One month ago this sweet baby girl made her way into our arms forever! Her story is everything short of amazing and I continue to be in awe that she is actually here with us! She is a true blessing in every sense of the word.
Our lives have changed yet all has fallen into place just about as we expected. A little chaos here, a lot of forgetfulness and grace there....it is a beautiful kind of mess!
We missed our baby girl's first two birthdays so we decided to pull out some good ole Little Debbie cakes, add a few candles and sing to our girl. She was mesmerized and so excited!
I seriously almost cried when I looked into the camera and they were all SIX looking AND smiling at the camera! And not the goofy smiles....real, genuine smiles. Oh my!
Chapman took her time picking and eating every.single.sprinkle on her Little Debbie....
while big sisters sang and danced at the table....
this little one took her time.....
they were all on deck to be sure she knew exactly how to handle her cake in a proper fashion!
Thankfully, this little one has obviously had experience in eating sweets because she did not miss a crumb!
Meanwhile, life has continued on....
Colin is home a lot and I love having him here! It really is the wildest thing....he goes to school at 7:30, comes home at 9:30 everyday of the week. Mondays and Wednesdays he goes to two classes at a local university from 1:00-3:00 and then he also takes an online college algebra class....all this and he is hanging in there with the best! He is happy. He loves his new set-up! And I am thankful for this time. Chapman has really taken a liking to him and he is smitten!
Meanwhile, Pryce is moving right along in his last year of homeschooling....he is doing so well, loves his classes and his friends and he has been running cross country. This boy is on fire! He has picked up right where he left off with Maryn. Maryn is his friend. She LOVES to play with Pryce. They have a little morning routine going on and I am thankful to be home and hear those two at it again each morning.
These two. I love the boys that they are and I love the men they are becoming!
And then you have these two....these girls are so fun together....whether it is dressing up or playing Barbies, they can have the best of times!
This little one is enjoying her new ability to go outside and breathe in the fresh air! Goodbye smoggy skies and pollution, HELLO Georgia sunshine and blooming flowers! She would stay out all day if she could. She just likes to piddle around like an elderly person only she is much faster at it! Don't let that sweet smile fool you, this girl is a mover and a shaker....and she is always into something unless she is on your hip!
We are so thankful for the friends who have come by to visit us since we retuned home with Chapman. So many have reached out to us, brought us meals, helped with taking our children to and fro to activities, the texts, the phone calls....it's all been so good!
And this is how we have successfully done our first month! Baby Chapman loves to be held in the carrier be it on front or back of mommy! And this mommy doesn't mind one bit! As I fixed dinner and did homework with the girls the other day, Colin asked, "So why didn't you do this with the other girls?"....he was asking because he definitely sees the benefit in me doing it with Chapman.
Our first month has been nothing short of amazing! Chapman, in so many ways, is so easy! She sleeps so well and eats so good! She still hates milk or anything that even resembles it but she willingly drinks water mixed with a dash of juice so that is what we are going with! Her sweet voice continues to just be so angelic. But then, just to keep this realistic, there are the screams and the screams are so LOUD. So loud. She has no qualms in letting us all know when she is not happy. We all agree that she is TWO and to make it even more frustrating for her, she doesn't even know our language! Thankfully, she is so much more happy than sad! She continues to be our little gamer....she loves a good game of chase or peekaboo! And to see that perfect smile of hers melts us all! We are so thankful to be home, all under one roof. We know we are still in the early stages of adjustment and we are all giving a lot of grace as we find our way as a family of 8!
I have SIX children.
Blows my mind.
My dream.
My heart.
Thankful.
