Seven Weeks and Counting

Today marks seven weeks since we first heard about our baby. We are hoping for some good news today, or hopefully, this week. Things here are going great! The kids are doing great in school. Morgan is loving 3rd grade, except for her Math. She REALLY does not like math ( I wonder where she gets that from). Kristian is starting to read! Yeah! So, things are moving along normally. It's hard to believe that we will be leaving the country soon, and our lives will be so different after that. The kids are excited to have a new baby sister, and to go hang out with their grandparents for a few weeks. We will probably be gone from home for about five weeks. We are planning on going up to Pa a few days before we leave to help the kids get settled in. Then, we are planning to spend about a week or more with them recovering from jet lag. We figured it would be best to have a little help with the four children since we will probably be exhausted. So, I probably won't see most of you for quite awhile. We are praying that we will be back before Christmas and during the Christmas season. If you would pray with us that way we would really appreciate it. Thank you, all who have been praying for us!

O.K., so you may wish that I would write about something other than the cute things that my kids do, but I can't. I love telling you their cute little stories. The other day I sent Kristian into his room to clean, and I told him I would be in to check on him. This is how I found him. Does it get any cuter?

Halloween Last Year

Our kids picked out their costumes today. They can't wait to get all dressed up for Halloween. Morgan wants to be a Victorian princess, Kristian wants to be a pirate, and Harrison is going to be batman. Our church has a big fall festival where the kids can play games for candy, eat yummy goodies, and get their faces painted, they love it. So, I thought I would post last year's pictures of Halloween, and then in a few weeks show you how much they have changed in a year. Wow, how time flies!

My baby's bed

I'm so excited!!!! I got the highest bid on Ebay for the baby's comforter set. Woo Hoo!

Now, the painting begins!

...and the waiting continues

It has now been 5 weeks since we first received news about our baby girl. At that time we were told she was just 2 months old, but until we get the official referral we won't know for sure. Harry and I are trying to keep our minds busy with projects around the house. I just finished painting the kitchen, I love it it! It looks like an Olive Garden. I know that I will probably gain about 5 pounds, because it makes me want to make some Italian food :-) We are still working on the nursery, that used to be Harrison's room. I am bidding on a beautiful baby comforter on Ebay, and when I get it we will know what color we need to paint the nursery. Our church has alot going on this month, and Harrison turns 3 at the end of Oct. So, we have alot going to keep our minds oocupied, yet they always trail back to our precious little baby.
So, Harrison and I were talking this morning about his birthday coming up, and I'm teaching him to say he's three years old. Kristian comes in and says you're going to be three, and Harrison says (quite firmly) no, I'm going to be three years old! Cracked me up. They say the cutest little things.

Just thought I would give y'all an update. We received an email last night from our agency, that said it would be another 4 weeks before we will get the "official" referral. My heart is breaking right now, as I realize that we will probably be going to Vietnam during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. I will be missing my children's Christmas plays, their Christmas parties, their breakfast with Santa, and so many more activities. I am praying that God will comfort my heart as I prepare to go get our baby girl, knowing that I am missing my children's favorite time of year.
Morgan, my 8 year old, saw me crying and said, "don't worry Mama, there will be many more Christmas plays and Christmas' that we will share together." Wow, out of the mouth of babes! I know God is trying to comfort my heart, even through my children. Please pray that I will receive His comfort, and surrender all of this to Him.

• MY CHILD
• My child, I carried you in my heart before you were even born And dared to dream that you were real.
  My child, I carried your picture with me since the day I received it, And dared to love a child I was yet to meet.
  My child,I carried you in my arms at last,and gazed in helpless wonder at your face, And dared to lose my heart to you.
  And now, my child, a dream fulfilled, a prayer answered, a family created, I have dared to become a mom.
  And so now, my precious child, I shall carry you home.
  

We Finally Picked a Name

For those of you whom I haven't told, we finally picked a name for the baby. Her name will be Maya, meaning precious little one. Morgan wanted her name to begin with a M, like hers because she wanted her sister to have the same initials as she does. We had been thinkg about Madison, because that's the name Morgan liked. However, I didn't have a peace about that name. So we kept looking for a "M" name, and we finally found it. Another meaning of her name is, a creative work of God. How appropriate is that for our baby. This whole journey has been exactly that. We aren't sure what her middle name will be. We are thinking that we would like to use her Vietnamse name as her middle name, but we will see.

Still No News

Just wanted to let you know that we still have no new info. We are hoping to hear something next week or at the latest the week after.
God is really having to teach me patience. It has been hard this week, because a friend of mine brought over some of her baby clothes, and just picturing our baby in them got me wishing I could hold her. However, I know that this is all in God's timing, and we need to just be patient and wait on Him.
Keep praying for our sweet baby girl, we know that she is safe in God's arms.

I thought that I would share with you the verses that God gave to Harry and I throughout this whole adoption process. There were times that we were not completely clear that this was what He wanted us to do. However, He started to show us some verses that confirmed to us that this was His calling on our lives. There are so many, so I will share only a few now, and maybe some more later.

Roamans 8:15
"For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, ABBA, Father."

2Corinthinas 1:3-4
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comforts, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God."

Matthew 18:5
"And whosoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me."

Isaiah 55:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher that the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Proverbs 16:9
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

James 2:27
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is these: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

This verse recently has really spoken to me:
Matthew 25 :34-40
"Then the king will say to those on his right ,'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?
The KING will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did it for me."

I just wanted to share these with you, because they have meant so much to Harry and I. Thank you all for your prayers!!!!!