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.

Charlotte's Birthday

We had an Elmo birthday for Charlotte on Saturday. Just family over for some swimming, hot dogs, and cake but she had a blast. Here are a few of the shots from the day!

Week 2-Digital Scrapbooking

Okay so it has taken forever to get to week 2, but I finally did. These layouts are the ones I created in week 2 of my online class from Jessica Sprague.com. It really is a cool class. Let me know what you think.

Our Baby Girl is 3!!

Today is Charlotte's 3rd birthday.  I can hardly believe it.  She is in so many ways a different little girl than the one who came home almost 20 months ago, but in some ways exactly the same.  She can give us a total run for our money one second, and completely still our hearts with her sweet smile and precious little voice.  She has learned so much in the last year, how to eat solid food, how to talk, she is starting to use the pottie, loves the pool, loves ELMO, and loves to do whatever Ethan is doing.  We are so proud of all she has accomplished this year and can't wait to see her in the Big Sis role.  Happy Birthday sweet girl, we love you!!

Loss-update

Update:
Ethan wrote this letter today without me even knowing it. He asked if his Nana could take when they lay Uncle Bill to rest in Maine. Such an innocent little heart.



The beginning of summer has been hard for us, unfortunately.  We have had to endure a very hard loss in the family with the passing of my Uncle Bill.  We have gone through so much with his passing, more than I would wish on any family.  Without going into detail, please know that my family could really use your prayers for the next few months as we work through the whys and our overwhelming grief at times.  Please pray that each of us will be able to refrain from blaming ourselves, and have peace.   Peace in knowing that we were blessed to share 42 years with him, even though those years were way to short.  

 ²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

This verse has brought tremendous comfort at this time.  Pray if you would too for our Ethan.  This is the first time he has really experienced the loss of someone close to him.  He really was Uncle Bill's little buddy and Ethan misses him a lot.  He also just has lots of questions about death, very innocent questions, but he is still working through all of this in his mind.

From Drop Box

(Ethan and his Uncle Bill in 2001)

We will miss you Uncle Bill, but are so glad that you are no longer suffering.  Happy that your tears may now be turned into joy.  We can't wait until we can join you again one day in heaven but until then we will continue on here.

Pics from our Beach Trip

We had a great time in Kitty Hawk, NC this week. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Happy Father's Day

This is a video that is up on Steven Curtis Chapman.com  created just for father's day using pictures from the readers of Jim Houser's Blog.  Well of course I sent in a photo, pay close attention to the video at about 1:05:)  Love IT!!!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am most thankful for my amazing husband. He is so supportive, especially since I have been unexpectedly pregnant:) He even scheduled a prenatal massage for me last Saturday. It was awesome.  (He is pretty handsome, too.  Don't you think?)

Ainsley Elizabeth

We have finally decided on a name for our little blessing. Ainsley Elizabeth....story behind the name? We were discussing names on our last date night at PF Changs and Jay just said how about Ainsley, and I liked it. I also have always liked Elizabeth and when I looked up it's meaning it means "God's Promise." We thought that was completely appropriate...given we followed his call to Charlotte and his has more than fulfilled his promises by blessing us with Ainsley. It so nice to talk about her as a real person and not just "the baby."

A little catching up..

Thought I would take a few minutes to catch up on blogging. So much has been going on lately, as usual, right, but still wanted to document everything.

First we decided instead of renovating our existing house that we would, put it on the market and look for something bigger. We have not brought a single "baby" item into our house yet and we were already feeling cramped. Plus this is a perfect time to get more for your money, larger houses are selling for less in our area. The key will be to sell our house. We have found a house that we absolutely love just about 2-3 miles from where we are so we are hopeful. Just praying that the right family walks through our house and that we have a contract before the end of June. It would be nice to move before the end of August, before school starts again, and before we the baby comes. The only bummer about selling your house is keeping it "show ready" 24/7, that is a real task but it will be worth it in the end.

On the kid front: our #1 is ready for school to be out!! He just loves being outside and can't wait to stay out until he is ready to come in, which does not happen on school nights. Our last day is June 11th so we are close but not quite there yet. Ethan has decided that he is ready for an overnight camp this summer. So he will be spending a week at Triple R Ranch, a christian camp right here in our area. Jay and I were both counselors there in the summers during college, so we are excited for him to go. He is also trying out for the Advanced U9 Soccer team for next year. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for him.

Our #2 is totally and completely obsessed with ELMO. We must watch at least 3 different episodes of Elmo's World everyday, she just loves him. She is really starting to use lots of two and three word phrases, which is exciting to see. She has recovered so well from her last surgery, much faster than the other two. She loves the pool, so she will definitely be taking swim lessons this summer.

And our #3 is very close to having a name. Jay and I are just deciding between two names and want to make sure it is the one before we share. With Ethan, no one knew his name until he was born except for us, but I can't hold it in this time, I don't think. So we will be sharing soon. I am feeling her move lots, and it is obvious to everyone now that I am pregnant. Getting lots of those, wow you are really popping out, when are you due? comments. Of course then I answer, September 20th, so a while. Oh....it is going to be a long summer. Yes, thanks so much for the encouragement. I think we forget what it feels like to be pregnant, once the babies are here and forget about how those comments feel sometimes. But we take it all in stride.

Jay and I are hanging in there and ready for the summer. I love being home everyday and Jay loves it that he can wear polo shirts instead of ties so we are ready. Thanks for checking in on us. I hope to be back with some photos soon.