In 3 short months...

this girl's shirt (and our dream) is coming true...



Did you catch it? It says BIG SISTER! I thought I'd better ask and make sure you got it because there were a couple people (and I won't mention names...ahem...mom and dad) who didn't get it...Natee was wearing this shirt around their house for forever...I asked them if they liked her shirt and they said "yes...it's very cute...big sister...cute"...and not until we got to the restaurant and had been there for a while did my mom get a funny look on her face and ask if Natee's shirt was suppose to mean something...yes mom...it means something :) I was getting all antsy for my brother and my sis-in-law Britt to get to the restaurant because I knew they would get it right away...they were there for like 2 seconds before they both had a little gasp and asked what was going on! And...quick funny story until I move on to more details about our big news...the restaurant that we were at just happens to be the place that Sam and Britt took my parents to when they told them about being pregnant with Ole...I had no idea...we (Jon and I) had never been to this place and no one knew that we had any news at all to tell...we all had a good laugh about that one! :) Okay...you want some details...alright...I suppose I can do that :)

Settle in...here we go!

A couple months ago we were contacted by a friend that had a friend who found out she was pregnant...she wasn't sure that she wanted to even look into adoption but as time went on she asked our friend more about it. When she found out about us and that we were wanting to adopt she asked if we could meet...of course we were super excited to meet her even though we knew that she might be keeping her baby. We had a great night with her and our friend and by the end of the night we felt like we had known her all our lives (I mean we found out we share a love for the Minnesota Twins...how could you not be good friends after that!). She had told us that night that she was really going to think it over and pray about it and that she had a date in mind that she would make her final decision. The night she called will be a night I won't ever forget...it was a Tuesday night and I was on my way home from work when she and our friend called me. She told us that night that she had prayed about it and really felt a peace about her decision and she wanted Jon and I to adopt her baby! I wanted to cry I was so happy! She has truly given us the best gift...we keep reminding her about that :) We have since gotten together a few times and we really like to spend time with her...in such a short time we have really developed a love for her and I think she likes us too (is that right Rebekah?!?!). As I blog about her and our baby I'll probably refer to her as our birthmom or Rebekah (which is her middle name) 'cause that will help in identifying who I am talking about but also keep some privacy for all of us :) If that's okay with all of you...thanks...I knew it would be :) So yes...to say that we are excited is an understatement...we are over the moon and already so in love with this baby that will grace us with his or her presence in the beginning of September (September 12th is the due date)...and yes...I did say him OR her because we do not know the sex of the baby yet...Rebekah asked us if we wanted to know and we told her that it was whatever she wanted...she told us that it was our baby and our decision so we said that we wouldn't mind being surprised and so she didn't find out :) The ultrasound looked great and so far baby has had a strong heartbeat. Everything looks to be going perfect! We just ask that you all keep baby in your prayers that he/she will continue to develop healthy and strong and we ask that you pray for an easy pregnancy for our birthmom (that would be nice huh Rebekah?!?!). Thank you all for your prayers and for being excited for us as well...and what is our saying?!?! Yep...God is good...all the time! Here's a sneak peak at babybug! (I call Natee...Nateebug so I thought it was only appropriate to call baby... babybug until he or she gets their name!) :)

Is this not the cutest little picture...he or she is sucking on its hand!

Pretty Girl

Isn't she so pretty:

We had a fun day going out to one of our favorite places and taking some pictures last week...in case you don't recognize it it is out at Valley Grove...where our other kids are buried...it's not far from our house and it's so pretty out there so we like to go out there often...plus now that it is summer we have flowers to water! :) So I just thought I'd share some of the pictures we took...hope you enjoy!

And of course while we were out there Miss Natalee had to lose her footing and land right on the corner of a headstone and split her chin right open...I felt so bad for her and thought maybe we were going to need some stitches (those corners are sharp!) but it cleaned up okay and didn't look as bad once it started to clot...we got her a new shirt and she was all smiles again :)

Can you see her nice boo boo...sorry the picture is a little off...I was trying to hold her at the same time :)

It's about time!

For an update that is! Geez...could I get any worse at this blogging thing! Wait...don't answer that...the truth is...I probably could! Anyway...we are doing good here in the Feldman house...we are keeping busy and that's a good reason why I haven't updated lately! :) Natee is continuing to change all the time...she's a little stinker and knows it :) She is so much fun and we are so happy to have her in our lives :) Let's see...what is she doing that is new...oh...she has started to put her finger up when asked how old she is...sometimes you have to say "Are you 1?" and then she puts it up...but I still think that's pretty good for her age. She is starting to hid which I don't know where she is getting that from...the other day she was hiding behind a chair and now today I had my closet open and she crawled in there and was hiding behind the vacuum cleaner...it's pretty fun...like she really does know what she is doing...and I'm convinced that she really does know that she is hiding! ha! And no...she is not hiding to fill her pants! In fact...she's been going on the potty for a couple of months now...and before you say anything...I know...we are crazy...but we have been told that they can learn early and we decided to try it...so it's going okay...but she still wets her pants (but we haven't taken her out of diapers yet) but as far as the other goes....she hasn't had but maybe 3 or 4 dirty ones in the last 4 months...she is able to tell us that she has to go by patting her tummy, which we taught her, and so far so good. I have to admit that I wasn't so gung-ho about this early potty training but I have liked not having to deal with the dirty diapers! As far as when we will get real serious about the potty training I think we will try at 18 months...most of my nieces and nephews have been fully trained by that time so we'll see how it goes. Okay...let's get off that subject...sorry didn't mean to take this blog post there! :) Oh...and Natee loves animals....so so much...and she loves the kitties next door, which her dad isn't happy about 'cause he can't stand cats...but it's so cute...she heard me calling them one day and I was making a kissing sound...so now she goes outside and say "keeeyyy keeeyyy" and then claps her hands and makes kissing sounds...oh...it's just the cutest little thing...she's so smart. And the cats next door...they are so nice and come running up to her and are so good to her. Well....I think that's enough of an update for now...I gotta get doing something around the house during her nap time. We put our house back on the market to see if we could get any bites...we would just like to get into something a little bit bigger if we could...and maybe closer to the farm if possible...we'll see...so if you know of anyone looking for a house let me know :) Have a great Memorial Day weekend! OH...and here are a few pictures for you...enjoy!

Two buddies! I thought her face was priceless...Jon looks pretty happy too! We were on a walk for Cystic Fibrosis...one of our favorite doctors who took care of Emmalee has this icky disease and so we were walking for him...it was a great day and we were so happy we could spend our morning with him and his wife (and their doggies) and raise a little money as well!

Natee being silly...she was carrying this lid around...it's amazing what will entertain kids!
Lid kisses!

So big! And look mom...I'm standing on a lid! Does this lid make me look taller?!?!

Her new favorite spot to sit...so far we have not tumbled off of it!

A girl after her Mommy's own heart

Prima ballerina

Or doctor?!?!

Happy Mom's Day

I know...I know...how could you not love this little face:

Oh I really really do...I thank God every night for her and her life...and for the fact that I get to be her mom...wow...what a scary task that is! I pray that I (well...Jon and I) will raise her up right...that she will come to know, love and serve God at a very early age...and that she will be a girl/woman that will bring joy to those around her...and if she just happens to be a rocket scientist, a farmer, and hairstylist all in one...well...that would be okay too :) Whatever she grows up to be I just pray that she will look back and know that her momma loved her very much and that I was always there to encourage her...I am one blessed momma to be this little girls momma! We had a wonderful Mother's Day...Jon and one of our friends decided to surprise their wives/baby momma and take us out to brunch...the place that they had picked they tried to get a reservation but they wouldn't take them so by the time we got out of church it was a 2 hour wait...no way were we going to do that...so onto plan B...which ended up to be way better than plan A anyway...we had a delicious brunch and then we came home to take a much needed nap...unfortunately Natee had other plans so Jon didn't get a very long nap but being that it was Mother's Day...I did :) The rest of the day was just spent hanging out together and doing a little cleaning...and then of course watching the Amazing Race finale...Jon's sister and husband were able to join us so that was a lot of fun! So thank you Jon for a wonderful Mother's Day...you sure know how to make a girl feel loved...and thank you Natee for being you and so easy to love...Momma loves you very much!

How can you not love that smile!

Love love love!

A girl and her momma...remind me to show her these pictures when she gets to be a teenager and I become dumb and stupid! :) hahaha!

A momma with all her kids.

I am so thankful for Natalee to be here to celebrate Mother's Day with me...but there will always be three little babes that I will be longing to see on these days...there will always be three cards that I don't get to open...three hugs and kisses that I don't get to feel...three little voices saying "I love you" and three little voice I have to tell to be quiet sometimes. Oh how I miss them all...but Jon told me last night that he is pretty sure that they are making cards for me in Heaven and I will have a bunch to open up up there...and they are probably made of gold so they will be much better than any card down here :) He knows just what to say. But I do want to give a shout out to all the moms out there whose babies are making cards with my babies...just know that I thought about you all and hope that you had a wonderful Mother's Day...in spite of the pain of missing our little ones. May you feel God's loving arms around you even more...and to all the ladies out there who are waiting to become moms...I've been in your shoes too...I pray that your hearts desire will be answered soon and that you will be able to hold a new bundle of joy in your arms soon. Happy Mom's Day.

What a busy weekend!

I'm sure you all thought that too! Holidays are so much fun but boy to they make the weekend go by so fast! Saturday was a special day for us...I plan to write about it more on the Feldman Baby blog so I won't say too much here but we had a good day celebrating Emmalee some more...the 23rd was the 3rd anniversary of Emmalee's death and her 3rd homecoming celebration in Heaven...I wonder if they celebrate all those things up there? I'm going to chose to believe that they do :) And then of course Easter was on the 24th and this year I was in charge of the Easter egg hunt...so I was busy getting ready for that...thank goodness I had a couple of helpers (thanks Jon and Eric) to help me hid all the goodies or we would have been there til dark! haha! I tend to go a little overboard...but actually this year I did pretty well. I think the kids all had fun and they all got enough candy...and they all got zhu zhu pets too! I think those were a big hit since when I went to my sis-in-laws house this week they were all having races to see who's was faster! And Natee has been chasing hers all over the house this week! I have to say...they are a little annoying but they are pretty cute...I see what all the craze was over them :) Well I won't babble on too much here because I know you all just come to see Natee...and I have a ton of pictures for you this time...and I apologize for the pictures...I was playing around with photoshop...so if you don't like the look of them...I'm sorry :) But I kind of liked the look of them...so I went for it :) Hope you all have a great week!

Our cute little family

Daddy and his girl

I thought I'd put a couple pictures on here in real color so you could see how cute her dress was! There's nothing like a little girl in an Easter dress :) And the flower...it was perfect...and she let me curl her hair that day...so it was even cuter! You'll have to check out my sis-in-laws blog to see pictures of Natalee and her cousin Ole...he looked so cute that day too!

Happy girls :)

We take this picture yearly...it's been so fun to look back and see how much the kids have changed...they used to all fit on the couch but now that they are getting older and we've added more kids we are running out of room :)

I thought this picture was funny...I didn't realize it at the time that I had caught him mid-fall

Greta the Easter bunny and me

Last year we shot off rockets after the egg hunt...so I think it's become a tradition since we did it again this year :) Isn't that all it takes...doing it two years in a row...doesn't that mean instant tradition?!?! :)

POOF...and it's GONE!

Good thing we still have young runners to go get the rockets!