Welcoming Baby Silas

Earlier this week I had the privilege of attending a baby shower for a couple who adopted a baby, after 4 failed adoption attempts. Hearing them share their journey was heart-breaking to say the least, and then to see how the Lord brought this sweet little boy into their family was absolutely incredible. They have such wonderful hearts, and will be amazing parents to Silas.

Can't you just see the love, contentment & gratitude in their faces?

Seeing Life Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Or, if you prefer, PINK!!

It is a GIRL for Baby Perkins #3

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday afternoon, and were thankful to hear that our baby was growing and developing normally. Praise the Lord for the blessing of yet another healthy little miracle! We never take that for granted!

In the past, we have always found out the sex at the actual ultrasound; however, Dave had a great idea. Being Valentine's Day, he had already made reservations for us that evening, and thought it would be fun to have the ultrasound tech write down the results for us, seal it in an envelope, and then open it during our dinner. I loved the idea, and that's what we did. We also had the ultrasound tech snap a picture of the "proof," and include that in the envelope as well.

It made the moment that much more special being able to find out if our newest addition would be a boy or girl over dinner, rather than in a doctor's office...what a perfect Valentine's gift. The restaurant is fairly new to Omaha, and I think the only other one is located in Houston (Loft 610: http://www.loft610.com/omaha/gallery.htm)...how fun that we can take her there someday and show her where we found out she was going to be a girl :)

When we called our parents later that evening to tell them the news, my Dad said her middle name should be Valentine. I thought that was such a cute idea :)

I just love these little profile shots

You've Got Mail

Anyone else ever make these when they were younger? Maybe it was just something me and my brother found entertaining, but we would create these "mailboxes" for our bedroom doors, and then drop each other notes and such in them. Don't ask me why we thought it was so fun, but we did (or, perhaps I did, and my brother was simply humoring me...yup, pretty sure that was probably the case).

Living in an older home has it's challenges at times, but it adds a lot of fun elements as well. For example, we don't have to make much of an effort to retrieve our mail, because it's delivered directly into our home via an old fashioned mail slot. Will has grown very fond of checking our mail slot everyday and handing us our mail.

Every once in a while, Will receives a letter or package in the mail, and when that happens he gets pretty excited. The other day I had the idea to have Will help me create a mailbox for him, similar to the ones my brother and I used to make. I didn't know how much Will would actually go for it, but he loved it. He checks his little mailbox periodically throughout the day, and when he discovers something in there with his name on it, his face beams :)

More Fun Around Here

Ya'll must think we never leave the house, based on my last several posts. Although that's not entirely true, it has been the case more than I typically prefer, due to the weather around here lately. Our high yesterday was 5 degrees, and when I left for Bible study yesterday morning with the boys in tow, it was -8. I hear we're supposed to get close to 50 degrees this weekend, though, which will practically make me want to break out the shorts and flip flops!

I wanted to allow Will & Graham some down time yesterday afternoon (actually, if I'm honest with myself, I really just wanted to sit and read), so I thought I'd pop in a video for them. The main area of the house where we spend a lot of time, tends to get quite chilly on these bitter cold days. That portion of the house was an addition, with lots of windows, and it doesn't seem to be insulated to the highest of standards. So, for a change of scenery, I fired up our portable DVD player and allowed them to watch it in Graham's room. I filled their snack bowls with popcorn, laid out a blanket on the floor, and propped some pillows behind them...they loved it! Even Graham managed to sit on his rear for as long as the popcorn lasted ;-)

nothing better than a grilled cheese on a cold day :)

Graham bringing me the laundry basket...asking me to give him a ride. How can I say no to such a cute face?!

Watching their video

We hosted our 4th annual Super Bowl party on Sunday, and had a smaller group this year, which was actually kind of nice for a change. Naturally, the guys were plopped on the couch glued to the game, while me and all the girls were at the table talking. As usual, there wasn't a shortage of food to stuff our faces with, and Will and Graham had a great time having everyone here. In the past we invited all to bring their kids, but the past couple years, we've opted for just the adults, as it just got to be too crazy due to the amount of little ones running around. All agreed they like it this way for a change of pace ;-)

Who cares about the halftime show?! It was the perfect time to break out the dusty Nintendo!

Graham sportin' his Steelers gear!

Food. Lots and lots of junk food.

Do the Humane Thing

Some of you might remember a post that I did a couple years ago when I took Will to our local Humane Society. He was probably around 18 months when I took him...he loved it, and we hadn't been back since. Graham loves animals as much as his brother, so I thought it would be fun to let him experience it, too.

As soon as we walked through the door, the boys spotted the cats. They ran over to the windows, and started talking to all of them.

You never know what kind of animals they will have, but when we went yesterday, they had ferrets, and Graham was giggling so hard as he watched them scurry around in their cage. I wish I had a video of his giggle, because it was pretty much the cutest sound ever.

Graham playing peek-a-boo with the ferrets

They had several bunnies, a couple turtles, gerbils, rats (gross!), quite a few dogs, and lots and lots of cats. Thankfully our Humane Society is very clean and well-taken care of, so I didn't mind allowing the boys to run free and have fun playing with all the different animals. It was a great activity during these cooped-up days at home :)