Three Word Wednesday

Our Precious Angels

My Sweet Girls

Go Virginia Tech!!!

I caught one of her first awake smiles...what a little sweetie!

I just love these two little girls to pieces! Can you see why?

Wordless Wednesday

Introducing....

AINSLEY ELIZABETH
7LBS 10OZ 19.5 IN

She is here and we are all finally home. I will post more later, but wanted to share some photos of our special girl. Enjoy!

First Day of School

Here are my big kids all ready for the first day. Ethan was off to his first day of 3rd Grade and Charlotte was off to her 2nd year of Pre-school. They were both super excited, which makes this momma happy. The only bummer is that a low pressure system off the coast was causing torrential downpours. It was an awful morning, I could not believe the amount of rain that was falling. But it has cleared off now, so hopefully the trip home will be better. And less than 48 hours until little Ainsley is here. I am scheduled for my c-section on Thurs. at 10am, can't wait!

 

 

 

September 10th

That is the day our little Ainsley will make her appearance. I am having a scheduled c-section, so we set the date at my appointment yesterday. So in a short 15 days our new little blessing will be in our arms. Please pray for our surgery, and for my nerves surrounding it. Also please pray for Charlotte and Ethan and the transition coming for our family!

How will you show hope?

Maria's Big House of Hope from Show Hope on Vimeo.

We're In!!

So we are all moved into the new house, lots unpacked, still some to go but we are in a good spot. We feel so overwhelmingly blessed to have been able to buy this house, God has truly provided for us. The kids love their new rooms and they are huge, with plenty of space to share in the future - :) That was one of my biggest prayers that we would be able to find a house that could accomodate our family now and in the future. When I get a chance I will post some pictures, so that you can all enjoy it with us. Ethan has already made friends in the neighborhood and gets lots of compliments from the adult neighbors on his wonderful manners and disposition. And Charlotte is adjusting to the the size and feeling far away from mommy at times. But she is doing well and ready for school to start. Ainsley has just 3 weeks to go before she makes her appearance. I will have a c-section on or before Sept. 14th most likely. I am excited to meet my new little one but a little scared of the surgery. I have not had surgery since becoming a mom and it is a little more intense now. I have done much better with the move physically than I thought I would. I have had so much help, my wonderful hubby of course, my mom and sister, Jay's parents and sister and brother in law, and lots and lots of help from our church family. It is amazing how much has been accomplished in a week and a half. Thank you to everyone who pitched in we could not have done it without you. Well that's it for now, off to do more organizing and unpacking. I will keep you updated on our new munchkin and when she will be here-I still can't believe I will have little tiny fingers and toes in my house again-amazing blessing!!

Thankful Thursday - written on Friday :)

I am thankful for so many things today but here are a few:

1. Thankful that my pregnancy is continuing to progress with no complications. Ainsley is growing big and strong-already measuring over 5 lbs. This is so huge for us as we really did not think we would have any other biological children. What a blessing God has given us. We can't wait to meet our little "chunky monkey." (seriously you should see the chub on her ultrasounds pics)

2. Thankful that our house sold in just 8 weeks, and that we found a beautiful new house to move into. It is perfect for our growing family and will meet our needs for a long time to come. So thankful that we have the resources to buy it and can't wait to move in - 13 days and counting!

3. Thankful that my husband understands that I cannot bend over at the moment or lift anything given my current condition :) He has done an amazing job packing and listening to his supervisor - LOL!

4. Thankful that Charlotte is POTTY TRAINED!!! And that she loves to swim. You would not believe the fish she is in the water, it is amazing. I have some video and hope to post it when life slows a little.

5. Thankful that Ethan loves to help his mommy. He has helped so much with Charlotte and the house and move this summer. He realizes that I need extra help right now and he jumps right in, most of the time willingly. I can't believe he will be starting the 3rd Grade in just a month, time flies by so quickly.

The Least of These

Why should you consider becoming a Show Hope Sponser? Click on this link to see about 30 reasons why you should!

So now head on over to Show Hope and sign up now! Or if you are really feeling God speak to your heart and think that maybe you should bring a child just like this home into your family, please let me know. I can help point you in the right direction!

He sneaks in..

Just surfing around on the net this afternoon and found a great blog post on the Show Hope Blog that I wanted to share with you. So click HERE and then come back...........

Okay, isn't that a cool post and so very true. You know we are still completing our 2nd dossier for China, even though, little Ainsley is on her way. To be perfectly honest, we have waivered back and forth several times on this road. We started the process before we knew Ainsley was a part of our family, and I was a little sad at first to think that maybe we had messed up and that God's plan for our 3rd addition was not in China but born in my womb instead. I really did grieve, not knowing if we were to be parents of 4 kids-which just 2 years ago seemed completely in sane. But after praying and praying, we have pressed on knowing God would not have placed another China blessing on our hearts just because. And although it seems like a hard road right now, and I admit a little insane, we just can't give up on our 4th addition. So until God shows us otherwise we are still pressing on, walking in faith, knowing He will lead our steps and we will be blessed beyond measure. But just as the Show Hope post says, we have been tempted and fooled by the enemy, even just yesterday. We just received a contract on our house and need to find a new, bigger, house to close on by Aug. 20th. Well the house hunt is not going as well as I hoped, mostly because I really want to have 5 bedrooms or 4 large ones and 3 bathrooms. I just know with 4 kids we would need that space, and I don't want to outgrow our house again. So last night after hunting all afternoon with no luck, I wondered maybe we are only supposed to have 3 kids, it would make this search a lot easier. See how easily he sneaks in. But after reading surfing around today, I know that is not true. We are called to bring another blessing home. It may be in 2 years or 3, but we will be ready and God will work it all out. That I know!

Oh and just to piggy back on Show Hope, if you feel called to help Orphans, but not called to bring one home. Consider being a Show Hope Sponser. Our family is a sponser. It is only $35 a month and will help support all of the Children at Maria Big House of Hope that just opened this month in China. Check out all about it HERE.

Thanks for listening!

Just a Great Kid

I often blog about Charlotte, I think because I spend more time with her than Ethan (he is always busy and likes it that way) and because she lets me take more pictures of her :) But I wanted to take some time to do a post all about my oldest baby. I know I have said it before but he really is an all around GREAT KID. I have never met anyone that makes friends as quickly as he does, and who just genuinely likes to be around people. He is always on the go, never stays in one place to long and often has his whole day planned out by 9am. The week before last Ethan spent his first week at Triple R Ranch, a christian overnight camp. Both Jay and I worked there as counselors in college and still stay in touch with many of the staff members. We were so excited for him to go and this was the first summer he was old enough to attend. I was a little concerned that he may get homesick, but we did not hear a single peep from him all week. I just considered no news was good news. When we got there to pick him up on Friday, he talked non-stop about all the fun he had. I asked him if he had missed us. He said, "Do you want me to tell the truth?" So our big 8 year old is independent and confident enough to spend an entire week away from home :( But it does show what kind of kid he is, doesn't it.



Also at the beginning of June, Ethan earned his junior Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Only 2 more tests until that coveted black belt-wow!



And, Ethan tried out for the Advanced Soccer Team for his age group and made it. He was blown away and is super excited to be on a traveling team that will go to tournaments. We are pretty proud of our Great Kid, and feel so blessed that God gave him to us.