Welcome Home Jack the Puppy!

Our house has felt very empty since Jordan died. Even with 3 kids and a busy house, the emptiness was huge. Kim started looking for dogs on the line at local rescue shetlers and we went to PetSmart yesterday to see one of them. He was cute, but there wasn't a connection. And then this morning, Kim and Misty go to Sam's with the baby. I start getting picture mail on my cell phone of Kim with puppies. Clearly, they were not at Sam's! Kim then calls to say, Come to Petco now.

And so I did. I instantly fell in love with our new baby, Jack. I couldn't put him down. He is so laid back and gentle with the kids. He is part Lab and part Heeler. I've never had the puppy experience and wow have we been busy this afternoon! Jack has had a few accidents already, but he is now going to the door when he has to go. Thank goodness! The neighbors and the big girls love him. Morgan, however, is not so sure. Stay tuned for updates.

Morgan's Baptism

It is Monday morning and I am exhausted from the weekend. Not only am I recovering from this eye injury, but we have had a HUGE weekend, especially for a girl with only 1 working eye! Dad and Aunt Gail (Mom's oldest sister who lives in Maryland) flew into Austin on Friday morning. Dad wasn't feeling well when he arrived and felt increasingly worse as the day went on. I feel awful that he ended up at the Urgent Care with a horrible cold. He spent most of the weekend confined to the game room with a humidifier in the shape of a frog. Sweet Dad. He is such a good guy for just showing up.

We spent Friday and Saturday catching up with Gail and watching Mom perform selections from various musicals. She is quite the entertainer! New York New York was awesome and I am heartbroken that we didn't get a chance to sing "L is for the way you look at me ..." by Nat King Cole. There was a wild trip to Super Target, many card games with the children, and fabulous food courtesy of Kim. We missed having Aunt Pat with us, who wasn't able to make it after a knee injury earlier in the week. She was with us in Spirit!



Everyone looked so beautiful on Sunday morning. We let Morgan ride to church in a sundress before changing into her gown. Everyone was very excited.



Mom was so happy. I took this picture before we went into the sanctuary. Doesn't it look like the queen with a princess?



The ceremony was performed by Rev. Karen Thompson, who did a fabulous job. She included the birth family in the prayer of thanks for this child, which meant the world to me.






When Madison was baptized, we took a million pictures before and after the service. When McKenzie was baptized, it was like we were more concerned with making it to lunch on time and we took like 2 pictures. Hello! What was I thinking? So, with Morgan, we took pictures.










After church, we went to Canoli Joe's for lunch. We discovered this South Austin restaurant when McKenzie was baptized and love it! So we went back for a great meal. The children loved it and we had fun.








The weekend was so special and we want to thank everyone who took part in making it happen. Mom, Dad, and Gail - thank you so much for coming. Mom - thank you so much for taking care of me in my darkness. The Village - We love you so much. Rebecca and Becki - we missed you like crazy and all day I had the feeling something, or someones, was missing. We love you all!

Adoption Day

Thursday was a very special day in our family. Morgan Grace officially became a legal member of our family. She is now signed, sealed and delivered! Her adoption was consummated on her 11 month birthday, which is completely amazing to me since it seems like just yesterday when Kim called me at work to say we were mothers again.

Morgan looked so beautiful for her day in court. Madison and McKenzie were thrilled to take part in the festivities. It took McKenzie all of 30 seconds to identify the cake brought into the court room by adoption attorney extraordinaire - Denise Hyde, who did McKenzie's adoption as well. We had a few friends and a grand showing from CPS. It meant the world to have Mom here for the first time and I will remember this special day like I remember all the rest. I am tremendously proud to be the mother of Madison, McKenzie, and Morgan.

Here is a very sleeping Morgan with attorney ad litem, Mary Keeney.




Karen, good friend and now God mother to Morgan, was able to be with us for the hearing. She had a good time playing with the girls. Check out the incredible puppet Mary Keeney brought the big girls to celebrate the day!





Aunt Becky Bumpass was there too.



Here is everyone present for Morgan's big day.







After the court hearing, we celebrated with cake in the Judge's chambers. We then went to our favorite place in Round Rock - Rio Grande - for lunch. Morgan enjoyed every bite ... and so did we!





We are so thankful for this child. I can hardly wait to share all of her growing up stories with you.

Easter 2009

What an Easter! I spent most of the weekend in the dark after scratching the cornea of my good eye on Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, I was able to watch the kids hunt for eggs at our Parenting Across Color group Saturday morning. After that it was lights out for Mommy! Kim managed to get 3 little girls and 1 grown woman writhing in pain to Gracie's for our traditional fajita Easter dinner that we wouldn't miss for the world. I sat in a chair listening to the kids and trying to follow the conversation among the adults. What a day! Thankfully no cameras were rolling, that I know of, when trying to feed myself.

Spring Sports

What a beautiful day! The morning began with a strong wind and a few clouds, but quickly gave way to sunshine and blue skies - my favorite! We dropped Maddie off at best friend Addison's house to play while we attended McKenzie's soccer game. Addision's parents took the girls to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and they had so much fun.

McKenzie was so excited to play her first soccer game. I have been a bit skeptical about her playing soccer since she seems to be more interested in plucking the grass rather then kicking the ball. It all seemed to come together for her team today and you could literally see them grasp the big picture as they 2 teams began running for the ball. Although McKenzie didn't score a goal, she did run and make contact with the ball. And she didn't pick a single flower! I was so proud!







We left the soccer game, picked up a pizza, brought Madison home, and prepared for the next game. Madison is the only girl on her team and I was praying the whole time she would at least make contact with the ball. Not to worry - Madison didn't disappoint. She stopped the ball, scooped the ball, threw the ball, and even hit the ball. I was so proud. Even the other parents and grandparents sitting near us who have been watching these boys play for years were thoroughly impressed with our girl. She is such a rock star! We celebrated her game with a Slurpee and now she is passed out on the couch. What a day!






Madison had an awesome hair do this past week, which had to come down today because her ball cap wouldn't fit on her head. Here is the hair do that I loved so much.



So the girls got a bath ...



And Morgan enjoyed every single bite of this tortilla before we headed to the ball fields.



It has been a great day and now all children are sleeping - Praise Jesus!