Merry CHRISTmas!

tidings of joy.

Generally when it comes to Christmas cards, it's the youngest member of the family that causes the most concern when the goal is to get all members pleasantly smiling for a photo.  Not here.  Peanut made it all too difficult to get that perfect family picture to represent us for 2010.  Case in point:

posing

staring

goofing

scowling

staring again

 and again

creeping

teasing

joking

Ridiculous.

A huge thanks to my sweet and talented friend Ginny for blessing us with pictures.

January 12.

Well, that's the big day.  The day our signatures should be approved by the adoption board on the agreement papers to adopt Sweet P after reading her medical history.  (Did you catch all that?)  I still am amazed that we need yet one more approval merely on our John Hancocks since they've already approved our homestudy ... which includes FBI background checks, discloses all our financial info, and more.  Seems so silly to have one more approval based solely on the fact that we signed a paper saying we want to adopt her.  


One more hoop to jump through.  So we're jumping ... and should get the formal approval letter and her birth certificate shortly after that date.  Our agency predicts we'll travel to get her in February or March, depending on how quickly they get the documents to us.  I'm praying it will be a birthday gift for me to fly out on February 21!  


Missing my sweet baby girl this Christmas.  


Blessings, angela

o Christmas tree

This year's ornaments for the kiddos.  Buddy thought they were for eating, but thankfully there's no evidence of him making any progress.

some favorites from years past

Our tree looks the same pretty much from year to year.  This year, however, it makes daily costume changes, as its ornaments are rearranged, removed, and dismantled by these two crazies:

Later, Peanut spotted this beauty and would not believe me that it is me in fourth grade. She will not believe that I could ever have had curly hair.  Thank goodness, that girlie will likely never meet a home permanent in her life.  That's one hair fashion I'd love to never repeat, along with "wings."  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you are either too young or you've suppressed it from your long-term memory.  Wish I could too.  My hair was lucky just to take a perm... add some wings and a big dousing of hairspray and my hair still wouldn't hold.  I was also so jealous of Kelly Kapowsky.  

Peanut helped me hang the stockings by the chimney with care.

The next day I saw them shoving things into the stockings... a little too eager to let St Nick do his job.  

at K's work Christmas party for all the kids

The next installments are the precise reason I don't have many print-worthy photos lately. Peanut has had this posing problem for quite some time.  Do what I may, I cannot get her to look cute and normal at the same time.

...and the final picture I leave for you is this:

I came in to see some guilty little ones with all their gifts in stacks.  Not sure whether they were about to rip in, but we'll be lucky if we make it to Christmas without tattered presents to show.  They've mysteriously shown up all around the house and have been de-bowed too many times to count.  

Merry Christmas!  Blessings, angela

thankful.

Thanksgiving is a blessed time to be with family and thank the Lord for His goodness.  K's sister and family were able to join us for a few days, after a very long drive with five kids in the minivan.  My kiddos were overjoyed to have them visit!  It was a quick visit, but we packed in as much as possible.

One more visit to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa!

Thanksgiving dinner

Buddy needed a nap so he missed out on dinner.

To say Peanut loved having her cousins visit is a gross understatement.  This girl needs sisters.  (and hopefully we'll have just that in a couple months)  It was a big sleepover every night in the girls' room!

I had to add this one for the expression captured in the background... and because this girl is so beautiful!

Success with the pies, after a comedy of errors.

Buddy enjoys his dinner a little late before we went for a walk around Colonial Williamsburg.  All the pictures from that are on their camera, so I will have to get them soon.

It was perfect timing for a family visit!  We're so thankful for each of you!  Blessings, angela

buying it back.

When our agency called to say Sweet P's child history had arrived, new pictures were mentioned.  I assumed that meant new, as in recent pictures.  Well, actually the ones included were these:

I'm not sure if these were taken upon her arrival at the orphanage or later, but it brought such joy to my heart to see even younger pictures of our little girl!  Sort of feels like we were able to buy back a little time with our Sweet P by having another piece of her history in photos... many months earlier than the first we saw of her.  

It's difficult to not know every little detail about our girlie, not knowing about all her "firsts", not knowing how her personality has emerged as her little body has grown all these 2+ years. I'm thanking the Lord today we own a little more of that time because of these sweet infant pictures.  

So glad I could share them with you too!  Blessings, angela

introducing...

Sweet P

We met her by video last year in November.  Here are some not-so-crystal clear pictures of our baby girl one day after her first birthday.

September 2009

Then our agency went to make a new video of waiting children in April.  While there they took a few new pictures for us.

I suppose the orphanage's regulations about electrical wires is far more lenient than those for day care facilities here in America.  Yikes.  

Nonetheless, here is our sweetheart.

April 2010

Lastly, a family who traveled to bring their son home from Sweet P's orphanage snapped a few of her right after nap time.

August 2010

We're now able to post pictures of her because we have received her child history and have signed the agreement to adopt her.  Seriously, now, we could have just skipped to that step last November and avoided all the hassle and delays.  She's ours.  ...but she has been for over a year now in our hearts.  Wish I could speed up the clock and get us on a plane to bring her home!  It should be rather soon now!  

Still rejoicing and thanking my Lord for working out all these details so beautifully.  Her papers arrived over Thanksgiving, likely as I was in prayer for them to come this week!  My God is one of details and He's so sweet to remind me He is in complete control at all times.  Parts of this process have felt so out of control, but He is steady.  He is faithful.  He is the giver of all good gifts.  Sweet P's name rightly means "His gift."  That, she is.

With much joy and anticipation, angela