Mommy fail.

She's pretty cute.

We've all been there--the mommy fail. I've had several recently and it's killing me... Let's not rehash the past month. I pray they are my last fails for this year and we will start afresh in 2017!

My sweet goofy crazy baby Violet lost her first tooth. She was a trooper and asked me to pull it. I was so proud. We put it in her pink monster missing tooth pillow. She went to bed giddy with excitement over the tooth fairy visit. Kev and I watched a movie and went to sleep as well. The next morning Violet runs in and yells, "Mommy you didn't put anything under my pillow!" Let me point out, she already knew losing teeth just meant cash money from Mommy and Daddy. At least, I didn't burst the tooth fairy bubble as well, she figured that one out with Chloe. Regardless, it was her FIRST tooth! She was so excited and I blew it.

Plan B. I put together a clever note and put it under her bed. Violet isn't the most observant, so it was plausible she would have missed it. I came up with this brilliant idea in about five seconds. I dug around in my purse and found a five dollar bill. More than Chloe got for her first tooth, but Chlo knew I had messed up. She would understand. The note directed Violet to the Barbie house elevator where the crisp new five dollar bill waited. Granted it was four hours late and her excited six-year-old anticipation had been squashed but at least I hadn't completely bombed, right?

Violet started wailing. "Mommy, Chloe got three dollars and I only got one!" Oh, the joys of a six-year-old's understanding of money...

How many times does God give us something and we miss the true value? We think He has given us less when He's really given us more.

More time one-on-one with our precious girls. More time to appreciate the calm before the storm (AKA introducing a new family member into our household). More time for the girls to be a little more prepared, maybe even just a tad older and more mature. The value of God's timing versus our timing. The value of experiencing and being thankful for God's sovereignty in a situation and not just talking about it. Oh, but talking about it is just so much easier.

I'm not gonna lie--2016 left me hanging adoption-wise. But, fortunately my hope isn't in a time frame or a specific year (as I cringe). It's in a heavenly Father who has exceedingly more planned for our family whether I see it or not.

Bring on 2017. Hopefully, God will bring a new Bulgarian addition this year. Regardless, I know we will gain a clearer understanding of God's love for our family as He draws us closer to Himself and each other through this process. Maybe He will allow us to receive both.

A few prayer requests: We are updating our home study. Pray everything comes together smoothly and as needed. As we ring in this new year our family will be on three separate continents. The girls and I will be holding down the fort in North America, Kevin will be speaking at a missionary conference in Bolivia for a week with South America Mission and our little one is waiting for us in Europe. I'm not a fan of the space between all of us, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Please pray for our family as we are all spread out across the world.