Oops! I did it again!

No, I'm not singing the Brittany Spears song. I am just cursing myself for forgetting to blog last month for only the 2nd time in over 7 years! I just can't seem to get my head on straight these days. There are so many pictures I want to post but I just don't seem to have the time! So here is a video of Shad's first time ice skating. Enjoy!

Happpyyyy!

Ouchies

As much as I have tried to deny it, I have a crazy toddler on my hands. He is always getting hurt! Here are a few pictures of his recent ouchies:

He was bouncing on the couch and hit his face on the corner of the coffee table

As we were walking out the door of our friends the Olmstead's house to go to church, he tried to walk down their steps without holding onto anything. He smacked his face right on the cement. This is actually a few days later, plus the old bruise on his cheek from his previous injury above.

Boys will be boys

A few weeks ago after one of Jared's hockey games, Jared set all his stuff down on the ground for a few minutes while he went into the hockey store. Shad ran up to his stuff, grabbed a hockey stick, and started playing with it, holding it just like a pro without anyone even showing him what to do:

So of course the next day Jared cut one of his old sticks for Shad so he could start teaching him how to play hockey! And, of course, I had to document that too:

(Just ignore the perpetual mess shown in every picture of our home...)

I can't believe how easy and naturally Shad has picked it up, he really does a good job of moving the ball around with the stick. I think he will be really talented in the sports department.

Shad has also gotten very daring lately. When we go to the little playground at the mall he always goes down the slide face first, and then he cheers for himself. It's so funny!

He also climbs onto the coffee table and then dives face first onto the couch. I have a feeling we are in for some pretty good injuries in the future for this boy.... help!!

Very rarely we get the opportunity to spend a whole Saturday with Jared, and when we do, Shad likes to watch cartoons with him in the morning (usually while Jared sleeps):

What can I say? Boys will be boys! Oh how I love them!

Wedding, Blessing, Sealing, and Christmas!

We went to Utah for about 9 days for Christmas and it was the most action-packed week we have ever had there! Shad and I got there on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday we went shopping in Farmington with my mom and Alex and got outfits for my brother Andrew's wedding and then had lunch at Zuppas. Yum! Thursday we went shopping at Target with my sister Holly and her sweet Olivia, and we met my mom there for lunch. Shad and Olivia loved riding in the cool cart.

Friday was my little brother Andrew's wedding in Brigham City and we added a new member of the Grose family: Megan! She is a darling girl and hopefully one day she can teach me how to have such cute style!

That night was their wedding dinner in Ogden, it was quite the party! Shad definitely busted out some sweet dance moves:

Shad and me

They had a photo booth instead of a signature book to show that you came to their wedding. Cute idea! Here is our little family of 3:

Afterwards, while we were waiting for the happy couple outside, we lit sparklers and floating lanterns. 

Shad and I also started getting sick that day with really bad coughs and sore throats, and I lost my voice completely for about a week after that. But that didn't stop us from having an amazing vacation!

The next day on Saturday we had the opportunity to be sealed to Shad in the Bountiful temple. The drive there was crazy in a blizzard and we passed 5 car accidents on the way, witnessing two of them, and Shad was really sick and did not look well. We were really worried that it might not be a good day. But we made it safely and when he entered the sealing room all dressed in white with his hair combed he looked absolutely perfect and angelic. It was the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The happiness and joy I felt is beyond words and I am so so grateful that Heavenly Father placed him in our family forever.

It was too cold to take pictures in front of the temple, so we had to settle for taking some pictures inside the rotunda area. My best friend Sierra came to his sealing and took these beautiful pictures for us. 

Is this not the most angelic face you have ever seen?! And those eyes!

 My sisters and parents, and Jared's parents

 My parents

 Jared's parents

Sweet Grandpa Grose

 The Masons

 The beautiful and talented Sierra (click on her name to see some of her amazing work!)

It was an absolutely perfect day and we wouldn't have had it any other way.

The next day was Sunday and we blessed Shad at his parents' church. Sierra came again and took a few more pictures for us. She really is the best!

Besties

The next day, Monday, was Christmas Eve Eve, my mom's annual Christmas party complete with the nativity. Shad was a shepherd and left the thing on his head for all of 1.5 seconds (if that). I love that my mom does this every year so we can always have all the siblings there at the same time. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and we spent it between my Grandma's and Jared's Grandma's house, but we only stayed at each for a few minutes because Shad had a fever of 104 at this point. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this day. Shad and I were both feeling pretty awful still so we went home and slept for almost 12 hours.

Christmas day was nice, we spent most of the day just chilling at my parents' house. This was our first Christmas together as a family of 3 (Shad joined our family on December 27th last year!)

Shad opened some presents and then went back to sleep for another few hours. He got his very first train set. It was so much fun even though he's still a little young to realize what was going on.

The next morning we left early in the morning to go back to Michigan. It was probably the most exhausting yet the best Christmas vacation we have ever had (well I guess you could say it's tied with last year's Christmas vacation when we came home unexpectedly with a baby!) 

Some highlights

Highlights of the last few weeks:

 

 Shad became a toddler over night. It was a little bitter sweet for me to see him so grown up in a matter of hours!

 

 

 

Shad made his first piece of artwork in day care. It went straight on the fridge so I can show it off to anyone who cares!

 

We got a very kind letter from President Uchtorf, the second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, congratulating us on the adoption of Shad. It helps to have family connections. ;) I love that Shad will always be able to look at it as he gets older and know how truly special he is. And, as a friend pointed out to me, it also puts the pressure on Jared and me to step it up and "bring him up in truth and righteousness and help him prepare to be a valiant servant of the Lord." We will definitely try our hardest to do so!

 

I am so grateful for our sweet Shad in our lives. I am so grateful to Sasha, his birth mom, for her willingness to follow what she knew to be right in allowing us become his adoptive parents. I know that Heavenly Father had already planned for him to be our son way before we ever knew it. I know this sounds a little strange, but I am also really grateful for my infertility. I am thankful for all of the pain, physical and emotional, that I felt almost every day for two years before we became parents to Shad; the joy he brings us was worth every bit of it. I don't know if I will ever be blessed in a way to bear children through my own body, but I do know I will have more children in the future in whichever way the Lord sees fit. He definitely has a plan for each of us and each one is so unique to our own situations and capabilities. I am so very thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, for His atoning sacrifice. He truly knows the pain and suffering that each and every one us has and will experience. I am so thankful that because of His atonement, that we will be sealed to Shad for eternity, and that families truly can be together forever.



Shad's first birthday

 

Our sweet little Shad turned 1 at the first of this month. I can't believe he is already 1!

The day of his birthday we took him to Uncle John's Cider Mill. Here he is driving the bus:

Both of their faces really crack me up! Priceless!

 

Running around (he's getting harder to catch these days!)

 

 

 

 It was really fun, but he got tired pretty quickly and was ready for his afternoon nap before we got a good family picture. We attempted a few nonetheless.

 

That night we had his birthday party. I really wanted to do something exciting and had a couple really cute ideas for his birthday party, but I have been a little burned out with school and work lately so I just decided to go low-key and easy with a Halloween theme. I'm sure he won't remember anyway...

I had everyone start singing "Happy Birthday" to him, and then my camera on my phone stopped working and I couldn't get it to work again until half-way through the song. Dang technology!

(Notice how Jared almost burns our son with his first birthday candle... Oops!)

 

Here is the result of us letting him do whatever he wanted with his cake:

 

 

Don't worry, everyone else got to eat pumpkin cupcakes.

 

Here are some of the new toys he got:

 

 

Here are some fun facts about this sweet one year old:

 

-He can now walk like a champ (although he mostly RUNS these days- usually away from me when I am trying to get him ready for bed!)

-His vocabulary now consists of "Da-da" (the word he uses for almost everything) "Ma-ma" (usually only when he is upset) "Uh-oh" (his new favorite word) and a TON of gibberish that sounds like a combination on German, Chinese, and who knows what else

-He is the BIGGEST flirt and knows people think he is cute!

-His favorite food is cheese, any kind really

-He finally gained weight above the single digits for percentile! At his one year appointment he was in the 17th percentile for weight, and 50th for height and head circumference. Yeah!

-He just has such a pleasant demeanor about him and is so much fun to be around

 

We are so amazingly blessed to be his parents. We really lucked out with him being so happy the majority of the time.

Happy first birthday, kiddo! Here's to many more!