Quiet Little Valentine's Day

This year I couldn't be more excited for a quiet little Valentine's Day (night) at home with my 2 loves.  The hubby is making me dinner tonight (ummm, can you say Best.Gift.Ever?!  He certainly knows my love language!  No flowers...food!) which we'll enjoy as soon as the wee babe is asleep.  I've got a little something up my sleeves for him as well (not saying yet JUST IN CASE he happens to read my blog today).  We don't really get too into the gift-giving and commercialism of the day.  For me it's all about showing the ones you love how much you care.  And getting to wear pink and red.  Love that color combo.  

The hubby and I are so thankful this year that we are blessed to be the parents of our precious boy.  

So how are you celebrating?  Quiet dinner in like us or a night out on the town with your hot date?  Whatever your plans, have a lovey day!  I am so thankful for YOU, my sweet readers!  Happy day of L-O-V-E!

A Birthday and a New Look!

Hello, strangers!  I know, long time no hear from, right?  I've got a post scheduled explaining my absence (no big news here, just mommy having trouble working full-time and being mommy!), but for today we'll keep it light.

Yesterday was my birthday and I must say, the best one yet because our little man was here to celebrate with me!  Last year I wanted nothing more than to see our little guy's face for the first time.  And this year I have the best gift of all: he's home!

The fun started Tuesday night when the hubby brought home soup from one of my favorite restaurants and the most beautiful green roses.  Green is my favorite color, so he definitely gets thoughtful points!  I jokingly asked what he was doing because it wasn't even my birthday yet!  He reminded me that I insisted on having "birthday week."  I kept referring to it as such around here.  But hey, why not draw out the celebration!

I woke up yesterday to a happy happy Hayes and then headed to work (much to my dismay because we were supposed to get some "bad" weather here in TN.  Notice I say "bad" because those of you up north just laugh when everything shuts down here in TN with a slight dusting of snow!).  It ended up being a great day though because my sweet students and awesome co-workers were too kind to me!  The hubby, Hayes, and I took it easy tonight at home (Hayes has been exhausted lately and goes to bed at 6:00!). This weekend the hubby and I have BIG plans to go to dinner and a movie to celebrate JUST THE TWO OF US.  This is big news because we haven't been on a date since we brought Hayes home in June!  Crazy, right?!  We did go to my best friend's wedding and rehearsal dinner-which I considered a date, but that's been it for almost 7 months!

I did manage to get one picture to document the big 2-8!  Excuse the tired looking mommy at night after a long day of work!

And notice the new look on the blog?  A big thanks to Jana Gordon again from the etsy shop Little Web Writing Hood.  She did the original design for me and I recently emailed her asking for a little color scheme update.  Love what she did with it!

What about you, Wayman Family Nesters (if you're still out there reading!)?  Any of you have a hot date like I do or have big plans this weekend?

It Was a Happy Happy Day

As I mentioned in Friday's post, it was our sweet Hayes's 1st birthday.  The hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with our son.

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a shirt with a monkey wearing sunglasses and a tie!

(And oops!  Our documenting of our day didn't start until the 3rd stop.  Bad mommy!)

The day started in a not-so-fun-way at the doctor's office for our 1-year checkup.  Well, just the shot part was't fun.  

Then, we headed to Bread & Company to have a yummy lunch together.  Hayes chowed down on applesauce, bread, and tomato basil soup (this kid will eat just about anything!).

Next, we went to Phillip's Toy Mart to pick up a birthday gift for the man of the day.  We let him carry it around the store, but don't worry...I still wrapped it up and officially gave it to him later that night.  He still seemed surprised to me!

After our little trip to the toy store we headed home so Hayes could take a much-needed nap.  We hung around the house until time for dinner.

For dinner I thought it would be fun to take him to eat Ethiopian food since he's never had it.  A couple of months ago, I bought an Amazon deal for $15 for $30 worth of food at Mesob, a local Ethiopian restaurant.  As we sat down and took in the music and atmosphere, I immediately started to tear up.  It reminded me so much of our time in Addis Ababa.  I miss our son's birth country often and this overwhelming feeling of homesickness came over me.  It was fun to reminisce on our time in Ethiopia over dinner.

We ordered Doro Wat, Beef Tibs, and Lentils, which we scooped up with injera, their flat spongy bread.  If you've never had Ethiopian food, I highly recommend it.  Everything was delicious and Hayes agreed!  I was so glad that he enjoyed his native food!  Our waitress was so sweet-she even brought him a piece of birthday cake!

During dinner several Ethiopians came over to say hi to Hayes and talk with us.  It was fun to share some of our story with them.  One man said "It's wonderful what you are doing, taking a child from poverty and giving him a loving home.  We appreciate you."   We told him how lucky we feel to have such a sweet, loving son and how much we love the country of Ethiopia.

When we got home, I put him in his traditional outfit that we got while we were in Ethiopia.   Then he opened his present from us-a car.  We have 2 more things for him at his party next week!

It felt so good to have a connection to his roots, even if it was such a small thing as going to dinner.  One of our favorite things about the Ethiopian culture is how warm and welcoming the people are.  All in all it was a happy happy day!

Airport Homecoming Pictures

I know this post is a bit delayed, but I figured better late than never!  I wanted to be sure to document our airport homecoming.

All of these pictures were taken by the fabulous Candice Stevens of Candice Lynn Photography.  Thank you Candice for capturing our special day!

My family waiting on our arrival...

Sweet friends!

Love your sign Porter!

Here we come!

And the tears start flowing...

Hayes meets my family...

Meeting his cousins and aunt...

Hayes with Daddy and his great-grandmother.

Hayes wearing the adorable gingham outfit that my sweet Mom made him!

Love my sweet boy!

Sisters!

Hayes with the hubby's family.

Hayes with my family.

Two of my precious former students came out to welcome Hayes home!

And they made the cutest signs!

Best friends since 1st grade with our baby boys!  They have no choice but to be best friends!  And we're so proud of Porter because he can already say "Hayes!"

Hayes meeting our sweet friends from 1Seed.  They are the awesome ones who made our fundraising lunch possible.  Thank you for helping us bring our precious son home!

Family of 3!

Time to go home!

I can't believe that we've been home 9 weeks today!  Thank you so much for all of your love and support since we've been home.  We love our little guy so much and are so thankful he's home with us!

Give Hope Fundraising Lunch Photos

Remember this post when I revealed the total of our fundraising lunch?  I promised I'd be back with pictures, and now I finally am!  My sweet sister Ellen was our photographer for the day and she did a great job capturing everything.

All of our sweet workers getting a pep talk from the 1Seed folks.

Paintings represented all of the families that 1Seed has blessed so far.

The hubby and I with our precious nephews Jack (5) and Knox (2).

 

We sold most of our remaining tshirts (We do have a few left.  Go here if you'd like to order one) and the popular Ugandan magazine bead necklaces.  If you'd like to order a necklace, visit our blog homepage here.

Some of the cutest diners of the day!

Sweet beautiful triplets Molly, Maddie, and Callie,  I can't believe I babysat them when they were born!  Man, I feel old!  So glad you girls could come! 

The place was packed most of the day!

 

Three of my precious former students who are now in high school.  Thank you for all of your hard work girls!  Y'all were rockin' servers!

The hubby and I in front of the Ethiopian flag. We're tired and happy that the lunch is over!

 

We weren't able to get a shot of all of our amazing workers, but here's a picture of our close group of friends.  Love you guys!

 

The hubby and I with the amazing ladies of 1Seed.

Me with my mom and 2 sisters.  Thanks for all of your hard work.  Love you!

So there were a few snapshots of our busy day.  Thank you again to all of you who were involved in making the day a success-either by working it, eating there, or donating when you couldn't make it.  We can't wait to get our sweet boy home and tell him about all of the wonderful people who made it possible.  Thank you and we are so grateful!

Giving Thanks

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Wishing my Wayman Family Nesters a very happy Thanksgiving.  Hope you're spending the day surrounded by ones you love (oh, and that you're eating lots of good food!).  Take some time to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for.  We are truly blessed.