More Christmas

Cadence and Trinity in their matching outfits that Aunt Steph got.

"Mommy Santa ate all his cookies and the reindeer ate their peanut butter balls!"

Cadence playing with her gifts from Santa. She got her Hannah Montana house and LOVES it!

We woke up to a White Christmas. It had melted quite a bit from the night before. It snowed three times while we were home. It was awesome!

Cadence putting out her cookies and milk for Santa and the peanut butter balls for the reindeer.

Christmas in Texas

Cadence icing her cookies for Santa

Cadence and Jagger tackling Granddad.

Cadence, Trinity, and Thomas cutting out their cookies to bake

Cadence and Jagger rolling out the cookie dough


Cadence and Trinity at Sweet N' Sassy. They were rockstars. Cadence was jamming out to Hannah Montana and put on her own concert for the whole store. It was hilarious!

We had a great time in Texas visiting my family for Christmas. We were able to be there about 2 weeks and just relax. It was just what the doctor ordered. We had such a blast hanging out with all the kiddos, my sisters, bro-in-laws, and my parents of course. We couldn't believe how much the kiddos all had changed. It is amazing each time we go home and see the difference in everyone. Cadence got some really neat stuff from Santa and the fam spoiled her rotten with more toys, books, and clothes. It was such an amazing time and we are ready to go back. Cadence asks everday "Mommy can we please go back to Texas today? I miss everyone!" All I can do is cry. It breaks my heart she misses everyone so much and I can't fix the pain. Enjoy the pics. There will be several posts with just pics. Love to all!

Happy Birthday Cadence!

Well Cadence has been wanting to be a big sister for quite some time, well...... she is finally getting a baby brother or sister!!!! We found out on November 6th that we are expecting! We went this past week to see the baby for the first time. Cadence was really excited! We saw the gestational sac but no baby yet. Cadence was really cute through the whole thing. She looked at Ryan and said "Oh Daddy! The baby is sooooo pretty! Isn't 'she' pretty Daddy?" and of course Ryan said " There isn't much to see baby so no." Cadence got mad and said " 'She is pretty Daddy! She is adorable!......(pause)......... Mommy, YOU'RE PREGNANT?!?!?!" It was soooo funny! It didn't sink in to her that I was pregnant really until she saw the baby for the first time on the screen. Soooooo precious! She is going to be an amazing big sister!!!!! :)

Our Beautiful 3 Year Old (almost)

Our 3 year old princess

Bashful smiles

Mommy's mini-me

Falling in love with my sweet Cadence

Big grins like Mommy

It is soooo hard for me to get a grip and realize our baby girl is about to turn 3! Where in the world did the time go? She is so much fun and has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. We honestly cannot imagine our lives without our beautiful Cadence! :) Here are her 3 year old pictures we had made this past week. This weekend is the big birthday party and then next week we are off to DISNEYLAND!!!!!! :)

Adoption Update

The day our lives were blessed by God with our beautiful Cadence Faith

Hello all! Just wanted to put up a quick post and let yall know how things are looking for adoption. Ryan and I had a phone conference with Lifetime about a week or two ago and had a lot of our questions answered by one of their staff members. They kept mentioning a small Lifetime fee so we were finally able to find out exactly what the cost would look like. Unfortunately, the cost is waaaaayyyyyyy out of our league. Lifetime wants $16,997 and that isn't including the costs we will have to pay for a home study which could run between $1,000-$3,000 and then legal fees for an attorney which could be between $4,000-$6,000. Basically it would cost us about $20,000-$25,000 to do a domestic infant adoption.

Ryan and I are in prayer as to which way the Lord is leading us. I have looked for more agencies and haven't had any luck yet. I do have one that I am going to call tomorrow to check and see how their program is ran and what the costs are to adopt with them. It is the last hope basically here in Nevada. Guess we will see what they say.

All this to say please continue to pray for us during this difficult time. I am confused and frustrated with all of this news. I see the dollar signs and panic. Please pray, yes, I am going to say it, please pray for PATIENCE for me. I want to rush this whole system and get a baby fast. I don't want to have to wait another year. I am being selfish and seeing we have tried for a year and a half on our own and I can't imagine waiting any longer. That is my biggest struggle right now. Please pray that I will have patience and open ears so the Lord can lead us to where He needs us in this process. I am having a hard time turning it over to the Lord because of my selfish controlling nature and I just ask for prayer that I will let it all go and stop trying to manage everything in my life. He is the manager and I am just the follower.

Thank you all for the prayers and support during this time. We love you all!

Adoption

We are excited to say we have begun the process of adoption. Ryan and I have been in prayer about having a baby and feel that God is taking us down the adoption path. We have chosen a facility rather than an agency. I first found one I was interested in through the Texas agencies page. They had locations in southern California. Thinking since we were only 2-3 hours away we would be able to get one from them but they responded to my request for info with a "no" to both domestic and international adoption since we don't live in California. They were nice enough though to send a few websites that might help us out. I looked but didn't find anything.

Which led me to doing a search for agencies in Nevada. Going through the 5 or 6 Nevada had wasn't fantastic. Two of them were immediately shot down due to the religious affiliations they worked under. :( I found one that led to another and another, when I came upon Lifetime Adoption Facility. They have been offered by larger agencies to become a part of them but they refuse. They don't want to become an agency because then an agency can only help a certain state that they are located in. They remain a facility so they can serve people all over the US. To top things off they are a Christian based facility. I truly feel that God has led us to where we need to be. There are many birthparents that are waiting for adoptive families. The only thing is we have to match their criteria. Hopefully we will get some news soon. We have submitted our application last night with a picture and the lady already emailed me today saying she was taking our application to the committee this week. We should hear back from her within 3-10 days.

Please be in prayer for our family as we prepare our hearts for this journey God is walking with us. We are excited and hopeful that God has a perfect baby sister (Cadence's preference) or baby brother out there that will complete our beautiful family. Thank you all for your prayers and we are excited about possibly becoming parents again!!!! :)

Our 4th Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Campise

Our first dance to "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts

Cutting Ryan's Baylor cake :) SIC 'EM!

On our honeymoon in Jacksonhole, Wyoming

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! I can't believe that time has flown by so fast! It seems like yesterday I was having my hair done and getting ready to run by the hotel to check if everything was okay for the reception. There just wasn't enough time in my day that day for everything to get done. HAHAAAA! It was such a beautiful wedding and I am sooo thankful that God placed Ryan into my life. I am now married to my best friend and we have the most beautiful daughter in the world.

Honey, thank you for making me so happy. You make me smile inside and out every day with your love and affection. I look forward to being your wife for the next 50+ years to come. If they are anything like the last four then my life is absolutely perfect! Thank you for making me so happy! I love you more than words can express! Happy anniversary my love! :)