Gratitude Tag!

The fabulous Stacie started a new Gratitude Tag. I was tagged by the cutest little sweet potato, Meredith. The rules are to name 10 things you are grateful for and then tag 5 people:


1)"S" The best hubby in the world. He's supportive, loving and one seriously amazing daddy.














2)"A" She's the most amazing little girl with such a fun personality. She's a little diva. She's always singing and dancing. She always have to have her nails done and perfume on. I know...I'm in trouble when she's 15. The best part about "A" is her heart to please God.

















3) "CT" Man, I love this kid. He keeps me on my toes. I have some great stories for his baby

book. Like last week when he locked me out in the back yard so he could eat a tub of cake icing or how the week before he snuck and drank a half of a bottle of pancake syrup. He's also my snuggler. He loves to "Scrooch" (that's what he calls snuggling) He will ask me to come lay down with him so he can scrooch with me. He's a big ole mama's boy. I love that.





4) "M" I'm so in love with this baby girl. I can't imagine her not being a part of our family and I've never even held her in my arms. She has the most amazing eyes. I can't wait to get her home.



5)These girls. These are my sisters. They are awesome!!! The best! Seriously...the best!!













6) My parent's. They are so supportive. They have stood right beside us in our journey to bring "M" home. I don't think I could have made it through this without them. They love my kids as much as we do. It doesn't get much better than that.














7)My blogging friends. You guys have been so awesome through the whole adoption process. You've given me info & help when I needed it and shoulder to cry on when I needed that as well. Love you guys!














8) my friends. All of them. What would I do without you all!


9) Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Twist with whipped cream and red sprinkles.....yummo!










10)facebook...my latest addiction





I tag Lulu, Lisa Sam, Amber, Amy Jo

vote for Malak!

Isn't he the cutest kid on the block! Go vote for him!

http://www.kj103fm.com/pages/beatmybaby.html

An update on baby M

We got an update and a new pic of baby M yesterday. You have no idea how seeing her face and hearing about her did my mama heart good. She's looking so big. She put on almost over a pound. She's up to almost 10 pounds! She's almost cracking a smile in the new picture. I'm so in love with this girl. Here's what the update said....

"M" is still in the infant stage where most of her movements are jerky and disjointed, which throws off her balance, but is always good for a smile! She doesn't seem to mind too much, and loves the attention, looking you straight in the eyes when she is talking to you! Developmentally, she is right on track or ahead of the curve. "M" has started to vocalize more, often in the form of exclamations and laughs, in order to get your attention – this is a sign of very good development, and shows that she is starting to understand interactions with people! It was so cute – "M" had a huge sneeze when we were playing, and then laughed out loud. I should mention that she is quite a fan of stuffed animals, which surround her in her bed, and loves to kick her legs around. I can't wait for you to meet her!

Happy 6 months baby girl!

Today we celebrated "M" turning 6 months by baking her a cake. The kids thought that was so cool. Happy 6 Months Baby Girl!

We also put our Christmas tree up today. I usually get started early because I put up 5 trees (crazy, I know) but this year I've decided to stick to one. We're still holding out hope that we're going to get a court date and travel around the first of Jan. Who wants to come home with a new baby and 5 tree's to take down? not me. I'll post a pic of my tree later this week.

Let's start talkin' travel

I haven't even got a court date yet but I'm ready to start planning my trip. EEK!


Flying....
Did you use a travel agent? Who? Where did you layover at? I see some people connect in Dubai and some people in Germany....what do you suggest?


Where to stay....
Where did you stay in Addis? Guest house or hotel? Which one? How long did you stay?


Food...
I have a serious sensitive belly so I'm worried about food. Did you take things with you like ramen noodles? What are some other things I could take along that would be easy to make? Any restaurant suggestions? I need to try to stick to as close to American food as possible. Under normal circumstances I have to be VERY careful what I eat so I'm SUPER paranoid about food. I have Crohn's and don't want to get over there and get sick. I'm probably going to have to go alone so if I get sick I'm in BIG trouble.


Pro-bi-what?
I see people talking about probiotics to keep from getting sick. What is this and where do I get it? Is there something specific that I need to get? How long before I leave do I start taking it? How long after I return?


Gift's and Humanitarian Aid....
For those that have gone before me. Can you give me suggestions for gifts for caregivers that I can do on a serious budget? I mean SERIOUS budget. For those that traveled recently do you have suggestions of what is MOST needed as far as humanitarian aid goes?

I realize these are alot of questions but I'm a total planner and I'm freaked out about having to have everything ready with a 3 weeks notice. As soon as I find out I have a court date I will probably start packing. I'm way OCD like that. :)

God is Faithful!!

Thanks to some AMAZING friends and family all of our prayers have been answered. We officially accepted "M's" referral this week. Now we wait on a court date.

I have to be real careful about what I say here regarding specifics but just know that all our prayers were answered! :)

Thank you all so much for your love and support through this journey. The past couple of weeks have been the biggest stretch for us spiritually but God has taught us so much about Himself and His love for us. We are overwhelmed by His goodness.

God brought in EXACTLY what we needed....to the penny! Wow!

Ways to help....

So many of you have emailed and called and it means so much to us. Thank you so much for loving us and supporting us through a really tough time. We're still struggling but we know that God is FAITHFUL.

Alot of you have asked how you can help and I want to give you my sister, Randi's contact info. She is heading up all of our support right now. If you'd like to know how you can help, her email is hope024@hotmail.com

Thanks again & I hope to have great news to report next Monday.

Also....

My wonderful friend, Darla Hall has started booking HOLIDAY PHOTO SESSIONS. By booking a session with Darla you are getting AMAZING Christmas photos AND helping support us at the same time. Darla is donating 50% of the session fee to our family. Darla is an extremely talented photographer and you can check her work out on her website or read more about the HOLIDAY SESSIONS on Darla's blog You can contact Darla at (256)651-8479. Thank you all so much for your love and support!