WOW! We always have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, but this year I was completely OVERWHELMED with thankfulness as I looked into sweet Landrie's face. Last year at Thanksgiving, we had no idea how many more months or years we might wait to have a baby in our arms. We never dreamed that parenthood could be this amazing! THANK YOU, GOD for our precious baby girl!!!

Our week started with Mark's sister Megan and her husband Greg coming in town. We were so glad to see them! To add to the party, Mark's other sister, Beth, and her husband Rusty came over too (they live close by). We love our family! Landrie got to hang out with all 6 cousins and was loved on by her aunts and uncles too. :) The only ones missing were Mark's parents! They will be down for Christmas soon!

I turned my back for one minute... Tucker thought Landrie's swing looked really comfy!

Aunt Megan

Aunt Beth and Uncle Rusty

This is another one I didn't post earlier! This is Uncle Eric's first time to meet Landrie.

If Braiden stretches really tall, he is taller than Nonny!

Whew! Going back to work really cut into my blogging! I'm going to attempt to catch up. :)

On November 14th, Landrie turned 2 months old, and we had our last baby shower. It was so special, because it was with all the friends I grew up with in my church! Most of the hostesses have been in my life since elementary school!

Mrs. Duff, Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Watts, Mrs. Coffey, Mrs. Fisher, (me, Landrie and my mom) Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Lynn, and Mrs. Johnson hosted this beautiful shower!

They had a Blessing Tree and everyone wrote notes of blessings for Landrie and put them on the branches. The notes were so sweet! They also passed out Bible verses to everyone that had Landrie's name put in them. It was so precious to hear her name with God's promises. Here's one:

Well, I wrote earlier about how sad I was to go back to work! We didn't get a picture of me the first morning I left, but if you work with me, you saw all those tears first hand. :(

Here I am AFTER the first day, when I was back home with my sweet baby!! Going back was a little bit easier, knowing that she was in great hands. Mark and his mom are trading off days these first 2 weeks. Landrie's loving her time with her daddy and grandma!

Mark's mom has been such a blessing to us! She helps out in every way, and doesn't mind that Mark and I call to check in during the day. :)

She agrees with us that Landrie is as cute as can be! Landrie did great with Grandma and is ready to see her again at Christmas!

We had Landrie's 2 month check up tonight, and the doctor said she's healthy as can be! The nurses loved her blue eyes and wild hair. She did not love the nurses. If you remember your child's 2 month checkup, that's the one with all the vaccines. Not fun!! The nurse stabbed her with all those shots, and in a few short seconds she started screaming louder than I've ever seen her scream in my life!!

Remember the movie Freaky Friday? The mom and daughter switch places and get a little taste of the other's life. Well, unfortunately for me, tomorrow is going to be Freaky Monday at the Long house. Mark and I are switching places! I'm going back to work and Mark is staying home with Landrie.

This weekend our little family of three headed down to Houston for a weekend full of family!



First, we packed for our first trip with Landrie. It took forever! Here's a shot of her little suitcase. Do you see the entire container of bows? :) On the way home, we could barely fit everything; poor Max just had a tiny spot next to Landrie's carseat. Mark said he thinks we need a bigger car already!!

On Friday Mark, Landrie and I spent time with my parents and Nonny. We all just passed her around and loved on her. They couldn't believe how much she's grown!

Saturday morning we headed over to Mark's grandma's. It's so nice that she lives in Houston now!
Grandma was completely taken with Landrie and thinks she is beautiful!! We missed seeing the rest of Mark's Houston family, but we gave Grandma lots of pictures, so be sure to ask her about them! We can't wait to introduce the rest of you to Landrie too. :)

Saturday afternoon we got Landrie all dressed up in her orange and black cuteness and headed over to Melissa's parent's Annual Chowder Party. I think it's been a tradition for about 40 years! I started going when my brother started dating Melissa, back when I was in elementary school!

Aunt Melissa, Aunt Christy, and Melissa's parents, Granny and Pops loved on Landrie at the Chowder Party.

Cousins Braiden, Brooke and Abbie couldn't get enough of holding the newest addition to the family. Braiden was the master at getting her to smile at him. :) Several times during the party there was a line of people wanting to hold her! She did great being passed around, and didn't even cry! Bennett got a big kick out of kissing her tiny toes!
Mark and my brothers, Eric and Kevin, relaxing at the party. They were all holding her too, but I never got pictures! Knowing my family, I'm sure someone else did!



We headed over to Webb and Tristan's to go trick or treating. Everyone looked so cute in their costumes.
Bennett was sooo excited about his candy!


Adelynn the fairy loves all things girlie and was in heaven when I did her hair and makeup. :)





They made it about 2 feet inside the front door before they dumped their candy and started sampling their loot. YUM!
The whirlwind continued on Sunday with a baby shower for Landrie.





On Saturday, their birth parents suddenly changed their minds, signed the papers and chose Dave and Bethany to be Isaac's parents! We drove back into town, dropped Max off at the house, and went straight over to their house to meet this sweet baby. I loved hearing about everything, and I cried and cried!! He's so beautiful!

I am so bummed that I didn't take any pictures last Thursday! I had my shower with all my friends from school. At the last minute, I decided to bring Landrie along. I'm glad I did! I'm not so sure they would have let me in empty handed. :) The shower was scheduled for the Tuesday when we were still in the hospital. We're teachers, so we're good at being flexible, right? :) We had Ruthie's world famous chocolate cake, and Landrie got all kinds of great gifts. She slept through the whole thing!


Our school has GREAT teachers, and it was so good to see everyone again! We started trying to have a baby when I started working there, so many of them have been a great support for me through these years! I'll be heading back for a few weeks of work on Monday, and it's good to know I'll be going back to friendly faces!

If you would have talked with me at the start of this summer, I would have told you that I wanted to meet our future baby's birth mom, but I wasn't quite sure about the whole "open adoption" thing. After we first met our birth mom, my mind began to change. After spending that time together in the hospital when Landrie was born, we felt such a bond with her! It's kind of like when you come home from church camp or an amazing vacation. I could try to put it all into words, but it's just impossible to explain. How to you explain the way you feel about the person who gave you her daughter? She is such a blessing to us!!


Many of you have asked about our birth mom. I know I was so curious about what a birth mom might be like before I met ours. I asked her about the blog, and she said she didn't mind if I started using her name or posted pictures. Whew! Now you all get to see her beautiful face, and I can finally start calling her BRIANNA! :)

Now you can see why Landrie is so beautiful! Check this out. 2 DAYS after delivering Landrie, she was in size 6 jeans. Now, she's even tinier! She's one of those legends you hear about or read about in People. :) That's good news for Landrie when she has her own baby! (sniff!)

I've been emailing Brianna pictures, and we sent her pictures of her first month. She agrees that Landrie is just as cute as can be! Saturday was the first time that we met in person since the week Landrie was born. It was Brianna's birthday, and she came in town with her boyfriend Chet and daughter Brynn, who is Landrie's half sister.


We spent a LOT of time just oohhing and ahhing over Landrie. She's grown so much since they've seen her! Chet was with us in the hospital, so he and Landrie have a special bond too.