I had an unexpected cancellation this morning, so after I dropped Jordan off at school I decided to spend some time in the nursery. And oh my heart when I realized that Jordan had tucked little love notes into the crib 😭 Her tiny drawing of our family of four wrecked me. We are just so ready to expand our family 🥹

We went to support our niece in her first play of the year, which was based on one of Zack's favorite books growing up. The kids were all great actors, and the hilarious outfits cracked Jo up. We love getting to see our creative niece in her element! 

Somehow Zack and I blinked and we've been married for 13 years. We can't believe it! My sister came over to watch Jo so that we could have a date night the two of us. We chose a nice steak dinner and Top Golf for our activity this year. We had a blast laughing and reminiscing on all our adventures over the years. We've done a lot of growing since we first met in our teens, but how blessed we are to have done it together! 

We had a snow day for the ages this weekend! Two feet of snow! Jordan's school cancelled Friday so we were able to host some friends at our house before the storm got too bad. By the time Zack came home we had almost a foot of snow and then got another one overnight. Naturally, the first thing we did Saturday morning was sledding. This was the first year we tried out building a ramp, and that was a huge hit! We're hoping this means we're in for an extra snowy winter this year. 

We set up our first ofrenda this year after being inspired by Jordan's school celebrations. Jill's grandfather and my Mimi passed away a few years ago, so we spent time sharing stories with Jo. We also put up pictures of our first dog and my brother's dog. We love incorporating our daughter's Hispanic heritage into our family traditions. 

Jordan picked characters from Disney's Wish for our family costume this year. Zack was the goofy bear, I was Star, and Jordan was Asha, of course. She had set aside Valentino (the hilarious baby goat) in hopes that a sibling might join us. Since they didn't, we bought a stuffed Valentino to stand in. 

Our amazing friends hosted like they always do, so the kids got to trick or treat their little hearts out while we parents sipped adult hot chocolate and pulled a wagon full of coats, candy, and the occasional resting little. 

We had a wonderful weekend filled with Halloween activities. Jordan's school always goes above and beyond for their event--each classroom picks a theme and the teachers do all the decorating, dress-up and hand out candy. Jordan's class theme was Medieval Times so Jordan was stoked her teachers were princesses. This year the gym teacher, librarian and art teacher paired up to turn the library into an underwater treasure hunt complete with music, lights and hidden sharks (dressed up parents who delighted in jump scares haha). It was spectacular! Then we came home and painted pumpkins as a family. Sunday's event was our church's Fall Fest. We met some friends and the moms and kids played and talked while the husbands hunkered over a phone watching the Broncos game.

We're looking forward to dressing up as a family for the big official day on Thursday! 

The first thing Jordan did after her school's trunk or treat event this morning was race into the baby's room to decorate it with some of the Halloween toys she received. Jill and I just love her heart. She's so very eager to become a big sister. 

Since her soccer and gymnastics sessions are over, Jordan picked swim lessons for her sport for the rest of this year. We love how she's always eager to try new activities. Though I took her to swim lessons when she was a baby, she barely remembered the swim school yesterday. In fact, they ended up calling Jill back to talk to Jordan at the start of her lesson because she was acting so nervous. Turns out, she was actually just mad about being told she needed to wear a backpack floatie. Jill suggested she duck her head under the water and show the instructor what she could do. That was the little push she needed. The instructor ended up being so impressed he passed her to the next level for her next lesson. We can't wait to see what she learns the next few months.

We had the best time in Santa Fe with my parents. We played games, ate Mexican food, walked around museums and explored the square. We even got to watch an incredible lightning storm, which delighted my storm-loving CA dad. But the most memorable adventure was definitely Meow Wolf! Zack and I loved watching my parents and Jo discover the wacky art and cool secret passages. Jordan's constant gasps of delight cracked us up. Now we're back on the road and feeling a bit sad that our awesome break is coming to a close. 

We are on the road to meet Jill's parents in Santa Fe! 

Today we spent the morning at our gym's open hour before heading out for all the errands to prep for tomorrow's road trip to New Mexico! Jordan impressed us by showing off the tricks she's been learning in her gymnastics class. Our little athlete always surprises us!

For our second day of fall break, we hosted our besties for a brunch, then tried on our Halloween costume (+ Dad's) before heading to downtown Denver for a lovely fall shopping spree and new hair cut. Tomorrow we start getting ready for our fun road trip to Santa Fe to meet Jill's parents. 

First day of fall break meant a trip to our local nursery's awesome pumpkin patch! They have a ton of fun activities, a train and a "scary" tractor. This was the first year Jordan asked to go on the tractor ride--she insisted she knew the Tunnel of Terror was pretend and just fun. She screamed the entire time then pleaded to go again. That's our Jordan!

Afterwards we headed to school conferences. Her wonderful teachers shared pictures of all the work Jordan's been doing, and then Jordan showed us her school's celebration for Hispanic Heritage month. What a great start to our break!  

Jordan's last weekend of soccer was a double header, and we had so much fun watching her play her heart out and score her first goal! She ended up getting a medal from her awesome coach who recognized how hard she played. She grew so much this season and we're so proud of her!

As much as we love fall, fall weather here in Aurora is not cooperating. Yesterday we decided to embrace it! We had all our friends over for a backyard BBQ. The kids capitalized on Jo's potion station and even added a face painting twist, haha. The amount of outfit changes was a lot, but the adults were too happy eating Zack's signature smoked ribs to mind.

We had a blast this week celebrating our little fur babes. Both pups have fall birthdays--which is a nice change since all our human family members have birthdays in the winter!

Our old man Opie somehow turned 13. It's insane to look back at what a fluffy little nugget he was when we rescued him. Zack and I had only been married a month but when we saw him we knew our life needed a little buddy right away. We ironically named him Opie after our favorite character from Sons of Anarchy. 

And our "big dog" Lyra turned 3! Jordan was so small when we brought her home she couldn't pronounce Lyra's name--LYly was what she was called for ages. Most people don't know the Golden Compass reference, so a lot of people still think her name is either Lily or Lila haha. 

We pulled out the Halloween box of decorations today much to Jordan's delight. We were never huge Halloween fans until our little lady convinced us it was the best because of candy and costumes, and we think she's on to something, haha! 

We let Jo play hooky on Thursday so we could spend the day in the mountains enjoying the autumn leaves. Spending time in our favorite mountain town has been been a fall tradition that we look toward to every year. However this is the first year since Jordan was born that we actually timed our trip for peak colors! It was sincerely magical and we're fervently praying that next year we can continue the tradition as a family of four🙏

Happy National Daughter's Day to our Jojo! We just adore the wonderful little lady you are and are beyond privileged to be your parents. We can't wait to see you in your big sister era one day! 

Jill's sister and brother-in-law went to Italy to celebrate their one year anniversary so we've been watching their dog Khaleesi. Jordan loves having two big dogs to wrestle. She was extra excited when both Khali and Lyra got to join us on our weekend Starbucks trip. 

Tuesday we got to celebrate Jordan's adoption day, or, as we call it, our family anniversary. Zack came home early and we spent a lovely afternoon together. Jordan always gets to choose our dinner, and this year she picked a local diner for pancakes and bacon. We just love celebrating the day a judge declared us a forever family ✨

Jordan chose soccer and gymnastics for her fall sports season (not a coincidence that her best friend also chose the same). Her uncles and aunts came to her game on Saturday and she was so excited to show them how she can actually run *and* kick the ball this year haha. Everyone then came back to our house for a cookout. Zack's cousins from North Dakota happened to be in town so they also swung by for a few hours. It was so lovely watching five kids ranging from 8 years to 1.5 find something fun to play in our backyard! The older girls bonded with Jordan by showing her how to do some gymnastics skills on the climbing dome. Their flips gave the uncles a heart attack but it was pretty impressive! We loved having so many loved ones all together and just cannot wait for our family to grow.

It's officially my wife's favorite season. Pumpkins. . .  I mean fall. The decorations are up (Jill even decorated Jordan's play table and kitchen), football is back, and Jill and Jordan are counting down the days until fall break and Halloween. Jordan has already picked out our family costume, including a pretty cute one for a baby brother or sister. She makes sure to include them in all our plans. She's going to make a great big sister. 

With Jordan at school in the mornings and Zack at work, I've had plenty of time to myself this week. Naturally that meant completing projects around the house because I don't know how to sit still. The weather was mild enough that I was able to put in tons of work on our backyard play area. (I had the extra motivation of hosting a hang-out tomorrow with some church families we discovered live in our neighborhood.) I also spent some time making new artwork for our hopeful baby's room and potting some plants I'd grown from cuttings. Lastly I finally found a fun play couch that fits her space in front of the fireplace. Jordan hasn't seen it yet but she's going to be SO excited when she gets home! 

After a full week of school, we were ready for some quality family time this weekend. The weather was beautiful and warm (except for one surprise thunderstorm at the park!) so we spent a lot of our time outside. Our favorite adventure was biking to a new park about 10 miles away. Jordan told us she gets pretty lonely in her bike trailer, so we brought our "old man" Opie. Jordan was delighted--except for all the fur she said went up her nose. We assured her that her future baby sibling won't shed, lol. We are so eager for them to join us! 

Jordan had a terrific first day back at school today. She came home full of stories about her friends and her teachers. She has the same teachers and mostly the same classmates from last year (Montessori classes are mixed ages with 3 grades per class), which made for an easy transition for our routine-loving girl. Tomorrow the new 3 year olds arrive and Jordan can't wait to "teach them how to do things" haha! 
  
Now I just have to figure out something to do with myself while she's at school in the mornings and Zack's at work because I miss my little lady! 

We spent 3 hours volunteering at Jo's school Friday to make sure the campus was in tip-top shape to welcome back students. It was a great community event where we got to meet a lot of the new staff members, most of whom are recent immigrants from South America. Jordan was especially excited to help spread new sand at her favorite playground. We're all ready for the big day tomorrow! 

We are soaking up our last week of summer by visiting all our favorite parks, libraries and splashpads. Jordan is also practicing the moves she learned in her fairy dance day camp and a cheer workshop she did with a friend last week. It's hard to believe summer is almost over! 

I celebrated my first full year of teaching 1st graders Sunday school at our church today. I'm so sad to see my students move into the next classroom but excited to hear about how they continuously impress their teachers with their wonderful, thoughtful questions and observations. 

Jordan has been asking to get her ears pierced for months and today was finally the day! We chose a really cute fun place in Cherry Creek. The nurses were so warm and friendly. They made Jordan and I feel so much better. (I was nervous too--I got my first piercing when I was a baby so I wasn't too sure about what it would feel like.) Jordan didn't even spill a tear for her round, and when it was my turn she came over to hold my hands and remind me to take deep breaths. She's just the sweetest little caretaker.

Here are our before and after photos:) 

Today we woke up to a welcome break in the hot summer days we've been having. The first thing Jordan said was HOT CHOCOLATE when she saw it was gray and drizzling outside. We then decided to capitalize on the snuggly weather by baking some cookies while Zack headed off to play a round of golf with his brother. They just got back and surprised Jordan by taking her out to lunch so I'm here cozied up watching This is Us while snacking on fresh cookies.

My sister surprised me with orchestra-level tickets to our favorite play last Friday. Over the years we've seen Wicked in LA, San Francisco and now Denver, but this was by far the best cast. We had a blast! I love that we are able to plan special time just the two of us <3

We took a long overdue roadtrip to Arkansas last week to visit Zack's family. Jordan handled the 12 hour drive like an absolute champ. Once we arrived, Zack's parents spoiled us with amazing meals and Jordan with her first slip 'n slide experience. We also were able to spend time with Jordan's great-grandma, check out Zack's uncle's art show (he makes beautiful wooden sculptures and vases) and spend a day at our dear friend's farm. Jordan was able to help with the chores, including feeding goats, sheep and lambs. But her favorite was snuggling a baby chick for a solid two hours straight. 

We had a lovely long weekend with our friends celebrating the fourth with a big BBQ and little fireworks. Our group keeps growing with new littles, so Jordan got some extra time practicing her big sister skills. She told us Sunday evening that she missed the babies because they thought she was really funny and they (mostly) smelled good. Now that she's not so busy at pre-k Jordan has definitely been asking more and more about her hopeful sibling and family. We are just so eager to meet them<3

We had a jam-packed weekend celebrating Zack's sister's birthday at the pool, seeing Inside Out 2 and spending a day with friends at the lake. One of our friends has a four month old so Jordan spent much of her lake day running out of the water to check on the baby to see if it was time to feed him yet (she really wanted to give him a bottle!). We just love how she pretends to be a big sister no matter where we go <3

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our favorite grill master, snuggler and encourager. Zack's brother and brother-in-law, my parents and my sister and her husband came over to spend the day eating and laughing and playing badminton in our backyard. By the end of the night Jordan was wiped, and Dad's shoulder was the perfect place for a snooze. We are just so grateful for our guy <3

We finally upgraded our bikes to e-bikes this weekend, which means all the more adventures this summer. Our city has tons of beautiful bike trails, but we did discover that some of them are quite muddy. Turns out the mud screen on kids' trailer is pretty important (poor muddy Foxy). We had a good laugh and spent an extra hour at home giving our bikes and favorite stuffies a scrub down. Jordan told us it was pretty lucky a baby wasn't in there because they would have been "extra mad" haha!

Jordan pranced, tapped and danced her way across the stage this weekend. We were so impressed with our girl! She was particularly pleased with the amount of flowers and candy she received from her aunts, uncles and cousins :)

Our little performer got to dance in her school's talent show last week. She had a blast learning a traditional Mexican dance from her teachers, who let us know she was quite the little dancer. Even though she's only in PreK 3 at a school that goes up to 6th grade, she sprung up clapping when the music started and sang at the top of her lungs until the end. Zack and I are so grateful we found a school with an authentic Spanish program so that she can learn about her amazing Hispanic roots! 

Year one in the books! We are so wildly proud of how much you grew this school year, our wondrous Jo. How bravely you navigated a classroom brimming with materials you'd never seen, filled with 3, 4 and 5 year-olds you'd never met who spoke a language you didn't know.

Now you walk into a gaggle of kids shouting your name with ready hugs and smiles and let me know that I can come back to pick you up once you've finished your work. 

The close of this awesome school year is bittersweet, but oh man am I excited for our time together this summer so I can keep a little more of your amazingness to myself. 

Being a mother is the most joyful, difficult, sacred honor of my life. Being Jordan's mom is my favorite job in the world. Thank you forever to the mama who allowed me the privilege of being a part of this wholly awesome assembly of women.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas in every stage and phase. May you and your incredible work be seen and celebrated today and everyday.

Today is Birth Mother’s Day—an extra day set aside to celebrate the incredible woman who carried and labored and loved Jordan before we knew her. The woman who chose us to join her in the mighty responsibility of parenting this impossibly wondrous little human. 

Mama G, not a day goes by that we don’t thank you for the honor of raising your daughter, but today, especially, we pray for your peace and health and happiness. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for our most sacred blessing.

Jordan's wonderful aunt and uncle whisked her away on Sunday to Boulder's annual tulip and fairy festival. Between face painting, rainbow flowers, and getting new fairy wings, a new wand *and* a new tutu (Jo knows how to work her aunt haha!),  Jordan was in absolute heaven.

Zack and I got a rare date day out of it, so we were pretty thrilled too. We chose our favorite Denver oyster bar and then just spent time walking downtown and enjoying the sun after Saturday's gloomy rain/snow. 

A pretty great Sunday afternoon in our book--well, until it was time to wash face paint off a toddler.

We had a lovely weekend celebrating the Resurrection with our dearest family and friends. Our church puts on a wonderful service filled with joy, and, of course, we also squeezed in plenty of chocolate bunnies and hidden easter eggs! It's truly starting to feel like spring here, and we are all so grateful for this wonderful life we've been blessed with.  

Jill's parents surprised Jordan (and us!) with a trip to Disneyland for her 4th birthday. Jill's sister and new husband also flew in to be a part of the magic! We spent two days following our fearless leader through Toontown, Fantasyland and all the rest. We knew she would love classics like the carousel, and Dumbo, but we were all shocked to discover that Jordan absolutely LOVES rollercoasters--her favorites were Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. Hearing her delighted, banshee screams was definitely a parenting highlight. Zack and I couldn't stop laughing at her face as she pleaded for us to not get off but let's ride it again and again! Some of our best friends even took the day off of work to join us for our last day there. Jordan and our friend's daughter Violet (who is 5) even got to spend some quality time with Ariel, Belle and Tiana! 

What a wonderful time we had celebrating our daughter's fourth birthday. Her favorite character is Elsa, so we decided to embrace her snowy winter birthday and throw a Frozen-themed birthday. My dear friend from college even overnighted personalized cookies from her bakery in Iowa! 

Jordan certainly felt the love from friends and family far and near. We still can't believe we have a four year old! Where does the time go? 

Oh boy, do we go big for the holidays in our family! December was such a whirlwind month! We flew to CA to throw my parents a 40th anniversary party on Catalina island. Jordan was even part of the recommitment ceremony, which was so incredibly special. Then we took Jordan to her first Disney on Ice show as her big Christmas gift. Watching her face was one of the best moments of our life! My sister also treated me and Jordan to tickets to the Nutcracker for my birthday the following weekend. Then for Christmas Eve and Christmas we hosted our annual sibling sleepover. Jordan loves waking up Christmas morning to a house full of her aunts, uncles and cousin<3 We capped the holiday season with an afternoon NYE celebration with our best friends before winding down with just the three of us over our traditional steak and lobster dinner. Happy 2024!

Our family had a wonderful time celebrating Halloween this year! From a giant school-wide event Saturday morning to our Fall Fest at church on Sunday to trick-or-treating with our best friends last night, the holiday was full of fun and candy!

We hope you had a wonderful Halloween as well!

From,

Ursula, King Triton, and Prince Eric (Little Mermaid was reserved by Jordan just in case  a sister joined our family ) 

Our Saturdays mornings are now filled with our three year old's soccer practice and games, and it has been hilarious! Jordan's coach laughs that he's basically herding chickens, but the kids all manage to have a blast running in a mob after the soccer ball. Jordan particularly enjoys the sideline cheers from her aunts and uncles, watching butteflies fly by, and high fiving her best friend on the team. We are very much enjoying our new era as soccer parents. 

We spent the most magical weekend celebrating my sister and her wonderful husband in Bailey, CO. Chelsi was the most gorgeous bride in the universe, Charlie (my new brother-in-law) was so happy he practically floated, and Jordan was thrilled that she got to be the flower girl! My dad and I mastered our emotions/nerves and successfully completed our speeches. (At my wedding, my dad broke into tears and handed the mic to my brother-in-law). And then Zack and I were able to dance the night away complete carefree since the happy couple had generously arranged childcare for all the parents. We are just so happy for them!! 

We officially have a preschooler! Jordan started last week in an immersive Spanish program and we could not be more thrilled for her. Her teachers are warm and kind--they even made sure to visit our home so that Jordan could get to know them in a comfortable environment. (Jordan's favorite part was showing them her reading chair in her bedroom.)

She happily tells our dogs every morning, "Adios, I'm a big girl so I have to go to school now." We love how brave and mature she is, and can't wait to see all that she'll learn! 

We had a blast this weekend throwing an engagement party for my sister and her fiancé. They are huge Friends fans so it was lobster-love-themed BBQ--complete with Phoebe Buffay's hilarious quote "you can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank, holding claws"

Zack smoked 30 pounds of pulled pork,  I made lavender lemonade and Jordan helped us both with all the yummy sides and dessert for almost 40 guests! 

My parents drove out from CA to help, so we also got to celebrate my dad's birthday. It was a wonderful weekend full of love and laughter! 

After only a few months of practice, Jordan performed in her first recital this weekend! Our little performer wasn't intimidated in the least at being the youngest in her group or the giant stage in front of more than 200 people. She grinned and pranced her little heart out. The bouquets of flowers, candy and balloons from her aunts, cousin and uncle also made quite the impact. We are so proud of her! 

It's been a strangely cool, rainy June, but Jordan's Southern dadda has been loving the wild storms! For Father's Day, Jordan and I let Zack sleep in before bringing him breakfast in bed. We then whisked him up to the mountains for some damp, slightly chilly hiking. We rounded out the day watching a movie in our loft and having sushi delivered for dinner. We just loved having an extra special reason to celebrate Jordan's incredible dad :)

Mother's Day is a wonderful time of joy and reflection in our house. It is a day we celebrate and cry at the awesome responsibility God and Mama G gave us when they knit our family together. After all, I am a mother because another mother chose me. The weight and privilege of that gift will never cease to bring me to my knees. I thank God for Jordan's first mama, and rejoice that Jordan will be raised knowing how much both her moms love her. 

 Motherhood is so very sacred, and in our household, that sacred is shared.

Spring has brought us out of the wintertime doldrums and we are esctatic! No more snow means finally putting together one of Jordan's Christmas presents--a giant climbing dome. Now she spends as much time as possible hanging upside down and giving her parents a heart attack, haha. One of my old student's invited us to her aerial performance downtown, so that definitely inspired Jordan to try more daring twirls and tricks! Our backyard is also now warm enough for her water table, lots of running with our pup Lyra, and playing in the new mud kitchen we thrifted from a local preschool.  

Zack and I were also able to enjoy a week away in Charleston, SC courtesy of Zack's company. We took a historic walking tour, a haunted boat tour, and even canoed through the black swamp where The Notebook was filmed! Our tour guide for the swamp had lived there all his life, and had allll the wild stories to prove it. 

It was so wonderful being able to enjoy time as husband and wife, but by the end of our five days we were so ready to get back home to squeeze our little lady! Now we're just counting down the days until our whole family trip to California. 

Between Jordan's birthday, our annual trip to CO Springs to commemorate meeting Jordan and her birth mom for the first time, Valentine's day (my late grandfather's favorite holiday, so it's quite sentimental), and our semi-annual trip to CA, February is always a big month in our household. This year Jordan chose "mermaids" for her theme, which we broadened to "Under the Sea" since she's been obsessed with the ocean since her visit to SeaWorld last September. She invited her three closest friends and her aunts and uncle, picked a seashell pinata so she wouldn't have to damage a mermaid (haha), and helped herself to a handful of cake before the candles were blown out. So basically, it was the best day ever;)

Valentine's Day was an extra big deal this year since that was also her first day of trying out a ballet/tap class. I was so proud of her brave little self. This class was completely filled with ladies up to 6 years old and after a few minutes of knee-hugging, Jordan edged in and ended up participating for the majority of the class! She was particularly stoked about the "tappy shoes and tutus" so naturally for her second class we made sure to have her decked out in both:) 

Mom and Jordan also jetted off to CA for a midweek girls trip to visit with her Nana and Papa, who surprised her with tickets to the Frozen Broadway show. Jordan was enraptured. It was so incredibly magical to watch her face light up as the actors performed her favorite songs. By the end of the show, she fully believed she'd become Elsa, clutching her chest and shouting, look out, I might freeze you! It was quite the adventure trying to get her to leave the performance hall, haha! We also made sure to spend plenty of time at the beach, and got to visit some of our best friends' new twins. Jordan left their house wondering if she might also have two baby siblings like her friend Violet <3