In the Review Room...

So I got a call yesterday from my agency and we are in the review room! That is crazy! We weren't expecting to be there so quickly. That means that China has our paperwork that we've submitted and they are currently reviewing it. The next step is sending us our LOA!! Yes, that is still the same...but it does give me hope that we will get LOA in less than 90 days! Keep praying!!! It is working! : ) My little Anna doesn't even know she has a family. She doesn't know she has 3 sisters, 4 grandparents, 10 aunts and uncles, and 8 cousins! And we can't wait to go get her and bring her home to all of them. Thanks for your prayers.

Our sweet girl standing all by herself. I bet she is walking by now!


The girls are all doing well. Lauren "sang" Row, Row, Row your boat with me this morning on her Tango. I have buttons that say "boat," "stream," and "dream." I sing the song and pause for her to fill the word in. After going through it once together, she did it completely independently 4 times in a row!! She would laugh and laugh at the end of the song! She is doing well and we are thankful. She appears to be having some reflux but we are watching what she eats, how much, and when and so far haven't had any more issues. Reflux is a common problem in girls with RS so we would appreciate your prayers for her. We don't want to have to start reflux meds until its absolutely necessary because we are afraid she won't ever be able to go off them. Again, thank you for praying for our girl.

No pictures of the Tango...so, you get this instead! Lauren loves playing in the leaves!

Emily and Sarah are great! They are ready for Mimi and Grandy to get here for Thanksgiving. They are so excited that we will get to decorate our house with them. That will be a first for the girls...well, Emily's second but she doesn't remember the last time because she was only 10 days old. We'll post pictures of the decorating sometime this weekend.

I didn't use digital when Em was 10 days old...so I can't post those pictures...this will have to do. Emily and Sarah with Alexis at the Miller's house. Yes, Emily wanted to move in!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year. We live in the greatest country on Earth and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else....well, except maybe for a short trip to China! : )

It's beginning to feel like winter.....

It has been COLD here this week! And of course, I have children who don't like coats. Sarah "forgets" hers everytime we leave the house. And Lauren just fusses as soon as I put hers on. I guess I would too in that puffy coat. We actually had a little snow shower here on Tuesday. It was fun for all of us...we are southerners; we aren't used to snow at all, much less in NOVEMBER!! We are gearing up for Thanksgiving in VA this year. For the first time EVER, my parents are coming here! Yahoo!!! We don't have to tavel. Last year was the first Thanksgiving in my life that I wasn't at my parent's house...yes, I was 36 before that happened! Because we typicallly go to NC for 10 days at Christmas, it is nice to stay home for Thanksgiving. So Emily and Sarah are so thrilled that Mimi and Grandy are coming here. The countdown has already started!

I am thankful it is time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You see, I have this little girl in China that I think about an awful lot and I need something to distract me! I miss her. How can you miss someone you've never met?? I can't explain it, but I do! And I don't want her to spend one day longer in an orphanage than she has to. We've only waited 24 days for our letter of approval. In all likelihood it will take 80-90 days for it to come!! Yuck! Some people do get theirs in 60-70...so the eternal optimist in me wants to think we could be that lucky! Realistically we should get it by the end of January. Please pray with us that it will come in a timely manner so our sweet girl can come home.

More pictures...

Here is a picture from Shawn's promotion. It was a wonderful way to end a great day. I've thrown another of Anna in just so you can see the sweet girl who is already loved by so many in our family. And we celebrated Emily's 11th birthday on Monday so there is one of her. I can't believe my girl is 11. It all passes by so quickly. We are agonizing over the "wait" for Anna and yet, in the grand scheme of things, she will be 11 before we know it. I love you Emmy and I am thankful God gave you to Daddy and me. We are spreading Emily's birthday out across the whole month of November this year so look for more later! Don't miss the Halloween and Ironman pictures in the post below. I had too many pictures to put them all in one.


Shawn and Dave Eskelund


Our precious girl reading....a true sign she is Emily's sister


Happy 11th Birthday Emily!!


Daddy and Sarah


Lauren's beautiful smile

Pictures

I promised pictures from Halloween, the Ironman, and the promotion.....sorry it took so long! We've had excitement in the house!


Lauren pushing her button to say "trick or treat!"

The cousins out trick or treating.

Shawn, Ryan, and Kendal leaving on the bikes...notice their cool shirts..."Tri 4 a Cure...www.rettsyndrome.org"

Finally finished!! And another shirt...this time IRSF!

My 3 beauties at the pumpkin patch!

We are excited to introduce.....

ANNA GRACE! She is only 13 months old!! She was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. Her lip has been repaired and we will have the palate surgery when she comes home. We are hoping to travel in March or April and are THRILLED! Please pray with us that God will continue to protect Anna as we wait to travel to China! More soon....


This is the referral picture we first saw. Her sparkly eyes got us!

This is an updated picture taken just last week...those eyes still grab us!

Halloween, Ironman, and Promotion!

Whew! As always, we've had a busy few weeks! We headed south last week for Halloween, the Wilmington Ironman Triathlon, and Shawn's promotion. It was a busy 24 hours but so wonderful. We first got to trick or treat with our cousins and friends in Wilmington. Emily was a medieval princess, Sarah was Supergirl, and Lauren, well of course, she was Dora!! The big girls loved running from house to house. Lauren liked it for 2 houses, we made her do a 3rd and then she got to go home. Why make her do something that is "supposed" to be fun?! Saturday started EARLY with Shawn jumping into Bank's Channel at 7AM and swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and then running 26! He completed in a mere 13 hours and 37 minutes. At the conclusion of the race he put on his uniform and was promoted to LtCol with the USS North Carolina in the background. It was a very, very special ceremony with Dave Eskelund promoting him and our family and friends present. Emily and Sarah got to pin his new rank on his uniform, something they have never done before. Lauren slept, as it was 9:15PM by this point. I am so glad Shawn thought of doing this. It was a wonderful way to end a special day. I do have lots of pictures...I just haven't gotten them on the computer yet. I will try to get that done later today!
Lauren's Tango came in the mail yesterday. This is her very own commnication device. We can't wait to get it programmed for her and start using it. We have been using one from the school system but this one has some nice updates on it and it will be ours. We are thankful for how well our "Little Bit" is doing. She amazes us all the time. Thank you for your prayers. They are felt and appreciated. Pictures coming soon....