At last!!!

Joel and I have been waiting so long for Isabel to have a tooth come in. We were even starting to get worried...what if she didn't have teeth???!!! We went as far as to ask the pediatrician if it was normal for her to not have teeth, when should she have her first tooth, when should we be worried that she didn't have any???

The worry is over...Isabel has a tooth!!! Garrett had his first tooth at 4 months, so the fact that Isabel is almost 10 months old and toothless was beginning to scare us!!! Was she going to be drinking formula for the next 5 years???

YEA!!!!!

The goose is getting fat

I always loved that choir warm-up....Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!!!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. We have been having a great time. I love this time of year...a nip in the air, the smells of Christmas, beautiful lights, baked goods... What could be better? I spent the weekend baking and cooking. That is something that I love to do and I feel like I haven't done a lot of in the past year. I am getting back in the habit though.

I have to toot my own horn for a moment. I have reached a point in my life that I have decided-I am the person that is in charge of my own well being and happiness. I started Saturday and did it again on Monday....I went for a jog. For those of you who know me well, know this is not something I enjoy. I do not like to sweat, I do not like to exercise. What kind of mommy am I if I can't show my children that they have to take care of the only body that God gave them. I am the person that is supposed to show them how to be healthy. I can say that I have enjoyed my 2 jogging trips. I am going to try and go again tonight. I have decided that I will go outside and jog on the evenings when Joel goes to pick up the kids. I can get home and changed clothes and get outside and back home about the same time they get home. I do need to be motivated....so pump me up!!!

We are taking the kids and my folks to Silver Dollar City this weekend to see the beautiful Christmas lights. I am sure Garrett will LOVE it!!! When he sees the lights now he says "Wow" or "Cool". I can't imagine what he will think when he sees a million lights!!! I am sure Isabel will have a great time also. I do need to buy them each a pair of mittens to keep their little fingers warm. I am hoping to spend Sunday after church baking. I would love to make some Christmas cookies and let Garrett help me frost them.

That is all we have going on for now. What do you have going on??

Love being home

I am home with my kiddos today. My mom had to go to the doctor, so I unwillingly stayed home with my kids!!! It is so fun being able to spend the whole day with them. We have had breakfast together and now they are both taking a nap. After breakfast they played so hard that they needed to sleep!! Once they wake up we will have lunch and then we are going to make Christmas cookies or Christmas cupcakes. I haven't decided which one we are going to tackle yet...I guess I better get to deciding though!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the morning at home enjoying each other. We then went to my folks for lunch and then to Joel's folks for dinner. I always seems like we are running during the holidays but it is well worth it!!!

The kids and I spent Black Friday together. We met Joel for lunch and then we hit the mall. I didn't thnik it was as bad as it has been before. Joel thoght we were crazy for even thinking about going!!! I did pick up a few things for the kids...and I can now say...I am done with my Christmas shopping!!!!

Isabel is now up, so that means I better decide what we are going to have for lunch and what we are going to bake. The decision has been made, we are going to make Christmas cupcakes!!! Maybe you will be a lucky recipient of some of our baked goods!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

OAMC

Do you know what that stands for??? I will fill you in on it in a bit.

The kids are doing wonderful. Isabel is crawling like a champ. I need to borrower my mom's video camera again and post some videos. Isabel loves to say da-da. She is totally a daddy's girl. She has said ma-ma a coupe times, but she prefers to talk to her daddy. She is also eating like a champ. She has moved up to the Gerber 2's, she can eat 2 veggies and 1 fruit at each sitting!!!! We have worked our way down to only having 2 or 3 bottles a day...it will be so nice to not have to buy formula anymore!!! I guess we will have to eat baby food forever....Isabel still doesn't have any teeth!!! Joel says that she is going to be drinking from a bottle until she is 4, because that is how long it is going to take her to get teeth!!!

Garrett is getting in to trouble constantly. He is always in to things he knows he isn't allowed to be in. Garrett and Daddy just got in trouble for throwing a ball in the house. This is something that Joel likes to do and Garrett has started asking him to throw it. The ball just bounced off a shelf and knocked one of my Demdaco figurines off. Lucky for both of them it didn't break. I yelled at Joel just like I would yell at Garrett. I think they both found it rather funny!! Garrett is also fighting a terrible cold...that he has passed on to me!!! Why is it that mommy always gets sick when the kids get sick??? Garrett's newest, funniest thing...he looks at daddy and says, "Joel". It is so funny!!!

Joel got all the lights on the house yesterday and today. We also got lights in the bushes, a decorated tree on the front porch, lights around the front door....Joel has bee making fun of me. He says that I have gone all out with the lights this year. I keep telling him that I want the kids to go outside and be mesmerized with the lights. I will work on getting the house cleaned during this week and then decorate inside over the weekend.

Now.....OAMC--Once A Month Cooking!!!! This is a fancy new idea that I have found online!!! You gather all your ingredients and prepare meals that will last you all month. You devote one weekend to preparation and then all you have to do is thaw and cook everything!!! I didn't do

enough to last us for an entire month, but I have enough to last us 2-3 weeks. Believe it or not, it didn't take me all day. I started about 9:45 and worked off and on until 12:30. That may seem like a while, but I took a shower, put make-up on, fixed my hair, dressed, played with the kids, put them down for a nap, had lunch...so it really didn't take me very long. I also used recipes that I had the staples of the recipe already on hand. I am anxious to see how long the meals last, how good the recipes are, how we like the leftovers...I will let you know!!!! Have any of you out there ever tried this???

That is all that has been going on with us...we are preparing for the Thanksgiving festivities and getting ready for Christmas.

Fall is in the air

I love the fall season. I can't imagine living somewhere that did not have all 4 seasons. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, the sound of football games on Friday night....awwwww does it get any better??

The kids are doing great. Garrett is walking like a champ. Isabel is on her way to crawling. I have a feeling she will be crawling in the next couple of weeks. She has started something new...she says da da. It was great. Joel had been home with the kids all day and I came home and sat in the floor with Isabel and started saying da da to her...she then said it right back to me!!! I am sure Joel's heart was melting!!! It is great to hear her little dainty voice say da da and then hear Garrett's deep (animal) voice yell DAAAD. Too cute.

The kids are enjoying their little drummer set that MeeMaw (Joel's mom) bought for them, I am having a cup of coffee, Joel is getting ready and then we are off to the mall. We enjoy our Saturday's as a family. Sometimes we don't do anything but stay home, but we do it together!!!

That is all that is going on with us, how about you?

With all our love,
Joel, Misty, Garrett & Isabel

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch over the weekend. Garrett was memorized by all the "balls". It was a warm day...I had wished for a cooler fall day. The weather this coming weekend is going to be more like what I was hoping for. Maybe we can find something else fun to do!!!

Isabel is growing like a weed. She is trying so hard to crawl. She is going backwards, but can't quite get the forward motion. She can get up on also fours by herself and rock, but that is as far as she can go right now.

My mom has gotten a new video camera and is letting us play around with it. I have found it to be really handy. I wish we would have had a video camera from the very beginning. I feel like we have missed a lot of great video opportunities with both of the kids. I hope you enjoy the videos!!

Long Time

Long time, no blog!!! Sorry for being missing for so long. Things are going great for us. The kids are growing like little weeds. Garrett is walking like a professional now!!! Everyone laughs about his walking form...it is more like a march. He goes 90 miles an hour all day long. Very rarely does he crash and burn...he goes and goes and goes!!!

Isabel is trying to crawl. She is moving backwards all over the floor. I know that after going backwards, all of a sudden one day she will crawl forward!!! She is quite the night owl!!! She does not nap during the day...thus you would think that she would crash at night...Oh NO my dear friends!!! There are nights that it is 10:00 and she is still going strong. By that point, Joel and I are ready to go to bed and get some much needed sleep, but she is still wanting to play!!!

We have been having a great time with the fabulous weather. We have been spending as much time as possible outside. Last Saturday, we walked around the outdoor mall and had a great time enjoying the sunshine, the breeze, and the fall weather!!! We are taking the kids to the pumpkin patch this Saturday. Joel and I have never been, so we are very anxious to discover all the fun things there!!!

A SUPER congratulations to my dear friends Brad and Missy!!! They brought baby Zeke home from Vietnam a couple weeks ago!! I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the airport and share in their beautiful homecoming!!! They are a gorgeous family of 3!!!

Love to all,

Misty

On the Way

Brad & Missy are on their way to Vietnam as I type!!! Please pray that they have safe travels and everything goes smoothly. I can hardly wait to see them again...as a family of 3!!! I just ask that you keep this family in your prayers!!!

Not much going on with us. Both kids are down for a nap. Garrett has been sleeping for almost 2 hours...it is amazing how much he sleeps during the day when he has a cold. Once the kids are awake, we are heading to the mall to do a little shopping. Garrett needs some long pants. I am hoping that the weather starts to cool off and he doesn't have any long pants...maybe if I buy some, the weather will change!!!

That is all that is going on with us, what is going on with you?

Vietnam or Bust

YEA!!!!! Brad and Missy received their approval today!!! They are not sure of the travel arrangements yet, but they will be on their way to pick up Zeke very soon!!!!! Congratulations guys!!!! We are so happy that we have been able to share in this journey with you!!! Zeke's 1st birthday, 1st Halloween, 1st Thanksgiving, 1st Christmas...are going to be so very special!!! This is going to be the best fall of your lives so far!!! Our little adoption support group is growing!!!!!

With all our love,
Joel & Misty

Happy Anniversary

Joel and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday. It is amazing to think that we have only been married for 6 years, but also in the same breath it feels like it has been forever!!! We decided to take the kids and stay in a cabin for a couple days and hang out. We went to dinner Saturday night for our anniversary. We got up Sunday morning and had donuts for breakfast and then took the kids swimming. It was the first time for them to swim and they seemed to enjoy it. After swimming the kids were worn out and took pretty good naps. We then went to do a little shopping and having fun as a family. All in all, we had a great wedding anniversary weekend!!!

Yesterday the kids went to the doctor for their checkup. Garrett is thriving as always!! He weighs 26 lbs...he is in the 95th percentile for height and weight. He is off the chart for his head circumference...I say that is because he has a big brain and is soooo smart. Isabel is also doing great. She weighs 15 lbs 10 oz...she is in the 50th percentile for height and weight and is just over that for her head circumference. They say she is doing really well and is right where she should be developmentally. They had told us that she would probably be 6 weeks behind due to her being a preemie, but that doesn't seem to be an issue right now!!!

I hope all is well with you. We would love to hear from you!!!