I've got no shame...

I have been telling the boys for a while that we have to get their room ready for their 2 little brothers. They are so excited, but cleaning just isn't their thing. Drew likes to be organized, but bless his heart...he shares his room with Luke, and all organization goes out the window with Luke.

Tonight I told the boys, we are using the next 5 days to clean out, get organized, and put the toddler bed and crib in your room for Landon and CJ. Now, I am not a decorator. I love for things to look nice, but it is not a priority for me. We have a clean house...things go where they belong, and we have a house full of love and fun, but not decorator type things (this won't shock you when you see pictures of the boys' room :-) I told the boys, "Start with your closet. That has to be cleaned out first." Well, Mike and I were downstairs with the girls. I noticed quiet upstairs, and every once in a while one of them would come downstairs with garbage or an item for our "garage sale" bag. After almost an hour, I thought, "This is almost scary. I need to go check on this."

WHAT.

IN.

THE.

WORLD???

Almost every shirt that the boys owned was hung up somewhere...the light switch, the bed (as you can see), pictures on the wall, in the bathroom...everywhere. And the kicker? They were so proud of themselves (again, as you can see in the first photo). They really felt like they had made progress because all of their shirts were now hung up. Well, I can't complain. I said "Start with the closet." They started with the closet. This is going to be a bigger job than I thought. :-)

Little CJ gets his blanet

When Mimi did a blanket for Landon, she also did one for CJ. His little package just arrived, and these are the photos that they sent us.

Is it just me, or does he look a little afraid to touch the blanket??

Okay. It is not just me, I think we scare him...bless his heart.

Merry Christmas Early!

Tonight we just got the most awesome gift from a "little birdy" (to borrow the term from my friend, Laine). Oh. My. Goodness. It truly made our week. Would you just look at these two? Do they not just melt your heart?

Landon immediately taking on the "Big Brother" role...pointing out who we all are to little CJ. These 2 are going to be a handful - I LOVE it!!!

Bless little CJ's heart...I don't know if he is confused or overwhelmed.

1Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child (these boys), and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." To HIM who does immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine...Praising Him!

Happy Gotcha Day Abby Grace!

Our first glimpse of "Feng YiWa"...

Our Abby Grace...

Two years ago today we were in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Ch*na after scrambling to catch a flight from Beijing...our first flight had been canceled. We were late getting to our hotel, and by the time we arrived, little Abby was waiting in our hotel lobby with her caregiver for us to arrive. It is so hard to believe it has been 2 years! Abby, we have watched you grow into quite a fabulous little 3 year old! We are so blessed and thankful that the Lord added you to our family. We pray that you would serve Him all the days of your life...knowing that He has created you for a special purpose. He has mighty plans for you! We love you so much!

How Amazing is Our God?

So we were all worried that we would not receive CJ's file before we received our Letter of Acceptance for Landon because then we would have to decide...would we make Landon wait while we waited to just "see" if we would get CJ's file?? The Lord has continually reminded me that this is in His hands - completely. Today, we received PA for CJ...I just got a call from our agency and today we received LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE from Landon!!! This is HUGE...this is FAST...and this is AMAZING. Had this letter of acceptance come before we had CJ's file locked we might have had to miss out on the chance to bring CJ home. Now, we still have a good chance of traveling in MARCH to bring these babies home!!!

Oh, and sorry if my thoughts are scattered...we have all been hit hard with the stomach bug. So much so that when my cell phone rang all the kids and I were laying on the floor upstairs and none of us had the energy to run down and get my phone. :-)