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Ni Hao Y'all

when east meets south

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nine candles

nine candles

Poppy. What a joy she is in the everyday. And celebrating her makes us all smile. She is loving and kind. She is funny and always able to laugh at herself. I might be biased, but I certainly can’t take any credit for how amazing she is. She’s pretty darn wonderful. And her siblings think so too. She’s also surprisingly… Read More

09.29.18 · celebrations, Clementine, Cyrus, Magnolia, Poppy, Violet 0

Celebrating Eight

Celebrating Eight

The very first celebration we had in this house was for this girl. She was turning three. Now she’s eight. In anticipation of her big day, she’d carefully crafted a birthday list: 1. Tamogachi 2. pink sandals 3. kinetic sand 4. Wonder 5. a backpack 6. watercolors And the menu: Mom’s chicken chili homemade bread Coca-Cola (on repeat) And for… Read More

04.05.18 · celebrations, Cyrus, Sophie, Tallula, Violet

Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017

It was good. It was crazy. And, in many ways, it was crazy good. We missed Zach so much, who wasn’t able to be here until after the New Year. (insert sad mama face here… I might have shed a few tears.) But, for the first time, we had Victoria’s boyfriend Jon join us on Christmas morning. And his presence… Read More

01.04.18 · Asher, Clementine, Dalton, family, Isabelle, Jude, kids, Magnolia, Noah, Poppy, Shepherd, Sophie, Tallula, Victoria, Violet, Vivienne

Gingerbread houses. Kinda.

Gingerbread houses. Kinda.

This Christmas season I wanted to be really purposeful in finding ways to make the season memorable – without either spending a small fortune or increasing my already-sufficiently-high level of holiday-induced anxiety. And, taking those two things into consideration, well… doesn’t leave a whole lot of things. Even gingerbread houses. But these? With the already-built graham cracker sides? That require… Read More

12.21.17 · cooking, family, Jude, Magnolia, Poppy, Sophie, Tallula, Violet, Vivienne

Looking with Eyes to See

Looking with Eyes to See

It’s the last day of November – a big month in the adoption world. It contains Orphan Sunday and is even slated as National Adoption Month. It is also a perfect reason to take an afternoon to pull on dresses and scribble smiley-faces on palms to capture this moment in time in our family. And while the kids may be… Read More

11.30.17 · adoption, Clementine, Isabelle, Jude, kids, Magnolia, Noah, Poppy, Shepherd, Sophie, Tallula, videos, Violet, Vivienne

The Sweetest Surprise

The Sweetest Surprise

When it come to Halloween, we love to plan big around here. Real big. We had plans to all dress us as characters from Clementine’s current movie crush, Trolls. We even did a test run with some pink-spray-on-haircolor to see what we thought. In the end? We got busy. And lazy. And pretty much waited until the last minute to… Read More

11.02.17 · Asher, Clementine, Dalton, Isabelle, Jude, kids, Magnolia, Poppy, Shepherd, Sophie, Tallula, Victoria, Violet, Vivienne

Celebrating 28

Celebrating 28

Celebrating this girl is easy. Because she is so very easy to love. And she’s pretty dang easy to shop for, too. Because she wears her passions on her sleeve. Her passion for design is obvious in her wish-list: typography and design books, special pens and pencils… all the stuff the creative brain adores. The other thing she adores, possibly… Read More

08.24.17 · celebrations, Clementine, Magnolia, Victoria, Violet 0

One Month with Magnolia

One Month with Magnolia

One month home with Magnolia. Dang. My name is Stefanie and I am a slacker. I had all kinds of plans to post frequent updates after we got home, writing it all down and taking all kinds of pictures like I did with Clementine. But that just hasn’t happened. I don’t think I factored in the constant level of crazy… Read More

06.23.16 · ASL, Magnolia, pulmonary atresia, Tetralogy of Fallot, Violet

2014 in review: 24 of my favorites

2014 in review: 24 of my favorites

It’s become a bit of a thing around here, I suppose: going through my pictures at the end of the year and plucking out a few favorites. It’s laborious. It’s time consuming. But I love it because it’s a chance to look back at the year, as a mama, and see how my babies have grown. Cherish important milestones. Remember… Read More

01.14.15 · Clementine, Isabelle, Noah, photography, Poppy, Seamus, Sophie, Tallula, Victoria, Violet, year end favorites, Zach 13

unwrappable

unwrappable

In my last post, I promised I’d share about my birthday gift. The extra-special-something-I’d-asked-for. And here it is. Or more appropriately, here she is. Last fall, just a few months after bringing our beloved Noah home, I knew that someday I’d want another boston terrier. I am, if you haven’t already noticed, kind of an animal lover. I’d have a… Read More

07.27.14 · Pets, Sophie, Violet 11

I'm Stefanie. Wife to one, mom to 13. Occasional blogger and t-shirt maker. Wannabe photographer and exerciser. Constant grace-needer and orphan advocator. more
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our china journeys

magnolia - 2016
clementine - 2014
tallula - 2012
penelope - 2011
vivienne - 2010
shepherd - 2008
jude - 2007
sophie - 2006
isabelle - 2005

ways to make a difference

Love Project

proceed with caution

a dirty secret in adoption
we don't celebrate gotcha day
there's no such thing as an easy adoption
if I can, you can.
co-sleeping, why we do it.
gawsh. the series.
crazy
affording adoption
God and me.
Vivi's diagnosis
the ugly, beautiful truth
special needs: my .02
my testimony
dear anonymous
my chinese son

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