These Two Boys

I love these two goofy boys!

I love the way they make each other laugh.

I love that they are truly, completely brothers.

Through and through.

I love their smiles.

I love their energy and excitement over the littlest things.

I just love them!

And I know now that I wouldn't be me without them.

A Very Special Project

Several months back, I read a blog where a mom had made a Quiet Book (sometimes called "Busy Books") for her children.  It was such a neat idea, a book that had little activities that babies/toddlers would enjoy that were quiet and that would hopefully keep them entertained and quiet as well!

I instantly thought about our plane ride home from China with Hannah...gotta say, I'm really not looking forward to that very much!  I got thinking though that maybe a quiet book would be a helpful thing to have.  

Let me mention right now that I'm really not crafty.  I can't sew.  I can't follow a pattern.  It totally intimidates me.

So of course I started looking online for one to buy :)

I was pretty astonished to see how much they go for (they are handmade, and take a lot of time, so I really do understand).  

Suddenly my cheapness came face to face with my lack of craftiness.  Yes, I know those are not words.

Cheapness won out and I am making my own!  I did lots of searching on Pinterest and blogs to get ideas, drew pictures of what each page would entail, and set to work!

I have to admit, I am enjoying this so much!  I am totally a beginner sewer, so if I can do this anyone can.

The first page I completed:

The top flower unbuttons (but stays attached to the page - I realized quickly that I wanted everything to be attached.  On our plane ride home from Colorado with Nathan he threw every single toy we handed him on the floor. Awesome.)

I know Hannah won't be able to do this alone yet but I wonder if it might keep her occupied, or maybe she'll enjoy helping me?  Or maybe she'll hate it, who knows?!?!  :)

The next page is one she will be able to play with for sure.  It is just counting beads that move up and down along a string.

When I found these beads at a local store I knew they were just what I was looking for.  Adorable!

I have only finished three pages so far (out of 10), because it's the type of thing I can only work on after the boys go to bed...and most days I'm too tired out to do much!

This is my favorite page so far!  It's a little barn with doors that open...

...and inside are three animal finger puppets!

...which of course are attached with ribbon so we don't lose them :)

I followed the template from this blog for the barn and the finger puppets.  It was not hard at all!

It's a bit of a challenge for me and outside of my comfort zone but I like learning new things and I hope one day this will be a special book for Hannah.  I will try to share more when it's finished!

This is HUGE - It's Official!

I just want to shout it as loud as I can:

We got our

Probably most of you are wondering, like Brad,

what the heck do those letters mean again?

This means we have received our 

Letter of Acceptance from China!

They have officially reviewed our dossier 

and said that we can adopt Hannah.

See why I'm a little excited?

This step is HUGE, can take a short while or ages, 

and means that we are now in the home stretch!!!!

My best guess is that we will get our baby girl

in maybe 12-14 weeks.

That is not that long, people!

I am hoping we will be traveling to China

in February (though it could possibly be the end of January)

and the END IS IN SIGHT!

Which is just wonderful, because I decided just this week

that my little one needs to be in my arms ASAP :)

(the video we received on Tuesday may have had a little

something to do with this!)

We're ready, let's do this!

Celebrating How Far We've Come

It has been so long.  I almost can't believe it.  It has been literally months and months since this little guy has been sick.  It's November and he has just come down with his first bug of the Fall.

So we're back to the breathing treatments.

But you know what?  I am celebrating!

No, I'm not celebrating that my boy is miserable.  What I am celebrating is how amazing it is that he has gone this long without being sick!  How far we have come!

Last September he got sick, and literally he was sick until about March with just a few days, sometimes a week in between sicknesses.  We were up at night all the time.  He was on medicine all the time.  We went to the doctor almost weekly.

But that's not our life anymore, and I am so thankful!  Since Matthew had his tonsils out in February, he has been doing so much better.  There is really no comparison, it is a night and day difference.  We figured out so many things about his health this year and finally, after more than 2 1/2 years of almost constant sickness, he is one healthy little dude!

I'm hoping he can kick this cough without a trip to the doctor's office.  I guess we'll see!

And Finally They Share a Room!!!

It has been a long road, people, but we made it!  Two little boys sleeping WELL in the same room!  I wasn't sure we'd ever get there.  But we're on about week four and it has gone remarkably well, so I feel like I can blog about it now without worrying that tomorrow I'll be posting that Nathan is back in our bed :)

I have to say, I had never thought that we would co-sleep.  In fact, I was pretty adamantly against the whole thing.  But I'm learning along the way never say never!  Sometimes the best thing for your kids may not be what you would prefer to do.  A child sleeping with us for a year...not what I would have picked.  Truthfully though I am so glad we went this route with Nathan.  He needed it, plain and simple.  With Matthew being so sick for so long, up at night so many times, and Nathan being hysterical if he was sleeping alone...well, it was the right choice for our family.

After our Korea trip, we knew it was time.  We have a few more months until Hannah comes home, and we wanted Nathan and Matthew settled in their room (and hopefully sleeping well!) before that time.  So a few weeks back, we made the move!

After a fun trip to Ikea, we set up the boys' new beds!

We had two toddler beds for the boys before but we knew we needed to have a twin bed so that we could lie down with Nathan as needed.  Their room is small...so these low bunks were the perfect option for us!

The boys absolutely L.O.V.E their new beds!

A friend of mine had a great suggestion after a rough first night with Nathan and said maybe hanging a blanket over the side would make it more fun (he was pretty jealous of Matthew's fun top bunk).  It totally did the trick!  The boys are not allowed to go up to the top bunk during the day so the bottom bunk became their new favorite place to play.  It's so fun, like a little fort, and that night Nathan climbed right in and snuggled down without a fuss.  Amazing!

I'm so thankful we were able to make this happen and that it's gone so well.  Nathan still needs one of us to lie down with him at bedtime, and he still wakes up in the night, but sometimes he sleeps 7-8 hours before waking up and calling for us.  Big progress!  I love that the beds make a bit more space in their little bedroom, too!

And in case you're wondering...I have no idea where Hannah is going to go just yet!  There is room for a bed or a crib in their room, but three kids under four years old in one room kind of sounds like a nightmare to me :)  We might set up the crib in our room, she might sleep with us...who the heck knows!  It's all part of the adventure I guess!

{Beautiful Girl}

We were blessed to receive new pictures of our beautiful girl yesterday!  It was such a surprise and totally made my day.  Here is our sweet girl looking at the photo book our family sent her!  She is seeing pictures of her forever family for the first time :)

We got a short update as well, saying that her foster mother says that Hannah understands everything she says to her!  It also said she is very skinny, and that she is not walking yet and prefers to stand holding onto things rather than standing alone.  Part of me (selfishly!) hopes that we may get to see her take her first steps.

We are so thankful to have these precious pictures of Hannah with her foster mother.  We can tell she is cared for and loved!  What a blessing.  My heart is heavy today and the wait seems unending as it stretches out before us.  I know our time will come, but today...well, I just wish she was in my arms.