I warned you...

I have to say that I warned you about gearing up the adoption talk this month... And, without making a statement either way in regards to my political views, I do think this is AWESOME.  

White House Press Release

Happy National Adoption Month!

Video Happy

Here's a few videos of the Reidster we've taken over the last few days...enjoy!

Reid and the Fake Laugh:

The Mountain Climber:

Reid and Bubba = Buddies (kind-of):

And last, but not least... The Growl:

Happy 9-months, Reid! =)

WOW...what a difference 9 months makes!  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone... Michael Reid, you continue to bring nothing but pure joy and happiness to your Mom and Dad.  We love you more every day, if that's even possible!

You are EVERYWHERE now... crawling and pulling up on everything!  At times, you even think that you can walk and are learning the hard lessons of "respecting the floor."  You talk and laugh all of the time... it always makes us smile to hear your little voice and try to figure out what you are trying to tell us.  You've started saying a few words - mama, dada, baba (bottle, I think)... not sure you fully understand what you're saying yet, but it's a start.  Oh!  And how can I forget to mention your love for growling???  You think it's hilarious and growl at everyone you see.  You also love to sing in the car and are quite the "ham" in social settings - wanting to make everyone laugh (and you always do!). =)

You continue to be our own little food disposal - you eat a TON!  (And just about anything we put in front of you.)  You eat three full "food" meals per day and are still taking 4-5 8oz bottles.  If we don't feed you fast enough, we definitely hear about it.  =) Your new favorites are spaghetti, lasagna, and chicken with pasta.  You also love fruit smoothies for breakfast, have a sweet tooth for ice cream (just like your Dad!), and have finally mastered the sippy cup.  You LOVE brushing your two bottom teeth after you eat and have several more teeth trying to break through on the top.  I can't wait to see how much you've grown at your 9-month well check this Friday!

Your favorite toys continue to be anything electronic that aren't necessarily yours (laptops, cell phones, remote controls) - but you also LOVE anything with wheels.  We've already got quite the car collection going for you!  It's really fun to watch you "drive" your cars around on the floor now that you've figured out how to make them roll and move.  You also love to wrestle...that's how you and your Dad spend the majority of your time together...(and you wear your Mom out with it most days. =)  It's always fun to see how excited you get when your Dad gets home in the evening - melts my heart!

I could go on and on... My heart is just so full as I sit here and write this and think about where we were at this time last year.  We became eligible to adopt on November 18th of 2008...it hasn't even been a full year and we already have a 9-month old!  How fitting, too, that November is National Adoption Awareness month.  Just to give you fair warning...that means that I'm definitely going to take the adoption talk up a notch this month...haha! (As I hear a collective sigh from both of you reading this...=))

Happy 9-months, baby boy - we are forever thankful for you and we love you!

Reid's First Halloween

I can't even describe the added joy and fun that kids bring to holidays like Halloween - we had an absolute blast with our little guy yesterday!

As you can see below, Reider was a Dallas Cowboy - and a very cute one, I might add!  (Can you tell that his Dad picked out his costume? ha!)

Here's Reid doing his best Eli Manning impression...

Reider and I before his very first costume party

With his Dad =)

We had 3 different Halloween stops yesterday - busy, busy!  Our first, was sweet Adalyn Love's 1st birthday party.  We all had a blast!  It was a costume party for all of the kids - and Candace and Josiah did a fabulous job putting it all together.  There was a professional photographer taking pictures, incredible food, fun, and even more incredible cake.  

Here's a pick of Reid with Cade and the birthday pumpkin, Adalyn:

Hanging outside with Mom...

Reid & I, Adalyn & Candace, Isabella & Jayme - such special friends!!!

Our little family...Reid was definitely more into his football than smiling for the camera =)

Myself & Reider, Tiffany & Brielle, Jayme & Isabella - love you all!

And, yes...we did attempt some group pictures with all of the kids...that was quite a task!  I don't think we got a single picture with them all looking the same direction...=)

The funniest part was watching all of the parents trying to make their kid smile...

Such a happy boy! (I think this was when Candace pulled out the puffs...puffs = crack for babies)

The AMAZING Halloween cupcakes!  (I only had a few...haha)

After all of the costume party fun...we ran Reid home so that he could take a quick nap, then we were off to the Harwood Terrace Fall Festival with Grandma and Grandpa:

And Uncle Jeff who came home from Baylor for the weekend!

Reid had a great time meeting all of Grandma and Grandpa's friends...and then he found the leggos...

And the cars... (the boy LOVES anything with wheels!)

And for our final stop of the day, we headed over to Doc & KK's where Aunt Neely and Uncle Craig were having a party.  Here's a pic of Reider with his Doc and KK (so sad I didn't get one with Aunt Neely & Uncle Craig!)... As you can see, he had one of his cars and was not at all interested in anything else...

It was such a great Halloween!  We made so many fun family memories and are already looking forward to taking Reid trick-or-treating with all of his little buddies for the first time next year!

In other news... A lot of you read my tweet about our sweet friends whose adoption of baby Isaac fell through about two weeks ago.  (He was taken from them after several days because the birthparents changed their minds.)  Thank you so much for all of your prayers - I know they were truly felt.  In what seemed like a hopeless situation, God once again has made beauty from ashes... why does that never cease to amaze me??  Yesterday morning, Dave and Bethany got the best call of their life... the birthparents changed their minds (again) for the final time!  They had the great honor of brining Isaac David home FOREVER last night!  Praise the Lord!  It truly is a miraculous story and one that they are excited to share!  You can check out their blog for more details (http://www.teamrinntx.blogspot.com/).

URGENT NEED - Real Choices Crisis Pregnancy Center

I know, I know... I've been a bad blogger lately.  A VERY active almost 9-month old (who is definitely trying to walk) is keeping me just *a little* busy these days - he is so much fun!!  But I promise to post lots of pictures after all of our Halloween fun this weekend. =)

In the mean time, here is what Reid and I will be doing tomorrow...I thought some of you might want to help...

We are so blessed and thankful that Reid's birth mom made the best choice for him in choosing life.  Real Choices is a WONDERFUL place that helps young moms make the right choice with unplanned pregnancies.  It offers incredible hope and help to hurting young women, and uses the message of Christ as the center and purpose for their ministry.  Please read below to see their immediate needs.  Thanks for helping if you are able!

Ok, ok...so I couldn't resist!  Here's a few pics of my not-so-little guy...

One of Reid's new favorite things is rocking in his chair (this was my rocking chair from when I was little).  The picture is so blurry because I couldn't get him to stop rocking long enough to take it. 

(And, yes... that is his signature way of sitting these days...one leg hiked up just like his Dad.  And, no...I do not fight the child to make him wear pants when we are at the house.  He has figured out how to get them off.  It's a loosing battle for me, I'm afraid.)

And a fun pic of Reider and I playing in his bounce house before the Gotcha Day party...

My favorite little helper...

This is Reid's favorite new pass-time... unloading the dishwasher.  Exciting, I know. =)  Every morning before breakfast he crawls as fast as he can to the dishwasher and just waits for me to open it up... what a cutie (even though he refused to smile for the camera this morning)!

Reid's Gotcha Day Party!

For some reason, blogger is having problems uploading the massive amounts of pictures we took at Reid's Gotcha Day party this past Saturday...  but at least I got two of my favorites on here!  (To view the rest, you can look in my Facebook pics.)

Here's the little man-of-the day in his customized tee... it says, "Forever A Peterson, October 5, 2009"...

...and a family pic in front of the bounce house...Reider LOVES the camera, if you can't tell. =)  And, I think he looks so much like his Dad in this pic...

We all had a GREAT time celebrating Michael Reid last Saturday...we had over 80 friends and family join us for his party despite the cold weather!  Only I could have picked to have it on the only cold day we've had in TX all year. =)  There was a bounce house for all of the kids, tons of cake, ice cream, football, etc... Thank you to everyone who came out and who has prayerfully supported us throughout our entire adoption process.  It means the world and we will be forever grateful.

I will try again later this weekend to get some more pics up of all our fun friends and family from the party - we love you guys!