the girls got style.

hadley, before school:

i love my daughter.

and i also love her outfit choices.

i have decided (a long time ago) to let hadley decide what she wants to wear everyday.

first of all, it's one less battle i have to deal with.

and secondly, i hope it helps infuse a sense of confidence in her.

i just let her know what the weather will be like that day and she dresses appropriately.

most days my jaw drops at what she puts together (shorts, with leggings underneath...dresses with fur vests, etc.)

it's always darling (in my opinion) but never matches.

the girl can rock every pattern and color known to man, all in one outfit choice.

and you know what?  i'm okay with that.

i've let go of the fact that my daughter doesn't need to be matchy matchy and wear some cute outfit that i've picked out.

that it's more important for her to be herself.

****************************************************

and also, mr. anderson informed me that elsa picks out her clothes everyday too---and that her choices are just as amazing as hadleys.

i can't wait.

a tiny baby, fast asleep.

beautiful child, right from the moment you were born

you overtook my heart my world

my beautiful child.

tender and sweet, both in your crying and your sleep

you radiate a sense of hope

you're beautiful.

{lyrics by sara groves}

i love a sleeping baby.

when i was pregnant with hadley, a friend introduced me to this sara groves CD (<---link)

i'm telling ya, if you are a mom, you need this CD.

(although, even if you aren't a mom, you'll still enjoy these tunes)

it's some of the most heartfelt and sweet songs i've ever heard.

written by a mom, about her kids.

this CD has made me dance, sing at the top of my lungs, cry, reminisce, laugh, and it helps me to love my kids a little bit better.

now seriously, you should check it out!

oh, and that sleeping baby?

he's pretty cute when he's awake too :)

enjoy the weekend...

embrace the camera: jan. 27th

i'm kind of in the embrace picture today...this kind of moment rarely happens in a house full of chaos, such as ours.

milo fell asleep on me for approximately 5 minutes.

i loved every minute of it.



here are the rules for embrace the camera:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

i love milo.

while i love all of my children equally, there are just some things about milo that can't go unnoticed.

for instance, he's just so darn cute.

i mean, a chunky brown boy with a chipped tooth and killer personality?

so cute.

i envision lots of broken hearts in his future...he's gonna be that class clown that all the ladies love.

secondly, he has this 80's jacket that he loves to wear on a daily basis.

i like to call him "miami vice" when he has it on...it's totally hot.

(notice the pinching of the wenis -- thanks audrey for that word)

he can rock a puffy vest like nobody's business.

he falls asleep at the dinner table (multiple times a week) because we make him sit there until he eats a bite.

(don't you worry, that bite is waiting for him when he wakes up in the morning.  we are mean parents, i know)

when mr. anderson leaves for work in the morning, milo runs up to me saying "IS DADDY GOING TO GET ELSA?!"  and when i tell him "no, he's just going to work" he replies with "AHHHHH.  dangit."

hilarious.

when i ask him to make a cool face and pose, this is what i get:

and last, but certainly not least.

it's a rare thing for him to take a picture without grabbing that there wenis.

and this is the best.picture.ever of him.

grabbing himself and flashing the peace sign.

can someone say blackmail when he's a teenager?

sprinkled with love.

i am in the mindset that every baby deserves a celebration...and i'm so glad that amy thinks the same way.

she hosted a "sprinkle" for me and elsa this past weekend.

all i can say is that i felt so loved.

it's nice to have friends who are excited for you and the journey you are taking.

who pray for you and who love your children...even one who is on the other side of the world.

here is a peek at the party.

the invite, done by paper and pigtails.

the guests of honor :)

the ladies in attendance...love them all.

and why yes, i am making a spastic face here.  like somebody is inappropriately grabbing my hiney.

hmmmm.

i'm telling ya, if you want someone to host a party for you, you want it to be amy.

she is so creative and crafty.

look what she did for the name tags---they turned into cute hair clips after the party.

the details:

me with the amazing hosts!

thanks amy and kathryn, for putting your heart into this shower.

thanks for loving me...and most importantly, thanks for loving little elsa!

and speaking of elsa, it's been 5 whole weeks since our court date---5 long weeks!

we are hoping that the wait between court and embassy (pick up date) is 8-9 weeks...so, if that's the case, we have less than a month.

i am in a total nesting mode---which, i wasn't expecting, but is a nice surprise.

and when i say nice surprise, i mean that i love it, but my family--not so much.

for me, nesting = throwing things away.

or putting away things before they are even done.

ya know, like somebody is taking a drink, and before they are done i've already put the cup in the dishwasher.

yah, that kind of nesting.

annoying.

good-bye pregnant hiney.

i just dropped mrs. nato off at the airport.

(insert me crying here)

we had a fun weekend.

full of completely inappropriate bathroom humor...making fun of ourselves non-stop...eating lots of chocolate...shopping at IKEA...making her watch a harry potter movie so i can try and convince her harry potter is not of the devil...and taking a few prego pictures.

jami is with child, and i insisted that we stop at this field so i could take some pictures of her.

this impromptu session lasted all of 10 minutes because it was freezing outside (and by freezing, i mean 55 degrees).

now, only jami would find a random tire in the field and decide she wants to pose on it.



that's hot.

and she was totally being hilarious in this last pic but it kind of turned out to be my favorite picture from the whole 10 minutes.

it was a glorious weekend.

i'm sad to see her pregnant hiney (which yes audrey, has gotten bigger) go.

there is nothing like time spent with your best friend...it's refreshing to your soul.

good times, yes...good times.

ahhhhhh yah.

guess who's in town.

embrace the camera: jan. 20th

happy thursday to you...it's that time of the week again :)

poor little caedmon has been home sick from school all week.

so, our embrace pictures are pretty much what's been going on this week.

a lot of couch time (my favorite)...and a lot of reading books with them.

(i know, it's really hard to tell he's sick in these pictures---he's apparently deciding to ham it up when the camera is out)

then we all decided to ham it up.

in case you are wondering, the self timer took these photos.

i would hit the button and then run and jump on the couch.

and yes, we are all in our jammies still.

except for milo who is rocking his power ranger costume.

here are the rules:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!



happy mail day.

i was all giddy at the mailbox yesterday.

not only did we receive word that we are getting a grant from showHOPE (insert me jumping up and down at the mailbox here) but, i also got a fabulous t-shirt that i've been anxiously waiting for!

kelly and her husband are in the process of adopting a little one from s. korea.  they have made a couple different shirts to raise money for their adoption.

one of them in particular, made my heart skip a beat when i saw it.

i thought to myself "I NEED THAT SHIRT" (and yes, i really think in all caps sometimes).

it's perfect for me and my family.

so i bought one:

i know it's hard to tell cause of my bust getting all up in the way,

but the shirt says "love knows no color"

and there are 5 birdies (1 a different color) and 1 mama bird.

oh, my heart loves this shirt.

{and lovelyn, i think this shirt--literally--has your name all over it :) }

click here to purchase one of your own and help support their adoption.

i tried to have milo take a picture of the shirt for me and this is what i got:

oh heeeeeey, dirty and cluttered refrigerator area.

thanks for trying, milo.
so, you're stuck with the "bust all up in your face" picture, which is kind of awkward.
but even more awkward is the fact that my dad reads this blog and i just said my "bust is all up in your face".
ehhhhh, yuck.

an amazing sacrifice.

while in ethiopia, mr. anderson got to experience some big things.

one of them was being able to meet elsa's birth father (elsa's birth mama has passed away).

when we found out our court date, we also found out that her father had the same court date (to relinquish his parental rights).  from that point, i started praying that somehow, someway we could get a picture of him.  in my heart, i just knew that having a picture of her birth father, might mean a lot to her one day.

so, we asked our agency if we could get this picture.

we didn't care how it happened...if somebody else had to take it for us, then that's fine, we just didn't want to pass up our only chance at getting it.

well, it just so happens that not only did he have the same court date, but his court time was 30 minutes prior to mr. andersons.

because there were a few birth families all there at the same time, one of the agency workers invited them to the care center (orphanage).  i've been told that this hasn't happened before.

so, when mr. anderson was finished with court and heading back to the center (for the second day), he walked in to find elsa sitting in her birth fathers' lap.

elsa looked up at mr. anderson and reached for him, wanting him to pick her up.

so, naturally he did.

he held her for a while, and then gave her back to her birth father.

from there, mr. anderson was able to communicate a little bit with him.

mr. anderson told him thank you and shook his hand, and all he could reply with was "yes" in amharic.

he was very stoic looking...and the sadness could be sensed in his eyes.

elsa was able to show him the framed picture of our family.

eventually, pictures were taken...not just of him, but of elsa with him...mr. anderson, elsa and him.

we got lots of pictures---a total answer to prayer.

eventually, he decided it was best for him to wait outside.

so, he said goodbye for the last time, to sweet elsa...handed her to mr. anderson and walked out the door.

unfortunately, we'll never fully know or understand the reasons for him giving elsabeth up for adoption.

most families out there, truly cannot feed another mouth.

while we would never wish any child to be an orphan, we are grateful that he decided to try and give her a different life.

one where she isn't hungry...one where she has a bed to sleep in...one where she has clean, running water.

i pray that God would mend his hurting heart, and through it all, a little piece of Jesus would become more evident to him.

we could never thank him enough, for this precious little life he is giving us.

it's an amazing sacrifice.

oh edward.

so, kohen is almost 16 months old.

and up until this week, his claim to fame was that he only had 2 teeth.

he's finally acquiring his top 4 teeth...all at the same time.

he's literally going from 2 to 6 teeth in about a week (although, i swear he's been working on those top 4 for about 9 months now).

but what i find completely interesting about the whole thing is that if you angle him just right, he kind of looks like a vampire, because his vampire teeth have come in first (vampire teeth?  yah, i don't know the proper name for those teeth).

see what i mean?

now, if my name were bella swan, i might be thoroughly in love with the fact that my baby looks like a miniature version of edward cullen, but it's quite the opposite actually.

him and those crazy fang teeth scare me.

keep in mind here folks, the kid is still breast fed.

need i dive any further into the reason why those sharp teeth frighten me?

i didn't think so.

and yes, i'm fully aware that he looks like he's going to eat my camera in that last picture.

and let's be honest here, he just might do something like that.

the kid will put anything in his mouth.

just the other day i caught him eating a pancake that was previously residing in the trash...and you know what?  i didn't stop him.  he worked hard to get that pancake out of the trash, so i figured i better reward him...i'm sure it was still delish.

happy monday ya'll.

then and now.

mr. anderson has been gathering all of the pictures of elsa and her time in the orphanage (it's hopefully coming to an end soon!)

we're planning on printing them...making a book...something.

something for her to remember.

my heart stopped when i caught a glimpse of one of the first pictures we got of her.

her eyes tell such a story.

a sad one.

she was suffering from severe malnutrition, as evidenced by the gray patches in her hair and on her skin.

her head had just been shaved, which is standard for all of the new little ones who enter the orphanage.

but those eyes...they show so much sadness.

when i look at that picture, i don't even remember her looking like that.

when i think of her, all i can see is this pretty face...

wow.

so much has changed in 6 months.

i'm so thankful for a great orphanage, and amazing care-takers, who do the best they can with the kids in their care centers.

i mean, look at her!

she looks like a different girl.

and i can't wait to see that smile in person.

have a great weekend ya'll :)

embrace the camera: jan. 13th

it's thursday, and you know what that means.

embrace the camera, ya'll.

today's pictures are a few more from our beach trip a few weeks ago.

kohen loved my lap...and i loved that he loved my lap.

mr. anderson snapped a few pictures too...

geesh, i love that kid.

okay, so now it's your turn to embrace the camera.

last week we had the most entries we've ever had...78!
way to go, embracers...i love that people are understanding the importance of capturing yourself on camera.
so, can we beat 78 this week?

here are the rules:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!