Now I Know My ABCs

I'm a first time mom so I don't really know what the average age for kids to start doing things is, but today Abby has been singing the entire alphabet song completely on her own and including every single letter. She's still two months away from turning 3 and I think it is pretty freaking AWESOME!!! ‪#‎proudmommy‬ ‪#‎thatisall‬ ‪#‎thanksforlettingmebrag‬

Party of Four

Our View Outside Our Door

Day 2: Our view outside our door. Our backyard isn't huge, but it's a good size for us. We have a peach tree, a plum tree, two pear trees, a Chinese pistachee, a vegetable garden, an herb garden, and ornamental bushes and such. I love growing our own fruits and vegetables, they taste so much better than store bought and I feel safer eating them (but I still buy tons from the store). We have a decent size lawn all the way around our house, enough space for our dog Penny to get a little exercise (although she gets most of her exercise from us taking her on walks/runs twice a day). We have great neighbors. My favorite view looking out my door is watching Abby play in the yard! She loves being outside! When she was a colicy infant sometimes the only way I could get her to calm down was to set her outside. She needs outside time every day. In the summer she likes to play in her pool. We have a little play house with a slide that keeps her occupied. She loves to help with yard work and throw sticks for Penny. I love seeing her sidewalk chalk drawings in the patio. It's so fun to have a little girl fill our yard with joy! ‪#‎hopingtoadopt60days‬ ‪#‎hopingtoadopt‬‪ #‎choosingadoption‬ ‪#‎adoptionrocks‬ ‪#‎adoption‬ ‪#‎openadoption‬ ‪#‎thankheavensforlittlegirls‬ ‪#‎Day2‬ ‪#‎Abbysthebest‬

Us

Day 1: Us. This morning we went to the Wynn with my parents to see the flowers there. This carousel was amazing. It was made by the guy who does all the flowers for the rose parade!
‪#‎hopingtoadopt60days‬ ‪#‎hopingtoadopt‬ ‪#‎Us‬ ‪#‎Day1‬ ‪#‎hopeimdoingthisright‬‪#‎choosingadoption‬ ‪#‎foreverfamily‬ ‪#‎adoptionrocks‬ ‪#‎openadoption‬‪#‎adoption‬

Hoping To Adopt 60 Days

So I'm not sure how well I'll do with this, but I'm going to try.
"I, along with many other amazing hopeful adoptive couples, will be doing a 60 day challenge to let you all get to know us a little better. If you know someone that is looking to place and think they would be a good match for us, have them check out our challenge! Also, if you are hoping to adopt, leave your email in the comments to learn more"
‪#‎hopingtodadopt60days‬ ‪#‎hopingtoadopt‬ ‪#‎choosingadoption‬‪#‎adoptionrocks‬ ‪#‎myforeverfamily‬

Something Better

Something Perfect

Adoption arises from pain (pain for a couple faced with infertility, pain for a birth mom breaking her heart to provide a life for a child she is unable to provide, pain of a child struggling with feeling abandoned/ and or abused), but it results in love and joy and so much wonderfulness. There is so much love in adoption, so much beauty, so much peace, so much joy. I'm so grateful for adoption in my life - not just because that is how I became a mom, but because I'm grateful it is the way I became a mom. Does that make sense - I'm grateful for what led me to adoption, I'm grateful to be part of the adoption community and all that has come into my life because of it, I'm grateful to have Abby just as she is, I'm grateful we adopted. I would still love to have the experience of pregnancy and delivery and knowing what it is like to have a child that looks like you and carries your DNA - I would just like to have those experiences, but I wouldn't trade my adoption experiences for them. Because there is so much perfection in adoption, and I'm SO GRATEFUL!!!!!!!!!! (After posting about our adoption every day for 30 days I'm out of ideas of things to write about, so - if you have a question or an idea of something you would like me to write about please let me know! Also, thanks so much to all of you who have read my posts, who have commented, who have shared them. smile emoticon )
My songs for today (my final songs): "Something Perfect" by Michael McLean (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW4WMzl4h8g) and "Keeper of the Stars" by Tracy Byrd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wngb5Mq1SQY)