Adoption Party

I waited 15 months to have this party!  I even skipped having a 1st birthday party for her so I could focus on this.  I wanted to celebrate her adoption!  As with most parties- I had this planned in my head for a long time.  And I bought her shirt and her bow before she was officially Zoe.  Some things you just know!

Our church has a great patio where we could have the party.  It really took a village to pull this off.  I’ll try to thank everyone who helped because we really couldn’t have done it alone!

Here’s the party girl!

I think this picture was after the party was over- June in Texas- I was super sweaty!  But don’t mind that.  My friend Julie wrote this chalkboard for us.  Zoe’s bow… it looks like a dinner plate on her head.  I love it!

 

My friends make adorable children!

  

I hired some models to stand at the entrance of the party.  Every good party needs models.

Bella and Zoe enjoying the AC!  Bella is Rene’s beautiful daughter and Rene is the photographer who took all these photos.  check out her company Roots Photography and hire her immediately for your family photos!  She also takes our family photos AND we are going to Portugal together.  Rene has the biggest heart ever!!!  She didn’t think it was enough to take pictures so she and her husband also smoked all of the meat for lunch!  

 

My salsa is NOT world famous- but a couple of weeks before this event we had VBS.  I made the salsa for the VBS workers and they were practically drinking it with a spoon.  It’s as if they had not eaten in days.  So I made it again the next day and declared it famous.

Good signage at a party is important! 

My friend Anna did the flower arrangements.  I had collected the tea tins they are in for about a year but at the last minute doing flower arrangements made me want to cry.  I can do lots of things but flower arranging is not one of them! 

I made the little straw flags for the arrangements.  Well, originally I was going to make them for all the drinks but I didn’t have time for that!

The fans and lanterns were left over from my sisters wedding.  The paper was some wrapping paper I found in my stash- I had picked it up from the dollar spot at Target years ago.  The tea tins are from my favorite kind of tea.  If you are a tea lover, check Harney & Sons brand out.

A friend of ours came and fried things with his giant fryer.  This stuff is delicious and I even had him fry some apples so it would be healthy.

 

My mom had this fabulous cake made.  It tasted as delicious as it looked! 

I got her shirt from THIS SHOP on etsy.  I had purchased a “5” shirt for Cason’s birthday and asked if she could do a custom one for Zoe.  She did and it’s wonderful!  You can’t really tell but it says Zoe Cate on the side and a big Z on the front.  They are the softest, best shirts everrrrr.  I highly recommend them. 

I got her bow from THIS SHOP.  I’m pretty sure I need to buy all of these bows.   

The kids had a great time!  My friend Michelle brought the washer pit for an activity and the sand volleyball courts served as a great way to keep the kids occupied while the adults sat in the shade. 

I had so much fun planning and hosting this party!  I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour!

There were so many people that came to help decorate and organize.  Sabrina, Paige, Lauren, Anna... my mom and sister are always a huge help for these crazy parties I want to throw.  Thank you, thank you.

Adoption Day!

 

This post is super late- but that’s pretty typical around here! 

Back on May 16th we adopted our Zoe.  You will have to scroll back a year and I believe I talk a little about when we got the call to pick her up from the hospital as a foster baby.  We didn’t know much of anything when we took her home at 14 days old but we didn’t care- she was our baby for as long as the Lord wanted her to be!

So, after fostering her for a year, her parents rights were officially terminated and we became a number in a stack of paperwork waiting for the adoption.  There were a few things we had to have inspected at the house but mostly, we were waiting for someone to make a copy. 

 

Then, once we got “approved” for adoption we went to the CPS office and signed paperwork that basically got rid of CPS but we still had to wait for a court date.  Then a month later, we got court scheduled.

 

On your court day, you all go to the courthouse and stand in front of a judge and it’s official! 

We didn’t know what to expect at the courthouse or how long it would take.  I had asked for a lunch appointment because I really wanted to go to a fancy restaurant in fort worth to celebrate after (typically the adoption cases are first thing in the morning).  They had graciously accommodated my request and I think I made lunch reservations for 1.5 hours after we were schedule to be in court. 

 

 

So everyone goes into the court room and stands in front of the judges desk and he asked us a couple of questions about how we felt about Z and asked C a question about being a big brother and that was it!  We had already signed all the paperwork and so the judge just asked if we wanted pictures. 

He was so kind to take as many pictures as we wanted and never made us feel rushed (I believe it was his lunch hour) and stayed and visited with us.

The bailiff brought out a present for C- the piggy bank- and that just made his day!

 

 

Visiting with the judge.

Our attorney presented the information to the judge. 

We loved our attorney!  If you need a name of a great family attorney then let me know! 

 

Here’s our first official family picture!

 

Here we are with our amazing CASA worker and attorney.  Y’all, look into being a CASA volunteer.  It’s a great way to work with kids who need help.

 

And our caseworker for our foster agency, Mark with Arrow.  We highly recommend Arrow for a foster/adoption agency. 

 

So from start to finish- our journey from foster to adoption was 14 months.  It was a rollercoaster but I’m so glad we had that experience and I’m so glad we have Z.  She’s pretty much the coolest baby ever and I can’t believe we get to raise her. 

 

If you think you are not cut out to be foster parents or adoptive parents, think again.  It’s not about YOU.  You don’t have to have your whole life together.  You just have to be willing to let your world be shaken up a little bit.  So, pray about how the Lord wants you to help orphans.  There are so many different ways you can help!

Happy 2014

 Happy 2014!  

Only a month late.  

I like to have a brunch on New Years Day.  Once we had kids it became really hard to get out on New Year's eve.  Finding a babysitter, affording a place, staying out late.  It's just too hard.  However, I don't like to miss an opportunity to have a party, so I do a party on New Years Day. 

It turned out so fun!

 I found this punch recipe on pinterest.  It's something like sprite, pina coloda frozen mix (no alcohol), banana orange pineapple juice, and maybe some other stuff.  (You can see all my oils in the background- love them!)

 These were pears with bacon on top sprinkled with paprika and cinnamon.  Delicious!

 Salad served in martini glasses = super fun salad.

The chalkboard in the kitchen.

 I love these snowflakes so I had to take a picture.  I got them a few years ago 1/2 off at pier one. 

 Super easy cardboard numbers sprayed with silver spraypaint!

 Yummy coffee cake made with those rolls that are frozen then rise when you set them out. 

I made some photo props because I thought it would be fun!  

Life of a Foster Parent

I thought I would take this moment to put off cleaning a bit longer, and give you a glimpse into our life as foster parents.  This is just a part about our monthly visitors.

So every month- we have approx 5 different people coming over to the house to visit baby J.  Therapist (times 2), CASA worker, CPS caseworker and foster agency caseworker.  Oh, and someone comes by twice a month to pick her up for a visit with bio parents.

Mostly everyone comes in to play with J  and stays in one room or a couple of rooms.  Once a quarter we get to have someone come over and inspect all the rooms for safety and to make sure our kitchen soap is not sitting out.  Wouldn't want someone to drink it and then poop bubbles or something :-)

So I've kind of gotten over having my house clean for every visitor- I mean- who has time to clean their house 5 times a month?  Not going to happen.  But I do feel like I should have it clean for our quarterly inspection.  And that's today.  So I officially have 5 hours to clean.  For a normal person that would probably be perfectly acceptable.  However, I am very bad at cleaning. 

Maybe I will take a before an after picture.  And if I'm not too embarrassed I will post it. 

First Day of Pre-K

 Here's our first day of school picture.  I think I'm the only person in America that didn't use a chalkboard or a cute printable to mark the occasion- which is kind of funny because that's the sort of thing I would make with my business but we barely made it to school on time- plus I don't make a lot of graphics for myself- I guess I have enough working on them for others.

This boy was in a silly mood because he looks like a goober in all of these but it's a good display of his personality!

 

I have back to school pictures for my other baby but I can't show them online :-(  hopefully soon.  You will just have to imagine how adorable she is!