Once was so nice...

…we're doing it twice.


Team Roark has been busy this winter. Yes, the usual stuff- current jobs, future jobs, preschool, swim lessons.

But there's more.  Team Roark is growing.

By one.

For the dozen people still following our blog… drum roll, please.

Please follow us on our journey as we bring home our son, Max.

(Yes, you are correct that he's incredibly adorable and his eyes melt your heart.)

Brown eyes

I spent my life wanting blue eyes.  My mom has beautiful blue eyes and I wanted to have eyes like her. But alas, no matter how many carrots I ate, my eyes remained brown.

For anyone who is unaware, enough carrots will turn your eyes blue, according to my mother. 
My darling brother, who has lovely cornflower blue eyes, used to stick his tongue out and exclaim "I don't have to eat carrots, my eyes are already blue!". 

But then Maddy came into my life. Sometime, a few weeks ago, she stopped her perpetual motion before bed, held my face and looked straight into my eyes.

"Mama, wu have brown eyes. Just like me. We the same."

All those years of wishing for blue eyes vanished in that moment. Not only did that comment make me appreciate what God gave me but know exactly why. I may not have answers for all her future questions. But we share something.

Yes, my sweet girl and I have brown eyes. We the same.

First Day of Preschool

Maddy started preschool at the end of January. She was clearly ready- ready to make friends, ready to learn. And as much as I wanted her to be ready from a development standpoint, my heart ached. Because once preschool starts, school starts.

And that means she's already growing up on us.

Right before our eyes, our tiny girl has blossomed. She is far from the baby we met in Zhengzhou. She's a vibrant, talkative little girl. Or "Big Girl" as she tells me.

So, while she was ready, I was not. But that will probably always be the case. The day we take her to college, it will feel like we just hugged her for the first time in China.

No one said parenting was going to be easy.

Eternal Winter

It is not lost of me (or most people, I think) that the movie Frozen debuted during one of the longest and  harshest winters on record. It took a lot of creative thinking, many hours at the mall play center and local indoor playgrounds and heavy layering to make it through. The beautiful piles of snow in the pics below look romantic and playful but I am yet to be wistful for them.

In the words of Maddy's favorite character from Frozen " I like to close my eyes and imagine what's it will be like when summer does come."

Living among nature has its downfalls. Jeep vs deer. Jeep wins. 

What a helper!

Taking a walk in the snow. 

Mama's birthday. 

The cake, while delicious, had some cosmetic flaws. But I have a husband who bakes for me, so I won't complain. 

Making our pizza dough

These two are the best!

Heading out to birthday dinner. Steak + glass of wine= happy girl

 

Snowbunnies!