

~pour in teriyaki sauce, I didn’t measure but I’d say it was about a cup

~simmer for 15 minutes!

spoon into tortilla shells and ENJOY!

also great on top rice and mozzarella cheese!!

the other day robb brought grayden down from his nap and he saw me sitting on the couch with a can of pop next to me in the cup holder…he walked up and said “pop all gone mom?” I said “yup, its all gone” he replied “put it away?” I said “sure you can put it away” so he marches off to the kitchen and says “otay mom” and proceeds to open up the dishwasher and put the can of pop on the top rack of the dishwasher full of clean dishes, I about died laughing!! love that boy!