Merry Christmas!!!

Oops...

So I stink at blogging.  I knew it when I started this blog.  A few years ago I tried to start a family blog... it ended up with one post on it.  I decided to start this one because our case worker told us that word of mouth was the best way to hopefully speed up the adoption process.  We want to add to our family so badly and I know that means I need to be better at keeping up with our blog.  So here goes (although short and sweet)...

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  We had 10 people over from Michael's office.  Most of them were single and had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner.  Everyone brought something and we had a TON of food.  One girl named Meg was here and she just doted on Lily.  It really warmed my heart to see Lily so happy amid a large group of adults.  She didn't feel left out or like she needed to cling to me at all.  Lily had a Thanksgiving lunch at school.  She borrowed a dress from Keira's sister so that she and Keira could match.  Aren't they cute??

On December 1st, Lily had her preschool Christmas program.  I wasn't able to get any good pictures during it, but we got some great ones of her posing before and after. 

Last night we had a Christmas party at church.  Lily was SO excited for it.  She loves crowds and parties and noise.   She even got to take a picture with Santa!!  Before the party though, we had to unpack the box that came from Nana and put the gifts under our tree.

So that's my quick update.  All is well in our home.  We're happy and healthy and looking forward to this amazing Christmas season.  

Gratitude

This month, many people are choosing to write daily about what they're grateful for.  I tend to reflect more personally and not put everything out there for all on my social media pages.  That being said, I have to say that  I am so incredibly grateful for a kind and loving Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me.  I am grateful that he knows me so much better than I know myself.  I'm grateful for the gentle whisperings of the Spirit that come back again and again until I actually pay attention and listen.  My life hasn't always gone according to my plans, but I know that things are going according to his and I'm okay with that.  I'm grateful for Michael.  He is kind, loving, gentle, and humble.  He's an amazing dad.  It doesn't matter how long his day has been or how tired he is, he comes home from work and plays soccer in they yard, reads books, colors, does play-doh, plays hide-and-seek and just has fun with his daughter.  He's the best husband I could ever ask for.  Michael would give up anything for himself to make me happy.  He comes home from work and offers to cook dinner, do dishes, fold laundry, or anything else he can think of that might help me (although I usually send him to play with Lily since she misses him so much during the day).  My family may be small for now, but we're happy and we love each other.  All three of us look forward to the day our family will grow.  We are so ready to be a family of four. We know that the day will come - Lily knows her prayers for a brother or sister will be heard.  Michael and I have faith that our prayers to welcome another member of our family into our home will be answered.   Until then though, we will move forward with faith, grateful for all that we've been blessed with already.

What brings me joy...

It's true...

Princess Cinderella

Too much candy!!  That's what you'll find in our house.  Between the trunk or treat at church and trick or treating last night, we have too much candy.  Thankfully Michael will eat most of it.  In fact last night, Lily came home, dumped her candy out on the kitchen counter, and asked if she could have a little bit more dinner please.  She only ate candy when Michael asked if she wanted to share some Skittles with him!  I was shocked but definitely had no complaints. 

Lily dressed up as Cinderella for Halloween.  She already had the dress but I agreed to buy her a crown and let her wear my special dangly pearl earrings.  This was huge for Lily.  She's never allowed to wear dangly earrings, and wearing my nice ones was icing on the cake for her! 

Happy Birthday Michael!!!

I'm behind on blogging.

October 22nd was Michael's birthday.  He'd been working 12 hour shifts for the entire week because of something going on here on base and we were pretty sure he'd have to work 12 hours on his birthday as well.  Lily and  I were kind of bummed because last year Michael was in Louisiana for his birthday and we really wanted to be able to spend time with him.  Well, we got lucky!  The day before Michael's birthday, he and his co-workers finished working after about 6 hours and Michael was done for the weekend!  Woohoo!!  We didn't have a ton planned for the day because we'd anticipated Michael being at work but we were happy to be together.  Instead of a cake, we made chocolate cupcakes with a reese's peanut butter cup inside with peanut butter frosting.  They didn't look to pretty but they sure did taste good!  Michael is always so easy going and grateful for anything that others do for him.  We love you Mikey!! 

--------------------------A Walk in the Park---------------------------

We are so fortunate to live right next to a beautiful state park.  It's right across the street from the base and is acres and acres of forest.  Fall is my favorite season and Lily is just amazed with the colors of fall so we thought it would be a good time to go for a family walk/hike at the park.  Michael and Lily go to the state park often for daddy-daughter dates but this time I was allowed to come.  :)   Lily had a basket to collect colored leaves for a fall craft and ended up coming home with tons of leaves, acorns, and nuts.  We tried to end with a picnic but there were so many bees that we were miserable and decided to come home and eat in the backyard at our patio table. 

...........................Tomorrow... October 13th

For nearly 7 months I dreaded tomorrow.   Now I can't wait for it to come.

On January 31st I found out that Michael and I were expecting for the 4th time.  It had been over 2 years since my last pregnancy/miscarriage and I was ready to do it again.  We thought that this time would finally be it for us and we'd be able to have another baby.  On March 7th I had an ultrasound that showed me a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat.  On March 8th I had an ultrasound that showed a baby with no heartbeat.  It was devastating.  I was due October 13th.

Fast forward until now.  We're no longer trying to conceive on our own for the first time in our marriage.  We know that adopting is what our family is supposed to do.  We're excited to welcome a baby into our home - hopefully soon.  We have just one step left until we're approved and officially waiting - our home study visit.  Just by chance it was scheduled for tomorrow, October 13th.  It's like a new beginning!!   

.................General Conference Weekend............

We LOVE conference weekend!  What an amazing experience it is, twice a year, to hear the words of choice men and women of God.  We try hard to make it a fun and exciting weekend so that Lily understands just how special and wonderful it is. 

Friday night was backyard camping night.  We cooked hot dogs over the fire and slept in our tent.  Lily was especially excited to get brand new winter jammies to stay cozy overnight. 

On Saturday we started the day with yummy apple cinnamon muffins, eggs, and hot chocolate.  We were all excited for conference to start and Lily couldn't wait to hear her "favorite prophet" speak. Poor Michael was just a little bit tired!  Lily painted and made sure that Jaynie was comfortable.  In between sessions we took down the tent and cleaned up all of our stuff from the camp out. 

After conference Lily went to a birthday party  for a little boy in her preschool class, Mason.   Lily claims to love Mason and  the two frequently refer to each other as their boyfriend or girlfriend.   Lily was super giddy having Mason put his arm around her and could hardly contain herself for a picture.





Sunday was an amazing day of conference.  Somehow, after four hours on Saturday, Lily was still excited to watch again on Sunday.  We filled our day with fun crafts - the kitchen table was moved into the living room.  Lily painted wood letters to spell the word family.  She picked out ribbon with hearts on it (because we love each other) to hang the letters in our family room.

Photo Page!!

We have to make 2 photo pages for our case worker to share.  Here's the first one...

Pizza, Movies, Soccer, and Forget-me-nots

This past week has been a great one at the Heiner house!  On Saturday night I was able to attend the General Relief Society meeting.  It's always fun to go out with all the girls and the spiritual experience is definitely not worth missing.  President Uchtorf spoke directly to my heart.  I went home feeling refreshed, uplifted, happy, and so very blessed. 

We've been having a lot of fun as a family.  This week, Lily wanted to have a pizza and movie night.  We make homemade pizza every Friday so this was nothing new but it's always a good time!  (The added bonus is that we watched our movie while we ate which is a very rare occurrence at our home). For our movie, Lily chose to watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.   It was a little bit scary at times but nothing that a good snuggle with Mommy or Daddy couldn't fix! 

Lily has been loving soccer this fall!!  It's only a 6 week program on base that teaches the basics but she can't seem to get enough of it!  I didn't think she'd enjoy it nearly as much as she does her dance class, but boy was I wrong!