The Craziness of the Next Few Months!!

I can't believe we are half way through February and that the twins will be here in April! Crazy! It has been such a busy time full of planning (trying to), cleaning and preparing.

Chris is right in the midst of completing his thesis, we are trying to clean out our house and get organized because we pack out at the end of March (oh my goodness) and Abram is enjoying preschool three times a week!  Just this past weekend my amazing friends gave me the best baby shower to welcome our boys.  I was definitely showered with gifts, prayers and kind words! Our friends in Monterey have been such a blessing to us!

This is what we think our schedule is going to look like for the next few months...

My sister is coming in the middle of March to be here for three weeks to help take care of Abram. She knows by then I will be exhausted and Abram is looking forward to some Aunt Julie time! 

The packers come at the end of March to ship our stuff to Hawaii. Yikes!! And also, Chris graduates from NPS on March 27th. So very proud of him!

My mom is coming the entire month of April.  She's just the best!  Of course she doesn't want to miss the twins being born and it feels wonderful to know that Abram will be in such good hands. 

We are thinking the twins will be born at the beginning or middle of April. 

Then Chris leaves on April 27 to go to Hawaii for training and get everything ready for us because me, my mom, Abram and the twins will be arriving on May 1!! I can't believe its all happening at the same time and that it is time for us to leave Monterey already.  We are definitely looking forward to being back in Hawaii but we have come to love it here in Monterey! God has greatly blessed us!

A huge answer to prayer is that my cousin's mother-in-law has a furnished condo (with a minivan) that we will be staying in until we find a permanent place to live.  God is truly taking care of ALL the details!  

Also, I had to include a current picture of my boys... here I am with Abram and the twins are 27 weeks!! Just 10 weeks left (hopefully)!! Thank you for continuing to lift us up in your prayers... we can definitely feel them!

Christmas in Louisiana... even if it is almost 2 months late!

I know, I know we are half way through February and I am just now getting our Christmas blog out! Can I claim the "we have a lot going on right now" argument? :)

As I was looking through the pictures to post I am reminded of what a wonderful Christmas season we had! It was jam packed full of traditions, fun events and family! 

Our season started off by cutting down our Christmas tree. It is so fun as Abram is getting older to see his excitement and understanding of what we are doing.  He gets so happy when when we get in the car and tell him where we are going. He just can't contain himself! 

Papa and Abram with our tree!!

Standing infront of the biggest tree on the lot... it was huge!

Abe loves to find these cut outs... now that he knows what we are doing, he wants to put his face in all of them!

Running through the trees to find our perfect tree.

Loading up our tree to take home!

A super fun event that our town does every year is to fly Santa in by helicopter.  It was a beautiful day, but I must admit Abram was more excited to see the helicopter than Santa (which is okay with me)!

Santa and Mrs. Claus getting off the helicopter.

Also, we attended an event called "Streets of Bethlehem." The members of the church and community were apart of a live nativity seen and acted out the events leading up to Jesus' birth. Abram could hardly wait to see "Baby Jesus." It was so sweet!

Then we flew to Louisiana for Christmas! It is always fun to see my niece and nephew (Cade and Ella) with Abram. They have a blast together!

Decorating our traditional Christmas cookies!

My mom's mantle at her house... I love that she gave the twins two little stockings! :)

With our sweet friend, Elizabeth, at our church's candlelight service.  We love her!!

Abram and his cousin Ella relaxing on Gram's couch! 

... and eating on Gram's couch. Abram had to be sure panda was in the picture and he wanted to wear glasses because Ella has glasses! 

Walking through the Christmas lights at the American Rose Center.

Of course a cousins picture with the snowmen!

They just love each other! 

The highlight of our trip was our time at Great Wolf Lodge.  My parents treated the grandkids to an overnight stay at this amazing hotel in Dallas that has the best waterpark inside. Perfect to do when it is freezing outside and it was all decorated for Christmas! Now Abe thinks that every hotel we stay in will have a water park. :( But we all had an amazing time!

I just love these two!! They have my heart!

At night the "snow" would fall inside the hotel. Abe couldn't believe it!

With Abe in the wave pool. He did great! He kept calling himself a "scuba diver." 

He was worn out!!

We had such a wonderful time! Thank you Gram and Granddaddy for this amazing gift!

I had to include this picture.... Julie and I laughed so hard when we realized (at the pool) that we had the same swimsuits! I guess sisters really do think alike! :)

We had an amazing Christmas season! Crazy to think that next Christmas we will have two more baby boys joining us!! 

 

Our Exciting News (times two)!

Chris and I realized a while ago that after five years of not getting pregnant that we would probably never be and we were good with that.  We were excited about growing our family through adoption. In fact, we were in the process of our second adoption when we found out this exciting news one Monday morning...

Needless to say we were shocked and speechless!  On September 29 we went to the doctor to confirm we were pregnant and then on October 8 we went for our first sonogram and were speechless again when the doctor told us we were having twins!! Oh my word!!

After about two weeks the shock had finally worn off (a little) and we were ready to announce to the world (via Facebook) that we were expecting twins.

Here's some details... the twins are due on May 8. Chris is expected to report to Hawaii in April for his next duty station.  Abe and I will probably move early (February or March) and Chris will join us when he finishes up in Monterey.  Also,  we are having identical twins and they are both boys! Here is a picture of our little football team...

We are excited, anxious, surprised, overwhelmed and a little nervous. Once again we covet your prayers for the health of our little boys, and for Abram's sweet little heart (once again) as his world is about to change and as we prepare to move.

Many of you have asked about our registry (y'all are too kind). We are registered at Amazon and Target. :)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/baby-reg/ref=?ie=UTF8&lid=20Z3086CTZOB8

http://m.target.com/gift-registry/giftgiver?registryId=Ucoi6HmB9HvBBRo14VzaPQ&registryType=BABY

Abram's Third Birthday

I know this post is almost a month late, but better late than never, right??

Chris and I decided a while ago that we would do a big birthday party every other year for our children. Last  year Abram had a big party, so this year we spent the day doing his favorite things  as a family. Also, Abram had just had his lip revision surgery so we wanted to keep it low key so his lip could continue to heal.

We had such a fun day. We started the morning off with Cake Batter Pancakes. They were delicious and Abe loved blowing out his candles. It was so fun this year because he actually understood that today was his birthday, that he was no longer "2," but "3!" It was so fun to see his excitement.

After breakfast we set out for our first family adventure.  Whenever we go walking on the bike trail Abe always points out the bicycles you can rent.  We thought today would be a fun day to rent one just for him. He had a blast and loved blowing the horn! 

When we came home from our bike ride we ate lunch and then sang "Happy Birthday" again before eating his birthday cupcakes. Abe not only helped to make these cupcakes, but he picked out the batter, icing and sprinkles.  He couldn't wait to eat one! 

Then after nap time we were off to our second surprise... The Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  It is such a fun place with great rides.  We started off with the kid rides but then Chris decided since he was "3" he was big enough for the "big boy rides." Abe's eyes lit up and they had such a fun time!! I couldn't believe Abe wasn't scared! He just kept saying "more, more!"

We can't believe our little boy is 3! This year has flown by, but it has been such an incredible one with our sweet Abram. We love you, buddy!!

Gotcha Day!

On July 22 we celebrated Abram's first "Gotcha Day!"  Hard to believe that one year ago we met this amazing boy for the first time.  Chris and I have been thinking for awhile how we want to celebrate our "Gotcha Day" every year-- we want it to be special, but just not with gifts (that's what birthdays are for).  We came up with a few ideas that we hope to do every year.  They will include: Chris and I writing a letter each year to Abe and keeping them in a special book, taking a picture with Abe every year holding his referral picture, making family cupcakes that Abe picked out, eating Chinese food, and finally a special event picked by Abe that the whole family can do.  That's what the day is about, us being a forever family.  Here's a few pictures from Abe's special day... 

Abe with his referral picture. He has grown so much!!

Of course we had to have a picture with panda!

Our Gotcha Day banner that we will hang every year.

Eating our family cupcakes.  He loved his blue icing!

Dinner at PF Chang's (not real according to Chris but close enough!)

I love that he likes to eat with chopsticks.  He's a champ!

This year since he's a little too young to pick his event, so we picked it for him!  Abe's absolute favorite thing right now is trains.  Specifically, Thomas trains.  When we heard Thomas was coming to town, we knew it would be the perfect way to celebrate Gotcha Day this year.  Abe had a blast and so did we!

With Sir Topham Hatt... Abe wasn't too sure about him.

Getting a Harold tattoo

Showing off his tattoo and sticker. 

Playing at one of the many train tables.  He loves these things!

Standing in line to board the train...

Our family picture on the train.

And we finally got to see Thomas...

Abe was amazed!

What an amazing year it has been!  Through everything such as becoming parents for the first time, Abram's hospitalizations, his speech delays and figuring out what was best for Abe, God has definitely been faithful to us.  It is amazing to see how far our scared little boy in China who loved to hit and rarely smile has come.  He has brought us so much joy and we can't wait to see what this next year has in store for him.