HK Summer Camp 2013

 Just before all the "moving across the country" craziness started, we had our 3rd annual Hanna-Kirk Summer Camp!

 The boys didn't know what to think of the splash park at first, but I had to drag them to the car when it was time to leave.

 Sweet brothers.

 We visited a real live "tiny" town!  Everything was just their size!

 So fun!!

Movie and Popcorn!

 

Some other highlights of the week included the butterfly pavilion and a wildlife park where we got to watch them feed the bear!

 

HK Summer Camp just gets more and more fun each year!  It's so cute watching the cousins play together and develop a close relationship that I hope will continue throughout their lives. :)

Back to School

This boy started his 2nd year of preschool this week!

And this boy didn't know what to do with himself.  He follows Caysen around constantly and wants to do everything Caysen does so he was pretty bummed when Caysen stayed at school and he had to come home with me.

 He wouldn't give me a smile, just a nose scrunch.

Beckett on the other hand, he was hammin' it up!

Love these two!

 

 Caysen settled right in at school and there were no tears at all!

It wasn't easy prying Beckett away; maybe we need to find a mother's day out program so he can go to "school" too!



Where have I been?

I said I was going to start blogging regularly, and I did for a few weeks, and then I disappeared again.  Well, that's because our little family moved to big Texas!  We found out we were moving at the end of June and arrived at our new home apartment about five weeks later.  We've been "Texans" for a little over a week and are feeling more settled every day.

I'm still trying to get caught up after a whirlwind July, but will be back soon to share all about the fun we've had since my last post!  Until then, here's a small preview of one of our recent adventures:

Proud

I am proud of this guy.  He did something today that took courage, humility, integrity, and faith.  I'll wait until the time is right to share the details, but for now, I am just proud.

I have learned that...

Adoption is addicting, and incredible, and amazing!  What a blessing!

Parenting is humbling...oh so humbling.

I would do anything for my babies, Anything.

Infertility is gut-wrenching and painful.  I don't know that the memory of what we went through will ever lose its sting.

I need more patience.

Lance is a good dad!  I love watching how he loves the boys and how they love him right back!

Mommy guilt is intense when you bring your second baby home and suddenly can't give 100% of your attention to your first little sweetie anymore.

Mommy guilt subsides. ;)

I'm not that different from mothers who have chosen to place their child up for adoption.  If anything, they are stronger than me.

God is awesome!  He takes good care of our family.

I am a tough mom.  I love to snuggle and smooch my boys, but I do not coddle.

I can't do it all.  And when I try, we all suffer for it.

I'm not that sensitive to uneducated comments or ideas about adoption.  I was ignorant about adoption until we experienced it.

I am super sensitive to uneducated comments or ideas about special needs.  The "R" word makes me cringe.  Maybe it's because I think my special needs boy is perfect. ;)

Two children raised by the same parents can be completely different!

Sleep is overrated.

I miss sleep. ;)

There are a million and one ways to be a good mom.  No need for judgment.

Being a mom is such an amazing gift and so much more than I could have imagined!

Are they twins?

Nice lady sitting near us at our hotel breakfast: "Your boys are so cute!  I just recently applied to adopt twins and we are so excited!"

Me: "Thanks. Congratulations on your upcoming adoption!" (Thinking to myself that it's going to be awkward if this conversation continues and I have to tell her B&C are not twins).

For the record, the boys were not wearing matching outfits and the nice lady at breakfast was the third person to assume the boys were twins in less than 30 minutes.

Yep, pretty much any time we go out in public, we get asked over and over again, "Are they twins?"  Maybe we should just start saying yes.  It's really not a big deal, but I do hope that it doesn't give Caysen or Beckett a complex as they get older.  This isn't one of those situations they tell you about in parenting books...so we wing it.  And hope and pray we're doing the right thing.

On a Whim

I decided last minute to take a quick trip to Texas for my nephew's high-school graduation.  And by last minute, I mean I decided to go for it about noon on Thursday and we were packed up and headed down the road later that evening.  Lance had to work so it was just Beckett, Caysen, and myself.  Here are some pics of our little adventure:

 

We stayed the night in a hotel on our way to TX.  It wasn't one of my best nights of sleep, but the boys slept great! ;)

 

It was hot when we got to Texas (bad quality phone pic, sorry)!

Beckett and Caysen got to meet their uncle Marlon!!

And they got to see Aunt Lori too! :)

Fun at the pool!

My nephew, Kirk, after his graduation.  I feel so small!

The boys also got to spend some quality time with their cousin Tenley! Thanks Lisa for taking these pics!!

Silly boy!

Caysen likes to make goofy faces!

Carpool.

More silly faces.

The kids had so much fun together!!