Sorry 'bout the empty box

One of my favorite things about this season is opening my mailbox and being greeting with piles of Christmas cards. I love the family pictures, the updates, and the cute card designs that fit each friend.

So don't hate us or worse boycott our box....but we didn't do a card this year.

We will be back on track next year. So please don't scratch us off your list, that would make us sad.

Merry Christmas From Shannon and the Fam!

Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm DARTH VADER

For Homework last week Corbin was supposed to decorate a little gingerbread boy. He was so excited and knew exactly what he wanted to do. Darth Vader. Yep we sent a Darth Vader gingerbread boy to school and Corbin couldn't have been more proud of himself.

{He did all the coloring, and cutting and gluing. He helped pick out the felt colors and approved every step of the design down to the button on the light saber, it was a fun little project.}

Christmas is coming...

and we have paper chains that are getting shorter every day to prove it

one on the mantle and one on the back door

they are a darling reminder that I'M NoT ReaDY!!
(not a single gift has been bought ahh Time slow down just a little...please)

Look out Fashion Week

Cooper has his own sense of style. He loves layers and lots of 'em. He love accessories and lots of 'em. Here are just a couple pictures of outfits he put together just in the last couple days. But our grocery trips are filled with "high fashion".

This red ensemble consists of a soccer jersey under a sweater vest, with a church tie (a must for all real toddlers). Topped with an angel helmet, baby doll, and tools in the back pocket, cause you "just never know".

This blue look is another Cooper original. To achieve this look start with a collared t shirt, then a tie under hoodie so it just pokes out. Don't forget to add dad's socks, 3D glasses, fisherman hat and backpack (seen in background). Oh and a toy gun helps to scare away the bad guys. Add a chocolate smile and your look will be complete.

This kid I tell ya, he keeps me laughing.

My Lucky Day

I found a $100 bill today. Yes one hundred dollars.

I thought I lost it almost 5 years ago. Yes, Derek had been accused of spending it while I was out of town on a girls weekend. Still when ever I clean out a drawer or put on a coat that I haven't worn in a while I wonder if I will find it.

I started to think about the stories you hear of people who pay their tithing but know they won't have enough money to buy food for their 12 kids, and then they walk down the street and exactly the amount of money they need is sitting in the gutter or under a rock or whatever.

You know the ones.

Well I had decided that it must be OUR lost money that other people find and think that their prayers are answered. God works in mysterious ways, right. And in a way it made be feel better thinking that maybe someone who needed it more than me found it.

And then boom, there it was.

Hmmmm, maybe I'm the needy one. It sure did feel good to find you ol' long lost friend.

No cute title tonight...

{This isn't the kind of thing I would usually blog about but I can't find my journal tonight and I don't want to just jot this down in a notebook and forget that it's there. So at least I know that if I type it here it won't get lost}

Tonight Corbin and I had a moment. We were laying in his bed. We had said prayers and finished reading books and he rolled over to his side with his his back to me, which is my cue to kiss him goodnight and turn out the light.

Instead I started to whisper the ways that he is special to me. The same things I tell him all the time, that he is so smart and funny and sweet. And a wave of extra love washed over me. I told him that I know some things are hard for him but I think that he handles them amazingly. I told him that I felt lucky to be his mom and that I know Heavenly Father sent him to me on purpose and how safe I feel knowing that he is mine forever. He rolled over with tears in his eyes and buried his head in my chest and put his arm over me tight and simply but so sincerely he said " I love you mommy". We cuddled a while, until the emotion softened and I kissed him and turned out the light.

What a sweet moment that I will hold close to my heart always.

Our New Sign

You're either a mom or a kindergarten teacher if you can read this, and if you can you know it makes perfect sense.

Another Fall Craft

This one was a little messy but fun! We turned Corbin's painted footprint into a ghost garland. He loved the squishy slippery feeling of the paint on his feet.

I poured washable paint into a plastic lid, outside, on a plastic table cloth, with a bowl of water and a towel nearby for cleaning up. Once they dried we punched holes and strung a ribbon through.

It maybe our only Halloween decoration so far.....but at least it's something.

Don't even know what to say about this one...

Cooper decided to change his own diaper. I mean seriously - change his own diaper. But it was a stinky one so I had to jump in before things got too messy...he wasn't happy about that. He wanted to do it all by himself.

So I don't know....is this adorable or scary?

Fall Craft Time

This is the first of our fall crafts. I think I found it on Flip Flops Applesauce. They are little juggling balls {or whatever you want to call a ball that doesn't bounce}.


Directions:
1. Blow up one balloon to stretch it. Deflate.
2. Using a funnel (we just made one out of card stock) pour rice into this balloon , we used rice but you could also use barley, cornstarch, or sand
3. Cut off the lip of this balloon and fold the leftover neck over.
4. With the second balloon, cut off the neck and stretch it over the first balloon to secure it.
5. Repeat step four with the third balloon stating the opposite direction to give the balloon ball extra strength.

We added an extra layer to make them look like eyeballs....get it....eyeballs he he he

Shhhhhh

Don't tell Derek....I just realized that I used his toothbrush twice today. Man, mine is the pink one, the pink one, the pink one....hopefully that does it.

He loves me...He loves me not....He LovEs Me!

Cooper picked me flowers for the first time. He was so excited to give them to me, like he had come up with best idea ever invented. Sure they were from the garlic plant, so the house and his hands smelled...yummy (?)... for a while, but it made my day. Maybe picking flowers for mom is the best idea ever invented.

They're in

The tubes are in. Corbin did great. We'll know if the Doctor did great next week (smile).

I was worried about keeping food away from him this morning, but our check in time was 7:30 am. soo happy it was early. We slept in (in Corbin time) and got ready to go in about 15 min. so no food was easy.

We had plenty of new books and stickers to play with while we waited, and thanks to Kara, one book we bought really prepared him. The nurse thought it was so great, she took it from me to show the Doctors in surgery. They are planning to order a bunch.

Waking up from the anesthesia was hard, but he didn't get sick so hurray for small blessings. He is feeling well and after only one dose of Motrin hasn't complained of any pain.

Now we just wait for our coming visits to see if his hearing comes back. I think it will. Our new challenge...to keep 'em dry. That's gonna be tricky.

Thanks

I have the best friends. You are all so faithful and positive. I just wanted to say thank you for the helpful comments you left on my last post. Thank You.

I feel lots better. I feel calm and not so stressed.

Going to the temple was just what I needed. I realized that I have been given a special blessing. That is, I don't feel jealous of anyone who is pregnant....ever. I really honestly never get my feelings hurt or wish it was me when other people can have babies no matter how easily they come to them. It's like a whole separate part of my brain that doesn't even compare our situation to theirs {or yours}. I am not sensitive about it at all.

I know that is a blessing from my Heavenly Father. One I had never thought about.

I love to hear that my friends are expecting and I hope that you never hesitate to share that news with me. I may not be able to swap breast feeding stories with you, but I'm fine with that, and I still want to hear yours (smile). I do know that no matter how a baby comes to your family there is always worries that everything will be okay, and that I totally get.

HomeStudy

I have wanted to write about our Adoption Homestudy Visit this week...but it's really hard for me to put into words how frustrating the adoption process can be and at the same time express how much we love it.

We love that we have two of the cutest boys we could have ever dreamed of. We love them. They are ours and we feel so grateful to our Heavenly Father for helping to guide their birthparents (who we love) to find us. To help them make the difficult {understatement} decision to place their babies with us.

But it is hard feeling like another child is so out of our hands. Right now it is in the hands of an agency that looses our paperwork and doesn't remember the things they have told us. In the hands of a {new,young} case worker who will only be in the office a couple days this month, so there is no way she can do anything to get our profile on line until October. October!

But we are glad that the Church has this agency. We love that the birthparents get to chose who their baby will go to, not just to who ever is next on the list. I love that when Corbin was born our case worker said a prayer in his office before putting our profile in the binder that his parents would be choosing from. I'm thankful for that.

I know that this really is all in Heavenly Fathers hands. I know that He knew our paperwork would be misplaced a dozen times, even after we had been told it was all in.

But this time is stirring up all the feelings that infertility {I hate that word} brings with it. It's just like wondering each month it the test will be positive. Only this time it's wondering if our phone call will finally be returned, did they get our last set of paperwork....."No, sorry" or "Oh we just realized we don't have -----"; So we try again next month.

For couples who have already gone through years of this disappointment it just seems like paperwork should be the easy part. And I hate feeling like I'm complaining about paperwork while there are girls, women, out there trying to decided to keep or place their babies. I know it doesn't compare, this is really not hard.

So we are going to the temple tonight. I just need to feel that peace. I need to feel closer to my Heavenly Father. I need His comfort, to know He is with us through this. I want to pray for the birthparents of our next little baby. {Who ever they are, when ever they are} I want them to feel his love and strength. I'm sure we both need it.

Friends

Cooper and I were playing on the floor today and he threw himself on me and gave me a big tight hug and said:

I or fin mommy

(I your friend Mommy)

Em keep oo save ba guys

(I'm keep you safe from bad guys)

I mommy fin Cooper

(I mommy friend Cooper)

Sometimes I just want to eat him up he's so sweet.

Can't Go Anywhere With Out My Little GPS

This is my little back seat driver.

He can get us to: Grandmas House, the Grocery store, Target, the Mall, Candace's House, The Speech Therapists, The Doctors, The Dentist, The General direction of the Beach and Disney land, Church, School, and I'm sure a few other places.

He has a map in his head.

My favorite is when he tells me to "keep straighting".

I think being all buckled up takes a little control away from him, but being able to help me know which way to go gives him a little back. I'm sure it will come in handy someday....maybe he'll be a taxi driver when he grows up (smile).

Isn't this about the cutest bike ever. Click on it. Maybe one of us will win.

September 8th @ 11am.

We have our Home study date! That means that the adoption paperwork process is about to end and we will be officially up and waiting....I mean looking...(faith is an action word right (smile)) for our next baby!

Ahh it has taken forever for us to get to this point. A lot has changed at LDS Family Services when it comes to adoption, and it has been a longer than we expected process to finish all we have to do on our end. But there is a light. Oh how I have prayed and cried and hoped and worked for the light. And it's here.

I know this is really only the beginning. Adoption is unpredictable but has been so good to us. We are so hoping and praying for another little blessing to come to us.

MONDAY

Monday we are taking away the Binky! For good, cold turkey,adios.