Living Life As...

The Simmons Six

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Girl Dreams Realized x 2

I have two sisters and we are all very close with our Mom. I have always wanted to have a daughter and now I have two!! AND they are twins! This is almost hard for me to comprehend. I feel like an expert Mom to boys...I can play ball, cars, monsters, running around like loonie tunes, giggling over weird noises. I've GOT the Mom of boys thing! Now, I think to myself...I will get to have tea parties, play Barbies, play dress up, and doll house! When we go into stores to get ready for the kids, I look at dresses and little scooters (adorable skirts with bloomer pants!) and I think I CAN BUY THESE! I have daughters!
I think what I am trying to say is I am so filled with excitement and joy! I cannot wait to have boys AND girls and an expert player of all things little!!!!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Tagged!

I have been tagged by Amylynn! http://amylynn3-thegoldsteins.blogspot.com/

i am : excited and nervous to go to Ethiopia in TWO weeks!

i think: CONSTANTLY...I have a hard time turning my 'brain off' and just relaxing

i know: love

i want: to live happily ever after

i have : FOUR KIDS!!!!!!!

i wish: weekends were longer

i hate: Monday mornings

i miss: Braeden when I am at work

i fear: the unknown

i feel: anxious, excited, happy, blessed

I hear : Braeden playing with his cars

i smell: cut grass

i crave: ice water

i search: blogs for updates on friends' adoptions

i wonder: what the future will hold

i regret: NOTHING! My experiences have made me who I am

i love: Shawn and my kids

i ache: for those children in Guatemala who cannot be placed

i care: deeply

i always : tell Braeden I love him

i am not: soft spoken

i believe: in miracles

i dance: with my little boy and at work when I am happy!

i sing: LOUDLY and often

i cry: rarely

i don’t always: remember where my keys are

i fight: for what I believe in

i write: lists obsessively

i win: political debates

i lose: my keys ALOT

i never: forget how much I love my family

i confuse: a clean house with utopia!

i listen: to my Mom

i can usually be found: in my living room / kitchen

i am scared: in the middle of the night sometimes

i need: support

i am happy about: who I am

i think : this was fun!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tickets booked!

Today I concentrated on booking our tickets! I had called yesterday and gotten our travel itinerary cleared with Julie so I knew I was good to go. It was so incredible to see the kids' names (with OUR last name) on the travel itineraries! I was beaming with pride!
It feels official now. What a Mother's Day weekend!! We feel so incredibly blessed.

I am starting to feel a little pang of nervousness with Braeden but I am going to try to keep it together. I know he will be fine and we will all be together soon enough.

I have also been able to 'talk' to many of the families we will be travelling with and I love them already! I just love adoption so much that everyone's story makes me cry. I keep telling Shawn, "Oh, you will just love this family!" Adoption is just such a miracle to me on so many levels. I feel like the luckiest mother in the world that I have been chosen to mother my four angels!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

FINALLY!!!

FINALLY...We have our official travel dates!!!! We have been on such a roller coaster of emotions. We were told two weeks ago that we would be in the next travel group and have been hanging out waiting until today. We are so filled with joy and happiness. I just wish that someone who I have grown to care about so much could come, too. Rest assured...I will take tons of pictures and give a full update.

So I will post more later but I know that so many have been praying for us. It's a good day for us. A very good day.

God bless!!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Knock, knock...almost there.

So, I have it on pretty good authority that we will be getting our travel dates VERY soon...Yippee!! Due to this, I have been finishing EVERY last minute thing that I can think of.
My house is now completely finished EXCEPT I would like to have the landscaping done.
We took our boston terrier to the beauty salon. SO...she is ready to go.
Braeden is an angel as always. He LOVES his brother's bed in the "BOYS" room but of course thinks ALL of the beds are his. He looks at me with this face that says, "Thanks, Mommy! ANOTHER new bed!" Oh, we are going to be in for some fun when that little man has to share Mommy!
I still have MUCH clothes shopping to do for the kiddos but I have to wait on sizes. I have some really cute outfits but not enough.

I have decided when THE DATES do come, I am going to try to write as much as I can a step by step of travel call to departure. I know how much I like to read those details. SO I am going to try to do the same.

O.k. GOOD THOUGHTS!!! Hopefully, next post will be THE ONE!!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Oh, What a Night!!

Last night we had a wonderful dinner for our family, friends and co-workers. We had raffles throughout the evening that included Philly Sport tickets, furniture, portrait packages, antiques, and Autograph memorabilia (Yay, Eagles and Flyers!)

We were completely moved by the outpouring of love and support! It truly warmed our souls! We cannot thank everyone enough.
From the yummy food, to the music, to the raffles, to the kiddos zooming around in little cars, it was the best night and we REALLY needed it!

The one thing that I failed at was pictures! Here are a few that I managed to get:

This is the cake with the Ethiopian flag!


These are my girlfriends from work, Eileen and Connie and Eileen's son Shane!


This is Braeden in his car. He rode in this most of the night.


This was our BIG raffle prize. It was a beautiful foyer bench. Look at how LITTLE Braeden looks.


This is my Mommy at the end of the night with Braeden. Can you tell he was tired??