dear santa

We took the boys to see Santa at the mall. 

We got there right as the mall opened, so we were first in line to chat with the big guy.  They decided they wanted to talk to him together.

Kaden told him he wants a puppy for Christmas.  A real puppy.  Yikes.  We've talked a million times how we can't have a puppy because Bosten is allergic.  He told me that he could just keep it in his room all of the time.  Poor Kade.  As we talked about it later, I reminded him that we couldn't have a real puppy and he said he totally knew that (duh), and that he'd be happy with a cute, stuffed one.  

Phew.  

I can handle that.

this and that

Here's what we've been up to in the last week or so...

The red wall in the family room is gone.  I never was a fan.  Even just with primer on it, it has brightened up the room a ton.

My sister's twins arrived.

Kaden adored them.  

Bosten wanted to see them, but wanted nothing to do with holding them.

 

Kaden had a first Thanksgiving feast at school.  He wanted Indian gear, and this is what I came up with the night before:

Kaden had no school the day before Thanksgiving, so we invited Mimi and Papa and Brody to go to the movies with us.  It was a fun date.

We spent Thanksgiving with my family, and hung out with Kyle's family on Friday.  So fun to have Adam and Ang here!  We went to Scheels and Temple Square to see the lights.

What a fun week.

national adoption month

November is National Adoption Month.

I haven't said anything about it all month.  Its kind of been on purpose....although I want to and need to.

I'm not going to lie, its been hard lately.  We've just passed the 3 year mark that we've been trying and hoping to adopt again.  3 years.  It seems like a long time. 

Forget that, it is a long time. 

Its been our longest wait, and maybe our hardest.

We recently had a visit with Bosten's birth family.  We love them!  Its always so fun to see them...

...and see where he gets some of his favorite tricks!

Adoption is such a roller coaster ride.  It is by far the hardest thing we've ever done (and trust me, we've had some hard stuff).  But, we are so grateful for it!  It is a miracle.

family pictures

We had our annual family pictures taken about a month ago.  I don't know why this year stressed me out so much, but it really did.  I guess its because its so much more than a picture for our Christmas card.  Its about (hopefully) connecting with a potential birth mother.  Its about telling a story about our family, without saying a word.

I may or may not have ordered a million things online while trying to coordinate colors and outfits.  But, I'm happy with what we ended up with and thrilled with our photographer.

Seriously, anyone looking to have pictures taken in the future, Kristen is your girl.

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first snow

The boys were pretty excited for the first snow of the season.  Me, not so much.

They played outside all afternoon and had the best time ever.

After the kids were in bed, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with bronchitis.

Awesome.  I feel like we've been sick for an entire month.  Oh wait, we have been!  

The next morning we woke up to even more snow:

Crazy. At least it was over the weekend.

On Monday, we went to school to volunteer like usual, and got to help put flags up for Veteran's Day.

Its a good thing there was snow.

this week...

We survived strep, just in time for Kaden to get it too.  It was pretty miserable.  He was still on antibiotics when he started coughing, lost his voice, and sounded like a dead seal.  Took him back to the doctor.

Poor kid had croup.  

Added some oral steroids to the mix, and after a few days he's starting to sound (and feel better).

Its only the beginning of November, and I'm already tired of winter sickness.

The little stinker earned some school money and got to shop in the "store".  This is what he ended up with:

He kills me.

For real.

Its all I can do to not say anything.  

We've had some really nice days lately, and have been to the park a couple of times.

We've been painting and working on the house. Living room and dining room are done. I need to take pictures, but we painted the ceiling, trim, door, and walls, new door hardware, new light switch covers, curtain rods and curtains, new light fixtures, new blinds, and stuff on the walls.  This is the only picture I have at the moment.  Our picture wall is back:

...and that's what we've been up to.

halloween

The boys were pretty excited to dress alike this year, and even more excited that we got to wear the costumes a couple of times.  First, we went to Mimi and Papa's trunk or treat last weekend.

Don't they look great?!  

It was fun, but even more fun when Daddy dressed up with them for Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

pumpkins

This week for family night, we carved pumpkins.

Kaden knew exactly what he wanted to do, and pretty much did the whole thing by himself.

Pretty darn fun.