Sunday, December 21, 2008
Celebrating Christmas: Round One
Today we celebrated our first round of Christmas with Brandon, Jess and Jordyn! We had so much fun hanging out, eating pizza, opening gifts, decorating gingerbread men cookies and letting the kiddos play! Here are some pictures from our time together:
Friday, December 19, 2008
COURT DATE!!!
This morning we got a call from our agency saying that we have a court date of January 27th!!!!! We are thrilled with this news (along with a few other answered prayers) and hope you will mark your calendar and join us in praying for this day that our adoption might be finalized.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Another Family Formed
Take a peek here and see two beautiful children who officially became a part of their new family! Although we have never met the Seay's, we have been inspired by their journey and know you will be, too. We are using the same adoption agency as the Seay's, and their children live in the same orphanage as our daughter.
We are beyond thrilled for ya'll - Seay Family - and look forward to meeting your WHOLE family in the near future!
We are beyond thrilled for ya'll - Seay Family - and look forward to meeting your WHOLE family in the near future!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Knowing of Her
While we still have no news of a court date assignment, we did get a report today that our sweet Ellie T is growing, growing, growing! We had suspected that she hit a growth spurt after seeing 75+ pictures of her from our friends' trip to Africa in early November....but wow, she has grown!
She now weighs 18 pounds and is 27 1/2 inches long at 10 months of age. From what we can tell from the pictures, Ellie is also getting a bottom tooth, can sit up and looks as if she is learning the crawling stance (but no movement just yet)!
It's a little strange that I cannot track her exact growth or developmental milestones on a daily basis; with Garrett I had a great little calendar that we kept on the back of his closet door and each time something new or fun or big happened, we marked it. I pulled it out a few months ago and was amazed at how much I had forgotten about (sleepless nights do that to you).
And, I guess if I'm being honest, it really hasn't been awful or sad or anything of the like that I (we) am/are missing her "baby" stage. Sure, would we prefer to be with her from day one? Yes. Do we want her here now? Yes! But did we know going into this that we'd miss many "baby" milestones? Um, yes. Can I buy another calendar and track the second year of her life? Um, again, yes. There will be so many more "firsts" and "milestones" that we WILL get to witness and track and log onto a calendar.
I guess the bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what part of her life it is that we are missing....we just miss her. And want to close the gap between knowing of her and knowing her.
She now weighs 18 pounds and is 27 1/2 inches long at 10 months of age. From what we can tell from the pictures, Ellie is also getting a bottom tooth, can sit up and looks as if she is learning the crawling stance (but no movement just yet)!
It's a little strange that I cannot track her exact growth or developmental milestones on a daily basis; with Garrett I had a great little calendar that we kept on the back of his closet door and each time something new or fun or big happened, we marked it. I pulled it out a few months ago and was amazed at how much I had forgotten about (sleepless nights do that to you).
And, I guess if I'm being honest, it really hasn't been awful or sad or anything of the like that I (we) am/are missing her "baby" stage. Sure, would we prefer to be with her from day one? Yes. Do we want her here now? Yes! But did we know going into this that we'd miss many "baby" milestones? Um, yes. Can I buy another calendar and track the second year of her life? Um, again, yes. There will be so many more "firsts" and "milestones" that we WILL get to witness and track and log onto a calendar.
I guess the bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what part of her life it is that we are missing....we just miss her. And want to close the gap between knowing of her and knowing her.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Thoughts
Happy Thanksgiving! I cannot believe that this holiday is already here....somehow this year has flown by! We are up, showered, breakfast eaten, parade being watched and so on before we are off to my dad's house to celebrate round 1 of 3 of Thanksgiving meals with family. But, before we go, I just wanted to post a little something on the thoughts/things rambling in my head and home today:
Garrett made this "Thankful Tree" over the past week or so. It started out with a brown tree base/branches and the leaves (hand prints) on top but as the week progressed he saw it fit that the leaves should fall down the tree just like they do in real life. Humph. Always wanting things just right. No idea where he gets that from. I digress. Some of the things Garrett has been most thankful for are (all in his words):
carrots
new pictures of Ellie
that God loves me
vitamins
chairs to sit on and eat our food
swings in our garage
that we have a trash can to put our trash in
that we have food to eat
a refrigerator to keep things cold
I have my own list of things I am especially grateful for this year and will list those in this book
instead of blogging about them. At the top of my list, though, is my husband, son and future daughter. I am blessed beyond measure by the three of them even though not all of them are here today.
And speaking of the little cutie that's not here today but rather in Africa, I am hoping that she is feeling full of love, food and all things she needs! And, to help my heart feel a little bit closer to her on this day, we sent over a Thanksgiving care package (great idea from some friends) with some turkey pajamas, a small toy and a little fall sweater dress....take a look:
I am looking forward to celebrating today (and the next three days) with those I love and hope you are, too! Happy Thanksgiving!
Garrett made this "Thankful Tree" over the past week or so. It started out with a brown tree base/branches and the leaves (hand prints) on top but as the week progressed he saw it fit that the leaves should fall down the tree just like they do in real life. Humph. Always wanting things just right. No idea where he gets that from. I digress. Some of the things Garrett has been most thankful for are (all in his words):carrots
new pictures of Ellie
that God loves me
vitamins
chairs to sit on and eat our food
swings in our garage
that we have a trash can to put our trash in
that we have food to eat
a refrigerator to keep things cold
I have my own list of things I am especially grateful for this year and will list those in this book
instead of blogging about them. At the top of my list, though, is my husband, son and future daughter. I am blessed beyond measure by the three of them even though not all of them are here today.And speaking of the little cutie that's not here today but rather in Africa, I am hoping that she is feeling full of love, food and all things she needs! And, to help my heart feel a little bit closer to her on this day, we sent over a Thanksgiving care package (great idea from some friends) with some turkey pajamas, a small toy and a little fall sweater dress....take a look:
I am looking forward to celebrating today (and the next three days) with those I love and hope you are, too! Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Another Ellie Update
Hmm, seems I haven't been in the blogging mood lately (although I've been keeping up with reading others). But, as it has been more than two weeks since I last posted, let me see what I can come up with....oh, yes, we saw NEW pictures of our beautiful Ellie yesterday!
Our friends, David and Amy and Ella (how fun is that to say now!!) just got home from Africa and took over care packages for us to our little girl. Yesterday, David e-mailed us a handful of pictures of our daughter laying on the blanket we sent monogrammed with her African name, in one of the outfits/romper/pj-thingy's we had sent, and playing with one of the toys. It was a little hand-held toy....a cloth palm tree/rattle with a place on the leaves to insert pictures. I cannot even begin to describe the weird yet comforting feeling of seeing your soon-to-be-child touching something that you have touched.
Ellie looked happy, healthy - looks like she's gaining weight and turning into a chunky-monkey....yay - and as if her needs being met. What more could a mother (and father) ask for? Oh, maybe that her nails are trimmed neatly? Seriously! In one of the pictures of her chubby little hand up close, I could see that her nails were trimmed perfectly. I was so excited about that! Strange, I know. But in my mind, it means that not only are her basic needs being taken are of - so many more are too!
I think that's all for now...until I can get inspired again (or organize all the pictures from the past two weeks to post of our family fun)! Oh, wait....NO, we still have not been assigned a court date. Praying for one soon!
Our friends, David and Amy and Ella (how fun is that to say now!!) just got home from Africa and took over care packages for us to our little girl. Yesterday, David e-mailed us a handful of pictures of our daughter laying on the blanket we sent monogrammed with her African name, in one of the outfits/romper/pj-thingy's we had sent, and playing with one of the toys. It was a little hand-held toy....a cloth palm tree/rattle with a place on the leaves to insert pictures. I cannot even begin to describe the weird yet comforting feeling of seeing your soon-to-be-child touching something that you have touched.
Ellie looked happy, healthy - looks like she's gaining weight and turning into a chunky-monkey....yay - and as if her needs being met. What more could a mother (and father) ask for? Oh, maybe that her nails are trimmed neatly? Seriously! In one of the pictures of her chubby little hand up close, I could see that her nails were trimmed perfectly. I was so excited about that! Strange, I know. But in my mind, it means that not only are her basic needs being taken are of - so many more are too!
I think that's all for now...until I can get inspired again (or organize all the pictures from the past two weeks to post of our family fun)! Oh, wait....NO, we still have not been assigned a court date. Praying for one soon!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Update from Africa
I've stated before that our friends are currently in Africa picking up their daughter and having the most amazing time - seriously, check out their blog! David is updating almost daily with the most amazing, heartfelt stories!
Well, today I got a message via Facebook (it was sent to multiple families adopting from the same agency) updating us on our sweet Ellie! Here is what it said:
Ellie is even prettier in real life. We held her and told her what an amazing family she has and how excited they are for her. Happy is definitely the word for her! She loves to lay on her back and flex those legs. She can roll over to her stomach, too. Her skin is darker than I imagined it to be...a bit darker than the photos. Her sweet little lips...wow! We have both hugged on her and will again!
Today marks Ellie's nine month birthday....nine months. I want time to stand still until we can get to her. I want time to fly by until we get to her. I just want to be with her.
Well, today I got a message via Facebook (it was sent to multiple families adopting from the same agency) updating us on our sweet Ellie! Here is what it said:
Ellie is even prettier in real life. We held her and told her what an amazing family she has and how excited they are for her. Happy is definitely the word for her! She loves to lay on her back and flex those legs. She can roll over to her stomach, too. Her skin is darker than I imagined it to be...a bit darker than the photos. Her sweet little lips...wow! We have both hugged on her and will again!
Today marks Ellie's nine month birthday....nine months. I want time to stand still until we can get to her. I want time to fly by until we get to her. I just want to be with her.
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