Spring 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Our Whole World




I don't write on here often but tonight I had a burst of energy so finished writing some posts I started a long time ago and decided I would write on here again.  I think these blogs are a GREAT way to keep up with your daily life and almost a journal for your little one! That is IF I can ever find the time to get on here ..... facebook and instagram are easy - take a pic and write something and done! These are a little tougher but lately I have had LOTS of people asking about adoption - that is the REASON we started this blog to begin with was honestly in hopes of spreading the word we were looking to adopt and a blog is just another way to do that.  Please feel free to share this with ANYONE looking to adopt... or send them our way! We love sharing our beautiful story of how we became a family.  Our daughter is NOT our "adopted daughter" she is our daughter, our pride and joy, our prissy girl (we call her this cause of her PRISSY walk ha!), our crazy girl as Eli Young Band likes to say, our Baby B, our Lynna (as daddy calls her), my sunshine! We forget we adopted her and as much as I like talking about adoption we truly forget she didn't come from us - she has a temper like her daddy and is funny like her daddy but LOVES people like her mama and people actually think we look alike which is funny! Her birth mom even tells me that, she was meant to be ours!  She means everything to us and more and if you are tired of hearing about her, well don't read this blog cause she is about all we talk about! When you wait 7 years to have a baby of your own and when you finally get one your whole world revolves around her even more than we dreamed it could! Life isn't always beautiful as Gary Allen I think says but It is a BEAUTIFUL LIFE! We aren't perfect (those who know us BEST know this) but we LOVE this little one with our whole heart and she is ours through and through! Tonight she has had a few bad dreams, it is mommy and daddy that pick her up and comfort her, adopted or not, she knows we are the ones who save her from her bad dreams! Sidenote - I asked daddy what she was dreaming about - he says probably someone stealing her wagon LOL! If thats the worst thing that could happen in her dreams we are doing good!! I want to try to post on here at least once a month, not necessarily for the world to read, just those that are bored LOL! But to remind myself of these precious days that are going by way too fast!!!







A Year Ago....





***if you want to see something sweet go to the bottom of this LONG post and watch the YouTube video, daddy loves to sing to B and she has loved to listen since she came into the world!










A year ago at this time we were at our house, had just finished all the fun Christmas stuff with family but this year was different everyone had given Brooklynn (our unborn daughter) gifts....  I was very nervous about this.  Our baby wasn't ours yet, our birth mom had told me she never would change her mind that she was 100 % sure that B would be going home with us but a part of me had this fear that when she saw her it would be understandably hard to let her go.  So a part of me was a MESS, a BIG part of me.  It wasn't like we were going to the hospital to have a baby and bring her home, we were going to the hospital to watch someone else have a baby, give birth to her and hold out hope she would send her home with us..... I worried would she change her mind and I worried about her.  How hard this would be on her, how heartbreaking this would be for her and her family.  I had no idea what awaited us as we left in the early morning hours of December 28th to go to the hospital and meet our baby.  





This is funny, maybe a month before B's due date I got this in my fortune cookie while I was working, so excited and of course CRIED when I read this.

The morning we were driving up to be there for the birth of our daughter my sis sent this to me! My niece was more excited than almost anyone about having a little girl cousin!!




The next few days would be the best and toughest of our lives.  We weren't able to have family at the hospital, this is done out of respect for the birthfamily.  We knew this and were of course okay with this but we didn't realize how much we depend on our families until then either.  It was very tough going through the next 48 hours without them there with us, but I know it was BEST it was just us.  It taught me to rely on my husband in a way I wasn't used to doing, he was all I had there and I was all he had as well.  There was another person there with us both, we got closer to God in those next few days more than ever before.  We came to realize and count on him in what were some of the toughest days for us like many do.  I hate saying that a scary situation like when we thought for a few minutes we wouldn't bring the baby home that we had come to love would bring us closer to God but it did.  Our birthmom began to change her mind in the last few minutes she had with her before signing papers, this decision was tougher on her than she had imagined it being and after we had all spent 48 hours "sharing" Brooklynn with the intent of course for us to take her home,  she just wasn't ready to let her go.  We were incredibly distraught, we had spent two days loving, learning about, taking care of B and there was nothing we could do at this point but pray and ask those we love to pray as well.  I think maybe all of Midlothian was praying for us in those final moments.  We weren't trying to make our birthmom make a decision she didn't want to make, we just knew Brooklynn would be in good hands with us.  After many tears our birthmom made the decision she had known in her heart she wanted to make since August when she met us.  She had the support of her family there with her and they were all so supportive of us.  It was by far the roughest two days of our lives, I didn't give birth to B, but we experienced so many emotions in those days we can't even begin to explain.  We spent 60 hours at the hospital in Wichita Falls not knowing till the last hour if the little girl we loved would go home with us for sure until we got in the car and drove away with her. It was bitter sweet, our family at home was rejoicing, we were relieved yet a part of us was heartbroken for the family that had given her to us. Adoption is a beautiful thing. It is a TOUGH thing, nobody ever said it was easy, every situation is different, special and genuine.  Ours was a ROLLER COASTER of emotions but we both know we would do it all over again if it meant we got our Brooklynn Faith.  





Now here we are one year later and we are about to celebrate her turning one! She isn't having a party till the summer! We decided we would just do supper with our parents and sisters and us tomorrow on her birthday and then have a party with the rest of our BIG family and friends in the summer to celebrate her turning 1 1/2 and also to celebrate her "gotcha day" the day she legally became ours - June 28th! Here are a few pics of our girl over the last year, everyone knows I take lots of pics but here are just a few.




this is what we came home to.... it was late at night on Friday Dec 30th and our family and friends had decorated our house for Brooklynns arrival, we didn't want anyone at our house when we got there because mentally and physically we were exhausted so they decorated and cleaned the house and cooked for us!
this is a horrible pic of me with a towel on my head LOL but I love it because its "real life" - introducing my mom and sister to their granddaughter/niece

another pic of our pretty porch - we were so proud of how pretty everything looked for B!

My dad, sister and niece meeting B

Daddy introducing B to her Nana B for the first time!


Yes you are perfect my sweet girl




My Ma with her great granddaughter, there is so better place to be nuzzled up than a grandmas!
The moment we first saw our daughter AFTER papers had been signed and we knew she was ours, this picture can't put into words what this moment felt like, I will never forget it.

My Mema and Papa with their newest great grandbaby, they love her so much and that is so precious to me!
Never ever been so happy!

her birth announcement, we were so proud!


her first Panther game!! 5 days old and supporting her Panther Basketball team!

You are my daddy and I love you already!


Sisters and friends! Lucy loves Brooklynn!




My sweet girl, about to go to her Gotcha Day party!


this is my favorite, daddy singing her song to our crazy girl! couldn't love her more!



9 months old - took her first steps! Fell and didn't walk again till 13 months!

Playtime with daddy before bed is so fun

Already a Cowboys fan - like it or not!

Officially BB - Brooklynn Blackwell

Happy girl! Early mornings at our friends lake house - so fun

She loves hanging at the lake, she is going to be a little Sun lover like her mama!
She LOVES LOVES LOVES going to all of Daddys games already!

Daddys' lucky charm and biggest fan


Our little Sunshine!! 
She is such a happy baby girl!
She loves daddy singing to her and playing his guitar!
She LOVES her bath time!
Our first Christmas with our little angel!


Merry 1st Christmas Brooklynn Faith!!

Brookylnns' first football season




I started this blog MONTHS ago and never finished it!! Very disappointed in myself because I hoped to write on here at least once a month to keep this as a sort of journal for B to keep up with but I haven't done too good - ha -so here we go going to try again to keep up with it, but I am sure i won't do a great job of it!!

Brooklynns FIRST football season!!





For years now I have wanted my own little baby to take with me to football games, to enjoy travelling to away games with me, to root dad on with me, to dress up (not gonna lie - I LOVE me some cute Panther clothes!).... little did I know how much work it is to have a baby at games!! But.... it was FUN! She had a blast and made it to almost EVERY Varsity game with the help of family and friends Mama was able to watch some of the games too!! Brooklynn was Dads good luck charm this year! The Panthers made it to the Playoffs for the first time in years and the first time ever in District 5A! We truly are in one of the TOUGHEST districts in the state of Texas - to make it like we did this year was amazing and to know we could have made it easily further was heartbreaking! We were so proud of our boys this year and I was so proud of my little girl for doing SO well at the games! My husband pours his HEART into his job just like many other coaches do. Coaching is NOT just a job, it truly is a lifestyle, its what they live and breathe.  It is so much more than just "his job" - it is our life -I literally revolve my work schedule around his schedule.  During football season I work Sunday afternoons thru Tuesdays - Wednesdays we do Running Back Supper, Thursdays are JV Games, Friday we bring dad good luck lunch and it is of course GAME night, and Saturday night is our only family date night where dad usually takes us to dinner!! I LOVE this time of year even with all the craziness - it truly is our life and we love it!






SO excited for her first football season!!! ha!

our riding buddies to away games, the Rye kids and Abby - they keep B very entertained
we LOVE seeing former players at games - here are two we adore - Eddie and Mike G - B was passed out - she was usually exhausted by the end of the game - no wonder why just a 9 month old out till midnight!!
here she is with Mim and one of her MANY BIG bows - love it!
trying to get a picture at the end of the night is tough! she is TIRED ha! 
our awesome head coach - proud to have my husband work for such a great man
she LOVES Mamas bling!
one of our traditional Friday good luck lunches with daddy!
this was taken the night we clinched a playoff spot - took a pic of the three coaches who have been at Midlo the longest and stuck through the good times and bad times together - they were so excited on this night!
this is my original Panther partner - she has been coming to games with me since before she was 2 and really she just doesn't know any different! She is the most supportive proudest Coaches niece ever and I love having her at games with us! She doesn't know much different than football fridays and watching her Uncle on the field!
BDAT is the Panthers slogan - i love having custom stuff made for her -this mom has quite the Panther imagination - so much fun coming up with fun baby stuff!!
asleep in my moms arms! so grateful to have my mom at so many home games this year with me to help with her baby grandbaby!
she loves her Uncle Jerod! Passed out at the Pep Rally!!
adorable Panther fans at the Pep Rally - my niece and nephew are the two shortest in the middle!
my little Panther girls!
she loves Aunt Stephanie - Stephs kids are old enough that it is a real blessing to have her be my away game driving buddy - she is MORE help to me than I deserve!!
Abby and one of her BFFs - Morgan - these two love cheering for the Panthers together!!
we love Pat - B's big brother - she has many big brothers on the football field!
one of my favorite pics - Coach B getting big congrats from his girls after the game!
he is so crazy about her!
one of our favorite parts of football season is Wednesday night running backs supper - the boys contribute $$ for food and Brooky and I cook supper for them (its a bit stressful for me - I am NOT a natural cook) but the boys are so sweet to her and we love having them over! Thanks to my friend Cyndi who made a desert every Wednesday for the boys to enjoy!
All bundled up with my girl!
Gotta LOVE Ruffle Butts
Midlo girls wear Bows and Bling is what I had put on her shirt - yes we do!!
Homecoming parade with her best friend- her daddy
Lets Watch Some Football baby girl! Homecoming 2012 with her Homecoming present from the Moores
Love these sweet Panther fans - coaches kids and niece!
they were crazy about the Seeton boys!
She loved her Homecoming Mum!
another Wednesday night picture with a few of the sweetest boys!
Friday good luck lunch with daddy!!
She did wait her WHOLE life for Panther playoffs!
Bless her heart!! it was so late at night - but one day she will be proud to have a pic with our Team MVP and a boy she will grow up lovin!

I have DREAMED of having a baby with me at games and now I do! Even as exhausting as it can be I am SO proud to have her with me!! She LOVED being in her baby bjorn for games!




And my favorite picture of the season is this one.....  I can remember a long time ago my husband saying I can't wait to have a baby to love on after the games whether we win or lose.  He got his wish... we have our baby - win or lose - football is just a game - yes its a VERY IMPORTANT game in this house! But what really matter is this right here....