Meet the Shaneyfelts

Archives for February 2024

Harrison is FIVE!!!!

Updated to add: It feels very strange to be celebrating my biggest boy turning five when I was just at the hospital last night with one of my best friends whose four year old little boy passed away tragically yesterday. What a painful reminder that we live in a fallen world, and that not only is death unnatural, but how wrong it is for a parent to have to bury their child. All I could think of was: “My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!” Psalm 119: 28 but also the promise that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34: 18.

Five years ago today, Harrison was born at 11:46 PM 5 weeks early weighing 4 lb 7 oz and with a length of 17″. The crazy thing is that neither Dustin nor I knew about him. I’ve tried thinking back to that day wondering what I was doing, and I’m sure I was working to cope since we had just found out our first adoption match had fallen through a mere days before the baby was due.

You can go read the story here, but it wasn’t until the next day, when Harrison was 12 hours old, that Dustin and I got a text from our adoption agency of Harrison. We got news that evening that his birth parents had chosen us to be his parents, and 12 hours later, we were at the airport waiting to fly to Texas and meet our new baby boy.

Easily one of the best moments of my life–meeting Harrison knowing that we were officially his parents.

Harrison became a big brother in January 2023 and got to meet his little brother after we got home early February.

Banks loves him so much 🙂

Happy Birthday, Harrison! Your Daddy and I love you more than words can express! You are so smart and articulate and you continue to amaze us each day with just how smart you are. You love building and creating–with wooden blocks, legos, magnatiles–anything that will allow your imagination to soar. You still love eating meat (not much for fruits and veggies even though we’re always working on that). You love running and being outside and going with Daddy to the hunting club. You’re also the most patient big brother with Banks and you pray for Merritt each day in your prayers. You were the first baby to call me Momma, and I love you very much!

Things I Do Every Single Day

One of my favorite blogs ever, Mix and Match Mama, did a post last week on things she does every day. I found it so interesting because I feel like the way someone structures his or her day says a lot about that person.

I am a person who THRIVES in routine and structure. Of course, becoming a mom has caused me to learn to go with the flow more than ever (and now so has pregnancy), but I also have certain non-negotiables that happen every single day regardless of what season of life I’m in.

Here’s what I do every day…

Do my quiet time

I used to do my quiet time at night, but I realized that I wasn’t devoting as much time as I should have to being in the Word because I was so tired at night. A couple of years ago I decided to swap to doing my quiet time first thing in the morning and it’s been the best swap. I get up and make my coffee. Then I slowly sip my coffee while I read my Bible and whatever theological book I am currently in the middle of. The one pictured above was on the 10 commandments (amazing book) and I highly recommend it! I also use these highlighters in my Bible.

Skincare routine

No matter what, I always wash my face twice a day and do my skincare routine. This was the cleansing balm I tried not too long ago and while it’s great if it’s your first time using a cleansing balm, I still prefer this brand and this is what I went back to after I ran out of the Farmacy. I’m also currently still using the above moisturizer and really do like it! Once I have this baby, I will go back to my retinol at night too.

Drink LOTS of water

I grew up drinking Kool-aid by the gallon and maybe it was when I got to high school, something inside me switched and I started drinking water constantly. Now I don’t think twice about it and am constantly drinking water. I’d say I drink close to 80-100 oz a day and that’s not me trying to hit that number, it’s just that I naturally crave water. This sounds so gross, but every OB appointment I have, I have to give a urine sample and place my sample in a window area in the bathroom. So gross, but each time I open the little door to place my cup, my pee is always the lightest color in the window and it’s because I love drinking water haha!

Shower every night

No matter what time it is, I’m taking a shower so I can sleep much better. In college, we’d get back to our apartment at 2 or 3am and I’d still hop in the shower so I could sleep better haha!

Kiss my boys all the time

Yep, I’m that kind of mom. I am going to kiss all over these boys every single day, so they never question if I love them or not. I am constantly kissing and hugging them and I love it!

Make my bed

When Dustin and I first got married, this was one of those things that I said, “Hey, making the bed every morning is super important to me” and so for the last almost 10 years, he’s done a really great job of making the bed on days that he’s off work and I have to go to work. Otherwise, I make it. There’s just something about a made bed the screams “Less cluttered!!” even if you have laundry piles everywhere else haha

Right now there are some things that I wish I had time for every day, but I know this season of life will come to an end and I’ll have time again–like exercising and reading a book for fun.

What are some things you do each and every day?

Merritt’s Baby Shower!

Happy Monday, y’all! Saturday my family and friends threw Merritt and me the most beautiful and sweet baby shower. It was perfect!

Adoption is complex in its own way, but I never felt comfortable with having a shower before a baby was born in the off chance that the birth parents changed their minds. So with Harrison, we had a shower after he was born (that he got to attend!) where we received lots of clothes since we had already purchased all of the big items we would need with him. Banks had a diaper shower since we were able to just reuse all of the things we had with Harrison (and it was literally a week between being chosen by his birth parents and him being born in the hospital).

I feel like with adoption, you miss out on a lot of things pregnant women get to experience. So when I became pregnant with Merritt, I was really excited about having a shower BEFORE she was born haha! It’s the little things 🙂

My sweet friend Hailey hosted the shower at her home, and even though lots of people were either traveling because of the holiday weekend or sick, I still had a really great turn out and I’m so thankful for the people who took time out of their day to come and celebrate us!

The food table was SO GOOD!!! It had all of my favorite foods–cheese straws, a cheese ball (with gluten free crackers for me), my favorite fruits and veggies, pimento cheese sandwiches (I had my own little container with gf crackers), toasted pecans, and a gluten free cake! It was really so nice that everyone picked my favorite foods to serve.

My sister made a really good pink punch–I love nothing more than punch at a shower, tea, or wedding LOL

My mom and sister (who just had my nephew, Wiley, at the end of November!)–I also hit 35 weeks Saturday! And my dress is from here!

My bff Hailey

My bff Janie–who is also pregnant with a baby girl and she’s due a month after me!

Janie’s mom, JoAnne, who is like a second mom to me

I am so thankful for the impact these women have had on my life–I couldn’t ask for a better group of ladies to be surrounded by!

I wish I would have taken a picture of the gifts all displayed, but it was the last thing on my mind haha! Merritt received lots of beautiful clothes and accessories and I cannot wait to lean into all the girly things since we’ve got lots of boy things filling up the house right now 🙂