6months

6 months really?!? Sounds so old!! I really can't believe it. He is such a good boy. We go for his checkup next week. Big boy Is eating solids twice a day and getting fairly good at sitting up.
We have been living in our new home about a week and a half the first week of that was in the basement(all of us and all our stuff) it was like some obscure camping trip. We moved upstairs sat. At first I wasn't hating living out of boxes, you get some crazy satisfaction out of finding what you are looking for so it made me happy. Whoo hoo I'm amazing I found a pair of clean socks ;) now our stuff is spread over 3 stories and I'm not getting that satisfaction anymore haha my toothbrush was in the basement and my toothpaste was in our bedroom two floors up ha.
It will take me months to unpack.

Am I a DIYer?!?

Doing it yourself....hmmmm. I don't think I'll ever be able to do as much as I wish I could, but I have started my first DIY project on our new home. And its a doozy. I decided or rather knew, that if we didn't get the outdated popcorn ceilings down prior to moving into our new house we never would. So I took it upon myself to tackle them. I feel like this wouldnt be such a challenge if I wasn't also working full time and a full time mommy, but I'm doing what I can oh and not to mention we have to move by the 30th when we close on our current home, so time is a serious issue...... So how do you tackle popcorn ceilings you ask?

1. buy supplies (plastic, paper, tape, garden sprayer. scraper)
2. Prep the room. (lay plastic on the floors and hang from the walls to protect everything from getting wet, then lay paper over the plastic so you can roll up the ceilings and throw away easier, remove light fixtures, vents and smoke dectecors) FYI this is the most time consuming and tedious step!
3. Spray ceilings with water.
4. Scrap off popcorn
5. Clean up

I do not trust myself to putty sand and prepare the drywall underneath for painting, so I am hiring someone to take on those steps, but all the same I'm pretty proud of what I have accomplished considering this is my first DIY project.

I have had a few people helping, mostly babysitters. And Siobhan is my scraping buddy. And my mom and dad have each helped prep a room.
So far I have finished two rooms and have two more completely prepped for scraping I will be doing tom.
I also have a couple dry wall men coming tom to get estimates and I am so scared they are going to tell me I've been doing it wrong :/

Heres the new home! I will post pics of the Lake that is in our backyard soon. 

The tester spot

The first section completed

This will be Ty's room!  Done scraping here, leaving up plastic for sanding and painting.

Fully prepped master bedroom, minus the light fixture still hanging.
 The brown paper catches most of the mess and we just roll it up when we finish a room,
and carry it out.  

This is how awesome we look while we are working!!! Haha. Sadly I
forgot to take an after picture of how messy we get.

here is me and mom tonight after finishing prepping the living room.  Please ignore the blade in my mouth, its a long story.... really need to remember to take scissors there tom. 

Can you see the plastic hanging in a few of the windows ?!?

5 month boy

So Im a bit behind but our guy is 5months. He is getting so big. He is rolling all over the place and starting to try and sit up. On occasion he can sit up for a few seconds on his own. He is still as precious as ever. We are now eating solid foods we have had cereal (rice and oatmeal), sweet potatoes and squash. You would have thought that I was giving him lemons when I fed him squash haha. I guess mommy won't be making squash again anytime soon. I have been making our home baby food, which is actually going really well and its super easy. I feel good knowing exactly what is in his food. Still figuring out the mom/work balance but seem to be finding our groove. 

Love him sooooooo much!

New perspectives

I knew becoming a mom would change basically everything in my day to day life, and things I would do or didn't do, or at least I thought I did. I have been surprised by how much it has changed my perspective on certain things and even my personality to some extent.
First thing I noticed, I became a worrier. Never thought I would be a worrier but I am constantly worrying if im making the right decisions for him and I doing everything I should taking care of him. I wonder all the time if what I'm doing is the best or him.
Next I noticed I became OCD. This is seriously new for me. I used to be so laid back about everything and still am about most things. But I have severe mOCD about how he is cared for and how things are done with him. I do not like this new "trait" but I can't shake it... Hope it wears off soon.
Lately I've notice how it has just changed how I perceive things. This mostly relates to work, but some other things too. I think and hope being a mom will make me a more patient and compassionate nurse. And I do more "little things" for the babies and their families. I like this new perspective.

Sleepy smiles

All of my little family laying in the floor together :)

Love the expression he is making with his eyes hehe

Laid Ty in the middle of the blanket, went to the bathroom came back to find this... he did not enjoy what I had on TV and was determined to change the channel. He chose the news hehe. 

We are crazy

As if adopting a child is not life changing enough for one year, we are now moving!?!?! We found a foreclosure on the lake, and had to jump on the opportunity. So we have a contract in, and as of today our current home is on the market, hoping it sells quick! Jeff is so excited about the move. I am mixed excited, nervous and anxious. But all will work out. I plan on starting a new blog soon about our new home, we plan on doing updating needed for the home and some we will try on our own.

Little man will be 4months in 2days and I have to go back to work in 10 days. I'm not ready, don't think I ever will be but Im hoping I'll find a balance of being a working mom quickly.

First time having cereal, he did great!

my big boy

Little man is not so little anymore. Me and Daddy weighed him at 15lbs for his 3 month weight. Still doing great. He is now rolling over-back to tummy- and laughs out loud- but only a few times. It is the cutest thing in the world.

We sent S a letter back and a bunch of pictures. It's so hard to pick, so I send them all haha.

Back at paperwork again... For finalization. He has to be with us for 6months before we can finalize. Right now the agency has legal custody and we have physical. After finalization he is all ours and we can get a birth certificate and such. We are hoping to do it before the end of the year but I need to get myself to finish our paperwork and send it in so we can get a court date.

The best surprise

When I got home tonight Jeff was smiling, he told me I was going to be happy when I got home. I didn't know what it was going to be. So he said sit here and handed me an envelope. I was so pleasantly surprised to see the hand written letter from S. I started crying before I could even read a word. I'm so excited for Ty that he will see words directly from her. She was super sweet in the letter and I became even more excited when she asked if she could send a photo album for Ty. I don't feel like it is my place to share all she said but it was all great!!!! I'm so surprised because I never knew if we would hear from her or not and I'm so excited that we will keep communication going in the future.

True love

There are no words to express the love you feel for your child. This is true love that you don't understand until you are a parent. I look at my boy and cry because I love him so much I dont know what else to do. There is no way
to explain it. It's absolutely thinking about someone else every second of the day, caring less what you look like, not caring you haven't slept in months or years, doing the most insane things just for a chance at a smile, and truly putting someone else first. It's knowing there is basically nothing you wouldn't do for them, and not caring that you "missed" certain events.
So then this leads you to understand the love your parents have for you. And it makes you appreciate them and respect them more than you ever have before. You finally understand how they feel about you.
I love you Mom and Dad!!!!

Makes you think how much love S. had for little man, to try to give him a life she believed she couldn't.

Mesmerized by Baby Einstein 

2 months

My big guy is two months old. Had his two month check up yesterday and weighed 12lbs and was 23in long. Getting so big. He did great with his shots stopped crying with I picked him up, but today I can tell he doesn't feel 100%. Little man is not his normal smiley self and is fussy which is not him either. Its pitiful.

Lots of birthdays in my family this week= Tom the 11th is my sister Brandy's bday and Mimi's Bday!!!!  Then the 14th is my oldest nephew Carson's bday he will be 6! I can't believe it. Ready to eat some cake and celebrat :)

Many thanks/pictures

I had a great shower Sunday at church. We got all kinds of goodies and clothes. Ty is loving the new toys since we had basically none before, he talks and smiles at them. I know I have said it before but all the support, prayers and gifts are overwhelming and humbling. He is such a loved little boy already!!
He is just the best baby he has been sleeping really well at night his normal is 4-5hrs the first stretch and then three for the next two. One night he went 7hrs, of course I didn't, waking up and checking on him every hour or so in disbelief. He is giving more and more smiles everyday and its the cutest thing. He will usually eat and then play for an hour or so then nap and repeat.

Here are some pictures from our last couple days in AZ and first few weeks at home.... I'm a little behind with pictures and probably always will be, but hope you enjoy. He already is so much bigger than when we brought him home.

The sunset outside our hotel

last family photo in AZ

I'm still not sure how we carried everything haha

Big boy on his first plane ride

Part of our large welcoming committee at the airport.

Big cousins happy to meet him

Meeting Mimi

Meeting Aunt Brandy, check out those smiles

Wearing their "big cousin" buttons

Aunt Jess crammed in the back with all our things

meeting Memaw and Grandad

finally home

Hello Puppies!

They were so excited

After they calmed down they got to meet their little brother

First time in his room

wish we had had this
in Arizona He loves it.

 Ty's big cousins are super happy and love him so much!!!

Uncle Justin and Aunt Courtney

 his new best friend Anders

Getting to know Pops

Granny was so happy

relaxing with Aunt Jessica 

All four together... Sooo cute!

Ty is funny to Papaw and Tut

Call me crazy, but I think cry pictures are cute. Ty is not enjoying
his hair being washed.

First bath at home, Layla always "helps" with baths
Ty absolutely loves baths now. 

Uncle Sloan and big couisns. 

Granddaddy and Bettye 

The White family visited