Christmas tree hunt

in true whitacre fashion we set out to find the perfect christmas tree the saturday after thanksgiving. 

it was a beautiful day..a little too beautiful for my taste.  this momma needs some snow when hunting for a christmas tree! however, it was kind of nice not to have to bundle the littles. 

the girls were off as soon as we got there

as was levi. 



and he even found a couple trees that tickled his fancy.






as did abbie



soon the littles got bored with mommy who was saying no to all the trees they were picking out
so they started to play hide and seek 

and just when momma was getting bored and ready to settle for a small little dinky tree i caught a glimpse of the whitacre 2011 christmas tree.

sadly it was not this tree. this tree was our tree's stunt double since our tree was actually a precut tree that was leaning up against a big maple tree. i tried to get daddy to lay down and pretend he was cutting down our precut tree but he wasn't having it. poor sport.

 

and since i am not used to buying a precut tree i was quickly thrown into a tizzy and forgot to get a family picture at the tree farm.  apparently it doesn't take much to throw me off. 

i did remember to get some pictures of the littles enjoying their cocoa though.  










and don't you think for a second that i could close this post without pointing out the fact that abbie had the SAME boots on that the girls had worn three years in a row!! yes that's right...4 years of wear out of these boots!  the best part you ask?  i bought these emu boots for $10 four years ago!

year 1


year 2


year 3


year 4 (and this vest the same one Sophie was wearing in years 1 and 2!)  it's all about the hand-me-downs!

Thankgiving.

we had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with lots of food and family and much to be thankful for. 

 i didn't really take any pictures but that's ok because it means I was able to enjoy the moment!  I did have to get my camera out to capture a cousins pic though. 

is this couch exploding with cuteness or what?  

  I love that all these littles are all 6 and under and i love that they all can be divided into BFF pairs...Kenzie and Abbie (3 months apart), sophie and ella (1 month apart), and levi and brayden (1 month apart).  how much fun!

and here are some things i am grateful for this year

-the fact that i have a God that loves me more than i will ever be able to comprehend

-my amazing hubby that will sometimes surprise me with a sonic soda  when i get home from work...and since i mentioned sonic i have to say i am thankful for happy hour at sonic where i can get huge flavored sodas for me and my hubby and slushies for each of the littles for under $5! oh yeah!

-thankful for my four little gifts from God

-thankful for our health

-thankful for our beautiful home

-thankful that my sister and her family live in the same village so we can visit on a daily basis

-thankful that my mom does so much for our family!

God is so good and i have to be better at giving thanks everyday for all the blessings He bestows upon us...

-

Ella's 4th Gotcha day.

ella has officially been part of our family for 4 years now.

i say officially because if you ask this momma she was part of this family as soon as i laid my eyes on her referral pictures.

oh those sweet sweet referral pictures. 

I look at those pictures with such joy thinking back on how God took us down that path of "special needs"...

the path we were not comfortable going on. 

 i remember purposely not checking that box on our initial application that read "willing to adopt special needs".

it just wasn't for us. 

besides WE know whats best for ourselves, right?

oh please.

God lovingly started to plant the seeds in our heart for special needs soon thereafter we neglected to check that box.

but even though we began to explore special needs we had decided we were not going to do cleft lip and palate.

we knew we wouldn't be able to handle everything that went along with that.  the surgeries.  the scars.  the taunting she may receive when she gets to school. 

nope too much for us.

God had other plans.  His plan.

God began to lead us in the direction of adopting a child with a cleft lip and palate.

go figure. 

just want we decided we weren't going to do.

Si Ping was the one of five children that were on a special needs list that came to our agency in march of 2007.

however we could not inquire about those children because i was not yet 30.

the following month we received a newsletter that there was one little girl left that needed a forever family.

i had turned 30 the week before i opened this email

the next day we called the agency and told them that Si Ping was our daughter. 

i can't even begin to explain how much ella irene ping has blessed our lives.  her litle scar above her lip is part of her...a part i would not change. 

she has a love for God that still brings me to tears

she will often pray to God telling Him that she wants her daddy to baptize her.

my sweet ella.

she will be the first to give up something of her own so that others won't have to experience sadness.

my sweet ella.

she will pray every night for the needs of others...rarely does she ask for something for herself.

my sweet ella.

she is the first to help you out no matter what she may be doing at that time.

my sweet ella.

not too long ago she told me that she was so happy that God picked me to be her mommy.

my sweet ella.

she loves with her whole heart and when she knows somebody is upset with her she grieves with her whole heart. 

my sweet ella.

many people will say how blessed ella is to have us.  they couldn't be any more wrong. 

and this is why.

 if ella was still in that orphanage she would still be that same ella with that same huge heart loving and helping all those around her.

  we did not teach her that. 

God blessed her with that.   

WE are the ones that have been blessed...

we are blessed that we are able to love on this little gift from God every.single.day.

thank you God.

ella turns 6!

ella is 6! 

it pains me to see how quickly my little chickadees are growing. 

i wish they would just slow down...just a little.

ella started her day with some doughnuts...just as us whitacres do on our birthdays!

poor ellie has a hard time with the flash in the morning.

 

and then it was off to school  (but not before mommy got a picture of her little birthday girl)

look at that smile.  she really was that happy!

at school she got recognized at morning program. she loves being front and center. :)

then after school it was time for presents

and finally time for cake. 

we had a such a great day celebrating ella's birthday.

happy birthday, sweet girl. 

halloween

the littles had a great time trick or treating this year.  it was a little colder than it had been in Halloweens past but still a beautiful night considering.  levi actually made it the whole time we were out.  what a little trooper.

mommas lil sweets.

momma's lil stinker.

i could totally eat this lil stinker right up with a spoon!

ella helped mommy out and pulled levi most of the night.

and uncle jeff helped momma out by pushing my 6-year old in a baby buggy! this reminds me of the scene in the grinch (Jim carey version) when the grinch stole that tiny car and drove off through whoville.

levi starting to figure out what halloween is all about.

and then throwing a fit after momma told him no
more candy.

what a fun night.