Samuel's First Christmas....

was wonderful! Justin and I were so excited to spend our first Christmas as a family of three. I remember last Christmas wishing for a baby more than anything and this Christmas I tried to cherish each moment with Samuel. He got tons of toys, books and attention! We were very busy and we spent time in Laurinburg and Danville. We left on the 23rd for Lbg and we came back to Justin's parents on Christmas day. We have been celebrating with Justin's extended family for the last several days but things are starting to calm down now. Justin and I are working to take down some of the Christmas decorations but we decided to leave our tree up for a little longer. I hope you enjoy pictures of Samuel's first Christmas.

Samuel with his new shades and Papa Christmas night.

Our niece Lauren playing Santa.

Justin with Holly and Kaleigh

Rocking Finley

How Sweet! Creighton giving Samuel a Christmas kiss.

Finley, Creighton and Samuel in their pajamas Christmas Eve night.

Us

Samuel in his new seat :)

Robin and Samuel - breakfast in Lbg

My Cute Cookie :)

Robin, Leslie, Amanda and me

Dad did NOT like Samuel's spike. ha!

Getting ready for the 23rd party in Lbg.

Cute cousins- Samuel, Creighton and Finley

My favorite Christmas song this year. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D-DH9aT3bs

A Winter Wonderland!

We have had a wonderful snowy weekend! It started snowing here Friday around 1:00 p.m. and did not stop until sometime yesterday afternoon. I think we got around 8 or 9 inches. Justin worked all day pushing snow so Samuel and I spent the day with family and friends building snowmen, sledding, and eating :) Samuel has had a few "firsts" this week too. On Tuesday morning around 4:00 a.m. he rolled from his stomach to his back. I was so excited I could not go back to sleep. Then he laughed out loud at Olivia yesterday. :)

Samuel standing in the snow.

Samuel with the baby snowman that Justin made for him.

With the big snowman!

My baby and me :)

Justin getting ready to go push snow.

Our house getting covered!

Mommy's cute cookie. (Check out his shoes)

Hope all you of have had a wonderful weekend. Enjoy your Sunday night! We are going to eat chicken pot pie, wrap presents, and listen to Christmas music, and hold Samuel. :)

Christmas Fun!

O.k. I know.... I have not posted in forever! Sorry! I have been out of work since Thanksgiving and have been busier than ever taking care of Samuel. I love staying home! Samuel is growing so fast. He just turned three months Dec. 8th. I can't believe time passes so quickly.

Justin told him he was our Christmas present and put him in a box. It was really cute :)

Having "tummy time"

This is us in front of our 1st Christmas tree. Justin and I are crazy and decided last night to go buy a new tree because this one died (lack of H20 our fault) The new tree is huge because I did not go with him to help pick it out. This tree had white lights and our new tree has TONS of colored and white lights. We decided to try something new since we were doing something crazy anyway. I will post a picture of our new tree later. Thankfully, it is alive and healthy (for now)!

Samuel @ 3 months. Check out his hair. My dad would be disappointed.... I spiked it! How cute!

We have a date....

On January 20th 2010 Samuel's placement should become secure. The social worker told me it would be earlier but she said because of the holidays it had to be pushed back. Please continue to pray for our family. Uugghhhhhh..... it feels like forever :(

O Christmas Tree

Justin and I took Samuel on Sat. to pick out our tree. Every year Justin and I spend hours trying to find the perfect one......not this year Ha! Samuel did not like the sun in his eyes so the second one Justin "displayed" I decided looked great. We maybe spent a total of 10 minutes getting our tree. :) I will post a picture tonight of Justin and Samuel with the tree.

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. I DREAD packing and the car ride but I cannot wait to see everyone. Hope you have a great day!

A Sweet Surprise

This is my niece, Lauren, holding Samuel last night. Frances (sister-in-law) and Lauren came to stay with us because I did not get home until after 10:00 p.m. (ACE match) and Samuel has had a rough week sleeping. Anyway, when I got home I started complaining to Frances about how I felt stressed and our bedroom was a disaster and I had not had any time to clean. About 15 minutes later Lauren came in the room and said, "Aunt Beth close your eyes and hold my hand." She led me down the hall and to our bedroom. She CLEANED OUR BEDROOM! She made the bed, lined up my shoes, and folded some clothes. It was SO SWEET and I started crying. To think that an 8 year old heard that I felt stressed and decided to do something about it was very touching. She gave me such a sweet ending to a very stressful day! She is also GREAT with Samuel. Thank you Lauren- We love you!

Not much happened yesterday at our meeting with the social worker. She told us that she would email me with a final date next week and that it would probably be the week after Christmas or the first week of January. She gave us a complement and said that a person working with Bethany (the adoption agency) requested that they keep a copy of our scrapbook to use as an example for other families. To everyone that helped with the scrapbook- THANKS- our hard work paid off!

The song "You're Still God" (that most of you have heard a thousand times) was released right before my surgery in April of 07. I would never be able to count the times I have played this song and let the words minister to my heart and soul. It has been on my mind for the past several days because I have been thinking about Samuel and how God made a way where there seemed to be no way. I know the placement is still not secure but I do not want to fail in praising God for what he has already done. In the chorus the song says "... and I know he'll make a way somehow. He's still God and he is holding me right now" There were times when I thought that God would never make a way but I am so thankful that He held on to me when I did not have the strength to hold on to Him.
Are you carrying a heavy burden that you never dreamed you would carry? Have your eyes cried a million tears? Can you not find an answer or the reason for the trial? Remember God's ways are perfect and he has been watching all the while!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX1745UaC-A (WARNING-very southern gospel! :) )

Have a good Thursday-