Kindergarten Round Up

I can't believe this day has come - kindergarten roundup!! Claire was beyond excited while I was a little apprehensive and skeptical. So much so that I didn't even register her. It's my baby. I can't let her go to school everyday and be with other people more than she'll be with me!!
Moving on... did I mention Claire was BEYOND excited!! She couldn't wait to see the school, meet her teacher (which she was disappointed when I told her she wouldn't be doing this) and she was really excited to see her friend Layla. Layla and Claire have been in the same class this year at MDO and we are hoping they will be again this year.

Here they are - two peas in a pod waiting for the school tour and eating their goodies from the lunch line! They were so giddy and cute holding hands through the hallways.


Claire is more than ready for school - academically and socially - but I am getting a huge dose of reality that time is flying by at lightening speed. Where has the time gone? I have four more months with her to primarily be with me and I want to make EVERY moment count!

A few things I want to remember:
- It was so surreal walking the same halls with my baby as I did when I was in 4th and 5th grade. How awesome to have her going to the same school as I did!
- As soon as we walked into the cafeteria, she met the principal and gave him the hardest and loudest high five I've heard in a long time. I think she took him by surprise =)
- When the nurse was introduced she leaned over to me and said "She looks like a good nurse!" So sweet
- We went through the lunch line for a milk and treat so they could see where and how they would buy their lunch. She looked at me worried when we got to the register and said "I don't think I'll have enough for my lunch" Poor thing thought she had to pay for it herself - I reassured her that mom and dad would be giving her money if she wasn't bringing her lunch. So glad she spoke up and wasn't worrying about that any longer!
- She is so excited about having a library at her school. She didn't say anything to me but a few days later told someone "And we have our OWN library at our school. Isn't that special?" So glad she loves books and loves to read. She can't wait to check them out "all by myself"

Easter Festivities!

Easter is one of my favorite times of year as we celebrate our risen Lord!! Although we celebrate this every day, I love the traditions our family has for this time of year: dying eggs, egg hunt with church family, Good Friday service at my parent's church, resurrection buns - yummy!, meals with family, Sunday morning service, resurrection eggs (we added this one this year), matching foo-foo dresses, egg hunt at Neil's parents with the cousins. There is nothing like the time we have with one another.

So here are A LOT of pictures to help us remember our celebration this year! I LOVE the age the girls are at right now. Just soaking up the bible, asking questions, giggling, sharing - I pray I never forget this time in our lives.

First thing we did was the annual Northside Egg Hunt! Always a great time!Here is Eden in her Easter dress looking sweet =) She's really started posing lately!

Our Claire Bear
Abbey and Claire - what a blessing it is to have Abbey and Claire growing up in church together!

Abbey, Leyna and Claire - this is one of my favorite pics of the day! My prayer for our girls is to have strong, Christian friends so they can encourage one another. Claire is blessed with these girlfriends at such a young age!
Neil and I with our little egg huntress =) Once she got over the roly poly that was in her bucket (she didn't want to crush him with her eggs) she was off to find her loot!

Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate with us!

Neil and Eden looking cute

Before Good Friday service, we had Billy over for dinner and we dyed eggs. This was something that Billy and I loved doing as kids so it was especially fun to have him there while doing it with the girls! The eggs got put into almost every cup so we had some very colorful eggs this year =)
Love this picture

Neil's Uncle John came into town for our dinner and egg hunt celebration with Neil's family. We hadn't seen him in awhile and Claire had a great time hanging out with him!
Cousin Egg Hunt!
Kyle and Justin getting eggs from the tree!
Claire checking out her candy and other goodies!
Maw Maw came too and Eden was in heaven sitting next to her at dinner!
Justin brought his lizard, Sarah and the girls LOVED holding her and letting her crawl all over them!! We might be a reptile family which I don't mind - we had an iguana, turtle and ball python when we were growing up. Here is a great pic of Justin holding her =)


Before bed we made resurrection buns so we could have them for breakfast! Super important to have the kids make them with me - we roll up marshmallows in crescent rolls, seal them up (like the tomb), sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon, bake and then when you take a bite on Easter morning, it's empty - just like the tomb!!

Empty resurrection buns Easter morning!! HE IS RISEN!!
Claire with her basket after church! So proud of her chocolate bunny and cross necklace from mom and dad - this basket was given to my mom for her first Easter so it's extra special!
Eden was in candy heaven!!
What a glorious day to celebrate!! Praying that our little guy will be home for next Easter!!

Baby fix

This past weekend we went to Austin to get our baby Pierce fix!! Neil hadn't met him yet and Claire has been asking me everyday when we would see him again =) I didn't mind holding him most of the day either!! We had a wonderful time and hoping we helped Heather out a little bit with Mike's first day back to work.

Claire wouldn't be more than a foot away from Pierce unless we insisted or he was in his bassinet. Look at that gaze!
Then it was Eden's turn to hold Pierce. She likes to call him "MY baby"
We were there for his first real bath and what a treat! The girls had so much fun watching over the counter. He wasn't too sure about it but as soon as Heather gave him her pinkie he was all set.
Look at those stretched out legs! So cute!
Neil got a chance to hold him too =)
Love this picture of the beautiful momma, her sweet boy and cousin Claire
Pearl was such a good girl! She and Eden were quite a pair!
Picking strawberries from the garden
Uncle Mike came home and the girls were all over him!
Silly!!
Mike took Claire out to help plant the carrot and cucumber seeds.
What a wonderful weekend to get to know the newest member of our family! I can't WAIT to have our little guy home to meet his cousin - I know these two will be good friends and probably get into some trouble =)

Fiesta Parade

The annual Fiesta Battle of the Flowers parade was so much fun this year!! For the past three years we pack our cooler, grab our lawn chairs and find the greatest spots down by the Alamo in the plaza. Such a wonderful tradition that my mom and I have with the girls - it was Eden's first year and she did great once the parade actually started! Eden's favorites were the horses that she so desperately wanted to ride and the bands. Claire's was of course the Princesses on the floats. Already can't wait for next year!

Grandma with her girls - Eden eating all the watermelon until it was gone!
I took Eden on a little walk to pass the time as we waited for the parade to start. Here she is with the Alamo...


My Fiesta Princess We started in the shade but eventually had the sun right on us so we brought out the umbrellas. My mom was a trooper trying to help me keep those girls in the shade =) With Neil's melanoma 7 years ago (can't believe it's been that long) we are VERY careful with them in the sun. Eden was just hugging all over my mom's head and rubbing her hair - it was hilarious!
My mom has loved parades since she was a little girl and I remember her always wanting to go when I was growing up. I pretty much dreaded them and thought she was crazy. Well, now I understand =) We have such a fun time with the girls and it's one of my favorite traditions. One I hope the girls will hold onto for a long time!

Official April #

Our official April waitlist # is.....

Yipee!! That was 2 less than we thought we were - always a good surprise =) Things haven't seemed to slow down yet but we will feel it when all the kids at Hannah's Hope have referrals and everyone is waiting for court dates. No news on how the policy is really going into affect. We are just waiting and about to start heading up a garage sale, dog sitting, lawn watering and marathon/half marathon team gathering =) While we wait, I'm also reading a few books on adoption, finding international pediatricians, researching vaccinations and ready to start my ethiopian cooking! It'll be here before we know it (the power of positive thinking!)

Curly-Q

Eden sportin' her curly-q's and lollipop! Hard to believe she was sick this day playing hookey from school (again) after she got her school pics taken!

One Year

One year ago today we officially started our adoption journey. It's hard to believe it's already been that long. This has been one of the most challenging, heart-transforming, eye-opening, faith-building experiences of our lives and this is just the beginning! I can't wait to see how God continues to reveal Himself in His plan for our family. Our son has already captured our hearts and we don't even know who he is yet. But God knows and He is preparing us for this blessing that will come into our lives hopefully within the next year. We've been on the waitlist for a little over 6 months now and dream of the day we will get "the call", hear his name and see his precious face for the very first time!

Harrison Pierce Walvoord

Harrison Pierce is here!!

March 31st at 10:20 p.m. at 7 lbs. 6 oz. 20 inches We waited for him to make his appearance all day and thought he might be an April Fool's baby! I drove up to Austin with the girls on the 1st to meet him. He was only about 14 hours old! The girls were more than excited - Eden was a little cautious at first but soon warmed up and couldn't wait to love all over him! Mike holding Pierce with his cousins! First picture of all three together Claire didn't want to get too far away from him =) She wanted to love on him a little too much at times! The proud mommy with her love - Congrats Heather!! These videos are priceless of the girls comforting and "petting" Pierce's head. I think it's safe to say they are in love!

Untitled from Kathryn Lewis on Vimeo.

Untitled from Kathryn Lewis on Vimeo.

I'm in love too! As we were leaving the hospital Claire was very concerned about when we would see Pierce again and wanted to make sure he would still be small =) She also asked me why his poop looked like chocolate pudding!! HA!! I laughed so hard at that one. One more thing I wanted to remember was her concern over Pierce going home and Pearl barking loud enough to wake him. She's looking out for him =) Before heading back to SA my parents went with us to the Ethiopian restaurant Aster's right off 35 in Austin. We've been there once before and it was my parent's first experience with Ethiopian food. They were more than willing to try which made me SUPER happy and excited to share this with them. Silly shot! May not look yummy but it is awesome!! Such a unique flavor and one I'm excited to start trying out in our kitchen. I bought berbere which is an Ethiopian spice and will be trying it out very soon. Now I just need to get the teff flour to make the injera (the flat, spongy "bread" they eat everything with - literally - no utensils!) A huge thanks to my parents who stuck around after I realized I locked my keys in my car =( I'm so glad they were there with us! The girls were amazing!