This is our Maryn to a tee.  Leave her alone for even a second and one must be prepared for what she may get into!  

 Maddox spends her spare time making cards for Chapman....this is one of my favorites.  If you look real close, there is a little baby bundled up on the left side of the card.  This is Chapman, per Maddox's drawing.  The perfect part?  Maddox even made her hair stick up....the pictures that we have all show that our girl has a head full of hair that the nannies have put into a ponytail that sticks straight up on her head!

 It is Roar season....

 our Snow Crystal....

 our Pony.....

 and our sweet Cherub.....

 and in the midst of Roar season, there is Cotillion season....

 Ryan is Father Christmas this year in the Roar....the girls are so excited that their daddy will be on stage with them!

 And we are getting back in the saddle again with swim team conditioning....Maddox has no shame in telling anyone who asks just how fast she is!

 And two of these three girls celebrated Gotcha Days recently!  Maddox has been home for 5 years and MK has been home for 8!  I love their birth mothers for saying yes to life and I LOVE that we get to be their family to love them forever!  

 And our little buddy Noah is HOME!  We were thrilled to have a bit of time with him and visit him in his new home!  He is doing fabulous!

 The children all jumped in as if they had seen each other yesterday!

 And these moments with my family are some of my favorites....Spring has sprung and our back porch is open once again for outside dining!  It does a momma's heart good to sit with her family around the dinner table and just talk about their days!

My sweet Maryn.  She was my little messenger pal last week as we made our way to the courthouse to have some documents looked over and approved for our adoption.  She had no idea that the box she was carrying held every.single.document to enable us to bring home her baby sister!  What a big helper she was!

My How February Flew By!

February began with a special night out for MK and her Daddy....

 there was all kinds of special treats on this evening including flowers and a dinner too!

 MK was radiant and had the most handsome date at the Father/Daughter dance.  From what I have been told, she chose to dance a bit with her dad and then ran around with all of her friends for the rest of the evening.  I am so proud of her!  She has had an amazing year at school!

 February also brought in the new year celebrations Chinese style!

 A local restaurant was gracious enough to help us host our CNY affair for the families with children from China.  This picture makes me laugh....Maryn was already gearing up to take the high road out!  She was not at all impressed by the dragon dancers....

 however, the rest of our crowd was taken with them and watched in amazement as they made their way around all of us.

 Once everyone had recovered, a group photo was needed....so many new faces this year and we are so happy they are here and home forever!

 Next up....MK's debut on a theatrical stage.  MK had a part in her 3rd grade play, Stone Soup.  Of course she handled this responsibility in stride and we were so proud of her!

 It really was a great performance and after seeing it twice, the songs kind of stuck in our heads for the rest of the week!

 And February also meant time on the courts for Colin.  Basketball is his favorite sport to play....

 and play he did, hard core!  They were second in their league and only lost one game!

 And February brought in a weekend spent in Atlanta.  We love experiencing new places with our children!  This year for Christmas, the children were gifted the experience of an Atlanta CityPass from their grandparents.  

 We cashed in on this and spent a weekend hopping from the aquarium to the Coke factory to the Atlanta Zoo to the College Football Hall of Fame to Fernbank to CNN....

 As always, it was great fun for all!  MK was especially taken with the panda exhibit at the zoo....

 the twins graced us with an appearance and we all agree they were pretty cute!

 Of course, the most fun was just being together.  We swam, we stayed up late, we ate cheesecake for dessert every night, we just go to relax and it was just what the doctor ordered for our crew!

And Then There Were SIX

We are humbled and EXCITED to announce publicly to all of our friends and family that the Drafts' household will soon be livening up even a bit more with the addition of two more feet and two more hands to run and play with!

Yes, it is true.  She is 17 months old and we think she is just precious!  We have submitted our Letter of Intent to China to request her as our very on and, while we thought we could wait patiently on our Pre-Approval before telling all, time has gotten the best of us and today is the day!  

The back story.....Pryce and I traveled to China on a mission trip in November 2015 and spent the majority of our time there in an orphanage.  One of the many loves I have in adoption is the ability to advocate for children who wait.  I had in my mind that the mission trip would allow me the opportunity to be a voice for the children who were waiting....I wanted to go in and give the ALL a chance, speak up for them to their director and show her that each and every one of those children has a worth and is a life worth fighting for, special needs and all.  Harsh reality set in when we realized that many of those children would grow up surrounded by barren walls and with little hope of a life with a forever family.  

It took time to process but I came home with a determination to advocate for waiting children and find homes for these kiddos.  I sincerely love telling families about a child that could potentially become their own.  One morning in December, I spied a three year old little girl and inquired about her.  My thoughts were if I could find out more about her, I can share with families who are looking.  The response I received to my inquiry was that she had been placed - AWESOME - and then the email read, "how about this little cutie?"  Attached to the email was the file of our girl and pictures of her sweet little self!  I knew the minute I saw her she was a Drafts.  Never in my dreams have I thought one could tell, but, it is true, one can tell when they are looking into the eyes of their child even if they are on the other side of the world!  

However, adoption was really not on our radar.  We had discussed hosting and possibly hosting to adopt but really just tossing around different scenarios with no real commitment to any of our thoughts.  We felt complete.  Maryn makes a good little caboose - she is spunky, charms us all with her little antics, and she is still quite the baby to us all!  We were just getting settled into a new little routine....school for some, part time work for me, the crazy schedules that surround us, etc.  But, that face.....

We prayed and prayed and every.single.time, God answered very clearly.  We even told the agency we could not proceed with her twice because of the lack of answers we were given in regards to her health....and still, He prevailed and showed us each step of the way that she was ours!  

So, here we grow again!  

We ask for prayers for her.  She is currently residing in the province that borders where we traveled in November....we were SO close yet had no idea!  She does have a need that we will likely know the extent of until she is home.  Though her need looks fairly simple, we are fervently praying that she is protected from illness or injury while she waits.  And please pray we get our Pre-Approval for her THIS week!  (For you mommas who have experienced pregnancy, the Pre-Approval is the equivalent to seeing and/or hearing the heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor!)  With CNY being celebrated this past week, we have had to already experience a bit of patience early on in this process while we wait for PA....and once it arrives, we can share her sweet face with all of you!

BLIZZARD 2016

 Good morning Georgia!  

Maddox was the first one to spy the white stuff on the ground and soon the whole house was awake and staring in amazement at the snow falling onto our yard.  

 Living in the south, the word SNOW can mean a lot or not too much.  In fact, I had heard for one week that snow was coming and I truly didn't even blink an eye.  The threat is sometimes there but the temps and conditions rarely line up.  

 But Saturday was different.  The snow was perfect.  It fell for several hours and stuck only to the grassy areas....

 and it was just enough to build the perfect snowballs....

 and attempt to build a snowman!

 This little one was in amazement.  She just walked around and played and laughed, repeat.  

 Meanwhile, some took it to the next level and chose to use a snow shovel to gather snow to sling at her brother.

 Some of our street gang was out playing too and their snowman attempt was much more successful so we borrowed it for a few pics!

 They kind of look alike:)

 And not too long into our morning, somebody found their pockets for their snow-chilled hands....

 and another found her way into the kitchen for some much needed hot chocolate and marshmallows.  

Our snow morning was complete.  And it was just that, a snow morning.  By afternoon, the snow was all gone and we were thankful for the memories we made earlier in the day!

(And this picture....so funny....all four bundled up, and then the one who is behind the couch with no intentions whatsoever of going outside to play in the snow.  He will tell you he hates snow and he means it!)

MK is NINE!

Happy Birthday, MK! 

Her last single digit birthday ever.

ack. time slow down!

 This girl continues to amaze us.

She is so quick to think of others at times....perfect example, her brownie cake.  She insisted that we do half with M&Ms and half without, you know, just in case someone didn't like M&Ms. 

 These girls all represent a piece of who MK is.  There is her cousin, Emma, whom she looks up to at all times.  There is Chloe, her friend from day one.  There is SK, from homeschooling and home she adores.  Her friends from ballet.  And her school friends.  I am so thankful for each of these girls and the memories MK will have of her time with them!

 Ice cream sundaes and brownies were on the menu.  

 And presents are always fun for everyone!

 And this girl has her mommy's taste buds....a little chocolate and peanut butter is good for the soul!

Nine looks good on you MK!  

Your favorite subject in school is science.

Your favorite food is Nutella.

You can't decide on a future job - either a clothing designer or a doctor or a teacher.

You think Maryn is the cutest thing ever.

You can quote the first three seasons of The Brady Bunch word for word.

You love anything that has to do with crafts and drawing.

Your classmates call you MK.

We call you MeiMei.

And we love you to the moon and back!

Happy New Year

We rang in 2016 in the best way possible - a trip to Atlanta to visit friends and to see a baby girl come off of an airplane from China with her forever family!  

And then the celebrating started....sparklers, firecrackers, brownies, Martenellis and all!  

 Thankfully, the Mohr saved the day with their fabulous selection of firecrackers.  We had zilch in that department and had great plans to purchase on our way home - but, alas, it wasn't meant to be!  

 We visited a family we met during our journey to MK that morning, greeted the Wakefields as they got off of their plane from China with their baby girl, and then we welcomed in the New Year with Chloe and sang happy birthday to one special little girl!  

 What a blessing it is to have them so close!  The children all get together and don't miss a beat!

 Someone was tired.  She could not be found.  She could not be heard.  We called for her and looked for her in the most suspecting of places.  In the end, we found her all snuggled up amongst the pillows of our bed!  Maddox loves her sleep, no matter the day!