Getting Elizabeth... and Rachel

Help bring a baby home

HI Everyone!

I know my next posting is supposed to have pictures of the girls (and they will come, promise!!), but first i had to post something else. I belong to orphanage yahoo groups for Qianjiang and Xiushan - the two cities where our girls were born and lived during the majority of their first year of life. One of the moms on Rachel's group poured hours and hours of her time recently into creating a calendar of girls adopted from Xiushan for parents and the orphanage and its workers. this mom's name is Robin, and she just posted that she feels God is calling her family to adopt a special needs child in China and they don't have the funds.

A special needs adoption is different than a regular adoption. First, you know what child you're going to adopt (verses a regular one where a child is assigned and you know nothing until you get the call.) And second the child has a special need, such as a heart murmur or cleft palate, or a physical issue like a missing finger, skin rash, etc.

this mom recently saw a child listed as a special needs adoption and felt this child was meant for her and her husband. They now have one month to come up with just under $3,000 -- money they do not have. So she is using her sewing skills to make some adorable things to raise cash. and she is seeking prayers. If you're interested in helping or learning more, here is her link: http://www.redthreadstitches.blogspot.com/

A belated Merry christmas!

A belated Merry Christmas everyone! You haven't heard from me for the past three weeks because i've been hanging on by my fingernails, trying to get all the zillions of things that need to be done, done, and of course enjoying all the fun of the season.

We had a wonderful christmas. We've been busy with all our normal stuff plus a church "performance" for Hua Hua's sunday school class, Dan's Nutcracker at school, a playgroup Christmas party, a preschool Christmas party, visits with family, more visits with family, and more visits with family, Christmas cookie making, gift buying, card writing, gift wrapping, gift giving, gift receiving, church... By Christmas day we were so exhausted, we stayed in our pajamas or sweats all day.

After the morning gift opening the girls spent much of the day hosting princess tea parties in their new playclothes with  new tea sets when they weren't riding their new bikes up and down the hallways of our cozy home, occasionally running into a wall or two. We had a candlelight christmas dinner with china, fine linens and crystal (making the pajamas all the more interesting!), we read the story of jesus' birth from the bible, and called out-of-state relatives before bed. It was a great day. Today we actually got dressed, but it has been just as blissfully low key.

when i get a minute, i'll post some pictures. Merry christmas everyone!   

S-T-R-E-S-S

so this morning, in my groggy, sleep-deprived state, i stumbled over to the coffee maker, poured in the water and turned it on. Hua Hua started yelling for me - she was trying to wash her hands at a sink that's tricky to operate. So i leave the coffee, help her turn off the water, then come back only to see coffee flooding my countertop, dripping down the side of my white cabinets, and puddling on the floor. ugh. I had forgotten to put the coffee pot in the coffee maker before turning it on! How had i done this?

Christmas stress.

That's what i'm blaming for my taking both dan and my keys with me to church last week, stranding dan and the kids at the house when he had places to go.

That's what i'm blaming for Dan taking both my and his keys with him to work today, stranding the girls and i home when we had no food for lunch and no way to get to preschool.

That's what i'm blaming for making a special trip to the christian book store for christmas cards only to leave and return home having forgotten the christmas cards.

That's what i'm blaming for staying up too late almost every night in a week in a vain attempt to do christmas things that need to get done when there is no time to do them.

and that's what i'm blaming if my christmas cards don't get sent out in time, if my cookies don't get made, if my house is a disaster and the gifts to relatives out of state are late. Becasue this year, for the first time in a long time, I am feeling TOTALLY STRESSED OUT BY CHRISTMAS. I know this is silly. I know this is totally falling into societal pressure verses keeping my eyes on HIM, and remembering that CHRISTmas is really about Christ. but I feel like i can't help it.

Rachel's birthday pictures - finally :-)

It's been more than a week since Rachel's birthday day and she is still talking about it daily. One of her gifts was a box of six pairs of dress-up play heels that have not come off her feet. i don't know how she can walk in these things, but she can, and she loves them dearly.

I think Rachel is a little concerned about getting older, though. When i recently told her she was officially a toddler now she said, "No! Baby Rachel." And lately she keeps saying that. I'll say, "Rachel ... " and she'll interrupt me and say, "Baby Rachel." And tonight at grandma and grandpa's, she wanted my mom to feed her like a baby. My mom seemed to love this, and Rachel was clearly delighted. When I looked at her she'd just grin and say, "Baby Rachel" then open her mouth like a little bird.

So tonight, before going to bed, I teasingly said to her, "Rachel, who is my baby?" And she snuggled into me and said, "Rachel." "That's right," I told her, adding that no matter how big she gets, she'll always be my little baby. She smiled and snuggled in a litte more. Now hopefully this baby anxiety will soon pass. :-)