Orphanage update

Yesterday we visited Min Hao's orphanage to see how his adoption papers are coming along. Seems they haven't done anything in 6 weeks, however, we'll go back next week and get his medical done and then they said they'd have it mailed off by the end of march and then 2-4 months everything will be processed. It made us just really pray even harder that the family that God has for this ultra happy boy is getting ready. We desire him to be placed with his forever family so soon! He's already 6 yrs old and at such a fun age.

At the orphanage yesterday I had to keep promising him, "don't worry when we're done here we'll go to McDonalds and get a treat and then go to school." He asked me no less than 7 times if we're going to McDonalds and school. At first I was rather annoyed by this because I'd already told him so many times but later that night when talking with my very wise husband he mentioned that perhaps Min Hao was nervous there and just wanted to clarify and be reassured. He did a great job smiling when I asked him to and saying "ayi ni hao" (hello auntie) to the workers there. I wanted them to see so badly that he was happy and doing well because he was just so nervous he wasn't acting like himself.

Anyway, please be praying along with us for a few things. One is that in June we have to get Halle to America and Dave will be taking Marissa and DJ to Malaysia to visit grandparents Yost there. Min Hao isn't allowed to leave the country so we need someone to care for him for 2 weeks in June. Also our contract with him is up in August so there's a need for a new foster family to step in and take over his care until his (Lord willing!) adoption. And of course be praying that God opens a godly family's heart to adopt this joyful boy asap! Thank you friends for coming alongside us and standing in the gap for this precious child of God!

Pics

Girls just want to have fun! notice the beautiful eye shadow!

Also, my lovely two girls in pink!

And fun with min hao!

Celebrating 3 months with Halle Bei

wow, 3 months! Sometimes I sit and just look at her pretty little face and think, wow! she's in our home! she's officially ours! it's so surrreal sometimes! Her English is coming along surprisingly well considering the amount of Chinglish that occurs in our house. She frequently will say things like "Wo yao water" (I want water) but then sometimes she amazes me, especially at her understanding! This morning I said (completely in english) "Halle can you get Min Hao's toothbrush please?" And about 15 seconds later she was back with it! Tuesday she started Chinese preschool. She'll go 3 days a week from 8:30-3:00 so I can teach at school. They say she's very well behaved there but doesn't talk much. I wonder if it's because she's shy because she's new (because she certainly isn't shy any other time!) or if being around all chinese speaking all day after 3 months of english and chinglish. hm... Let's see....her counting is coming along. She likes to say "1,2,3, 7,8,7,8,7,8..." Min Hao of course likes to show off his superior knowledge whenever he gets the chance and is quick to correct her and count to 10 properly! :) Those two! Halle has also recently taken to soccer balls, which I LOVE!!! when we first got her she wanted nothing to do with balls. so resignation set in that she'll probably not be athletic. however, thanks to beautiful weather and Decathalon having everything we need, she now loves baseball (which ALL the kids are now crazy about) and badminton and soccer.

This weekend we went to a friends house where they put make-up on Halle. boy, did she adore that!

One more thing, and this cracks me up because if you know my wonderful husband he is not detail oriented to things of a girly nature and yet, yesterday he said "wow, halle's hair is sure getting longer". I am so impressed by him :) and yes, he is right. and i love her hair- it doesn't tangle!

So, in conclusion, we are so thankful for our exceedingly stubborn and yet wonderfully athletic, busy, smart little cookie that God has blessed us with :)

Valentine's Day fun

We had a pretty good valentine's day considering it was the first day back to school after a very lovely 2 week Chinese New Year break :) the kids were tired but were so excited when they came home and i told them we'd be decorating cookies with pink frosting (dj wanted blue but i told him there was only pink and he was satisfied). they were doubly excited when daddy came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me. it's amazing how quickly Halle has caught onto decorating cookies :)

Shang Li

We visited an ancient town over Chinese New Year with some friends and had a lovely time! So wonderful to be in the countryside enjoying fresh air and new sights!

My Favorite Little Klepto

Halle has been cracking us up lately. I know in all our preadoption reading about how kids will sneak food into their pockets or keep it in their hands to save for later. However, we are regularly finding the funniest and oddest things in Halle's pockets and hands! We were getting ready to cross the street the other day and I said "please give me your hand" and she did and in it was a little car from our Life game we'd played earlier! At snack she came and sat down at the table and as I was bringing out the snack she had one of those mini brushes for cleaning out shavers in her hands- the weird thing is that it wasn't even part of Dave's set! So families we visited over break, please check your shaver set and make sure you have all your parts! We've never had a 3 yr old quite like her with her addiction to touching everything. There is ALWAYS something in her hands, whether it be a pen, a purse, and yes, even scissors. At a friends' house last night we kept saying "please don't touch that" probably at least 15 times in the 15 minutes were there- everything from the remote controls to the phone, etc. It's a good thing they put up their lighters and bb gun before she spotted them! :)

I was talking with a friend the other day about how the waiting was the hardest part and it was. The first month or so wasn't exactly a picnic but now I can honestly look at her (still amazed she's in our house definitely) and be so thankful for her being my littlest girl. She definitely keeps us on our toes and makes our house um, VERY interesting but I definitely wouldn't trade her and she was DEFINITELY worth the wait.

In other news I'm listening to a book on tape, Adopted for Life by Dr. Russell Moore. Fantastic book! If you are a believer, READ IT! If you are interested in any way supporting adoption, READ IT! well i think i've used enough caps for this particular post so that's all for now :)

Our First Chinese New Year with Halle

How fun it was to celebrate Chinese New Year this year with our own little China girl :) She loves holding the sparklers and has no fear at all (yikes!). We set off some lanterns also. Each kid got to pick a color and since she's crazy about yellow, she picked a yellow lantern. Since our school honors Chinese New Year we have two weeks off so we went to music street with some friends and picked out a new guitar for the kids, we've also gone to the park, done tons of rollerblading, wrote our own books (ask DJ the illustrator), had friends over, built lego everything, and more. It's been great for Halle and Dave. She's done so much better in her relationship with him since he's not going to school during the day. So that's been a huge blessing. But in all, we're tired! and ready for our date tomorrow night! yaya! Here are some pics from Chinese New Year vacay!