Gotcha!

June 27, 2013: The day my son officially became my son! He has been mine since he was 10 weeks old, but has always been in the custody of CPS. After 2 years, 11 months, and 4 days, he became mine in all ways. It has been a wild ride, and I will soon share my adventure, but for now, just a few pictures from my wonderful weekend. Nolan was fortunate enough to have his grandpa come down for his adoption day and spend the weekend. 

After court, we had a "Gotcha!" party

Nolan and Grandpa went to the park to play

Finally, Nolan got to experience his first Astros baseball game!

It was a wonderfully memorable weekend that we will never forget!

Summer is Here!

Memorial Day! Time to party in the pool at Mimi and Papa's house, along with all his favorite people!

My Birthday Boy!

I am now the proud parent of a 3 year old! I can still remember the day he came home from the hospital at 10 weeks old. He was only supposed to stay for awhile, and now he will be with me forever :)

I took a Thomas the Tank Engine cupcake cake to his school for all his little classmates, and it was a hit!

As well as the Thomas goodie bags for all his friends:

And today I gave him his present, some Crystal Climbers, courtesy of Lakeshore Learning (love that store!)

On Monday, he starts in the PPCD program at the local elementary school, and will be riding a little school bus. He will be very excited, I am a little nervous...

Our First Vacation of the Year

Nolan and I got to spend the end of spring break up in Sherman, TX, with our dear friends Mark and Tamara. Before Nolan, I visited twice a year. After Nolan, this is the first and I was so excited for him to go, as well as test to see how he did on his first long car ride.

The Pilot packed with all the goodies we needed, and then some. We made it all the way to Buc-ee's in Madisonville before stopping, and it was a great stop (only on the way up; coming back was amazingly crowded!).

Nolan did great on the trip, I really only had to stop every 100 miles or so. DVD's and lots of food helped. 

Over the weekend, a lot of our time was spent at a fantastic local park. We also ventured over to the Red River Train Museum, where Nolan got to explore a retired caboose. All in all, it was a great trip, a time to relax and I am so glad that Nolan did so well!

Nolan's First Rodeo!

The day finally came to take Nolan to the Rodeo, and boy, was he excited! He got to ride the shuttle bus, see the eggs hatching, milk a (pretend) cow, and go on his very first carnival rides! He was extremely ecstatic/laughing with joy as he rode the tractor and the carousel. I didn't know which way he would go, but apparently he loves the rides. I can only imagine next year...
Soon I will be able to show you the true joy on his face, but for now, I can share these:

Postcrossing

I love Postcrossing. If you haven't heard of it, it's a free, online community of people around the world that send postcards to each other. I've been a member for 6 months, and have received close to 50 cards. I've wrangled my two aunts into joining as well. You send a card, you get a card. It gives you reason to look forward to opening the mailbox and see what awaits you, besides bills and catalogs. Today I received a direct swap from a new friend in Spain. It's not an official card, but a way to send extra cards just for fun. Since I can't officially add it to my Postcrossing wall, I wanted to share it here, since it's quite beautiful:

In receiving cards from Russia, Latvia, Netherlands, Belarus, Germany, Japan, China, Lithuania, Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, and others, it is a testament that we share far more similarities than differences...

Rodeo Houston Fun

Marleah and I went on our 6th annual Rodeo Houston adventure to see the Zac Brown Band. It's one of the few times I get to go out as an adult, sans Nolan. I was, however, scouting the rides to see which ones he would love in a couple weeks. Turns out, you need to be at least 32'' tall, he's somehow 37'' tall. (I don't know how that happened!)
My first stop of the day at Rodeo:

A strawberry-margarita mix. It was fabulous, especially since you can walk around the park with your drinks.
Next stop, the carnival games, where we walked away with many prizes, including this one:

Nolan needed a snake, of course!

Finally, it was time for the show. The new sound system made the concert so much more enjoyable than years past. You could actually hear what was being said

It was a fantabulous night!

Nolan's Day 9 Surprise...

On our road trip this June, we will just happen to drive through Lancaster County, PA, and will be taking a ride on Thomas! I am saving it as a surprise for Nolan, so SHHH!!!!

An awesome summer awaits...

After letting this blog lie dormant for close to three years, it's time to kick it into high gear and use it! My son is almost 3 years old, and we are looking forward to some amazing adventures this spring and summer. He's old enough now to really enjoy them. Our first adventure of the spring is his first trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Then we're off to Sherman, TX, to visit friends Mark and Tamara. This will be his first long car ride, which will be good preparation for our first trip of the summer with friends Jonnie and Sam. We're taking a two week adventure up to New England, Amish Country, and Washington, D.C. Finally in July, we will be spending three weeks in Oregon with my family, something they've never had the chance to do until now. I'm so excited to have a summer! After 6 years in prison with no summers, this one will be extra special.