the next chapter....

for the Whitfield's is to add another to our family by adoption! I feel like it is really old news at this point, but i need to start talking about it on this blog...so here it goes!

We had felt like there was another Whitfield for our family, but just didn't have the picture of what it was going to look like. After much prayer and consideration (and overanalyzing like we do best), we decided this was where we were called and could not be more thrilled about it. We are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia! This is a completely new experience for us and we are learning every step of the way. The process is very tedious and requires much more patience than I will ever have, but we are getting through it.

So where are we in the process, you ask??? We have completed our home study and are currently waiting (not patiently) for it to be finalized, and then we will send the dossier in! I have every piece of paper collected, typed, signed, and notarized to be sent to Ethiopia. The dossier is the huge collection of papers that tells everything about us. It will go to Ethiopia and then we will get a referral, which is where we are placed with a child. After that, we will travel to Ethiopia two times and then come home with our precious baby!

It feels so great to be doing exactly what God wants us doing, and really confirms all of our thoughts. The girls are beyond thrilled and pray for "baby brother" every night. We would love prayers as this process continues, because it is far from over. The cost of an adoption is between $26,000-29,000 and that is a really scary amount. We continue to pray for God's wisdom as we try to fundraise for our baby. David (the one in charge of ALL the finances in this house) feels such a peace that God is going to provide the needed funds, which is comforting...but its still a little scary.

I won't make any promises because I am bound to fail, but I will try to update the blog often with steps of the journey so everyone can keep updated. But most of all, we would covet prayers as our baby boy is in a far away country. I keep praying that precious people are loving and caring for him until he is home with us...

Fall 2010

Several things have been happening this fall, but here is a very quick recap....

The girls started school....

Taylor played soccer! It was sooo much fun to watch, although she does not seem to have a competative bone in her body...

We went to the beach....

Taylor scored her first round of stitches. She fell while on the playground at school, but was so a champ while getting the stitches.

We had our annual Sciortino/ Whitfield pumpkin carving. the kids are way cuter than the pumpkins, so that's why you are seeing this picture!

We had a great halloween. Taylor was a flower and Callie was a butterfly. Here they are with some of their best buddies...

that's enough for now, more to come (hopefully in a more timely manner)!!!

summer 2010

We had such a busy summer, here are some pictures in no sort of order!

I just couldn't resist this picture, it is so funny to me!

Callie's first shiner...

playing in the rain!

these sweet kids have so much fun when they are together!

family picture at a 5K most of us ran in downtown franklin. this picture amazes me because every one of us is looking, i don't think it will ever happen again!

Blair turned 1!! the girls love their cousin soooo much!

4th of July. Both of the girls had 103 fevers here, so our celebration was pretty small this year!

We went to knoxville to celebrate Nene's 90th birthday. Nene is my grandmother who the girls adore!

Projects at Lowe's with daddy!

Look who's wearing big girl panties!!!

and doughnuts make any day better....

callie's birthday!

Callie had a great second birthday (even though it was almost 4 months ago!) here are the highlights....

she had her breakfast of choice, blueberry muffins, on the front porch with daddy and baby. notice the baby bib she is wearing, that is from one of her dolls, i promise i don't make her wear them still!

"i'm two!"

happy girl eating her cupcake

this is what happened most of the party...hanging out while the kids played in the water! i thought it would be find to have her party outside since the average high this time of year is 82 degrees. on this particular day however, it was 182 degrees.

family picture on callie's big day. we love you sweet girl!

i'm gonna do better, i promise

i am going to attempt to update this blog every week until i catch up to real time (and then probably take another long break), so enjoy this while it lasts!

the first week in may, david and i escaped the country with some great friends and found ourselves in the most beautiful location! the views were great, relaxation better, and time with friends...amazing!

on our way to the 14 hour tour of the island

we have no idea right here that this was going to be a looong adventure!

muddy couple #1

muddy couple #2

(just a side note...david and i opted to ride the 4 wheelers which looked way more boring at the time, but we did not get covered with all the mud!)

the whole crew

this is what we got to look at all week long

or this view....

However, while we were doing a bunch of nothing, Nashville was falling apart. We saw the clouds coming in as we flew away to paradise not realizing that the flood was coming. So many friends and family stepped in for us to take care of our house and all we can say is thank you!!! I dont have many pictures of the house because 1. we were in another country, and 2. everyone was evacuated by boat, so no one could take pictures at its worst. thankfully, water stayed outside of our home by about 4 inches and we just had to fix the outside stuff (car, air conditioner, duct work). we were to grateful to have been spared, but feel forever grateful for friends and family.

this news piece is about someone who goes to church with us, but has a picture of our house before the evacuation (about 42 seconds in).

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/05/09/wolf.storm.comedy.cnn?iref=allsearch

and this is what we did when we got home!

a day i will never forget

I don't think I have ever put a post on here that did not focus on one of my little ones, but here it goes....

This past weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of running the half marathon with a friend, for a friend. I did not actually know if I would stick it out through that boring training (which is why I only signed up 2 weeks ago, although I had been training since january), but I did! one of my longtime friends, Amy, has a precious daughter, Madelyn, who is Taylor's buddy. At the end of October, she was diagnosed with leukemia, and has been fighting the battle every second of every day since then. She is such a brave little girl, and I was honored to wear her all the way through that long run. I ran with my friend, Elizabeth, who also loves Amy and Madelyn as much as me. It was a great day running with a friend, for a friend.

sweet friends, taylor and madelyn!

pre-race picture...that is why we look so good!

post-race photo, we don't look as good, but sure were happy to have made it through!

Taylor turned 4!

Here are some pictures from Taylor's fourth birthday! I will catch up on blogging one day...

Birthday morning, can you tell she is excited about her barbie?!?!

She had a pizza and princess party...I tried to make it a gender neutral pizza party, but she insisted on having the princess part thrown in. some of the girls had on costumes and everyone was happy with it! here they are making their pizzas...

Daivd had the task of occupying the kids while the pizza's were in the oven. musical chairs was a hit!

Some of the ladies! Pretty much all of them got put to work to pull this party off without a disaster...thanks!

Pre candle blowing out...

...and the girl in action!

Us with the birthday girl!

the best group shot i could get. most of the kids are in it, but not necessarily happy or looking!!