Christmas Blessing

  Merry Christmas to us! This was by far the most fun Christmas Kyle and I have had. Christmas is such a fun and exciting time but to see it through your child's eyes is simply amazing.
  Our Christmas festivities started the Sunday before Christmas with our church musical in the morning and then we celebrated with my mother in laws side of the family in the evening.
  Monday was a long day at work knowing Christmas was only 3 days away! Christmas Eve, Kyle and I both worked until lunch and then celebrated ALL day with my family. We had lunch and watched my mom get engaged. We came home and rested and then went back for "brinner." (Breakfast for Dinner) We also had some karaoke and games then came home.
  After we did gifts Christmas morning, we went to Kyle's parents house. We exchanged gifts and spent time with them and then went to Kyle's dad's side of the family. We had a wonderful meal and such a fun little game of Dirty Santa. We were so blessed through the whole day. M got so many nice things and we were so thankful!
   By far the highlight of our day was spending the morning watching the "magic of Christmas" through M's eyes.  This was Kyle's first time to ever be Santa and he did a great job! After M went to bed, Kyle put out Santa gifts and stuffed our stockings! It was so fun to watch Kyle get excited about being Santa! He even left a letter!
  After going through what Santa left he opened our gifts. The clothes weren't a huge hit but he was very grateful for everything. His favorite gift was Angry Bird Tele-pods and his new iPad mini! Our favorite gift was the one that told him we were going to Hawaii in two months! He was happy then but now he is so excited!
  This Christmas has been so great and we are so blessed. Everyday I am just in awe at God's plan unfolding in our life. I am so amazed by the blessings God has given me. I have a Godly husband who loves me and gives me a new reason everyday to love him. And now we have been blessed with such a sweet boy that one day we can call our own.
  One thing that amazes me is how God knew we needed M. So many people have said "He is so blessed to have y'all" or "He is so blessed to have parents like y'all" and I hope he is but honestly, we are blessed to have him. God knew we needed a child who was already up for adoption who we could fall in love with. I think deep down straight foster care would have ended up being harder for me than I first thought. M may have needed a home and a forever family and I know God sent him to us for that but God knew we needed him. M has changed our lives so much but all of the changes have been so easy. It feels like we have had him forever.
  Having M during Christmas has been one of the best gifts. God truly sent him to us at the perfect time. We are just so excited to have M in our lives and he made Christmas such a blast!

-Makayla

Believing in Santa

Kyle and I have always said that our kids really wouldn't do the Santa thing. We would teach them that Santa is a fairy tale and allow them to have "Santa gifts" at Christmas but they would always know Santa wasn't a man who came down the chimney while you were sleeping and brought gifts. He would know about the old St. Nick and the history of Santa but not believe in him or elves.

  This is for two reasons. One being we wanted the only focus of Christmas to be about Jesus. Two being I don't want a child who thinks Santa brought him a ton of gifts. I want them to be grateful and know that mom and dad had to work hard to buy their gifts. 

  However, things have changed because M came to us believing in Santa. And saying he simply believes in Santa would be an understatement. M is consumed with the idea of Santa and his elves. I'm not gonna lie, the magnitude of how much he belived in Santa bothered me a little bit at first. A part of me wanted to just tell him Santa wasn't real, deal with tears and move on...but I'm not cold hearted and the last thing I want to do is break our M's heart. I also didn't want to make moms mad when my kid went to school spreading the news Santa didn't bring the gifts. 

  One thing M talked about a lot was the elf on the shelf. He loved this thing and from the way he talked, the only time he had one was when one visited his class at school. We decided to buy one. I wish we had a video of when he first saw this elf. He was ecstatic. I have to admit, moving him around at night while M is sleeping and doing creative things if fun. It's really fun to see M get into it. It also helps waking him up in the mornings. 

  We have found a good balance with having Santa and also teaching Christmas is about Christ. We talk about Jesus being why we celebrate Christmas and Santa is one way we do celebrate. Also, Kyle and I both believed in Santa and we turned out just fine. 

  Having M has taught me one major thing about Christmas. He has taught me just because you do the Santa thing doesn't mean you've forgotten the meaning of Christmas. It's fun seeing the magic of Christmas through a child's eyes. 

  We are so excited for Christmas morning and can't wait to start new traditions as a family. I'm so thankful God brought M into our lives and He did it at the perfect time. 

-Makayla

 

Thanksgiving!

  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had so much to be thankful for! Of course this year we really had a lot to be thankful for since God brought M into our lives. This Thanksgiving we had two big shin-digs to attend. The first one was Kyle's side and then the Saturday after turkey day we had my side. 20 people at each one. We were so excited because this was the first time many of our family met M! After they met him, I became even more thankful for our families. 

  It was such a blessing to see both of our families wrap M up with love. Both of our families have been very supportive with Kyle and I through this process, but the way they surrounded M and showed him what family meant made us very thankful. In two days, M met great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time!

  I'm so thankful for God placing M with us. He gave us the gift of being parents and gave M the gift of having a home and a loving family. I know without a doubt all of this is working for His glory.

Going to bed Thanksgiving night, we asked M what he was thankful for. This was his list.

•God creating the world

•his Toys

•Jesus dying on the cross

•his new dogs

•his new parents.