Church Time!

Before church and so alert

Joshua and Aunt Rachel playing around on the ipad before church 

 Getting ready to take his picture and he was so focused on me (for once) that I wanted to soak it in and Matt captured several of those.  

 Time for the meeting let's put the electronics away...

Cousins!

Last month, Matt's cousin and sweet family moved to Texas only an hour and a half from us.  Joshua was so excited to go and play with "the cousins."  Joshua doesn't have any first cousins and the only cousins we have ever had over are these cousins thus the name "the cousins."  He had a fun time playing and they seemed to really enjoy each other.  They have another cute little one but she was sleeping or attempting sleep the whole time we were there so no photos this time.

Joshua's highlight though was probably playing dress-up.  He was thrilled with the skirt and heels.  He wore them downstairs and wanted to know if he was a pretty princess.  My guess is that he will look for these on our next play date.

It was nice to see family so close to us in Texas.  They have found a cute spot and the rural drive was a nice vacation from San Antonio.  We were treated to delicious burgers from a local spot and will definitely have to visit "the cousins" again very soon.

Baby Shower

My sweet friends Megan and Kerstin hosted a baby shower for me.  It was a meet Nathan shower and they provided hand sanitizer.  :-)  The shower was so cute with blue and yellow flowers and mason jars embellished with flowers and ribbon.  There was a ton of food as Kerstin always provides and everything was gluten free!  Megan had some cute games for us to play including a fun mad lib that all of the guests helped to fill out.  We were spoiled with gifts to include diapers, formula, outfits, handmade blanket, bath stuff, and other baby needs.  Joshua even scored a couple of gifts for himself.  It was really a special night though to celebrate this precious baby with the people that have been with me through this journey the last two years.  These friends helped watch Joshua through fertility appointments, they wiped tears as I had weak moments of not understanding, they promoted my adoption profile, and they prayed as we learned of Nathan and his sweet family just two months before his birth.  We love our Texas family.  

Sisters Came to San Antonio

My sisters Julia and Rachel drove to San Antonio.  Rachel, the youngest, is headed to BYU-I in September.  She has decided to stay with me until she begins school.  Julia was sweet enough to road trip to San Antonio with her and then fly back.  They were here for a week and we had a great time.  I was so grateful that Julia is not a driving chicken like me.  She took them for a full day of exploring downtown and also took them to a rodeo.  The rest of their visit we were content to stay home together or someone stayed home while the other two went out and about like the day we went swimming.  It is too hot for Nathan to hang out outside here.  We did some shopping and I introduced them to Charming Charlie's.  I had to take them to get Rudy's BBQ and a nearby Tex-Mex favorite.  Matt is still in Corpus Christi so every night once the kiddos were in bed we helped ourselves to a romantic comedy and enjoyed an in-house girls night.  We did nails and hair and just had a fun time.  Joshua and Nathan love their aunts.  Nathan really enjoyed snuggling with Aunt Julia and Joshua thoroughly enjoyed waking them up in the mornings and getting them to play with him.

I really can't believe I didn't get more pictures but I guess we were too busy playing.  

First Bath and Other Adventures

Thursday after taking Nani to the airport we needed distractions.  We made paper bag puppets and we skyped with my mom and dad for awhile too because they were going through withdrawals.  

Friday we took off to Chick Fil A for our family tradition of free Chick Fil A.  Matt and I were married in college y'all so kids have to do what kids have to do.  :-)  Matt was conveniently working out of town so it was up to J and I to represent our family.  I only sported a white shirt with black spots.  

This was our results.  

I promised Joshua we would play a little in the mall play area.  I anticipated that we would play for a little while and then head home so Nathan could sleep really well.  However, he got very comfortable.  We stayed for the entire nap!  Joshua was happy and Nathan was content.  I decided why fix something when it isn't broken.  Look at this kid!

 Saturday, Matt got up super early and drove the 2.5 hours home to spend the day with us.  We had so much fun together and finally gave this guy his first bath.  He took forever to lose his umbilical cord stump and he has been just getting sponge baths.  He was screaming like a crazy man until he got in the water and then all was well.  I love the way he is looking at Matt.

A little more of this and that

So, basically I am a new mom again.  I don't sleep a lot but I am trying my best to stay on top of my blog.  I say this to say don't judge my pictures, grammar, descriptions, etc.  Just enjoy!  :-)

Hi I'm Nathan and I am three weeks old!

This week we have also switched our sleeping arrangements around.  

New Nursery

Made some wall art that says Nathan in the center frame

 Waiting for a picture of Nathan for this picture frame and this sweet wall art was made by friend Alyssa

Joshua and his Nani had a great time decorating his new big boy room.  Joshua picked everything out and decided on dinosaurs.  

There is also a cute lamp and rug but I didn't get a picture of those and obviously I am blogging which means the kiddos are sleeping so I am NOT going in there.  

 He has had no problems sleeping in his big boy bed.  

 They made sugar cookies and decorated them today too!

Just a few pictures before church this week.  I've been so happy that my mother-in-law was willing to stay home with Nathan so he doesn't have everyone wanting to hold him just yet.  I am somewhat of a protective momma bear.  :-)

My mother-in-law leaves in a day and a half and we have loved having her here to help us.  She has made special memories with both of her grandsons.  She may be the only one that remembers those with Nathan but hey she made them either way.  I have been able to spend one on one time with each of my sons.  It has been a special time.

3 Year Old Pictures

So I realized I never shared Joshua's 3 year old pictures/Turek Family Pictures.

Of course we took these pictures in May so when we travel back to SC to finalize the adoption in  September/October we will have to take updated pics to include our sweet Nathan!  

It has been a joy to be married to Matt and I certainly love the family that I became apart of immediately.  I also LOVE being the mother of Joshua.  He is a special boy and it has been an incredible 3 years.  He is such a sweet and tender child.  It doesn't take much to discipline him.  He cries and needs a hug if you even barely raise your voice or talk a little stern.  He is usually quick to obey and responds very well to choices.  He loves to say the prayer at meals and bedtimes.  He is a fast learner and absorbs anything/everything we teach him.  He is currently in love with airplanes and discusses landing gear, contrails, and wings like it is normal conversation.  He loves to pretend and make people laugh.  He really has been such an easy child so far and I almost hate to talk about him to other parents because seriously I have a good kid.  :-)  It completely melts my heart to see him as a big brother but I won't talk about this here because this post was supposed to be at his 3rd birthday and we hadn't met Nathan yet.