let the countdown begin

we have about 16 more hours until we board..

bags are [almost] packed

house needs to be cleaned 

and a few other loose ends need to be tied up

o-boy is sick. very sick...fever, cough, snotty nose..the whole sh'bang.

it came on last night and has settled in very quickly...

please pray that as we prepare to board our plane tonight his little body fights this thing off as quickly as it came on...pray that the people around us would give us grace as we travel with a sick boy..and that a and i would not get sick..

thanks for joining us...we are thrilled to have you come along for the ride!

it's true.

we have a sweet girl. 

an itty, bitty girl that we are so blessed to have the privilege of loving. and adoring and longing for. 

a sweet girl that o-boy calls "the girl" {a term of endearment, i promise:). 

she lives in uga.nda. and she is oh. so. precious. 

so beautiful. 

at 8 months old, she had 6 teeth, weighed 9lbs and was 23 inches long. so she is itty, bitty. our o-boy was 22 inches and 8lbs7oz when he was born.

we will keep the details for her to share [if she wants]..but, we can tell you... our girl....she's a fighter. boy is she a fighter. our baby is determined and tenacious.

her name ??    nya. 

because we believe God has an amazing *purpose* for her sweet life. a huge *purpose* ... it also means *tenacious*...we are praying she uses that tenacity for the good of others!

we came to know about her 5 weeks ago. so she is 9 months now and growing and getting even cuter with each day. you should see her lashes....they literally touch her eyebrows. they are absolutely beautiful...can you tell we are in love? 

after emilyn,  we decided not to pursue another child..but i will say we did keep praying that god would make his will known. and..if there was another child that needed some love then we would surely give that love and be their family! the closer and closer we were getting to traveling, we were getting more and more used to the idea of being a family of 4 instead of 5. we were getting so excited to bring our sweet boy home and so excited to have the two boys. it seems like we were to be a family of 4. 


but once again, His plans were different than ours and we are so thankful..so thankful..

a few weeks ago, we got an email about this sweet girl and well...the rest is history;) she is ours. she is our daughter. our girl. THE girl :)

so excited to meet our sweet girl nya and our babyu (stories on his name to come soon!). 

really, words can't express what we are feeling now...the idea of having 3 littles..well, it just makes my heart leap for joy and makes my eyes fill with tears.  

our lives are about to get a whole lot more hectic, crazy, loud and busy...but, honestly, we can't wait. we can't wait to have these sweet children running through the house, screaming at each other, keeping us up at night, playing together, having some serious dance parties...the list goes on and on ...because quite frankly, all i do is day-dream (well that AND prepare for a family of 5 to spend 7 weeks in africa!!!)...yeah, we may not shower as much or do as much laundry..our dishes might pile up a little faster..we may will stay home more often...we won't get as much sleep.....we probably won't get time for ourselves...

BUT..

we will be united. we will be family. we will be together. at last.a family of five. 5. 

our kids will have to learn to cooperate, share and live in close proximity. we will continue to learn that love trumps things. it trumps stuff...it trumps all....we will all be learning to love more. love better. love well. we all will have to learn to love when it hurts. when it makes us uncomfortable. even when we are tired and don't want to...

we leave in 48 hours and we are feeling every emotion possible...

*************

we are coming babies...all 3 of us...can't wait to hold you close..take in your smell...smother you both in kisses and loves.. we have waited so long for this moment and now that it is nearing, i can't pull it together..words cannot express what we are feeling. know that we are coming soon..and we won't ever have to leave. never, ever. we are yours and you are ours. ah. my heart is overflowing..see you soon sweet ones. your family is coming!!! your momma and daddy are coming...and your big brother (along with dutch)...are coming...soon babies...soon

itsfriday

andmymind is running amileaminute.
really wanting to get away from this computer so i can get the million things i need to do today before everything closes for the weekend but things keep coming up.. so here i sit

in awe. in shock. of our great God.
not really though. he is the great I AM.
the almighty.
the great host.
remember? this is His party.
and man, is HE ever present.

i don't have time to talk details right now because we are leaving in 2 days. TWO....wow.
but we have encountered many obstacles this week. MANY.
everytime we turn around it seems like something isn't going as planned.
something else comes up.

but.

it's the nature of following our God.
it's the nature of adoption.
it's the nature of living a crazy life.

not for us.

but ALL for Him.

yesterday the day didn't go as planned...(shocker.)
spent a lot of the day in tears ...

after listening to some serious music and taking time to think about things and in the midst of my day falling apart..there was blessing after blessing after blessing..

after blessing.
after blessing.

i was reminded that God is always one step ahead of us. ALWAYs.
He has gotten us thus far. and is certainly not leaving us now.

we are choosing to praise Him in the uncertain times.
and in the good times.
in the crazy times. in the silent times.
when it seems like our world has been turned up-side-down.

because really. He has got us covered. He's got it.
seriously friends. to Him be the glory.

ohmygoodness

we leave in 5 days

land in ugand@ in 7 

meet our sweet, sweet babies in 8 
(lord willing!)

aaaahhhhhh! can't believe it is only  8 days  away....after waiting over a year and a half..

8 days...oh my.
it feels so good to say that. 

8 DAYS..ah.

.........

oh how we are so ready. 

SSSSSOOOOOOOOO ready. 

seriously..

little ones-your momma, daddy and your big brother are coming..

get ready for some serious loves.

we might NOT ever put you down.

no really...