A Rumor!

There is a rumor floating around...

It's not for sure 

BUT

I have heard it from a reliable source!

I'm about ready to BURST!

So I better tell you now before I do BURST!!

The rumor is this...

That a certain family that I know should get packing ASAP

BECAUSE

THEY ARE GOING TO CHINA!!

They do NOT have their TA yet...

(because CCCWA is closed for 3 days)

BUT they may be receiving this TA at the end of this week or beginning of next week which means they will not have much time to prepare once it has arrived!

BECAUSE 

they are leaving for CHINA on

JANUARY 11th!!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

And this sweet girl will have a GOTCHA DAY of January 14th!

And this darling girl will have a GOTCHA DAY of January 16th!

And this precious girl will have a GOTCHA DAY of January 21st!

And these very excited parents will return home on February 2nd!

WITH THESE THREE BLESSING!

THANK YOU JESUS!!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you and your family the best for 2013 from Mexico!

I look forward to my book and Bulk app releasing in the new year.

May the benefits of the Zero Waste lifestyle spread and transform lives across the globe! 

Last Updates on Our Daughters! UPDATED!

We are waiting for our TA!

BUT, because we need TA for three treasures it is taking longer than usual.

At first we thought that would be okay... but as we look at the calendar we realize how dangerously close to Chinese New Year we are getting.

We are PRAYING to leave on the 11th! Please pray with us!

If not the 11th then the 18th. We need to spend 3 weeks in China to get all 3 girls. Those dates are the only way we can get to China and back before CNY. Even the 18th would have us flying home as the holiday begins.

Praying we do not have to wait until after CNY to get our daughters.

This weekend we will get the bags backed and prepare all that we can for our China trip.

God is so GREAT we knowHe has a plan- we are putting our trust in HIM! 

For  Mia's update we got three new pics BUT we did not get measurement.
We have partial old ones from September and we know of 2 girls about her size that have come home in September and December- so are bringing sizes similar to what those families brought.

From what we found out previously Mia at 11 yrs old is 2 inches taller than Ava (who is 7) and a couple pounds heavier.

Honestly... let's just GET TO CHINA!

Measurements or NOT!

She is small. I have been recommended to bring a size 7 for her.

I have packed size 8's...

then I put in a couple of 7's...!

She is supposedly 11 yrs old???

To us right now she is 10...

and to us,

 once we are home she may be 9!

We will see?

Melissa's update include some measurements and a pics we already had.

Not complaining AT ALL!

Just so thankful she is our daughter!

120cm， 20kg， waist 45， pant length 65cm， shoes  32

 

Which translates to 47 inches - taller than we thought! 
She's one inch shorter than Ava.
44 lbs - about what we thought.
Abby's weight.
waist 17.5 - skinnier than we thought 
 Anna size waist.

The shoe size threw us? This would mean she has a size 1 foot but that seems kinda big for her? 
So we are bringing size 13. 
Yes, we may be shoe shopping in China??

Melissa is 7 yrs old! (above)

Madeline is 6yrs old (below)

It was quite exciting to get new pics of her!!

She is 109cm, 51cm head, 51.5cm chest, 16.5cm foot.
No weight?

This translates to  almost 43 inches tall- a little over an inch shorter than Anna and Abby.
Chest- smaller than Anna.
Shoe size almost 10.5- we are bringing 11's.

I cannot wait to get these sweet girls in my arms! 
OR just even be in the same room as them! 

Oh my, May God Bless them and protect them!

You probably think I am a little odd as I analyze the measurements ;-)
It's part of the bonding for me- I like to gather all the info I can and just have an idea on what to expect.

Now
it's packing and prep time!

Praying the TA comes next week. It's a goofy week in China. Our agency is closed in the 31st and 1st and CCCWA is closed on the 1st-3rd.

Whenever it happens we will be ready!

I thought I would answer this question from the comments-
Why do we bring clothes for our child and not just buy them there?

We always bring clothes and only buy a few toys, snacks, traditional Chinese outfits and small items while in China. We like the clothing from the USA much better! The quality is better. Then when they come home they have clothes like there siblings. Plus we are bringing some gently used clothes for the kids, too- it's not all new. They love to go through their suitcase and see what we have brought for them. It would be hard to take 3 new children in China shopping for clothes, sizing them and saying yes and no in regards to style and what we feel is appropriate. The walmart type stores have very few clothes- depending on the city. We could go to a higher end store but every time we have been in China we don't seem to be near stores like that. 
We will shop if we are completely off on sizes but from what we are bringing (leggings and dresses and jeans with adjustable waists)- the clothes are forgiving and should work out okay.
One time we forgot underwear and bought it in Hong Kong- it was outrageously priced.
Getting clothes and planning outfits is bonding and FUN. I can picture the children in the outfits as I place it in their suitcase! Plus we are dressing Melissa and Madeline alike some of the time- that is bonding for them! Mia will have outfits not matching Sarah but more like Sarah, as they are the older two girls that will be with us. 

After traveling to China as much as we have we are pretty happy doing it this way! It has worked well for us!

How about you? Do you like to shop for your child's clothes in China or bring them with you? I'd love to hear others thoughts!

The Girls Bedrooms! (Updated)

Mia will room with Sarah, Emma and Ellie!

Her dresser is in the middle.

Emma is on the left and Ellie is on the right.

Sarah's dresser is in the closet.

We got these from Hayne*dle on line!

Mia will sleep on the top bunk above Sarah. 

Ellie is across from her and Emma is in the pink on the bottom bunk.

We were very thankful that the room easily fit all 4 beds!

*disclaimer- we just had cleaning ladies at our house before taking the photos! NO, their rooms do NOT always look like this! In fact I took the pic before even letting one child walk into the room!

I think this should work out well for Mia and our other big girls.

Some of the children from her orphanage have been afraid of the dark but since she is with the other girls and we have a night light on throughout the night, we are hoping she will be okay with this arrangement!

We are beginning to pack her suitcase!

I have felt so peaceful about this adoption and have not been in a rush BUT now that Christmas is over we just want to get her (them) HOME!

Melissa and Madeline will room with Ava, Anna and Abby.

Because the girls are so close in age and size we have decided to just label the drawers regarding the sizes and not specific children's names.

They also have a dresser in the closet.

I do have pink masking tape and will relabel them when  have time (hahahaha).

Okay, I really do have pink masking tape but the joke was "when I have time ;-)"!

Abby is in the single bed, Ava is on top in the green and Anna is on top in the pink!

 Melissa will be on the bottom(middle) in the green.  

 Madeline will be on the bottom (right) in the pink.

I'd like to say we are ready BUT is one ever ready to have three daughters join their family!

So instead I will say we are as ready as we will ever be!

Soooo, bring 'em on!

China, here we come!

The boys are doing great in their room!

Sleeping well and bonding!

They love their space! And more boy toys have been added into the room since Christmas!

(not pictured)

There is just one thing missing...

Another boy...

That's another post...

someday...

maybe...

Merry Christmas 2012

This Christmas season has been lovely in every way!

We started out by going to the play Madeline's Christmas!

It was wonderful!

We read the book and had front row seats!

And enjoyed every minute of it!

Then we had our "Families with Children from China" party!

75 people gathered with their wonderful children and celebrated family, the Christmas season and had tons of fun!

We read delightful children's books!

This is my favorite- IF you don't have it you MUST get it!

Anna was reading it to Luke and Hubby!

 And then we read more and more Christmas books!

We watched Christmas videos that taught us about the birth of our Savior and those that taught us of some that have a heart 2 sizes too small. . .

Our dish washing crew grew. . .

and shrunk. . .

at times.

Children were eager to bake!

And everyone seemed to find a way to help!

I was thankful that they so eagerly helped out!

There is so much to do during the holidays.

And even those that didn't actually help, still looked good trying to help!

We had advent calendars- legos and a home made one.

Plus our Jesse tree from our dear friend Julianna

(thank you Julianna for sending us such a wonderful gift!)

Hubby and I even had a vacation tucked into December!

And then we hurried home to decorate!

The children LOVED seeing their stockings!

And we respectfully hung the older children's stockings, too!

Oops, we need an Andrew and a Caitlin, now!!

We very excitedly decorated the Christmas Tree!

There were a few casualties regarding the ornaments ;-0

Oh well!

Brothers worked together!

After baths, kids played jump rope in the room as we prepared to go to Christmas Eve Church!

Their was so much excitement in the air!

I had to grab a couple pics of the littles before church!

Which may have been a mistake because our usual seats were TAKEN!

Every place in the building was FULL!

Sooooo, they decided to open up the narthex/ front gathering area. They told us we could go there BUT we had to be very quiet...

Funny thing is our children are PERFECT during church.

Seriously, they just sit nicely throughout the service.

It was other children that ran around!

I think our family can look scary sometimes- oh my, all these children will run wild BUT they never do!

Hubby and I sat in two comfy seats with 2 children each on our laps- pretty good deal! We looked straight through the main doors and could see everything! The big boys and the other children were on a bench right next to us!

It all worked out!

Then we were homeward bound for our Christmas Eve dinner!

Again we had joyful helpers!

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner was delicious!

And the children devoured the rest of the fruit, fruit salad!

Santa left a few things ;-)

They know all about the real St Nick and Santa Claus but we can still pretend.

They made gift for other family members!

(I think their may have been a bit of re gifting going on!)

We loved all the suggestions yo gave us about amount of gifts and types of gifts. 

We decided on three per child would be the correct amount. 

Which with 11 children present. . . really added up!

Waiting to come down the stairs!

And the opening began!

One at a time, in order of age.

All of the children were appropriate and thankful.

And patient while others opened!

The three big boys were amazing and helped put the toys together!

They saved their Momma and Daddy!

The children flitted from one toy to the next.

Hardly able to focus.

It was a bit over stimulating.

Over the two days we had one child throw up, one with diarrhea, two wet their pants and two wet their bed...

(silly ham makes them so thirsty)

All in all it was a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Our(hubby and my) favorite parts was the party with the extended family and Christmas Eve church and dinner. Plus talking to Andrew and Katie on the computer!

Matt and Caitlin come tomorrow- we can't wait to see them!

Although this Christmas was a blessing in every way we are still planning to make changes for next year.

We are not sure what they will be BUT we feel in our hearts that changes need to be made.

Next year we will have 11 blessings at home and who knows how many big kids.

 We will be spending sometime in prayer about it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!