Reid and Stefani Adopt

West Michigan Whitecaps vs. the Bowling Green Hot Rods Stefani chatting with another fan. Reid feeding Isaac.   Yesterday Reid and I took Isaac to his first baseball game.  We enjoyed 10¢ hotdogs, and chatting with another fan who, incredibly enough wanted to show us pictures of his black grandchildren (also adopted).  I think Isaac got jealous of our hotdogs and started crying, but Dad just fed him milk anyway. Our team won 13-11.  I got a little crazy cheering during the 8th and 9th innings because the HotRods passed us up, and then later we got in 3 more runs to put us ahead again.  

Grandma and Grandpa Carroll came this past week to help us out with the new baby.  Grandma was able to catch the cutest dimpled smile I've ever seen!  I think it a small miracle that Isaac smiled just in time for Grandma to snap that picture. Isaac came to us from Southeastern Michigan.  We learned about him at the beginning of May.  We were not expecting him until the 10th, but he surprised us by coming early.  Reid and I had all of our camping gear packed the Friday before Isaac arrived--ready to go on one last camping adventure before we were blessed with children.  Then we got the call.  We dropped everything and drove to the hospital.  After a few days of waiting, we were able to bring him home from the hospital.   Now Isaac has just had his 2 week well child visit with his pediatrician.  He has grown almost a whole pound and grew over one inch in his two weeks of life.  He is a joy and we feel continually blessed to ha...

Say hello to Isaac Reid Archibald! Here he is being welcomed into his new crib by his Sock Monkey.  Isaac was born June 2 at 4:36 a.m. He weighed 6 lb. and 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. He was brought into this world by his very special birth-mom. We are so grateful for her love for Isaac and her willingness to place him into our arms through adoption. She will always hold a special place in our and Isaac's hearts. So far he has done a lot of sleeping, eating, peeing and pooping. What can we say, he's a baby boy and he's doing a great job at it!  He's been such a wonderful blessing in our home. He's been welcomed by so many loving friends and family members that all want to come see him. We are very grateful for their love and celebration for our family.

My neighbor invited me to go with her and her kids to the critter barn. It was a fun little place where I got to see a chinchilla and a very, very furry bunny rabbit. Even though I thought the kids might be afraid of the animals, they surprised me. They put on their game faces and held a few barnyard animals themselves.

Reid and I went to my niece's wedding in Nauvoo, IL this past weekend. It's crazy to think that I have a niece old enough to marry. That means there's a high likelihood that my oldest sister will have grandkids before I have kids--which I think is pretty dang funny. It was great to chat with Laura (bride) and Chris (groom). We are happy to have Chris be a part of the family. Reid and I have had a good time getting to know Chris better. He is perpetually smiling--maybe because he got such a cute wife! We also found out that Chris was adopted, and it was fun to learn a little bit about his adoption story. His family is super nice. We're happy for Laura.

Reid was kind enough this year to give me 4 roses...one for each of the years we've been married. They look great on our new table. We purchased this table knowing that the table more than fills our need of a table for two. The size of the table embodies the hope that someday, this new table will be the center place for our children to enjoy family meals, do homework, play games, and enjoy family time.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to babysit my neighbor's 5 year old. And yes, her name really is Cinderella. During dinnertime, long after Cinderella had gone home, Reid asked me how the babysitting went. "It was fun," I replied. "I worked on our Christmas advent calendar, and Cinderella made her own. We worked on learning the difference between n and m, which is good, because she wasn't pronouncing them right. Then we played reading and math games on the computer." Reid, listening in amusement, shook his head. "What?" I asked. "Well," he replied, "when you babysit, you take the time to teach them stuff. If it were me, I'd find a cartoon we both could enjoy and watch it." "We watched a little T.V. too," I said, with a smile.