Our Newest Nephew...

I guess we weren't the only ones waiting for our LOA...apparently, our newest nephew was waiting for our LOA to come so he could come too ;-) Rodney's sister delivered a beautiful little boy early this morning...here are a few pictures of the chubby little bundle.

Rodney's sister, Shanda, and Asa

Our brother-in-law, Trevor, and Asa
Congratulations Shanda & Trevor!!

Shanda and Rodney are 15 years apart...he was a very proud big brother and a thrilled new uncle.

Sending love & hugs to Asa...and of course our Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Day 125....

LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, do I need to say more?

Sending love & hugs to our Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Day 118...

Still no news yet, but hopefully by the end of the week. I am hoping that as I sit here, at 1:03 am on Monday morning, that some CCAA employee in China at 1:03 pm is mailing out our LOA ;-)

I wanted to share a really sweet conversation between me and Parker. We had just had a little family Wii bowling tournament where Parker won the first round, yes the 4 year old beat his 2 older brothers and father, and then lost to Jacob in the second round. He was distraught. Long story short, I began crying like him because he beat me...trying to prove the point of a good sport. Anyway, we began laughing and telling stories of "remember when...." Rodney told a few, then Jacob and when it came Parker's turn to tell us his "remember when I was a baby and you got me from....where did you get me from?"

I asked him, "what do you mean?"

"Where did you get me from? America or China or something?" he asked.

"We got you in America," I answered."

"Oh yeah, remember when I was a baby and you got me in America and......." he continued.

How precious is that? Parker knows that he was born to us because he has seen pictures and video of him in the hospital, when I was pregnant, etc., but for him to not even think about it and just assume that he is like Anna and Elli / Anna and Elli are like him - I love it. Yes, he will "understand" the differences later, but the innocence of it and just to believe that Anna and Elli are his sisters that have/are coming to us completely normal, it was the sweetest thing of the day!

Sending love & hugs to our Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Day 113...

I don't want to say anything prematurely (God knows, I have been wrong before!!!!) BUT, I feel very good about the coming week...and rightfully so. Hopefully I will have more details soon.

Sending love & hugs to our Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Day 108...

I have no news....zero, nada, nothing. To my knowledge, there is no package on its way. Which means, that at the earliest it will be the end of next week. There is nothing I can do about any of it, other than count my days and try to be productive in the meantime....easier said than done!

On a positive note, we have made...actually I haven't done anything...great progress on the house. The roofers are suppose to start today. Hopefully the electrical and plumbing will begin next week. Tomorrow, we are going to start "clean up" from the framers. The weather is expected to be great tomorrow, so I am honestly looking forward to getting outside and working. The fun part will be actually being productive and keeping Parker and Anna out of trouble. Kids have a talent at being able to find something mischievous to get into even when there is nothing mischievous around...at least my kids do!

It is so fun to "plan" what will go where. I am not a real stickler on everything having to be perfect - thank goodness...with my kids and my husband, that never happens! But I like to have a general idea of what I am planning on doing. As we were walking through the bedrooms I loved saying, "the girls' room". I was trying to envision where we would place 2 beds for the 2 beauties and it was fun. I think a little therapeutic actually. After so long of nothing on the adoption end, it is good to be able to plan something about her coming home. Sometimes it can seem like it is never going to happen, but just standing in Elli and Anna's room and thinking of the 2 of them in there, was good for me. It is going to happen...I don't know when, but we are getting ready for her. And doing that is a boost for my spirits.

Sending love & hugs to our Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna