Cat Got Your Tongue?

No, no cats here, although the youngest two have become VERY obsessed with Garfield the cat lately. We have checked out every Garfield library book and they read them from cover to cover. Then, no matter what happens in our day to day lives, there's a Garfield story to allude to. Sundays, it's a race to get the newspaper and tear it open to read the newest Garfield comic. Lasagna is also the highest requested meal right now. :)

So, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged much lately. Summer always seems to start out empty and then quickly fill up. Here's a quick list of all of the fun reasons I haven't had time to sit down and blog:

Visit to National Boy Scout Museum with our favorite Eagle Scout

Aunt Penny's Ordination

Swim Dates with Friends

VBS

Swim Lessons

Painting

Taekwondo for Jonah

Guitar Lessons for Noah

Storytime at the Library

More Painting

Summer Library Programs

Road Trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas

Family Reunion

Arkansas Travelers Baseball Game

Still More Painting

Geocaching

More Swimming

Visit to our Alma Mater, Ouachita Baptist University

This isn't a complete list, but you get the idea. If I don't develop severe carpel tunnel syndrome from holding a paint brush in my right hand for hours every day, I'll post pictures of our finished living room (VERY!) soon.

iPiccy

I've been playing around with some photo editing software. I took TONS of pictures during our family reunion trip this weekend. Here's an example of the fun you can have on iPiccy. More to come soon!

This is BIG

Two days ago, the Haitian government voted to ratify the Hague Convention. This will be a very good thing for the orphans in Haiti in the future. We don't really know what it means for our adoption at this point. Dixie's post is almost like reading a foreign language because I don't understand it all. I know that countries like China who are under the Hague Convention have very strict procedural guidelines for their adoption. Without being under the Hague, countries can pretty much do whatever and require whatever they want. I'm pretty sure that since our dossier is already in Haiti, we will be grandfathered in. We continue to hope and pray that we will receive our referral before Aug. 1st when IBESR reopens.

Sadness

Yesterday, GLA received 23 babies from an orphanage that IBESR shut down. The youngest baby had to be hospitalized for rat bites. Like Robby said, how bad does an environment have to be for the Haitian government to shut it down? Must have been pretty bad. These sweet, sad faces just make me whine, "It's not fair." There are so many of us waiting here in the U.S. for a baby to love and care for and so many orphans living in deplorable conditions. All GLA knows at this point is the names of the children. They put bracelets on them to remember who is who. Many of them are sick and all are malnourished. I am so thankful they are in a place where they can receive care and hopefully, forever families. The government is looking for the parents to try to send these children back home. That makes me sad, too. There's a reason these babies were brought to the orphanage in the first place and I'm pretty sure they don't need to be sent back home. For those whose parents can't be found, they will be classified as "abandoned" (such a harsh word) and processed through the adoption system, hopefully.
Please take a minute to read Dixie's blog post and say a prayer for all of these babies and the ones caring for them.

Noah's 2nd ER trip

Our oldest made it TEN years into his life before visiting the ER and now he's been twice in the last 3 months. (First time was in March when he cut his arm at the pipe shed.) Thursday night, he went on a Father/Son hike in the woods and woke up Friday morning with his eyes almost completely swollen shut and hives from the neck up. We did Benadryl every 4 hours all day yesterday and all night last night, but it wasn't getting any better. I knew the Pediatric Clinic in MP was open on Sat. mornings, so we were there by 8 when they opened. AFTER I filled out all of the paperwork, they told me they don't accept new patients on Saturdays. GRRRRR! I started to tell the lady that I grew up going to the Pediatric Clinic and I was pretty sure Dr. Stagg would let us in. Also, Dr. Chapman was the one there today. I stayed at his house and lead a Disciple Now Weekend when I was in college and attended church with he and his wife for years. I think his daughter was even in my VBS class. Anyway, I didn't say any of that. She told me they could see Noah on Tuesday or we could take him to the ER. There's no way we were waiting til Tuesday. He was miserable.

After calling hubby and debating the merits of the hospitals in the surrounding towns, he thought we should just go downstairs (we were already at the hospital in MP) and go to the ER there. I have never heard anyone say anything good about the Titus ER and I had just told my Mom last night that I wouldn't go there unless I absolutely had to. Well, we ended up having a very good experience. There was only 1 man waiting and they got us right in. The doctor was very kind and the nurse really helped ease Noah when he had to get a shot. Soooo, 1 ER trip, 1 steroid shot, 1 steroid pack, and 1 super-duper Benadryl prescription later, he is on the mend....we hope. We will probably never know what he touched in the woods. It's not Poison Ivy because there's nothing on the surface of the skin.

I have to close this post with an AMAZING blessing from God that we received yesterday. Just to set this story up: our health insurance stinks. It's expensive and never pays out a thing. Basically, it's catastrophic insurance and that's about it. Noah's 1st trip to the ER which took less than 30 minutes and involved skin glue (which came off the next day!) was $933.00. That's with no help from the insurance company. So, I did what my Mama has always taught me to do and wrote a letter. It was a nice letter. I wasn't ugly. I just stated that in our opinion, skin glue was not "surgery" as they were calling it. I asked them to review the charges because we felt that $933 was excessive.
Ok, here comes the good part:
Yesterday, we got a letter saying they had reviewed his case and our bill was reduced by $769 for a total of $163!!!!!!! I was stunned! I wrote the letter because I knew I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least TRY to fight the bill. I never expected it to do any good though. We are so thankful the LORD took care of that bill. We have many more things to be spending our money on right now than $900 skin glue!
Never a dull moment here....

GLA update

So, this week we learned that IBESR (Haitian Social Services) is closed until July 31. This means that GLA cannot present any dossiers until August 1st. This post described more about why they're closed and it's a good thing, even though it means more waiting. Dixie said they will continue to give referrals of children throughout the summer and be ready to submit those dossiers on August 1st.

Here's my hope/thinking/theory (Robby's too): we feel like we'll get our referral sometime this summer so that our dossier will be ready to be presented to IBESR on August 1st. Makes sense, right? As I've said many times, it's all in God's hands and we are good with that. Right now, there are 13 dossiers sitting at GLA. We know we are one of those 13. There are many more kids there than that number, so we are confident our baby girl is there and being given great care.

Until next time....

Summertime Jonah

Today Jonah decided he wanted to transform into "Summertime Jonah". It was hard for this Mama to shave off those blonde locks, but I assured him they will grow back. He just decided on his own that he wanted his head "shaved like Noah". I talked to him for a while about other people's reactions. He tends to get very upset when others fuss over him or make a big deal out of him (growls angrily like a bear). So, I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get upset because the change is quite drastic and others will notice and comment. He said, "I'll just say I have a haircut like my brother Noah."

 The BEFORE picture

 During....he said, "Do you think we could make a wig out of all of that hair?"

 AFTER....still my same sweet boy.

His favorite cartoon is Ben 10 Alien Force. Ben is a boy who can change into different alien figures. So, Jonah and I talked about how has transformed into "Summertime Jonah". It will take a while to get used to this guy living at our house. : )

Mamas

Being a Mama is truly a calling. It's not an accident. It's not a job. It's a calling I've had in my heart since I was a little girl and rocked my dolls to sleep. This post puts it all in perspective:
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

Catchin' Up

In the past 24 hours, I've had two different people tell me that they read my blog. : ) Makes me happy! So, I figured I should do a better job of writing. This is a busy time of year. Here's what we've been up to lately:

**Homeschool Day at Six Flags (photos)! Last year was our first year to go on this day and we'll never go on a different day. The weather is perfectly warm, but not blistering. There's no big crowds or long lines and the people are all NICE! It's wonderful! Last year, the boys were totally clueless and enjoyed every minute of their new adventure. This year, they each had an agenda which made things more difficult. We ended up splitting up, so I didn't get as many pictures this year. I'm bummed that I missed the family photo in front of the big chair.

**Wrapping Up the school year. I can't believe our 2nd year of homeschooling is coming to an end. I have a long ways to go before I'm a veteran, but I feel like we've got a good routine going. Our co-op is amazing and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful "family" of local homeschoolers. Noah still puts up a fight, but I just think that will be school with Noah from here on out. We have loved the Sonlight curriculum which was new to us this year. We have read TONS of great books and loved every minute of it. I'm still planning next year and not sure how that schedule's going to look. I really like the idea of year-round and taking more breaks with long stints in between.

**Extreme Home Makeover: McCraw Addition
When Baby Girl gets here, that will make 4 kiddos for us and only 3 bedrooms, so we're adding on. We have a great contractor that does business with us and he's drawn up some very creative plans. We're adding on to the north side of the house--master bedroom and bathroom. We'll probably shuffle a little afterwards and move Noah into our current bedroom so Gracie can have his room. Still thinking on that. I know a girl needs more space than a boy when she's older, but she won't need much space at first. Luke and Jonah will still bunk together, but their room is expanding which is a good thing. I am trying to be excited, but I am a bit nervous. I'm just not a spatial/artistic thinker and when Robby draws the diagrams on paper, it's really hard for me to imagine it in real life. I've always told him that the thought of building a house is very daunting to me and I think it would really freak me out. Starting with a blank canvas is just too much for me to contemplate! If you show me 2 pictures from "Southern Living", I can tell you which I like best, but just dreaming up a bedroom and bathroom in my mind is really mind-boggling. That's why we go together so well. Robby is super excited and ready to start picking things out and I'm just trying to wrap my brain around it all. As of now, the plan is to start mid-June and the contractor says it will take 60 days. I know contractor-speak. It will be more like 90 days, I'm sure, with several setbacks in between. I'm prepared for that. It will be such a blessing when it's all finished, but it will stretch me, that's for sure!

Another project I'm tackling this summer is painting the brick wall/hearth in our living room. It's very dark and I've dreamed of painting it since we moved here. I've been researching it online and it doesn't seem that difficult. It will really brighten up this room with the dark floors. We haven't picked a color, yet, but we're thinking a really light buttery yellow, similar to our living room in our McKinney house. We're going to use the same color on the living room walls and in the kitchen/school room, too. I painted the kitchen red about a year ago and it's just too dark. Needless to say, this will be an interesting summer!

**Make new friends, but keep the old: one of my best buddies that I grew up with is saying goodbye to the city life and moving back home! We grew up across the street from each other and I'm so excited that we'll live close by again. She has 2 boys and homeschools, too. It's all good!


**Waiting......still.
No news from Haiti as of now. From the timeline they gave us, the end of May would be the EARLIEST we would receive our referral. So, I'm not even getting the tiniest bit hopeful til then. I have several "friends" in our GLA Yahoo Group who've been waiting more than 3 months on their referral. I know God can do anything, but I'm trying to be realistic, too.

That's all I've got for now. If you've read this far, bless you.

Decision Making

Our pastor preached a sermon today and I have a good friend who needs this wisdom right now. So, this blog post is for my friend, but I pray it will bless everyone who reads it.

Here's his list of the 5 steps to take when making a decision:

1. Eliminate unbiblical options.
"I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11

2. Pray for God's wisdom.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

3. Yield to the Holy Spirit's leading.
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." John 16:13-14

4. Get Godly counsel. 
"Make plans by seeking advice.." Proverbs 20:18

5. Trust God's sovereignty.
"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Philippians 2:13 

Happy Birthday, Grandmommy!

Today is my Grandmommy's birthday. I hope there are birthday parties in Heaven and that she is celebrating big today. She would've been 92 this year. She's been with Jesus for 12 years now, but I still think of her every day. She had a HUGE impact on my life. Just this picture alone brings back so many memories. We went shopping for her dress together at the Bealls in Bryan. She knew purple is my favorite color and I just know she picked it for me.:) My Grandmommy taught me so many things. Here's a short list:

1. how to make the BEST homemade mac & cheese
2. a love of nature and gardening (hey, I have the love, just not the time right now!)
3. how to be a Godly, submissive wife
4. food made at home beats any restaurant food
5. the country life is the BEST way of life
6. the joy of a porch swing

Most important of all, Grandmommy taught me about God. She took me to church and to VBS every time I was at her house. I would wake up early in the morning, but she had always gotten up first and had her morning drink (Tang+instant tea---blech!) and her Bible. Grandmommy loved the Lord with all of her heart, mind, soul, and strength, and lived her life for His glory. Every time she would write me a letter or call me, she always ended by telling me she was praying for me.

She even helped start a mission church in her little town and went to great detail to plant many flowers and organize a prayer garden. She started a Crisis Center for the needy in town. She spent countless hours collecting and organizing donations so the less fortunate would be blessed.

I miss her tons and I think about how happy she would be to see us living the country life with our family. She would love my boys so much and they would adore her, I just know it. I tell them about her all of the time and show them pictures. She left a legacy that I can only hope to leave for my family.

I was able to spend her last few minutes on earth by her side and I read Psalm 23 to her over and over. I had put the Bible in her lap and put her hand on top of it. Somehow, maybe through a prick the nurse had made in her finger for a blood test, a drop of blood fell from her finger onto this verse. It brought such joy to me because even in her unconscious state, it was like she was letting me know how filled with joy she would be in God's presence.

"I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells." Psalm 26:8

I am so thankful for all that Grandmommy invested in my life--many, many summers, many drives to Frankston to meet my Mom halfway, many trips to MP to see dance shows and football games, numerous shopping trips, and most of all, the TIME she gave to me.  I thank the Lord for giving me a grandmother like her. Not every girl is as blessed as I was. Her legacy will live on for generations to come.

Today's Update from Dixie

This was Dixie's blog post today. It is good news. IBESR is the equivalent of Social Services in Haiti and apparently they are really backed up right now. Our dossier will not go to IBESR until we have our proposal.  I especially like the part that says, "we will continue to propose children"! That is what we are waiting for!

IBESR to restructure during the next month…

Posted by Dixie

IBESR will not be taking new dossiers until the 1st of June in an effort to complete studying and authorizing the ones already sitting on their desks and also finish the ones that have been given dispensations in the last few weeks. 
According to a source, the director of IBESR is wanting to clear the dossiers that have been sitting for some time waiting for approval.  There were many in IBESR when she took over the position of Director in November 2011.  None were signed until after February 2012 and so they are way behind.
We will continue to propose children and prepare dossiers so that on the 1st of June, dossiers can be turned into IBESR.  We are looking at this as a good opportunity for IBESR to clear their work load and prepare for the new dossiers that will be ready and waiting in June!

Waiting

I started this post and realized I have posted before with this title. I'm sure it won't be the last. : ) This weekend, we got a newsletter from GLA in the snail mail. These newsletters are better than the Sears catalog at Christmas because they have pictures of every baby at GLA. My 2 favorites (I know I shouldn't, but I do) from the Christmas newsletter are still in there. We have all had fun looking at the pictures and dreaming about which one might be our Gracie. Every child at GLA is beautiful and adorable and I would be honored to be the Mommy of any of them. Haitian people are just beautiful, that's the bottom line.

This week at Bible study, my leader asked me if I had an update to share. I told her that we don't really get updates. We're just waiting on "the" email with our referral. Her comment was, "Oh, I don't see how you are doing it!"

My immediate feelings were just feelings of complete peace. Of course we're doing it. We will wait as long as we need to wait to bring our daughter home. Would I love for it to be tomorrow? Sure! But, God has just been showing me over the past few weeks that there is joy and peace in waiting. Above all, we want HIS child that HE has chosen for us to raise. It's not about a timeline. We will wait on Him. If that means months, we will wait. I would much rather wait extra time and be given HIS perfect gift than rush it all in my time and not get His best (well, not that I could rush it, but ya know....).

So, while we wait, we dream. Having pictures to look at is fun, too. The very idea that we are looking at our daughter's face without knowing she's our daughter is just strange. Yet, I've taken that newsletter out of the envelope over and over all weekend and gazed at those pretty faces.

Meanwhile, FIVE more weeks of school!!!!! We are all ready for a summer break. I have been reading about the idea of year-round school. It just makes so much since on so many levels. Last summer was very hard on the boys. Kids who GO to school every day for 180 days are ready to be at home and enjoy the break. Kids like mine who are home every day, but with a school routine, don't really know what to do with themselves when there's no routine. I can lay in the hammock and read all day, but they can't handle that. The idea of starting school back up in July when it's 150 degrees and breaking in October when it's nice weather again is appealing. Most year-rounders school for 9 weeks and take 3 weeks off. Still thinking on this.

Easter 2012

Luke had planned the egg hunt for months---prizes and all. 1st place got a large chocolate bunny, 2nd place Cadbury eggs, and 3rd place Peeps. Ironically, Luke won 1st place and delighted in gobbling that bunny's ears.

We had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior with family.

Opening Day!

Rusty Greer: 2nd from the left

My sweet hubby is a Texas Rangers SUPERfan! MEGAfan! SUPER-DUPER MEGAfan. You get the idea? Well, he's never been to an Opening Day because it just never happened when he needed to take a personal day, get a sub, make plans, etc. His parents gave us tickets to Opening Day this year and it was SO fun. Mostly, it was fun for me just to watch him enjoy it. That's love, right? When the one you love is on Cloud Nine, you are on Cloud Nine.
Not only did they give us GREAT tickets (row 9, right behind 3rd base), but sweet Nana gave us the wonderful gift of monkey-sitting. Next year, Nana, you get to go and experience this wonderful day. The crowd was so energetic. There were times we couldn't even hear each other talk because it was so loud.
Oh, and one of my favorite players from the 90s, Rusty Greer, was there with other Rangers Alumni. Ok, I admit it: to say that I am a fan of a Rangers Alumnus makes me feel OLD!

Birthdays: Round 2

The spring is a busy birthday time in our family. This weekend, we celebrated Noah's 11th (tomorrow) and Luke's 8th (on April 8th) birthdays. I honestly cannot believe those numbers!!!! 2 more years and I'll have a teenager!

We had 23 people here and it was a great day with good family time. We alternate years on having "friend" birthdays because as you can see, having a "family only" party is still large! So, this year is a "friend" year. We will celebrate with their buddies in 2 weeks. I was reminding them last night of how blessed they are to have so much love from our family. : )

The Hamster Campaign

For over a year now, Luke has asked for a hamster. I. don't. do. rodents.
I'll have 3 dogs (we do), 2 frogs (we really do), and 3 cats (yep, we've got those, too), but I just can't do the rodent thing. (I think it's genetic, right Mom?)

HOWEVER, this campaign has reached new heights and I'm really struggling. Luke got out my old typewriter and wrote me the letter you see here. It's "the only thing" he wants for his birthday. Sigh.....

It arrived!

Today our dossier arrived at GLA in Haiti and we received our first email from the orphanage. We could receive our proposal (picture and info on our baby girl) in as little as 3 weeks, but it could take up to 3 months! Even if it takes the 3 months, that still seems sooooo close compared to this long journey we've been on.
God is good and we are rejoicing!

Mom Heart

I am so excited that one of my favorite authors is launching a website tomorrow morning just for us Moms to be encouraged in a natural, Biblical way. Check out the all new MomHeart website beginning Thursday morning. Go Sally!

A VERY easy way to help GLA

The orphanage we are adopting our baby from, God's Littlest Angels, is in need of supplies right now. It is cheaper to load a shipping container here and have it shipped than to buy in Haiti. This is SUCH an easy way to help.
Read through this post and with one click on Wal-Mart or Target's website, you can have it shipped for free! I hope you will consider helping them:

Birthday, Birthday

We celebrated my Dad and brother's b-days this weekend. I love living close to family and having ROOM to get everyone together.

The Process

This was very helpful to me to wrap my mind around all that will have to happen in Haiti before we can bring Gracie home. This is the process that is in place once we accept their proposal for our daughter (picture and info.).

Steps of an adoption in the order they happen:

Pre-IBESR = We are preparing your dossier to go into Haitian Social Services. There are some legal documents that must be made after you accept your proposal and some of them must be legalized at the Ministry of Justice. If we have problems getting a document, this can delay this step.

IBESR = Haitian Social Services

Parquet = Pre-Courts, they interview the birth parents and give permission for the dossier to go through the Haitian court system.

Courts = The dossier is in the Haitian Courts having the actual adoption declared and legalized.

Attest or Attestation= After court papers are finished, the Act of Adoption must be sent to the National Archives and they declare that the signature on the Act of Adoption is legal.

Legal or Legalization = All court papers must be sent to the Ministry of Justice to be legalized. They declare that the signature on all of the paperwork actually is the signature of the Judge who signed it.

MAE = Ministry of Foreign Affairs must legalize the signature of the person in the Ministry of Justice who signed your paperwork in the step above.

MOI = All Adoption passports must go through the Ministry of the Interior for approval before Immigration will print the passport.

Printing= Your dossier is in Immigration waiting for the passport to be printed.

Visa=Your dossier is in your country's Embassy waiting for a visa to be issued!

Spring Break and Catchin' Up

Sweet Bailee Ann

Go Celtics!

Jonah and his best bud, Thomas

Between numerous playdates and sleepovers, I thought I'd use our break from school to catch up. Luke just finished his first season of basketball. He played on an Upwards team through a church in MP and loved every minute of it. Once he learned what guarding meant, he went at it with all his might---intimidating faces and all. I think he scared some of the other kids on the opposing teams. : ) He even made the paper with his great shot---straight into the hoop! This was the first team sport he has ever played, so he learned lots of great lessons. In the beginning, there were tears every time he missed a shot, but he got over that. Santa brought him a b-ball goal for Christmas and it has been great. He's out there shooting hoops every spare moment he gets.

Next month is April and in our family that means a marathon of birthdays! Noah will be 11 on April 2. Luke will turn 8 on April 8---Easter this year---and our sweet Bailee will be 2 on April 19. The party plan is stressing me out. We alternate years on friend parties (i.e. last year was family only so this year is friends). I can't do 2 big hooplahs every year. In the past, we have combined the 2 boys and had one party since most of their friends are the same. This year, however, they are disagreeing on what they want to do. Noah wants to have a campout and Luke wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese. As of now, we are at a stand still with no one backing down. Sigh....

Two weeks ago, Robby and I went to Atlanta GA for the national HPBA Expo (hearth, patio, and barbecue association). Not only was it a great time to learn about new products and how to grow our business, but we really enjoyed the time away. I guess you could call it a baby-moon (never knew that existed when I was pregnant with the boys!) because it was probably our last time away together for a long while. Once we get baby girl home, we won't go anywhere for a long time. We had some (interesting) experiences riding the Atlanta subway and ate LOTS of yummy food. One of the greatest blessings was having dinner with other hearth retailers in the area. God once again reminded us of how much favor He is giving to us. So many businesses are struggling and even going into other areas of business to sustain themselves. Our busy season has been busier than we could've ever imagined and we are so thankful. We know, without a shadow of a doubt, that it is all to HIS glory. We do not take it for granted and we do not forget to say thank you.

After Spring Break, we have 8 more weeks of school until our summer break. No big plans for summer except to just enjoy the time with our family. We are adding on to our house so that will be big excitement. I want to paint (again!) but no other big plans except hopefully, a trip to Haiti!

If you've read this far, bless you! Like I said in the beginning, this is more of a journal for our family than news for anyone else. : )

It is finished!

143 pages!!!!! Our dossier is completely finished and in the mail. O, this is the weight I have been waiting to have lifted off my shoulders. It is all in God's hands now. We have crossed every "t", dotted every "i", notarized, certified, legalized, and translated all that we needed to do. We mailed the original plus 4 copies (over 700 pages total!) to our agency in Minnesota today. They will check it over and it should be on its way to Haiti next week.

So, what's next? From best we understand, once our dossier gets to Dixie at the orphanage, we will be matched with our baby girl in 5-8 weeks. One thing we've learned on this journey is that the "shoulds" are not always the case. God can and will do anything. So, we might be surprised and meet our baby sooner or we might be sitting here in September with no baby match (there are currently 65 babies waiting for families at the orphanage, so I don't think the wait will be this long). We are resting in Him, though, and so thankful that He's brought us this far. It took us 10 months from the phone call from GLA saying "go" to mailing the dossier today.
I have anticipated this day for months because I just felt like we could have peace and wait patiently knowing that we've done all we can do. God's perfect plan is in place and He already sees our daughter as a member of our family.

Last night, we had a precious time of prayer over our big box of paper. : ) We prayed for the pilots flying the plane carrying the big box to Haiti. Jonah's words: "...and please don't let the papers fall in the sea." Yes, there was silliness involved. We prayed for Dixie and her staff as they read about a family they've never met and choose the baby to fit into our family. The boys have been so understanding and so patient during all of this waiting, but I think it's becoming more real to them now.

A few days before we got it all in the mail, I was having the nervous freak out moments that I remember having right before I gave birth to all 3 of our monkeys. "What have we done? What are we getting ourselves into? Life is so easy right now and it's about to get hard!" Just normal doubts that any Mommy would have. Then, God gently reminds me that we are walking the path He has set out for us and that He is holding our right hands. In obedience, there is blessing. We are being obedient to Him and following His call on our lives to adopt. I can't wait to see the blessings He has in store for us!

My Grandpa coincidence for the day: our cousin, LuLu, is here visiting. LuLu is adopted from China and we love having her here to stay a few nights. Our friends from church, Max and Vivian, also adopted from China, stopped by for a few minutes today. So, we had THREE sweet kids---all adopted from another country---playing at our house today on THE day we are mailing our dossier. Just made me smile. It's something my Grandpa would write down in his "Book of Coincidences".

I'm attaching a few pics of our friends. Luke is the only one who would let me take a picture of him in the post office for the big send off. : ) During all of this, the post office has become our 2nd home. It's strange to think we won't be there several times/week like we have been the past 10 months. Trust me....we put LOTS of insurance on that box!

Our entire house is rejoicing tonight! God is sooooooooo good!

Meet Grayce Mackenzie

When I was a little girl, my Cabbage Patch doll was my favorite baby. Betsy Janine and I went everywhere together. Even though her hair was just yarn, I styled it all the ways possible. Betsy Janine was special because she had a pacifier and according to my Mom, she was VERY hard to find back in 1984. : )

I have wanted a brown-skinned Cabbage Patch baby girl for a while now, but the newer ones just aren't that cute to me. They put teeth on them and they look funny. So, I decided to use my Christmas money to find a "vintage" (am I really that old?!) Cabbage Patch doll. I was searching through a big batch on Etsy and when I found one with Grace (well, it's spelled Grayce, but still...) in her name, I knew she was waiting to be adopted by me. She was still in her original box with her birth certificate. She sits on our bed and makes me smile every day. I love to dream about our little brown-skinned girl playing with Grayce Mackenzie one day. :)
P.S. No, that's not the way her hair was styled when I got her. The ponytail just didn't fit her personality. : )

GLA needs your help

Please read Dixie's latest blog post here and consider helping. The orphanage is in desperate need of financial help right now. There are 65 children waiting for forever homes and until they are placed, the costs to care for them are high.
Thank you!

Haitian Govt.

The Prime Minister of Haiti has resigned.
You can read about it here.
After reading this article, here are my thoughts (just my own thinking, nothing official).

This past week, I have had some doubts creeping into my mind and have felt a loss of hope. The news coming out of Haiti concerning adoptions has not been good. They are wanting to change adoption laws, but not the right way.
Anyway, now that they have to appoint a new prime minister, maybe the focus will be on that while we continue to toil away trying to get our dossier there. From what I understand, if our dossier is in Haiti and the law is changed, we will not be affected. That's why we feel such an urgency to get it there!
What we're waiting on now:
1. Translations from Florida
2. CPA letter being certified in Austin
3. Then, #1 and #2 go to Chicago to the Haitian Consulate for legalization.
$4. Finally, it goes to Haiti.

Please keep praying that we can get it all together. Of course, I keep praying, "HURRY, God, HURRY!" but I know in my heart that His timing is perfect.
Will keep you posted.....

GLA Video

I am in a Yahoo group for parents adopting from GLA. It's so great to have other mommies to talk to who are playing the waiting game, too. My friend Cindy made this video with the pictures she took when she visited GLA. It will bring a smile to your face just seeing their smiles. It gives you a good idea of what GLA looks like, too. It's a very real possibility that our baby girl is in one of these photos and we'll go back one day soon and "know" her when we see the picture. : ) Sweet idea.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

MomHeart

Last weekend, I went to a great conference called MomHeart. I left feeling so overwhelmed with so much good information and teachings. I sat down and just made a list of the truths I learned at MomHeart. (Please don't feel obligated to read. It just helps me to type it all out.) : )

If you are reading this and you are a MOMMY, you should make it a priority to go to MomHeart next February. Sally believes that we should be pampered (nice hotel, chocolate, wonderful luncheon, etc.) and then she teaches us with her great wisdom. I would've invited more Mommy friends if I had known this wasn't a specific homeschool conference. Clay and Sally are homeschoolers, but that was not the focus of this conference.

So, in no particular order, here's what God taught me at MomHeart (ok, well, not all of it is "new", but I was reminded of much).
1. My children are my sanctification. God uses my struggles and trials as a mother to strengthen my faith and make me more like Him. If He had given me only compliant, obedient children, would I be looking to Him for strength to be a Mommy?

2. Ask myself: "How old was I when I quit sinning?" I won't, so I don't need to expect my children to be perfect. They are sinners, saved by grace, just like me.

3. Proverbs 14:1: "The wise woman builds her house." It takes TIME. I want to build a magnificent estate, not a little condo. Biltmore was build over years---brick by brick.

4. Am I an adversary or an advocate for my boys? I don't need to correct every sin or induce guilt or they will feel like they can never please me. I am their advocate---no condemnation, commit to being "for" them.

5. Jesus walked with the disciples and invested in their lives for 3 years. If I want to make disciples, I must invest time in my children's lives.

6. The thing that opens a heart is a loving relationship. Am I giving them enough time?

7. Relationship + Grace = Parenting Influence for Christ: Grace-based parenting=freedom!

8. I find grace and mercy at His throne (Heb. 4:15-16). My children need to find grace and mercy when they come to me.

9. In the absence of Biblical conviction, people will always go the way of culture. **This is such a true, deep statement. One of Clay and Sally's "mottos".

10. A Christian cannot be passive. Image of a plant: I'm either blooming or dying, there's no in between.

11. Right is always right, even if no one is doing it. Wrong is always wrong, even if everyone is doing it. I LOVE this---so much better than "if all your friends were jumping off a cliff...."

12. My boys' brains and souls are like treasure chests. How can I invest in them? What can I pour into them now that will still be there later?

13. My goal: giving grace, teaching truth.

14. I want to be a F.A.T. girl---faithful, available, teachable.

15. My children's hearts are like a garden. I have to cultivate and soften the hard soil so that the seeds God plants through me will grow.

Soooo excited!

This weekend, I get to take some time away and be refreshed! I'm too EXCITED for words. One of my favorite authors is hosting the MomHeart conference. In my opinion, she wrote "the" textbook on homeschooling. There will be great encouragement and great food. I need this. When we take breaks, it makes us better mommies and better wives. I wish I could convince all of my friends of this.
Sally Clarkson is my mentor, even though she doesn't even know me. She has the most encouraging blog and is so faithful to write on it almost every day. When I grow up, I want to be like her. : )

Lonnnng week

How can 7 days seem more like 14? Some weeks are just like that. This has been a rough week for me. I have a good friend who has been hurt in so many ways and God placed me here to help her. It's just so hard to see a friend hurt. I am thankful that I am able to help her, but I have experienced such a range of emotions through this journey.

Something that I've been mulling over a lot this week:
It's not fair that innocent children have to suffer the consequences of their parents' sins.

I know that seems very whiny and immature saying, "it's not fair", but it isn't. I also know that children all over the world are suffering every day, but when they are kids who are close to you and you experience the suffering up close, it hurts in a REAL way. It hurts my heart. I want to take them and hold them and hide them. If only I could.

It's no coincidence that our memory verse for this week focused on God being "over every power and authority". He is on His throne and He is in control and I am resting in that. I have been on an emotional roller coaster this week, but He has continually brought me back to this truth. He is God. I am not. Period. End of story.

In other news: the State of Oklahoma is on my "naughty list" tonight. They sent Robby's birth certificate back saying we didn't send enough money. I went back to their website and double-checked and it CLEARLY says $10 for a certification. 2 more steps back. So, now I will mail it AGAIN on Monday with $20. The other 7 documents are at the Secretary of the State of Texas office. My money's on Texas. They will get back to us long before Oklahoma's. Sigh.

6 Steps Back

Robby and I are very discouraged right now because we've had a major setback in our adoption process. The Haitian consulate has decided that there are more documents that need to be authenticated, notarized, translated and legalized. This is a new law that is affecting everyone going through the adoption process. Needless to say, we are VERY discouraged right now since we thought we were on the last U.S. step (the work we could do). We're not starting over, but we have to take several steps back. Blah.

Robby reminded me that God's timing is perfect and I do believe that with all of my heart, but I feel like I was almost about to give birth and the doctor said, "Oops. We messed up. Your due date isn't for 3 more months." It just stinks. There's nothing we can do about it except comply and do the work.

This morning, as I was thinking about it and just grumbling to the Lord (He can take my grumbles!), I thought about this:
the Haitian government could say, "You need to charter a private rocket ship, fly to the moon, collect moon rocks, and bring them to us to meet your adoption requirements," and you know what? We'd do it! We'd do anything for our baby girl! So, some extra paper work is worth it and we will persevere.....stay tuned!

Chicago-bound!

Today we mailed our 9 documents to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago. This is the LAST STOP in the U.S. before we get to send the whole dossier to Haiti. VERY exciting!!!! We are rounding 3rd base, folks!

I am a member of a Yahoo group with other families adopting from Haiti. Word is that referrals are happening 6-10 weeks after dossiers arrive in Haiti. Incredible! The wait use to be almost a year to be matched with a child. To think that we will see our daughter's face that soon just makes us giddy!

Happy Weekend!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This morning, I talked with the boys about Martin Luther King Jr. and his mission. They remembered watching the "I Have a Dream" speech last year. Mostly, they wanted to argue about why "all of their friends" (this is a joke in itself because most of their friends are homeschooled!) didn't have school today, but we did. "So unfair!"

What always surprises me when we discuss race and racial tensions and the way things used to be in America is the fact that they really can't comprehend living in a world like that. We are about to bring a baby girl into our family. We love her already and can't wait to squeeze her and kiss her. She happens to have brown skin. That's the way our boys look at it. They are completely color blind and I am so thankful for that. They truly don't understand why white people owned black people as slaves in the past. Noah has read a lot of American history books this year, so he's learned a lot about slavery and the way slaves were treated.

We ended our discussion by reminding each other that God created every person and we are all equal in His sight. I am so thankful for my boys and their love for all people.

Good mail day!

Just yesterday I blogged about running to the mailbox every day. Today was a great mail day! We got Robby's certified birth certificate (man, the state of OK is REALLY slow!). We also got a letter from the government that I don't really understand, but I'm pretty sure it's important. It's regarding our visas for orphan adoption and says something about our I-600 form being sent to Port au Prince. I'll have to ask our agency exactly what it is, but it's good. : )

So, as soon as our dossier gets back from the translator (hopefully, tomorrow), we'll get it in the mail to the Haitian consulate in Chicago. LAST STOP before Haiti!!!! Wow!!! Everything seems to be moving quickly now!

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. I stayed up WAY too late last night watching slide shows and videos posted by our orphanage. If you have time and enough Kleenex, check them out:
http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/parentslookback/

Through tears, laughs, and smiles, here is what I realized: God has called us to adopt from Haiti NOW because He knew I couldn't handle the process that was in place just 2 years ago. Many of these parents had waited 2 years after being matched with their child. One mom said she had received 20 monthly updates on her child (the orphanage sends pictures/updates to adoptive parents every month while they're waiting). After the earthquake hit, Dixie, the orphanage director, worked tirelessly with the US and Haitian government to get the babies at GLA humanitarian parole. These videos say it all. Incredible! Here is very clear evidence of God bringing good out of an otherwise horrible situation.

Mail!

I feel like a little kid running to the mailbox every day...just hoping for something good in there. Still waiting on the state of Oklahoma to send Robby's certified birth certificate.
Heard from our translator today that she is finished and mailed the dossier back to us. Looks like we can get it to Chicago as soon as that birth cert. gets here. My goal was to get it to Haiti by March, but it looks like God's plans might be bigger! : )Woo-hoo!

Sweet story: last night we were waiting to get our picture made for the church directory. A sweet lady in our church was chatting with the boys. Jonah was being very outgoing about being the baby brother. I just sat there and listened, but wondered if he'd mention his sister. Not 10 seconds later, he said, "I won't be the baby much longer! We are adopting a girrrrrl!" It was so sweet. I just love how their hearts are just as excited as ours!

Waiting...

Just a quick update:
Right now, we are waiting on the dossier to be translated. It's in Miami FL with a French lady and she promised to get it done in a week (mailed it last week). So, we should be close. Then, it makes its last stop in the U.S. at the Haitian consulate in Chicago before going to Haiti.
We are getting soooo close!

One more check

One more check on the list---we got our dossier back today from Austin! Woo-hoo! I was actually very surprised. I mailed it on the 21st and just thought that with the holidays, it might not get back til January. We're rounding 2nd base folks!

Next step: translation of 9 documents.
Then, to Chicago to the Haitian Embassy.
God is good (and quick sometimes!).

Merry Christmas!

Robby and his parents

Aunt Amy with ????

The boys with their favorite cousin, LuLu

Luke with his giant Angry Bird--that boy loves his birds!

Santa has come and gone. This year, I got a new camera. I LOVE the quality of the pictures. It will be so great to take to Haiti and to have to document our baby girl's homecoming. We had a wonderful celebration with (almost) all of our family.

Daddy's highlights: iPad, tickets to Opening Day, Rangers hoodie, imported tea : )

Amy's highlights: camera, map of the Carribean, Haitian rocks, backpack that can easily double as a baby girl diaper bag : )

Noah's highlights: remote control car, bike, iPod

Luke's highlights: birds (the angry kind), basketball goal, Legos

Jonah's highlights: Legos, Legos, Legos (he was easy this year!)

Birthday weekend!

This year, Jonah decided that instead of having a birthday party, he wanted to have a "vacation" to LegoLand to celebrate. In our family, a "vacation" is defined as staying overnight in a hotel (usually found on Hotwire for very cheap). Jonah is a BIG Lego fan and he's read a lot about LegoLand.

If you ask the boys what their favorite part was, they all 3 will say the big trampoline. This wasn't even in LegoLand! Some (very smart) guys set up a bungee trampoline in the mall right outside the LegoLand doors. So, they all 3 begged to do it. Huge bungee rubber bands were tied to their waists and they were hoisted up to jump. Luke was pretty freaked out by it, but Noah and Jonah loved it. During this busy busy stove season, our family really needed the time away together. It was WONDERFUL!

Happy Birthday to Jonah!

My baby is 6 today! So hard to believe. How did this happen? It seems just like yesterday that we were crawling to the birth center in thick ice. Robby had the day off because school was closed. My Mom had spent the night after deciding she wouldn't make it home to Greenville on the icy roads (we spent Dec. 7 walking the mall trying to induce labor!).

It was a very eventful day. Both Nanas were there for Jonah's birth as well as Aunt Penny. My Dad made it right after Jonah hatched out. His birth was definitely the easiest of the three. I felt the urge to push and he was here! I can't imagine how easily Mrs. Duggar's births are!

Jonah is our clown that always keeps us in stitches and our family wouldn't be complete without him! We love you, Jonah!

It's in the mail!

Today was a great day! For several reasons, actually, but mostly because.....drum roll please.......

WE MAILED OUR DOSSIER!!!!!

This just the first of several mailings. It's not on its way to Haiti, yet, but it was still a very big accomplishment. 24 pieces went into that puppy! It took 7 months to get it all together. We mailed it to our adoption agency today and they will look it over. There might be corrections we have to make. Then, it goes to the Secretary of the State of TX. She will put her seal on the notarized documents (proves the notaries are notaries). Her name is Hope. Thought that was cool! From there, it goes to the Haitian consulate in Chicago. They put their seal on it. THEN, we get to send it to GLA! I'm shooting for March. We'll see....never know about the government.

Just the idea that we might possibly could bring our baby girl home in 2012 makes us all giddy!!!!!
My baby turns 6 tomorrow. He's really filling up my lap, although he still cuddles with me every day. I'm ready for a tiny one again! : )

Why

In case you still don't get why we're adopting, this video says it all. Wow....no words to describe this!