Happy Birthday Smith!!!

I cannot believe I am writing this, but Smith is officially 1 year old!!  Our sweet little man is no longer a baby.  We had a birthday party with all of our friends the weekend before his birthday.  I'm not sure how we fit them all into our house!  

We had a cowboy themed party.  A friend who is raising money for their adoption did his invitation!

It turned out perfectly!

We took more pictures, but they are on my sister-in-law's camera. So these will have to do for now.

The birthday boy enjoying his cake. He wasn't quite sure how to handle total freedom to dive in :)  We had to help him out a bit, but then he loved it!!  

Smith and his buddy Christian.  His mom Lyndie and I. We love having boys so close in age!

My wonderful friend Katie and her family came as well! Smith LOVES her little girls Turner and Margaret.

Matt and great friends.

At this point Smith was already down for his nap...the party was a bit overwhelming, so we let him sleep for a bit.  Anyway, these women are great friends! 

There were so many other precious friends and family there.  I just wasn't able to get those pictures yet.  

 We appreciated everyone being there to celebrate our little man as well as God's amazing and unbelievable faithfulness.  I still cannot believe we have this sweet little man :)

Smith is growing soo much!  He started walking a few weeks before his 1st bday, which was very exciting.  He is talking/babbling up a storm!  The words he can clearly say are "mama", "dada", "please" (while doing the sign language as well...we worked VERY hard on this one), "stinky" (while waving his hand in front of his face...hahaha!), "tickle", "that" (while pointing).  

So thankful for this little man.  I can't believe I get to stay home with him each day.  Happy Birthday little man!!

Oh and one last thing.  On Smith's actual birthday we had some fun plans, but they were ruined when we went in to get him up and sing "Happy Birthday".  We picked Smith up and he was burning hot.  He had a temp of 104.  I am usually not one to freak out, but I definitely did.  Thankfully my mom knew what to do and his temp came right down.  We headed to the dr. just to make sure.  It was just a virus...thank goodness!   This is one healthy child.  He was back to his normal self by that afternoon :)  

Here he was before he was feeling back to normal...

If you know him, he is NEVER still.  Always has somewhere to go ;)

And feeling better and snuggling with mom :)  

Picture Updates!

Today I realized that I never shared pictures from Smith's BIRTHday.
They are too special not to share :)

Smith's sweet little footprint.  They did this on a blanket for us to keep!

Sweet baby boy was so laid back from the moment we met him.  He loves his sleep!

My first time to meet him.  I thought I would be a complete mess when I first held him.  But the moment was so sweet.  I was calm and enjoyed each and every moment.  AND because I wasn't a mess, I remember every bit of it!

Me thinking, "I cannot believe he is finally here!!!"

Matt's first time holding the little man.  Matt's face says it all :)

This is my favorite picture of Matt and Smith.  

Matt's mom holding Smith.  

My mom spending a few minutes with Smith. I think she was telling him about his cousins :)

My dad with Smith.  I love how his face is so lit up :)

Aunt B and Smith.  She says that she is his favorite Aunt, but she has a bit of competition.

Aunt Deborah and Smith.  

His first bed.

My dad teasing us already :)

Terrible quality photo, but this is us talking.  Having a good time :)

His first bath!  I love that little scrunched up face!

4:00 am and we were to our room.  Man, it was a long long day!

His first feeding.  He wasn't very interested in eating.  I learned later that babies just don't need much those first few days.

I can't even express how fun this was.  

Hanging out with Dad.  We watch an episode of Friends every night.  Staying at the hospital was no exception.  We were watching an episode during this pic :)

This is one of my closest friends, Katie. I've blogged about her a few times.  This girl drove 4 hours just to see Smith on his Birthday.  It was so special to share in this with her!!  She was such a huge part of our adoption story.  She prayed with me. Cried with me.  And encouraged me to seek the Lord in all of the joy and sorrow.  

And get this...it's kind of crazy.  Smith's adoption was a private adoption instead of through an agency.  So one day last Fall I got a phone call from a friend that knew of a family that wanted to find a family to adopt their baby (Smith).  Of course the rest is history...except that that same day earlier, Katie had told me she had a dream that I was 5 months pregnant!!  We didn't really think anything of it until we got that phone call. The birth mother was 5 months pregnant.  So technically I was "5 months" paper pregnant.  

Sorry, just a random little part of our story :)

This is another one of my favorite pics of them.  I love watching Matt as a dad to a son.  I can already see how Smith is mesmerized by Matt.  He looks at him completely different than he does me.  I wouldn't change that for the world.  I want them to be close!  A Father/Son relationship is so special :)

Smith and his wubbanub.  They have a special relationship too.

And there is that sweet little face.  

This is us leaving the hospital.  Instead of being wheeled out in a wheelchair, they wheeled Smith out in his little bed.  So glad to have all these memories.

This is the welcome home sign that my parent's made for us.  And I have to say...it was all my dad's idea :)

These are just a few that I wanted to share.  Adoption has been such a cool part of our story.  Every time I look at Smith I remember God's faithfulness.  I wouldn't have it any other way :)

1st Baby Shower

While we were preparing for Smith's arrival family and friends gave us some beautiful baby showers.  We felt so special and loved!

The first shower was at my parent's house.  My mom wrote out different scripture for each person there to read out loud as a prayer for our family.  Some were for Matt as a new dad.  Some were for me.  And some were for Smith...then some were for us a family!  It was so special!

Me and my friend Katie.  She picked me up.  Took me to get starbucks and then drove me to the shower.  So special.  She also did this for me for one of my wedding showers :)  Makes everything all the more special!

This is 2 of my sisters, my niece Charlotte, and a great family friend.

This is all the Pelletier girls.  (I'm in the middle in stripes)

And this is Matt's family!  I stick out like a sore thumb ;)

This shower made everything feel all the more real.  We couldn't believe that in less than a month our baby boy was going to be born!

BOY BOY BOY!

Matt showed up and helped open the gifts.  It was so special sharing a shower with my sweet husband. I loved seeing him excited about his son!

We are doing great right now.  Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I think that's my longest break ever!!  Smith is growing like a little weed!  He is such a big boy right now!  Smiling, laughing, and "talking".  We just can't get enough of him right now.  He'll be 4 months next week. Where does the time go!!

It's tough to get a smile on camera bc my iphone is SOOOO slow!  So this one will have to do :)  Such a big boy!

Edna mae's Modern baby books!

I looked long and hard for a baby book for Smith.  I knew that with his adoption his book needed to be custom.  So I started looking on Etsy.  I came across Edna Mae's Modern Baby Books and I was in love :) I loved everything about them!

This is the one we chose.

But all the others are adorable!

This was another option...

but the MR. wanted the blue one.  

These baby books have beautifully printed pages and pretty much space for anything.  She even has an adoption package!  I was very excited about this part.  Anyway, just wanted to share a great place to get a baby book if you're on the hunt!  

Adoption Hearing

Let me just start off saying that I should be cleaning my house right now.  I just can't seem to get inspired to clean. Sad story, but oh well! I am busy getting ready for a baby shower for my sister!  She is having my first nephew on April 7th! I can't wait!!  

Anyway, moving along.  This past Friday was our adoption hearing to make Smith's adoption finalized.  Praise the Lord everything is done and went smoothly!  It was a 5 minute ceremony where they asked us a few questions.  The judge even gave us the pen he signed our papers with!

I cannot even express how special it is to have this precious baby boy in our lives.  We love him so much and love watching him grow every day.  I honestly cannot believe he is ours.  God, you are so good and to you be all the glory!!!

Us answering questions...I wanted to yell out "HECK YES" to all of them.  But I politely answered "Yes" instead :)  Doesn't MR.P look handsome??

I guess something was funny!  

Us with our attorney and the Judge.  What a blessing that everything is done :)  Smith was supposed to be taking a nap, but we couldn't let him sleep through such a special moment.  That's why his fingers are in his mouth.  

So this is the family that was able to come.  If our entire family had come it would have been a little overwhelming.  This isn't even half ;)  We were so blessed to have family come and celebrate with us!

Can you tell I am excited that everything is done??  Sad Smith's face isn't in this pic, but he was tired.  Which is why he has his wubbanub in his mouth.  Which is by the way, the best invention ever.  He loves it!

So Smith is officially Smith Jackson Peele.  We love you so much little man!!!