The Fabric of Our Lives

I couldn't sleep last night because of the anticipation I had over receiving these pics! Thanks so much Corey for taking them! I have been literally dreaming about getting a shoot in them, and now I have! :) I am in love, and I am considering redoing all of my decor just so I can display them all. Ok, so not really, well a little, but yes, I want to frame them all! :) I added a little artwork, (not that it was needed cause oh me oh my they were gorgeous, but I just like to get my photoshop on! lol).

Soon to be an 11X14 for my photo collage, (can you believe I haven't posted it yet- its been a few months since I made the collage- no worries, will remedy that soon)!

8X10? I don't know where I would put it, but I HAVE to have it somewhere! :)

If I didn't have a painting over my fireplace that I was in love with, you better believe I would be blowing this up to go there!

See, she cried the whole time lol

{this is the pic I took again just to complete the post}

Home Stretch

*You are invited to Sweetpea's adoption party August 13th! If you wish to attend just let me know and I will get you the info!!*

A few weeks ago I debuted this mini-photoshoot of a dear preggo friend, and today exactly one month before the big day, I got to do their “official” shoot. You may remember them from last September and this shoot, (C/B: can y’all believe it was almost a year ago!?)

Before I get to that, they also gifted me with a mini-shoot of my own. In her mini-shoot, I took pics of her in a field of what would bloom to be cotton. I am in love with cotton in bloom. It just looks so cool! So, for the last while I have been dreaming of getting our shots in that field! At the shoot today they took pics of us in the field, (as well as at another site where I did some pics for them). All of these pics were not on my camera, and I will not get them until Sunday, (no patience here!!), but I thought you would like to see a sneak peek from my camera, (I got just a handful).So, yes, she is crying, (cried the whole time), but how beautiful is this shot?! The colors, the sky, the clouds, the cotton, the flowers, her dress, (which I made)- I love it all! I will be returning soon with my BFF to get some more and hopefully Ms. Beauty will not cry.

I am an amateur photographer. Visit my business blog here. Disclaimer: I love to add artwork like below, but when I give you your disc, I also include the originals so if you are not a fan of the artwork, you do not have to keep it. :)

One last thing before we get to the pics, Brooke is 8 months pregnant, (exactly one month from her due date today), and look how tiny she is!! Please do not send her hate mail- it is not her fault God gifted her in that way! ;)

Without any further adieu:

If you couldn't tell, this family is a blast to photograph. I love this pic- every family member gets a circle. :)

It is safe to say that both have to really try to look pregnant. lol Told you they were fun!

They are waiting to reveal his name when he is born. Their loss, cause how cute could this be with his name... ;) (j/k guys- I just can't wait to meet him and know his name!)

I am not the biggest fan of B&W pics, but this one looked so nice in it...

These next two are so beautiful they hurt me. They are the same shot, one in B&W... I couldn't pick which one I liked better so I posted both....

They came to visit us in the hospital this last go round, and were there when we got released, so we got to go to dinner with them that night. Fun! :)

Shoe Lust

Sunday we went to the mall and I saw these new Toms and fell in love. I considered buying them but decided to wait. Then all I could think about was those shoes. When I was making my bday wish list on Tuesday, (I never finished because we got word of Sweetpea's adoption), I looked to add these. They were not online. Hmmm...

Today we went to get them and there was only one pair left! Thankfully it was my size! I was excited and mentioned it to the sales girl and she corrected me: they weren't the last pair at the store, they are the last pair in the company (so maybe that's why they weren't online?)!

They also make this style in black and red and I want both! Now I already have black glitter ones, but I would settle for the red. ;) Needless to say at the news of how coveted my white ones were, it increased my lust for the red ones! Oops!

I just couldn't resist the lacey/crocheted look of these shoes! Be sure to check out the Toms website if you are unfamiliar with this stylish charity. :)

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August 4th

August 4th 1986 I was born

August 4th 2010 we were officially certified as foster parents, and I requested a little black girl aged 0-3.

August 4th 2011 we get to adopt Sweetpea, and I turn 25, ya know, no big deal.

Just today I was making out my birthday wishlist,(for the benefit of my mom and hubs), and I kept coming across adoption stuff for Sweetpea and me. Now I know why. :)

We are having a party for her at our house Saturday August 13th. I told some of you the 12th, but it is the 13th! Literally, this and maybe a few emails is the extent of the invites. If you want to come I want you there! Even if you are a total blog stalker and you want to come, you are invited, (obviously I will need a reference of types to make sure you are indeed a blog stalker and not an actual stalker). ;) Serioulsy, if you want to attend, just comment here, facebook me, or email me, (triciakeierleber@ymail.com), and I will send you all the info you need!

Tasty Treat Tuesday

Sweetpea got to enjoy popsicles in the hospital. :) My poor baby has lost a whole pound in a month! She is almost 20 months and weighs 17.4 pounds, (30 inches long). Needless to say, next week at her dr appt we will be discussing healthy weight gain options. (keep in mind in the last 5 months she has had 3 surgeries and has spent over 3 weeks in the hospital, I think its safe to say that that its a huge contributing factor!)

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The News You Need to Know

Thursday morning, Sweetpea woke up at 11AM only because I woke her up. She was back asleep before 1PM. I started to worry, and I took her to my mom’s house to let out her dogs, (yes, it was I who let the dogs out). teehee

Anyway, Sweetpea always gets scared and usually cries when she sees the dogs- nothing. Then I left her in the room by herself to test it out, and nothing, (she usually cries the second I begin walking away).

The lethargy and indifference worried me enough to take her to the ER. Her CT showed the cyst is still there, and since she had just had surgery they wanted to transfer her downtown for observation. She started showing signs of going down hill on Friday, but by the evening she seemed to be back to normal, (shunt failure is pretty rapid and doesn’t improve). So we were sent home.

In the last 5 months she has endured 3 surgeries for the cyst- WHY IS IT STILL THERE?

Well, I don’t remember what it was called, but basically her cyst has chambers. When it looked like the cyst went down a few months back it was the chambers shrinking, only for different chambers to fill now. Basically, she will always have this cyst. We will only operate if she goes downhill, because of significant growth/infection. While the cyst is large, it is stable. They will not bother it until it becomes unstable.

Now, besides having to watch her for shunt failure, I am also watching for this cyst. At least I know.

ADOPTION UPDATE:

All of her paperwork was submitted and ready to go; we just needed a court date. Well, the judge had a tragedy so dates have understandably been postponed. We were told we could expect a date before mid-August. Pray we get a date soon!! I have already begun decorating for her adoption party and I would like to put a date on my calendar for it.

The party is open to anyone and everyone who knows us in person or just because of this blog. Consider this your invitation. :)

Twins?

I ran into this teenager at Firestone that looked just like Sweetpea! ;)

We were at Walmart earlier and I saw this princess phone and I let her see it to see if she'd like it. I took it away to see how she'd react and she was not happy. Since I knew it was a hit I bought it for her. :)

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Home sweet home

We're home. News on health and adoption tomorrow. Tonight I sleep. Here Sweetpea is with her door id ay the hospital. I just love seeing her name! :)

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Just Hangin'

They're keeping us another night since she's still not baseline. I'm not complaining cause she is not herself! Prayers are so appreciated!

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Third times the charm?

At TCH main for observation after Sweetpea showed same symptoms of her last hospitalizations. Please pray.

Good thing: they are using her new name, even if its not legally changed yet. Filling in that name instead of her other name makes me smile. :)

oh, and still no word from her adoption lawyer. Grrr

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Funhouse Friday

I think I figured out Sweetpea's love for her mirror. I sat her next to me so I could snap pics of her reflection on my phone, and discovered the mirror has a funhouse effect at certain angles.

Priceless Fun! Happy Friday Friends!

Cuddle Bug

In the last few days Sweetpea has really started using her arms- to hug, to asked to be picked up and to cuddle. Here she is napping- I tried to move her arm cause she is getting hot, but she wouldn't let me. :) She has to hold me- not complaining at all! :)

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Wordless Wednesday

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horseshoes and hand grenades

I was so CLOSE to catching a really cute pic- I look over and Sweetpea is hugging my water and giving it a "patpat." She is starting to give everything hugs and kisses, and the hugs she gives us are more in quality and quantity. :)

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Reflection Junkie

Sweetpea loves her book that has a mirror in it- she loves looking at herself... She enjoys hanging different toys over the mirror to see their reflection. :) I put that basket liner on her head and she thought it was hilarious, and it is her new favorite thing to do/look at in the mirror. :) (notice the reflection) :)

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Give and Get

When I was doing this photoshoot, her hubby took some pics of my loves. :) These are priceless, thanks Corey! {If I had known she was to be photographed, I would have dressed her differently} :) {oh, and I did a little artwork to some of these pics}

H 2 OH!

10 points if you get my title... I'll explain it in the end to help you out :)

We had quite the weekend. We cut our vacation short because we got a phone call from our neighbor- another neighbor hit our house.

Yes, he hit our house.

We came home to asses the damage. It wasn't too bad, and thankfully we were not home. Our neighbor is alright as well. He had a mini-stroke and blacked out at the wheel- prayers appreciated for his recovery.

While this experience was inconvenient on many levels, I am in awe of God's sovereignty and grace. Our street is always full of children and he easily could have hit one of them instead of our house. Praise God! We could have been home and could have been in his path. Praise God! The what-ifs and Praises are endless!

We need to get the interior inspected still, but it doesn't look too bad...

This crack goes up the entire side of our house...

Notice the" scars" on the plants...

This was completely knocked over and messed up...

Hard to tell, but this is a tire track

My title will make a little more sense in a second, I promise. :)


So I have been on the fence about my hair. This is no news to y'all. As you saw, last week, I had my BFF dye it brown for me cause the color was annoying me. I have zero patience, I tell ya. I planned on not cutting my hair until after Sweetpea's adoption. I made it a week...

Last night at 3 am, (after watching the Cosby show all night), I gave into temptation and gave myself bangs.

By 3:30, I cut it all off! I knew the worst thing that could happen would be that I would need to see a professional today. Luckily, I did not need to make said appointment yet. :)

Not too shabby, (excuse my camera phone and how rough I look- it was 4am).

With bangs pulled back :)

I cut off almost 10 inches, (would donate it if I could, but I can't)

Halfway through.... I usually don't do funny face pics, but seriously, I practically have a mullet here! lol


H 2 OH
I had two posts with H names, (house and hair)- so 2 Hs that make you go, "OH!" ;)