Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!

Today, my "baby" girl turns 3! I can't believe she's already 3...even though she looks like she's closer to 5 : ) We will go out for Mexican food tonight and have a small neighborhood pizza party on Sunday.

3 things (there are so many) that I love about my feisty girl:

1) Always happy, always dancing or hopping around wherever she goes.

2) So sweet...loves to give hugs and kisses. I love it most when she grabs your face and really plants one on ya!

3)Miss Independent! This can be good and bad, but I love that I don't worry that she will have a lot of confidence. Daddy and I laugh that we will have to "warn" her dates, not worry that they will prey on her : )

I also have to add that she is sooooo excited to be a big sister. She is always telling me how she will hold "H" and hug her and she won't let anyone sleep in "H's" bed. I love it! I know they will be the best of friends!

Adoption Update: I was very relieved to hear that "H's" birthfather DID make the court appointment and was able to confirm her relinquishment. I am sooo happy to know that he probably got to go see her and was given the letter we wrote him and the photo album we made of our family. We didn't pass court because of a missing document (from the Ethiopian government), that should be in place for our December 10th appointment. So, if all goes well, we are looking at late January to bring her home. Keep those prayers coming! Thank you to all of our amazing friends and family for your support and prayers, and thank you God for giving me the peace of knowing that you are NEVER one nano-second too early or too late. YOUR timing is perfect!!!

We Didn't pass court...now what? : (

We found out today that unfortunately, we did not pass court in Ethiopia on Monday. I still don't know why...our agency is trying to find out, but I suspect that maybe H's birthfather could not make it the 8 hours to Addis Ababa for our appointment. We have been rescheduled for December 10th...a LONG way off for me. I'm so heartbroken, but I know that God is in control and that He has the plan...not me! Please pray that all will work out...we obviously won't have her home for the holidays, but we will have many more holidays to spend with her, God willing.

No News...but New Floors!

Well, our court date was today in Ethiopia, but it may be a few days before we find out whether or not we passed. If we passed, we will most likely travel at the end of December. I have to admit that I am pretty disappointed...I was really wanting to have our newest daughter home for Christmas, but I have to remember...not MY timing! I'm praying to hear about court soon and still hoping for earlier travel, but not much I can do at this point, but enjoy the holidays with my family and love on all my crazy babies here!

Last weekend was a very busy and extremely exhausting one for us. T and I decided to rip out our nasty old carpet and put down hardwood floors on our mainfloor. Yes, I am doing some SERIOUS nesting! Anyway, we recruited some amazing friends to help, but it turned out to be a much bigger job than we originally thought. After ripping up the carpet and somewhere close to a GAZILLION staples and nails, we discovered that we were going to have to replace a couple of places on our floor that had water damage before we could even begin to seal and lay the floor.

Bummer! But, at least now we have decent and non-rotting floors in our house...yay! Thank you God for our friend, Will, who is a true "artist" with woodworking and carpentry. Without his know-how and drive, we would be laying floor for months. Our friend, Paul, was also kind enough to come and help us lay the flooring. As it was, we were able to finish it by late Sunday night and it is BEAUTIFUL!

I'll post more pictures once I can polish it and get all the furniture back where it belongs. I am just thrilled with the floors, but I have to say, this is probably the sorest I have ever been! I have a whole new respect for people that do this kind of work every day.

Please continue to pray for us and for our sweet girl in Ethiopia as we wait (impatiently) and put our trust in the Lord to bring her home to us soon.

October Pumkins and Ghouls!

The Casa de Chaos is always rockin' and this month has been exceptionally crazy. I do love the fall though...especially here in East Tennessee...just breathtaking! Wanted to catch up on some activities and show off my adorable little ghoulies! The Pumpkin patch is always one of my favorite fall activities. We all had a great time and hauled back five pumpkins and a car-load of tired people!

And, then of course, we carved them and decorated for Halloween. This is the first year that J1 wanted to be something scary...not too horror-ble though. J2 chose to be "Dark" Vader, but I think he just chose that because he wanted to get a light "saver". L, ever my tom-boy (God love her) opted for Thomas the train, even though my Mom and I were leaning toward a lady bug or Tiana (the new disney princess). Maybe H will be a bit more of a girly girl, but then what will I do? : )


Here's L with "Mr. Lazy Bones"...he never got up!

ADOPTION UPDATE:

Our Ethiopian court date is November 9th, but since Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of us, our court hearing will take place probably while we sleep (or try to sleep) on Sunday night. We do not go there for this court appointment, but we will hopefully find out early next week if we passed. If so, there is still a good chance we will have H home for Christmas. If not, I will definitely have some major boo hoos, but I trust in the Lord and His perfect timing. Of course, we will take all the prayer we can get, so thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to lift our family in prayer.