LID...And Then There Were Three!

We got good news this morning - our dossier was logged in with China on 9/21/12!

Just another step closer :)

In other news, someone new has joined our Stinky Family!

No, our family is not stinky :)  But we have three little blankies who are the Stinky Family.

When Matthew was little we got him his blue bear blanket.  The kid seriously loves this bear.  He used to drool a lot (Matthew, not the bear), and chew on the bear's ears, and it would get all stinky.  I started saying things like, "Where's your stinky bear?"  and, "Oh, that bear is so stinky!" and somehow it accidentally stuck.

And so the bear's name became Stinky.

When Nathan came along, so did another little blanket.  His had a monkey head on it, and when I was trying to explain to Matthew (who was then 2) what it was, I would say, "It's Nathan's Monkey Stinky."

And it stuck.  Monkey Stinky it is.

Well, as soon as we found out about Hannah we knew she couldn't be left out.  When my sister got her this beautiful, soft, pink blanket I knew instantly what we would call it:

Pinky Stinky :)

We are excited to have another Stinky member but we're really looking forward to the day when we have another family member!

Time to Shop!

Before getting the wonderful news about Hannah yesterday, we got other great news from our agency.  In a couple of weeks, someone from our placement agency will be going to China and visiting the city where Hannah is!  This is great news because it means that we get to send a care package to our girlie!

Until now, we have not been able to send a care package, and I wasn't sure we'd get to send one at all so this was very exciting news!  We sent one to both of the boys and I was disappointed to think that we wouldn't be able to tell Hannah one day about how we shopped for her and sent her a package while we were waiting for her to come home.

Today was a happy day (again) because I went shopping (without children!).  It was a lot easier this time as I had a general idea how much stuff I can get into a one gallon ziplock bag :)

Here's what I ended up with:

For the foster family:
* Werthers candies
* Jelly beans
* Note paper

For Hannah:
* A teething bead toy
* A little outfit
* A bib
* A photo book (ordered the photos tonight!)
* A bear lovey

I am hoping to get it in the mail tomorrow.  It's so funny, with Matthew and Nathan's care packages it took me so long to get it together and send it out.  It seems like the more children I have, the more productive I am!  So when Hannah comes home, that means I'll be super productive...right?!?!!

Oh Happy Day: Hannah Update!!!

Sometimes God answers such specific prayers, it blows my socks off!

On Friday, I was talking with another adoptive mama about how detached I feel this time around.  We have two pictures of Hannah from when she was five months old, and as time goes on, I find that I am just not feeling very much at all because it doesn't feel very real.  On the way home from my friend's house, I was talking to God about this and I asked Him to please, please let us get our update on Monday because it was time for me to feel more, care more, pray more for our daughter.  I don't want to be detached anymore, even if it makes my heart hurt more.

My hand went to my mouth and I gasped as I opened my email this afternoon and saw our case worker's name in my inbox with the subject: UPDATE!!

I opened it to find the sweetest little pictures of our beautiful girl!

I mean, really, could she be any more precious?  She looks so different from the last pictures we have!  I love her hair, her sweet little lips, her feet (which if the update is correct are almost the same size as Matthew's!!)...I love everything about her!

We also got a two-page update (which I have read no less than 100 times already!).  A few highlights:

*  Wonderful news - Hannah has been with a foster family and not in an orphanage since birth like we believed!  We are so thankful for this and to know that she is being cared for by a family.

*  She weighs 17.6 pounds (at 14 months old)

*  She has 8 teeth

*  She is introverted, timid, afraid of strangers

*  She loves all kinds of toys and likes being cuddled outside to play :)

*  She sleeps well with adults (uh-oh!  looks like lots more co-sleeping is in our future!!!)

*  She is saying some words and can follow adults orders (which is amazing - we had no idea if she even had any hearing!!!)

*  She can sit freely, turn over, stand for a while with holding

*  When she is crying, she can calm down by giving her snacks (this one made me laugh - she will fit right in around here!!)

*  She likes to eat porridge, eggs, meat soup, bananas, and has a good appetite

I can't explain it, but it is just so good to know more about her.  It does make my heart hurt, and the waiting harder, but I'm so thankful to know.  I hope and pray that in less than five months she will be home with us!!!!!  That is really not long...but tonight, I feel like I can't wait another minute!

A Cute Little Sleeper

It doesn't matter where or when...

he's stinking adorable

and perfectly peaceful...

my precious sleepy boy!

Happy Days

The boys are at such fun ages!  I must admit, I am loving Matthew being almost four and able to communicate so much more with me.  Nathan said a NINE WORD SENTENCE to me tonight and talked my ear off most of the day - he is starting to really be able to express his feelings, which is good because he's been having lots of tantrums lately and I'm ready to move beyond that a little bit.  Not that they won't happen anymore, but it seems like now that I can really talk with Matthew things are a lot easier.  

Sometimes I get the feeling though that Nathan is going to give me a run for my money ;)  He's a little pistol, that's for sure!

Look at these two cuties right before bed tonight!  They are melt-my-heart cute and I often shake my head in wonder that I get to be Mama to these two precious boys.

Every day these boys play together more and more and fight less and less.  It just amazes me to see what good friends they are becoming!  I love it!  Yesterday they disappeared into their bedroom and for 45 minutes they just played and talked and laughed...serious goodness :)

Lately they have been playing with all kinds of stuffed animals.  They carry them everywhere and make them talk to each other.  It's so funny!

They still love playing outside and we do that as often as we can while the weather is still good.  The swing set has gotten a lot of mileage out of it, that's for sure!

And lest you think that they are always happy and smiling...

Here's what happened when Nathan got to the swings first and got on "Matthew's swing" (there are two swings, exactly the same, but for some reason Matthew has decided that one of them is "his" and one is "Nathan's".  Sigh).  So when I wouldn't make Nathan get off the swing, Matthew had a big ole meltdown.

Luckily, these things don't last too long (usually) and five minutes later...

Yep, these are happy days.

Random Ramblings

We've been home for over two weeks now and let me just say, jet lag seriously kicked my behind coming this way.  Going to Korea was not bad; coming home was really rough.  This makes me pretty nervous about traveling to China and returning home as the mother of three children.

Still, I've been reminded over and over recently that God supplies the grace when we need it, so that's enough worrying about that.  He'll take care of it when the time comes.

I've managed to pick up some kind of bug, seems to be a cold and a sinus infection.  My head feels like it might explode soon!  After three days of antibiotics I thought I'd been feeling better, but today I started feeling worse instead.

On the bright side, though...my boys both slept until 7:45am today!  That is a new record; I don't know if they have both ever done that before at the same time!!!

I told you this would be random.

One of the only things I don't like about being a stay-at-home mom is that there are no sick days.  Like, ever.  Little kids don't seem to get that when Mommy isn't feeling well she wants to just lie on the couch; they still want you to play and get them stuff and hold them.  Sometimes I really just want to take a sick day!

Instead of taking a sick day, I have tried to get some activities ready for the boys for tomorrow so that hopefully I can just lay low.  They are easily entertained by things like cutting up paper into tiny little pieces and dumping rice from one bowl into another so I know that they'll be excited about that tomorrow.

The boys are doing well and have settled back into "normal life" fairly well after us being away for two weeks.  Nathan has had some struggles that seem to be to be very adoption related.  I started a post on this yesterday - we'll see if it ever gets finished or published.  I feel like such a beginner at all this parenting stuff so I find it kind of hard to share my thoughts or opinions about it all.  But it's something I've been thinking about a lot.

For now...cold medicine is calling and hopefully I'll be heading to bed very soon!  Please, oh please, little children...sleep late tomorrow!!!!