Mustache Bash for a Miracle Baby!

A couple weeks ago, I helped throw a mustache-themed baby shower for a good friend of mine.  My friend Rachel and her husband lead our bible study small group and really have been a wonderful encouragement to us as we've been going through the adoption process.

The first time I met Rachel, she and her husband, Tim, announced in Sunday school at church that she was pregnant.  They shared that they had experienced secondary infertility for a few years after having their first son, and had actually started the adoption process when Rachel found out she was pregnant!  They still planned to adopt in the future, but were putting it on hold until their baby was born.  The funny thing is, that morning on the way to church, I had prayed and asked God for direction about whether we should adopt.  I had been feeling frustrated because I didn't know any people who were adopting.  I had so many questions, but no one to answer them.  Well in class, our Sunday school teacher asked us to do an icebreaker and talk to the people in front of/behind us.  Rachel and Tim were in front of us, so when they turned around and introduced themselves, we mentioned that we were thinking of adopting.  I remember that Rachel's face just lit up and they were both immediately so excited for us.  We hadn't even decided if we were going through with it yet!  In the weeks and months following, Rachel and Tim were a huge encouragement and support for us, having gone through the same things we were going through.  Rachel had researched many agencies and gladly handed over her information and results to me so that I could take a look.  To think that a week before, I had been feeling overwhelmed and had no idea how to even begin looking at the adoption process, much less find an agency.  God definitely answered my prayers!

We ended up joining Rachel and Tim's bible study group and have gotten to know them better and have watched their baby grow steadily.  Their baby is truly a miracle baby and God's answer to many prayers.  Rachel and Tim have continued to encourage us and pray for us as we are awaiting our own baby.  There have been times where I think Rachel has been more excited for our adoption than me!  For someone going through the adoption process, there is nothing better than having friends walking beside you, praying for you, and sharing in your excitement.   I am just so grateful for friends like Rachel and Tim. 

So, I was more than happy to help plan a special day celebrating Rachel and her miracle baby!  It was a mustache-themed bash complete with yummy food, little mustaches, and a photobooth.

Rachel and her mom taking the first picture in the photobooth

A picture of Rachel of me

I made a whole bunch of mustaches - thank you pinterest!  Unfortunately I did not
get pictures of all the yummy foods and cute cake pop favors other friends made.

Of course for her gift, I made her baby some of his own jslik designs items!  I let Rachel pick out her favorites from my stash.

 

Updated Fabrics and Blankets

Happy Friday everyone!

I've taken some new pics of my fabrics recently and updated my blanket fabrics album.  You can check it out here.  I've included pics to show the embroidery option(s) along with the fabrics.  I usually only buy one or two of a particular print so I'm constantly updating my fabrics and buying more.  Check back periodically to see if there are some new fabrics available.  And, just to add a friendly reminder, you can choose from the fabrics in this album for bibs and booties.

I'm also working towards getting my fabrics up on Etsy to make ordering easier.  It seems that whenever I mention that I sell handmade baby blankets, people automatically ask me if I'm on Etsy.  So, to make my life (and your lives) easier, I'm going to reopen my shop.  Now I just need to get around to actually doing it...

And to give you some inspiration (and tempt you to order) here are a few blankets I've made (semi) recently:

Happy (2 weeks after) New Year!

Well, it's 2 weeks into the New Year and I've pretty much missed my chance to wish everyone a happy new year.  But, since it's my blog, I can do whatever I want right? So happy new year anyway!

I ended up having a bunch of friends over to ring in the new year.  I made Hainanese Chicken Rice, which really made me miss Singapore.  We had a fun time hanging out, sharing embarrassing stories, and eating good food.  However, I came away with a few realizations on aging.

You know you're getting older when:

1.  You'd rather stay at home than go out for New Year's Eve


2.  You end up toasting the New Year with mugs of tea

In Aslik's defense, he was the most festive out of us by toasting with his glass of sparkling apple juice.

3.  Your New Year's Dance party is powered by Just Dance 4
(I will not post any embarrassing photos of that)

4.  You try and replicate your parent's old pictures and do the serious Asian mafia pose.

It took us a couple of tries to master the serious pose.

Even then, it was too hard not to smile for some of us :-)

A more natural pic

I'm really excited for this new year.  I'm continually grateful for the friends I have here in Houston.  It's just really special to me to have childhood friends nearby.  It's also wonderful to make new friends even if my time here in Houston is limited.  Most of all, I'm hoping this is the year we'll be able to grow our family with a baby.  With adoption, it's hard to really predict when we will be matched with a baby.  Odds are that it will be this year, but you never really know.  I'm sure alot of you are wondering about how it all works, but I'll save that for another post.

As much as I loved living abroad, I'm so glad that Aslik and I get to spend most of this next year living in the states.  I think life is just so much more comfortable and easy here in the US.

So, I hope you all had a great time celebrating the new year and have gotten off to a fantastic start!  I know I have :-)

Christmas Recap

I just wanted to thank everyone for your well wishes and responses to our big news!  It's been a very interesting road for us and we are really looking forward to welcoming a baby into our family.

For Christmas, we drove up to Dallas to celebrate the holidays with our friends and family.  It was really wonderful being able to spend Christmas with family.  The past two years, we've been abroad and have had to make do celebrating Christmas in the tropics by ourselves.  I think what really makes Christmas Christmas is the time you spend with family.  I mean Christmas is centered around God's love for us, which He demonstrated by giving us the ultimate Christmas gift, his son Jesus Christ who would later die on the cross for the sins of all mankind.  So, Christmastime is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ, but also a time to spend with your family and understand God's love through the love of your own family.

We had a great time seeing all of Aslik's family, since the last time we saw them all was about 6 months ago. Aslik and the boys managed to squeeze in a round of golf on Christmas Eve.  In the meantime, the girls watched "While You Were Sleeping" and heckled the boys from the porch when they got to the 17th hole.

 Beau, the bulldog, trying (but failing) to stay awake and catch Santa on Christmas Eve.

Apparently, he didn't do a good job because the next morning, Santa had dropped off quite a few presents. Guess everyone was good this year!

Baby Slik even got a few gifts and his/her first stocking!

Our Christmas family photo

By the time we were done opening presents, it was snowing outside.  We actually got a white Christmas!  My first in many years...it was wonderful!

The next morning, the snow was still on the ground.  We tried to go "sledding" down the hill with makeshift cardboard sleds, but it didn't quite work.  I slid about 6 inches and got stuck.  Guess there just wasn't enough snow for that.

Although the sledding idea failed, I did get to do some "ice skating" instead.  Because Dallas doesn't really have snow plows, the snow in the cul-de-sac in front of the house had iced over and was like an ice skating rink!  I had some fun gliding around.

Luckily, the main roads weren't too iced over so we were able to make our drive home.

It was so great to celebrate Christmas with our family.  It was also super exciting because our Baby Slik got his/her first presents!  I know adopting is a bit different than when you're expecting, but every "first" is just as exciting!  2012 was another great Christmas and I can't help but feel blessed when I think of all the love and support our friends and family have given as we walk through this adoption process.