One Month

Today we have known our baby girl for one month! In so many ways we feel like we have known her for so much longer... and other times we are still in shock that we have her home. She is constantly melting our hearts and cracking us up everyday! I want to follow her everywhere with a camera... we are completely in love with this amazing child that somehow has become ours.



Our lives are a little different now a days and we still don't quite have our footing... I am comforted in knowing that we have only been home for 2 1/2 weeks. I don't have multitasking down (: I do miss being able to send an email or make a call when I am thinking of it or finishing what I started without being distracted and forgetting all about it, but on the other hand I wouldn't want to be doing anything else in the world but being right where I am...with the girl of our dreams.

So much to Celebrate!

This day is definitely a day for rejoicing. Cody and I have a new understanding this year of God's sacrifice to offer His child to come be with us, knowing what His people would do to Him... and His Son being willing to come. It is unfathomable what Jesus did for us.
Mae woke up to an Easter basket and we rushed to get ready for church and an afternoon at the grandparents. Getting ready this morning was sooo much different with a little one. There are so many things to pack to be gone all day... goodness. It's a wonder we got to church! I thought many many times of all my friends that show up with their children, all put together and well behaved. Bless you! I am getting the hang of this...
Mae's ADORABLE dress is from her Nanny... it was so precious on her and I was giddy getting her ready in the morning. She even had crinoline and the cutest bloomers (: This momma was in heaven.
Mae is so blessed to have so many people in her life that LOVE her.
Her Grandma opened the eggs so Mae could get to the treats inside.
And our family was more than happy to share in Mae's joy of all her eggs.



Love that we had our girl right where she belongs this Easter. We can not wait for all the years to come with her!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our very first Easter egg hunt!! We were so happy when we got our travel dates and found out we would have Mae home for Easter and here it is! She has been home for 2 weeks today and we have really seen her turn a corner. Today she was much more comfortable out with all the neighborhood kids and parents.
At first, she didn't know what to do and I was trying to tell her to go get the egg. She did but didn't quite get what the big deal was...
What is this thing just lying in the yard anyway?
It didn't take long; she got the hang of it as we cheered her on!

Maebelle did pretty good and was sure cute as she could be!

All the neighborhood kids lined up for a photo. Can you see Mae... do you see what she sees?
Little bugger is taking an egg out of her friend Luke's hand! She's definitely more comfortable and evidently did like hunting eggs (:

New Pictures

I'm not sure why I feel the need to introduce myself each time I post, but I do it anyway. My writing style is much different that Kristen's so I imagine whoever reads this would be able to determine the author fairly quickly. Either way...this is Cody again.

I woke up at 4:00 this morning to some of our infamous sever Southern thunderstorms. It's now 5:15 I'm not tired at all so I thought I would blog for a minute.

We have been home for 12 days now and it's very strange how things don't seem much different than from when we left for China. Other than the fact that we are pretty tired and we have a bunch of new Chinese stuff around the house I don't feel much different than when we left. Please don't get me wrong, we are thrilled beyond words to have our little Maebelle home with us, but she blended into our family so seamlessly I can't really remember life without her.

It feels like we've had a piece of our family missing this whole time but we didn't know it until she showed up. Now that she's here, what in the world would we do without her? She is so sweet and funny and a bit of a rascal too. I mean she fits RIGHT into family. It's wild!

OK, so about the new pictures:

Our dear friends, Chris and Katie, own a photography studio called 6 of Four and are amazing photographers. They were at the airport to document our arrival from China and also took some great family photos last week. Now, it's very important that I clarify how awesome Chris and Katie are. Not only are they amazing photographers, but they are great friends, savvy business owners and just overall wonderful people.

When Kristen and I had our letterpress shop, Chris and Katie were the ones who really helped get our name into the Atlanta wedding industry. We knew they were good photographers but didn't truly understand their level of talent and respect in the industry until we started meeting other professionals who also knew them. One thing we learned about the wedding industry is that anyone with a Digital SLR (fancy camera) is a "photographer." Just like anyone with a Mac and a copy of Photoshop is a "graphic designer" (real graphic designers will get that joke inside of a joke). Chris and Katie are truly gifted photographers with the unique ability to capture feeling and emotion like few others. It's really hard to put into words, so make sure to check out their work...after you've looked at all of Mae's pictures, of course:

Mae's Homecoming
Family Portraits

6 of Four's Blog
6 of Four's Weddings
6 of Four's Portraints

3 weeks

It was three weeks today that we were handed the gift of Mae. Our baby girl astonishes us with her incredible sweet spirit, wit and beauty. There are so many times a day I have to stop myself from breaking down and crying. The miracle of this child, from another place in this world, coming to be ours is just too much! God created this breathetaking little girl to be ours... and there are countless ways that her personality is like us, and just fits with us seamlessly. And we're just starting to learn what she is all about.
She had a little visit from her Aunt Meridith and Uncle Jon. She has warmed right up to them and found that she likes her Aunt's sparkly style.
She was beside herself when her aunt let her wear the pretty necklace. It is adorable how she is so fond of all things girlie... and that is just perfect with me too.
This is so sweet. Griffin loves his girl.
And every moment that I dreamed about with her seems surreal now. I cherish every minute of being this little 20 month old's mom. Even the stinky ones.