snow day

Here are some pictures from a fun little snow day.. months ago, obviously. Lorelei and I built a snowman while Addison was sleeping and Christopher was clearing snow. We had so much fun and Lorelei even got to help drive the bobcat. She later informed me that it was too loud and bumpy for her and she doesn't want to drive it again. :) I thought the pictures were too cute not to share. So here you go.

p.s. i think i have one of the prettiest little girls ever.

no going back now

As many of you know, Lorelei named herself when she was about 16 months old. I was trying to teach her to say "Jade" when asked what her name was. Instead she would shake her head no and respond with "MmMm. Mame, Lorelei." She got the name from Gilmore Girls, which I was watching at the time. Since we were wanting to give her a name of our own as we adopted her, this sort of stuck. Which was great since I really loved the name.. Christopher, not so much. But it has grown on him.

After her adoption was finalized, Chris left for basic and both girls got sick the same week. Lorelei ended up with a double ear infection. The only exciting part for me was walking into the doctors and changing all her record information from Jade to Lorelei.

And then this....

(okay, so it's backwards... and I don't know how to flip it.. sorry)

Adoption Day

The day we had been waiting for since, well, since we first called social services to tell them we wanted to be considered for placement while she was in foster care. That was November of 2007. We got to finalize her adoption on January 2010.

Finalizing Lorelei's adoption was such a special day. Grandma, Grandpa, John and Alex all came down to san bernardino for the court date. Jessikah and Mamaw were there too. We felt so blessed to have so much family there to make her day special. I didn't really know what to expect as far as emotions go. Mostly, I was just relieved to be done with everything. Pressure was high in the weeks leading up to the court date as it was mandatory for Christopher to be present, and he was leaving for basic training on January 31st. We had just a few days buffer in between court and his leaving. I can't imagine what would have happened if the state set our court date after he was gone. God is good and we were blessed.

The judge was such a nice man and it was so evident he truly enjoyed helping build families. He gave Lorelei a special teddy bear and took time to make her feel special.

Here are a few of the pictures..

(I know I have a picture with everyone all together, but I can't seem to find it)

With the judge. Addison kept trying to touch him.

We were just getting started and Addison had had enough already. :)

We took Lorelei shopping and let her pick an outfit to wear for her special day and this is the dress she chose. She will forever call it her 'adoption dress'. I thought it was sort of ugly, but she sure loved it!

Christmas 2009... just a little late.

Every year all the grandkids on my side of the family get matching pajamas from Mamaw and Papa. Missing from the picture is Miss Judah Jewel. She was still baking in her mommy's tummy. Would have been a little tough to get pajamas on her.

From left to right- Elliott, Titus, Bradyn holding Rocket, Londyn, Addison, Lorelei

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

Addison's first Christmas with us. Getting ready to open their presents.

Christopher made french toast for the girls Christmas morning. Lorelei actually likes it.. despite her lack of enthusiasm in the picture. :)

Lorelei's 1st gingerbread house! She did such a great job.

Grandma Archer

Grandma Archer came to visit all of us last fall at Hume all the way fro Ohio. We had so much fun and the girls just LOVED spending so much time with her. Lorelei loved hearing stories about Buckey (Grandma's dog back at home) and reading story after story. We are so blessed with such a wonderful family!

Here are some pictures. :)

cheese!

Here are a few pictures I think are cute.

Lorelei talking to Daddy on the phone while he was in Oklahoma at basic training.

Addison all upset at who knows what. This was fall of '09

One of my favorite pics of little Miss Addison Rain. She came out of her room dressed like this.

Lorelei thought it would be funny to put on a new born sized onesie. crazy girl.

hello? can you hear me now?

What do you know? I still have a blog. Granted, I had to reset my password in order to log in since it had been so long since I had done so. I know, you have missed me. Yes, both of you.

As dumb as this sounds, I haven't posted in a while because I feel torn with the direction of my blog. I want to update our friends and family with our life and everything the girls are up to. Especially now that we live so far from everyone we know. I get asked all the time for updates with out new adventures and this blog is the perfect place for that.

At the same time, I want a place where I can write. So I've decided that I will join the masses of 'multi-bloggers'. I'll create a new and separate blog where I can write about things that are important to me as well as share my view on other non-relevant issues as I encounter them. A place where I can be honest and say things just the way I see them. ...without directly offending everyone. ;)

For those that read Little Mrs. Tilley, look forward to much more consistent updates on our lives and everything we're up to.

sometimes i wonder if this day will always feel tainted. probably. i guess that's okay.