Ella's 3rd Birthday!

We cannot even begin to describe what it feels like to have Ella's 3rd Birthday Party! Wow, I cannot believe three years have just completely flown by so fast. Ella has grown into such an amazing little girl with a fun spirit. She loves to sing, dance and be silly. Ella is a great helper and is a sensitive girl. She is independent and loves to try to do everything all by herself. We are definitely blessed to have Ella in our lives and continue to be amazed by her everyday.

Her 3rd birthday party was at Westwood Gymnastics in Katy and almost all of her little friends were there. They had so much fun and the parents enjoyed watching them laugh, play and roll around!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Ella and Daddy went to the Daddy Daughter Dance at the church through their preschool, Treasure Cove. Unfortunately, Alyssa was sick and had to stay home with momma. Daddy and Ella and such a fun time with friends and Ella was so excited to get dressed up and go out! Alyssa was upset watching them drive away, but she had fun staying home with momma.

Family Time

It has been so fun to watch Ella and Alyssa become best friends. They LOVE playing with each other and are always by each other's side. Ella likes to hold Alyssa's hand wherever we go and make sure she is doing okay. Sometimes it is borderline "bossy" but most of the time it is sweet. They absolutely love their Daddy! Whenever Daddy is around the entire house lights up and now everyone has started fighting over "my daddy!" :) Even Kyle and Diesel get in on the action!

Ethiopia Update

On Thursday, January 26th we were assigned to our family coordinator, Lauren, and so we "officially" begin the paper-chasing part our adoption. I can't tell you exactly when we will be finished with it, but I'm told it takes anywhere from 4-6 months. I can't tell you how hard it will be to collect all the information needed and I can't tell you the ups and downs we may face along the way. But I can tell you there are approx. 4.3 million orphans in Ethiopia, and the country is only twice the size of Texas. I can tell you that 82% of the population survives on less than $1 a day... I can tell you that 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday... I can tell you that Ethiopia's doctor to child ratio is 1 to 24,000... and I can tell you that 44% of the population is under the age of 15 years old.

I honestly could go on and on... our minds cannot even process these statistics. My heart is completely broken for this country and for the child that will one day walk into our home. James 1:27 tells us "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." The question probably most often asked is "what made you decide to adopt?" Well, there's the answer. Clif and I have been learning what it means to truly do Kingdom work. We have been blessed to join an amazing church here in Katy- Kingsland Baptist Church. Kingsland is not just a church that loves it's neighbors near, but loves it's neighbors far as well. I don't even know where to begin to give you examples of the missional living our church teaches us. But one thing we heard this morning during the sermon was to put your "Passion into Presence." Don't just dream about and have a desire for something, but show up and be present. So that is the road we are on, to give the fatherless a mother and a father.

Our prayer is for God to protect our every step and prepare us for what is ahead. And may angels protect our little boy that we do not even know yet.

Joy to you!

Chairein!!! I started the Beth Moore bible study on James: Mercy Triumphs and learned that the Greek word chairein means "joy to you"... which means greetings, or hello! So, JOY TO YOU.

The last few weeks have been so fun and busy. I promise I will get on the ball and keep updated more often than this, or at least I will try. :) We've had everything from a head injury, my nephew Weston's 3rd birthday party, first Chuck E Cheese visit and potty training this month. Whew, I'm tired! Right now, the girls favorite thing to do when we leave the house is RUN to their Barbie jeep and sit in it. We haven't hooked up the battery yet so they have no idea that at some point they can ride! This picture is one of the rare occasions that Ella let Alyssa sit in the driver seat.... usually, Ella is the driver and there is no debate about that!

Weston's 3rd Birthday party was Toy Story themed... and you will see how much Ella liked that idea next month. :) I completely forgot to take my camera on the trip and since my phone was inside this picture is from my sister! I thought it was a great picture though because it showed Ella and Alyssa's favorite toy Weston received (the blow up deer) and Weston's favorite toy he received (the play gun)! We always have so much fun hanging out with the Pickard's and Weston's birthday was a blast. PS- this picture was taken after the party so you can see the girls hair was a mess!

Ella got her first "big" injury that involved questioning if we needed to get stitches. We're still not quiet sure how it happened... all we know is that she was playing with her kitchen play set and hit herself in the head possible with the play tea pot. That evening was interesting (before this picture) trying to clean it and get medicine on it. The next morning it looked 100 times better though!

The girls were able to experience their first Chuck E Cheese trip on the way back from Weston's 3rd Birthday party weekend. They had so much fun and loved riding all the rides there, they didn't care much about the tickets. Alyssa's favorite ride was the "horses" and Ella's favorite ride was the school bus. As you can see they were about to fall asleep on the school bus! I think they must have put at least 15 tokens in that bus to ride!

Well, the last fun activity for January 2012 was beginning potty training! I know this is everyone's favorite activity with their 2 year old. On Jan 20th both Ella AND Alyssa pee peed in the potty for the first time. Yes, actually Alyssa did it before Ella did! Alyssa woke up dry from nap on day so I put her on the potty and she went. Don't worry though, she hasn't done that since. However, I can say we are having better luck with Ella. She is not a pro yet, but she has been asking to go at school and home. There is light at the end of the tunnel and maybe she will be potty trained before she's 3! Maybe. :) On a side note, Alyssa has decided she wants to be a doctor when she grows up... or a nurse? The girls received a medical kit for Christmas and you will find Alyssa ALWAYS has the stethoscope on! She likes to pair it with a necklace too though, can't forget about fashion. The girls are just growing together more and more everyday. It is so fun to watch their relationship develop and they truly are best friends. Ella loves to take care of Alyssa and make sure she has everything she needs and since "Ella" was Alyssa's first word, I think she appreciates her sister!

Here we go...

This has been such a fun first week of January; however, Ella and Alyssa still demand to watch a Christmas movie every night before bed! Their favorites are "E-dow Ho Ho" (Mickey Mouse) and Prep and Landing. Clif started back to school on Tuesday and really likes his professors this semester. The girls started back to school on Thursday and I am happy to say there were NO tears at drop off! Since everyone was sick throughout the Christmas holiday, getting back into the swing of things was even better than I thought it would be. I think we were all ready to get out of the house and back into somewhat of a routine!

Clif and I were able to go on date night Friday night!!! We went to Yard House while Ms. Katie came to watch the girls.

Saturday night, Ella and I made cookies. The last time we made cookies they were Christmas cookies, so we decorated them with sprinkles, etc. Well.... I think Ella was under the impression we were making Christmas cookies again because she was ready to decorate! Needless to say, there was a "little" bit of a mess to clean up. But that's okay, because Ella LOVES to bake!!

We also had good news come through from our adoption agency.... we were "officially" accepted into the Ethiopia program!!! Next step is to fill out all of our acceptance paperwork and send it in so we can be assigned to our family coordinator. Every step we take is just so amazing and such a blessing at the same time. Everyday we are more and more excited to be on the adoption journey and cannot wait till we have this little guy here!

Happy New Year!!!

It's 2012, can you believe it? We are completely blessed to have Ella (2) and Alyssa (1) in our lives. I love watching them grow and develop their own little personalities. Clif and I couldn't be more proud of them and excited to see what the Lord does through them. We are living in Katy, TX and Clif is working full time while attending Rice University to receive his MBA. I am blessed to be able to stay at home with the girls and so I try to keep up with the household chores, but mainly just chase around the girls.

Ella

Ella loves to sing, dance, read and do anything with Daddy! She likes to sing the ABC's and the Happy Birthday song and she has started counting using her fingers. Ella is a learner right now and loves playing with books and puzzles. She also loves watching the show Little Einstein's. Of course, she is a Daddy's girl at heart and likes to tell Alyssa he's "my daddy."

Alyssa

Alyssa is so sweet, curious and joyful. She loves to have attention and will "talk" to you for as long as you will listen. She loves watching Mickey Mouse and playing outside. However, Alyssa can be a bit sneaky too as you will find her hiding in the cabinets in the kitchen and sometimes standing on top of the kitchen table... can't take your eyes off her for too long!

Family

We bring in the New Year with excitement, joy and love. Our family of four is on the way to becoming a family of five! We have submitted our application to adopt an infant boy from Ethiopia. This was definitely a calling we felt from the Lord and we are so blessed to glorify the Kingdom through adoption. This journey will probably be filled with many highs and lows; however, our prayer is for the Lord to be preparing us and the child for each other. Therefore, with our excitement, joy and love we also have a little nervousness and anxiousness. Luckily, we have an amazing man of God to lead our family! I think 2012 is already off to a great start!!!