beautiful chaos

Well, first let's play "catch up" with some pictures.  Since the last post (sheesh...it was May!) we have...

• finished up a year of school...

{Ellee's Honors Day - May 2014} 

{Addie's Honors Day - May 2014}

{Sam sitting through one of the Honors Day.  I mean really, no one can convince me that this child is not the most adorable!!}

:: Blessed Mamma...my precious kiddos received a TON of awards on Honors Day.  Thankful. ::

• enjoyed summer...

 {Annual Gatlinburg trip.  The cousins.}

{Enjoyed a weekend visit with one of our favorite families.}

• started another year of school...

• and GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!

On Thursday, July 10th, I received one of the most exciting phone calls.  Our adoption agency called around 9 am that morning with the kind of news that makes your heart skip a beat and time freeze.

WE. HAD. A. SON.

Our social worker didn't give me many details; everything I would want to know would follow in an email.  Ok, let's be honest, 'everything I would want to know' is a far cry from the truth.  The email would simply contain all the details that were available.  My girls, being more in tune with the adoption process than the average 8 & 10 year old, knew from my end of the phone call what was going on.  By the time my quivering hand ended the call, the kids were squealing and bouncing off the walls!  I quickly called Lee and told him he had to get home...now!  As hard as it was, I promised not to look at my email until we were all together.  

{The kids were anxiously waiting for Daddy so we could open our email!}

When Lee finally got home (those 10 minutes felt like hours!!) we opened the email and stared into the face of the most precious little China doll on the face of the planet.  Our son.  Those cheeks.  Those beautiful brown eyes.  Those hands.  My baby.  My child.  My heart.

We were all totally and unconditionally in love with the face that stared back.  You are "warned" during the adoption process to not get emotionally caught up in the face and the pictures until you review all the paperwork and have a physician review their medical records.  But come on, look at him!!  How could we not?!?

We did, however, follow all the proper protocol and had his file thoroughly reviewed and spent time praying through the information we received.  It didn't take much time though to officially accept the referral and claim this beautiful child as our own!!   All praise be to God!

So the months since then have been filled with paperwork, more paperwork and even more paperwork.  It is really insane the amount of paperwork that surrounds adoption. Sheesh.

We've since then been given updates on our Elijah along with more pictures...

We even celebrated his birthday in July!  He turned 2!  Per the girls' request, they were in charge of the party...

So the million dollar question that we get asked, almost daily, is...When will we get him?

Well, praise the Lord, we are nearly at the end of the process (!!!!!) and are told it will probably be the end of December, maybe early January.

We were able to send a care package to him recently!  It included several "suggested" items from our agency - an outfit, a blanket, a small stuffed animal, a picture book and disposable cameras.

We washed all the fabric items and let them sit in our house for several weeks before sending the items in hopes that our "smell" will get to Elijah.  Far fetched?? Maybe.  But this was suggested to us by several other families so it's definitely worth a try!

We also bought an identical blanket and stuffed monkey to keep here and take with us to China when we travel.  The hope is that he'll recognize the items we have and make some sort of connection with us.  Again, it may seem far fetched, but we want to do our part in doing whatever we can to help the transition for our baby boy.

I think the most exciting part of Elijah's care package was the picture book I made for him!  I put together a very simple and easy fabric picture book for him to have so he can begin getting familiar with our faces.

I prayed and cried and pleaded with the Lord over each item I placed in the box.  I desperately want our faces and our smells to somehow be etched into my baby's mind and into his heart.  I truly trust that the sovereign Creator of the universe can make that happen.  Would you please begin praying that with us?

******************************************

I believe that brings us up to date for now!  I am thankful that the next few months are very full with holidays, celebrations, birthdays and other exciting dates so that time passes quickly!  We are all beyond ready to have Elijah home and have a house full of chaos - beautiful chaos!!