The silliness that fills my days and God speaks to me through the Fed Ex truck!!

Well I just had to share your silly brother and one of his best buddies Maylie and the talent show they put on for me yesterday!!! You my sweet Sophie dear are definetly not entering a quiet or boring household!! The walls of our house are filled with lots of silly, goofy kiddos and I looove it!!
Okay, so the Fed Ex truck...well, to back up, 3 years ago, when Jeff and I were praying about whether or not to try and get pregnant again, or fullfill a dream I've always had which was to adopt, I would talk to God alot and ask him to send me signs...(I know I may sound crazy, but this is my relationship with God!!-lol)
Anyway, I truly believe that through him he showed us that the path to go on after Charlie was adoption and thus our current journey. Well anyway, I had so many signs in the first year or two of this adoption journey, all pointing towards China and our baby girl to be, but I would say lately I've been so preoccupied and busy that I haven't been paying attention to "those signs" until yesterday....
I was thinking about Sophie and how these next few months are going to fly by and it is going to finally be our turn to get our baby girl...and I was chatting with God as I often do...and I stepped outside and low and behold the Fed Ex truck pulls up to deliver something to my neighbor...now most of you probably have no idea where I'm going with this...but..in the land of Chinese Adoption, the "first" way our baby girls will literally be delivered to us will be by the Fed Ex Truck. 24 hours after we get that life changing phone call, our agency will be Fed Exing her precious pictures and med files to us, and on that day, in that moment, that Fed Ex truck will change, Jeff, Charlie and my life forever. Having given birth already, I often imagine that moment I see her sweet face for the first time and hold her pic in my hands, will much resemble that moment I looked down and saw my precious Charlie's face for the first time...
So anyway, I felt yesterday that God was reminding me that our time will soon come, and that Fed Ex Truck, that frequents my neighborhood often, will be pulling up to our address and will be delivering our baby girl, our sweet Sophie Ruth!!!
I love you so much Sophie....you are and forever have been growing in my heart and will soon be in our arms...
Love Mommy

Happy Birthday Uncle Dougie!

Well, we had a special visit this past weekend from our Uncle Dougie and his girlfriend Anna! My baby brother is 26 years old now and I can't believe it! I can still vividly remember crawling into his crib with him when he was only a few months old so I could help feed him his bottle, and I was only 8 years old! I remember being so happy and excited when I heard my mom was having a baby boy..I remember thinking God was sending him just for me!!!
And I'm sure, much to his dismay, I still "mother" him, so he gets away with nothing between me and our mom(isnt he lucky!!)
He is also Charlie's Godfather, and Charlie just adores him! We are so thankful for you Uncle Dougie and love that you are in our lives!
And on another note..there are only about 3 weeks of people logged in now ahead of us in this wait for Sophie....and the Chinese Gov't has averaged doing about one week per month...so that leaves us with 3 months or so left....or maybe less than 3 months..anything is possible at this point in the wait...we will find out how much closer we are in a couple weeks at the end of this month so stay tuned!!!
Sophia Ruth we are still coming soon...it'll be here before we know it!!!!

Annual Halloween Party 2008!

Our annual childrens party went off great as it does every year! I'm so glad the weather held out for us, we even saw the sunshine a bit!
I have to admit, I was a bit sad a month ago thinking about putting this party together again, b/c I remember last year hoping Sophie would be here this time this year and she would be part of all this...
But, as it turns out, it is what it is, and actually I didn't feel sad at all, I felt overwhelmed with joy that our lives are so richly filled with such good family and friends AND...most of all, we now know 100% Sophie will be here at next years party, without a shadow of a doubt...and last year I could not have said that.
Speaking of Sophie....we will find out any day now how many more families were matched with babies this month....we are praying that they get to the end of Feb of 06, if not close to the end....we are getting so close my sweet Sophie Ruth!!

Fun filled day at the pumpkin farm

Fall brings with if such thanksgiving, and this past weekend was one of those times that I felt so filled with thanks...
Thanks for this beautiful earth we live on, the fall season, and all the glorious colors
Thanks for farms, esp pumpkin farms, that house tons of family fall fun!
Thanks for my family, my awesome husband and precious little boy
Thanks for Sophie Ruth, who I KNOW has been born in China, and is just months away from us
Thanks for the faith, hope, and assurance from our Lord that she WILL be with us at
this very same pumpkin farm next fall

We had such a great weekend spending time together, picking pumpkins, drinking apple cider, jumping in piles of hay, laughing together and loving life.

My sweet Sophie, your brother Charlie already has plans for you next fall, and told daddy and I today that he will be the one to take you on the barrel choo choo ride he rode on today, next year!! I can't wait to post pictures of that!!
We love you my sweet baby girl to be!

Our Rock Star Uncle!

Our very own Uncle Kevin, Jeff's baby brother, is on his way to stardom(well, he already is actually a star to us!)but he has made his way out in L.A and started with a band called The Marcus Eaton Trio,(you can view him and the trio online at:www.marcuseaton.com)
He is the drummer and so amazing! We got to see him play live last weekend, he is currently touring the east coast, and is opening up for Alanis Morriset in New York in a few months!
Charlie had so much fun hanging out with his Uncle and the band all weekend, they are all amazing musicians and guys!
We love you Uncle Kevin and are so very, very proud of you, your hard work and determination!

Art from the Heart, by Charlie

Above is a picture that my sweet Charlie boy drew for me last night..and here is why...
For the MOST part, getting pregnant and having a baby is easy-I've been there, done that. And in 3 years, stood by and watched many family members and friends do just that.
But having a baby born into your heart and soul two and a half years ago and having to wait an endless amount of time to get to her, that's NOT easy.
This journey to Sophie has not been easy at all, nothing about it, and most obviously, this wait. It has tested my patience tremendously and brought me to my knees in tears, many more times than I care to admitt.
And Charlie too, at only the sweet age of five, is tired of waiting for his baby sister to come home. But this picture he made me is an example of the love and suppport and encouragement he reminds me to have, to trust God and have faith that Sophie Ruth will one day come home.(Imagine that from a five year old, but it's true!)
This picture was made for me out of love and hope from Charlie, it's a picture of a family of four, OUR FAMILY OF FOUR, drawn by him, and when he gave it to me last night, he said,"mommy, don't be sad, Sophie is going to be in our family and then there will be the four of us!" And in that moment, my five year old son gave me more hope, and support and encouragement than I could have gotten anywhere else....and we all know where he got it from...God is so Good!!
Charlie mommy loves you more than you'll ever know, to the sun, and the moon, and the stars and back and back again...
And Sophie, we ALL love you already very much...to the sun and the stars and the moon (and China!)and back and back too!!
Here's to our soon to be future family of 4!!!

Fun Filled Visit with Poppie and Grandy...and matches for September through Feb 15 2006!!!

Well, as you can see, Charlie is turning out to be as much of a roller coaster dare devil as his Poppie! He had the time of his life riding over and over again at the new "kiddie ride park" they added onto our zoo! Grandy braved the flying swings with us, but probably wont ever go on the roller coasters again!
And as much as I'd hoped to report a bigger match month at this point in the wait...I guess six days is better than five....They matched families with their babies logged in through Feb 15 2006...exactly 4 weeks to go until they get to us March 15th families....I continue to pray this wait will speed up based on the amount of families they match in the next coming months...No one knows if they will or wont', all we can do is hold on and pray...and have faith.
Only 27 days of people left ahead of us Sophie....WE ARE STILL COMING SOON!!

A Sneak Peak at Pink...and why God knew I needed a girl!

Well, Sophie, your nursery has begun!! The painting is almost done..your dresser is in the process of being painted and distressed(I'm almost done with it)now I just need to find some pink crystal knobs to finish it off! I am having soooo much fun being surrounded in so much pink! Charlie wanted to help of course, so he came up with the idea of painting a special message and picture for you underneath the pink of your walls! Now you will have "secrets" within the walls of your room!

Standing in the middle of your almost finished nursery overwhelms me with emotions....I stand in there and think....within these pink walls I will teach you to love and be loved...within these pink walls I will hold, rock and cradle you to sleep each night....within these pink walls I will once again read Goodnight Moon over and over again....within these pink walls you will feel so much love and joy from me, your daddy, and big brother...within these pink walls you will soon be with us, your forever family!!!!

And on another note...I am slowly, BUT surely losing my little mama's boy(those of you will appreciate this that know us well)..my sweet obediant little Charlie boy is turning out more and more like his daddy(and uncles!)as each day passes!!! We are slowly leaving the world of stuffed animals and disney cars and arts and crafts and lunging into the world of race car drivers, dare devils with scooters and two wheelers, and beebee guns!!! Above is Charlie and daddy using Charlies new Red Rider Beebee gun bought for him by none other than...Uncle Dougie of course!!
So my sweet Sophia Ruth, you can not get here quick enough!! I'm being out numbered by boys!! More pic's to come when the nurserys all done!! Love Mommy xoxo

Only 33 days left in line ahead!!!!!!

Well, they've matched families with their babies logged in through Feb 9 2006...and as a reminder...we are March 15 2006....ONLY 33 MORE DAYS OF PEOPLE TO GET THROUGH!!!!!
There is also a "rumor"(which as we all know, a rumor's a rumor for a reason...)BUT...I am staying positive and praying this is true...the rumor says that at the end of this month of Sept, the next batch of referrals is supposed to be BIG according to the Chinese Gov't.! So in 3 or 4 weeks they could be close to the end of the month of Feb 06 and approaching our month of March 06!!!
Please pray along with us and think positive thoughts that we are only 2/3 months away from seeing our baby girls face!!! (I'm focusing on November!!!!)
We also have been praying hard that right now, since we are 99.9% sure our Sophie Ruth IS indeed born of this world, we are praying she is being WELL taken care of and someone special, a world away, is going above and beyond Sophie's basic needs and caring lovingly for her....

I am finally starting on your nursery Sophie....I've changed my mind on the color of the walls over and over, but I'm heading to Lowes to make a final decision on Monday and then I'll be painting away!!
All your bottles, cups, pacifer's and such, have been washed and put away in the cupboards...which is soooo exciting to open up the cabinets and see everything lined up and ready for you my sweet girl! Now I've got your room to finish up and then the pre-packing begins!!!!
It wont' be long now....we are thinking of you and loving you with all our hearts every day Sophie girl!!!
Love, Mommy xoxo

A camping we will go!!

Well, we took an end of summer trip to the cabins to camp! Thankgoodness for camping in CABINS, or should I say, thankgoodness for Jeffs sake,(he would have wanted to strangle me!) that we had cabins and not tents! I sware I must have blocked out all those years of "roughing it" in tents as a child and teen, I can't imagine sleeping out in the woods in a tent where bugs, creatures, darkness, and the smell of dirt surrounding us...Oh I can't imagine!!!
So anyway, our sweet Charlie boy is a boys-boy at heart and looooved every min of our weekend adventure, esp. canoeing, where I again have no idea why I'd ever done this in the past and thought it to be fun...(again, Jeff probably wanted to strangle me during the ride down the river!!!)
So my dear Sophie girl to be, I pray you are every bit of a girls-girl like your mommy, b/c next summer I've already decided we can drop daddy and Charlie off to go on their camping adventures and we can continue heading south to shop!!!
And, no rumors out yet as to the next batch of babies to be.....But I do find it exciting to note that there are only 41 days of people in line ahead of us!!!! Slowly but Surely we ARE getting closer to you my baby girl to be!!!
Love Mommy xoxo

We Survived the first day of Kindergarten!!!

Wow I can't believe we have a kindergartener!! Our Charlie boy did awesome yesterday on his very first LOOOONG 7 hour day all by himself!! I don't think, outside of the few getaway weekends I've been on, that in five years I've ever been away from Charlie that long. He hasn't even really eaten lunch w/o me in all his five years either, so yesterday was a pretty big milestone for all of us!!
Daddy took the day off so we could walk(while Charlie rode his bike)to school. We were so proud of him as he walked right into his classroom, so excited and happy, gave us one hug each and that was it!! We went up to check on him at lunch time, and although he seemed tired, he was okay and said still happy to be there.
And as we picked him up that afternoon, the first thing he said as he got back on his bike to ride home was, " Mommy I loooooooved school!!!!" And that just sums it all up!!!
And Sophie Ruth I pray with all my heart that you and I will be walking up to get your big kindergartener brother very, very soon!!!

Time Flys, and times a changin!!!

Time sure does fly...these are pictures of my last week with all my crew of precious little ones...(who arent' so little any more!)
We started this journey with four...added one more last summer and now two are moving on...I can't believe these kiddos were only 8weeks/2,one year olds and 2, two year olds....and now they are three years old, 2 four year olds, my five year old, a six year old, and the latest addition is one years old....
Saying goodbye to this group will take a lot of adjusting too...
Everything changes, nothing stays the same, that sure is true!
I will cherish these past 3 1/2 years I had with them all together!

End of Summer Trip up North to see my Uncles/Aunt/Cousins..etc.....!

Bye, Bye training wheels!