You can call me "Mama Lolo".....

Taken the morning after she came home, I bought this outfit for her 8 months ago and it was so exciting to finally see her in it!! 

Yes you read that right, I am a Mother! 

Let's all take a minute and just scream with joy okay? EEEEEK!!!

Remember I told you that I was going on a long vacation in March? Well I thought that I was. 

3 days before I was going to leave for 2 1/2 weeks I got a call that I had pretty much given up on. 

It was asking if we were still interested in taking a little girl named Cheyenne (age 22 months) out of foster care. I had a really bad fever at the time and I thought I was hallucinating. I mean really, I just sat there and went "Uh huh....".  

We have been fighting for this child for MONTHS in court to be placed with us. We are distant family members and the birth mother wanted her with us too. We would go to court once a month and nothing would get accomplished and we would get more and more discouraged. Getting this phone call was a miracle, pure and simple. While still internally freaking out (but trying not to act like it)

 I learned that she could be placed with us in a week!! I called people screaming and could hardly even tell them that Cheyenne was finally coming home! One person literally thought that my house was on fire or some other horrifying thing had happened. :) 

Her first moments home were spent rocking with Mom. She took a little nap on my shoulder and woke up happy! I was in heaven.

So after having one week to get our house together for our insta-toddler, we were as ready as we were ever going to be! She came on a Monday at 3:35 and has been here for one month now. Without a doubt it has been the best month of our lives. We are so happy we walk around with perma-grins on our faces! 

A lot of people ask us how she adjusted to coming to live with us, so I thought ya'll might be wondering too. She has adjusted more wonderfully than we could have ever dreamed!! I fully expected her to cry for weeks and just be very sad (totally understandable) but she was not at all! She is the happiest little girl I have ever met! She very very rarely cries and when she does it's for a good reason. She sleeps through the night perfectly, goes down for a nap without a fuss, eats anything you give her and says "Thank You" every.single.time. you give her something. She speaks REALLY well for her age which is great because we can communicate! I could go on and on about her. She is just so much fun! 

Here are some more fun photos!

First night home in adorable Elmo PJ's after bath! 

Playing dress up, what a pretty princess she is! 

This little girl LOVES her Daddy! 

Easter. So adorable!

Our Family on Easter Sunday

First day with pigtails was last week, so cute!!

I kiss her all day long, wouldn't you?!

After seeing how adorable she is, I think you can understand why I haven't been on my blog at all since she came home. 

And I have to be honest with you. I have zero desire to do anything but love on her right now. I waited for her for so long and I'm going to soak it all in! So it will be a while until I'm back to blogging, but I will be back every now and then to post an update or a cute craft I make. Deal? :) 

Um hi, remember me?

So......I have some explaining to do :) When I last posted (almost a month ago) I had no intentions of dropping off the face of the earth!! 

Since September, we have been going through the foster care system for a specific little girl (a distant relative) and it has been nothing short of dramatic! There used to be twists and turns every week, then daily and we are just about down to hourly. 

Going through the foster care system is like being blind folded and strapped in a roller coaster that flips, twists, turns, stops, starts and you have no idea when you are going to be let off! 

That is the very best way I can describe the last month(s) of our lives. I'll be back to blogging soon, hopefully next week because I have missed it (and you) SO much!! 

Thank you for your private messages asking where I was and telling me you were praying for our family, I had no idea when I started a crafting blog that I would have such kind readers following it. 

P.S. If you have ever been through the foster care system and would like to share any tips, PLEASE email me. auntielolocrafts at gmail dot com. Also, if you've ever been on a roller coaster blind folded and have tips about that, I'll take those too ;)

Blessings in a Basket

Happy November! Just wanted to let you all know that it is National Adoption Month and I am honored to be taking part in an auction for Blessings in a Basket. 

What is Blessings in a Basket you ask? Here, I'll let the founder Ashley tell you, 

"BIB is a non profit organization that is creating a community

 of birth moms that find themselves pregnant and have made

 the choice of adoption. We are here offering love, support,

 guidance and healing. Through baskets, support groups, amazing retreats and life coaching, we are helping these women realize that they are BIG TOUGH GIRLS!!"

Ashley is one amazing girl! She is a birth mom and she thought to create baskets filled with items that she wished she had when she was going through that extremely difficult time. I am so honored to have anything to do with this organization, I really think what they do is amazing! 

The item that I donated is a customized Family Name board like this one...

There are also lots of other great items and I hope that you will go and bid! 

Taking the week off....

We recently found out that we are now part of the club who has experienced a "Failed Adoption". 

I'm not gonna lie, this is one club I never wanted to be in. 

But guess what? We will rebound and be okay. I'm going to take the week off from blogging and regroup :) But, we will still have our Friday Party Feature so you have that to look forward to! 

BIG NEWS!!

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe 4th of July! 

I am currently sitting by the ocean blogging :) Yes life rocks right now. We are on vacation as a whole family (sisters, husbands, kids, mom) and having a great time! 

This is a first for my family, we have never been all together for more than a day due to work schedules and living in different states. 

So I have some BIG NEWS to share with everyone! My husband and I just found out we have been matched with a baby through LDS Family Services!!! The baby is due in December and we should find out in a few weeks what the gender is.  I will definitely share that when I find out! We are beyond excited and can't wait for Baby Hale to join our family! Watch out for LOTS of baby crafts coming up! :)

This week I am going to have some great ladies guest posting for me and I know you are going to love their projects! My sister Francis is making her debut on my blog by introducing a new sponsor on Thursday! See you next week!