We went to the "pumpkin patch"

I had wonderful plans to take Max to the pumpkin patch this year.

It never happened.

The one weekend we had time to go, Max got a nasty cold.  

Here is the beauty of having a two year old... 

Near our house, there is a little tent set up in the parking lot of a closed gas station.

They sell fresh produce during the summer and right now they're selling pumpkins!

Every time we drove by, Max would say "Pumpkin patch!"

So, it only made sense to take him to the "pumpkin patch" the other day.  

Here are the pumpkins we Wes carved.

It was unseasonably warm...shorts weather even.

A perfect night for making memories...

Sam's Story {the meeting}

The drive to the hospital took 2 hours, but it felt like an eternity.

We were meeting the birth mom at 4:00 and she was going to sign the papers at 5:00.
Not only were we meeting her for the first time, but she didn't choose us either.
The agency did.
She wanted her son go to a couple that was married.
Since we were the couple that had been waiting the longest and we didn't have any birth mom leads, we were chosen.

God knew this all along...

We met the adoption coordinator in the lobby and right before we walked in the hospital room, she asked us to wait in the hallway so she could go in and talk to her.

When she opened the door to go in, I saw a girlfriend sitting on the couch in the room.
These were my thoughts...

"That friend in there is totally trying to talk her out of the adoption!"
"Has the birth mom changed her mind?"
"Will she meet us and think, I don't want these people raising my son!"
"What in the world do we say when we first walk into the room and see her?"

Once again, it felt like we were waiting for an eternity and it was so quiet.
I just wanted to hear laughter.
Why I thought there would be laughter at a time like this...I do not know.

But, there was laughter.

We walked in.
I don't remember what we said, but I handed her flowers and smiled.

Awkward.
So awkward.

Thankfully, the adoption coordinator was really good at filling all of that awkwardness with great questions to help with the conversation.
We learned a little bit about each other over the next 30 minutes or so.

And then we heard the words, "Do you want them to meet the baby now?"
She said yes and the baby was wheeled into the room.

More awkwardness.

How do you respond to seeing the baby who could possibly be your child in front of the woman who gave him life?
I didn't want to get crazy emotional over the baby, but I did want the birth mom to see our excitement over her precious baby.
I was too nervous to cry any way.

  

She later signed the papers and was leaving that evening to go home.
She wanted to see us again, so we went back to her room.
She was standing in front of the window holding him.
The way she was looking at Sam was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.
I hope I don't ever forget the look on her face.

Then she walked over to me and placed him in my arms.
I hugged her and said, "thank you."
That's when the tears started for all of us.
She gathered her things and as she was walking out the door, I said, "I love you and I don't really even know you."
She looked at me, smiled and walked out the door.

Just so I don't forget...

You call crackers, "crackersnacks".  It makes sense.  "Max, do you want crackers for a snack?"

You want to say the prayer before every meal.  Jesus, God, thank you God for food.  Amen."

 

You are crazy protective of your little brother.  You pull down the car seat shade when any body comes to look at him.

You have a strange liking to three out of the four corners of your blanket.  You immediately gather them up into your hand when going to bed.

Speaking of going to bed...you are getting out of bed again before falling asleep.  We don't like this. Sometimes, it's really hard not to laugh when you come downstairs with just your socks and a t-shirt on backwards.     

You pull out my chair for me when we eat breakfast and lunch and hand me my silverware.  It gets me every time.

You refer to farting as "smarting".  We probably will never correct you on this one...

You have discovered that your name is John Maxwell and that your daddy's name is John Wesley.  You tell me often.

You kiss your brother all. of. the. time.  While you were sick this weekend, it was impossible to keep you away from him, so he got a lot of top-of-the-head kisses.

You still sing "Happy Birthday" many times throughout the day.  Your cousin, Kobe, should be about 952 years old by now.

You refer to these precious girls as HannahandOlivia.  They are one person to you.

You are becoming one independent little man...wanting to get dressed and undressed by yourself, getting in the car seat by yourself and then wanting to do a bunch of other things that your little 2 year old self isn't quite ready for or capable of doing yet.  I hear lots of, "No help me, Mom."

I love you like crazy, Max.  You make me smile every day.

Sam {1 month}

We've gotten to love on you for one month...

You eat like a champ, you've given us a few sleepy smiles, you are kissed a million times a day by your family...with your big bro leading the pack,  your skin is so chocolate-y delicious, you become a sweaty mess when we let you cry, you squeak and grunt like a little piglet, you sleep a lot and you sleep through anything.

What a joy it's been to get to know you, little man.

Hang Tight

I am alive.  

I promise...just a little sleep deprived. 

My life these days consists of trying to figure out how to be a mama to the two blessings God has given us.  

And our house has exploded with baby stuff.

Organized has never been a quality you would use to describe me...

So, I'm trying to figure that out too.

This little space of mine has been put on the back burner for a bit. but I promise to return soon.  

I miss it.

I miss writing down memories that we are making as a family.

And let me tell you, my little Max-man is providing me with some good writing material these days...

So, until I return, hang tight and if you think of me, send up a little prayer on my behalf for patience, grace and sleep. :)

Happy weekend!