Pre-Christmas Picture Post!!

Christmas is in full swing around here! The tree is up and there are (a few) presents under the tree. As is typical with this (my favorite!) season of the year, there has been little time for posting. I thought I'd get on here and at least post some pictures. Enjoy!!

 

Avery was not impressed by this waiting for Santa business.

 



 

But Mackenzie's enthusiasm made up for it :-)

The newest members of our household...

We have 2 new members in our household. His name is Sunshine and her name is Lola (yes, she is a showgirl-no, that joke is never going to get old). M is over the moon for these little guys but baby girl is not quite sure - I think they look a little too much like squirrels for her! We had intended on only bringing home one for M's Christmas present but when we got there to pick one out mommy wanted one too :@) I mean who can say no to these faces????

 

Sunshine

 

 

Lola

In other news - our family is being featured on the blog Reaching Hearts at www.reachingheartsblog.com . Shelly from Reaching Hearts is doing a series called 31 Families of Hope and we were chosen to be Day 15 which is tomorrow!! Pop on over and show us some love!

Also - there is still a couple weeks to put in your Thirty-One Gift order to benefit the Called to Adopt Fundraiser. Let me know if you want to put in an order! Get your Christmas Presents and help out adopting families at the same time!

Post again soon!!
~Jeny

Magical Families!

We had one of our favorite occasions this weekend - Magical Families weekend!!! If you're passionate about adoption and enjoy Disney this is the event for you!! It's a great opportunity to visit with some of our favorite people and meet new ones. Although the entire weekend was amazing I absolutely love the Mommy Meet-Up time. It's just a sweet time to spend with other mom's that are passionate about adoption and totally "get it".

We spent most of Saturday in Magic Kingdom and had the best time! We discovered Avery has reached the age where the characters scare the ever-living-snot out of her!! (Then again what doesn't!!) She did ok with the only "real" princess we met which was Tiana, but anything that looked like a cartoon had her climbing up mommy's arm. For the most part we had a smooth trip with very few meltdowns...WHEW!!!

I have tons of pictures to sort through but it's late and I'd like to go to bed now. I will post them soon I promise!!

~Jeny

Halloween!!

We had a wonderful Halloween yesterday :@) The girls were absolutely adorable!! M was a Cheetah (that was actually a leopard because for the life of me I couldn't find ANYTHING cheetah print!) and A was a puppy. A couldn't figure out why people were giving her candy, but didn't object for long. She did max out at 2 pieces though...one for each fist!! She also learned what a Kit Kat was before daddy had to wrestle it away from her :@) She's a big Kit Kat fan now BTW!

 

M had the cuttest little "cheetah" prance that she was using - she was also a very good big sister helping A get candy.

 

Overwhelmed with love for these people :@)

 

"Stalking" us!

Crazy Busy Us...

I feel like I say this everytime there is a lapse on the blog, but we've been crazy busy around here! In the last month, we've all been sick...again :@( Baby girl had the same bug that had us (ok, just me) freaked out, M has been sick and I have been sick (don't tell my hubby but I think he's next!)

We've also been working very hard on the next big Called to Adopt event that will be happening in February. It's PROM!!! Yep, grown up PROM! I'm so freakin' excited about it! Looking forward to a chance to get dressed up, dance with my sweetie and not to mention raise money to help adoptive families! :@) Many more details to follow, just know it's going to be a rocking good time!!

We also have another fund-raiser coming up at the end of November, a Thirty-One Gifts fundraiser. If you're looking for Christmas presents (or something pretty for youreself!) and you want to help a good cause, you can order here. Just click on My Parties and find the Called to Adopt link to shop. If you're in the area and want to attend the actual party, let me know and I'll send you a link to the invite.

So because we've been planning a prom, I've finally given in to Pinterest. :::GASP::: I know, WAY behind the times but I've been avoiding it because I knew once I did I would be totally obsessed...and I am. I'd like to blame this entirely on Prom planning, but I have an entire board dedicated to Christmas because I'm really jazzed about Christmas too!

Other than that we've just been living life. The girls are growing like weeds! Baby girl is talking so much more now. She's also starting to develop her sense of humor. She has a game we play where she'll stick her sock in your face and then laugh hysterically when you say "Ewwww, stinky sock!" She's also entered the dreaded separation anxiety phase - FUN!! She's good once I'm out of eye sight but puts up a huge fuss when I leave. Mackenzie has been doing great this year in first grade. I love her teacher and M loves her too! She's also been doing gymnastics which she loves.

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Blog Hop!!

I'm participating in a blog hop through One Thousand and One Tears. Check it out!

http://www.1001tears.blogspot.com/

If you found me through the blog hop show me some comment love! :@)

Post again soon!
~Jeny

The fever and the fear...

This weekend was long...and miserable :@( On Friday daycare called saying Avie had a fever. Boo. Last week she had her shots including her first MMR so we assumed that it was the 8-10 day fever that comes along with it. We made her as comfy as we could and hunkered down for the evening. To say she (and we) didn't sleep well would be an understatement. Luckily our pediatrician's office is open on Saturdays.

He assumed that it was just the MMR shot also but when he looked in her throat (a HUGE undertaking considering she remembered what happened last week) he used the words "red" and "pustules". Fun. Her culture was negative for strep meaning it was a virus so we got the oh-so-fun recommendation to "wait it out" and "keep her comfortable".

For those of you new to the blog let me fill you in on something. I panic when my kids are sick - like borderline inconsolable-pacing-the-house kind of panic. Hearing the pediatrician tell me to wait it out when my kid is rocking a fever of 103 scares the crap out of me. It doesn't help that I can count on one hand the number of times Mackenzie has had a fever - in 12 months Avery has blown that number out of the water! It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that losing Jack contributed SIGNIFICANTLY to my fear. I panic at the thought of missing another infection...it literally makes my blood run cold...but I'm getting better. I mean - I still hovered but not once did I have the urge to take her to the ER. (Been there done that several times already!!) That's a huge step for me.

Something the pediatrician said made me stop and think. He commended me on my good instincts. I didn't think about it until I was driving home. 13 months ago I didn't even know Avery - now I know her well enough to have motherly instincts. I know what makes her tick, her favorite foods, her fears (squirrels). I know that when she brings me the remote and says "MMmmmma" she wants to watch Doc McStuffins. To be totally honest when we started the adoption process a small part of me was worried about how I would love "someone else's kid". It sounds silly now considering I would give my left arm for her but I think it's what makes people so scared of adoption...the fear of the unknown.

Tonight in our community group we talked about how fear can hold you back. So I looked up some verses.

Psalm 27:1 -

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

 

Isaiah 41:1 -

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

What's fear holding you back from???

Another year older...

We had two rather important birthdays in the last couple weeks...neither of which actually made it onto the blog - Oops! First of all our sweet baby girl turned 1-year-old!! I still can't believe it - when people ask how old she is I still stumble over saying it. It's amazing what all has changed in the last year. I feel like we just brought her home but at the same time I have a hard time remembering life without her! (Mainly because I'm too busy trying to catch up to her!!) She has been such an amazing blessing to us and we are so thankful that God saw fit to make us her parents.

On a less exciting note - I have also aged another year. Bleh.

The good side of my birthday time is that it usually falls right around Labor Day and we usually manage to squeeze in a trip to Atlanta. It was great to hang with the family and take Avery to her first (and second) Braves game!! The driving was less fun, but we managed to make it home in one piece and with our sanity mostly intact. It wasn't Avery's first road trip but it was her first since she developed a loathing for her carseat and a love of screaming for the sake of screaming.

I have pictures which I will try to post soon.
~Jeny

Dinner was a success!!!!

We had an awesome turn out for the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner!!  We raised just over $1,700 for Called to Adopt!! So excited about the families that this is going to help. Will try to get some pictures posted over the next couple days.
Looking forward to our next event (yes - the ideas are already flowing!!!!)
~Jeny

Updates!!

Whew - haven't had much time to blog lately - we are gearing up for the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction. We had one of these events last year to raise money for our adoption. This year we are excited to kick off our non-profit organization Called to Adopt! All proceeds from this Pighetti Dinner will go to provide grants and fund-raising assistance to families pursuing adoption.

So excited to see how God is growing this event and using us to help create forever families!!!

If you are in the Orlando area this Saturday I hope you can join us!
Post again soon!!
~Jeny

BTW - if you are curious the new total is 10 lbs! :@)

Almost forgot!!

I am also participating in a Blog Hop through the blog Give1Save1 . They will be featuring blogs for domestic adoption families that are fundraising. Take a moment to head on over and read about some awesome families and add your own blog!!
~Jeny

Week 2 weigh it!!

Second weigh in and still losing!! I'm down another 2.8!! Woohoo!! This week was definitely a little harder, but still managable. My focus for this week will be to work in some more exercise - shouldn't be hard since we are planning a trip to SeaWorld on Friday to celebrate Mackenzie's last day of freedom.

We also get to meet Mackenzie's new teacher on Friday morning. Can't believe my baby girl is going to be in first grade!!! Then just a week later my baby-baby girl will turn ONE!!! Eeekkk!!! I can't believe the last year has gone by so quickly! Then again, we did pack a LOT of stuff into the last year :@)

In other news...This week Called to Adopt got some pretty exciting news - we were invited to be an exhibitor at the Created for Care retreat in March!! If you haven't heard of it, I highly recommend you check it out! It's a retreat for moms that are passionate about adoption. Really looking forward to finally meeting (in person) so many of the ladies that I have "met" online through blogs and the facebook adoption community :@)  Check out their website at www.createdforcare.org Registration for their January and March retreats open at 12:01am on August 15th. Leave a comment here and let me know if you are planning on attending!

~Jeny

And the verdict is...

Down by 4.6 pounds!!! Woohoo!!!! I won't say it was particularly easy, but it was not nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. I had a couple times where I was starved, but mainly because I hadn't planned ahead to have a good snack choice and refused to make a bad one. This week I will focus on planning out meals better so that I don't have to panic at the last minute.
Thank you for all of your support and encouragement!!!
~Jeny

The biggest step I swore I'd never take....

Last week I took a step that I have always told myself I'd never (have to) take...

Won't post my starting weight, but stay tuned for my second weigh in tomorrow....

In other news, our house is LOVING the Olympics!! The girls and I have been snuggling on the couch each night watching whatever sport was on. Here are a couple things I've learned:

1. Mackenzie thinks the men's gymnastics team is hot...stand in line girl! (And grow up about 10 years before you EVER say that again!!)
2. Avery will clap at anything!
3. Mommy will cry at anything...
4. Daddy thinks we're all crazy ;-)

Oh...and my family rocks!

Funny Stuff My Kid Says

I love the stuff that comes out of my kid's mouth. Actual conversation at bedtime:
Mackenzie: Did you know that if you put your middle finger in someone's face it means you don't love Jesus?
Me: Really?
Mackenzie: Yep. Pretend I don't love Jesus. (Proceeds to flip me off) This is me showing you I don't love Jesus.
(No worries - I set her straight on this one!)
No clue where she comes up with this stuff but she sure does keep us entertained!!
~Jeny

Summer time!

Whew - It is crazy busy in our house!! Wanted to take a moment and update on what we've been up to and the AWESOME things that God is doing in our lives right now! The girls are doing great. Mackenzie has settled back into her old summer camp and her friends were thrilled to see her again! We've still had some of the mean girl drama (mine being one of them), but you're gonna get that anywhere and usually it only lasts a day and everyone is friends again. Despite all of her teasing, Avery still is not full on walking. She is right there, but just doesn't have the confidence to let go (I feel like there is a life lesson in there somewhere ;-) Mackenzie has submitted yet another tooth to the tooth fairy and Avie still has yet to pop through a single pearly white!!

On the Called to Adopt side we are really moving now!!! We had our first official board meeting today and I am so blessed to be working with some amazing people who share our passion for adoption. Plans are coming along with the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction. We are officially set for the First Baptist Church of Winter Park on August 25th 2012 at 5:30pm. If you are interested in donating an item for the Silent Auction, donating food for the dinner or attending the event you can visit our website http://www.calledtoadopt.org/ or email us at info@calledtoadopt.org

I'm also excited to announce that we are getting closer to having our grant application ready. Called to Adopt will be awarding our first grants by the end of the year. I will post again once the application is ready. So excited about how God is working through this process and can't wait to be able to bless our first families!!

Hope everyone is having a safe and fun-filled summer!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

The day the music died...

Dance Camp has come to an abrupt end. We've had some serious attitude issues over the last 3 weeks and I had a sit down discussion with Mackenzie that if her attitude didn't improve we would take her out of dance. A couple days passed and she actually ended up asking us to go back to her old school. I think it was rough for her being in a group of girls that were mostly older than her and she felt left out. (She also admitted that most of her sassy talk came from wanting to talk like the older girls so she would fit in.) Normally we would make her stick with something that she had committed to, but in this situation we made the decision that it was best for the family dynamic to take her out. Hopefully over the next few days she settles back in...fingers crossed!!

Avery just passed 10 months! Crazy how fast is has gone. She's started blowing kisses and is very vocal now. Not much of it is understandable, but you can tell she is trying to communicate. She is also showing more of her personality. She is very stubborn!!! Maybe even a little strong-willed, but still such a happy baby! :@)

Time and date for the Pighetti Dinner are nailed down. It's officially August 25th at the First Baptist Church of Winter Park. Dinner will start at 5:30 and the Silent Auction will open at 6pm. We will also be having a 50/50 raffle and there will be some entertainment for the kids. Details on the Called to Adopt website along with a list of silent auction items. Email me if you are interested in helping out the day of or donating an item for the silent auction.

Post again soon,
~Jeny

My kids are growing up entirely too fast. Last night my baby girl took 2 steps all by herself! Eeek! She isn't even 10 months yet, I am not ready for her to be mobile. Today at camp, Mackenzie lost her 6th tooth! She even had the courage to put this one under her pillow. (Prior teeth have been left on the hearth of the fireplace because she wasn't quite sure that she wanted this fairy person in her room :@)

Father's Day around here was rather uneventful other than the epic 3 hour family nap we took. Daddy's only request for the day was lunch after church at Golden Corral -- this may have had something to do with the 3 hour nap. Even Avery had that glassy-eyed-I-just-can't-fit-any-more-in-my-mouth look.

We don't have a whole lot planned for this summer outside of our annual trip over Labor Day weekend. My birthday falls at the end of August so we usually try and plan a trip to Atlanta for Labor Day. We just started planning it, but I'm already getting excited. Our trip usually consists of a (couple) Braves games, the aquarium, Centennial Park, etc. We missed last year because of the adoption (SO totally worth it!!) so I'm excited to introduce Avie to yet another family tradition. Another plus is that we will finally get to visit the memorial brick that our family ordered for Jack. We went the year before last but they hadn't put it down yet. Sure to be a bittersweet moment.

Before we can get to that though we have a Pighetti dinner to plan!! Things are starting to come together. There is an ever-growing list of auction items on the Called to Adopt website http://calledtoadopt.org/upcoming-events-2/. I will try to get some pictures up also on the items that are available.

Post again soon,
~Jeny

Summer Happenings

Summer is in full swing around here! We had our first summer visit to Sea World this past Saturday. We have had annual passes since Mackenzie was little and it is wonderful to be continuing the tradition with Avie. She didn't care much for the shows but loved clapping when everyone else did (although she did not seem to understand what we were cheering for). She loved the aquariums and even enjoyed her first carousel ride. We tried out the new Turtle Trek ride. It was a neat little ride with a good message, but it made me a little motion sick :@(

Mackenzie is in her second week of dance camp and is definitely enjoying it! Not sure yet if she will want to stick with it when the summer is over, but we will see. So far she has seemed most excited about the cheerleading and vocal lessons. If she opts for music/vocal lessons we're going to try out this new place that is opening in our area. It's called The Music Box and it was started by a close friend of one of our adoptive friends.

DJ is pretty set in having her try softball next, but if she's anything like mommy that will not go in her favor! However, if she wants to give it a go I guess I'll be cheering by a baseball diamond come fall.

On the adoptive front, plans are coming along nicely for the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner. I'm hoping to get a listing of the items donated so far posted this week so that you guys can see what is up for bidding. We are still waiting on the official approval from the venue so prayers that everything will go smoothly with that. If you are interested in donating an auction item or interested in volunteering let me know. Also take a moment to like our new facebook page CalledtoAdopt.

I'll leave you with the new logo for Called to Adopt designed by my awesome friend Bessie.
Post again soon,
~Jeny

9 months!

Avery has officially reached 9 months!!! The age of "how fast can I put that in my mouth before mommy takes it away??" Also know as "how close can I get to (fill in the blank with some randomly dangerous item) before mommy stops me", "I'm going to throw myself backwards while you aren't paying attention and then laugh when you barely catch me in time" or "Yes I understand you are saying no, but I'm just going to laugh at you and do it anyway". Yep, we have reached that age! You know - where you are simultaneously excited at all they are learning and discovering and utterly terrified because you know they are dangerously close to out-smarting you.

Dear Lord, Please let us stay at least one step ahead of this one, because she is going to be a HANDFUL!!

Avery just started waving and gets a kick out of people waving back because she understands what you're doing now! We still have no teeth, but I get the feeling that will change VERY soon! Even though she doesn't have teeth that isn't holding her back from chowing down on solid foods. She will eat just about anything she can pick up (even last night when she was literally eating with her EYES CLOSED because she was so tired!). Her favorites include (but are not limited to) chicken, carrots, broccoli, cheese, those little baby poof thingies, and crackers to name a few.

She is also dangerously close to taking her first step. This is the part that terrifies me. At 9 months Mackenzie was just learning to stand/pull up and she didn't take her first step until right before her birthday. Mackenzie was also never this determined. Avery seems intent on learning, doing and touching. There is no distracting her! You have to entirely remove the temptation, something we didn't have to worry about with Mackenzie. Parenting Avery is an entirely new ballgame!

On the rest of the family front, Mackenzie is serving her last few days in Kindergarten before summer starts end of next week. She is excited to start a summer dance camp and finally get to do ballet. Her "most exciting" thing about dance camp is that she gets to be in Willy Wonka at the end of the summer - Of course when she told me that she couldn't remember the name and even when I told her she had no idea that was actually a movie...

On the adoption side, things are progressing with the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction. We have a few donations already and are working on more. I'm hoping to get the website updated and revamped soon! If you know of anyone that would be interested in a little free publicity in return for a donation please send them my way!!

Avery's Dedication!

Wanted to hop on and post some pictures from this past weekend. Mother's Day was wonderful and we had Avery dedicated at church. She was so stinking cute in her Christening gown which is the same gown Mackenzie wore and that DJ wore before her. 

Post again soon!!

~Jeny

100th Post!! And Pighetti Dinner details!!

Date is set for the 2nd Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction!! For those of you that weren't around for the 1st Annual here are the details. When we felt that we were called to adopt, we had no idea where the funds were going to come from. All we knew was that God had the details. Through the generous donations of friends, family and total strangers we made it and brought our daughter Avery home in August of last year. Now that our need has been met we want to focus on helping others fund-raise, hence the 2nd Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction. (Sorry to those of you thinking we were on the track to adopting again -- not this year ;@)

We have tentatively settled on a date of August 25th. Still working on the location, but I'll let you know once we have that settled. We are currently looking for items to be donated for the silent auction. If you (or someone you know!) wants to donate an item or service please let me know! We will gladly display your promotional items at the dinner and give you a shout out on our website (more on that to come!).

So excited about what God is doing in our lives and can't wait to see how He will use this to bring new babies to their forever homes!!

Post again soon!!
~Jeny

Easter and some other stuff...

Wanted to hop on and at least share some pictures and a quick update since I haven't posted in forever!!!

Avery is 8 months old. She is crawling and pulling up and looking VERY determined to walk. I am SO not ready for that!! We are getting over another ear infection now :@( Luckily we are at the end of our antibiotics and finally feeling better.

Mackenzie is finishing up kindergarten in the next month. I can't believe she is getting so big!!! We are taking a break from ice skating for the summer and she is trying a dance summer camp. She's been asking to try dance for awhile and we thought this would be a good time to try. Her last ice skating class was this past Tuesday and she's already asking to go ice skating this weekend so we'll see how long the no-skating goes :)

Post again soon!!
~Jeny

Avery's Hair

Sorry it's been so long. Our "baby" girl has just turned 6 months old!! I can't believe it came around so quickly!! She is so close to crawling now. She will get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She just can't seem to get moving. She doesn't let that stop her from getting around though! She drags herself across the floor, or just rolls from toy to toy. It's very entertaining.

We got our first hairstyle tonight. It was tramatic for both of us I think. She did not want anything to do with it, but I finally got it done! It looks pretty good for the first attempt, but hopefully next time will go faster with less tears :@)

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Forgot one!!

Not sure how I missed this picture from yesterday's post, but it is my favorite!!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc.

I posted the pictures in a separate post because I have not quite mastered the art of pictures and words without getting it all wonky. So to save my sanity and actually get this posted in a timely manner it is sans pics.

Christmas was absolutely amazing at our house. Mackenzie spent the day opening (and then playing with) Avery's presents and Avery spent her time trying to eat paper...which isn't abnormal since she has reached the stage where everything goes into her mouth! I had a moment at Christmas Eve service where her adoption really sunk in for me. I realized that Avery was seeing for the first time what she would see every Christmas for the next 18-ish years of her life, surrounded by her family, singing songs of worship and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Yeah, it got me.

New Years Eve was relatively quiet. We hung out at the house with our friends and put the girls to bed relatively early. New Years Day was even quieter. It's tough to believe that it is 2012 already!!! 2011 was a pretty awesome year and I pray that 2012 lives up to it :@)

Speaking of awesome things, if you look to the right you will notice that one of our little tickers has been updated. We got the phone call just before Christmas that we had gotten one of the grants that we applied for making our adoption fully funded!! God is Good!! When we started this process we had absolutely no idea where that money would come from but God had it all planned out. He called us to adopt and we listened. Looking back I can see His hand in every step of our process and it is amazing. So, reading that you may assume that our fundraising is done, but that would be wrong. We feel that God is calling us to continue raising funds to help others that are also called to adopt. We are still working out the details on the who and the when, but look for info soon on the Second Annual Pighetti Dinner and Silent Auction probably in April.

I'm still working on my resolutions but when they are ready I promise to share them here. Speaking of things I'm still working on, our Christmas cards is on that list as well. I bought them, but have yet to address them...or write them out...or take them out of the bag that I brought them home in... Oh well, better luck next year I guess, or maybe I'll send them out by February :@)

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Picture Post!!