Family Day/Gotcha Day 2 yrs ago...

 Above April 16, 2011 / Below April 16, 2009

The very best day of our lives was the day we held little Gracie in our arms forever!! SO many amazing feelings leading up to this day. Our sweet daughter is such a blessing in our lives. I am so thanksful for the miracle of adoption and how God really does place your child in your arms. No matter if they grow under your heart or in your heart, the feelings are all the same!!! We love you sweet Gracie!!

Beautiful day for my beautiful daughter!!

Going Private

Certain circumstances from a very strange lady that has been stalking one of my other blogs, she lives here in my home town and this has caused me to decide going private with my blogs is the best thing. Unfortunately one person can ruin it for many other people. For now this is just what I have to do. I would love to still keep in touch with all my great followers. You all are absolutely wonderful. However I can not speak freely knowing there are people like her that are just waiting for me to fall and are just stalking my blogs to talk about me to others.

If you would like to follow our adoption journey and life as it is every day, then just leave me a message with your email and I will send you the private link you will need to continue to follow our blog.

hugs and love to you all!
Sincerely
Tina

I did it..My first NPC Fitness Competition

Last weekend was the NPC competition that I have been training for. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do another one. This was also our first weekend away in 17 years. Our kids were with the grandparents which made it much easier to not worry about them. I knew they were in the best hands they could be in. We had a long drive, but it was nice to just talk. When we got there we met up with old friends and caught up on life. I went and got a competition spray tan which was extremely messing by the way. I competed on Saturday and placed 4th in the bikini division! I had the best time and so much fun!! but.. It is great to be back home and with my kids. I swear Grace is talking even more ..if that is possible!! lol. I plan on training for another one June 4th. But also have my spring dance production I am working on. This is usually the time of year I disapear from blog world until the first part of May because I am so swamped! After that life slows down just a tad!

pressing on..

"Even the most daring and accomplished people have undergone tremendous difficulty. In fact, the more successful they became, the more they attributed their success to the lessons learned during their most difficult times. Adversity is our teacher. When we view adversity as a guide towards greater inner growth, we will then learn to accept the wisdom our soul came into this life to learn."

I came across that quote this morning and it certainly stopped me. It sure seems some days I feel I am holding on by one single thread. So many things going on in my personal life that some days I just feel drained from it all. It feels as if when I start to get strong and move past something then suddenly something els takes place in my life and once again I have to pick myself back up. Sometimes I just want to walk away from my goal, but I quickly realize and remind myself that this is the one thing I am doing for myself, it is my goal to be healthy and fit and I need to fight through to accomplish it! Life can be hard sometimes..but compared to what? There could always be worse right? In reality I probably have no right to complain. I know I am not only getting stronger on the outside, but I am being molded and becoming a stronger woman on the inside as well. It is true that difficult times do make us stronger! With Faith I believe in times of my weakness, He will carry me through!! He always has!!!

Happy St. Patricks Day

 It's been a fun day at home with my baby girl!!

Gracie 2 1/2 ..hard to believe she is growing up so very fast. She talks all the time :-) I think she leaves maybe one second inbetween just to catch her breath. She is so stinkin smart..I think smarter than me sometimes. LOL. Her personality is amazing, so kind and sweet..she has tremendous manners that are unbelieveable to me. Always a please and thank you very much comes from her. My sweetie pie.

The Famous "Wink" and more funny faces

Now this little 2 and a half yr old has a great wink. She winks better than any of us do. It is so funny and she does it on the most perfect times!! I just had to share some of her funny faces with you as I was trying to get a nice smiley photo yesterday!!..LOL

The goofy face...

The I'm taking your picture face...

The I think I'm kinda shy face...

Then Finally ..The I think Im kinda cute nice smiley face....

I love my little Gracie!!

Where Have I Been...

Wow I can not believe I have not blogged for over a month now..I use to live for blogging. Many people have asked me where I have been. Truth is I have a zillion irons in the fire right now. Life seems to be bogging me down alot. My personal life has been through some stress, I'm trying to prepare my students for our spring production and every year I wonder why I keep doing this when it gets to be so much pressure and stress on me. Im the only one that can pick out costumes, choreograph the dances and put the whole thing together. This is my 11th year and it is wearing on me. BUT, I love the kids and love to dance I can't imagine my life with out it either. So this time of year it is what it is!! Well, on top of that I have commited myself to a personal fitness challenge. I have wanted to do this for a long time, but finally had the guts to tell myself to dig my heels in and do it. I have decided to enter a fitness competition. I have been spending about 15 hours a week in the gym trying to make big changes in my body, to be healthy, toned, and fit. I have had interesting reactions from people along the way of this goal. Some of my family or friends never even ask me about it at all ..how it is going..how my goals are coming alone, or how the diet is going. Even though I have dropped about 19 inches and almost 16 pounds some still say nothing! Then I have some family and friends are huge support..they want to know what Im doing, want to know about the competition and how Im feeling! They are my cheerleaders and support system that are getting me through this.  The true friends are the ones that are still by your side no matter what you look like! They support your goals and dig in with you!  So to let you know where I have been I have been doing life..busy with my family..my work ..and my goal...My two year old keeps me on my toes. No matter what we are doing she is dragging out a zillion things around the house and I wouldn't have it any other way. Our nanny is working out good in the afternoons so that I can go to work. Basket ball season will end this weekend for Bailey , so we won't have that taking up our weekends. It is nice to watch him, but it is nice when they are done for the season too. Gracie has an apt his week to see if her collar bone is healed. She has done great with having to wear that brace!
She went to dance class yesterday with me and joined in with the little preschoolers..Here is a picture of my sweetie pie. I will try to keep in touch more..blessings!!

My Poor Baby....

Last Sunday Gracie tripped around the dog and fell on the tile in the kitchen, it was just a little trip..nothing unusual. But as the week went on she was more and more sore and pampering her left arm alot to where she did not even want us picking her up under her arm pit on that side. Now this was totally not normal so I finally got her in to the doctor today. They took xrays and yep her collar bone is broke.  My poor little baby girl. What a strong little girl she has been! So now she wears this brace for about 4 weeks. We will have a follow up apt next week to see how she is doing. Please pray it heals right and quickly. She is doing well with the brace on, and is taking a good nap right now. Amazing how little ones adjust to something so uncomfortable!!

2 years ago today...*new photos*

2 years ago our referral for our sweet baby girl finally came. I remember clearly hoping that we would get to see our babies face before Christmas. Well Christmas came and went, but soon after came our referral. I was dropping our other two kids off at school and just as they were about to get out of the car our social working called with the great news that we had a baby Girl. It was so exciting for the kids to hear. It made there day and they went to share the news with their friends. I remember feeling like I wanted everything to stop and just let me enjoy this moment in time!! But life keeps rolling...So ..I then rushed over to my husbands office (I couldn't get there fast enough) I walked in the door and told him the news. I had no pictures at that time. We shared a long hug and some very happy tears! By the time I got home the adoption agency had them to my inbox. Oh my goodness did I cry tears of joy on this day and many days after this I would just sit and stare into her photos now waiting for the day I would hold my sweet baby girl in my arms. Each little step in the adoption process is a celebration. I just remember this being a huge one because at last we had a photo of our baby!! Thank you again God for blessing us with such a precious daughter!!

 Top is our first referral photo we recieved. We got a whole body photo too and she was looking so very tiny. The one with her green top on was because I asked for new photos. The wait was getting so long and I wanted to see how much she had grown. Even the referral photo was not the age she currently was at the time of referral.

This photo below is one that the foster family sent home with her. We ended up getting over 300 photos of her from them. Bless their hearts for that!!

 Top photo is one of her while she was in Korea: She was 6 months old in that photo. From the time of our referral to the time we held her in our arms it was about 3 months! We got our referral on Jan 14, and Held her in our arms for the first time on April 16, 2009. The miracle of adoption is amazing!

 This photos are from our family vacation last summer...precious times and memories!

 she wears her sunglasses upside down because they sit on her little nose better!!

Cute Video of Gracie...(Turn music on mute at the bottom of the page)

I am lucky I can take my daughter to the dance studio with me to work. She is a cutie pie and is always having a conversation with me about something..:-)

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Making cookies for Santa...

 Every year we look forward to Daddy making his home made potatoe soup. It cooks all day and after we go to church on Christmas Eve we come home and get to enjoy it! Yum yum. This is one tradition that has lasted for 13 years.

 Thanks Chef Terry!!

 Then after we eat...we let the kids open gifts on Christmas Eve. We do it the slow way...So we start with the youngest child who gets to open one first, then we keep going. I love this tradition because we get to see what each person gets and the expression on their faces is priceless!

Every gift that Gracie got she would say "I've never seen this before" LOL, it was so funny!

 My awesome 14 year old...hanging back to wait to open his next gift!

 This was one of the hits of the night..A new kitchen!!

 My sweet Amanda...

A million dollar smile!!

How and when did my son get taller than me?? It is crazy really crazy how the years go by so very fast. Bailey is my hugger..always always has a hug for me!! He will be taking his driving test this coming Tuesday..Yikes!!

 We all do this right..putting the gifts together..Get out the tools!!

 We have to remember Mom's home made peach pie too..

 By the end of Christmas Eve we can't forget to put out the cookies for Santa!

The kids woke the next morning to see that "Santa" had come to the house. Gracie was especially excited to see a big Princess castle tent. I don't think Santa realized how it would take up the whole living room.

:-) Then later that afternoon we joined my brother at his home for a great Christmas dinner. Usually in the past we get out the china and have a candle light dinner here. We are still going to do that, but on sunday instead. My brother and his wife were great hosts! Im so glad for the invite and the time we got to spend together. The kids all had a blast spending time just playing and creating sweet memories..(more pics to come of Christmas day)

 

my snow bunnies..

Like the awesome big sister that she is ..Amanda takes Gracie out to play and go sledding in our yard. We have had plenty of snow this winter that is for sure. Ok, not as much as some of you I will have to admit. Christmas vacation starts soon for my kids..this thursday to be exact and I can not wait. I am off for two weeks from dance classes and very much enjoying my time of not having to be somewhere! I am going to completly enjoy every minute being home. Last weekend I got most of my christmas shopping done and feel a little ahead of schedule, but then again Christmas is in 5 days. Yikes! Let the traditions begin!

A new season of life..new job....big adjustments

This week has been a big week..and a very tough one to say the least. Yes life could always be worse. (that is the part of me that always thinks no matter what I really have no excuse to complain at all!!). But for us right now..things are not exactly easy. Lets face it, change is not always easy.  Terry has been in his new job now for a week, and now starting week two. He was a little choked up after leaving his office here after 15 years. He invested allot of time and heart into our community and I believe he sure made a difference. As I drive around I am reminded of some of the great projects he did here to make our town look much better! I know it was hard for him to say good bye and yet at the same time he has said he has been ready for many years for a job change change. He is ready for more advancement and opportunity, and not to have a appointed position any longer!

This leaves our whole family with many changes to get use to. I think for me the biggest thing is that my husband will be gone many more hours than what we have all ever been use to. I will worry about his travel each day. He will spend 15 hours a week on the road just driving from work to home and that is if the conditions are good.  I will have to learn to leave it in God's hands because there is certainly nothing I can do about it. Your probably wondering why we do not move there right? We just never planned on that being a part of his job change. 

My heart breaks for a couple personal reasons. We seriously had a great schedule for so long, we both new it. I miss the schedule we had. We could not have had it better as far as flexibility of him being home by 4pm each day. We are a couple that loves to be together. Lunch dates and all.  Am I good with change? I guess my answer would be ..no not when the change is not an easy one. But he has to be happy in his job too and this is a change that he wanted and felt he needed to do.  The weight for me seems to be much heavier to take care of things here at home, kids, and running my business on my own. I have been extremely on overload. Feelings of being overwhelmed and not liking this at all this past week. Yes I am a big girl, I know I can do it because you can really do anything when you have to right?

The truth is we have both been ready for a "change". I had just truly imagined it would be an exciting change for us all. I know for NOW this is just a season in our life and surely is not something that will last forever! It is not the easiest by any means, and not exactly what I had in mind, but it is not the worse thing in the world either. For now it is what it is!

Fa la la la la...

 A few pics from our tour of the trees!

 This time Gracie did not want a photo, so she layed down and made this face. Guess she was tired.

 Finally got her to sit up for a second and smile for the camera. All three of my kids! Love this photo!

So let the Christmas season begin...I love the holidays! Decorating our tree, popcorn balls, home made fudge, family traditions that I cherish! Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanksgiving

This year for many reason, I just could not wait to get home to see my family. Seemed like the time just flew by. We are so busy when we are home. I don't think Gracie has been in and out of her car seat so many times before!

I usually have my camera very busy, but this week unfortunatly I did not get many photos.

Here is my lovely neice that was picking on me..Dillan!

 Here is my aunt Sandy..I gave her the nick name many years ago Noney! She and her husband Bob were so nice to let us stay in there new home while we were home.

 Thanksgiving eve..having dinner at my aunts house. This is my Grandparents. As you can see Gracie is having a pretty good discussion with them both.

 This is Thanksgiving day out at my Grandma's house. Her and my grandpa have lived in the same home since they got married. You can find every memory possible in her home! Thank you Grandma and everyone that helped make dinner so marvelous!!

 Kiddos playing some games after dinner..

 This my other Grandma..with all her Great Grand Children. My Grandpa passed away 2 years ago so we really miss him every time we go to visit Grandma. She love her Great Grandkids like Crazy. This is our kids, Bailey 14, Amanda 12, Gracie 2. My brothers kids, Dillan 7, Rylan 5. We never see her for Christmas so she had all her presents ready for us all. IT was a really fun time.

 I have done many tire runs in the past 6 months. So my aunt Sandy wanted to try it to run off some turkey day calories..we did and and well.....

 as you see...she is dragging a little behind me....LOL.

Fun times with family and great memories for us and our kids with their cousins. Just wish I had more pics.