Merry Christmas !

This Christmas has been so magical ! It was such a blessing to see Christmas through my children's eyes this year. Everything was "magical" - the lights, the elves, Santa Clause and his reindeer, singing Christmas carols at the Nursing home and at church. They loved our manger scene at home and played with it almost every day ( just like I did when I was little). I want to remember all that Christmas was this year. We wonder how long Christmas will be like this for the boys - they are growing up so. We also wonder if next Christmas we'll have our daughter and we'll get to experience all the Christmas magic all over again. We are praying for her and her care givers. Blessings to all this Christmas !

Christmas Memories 2008

A warm Christmas this year - 80 degrees !

 

The Kids sang " Go Tell It On The Mountain " for Nin and Pappa.

 

Christmas in Birmingham with all the cousins

 

Away in The Manger Christmas play at church.

 

"Mewy Cwismas! Mewy Cwismas!" Grace shouted...
from By the Shores of Silver Lake ( Laura Ingalls Wilder)

What To Do With Boys....

What do you do with two very active boys, a dirty house, lots of dirty laundry, and freezing weather outside ? This is a very important question, because the pre-Christmas boredoms have hit my house. We've watched every Christmas movie at least 5 times since Thanksgiving. We decorated the gingerbread house this morning, played Battleship and assembled several Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones pieces. We slept late, ate a big breakfast and cleaned up some. You would think that would be enough for one full day, but all that was done before lunch ! Of course my idea of a fun filled pre-Christmas day would be to clean out all the closets, shine the stainless steel appliances and organize my closet according to color. I'm sick I know !!! hehehehehe !!!!

My Early Christmas Present !

 

The boys at Calloway with Santa

My fingerprints finally went through the FBI clearance and now are headed on over to the DHR for clearance there. I was praying they would go through before Christmas and they did !!! I also got a new camera for an early Christmas present - a Nikon D 60. It's incredible and I am having to learn how to use it. Merry Christmas to all !

Updates

We completed our first Home Study and will have our 2nd one on Wed. Our social worker is very nice and has been working with our agency for about 7 years. She asked us all sorts of questions...Why do you want to adopt ? What was your childhood like ? Do you talk to your brothers a lot ? How often ? We were so excited she was finally at our house ! I didn't go crazy cleaning before she came. I just did my normal straitening up - which some of my friends might think that IS going crazy with the cleaning. But, really I didn't freak out if the house wasn't perfect. I wanted her to see what life is like for us normally, you know with two boys in the house ALL the time.
When she comes Wed. we'll talk about our parenting style, how we discipline, the boys chores and I think about our marriage. Then, she can write up our report and we can finally send off our I800 form. Well, that is if my fingerprints ever get "unstuck". As of today, they still are "Stuck" and I trying not to be that adoptive parent that calls every day to check on them. I have e mailed them each week and they assured me they are working on it. I trust my agency, but it's still hard to just sit back and wait.
I was so blessed today to read Mary Beth Chapmans ( wife of Steven Curtiss Chapman ) Christmas letter. I believe it will bless you too. If you are the rare soul who does not know their story, they lost their 5 year old daughter in a terrible accident this summer. She was their third adopted daughter from China. Mary Beth shares her heart and her memories and it is just beautiful. It has made me once again rethink my priorities. Here's the link :
http://tinyurl.com/5rpztn

Ladies Annual Christmas parteyyyyy !

Saturday night was our annual ladies Christmas party. This is not just any party, oh no ! We play DIRTY SANTA and exchange ornaments,there's chocolate, dips, little bitty sandwiches, and lots of laughter. My house was filled with the most wonderful Godly ladies last night. I love these girls! They are the ones who believe with me that we will one day actually go to China and bring home our daughter. These ladies are so fun to be with ! Here's some pictures.

Stuck ?

Ok, if anyone wants to know - my Fingerprints are " stuck in the system". What ? What does that mean ? My agency will call and check back with them on Friday to see if they are "unstuck". I sent them off 2 months ago. This is crazy but normal in " adoption world". Oh well, life goes on here. We went to the Opelika Christmas parade tonight and then my friends birthday party. The boys will be in the Auburn parade tomorrow, then they have basketball practice. We are homeschooling everyday and Chuck is STILL trying to shoot a deer.

Where, Oh, Where.....

I am still looking for my fingerprints to come back from that magical place they go to. The ABI ? We got Chuck's fingerprint clearance back three weeks ago. Mine are still being reviewed and should be finished soon. The word SOON has a whole different definition in the Adoption World I have entered. It usually means " We don't know but just hang tight and really muster all the patience you can find and then try to get a little more patience from somewhere else !" I am also waiting on the social worker to call us and set up our appointments for the home studies. Hopefully, we can get those done and send off the I -800 before all my papers expire. However, through all this waiting and unknowns, Chuck and I are so excited about bringing our little one home from China. We pray daily for her and for her parents who will have made a very difficult decision to give her up.