So Much Thanks to Give

Our littlest one's first few weeks with us have been an incredible transition. He is a really content little guy, who likes to eat and sleep most of the time. He smiles with his whole face and is as cuddly as they come. We have been really proud of Sophia, who calls him, "my baby". She has yet to demand that I put him down, but instead points out that there is a side of my body still available to hold her.

We spent thanksgiving this year with Nana, Bop-bop, and Uncle James.

We had the privilege of introducing J to our Pennsylvania friends and family.

Like us, they had been praying for his arrival for the past year and instantly fell in love.

He's Here!

On National Adoption Day 2014 I walked our application for Massachusetts Adoption and Foster Care to the post office.

About a year later we are holding a beautiful baby boy.

We said yes to becoming foster parents with the deep hope of becoming forever parents to this little one.

We aren't permitted to share any pictures of his face online until his adoption is legalized which may take several years. 

We will be taking a brief hiatus from weekly Archive posts while we enjoy snuggling our sweet boy.

Super Sophia

Supergirl hugging Batman

I have enjoyed the surprise of not knowing what Sophia will dress up as for Halloween each year. Each year we have been the grateful recipients of gifted costumes, the first year a hand me down pumpkin, the second a tiger costume from her Grammie and this year supergirl from her Nana. 

The festivities began at the South Shore Children's museum where she got to make her own treat of a toilet paper roll filled with four candies of her choosing wrapped up with a Jack-o-lantern covering.

There was also a Magician to provide the "tricks" portion of 'Trick or Treating'.

Our neighborhood had a pre-trick or treat gathering which included cookie decorating.

Halloween ended with a special visit from friends Kevin, Jessi, and Desmond.

Longest Time Away: Week 3

The third and final week of this grand adventure we drove back to Orlando for a work conference for Joshua and to spend time with Sophia's Nana, Bop-Bop and Uncle James who were flying down to join us.

On this leg of the trip we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot, as well as Universal Studios. We also enjoyed the pool and my Mom and I joined the conference for several sessions about Health Care and Foster Care. After three weeks of warm weather and amusements, we returned to colder temps and a life that we love very much.

Longest Time Away: Week 2

The second week of our longest time away was spent in the Naples, Florida area. There was one week between the big Archambault family trip and a conference in Orlando for Joshua, and it turned out to be cheaper just to stay thanks to a generous friend who wasn't going to  be using their condo.

We spent one of the days at Delnor-Wiggins State Park. It had a beautiful beach and also reminded us of the names in the Beatrix Potter books that we had all been reading together.

One of our favorite things about Sophia is her passion for food. Instead of spending her time building castles she requested a cake that she could decorate and decided to grill some seashells.

She also had some creative ideas back at the house, asking to be given rides in a roasting pan.

In addition to the roasting pan, we also enjoyed some time at the pool.

It was wonderfully shallow for quite a distance.

During the course of the week, we consumed a LOT of Florida oranges.

Even more so than the pool (perhaps tied with the oranges) Sophia would tell you that her highlight was the playground.

My favorite moments were playing Rummy and Boggle on the screened in porch at night with Joshua, a family bike ride, and watching Sophia attempt hide-and-seek with Geckos. I also always love watching her swing with her head tilted back and eyes closed. I took this picture to remind her that it is the best way to truly savor the experience.

Longest Time Away: Week 1

Joshua and I had never been away from our home together for longer than two weeks. We changed that by starting with an adventure that brought 16 Archambaults together under one roof. Our oldest niece is now 13 and our oldest nephew turned 13 while we were there. Their Grandmother had just retired and so the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all met in Orlando for a week in an 8 bedroom house with a pool that got a lot of use. We loved spending time in the house together as well as a few visits to the local attractions.

Sophia started the day at the Typhoon Lagoon water park like this:

And properly ended it like this:



A highlight in between was this:

Sophia and her next oldest cousin Anna (age 7) plotted out their time at SeaWorld with a map: 

  

And enjoyed watching several Shows:

 

 
Their grandmother got to take all of her granddaughters to meet the princesses at the Magic Kingdom:





We loved this very memorable trip and hope it isn't too long until we are all able to make our way from Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont to be together again.

Superheroes

The cape arrived the day before we needed it. 

Sophia's grandparents had packed a Halloween costume in their suitcase and were staying for a week while Joshua was in Michigan for a business trip.

The next day I went downstairs to move the laundry to the dryer and found smelly water pouring onto the floor from a pipe. It was 9:30 at night and I called my husband who encouraged me to call our pastor. I protested that "he is our pastor, not our plumber" but was reminded that he was also our friend (and knows quite a bit about plumbing). 

Not only did he come right over that evening, but he spent the majority of his day off repairing our plumbing, and entertaining our two year old in the aisles of the hardware store while I made purchases that he helped to inform. When we offered to pay him for his work, he insisted that it go to the Ugandan mission workers that would be staying with us that weekend (who would now also have working toilets thanks to him).

My friend Beckie moved to Uganda several years ago and met and married Ruudy there. They work daily with people in their country who continue to recover from decades of civil war. They joined us for our ten year reunion this past Saturday. Our first stop was to visit a favorite professor. She encouraged us to come back after we went to our reunion activities on campus. 

There was a crib for Sophia to take a nap and dinner when she woke up. I felt self-conscious when I began to smell the food cooking as I thought that we were imposing on their family dinner time...I had no idea she was making it for us. She never mentioned that she was expecting family from out of state that arrived moments later. She just kept on serving whomever walked in her door.

We are grateful for all of the superheroes in our lives that inspire us to 'love bigger' in the everyday opportunities life affords. The ones mentioned above each emulate the two goals we have for our daughter: to love God, and to serve others (no cape required).