the catch up game

shame on us.  it's been a very long while since we've shared anything with the blog world.  absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? 

to get caught up i am going to have to break it down into a little list.  y'all, we've been busy!

• went to conference in new york for work.  it was a long 72 hours!
• surprised sweet boy with a trip to disney world for his fifth birthday.  we felt like it was the right age to go and experience the magic and hopefully be able to handle all of the long days of walking!  we'd been telling him all year long that if he saved his money we'd try and go to disney world.  well, he saved every cent he got his hands on and we cashed in all of my starwood points and a lot of our delta skymiles to earn us as free of a trip to disney as we could score.  (highly recommend staying at the swan hotel.  stayed there on points and loved every second.)  we had a surprise party for dax on a friday night and told him at the party that we were boarding a plane for florida the next morning.  pulling this off was a huge feat, but we did it and we had the trip of our lives.  would not change one single second of it.  we had fantastic weather, a relaxing time by the pool, beautifully fun days at all of the parks, and a super happy and cooperative little fella.  daxton still talks about it two months later and is ready to go back!  
• for thanksgiving we headed to adri's folks and then to adri's uncle's house for turkey day.  it was great to spend the day with all of the littles and get to spend time with that side of the family.  we always have a great time and the scenery is amazing at the lake!
• daxton had lots of performances!  my favorite was his hip hop dance performance where he really put on the show with his personality!  it was amazing to watch him and his little friends do their routine!  our boy did an unbelievable job and we were so proud!
• for Christmas this year we celebrated at home with will's folks.  it was great to not have to be traveling and spending time on the roads.  i'd been away from home for the entire month of november and it was good to be home!  we had a very laid back Christmas with lots of cooking, eating, church, light tours, games, and movies.  it was a very relaxing and wonderful time!
• for new years we traveled back to roanoke to celebrate with adri's side of the family.  it was amazing to have everyone at one event to ring in the new year.  we all got dressed up in our fanciest clothes and enjoyed dinner and dancing together.  what a wonderful way to celebrate!  (even daxton stayed up until 2am!  sorry to the baby sitter!)
• 2017 has started out with some more gas in our tank in pursuing our second adoption.  we really feel like the last 18 months of waiting has been kind of a waste of time and don't want to be in this same place 18 more months down the road.  we never imagined we'd wait this long.  in the midst of all of the above, our homestudy had to be renewed in december and we hope that will be the last time we're doing that for this situation.  we are going to create more of an online presence with our profile and work on some marketing.  we hope this will boost our chances of finding a potential situation.  dax really longs for a sibling and we cannot wait to continue to grow our family.  

  

dax had a wonderful time with all of the rides, meet and greets, parades, shows, and performances!

the four cousins with great granny

 

 

the covey, taylor, mutispaugh, ryder, rolf, white families!

daxton on the night of his hip hop dance recital

 

dax had a speaking part in this year's christmas musical at preschool.  we were so proud of this big boy on stage!

daxton loves this cereal, so he got it for a gift from santa.

we had one winter storm that kept us trapped in our neighborhood for about a week.  it was just the right amount of winter weather and we're thankful to be back in the sixties now!

happiest of the happy birthdays

the sweetest boy in the whole wide world has been four years old for less than 24 hours now.  dax was so excited for his birthday party.  he's been talking about it since my birthday back in september.  the suspense of having the party, getting some presents, and hanging out with friends and family were all he needed to keep him going.  every time he'd want a toy from a store we'd tell him to add it to his list.  the list kept getting longer and longer, but it included a theme of products including trucks, cars, spider man toys, and anything concerning the paw patrol.  luckily everyone had him covered.

thursday evening all of the family started to arrive to begin dax's week-end long birthday celebration.  we went to dinner with my dad that evening and dax was a total ham.  people kept asking if they could come to his birthday party and he'd give his classic answers of late: "maybe a morrow" or "we already did that last night".  both answers are interchangeable, and have no truth or reason to them.  he cracks up like he thinks it's so funny, just like when he tells you that "you're giving" him "a heart attack!"  he came up with this from when we scared daddy at hide and seek a few weeks back.  now he uses it all of the time, and even springs it on a waitress at dinner.  oh mercy!

friday we celebrated national adoption month by speaking at our agency's quarterly meeting for adoptive hopefuls.  will and i were on the other side of the tables about five years ago, and we'll still never forget that meeting.  this time we were lined up front with some other adoptive parents and our son's birth mother.  what a special time.  we got to indirectly and directly speak our love for each other in our roles as daxton's family.  we are so honored to have dax's birth mom in our lives and for her to be able to watch him grow, learn, and change.  we made each other a little teary when we expressed our heartfelt feelings for each other.  it was a special time that i'll never forget.

friday evening we were greeted with will's parent's arrival and the arrival of my mom and granny.  dax was excited for everyone to arrive and to even see a giant spider-man balloon left for him on the front porch!  it was just about as tall as he was, and it did almost give me a heart attack when i found it outside!  we all enjoyed dax's favorite pizza dinner and dax kept asking over and over if he could open the presents!  we told him he just had to wait one more sleep for the party day!

saturday morning we woke up to the sound of pouring rain.  the sky was dark, the fog was thick, and the rain was steady.  we all loaded up into the car and drove 45 minutes into down town raleigh to meet up at the museum of natural science for dax's school friends party.  we were glad to see that some of his besties showed up, despite the yucky weather.  dax and his friends enjoyed learning about animals, making collages, meeting and petting a bug, a bullfrog, a dove, and a bunny.  they were amazed with the little creatures!  the kids had fun dancing and hopping like bunnies!  after all of the fun dax got to hear the happy birthday song he's been singing to himself all week and the kids enjoyed the birthday cake and ice cream.  after they were all hopped up on sugar the boys played a game that had them running after each other around the room.  dax and lucas had a blast just running around like crazy men!  kendall watched the boys and thought they were quite silly.  everyone had a good time.

 

after the museum party we headed back home and it had finally stopped raining.  we were so thankful since we were planning on having a cookout for about twenty people!  it all worked out and we got to spend the afternoon enjoying will's great grilled offers and a coffee bar in celebration of dad's belated birthday.  all of the caffeine kept the adults awake and ready for a full day of partying.  after lunch dax began opening gifts.  he got 50 matchbox cars, two race tracks, a giant chase - paw patrol - dog, some new clothes, a spider man toy, and some new books.  he was very excited to open every single package!  

after playing with his gifts for the afternoon we got a great visit from dax's birth family.  we were so ecstatic to hang out with dax's birth mother, birth father, half brother, and cousins.  the kids were having a blast playing together and it was so special to watch dax play his racetrack with his birth father.  the only other time we'd hung out with him before was when dax was about 6 months old and dax screamed bloody murder the entire time!  this was much more pleasurable!  we saw so much of dax in our interactions with his biological dad.  they have the same sense of humor, personable and friendly personalities - sounds of laughter always flowing out - and then that huge smile!   we love spending time with our extended family and hope that we'll get to continue to do that as long as we shall live!

this morning we headed out for dax's birthday pancakes.  the boy knows what he likes, and he wanted pancakes and pancakes!  so, we all loaded up and went out for blueberry pancakes.  the waitress delivered the pancakes with candles in them and the entire dining room sang happy birthday to dax.  he was smiling ear to ear!  he ate his entire breakfast and was very happy with all of the fan fare.  after the breakfast we wished will's parents well on their journey home and we took a family nap.  dax slept in the middle of our bed and will and i snuggled up to him on each side.  who knows how many more moments we'll have like these, since dax keeps reminding us how he's a big boy!

daxton - at four years old

• loves to get ready by himself.  can put on his own underpants, pants, socks, shoes, and most shirts.
• loves to go potty by himself.  can get the pants down, get the pants up, wash the hands, dry the hands.
• can write his name all by himself.  he prefers to do a "D" then an "X" and then a backwards "a".
• loves to open doors all by himself and hold them opened for others behind him.  everyone is always impressed by his doorman skills.
• loves to apologize each night for anything that he's sorry about (its a sort of confessional).  he sometimes says he is sorry for making a mess, having an accident, hitting the dog, making someone mad or upset etc.  it's a sweet little thing he does.
• loves to sing to music while riding in the car with mommy.  he loves christian radio and belts out all of the songs he knows.  (he also loves a little jason aldean, no problems there.)
• loves disney movies.  loves to go to the movies, loves to rent dvds, loves to watch them over and over and over again!
• still loves to go to the big city!  loves going to town to see where daddy works and to try new restaurants.
• loves to smile, giggle, joke around, and laugh - laugh - laugh!  he keeps us laughing and smiling because his behaviour is infectious!
• loves going to preschool!  he has lots of friends in his class and often talks about connor, joshua, and lucas.
• loves his neighbor - dylan - and they constantly call out for each other to come swing or go swimming!
• loves his awana class every wednesday night.  we've been very impressed by his memory verse skills and how it's helped us help him understand the love of Jesus.
• still loves halloween.  dax looks forward to halloween all year.  its a special day for us since it's when we got the call about his match, and we just sometimes wonder if he knows how special this day is for all of us.  it's really the beginning of our joyous journey of his sweet little life.
• still loves pizza, pasta, popcorn, crackers, apples, oranges, mango, fruity ice creams, vanilla cake, pancakes, and most other carbohydrates!
• loves to play on his swing set out back.  he loves to slide his toys down the slide and watch them reach the bottom before he can race to pick them up.  he loves being pushed on the swings and is working on getting himself going on the swings.
• loves swimming!  he did great with swimming lessons this year and everyone was impressed this summer about how well he was doing in the pool and at the beach.  we hope to keep him swimming through winter at the indoor pool.
• loves that he got to welcome one of his auntie's to the carolinas this fall.  now aunti conti and keek live just about ten minutes away.  dax is looking forward to family meal times being a little bit bigger and also looking forward to a slumber party at conti's house and watching a movie on her giant new television!
• loves dancing to songs like "i like to move it, move it" or "kick the dust up" - there's a little something for everyone!  we love to watch him do his "break dancing".
• loves saying his prayers every night.  he talks to God and tells him all that he's thankful for and prays for his friends, his teachers, the preschool director, and his little baby sister that he hopes will come soon!
• dax still loves raffie and sleep with him every night.
• he sometimes takes him on car rides, to school, and always on long road trips.

four years old is going to be amazing.  he's so sweet and sensitive.  sometimes you'll just get an "i love you momma".  melts the heart.  dax's speech is getting much easier to understand and he's really voicing his likes and dislikes.  he can tell us when he wants to do something or when he'd rather not.  most things don't present as a battle anymore, unless you try to convince him to go potty right in the middle of an activity that he really wants to partake in.  we love spending time with him and helping him grow, learn, and love.  he's a people person and loves meeting people and charming them right in with his personality.  everyone loves dax.  no doubt about it.  we know we said last year that three was the best, but even though we are now 24 hours into four, i can already guarantee that this year is going to be our best.  love, love, love, love, love you sweet dax.  my baby. er - i mean big boy.

dax is three!

grab a cup of coffee and settle in, because this is going to be a little lengthy.

halloween was mostly fantastic.  daxton found out in the early evening that he was going to be buzz lightyear.  he was so impressed with his costume that he could not wait to get it on.  will helped him get fully dressed and then he proceeded to strike some poses and even show off his costume to his buzz lightyear toy.

he had a great time trick-or-treating!  he went from door to door, up and down long driveways and sidewalks, to ring the doorbells standing on his tippy toes to say "twick-or-twee"!  he always took just one piece of candy and was sure to follow it up with "thank you and happy hawwowee"!  we were very pleased with his manners and super exited how happy he was to be running around collecting something he'd never even eaten before.  he ended up scoring about three lollies from the grand adventure and i think some monster must have eaten the rest of his loot.

the reason things were only mostly fantastic was right before this shot of dax and buzz i realized something was wrong with my camera lens.  it was making a strange noise and i could not get the lens to adjust.  i left his room and went to check it out and heard something rattling around inside.  not good.  sigh.  then, after further inspection i found a metal clip was broken off flopping around inside the body of the lens.  yuck.  a trip to best buy where it was purchased confirmed the warranty was expired and then a trip to a real camera store a few days later confirmed we'd have to mail it back to canon to have them see if it could be repaired and if it would be cost prohibitive since it's likely going to be pretty expensive.  bigger sigh.  and so i go not only into dax's birthday, but the busiest holiday season of the year with my favorite lens in the crapper.  poops.

friday we took the day off and took dax to his favorite park.  we wanted to spend a little one on one with him before all the birthday craziness commenced.  he had fun running all over the place, playing in the sand, going up and down the slides, and swinging on swings.  he cried when we had to leave, but we had to make it to a doctor's appointment before the fam started arriving.  he did well at the doctor and when we got home it was about ten minutes before namaw and poppie arrived.  we had fun hanging out and watching namaw play the guitar.  shortly thereafter we had more guests when gran and nani arrived.  dax was pushing the limits of his day without a nap, but we survived through dinner and got ready for the big day.

that night we set a ton of balloons outside of daxton's door.  then, in the morning we serenaded him with our rendition of happy birthday.  we won't quit our day jobs.  then, it was off to the living room to start the approximately 12 hour package opening extravaganza.  personally i did not feel like i had purchased too many gifts, especially since i bought some here, some there, some two weeks later, etc.  however, when everyone else showed up with the same over the top amount the kid had seriously a package an hour to open, plus all of the frenzy from the birthday party.  shew!

we treated him to a cinnamon roll number three.  when we asked him if he wanted cinnamon rolls he said "no rolls" and then when he saw it he called it cake, and definitely wanted some - so we all played along.

after cake he had lots of energy to open some big gifts so he started with a giant box from namaw and poppie.  he was excited to see it was a farm and we had daddy build it so he could start playing immediately! 

after the farm was played out he bounced back to hungry hippo that he'd opened earlier and gran had to check out the "woo-wie" doll.

after lots of present opening and playing we all got ready to head to the gym for dax's birthday party.  he'd invited his entire class from preschool, some friends from church, and some of our neighbors.  we were excited that lots of people could make it since it was going to be dax's first party with friends.  we, of course had a buzz lightyear theme and served cake and popcorn - just like dax likes!

an amazing local cake baker/decorator made daxton a buzz cake.  he was amazed with the fact that buzz was coming right out of the cake!  there were also some alien cupcakes for the kids and parents to enjoy after the kids played at the gym.  everyone had fun bouncing, doing the obstacle course, playing with the hula hoops, going down the slide, playing with the parachute, and just running around and being somewhat crazy.  after enjoying the cupcakes and opening gifts dax thanked everyone for coming and we headed home.  we weren't out of the parking lot for three minutes before dax fell fast asleep.

however, once we got home he woke up during a diaper change and we couldn't get him back to sleep.  since we knew his birthmom was coming we let him fight it and stay awake, praying he wouldn't be too moody when she was able to make it.  

dax was super excited when the door bell rang and it was for him!  he opened the door and found his birthmom, half brother, and a cousin.  they all came in to play and wish dax a happy birthday.  it was great to catch up, show them the pictures from the party, and watch the kids play together.  we're always so thankful for the time that we can share together.  the most exciting little tid bit of the evening was when we learned that dax's birthmom has the same difficulty in keeping her pinky down if she holds up three fingers.  dax's pre-school teacher said she'd been working with him on that this week and he just couldn't keep that pinky down.  we'd noticed its cuteness as well, and we think its so precious that we can know where he gets that from.

will and i both commented that we think this might have been dax's happiest birthday ever.  he was surrounded by family and friends, got to play all day long, was the center of attention, got a phone call from the paw patrol, and got to eat cake at every meal!  there's no doubt how much this boy is loved - and so on that note, let me wish my boy a happy birthday.

Dax,

You are the most amazing boy I know.  

I love your tender heart and the fact that you are always concerned when you hear a baby cry or think someone has a boo boo or hurt feelings.  I love how you run and hug me screaming "mommy" when I pick you up from pre-school.  I love how you want to "talk to Jesus" each morning as we pass by the stained glass windows at church.  I love how you're working so hard on your words and building your vocabulary and numbers.  I love all of the little projects you bring home from school each week, and how proud you are when we hang them on the wall.  I love how you love your daddy and you're always so excited when he comes home from work, and how you comment in the morning that "he'll be right back" - even though daddy's work days are about 12 hours long.  I love how you're trying new foods and even if you don't like something you at least let it touch your tongue before you say "ewwww - yuck"!  I love how you love to run, jump, and play outside.  I love watching you run with a huge grin on your face - feeling the wind as you scamper down the sidewalk and run off into the yard.  I love how you get so excited over simple things like ice, or airplanes flying in the sky, or even seeing a store display with some character from the movie frozen.  I love your innocence and how you always say a cheery "hi" to everyone we meet.  I love how you're still slightly offended if they don't respond.

There's not one thing I don't love about you, but the thing I love most is that I get to be your mommy.  It really makes me cry just thinking about how amazingly wonderful it is that God gave me the special gift of being your mom.  It's the best thing I've ever known and I'm so thankful for every second we've been given to watch you grow, learn, and love.

Love, 
Mommy

Poppie, Namaw, Will, Dax, Adri, Nani, Gran

(tomorrow is the big ptosis corrective surgery, so we'll chat more on that asap.)