Officially a kindergartener!

Well, he did it!  Max went and graduated from preschool!  Amazingly, I didn't cry....but it sure was an emotional day!  He's growing into such an incredible young man and Stephen and I are unbelievably proud of him!  Max is SO excited about kindergarten, and that excitement is contagious!  Though its sad at times to realize how quickly time is passing and how fast he's growing up....we are looking forward to all the adventure he has coming up and seeing all the amazing ways God will work through our boys life!  Here's the graduate!!

 

Heading into his last day of class!

 

 Receiving his "diploma".

 

 

 Party in the park with his friends!

 

The kids drew "when I grow up I want to be...." pictures.  Max's answer....a baseball catcher of course!!

SO proud of this cutie!  What an AMAZING summer we have ahead of us!!!

 

 

 

1 month till take off!!!

Holy moly! Today marks the one month count down to boarding our plane to Thailand! I can't believe how quickly time is flying! And I feel like my to-do list just keeps growing! For every one thing I cross off, I wake up at two am with two more to put on :) But this is SUCH an exciting time and each little task brings us closer to Ellie! Max's favorite new job has become crossing the previous day off on the calendar...every morning he says with renewed enthusiasm "we're getting soooo close mom!!!"

We have yet to receive official confirmation that our names have been put on the schedule for the July 3rd board meeting, just a "we see no reason why there will be any problem with that date." So please be praying with us that we will VERY soon hear that everything is official!!!

A place just for Ellie!

Just in time for our I-800 to come in the mail....Ellie's room is finished!!!  I had the most AMAZING Mother's Day with my two favorite guys....complete with our long awaited adoption papers wrapped up in an envelope with the words "to mommy, love Ellie" on the front!  My hubby is the sweetest!!

My sweet boy in front of the "Happy Mother's Day" sign and his hand print at church.

We are praying we will be on a plane around June 23rd and see our girl on the 27th!!!  Our agency is getting all the final approvals for us to appear before the Adoption Board on July 3rd and as long as they do then those will be our dates!  To think I'm only a little more than a month away from holding my baby girl!!! 

So here is her bedroom.....I loved every minute of sanding and painting her furniture, making her curtains, and folding her clothes.  I just can't wait to have her sleeping in her bed, playing with her toys, twirling around the middle of her room!

**just a little disclaimer....these were taken on my phone, the quality is terrible, and her ceiling light adds a horrible glare...but you can still get the idea :)

Scapbook paper heart garland hanging above E's bed.

 Max made Ellie both the canvas art and the painted "E" on the top shelf!

  The first baby doll we bought for Ellie!  It will be traveling
 with us to Thailand!

So many fun dress up clothes!!!

 Thank you Pinterest for the DIY curtain idea!

The perfect addition to E's room made by her Aunt Rae-Rae!

Well we're officially "ready" I do believe!  The night I took the pictures, I also started packing :)  It has been so fun, laying out her outfits, along with the perfect shoes and hair bows to go with them!  Please continue to pray as the last couple weeks are going to FLY by.  Pray Ellie's visa is processed quickly and accurately and there are no unforeseen issues that keep us from our girl!!!  Thank you all so much for your love and support!  

Soooo close!!

Praise the Lord!  We have received our Article 16 and we are so incredibly close to having Ellie in our arms!!  Today we mailed off our I-800 (immigration documents to be approved saying we can bring her into the country).  Our agency says it should take about 3-4 weeks to receive word on that, and then its just a matter of time before we get "the date".  That date tells us when we will appear as a family of 4 (heck yeah!!) in front of the Thai Adoption Board.  We will need to be in country at least a week before the date of the board meeting, and with our plans to visit the babies' home where Max spent his first 3 years, its likely we'll be there even sooner than that.  So....all that to say that our agency told us we could be on a plane in as little as six weeks!  SIX WEEKS!!!  I am on cloud nine!  I just want my girl in my arms.  But, also the all too familiar feeling of "holy cow I have soooo much to do" has set in just like it did when we were preparing to travel to bring Max home.  But, I tell you....its the best kind of stress ever!!!



We will likely have a very short notice for booking our flight and hotel which is a bummer financially, but hey we'll do whatever we need to!  Please be praying with us over the next couple weeks as our final documents are processed here in the U.S.  And most importantly, if you could be praying for our sweet girl, we sure would appreciate it.  Our experience with Max taught us so much.  Our children are so strong and have endured more in their short lives than anyone ever should.  But, our God is faithful and so good, and just as He has with Max, we know He will work in an amazing way to heal those hurts in our little girl's heart. 

So excited for this part of the journey and so thankful you all are in it with us!!

Sweet Mammaw

This weekend we made a whirlwind trip to Michigan to love on our Mammaw (Stephen's grandmother).  Her health is declining and they are considering placing her on hospice.  We don't get to see her nearly as often as we would like so we wanted to make a special trip to hug and spend time with her while she's still able to enjoy visitors. 

So thankful God has blessed us with such AMAZING family and equally thankful for a little more time with her!

Approved!!!

We have officially received what is called "First Approval" from the Thai Adoption Board!  This is a HUGE step in our journey to bring Ellie home!  This approval will generate a document called an Article 16 that we need to file for her Visa paperwork to bring her home.  Unfortunately the Board is very behind on issuing their Article 16's so it is unclear when we will get the document :(  It could be in a week or two or a couple months from now.  If there's one thing we know for sure about Thailand's adoption process, its that its unpredictable to say the least!

The more sentimental thing that came from this approval is that we are officially recognized now as Ellie's parents in the eyes of the Thai government!  Pattaya (the babies' home where Ellie is) even said in the email to our agency "now that they have received approval they can come get her."  Oh we wish it were that easy!

So we will continue to pray that that crazy Article 16 comes quickly and then hopefully we can be on our way!!!

Happy Birthday Ellie!!

Well, our little girl turned 2 without us :(  These birthdays apart are hard!  We celebrated 2 of them before Max came home so we were well prepared for the emotion the day would bring with it.  But what we weren't used to was the AMAZING joy that a big brother adds to things!!  Max had a blast celebrating her all day! 

 Max made her the sweetest "princess birthday crown" and card!

 

Max kept saying "I just wish Ellie could be here to see this!"

 

Baby girl, we love you so much and we are rejoicing in the fact that this should be the last birthday we spend apart.  Your presents are waiting, wrapped for you (but of course we happily ate the cake!!!)