Better Late Than Never ~ Our Updates!

Hi Everyone!

We are home again from visiting with family over the holidays! Our Christmas was amazing & watching the joy & magic of it through Lauren's eyes is always so breathtaking to witness! Both Scott & I feel blessed to have shared this special time with our families, and though I missed sharing in all the bloggy news, you were all in my thoughts and I hope your holidays brought the same joys!

Equally thrilling was the arrival of Tyler Pei-En's updates just prior to Christmas Eve, thanks to the herculean efforts of Joyce (JOH) who braved the terrible weather conditions of the NW so that we waiting families could glimpse our babies. What a present that was to our family and how grateful we are to her dedication. And though we would have LOVED to have him with us on Christmas morning, he was present in our hearts, minds and in the loving surprise gifts our families shared with us.....all tagged for our sweet boy! How fortunate we are to have such support from our families.

Soooo....without further comment, here is our little man in action! He is just over 4 1/2 months in these pictures/videos and is growing & changing every month! We just can't get enough of him and are hoping & praying our Final Ruling arrives soon and we can bring him home in January! We pray the other waiting families receive the very same news! Okay, off to check in on all of you & see the other beautiful babies!

Happy Holidays My Friends!

Hello Friends & Family!

I wanted to take a moment before the real busyness of the season sets in and wish you all a bright and merry holiday season. The picture above was taken in late November, on a special day when the studio we prefer set aside an afternoon for families to be photographed with their pets. This is something we had never done before and Lauren was ecstatic to get all gussied up and share the spotlight with Lexi. Our dreams of capturing the "perfect shot" did not materialize! In fact, we now believe that this was a sneak preview into what it will be like during future photo sessions with both Lauren & Tyler. LOL When one was looking, the other glanced away......when the photographer got one arranged on the lighted "x", the other ( yes, the furry bandit) was making a break for the door. :) We had 2 near misses the Pit Bull waiting for his turn & a box of dog treats later found both girls a bit overheated (as evidenced by Lexi's panting tongue) & bit exasperated! And finally, both Scott & I had the vague notion that Lexi's shot in particular resembled those awful Glamour Shots folks used to be able to get in the mall......smokey hues.....head tossed over the shoulder....fur shrug around the shoulders ( well, she does come by that honestly!).... BUT, it was so precious to simply have them together and we all worked so hard, that the above photo collage was pieced together and will always remind us of a special and silly day!

I also wanted to take a moment to share with you all that sadly the updates of our baby boy did not arrive this week and as we are leaving town on Sunday, I will most likely be unable to share them until well after Christmas. :( It also means that I will be unable to see all the other beautiful baby updates that arrive to waiting families in the next week OR peek in at all the blogs that I LOVE to read way too often!( Yes, that means all of you!!) I will miss sharing the little snippets of everyones' days & events and I will be thinking about you all!

Finally, I wanted to express our wishes to you all for a safe, bright, peaceful and loving Christmas. May lovely happy times decorate your holiday season, now & always.

I pray that your fondest wishes and dreams are granted during this blessed time of year....I believe in miracles, always have, and I believe in each of you!

Hugs of joy,

Scott, Lisa, Lauren, Baby Tyler & Lexi dog

All She Wants for Christmas......

......is her two front teeth! Okay, well there are a few other little items on that letter to Santa too, but this was just too perfect to pass up! What are the odds those two little pearls would be missing & at Christmas time too! ;)


Also Overheard.....

Our sweet baby glider/ottoman arrived this past week and while we were describing it to a friend, Lauren was overheard telling her buddy this: "yes, the chair is fine, BUT you should see the BOX it came in!" LOL And oh yes, like so many of you have blogged before, that box has been GOLD in this house! Currently its a 3 room cottage complete with fenced dog run & a flower garden with water feature. :)


Also overheard.....Lauren was explaining to a friend last week that we had sent some special Christmas things to Baby Tyler but that she was absolutely positive that Santa would still be filling his Baby's First stocking on Christmas Eve at Mimi & Papa's house. So of course out came that stocking to be filled right along with hers! I LOVE that she is already looking out for her baby brother! She has also "volunteered" to open his stocking for him! Ho! Ho! Ho!

And finally...... not so much overheard, but Lauren's teacher told me Friday when I was helping in the classroom that when she introduced the subject of traditions, Lauren was the only child in the class who knew exactly what a tradition was and that she went on to share several special traditions that our family holds dear. LOVE that!!

I think our next post will be updates......fingers crossed! So anxious to see our sweet little man!! Hope you are all doing well!!

The story of a tree.....

I believe every tree tells a story and our tree is no exception. Throughout the years our tree has worn several different 'cloaks' but the one constant has been the tale of 'us' it shares. From the time I was little, my folks created the tradition of giving my sister & I an ornament every year on Christmas Eve. Occasionally we were allowed to open one package that night too & often our ornament was over shadowed in the excitement of the holidays. Often our ornaments were parts of series that my Mom felt were reflective of our tastes and personalities at the time or sometimes were mementos of family vacations. Many of them are quite old, some are family antiques passed down from loved ones and all of them both old & new are priceless to me!

As I gaze at my tree tonight, certainly it is far from perfect! If it could speak, it would probably sigh & tell me that too many ornaments are clustered on its fragile lower branches, that the tinsel is itchy and the tree skirt too snug! It shows the many marks of being decorated and adored from a 6 year old girl, who alight with joy, has her own unique sense of design and presentation! :)

In response to our tree, I would gently tell her (him?) that while I can sympathize with its many complaints, I would not trade the bliss of sharing this yearly tradition that reaches all the way back to my most cherished memories, with my child. As we unwrap ornaments tucked carefully away each year, I am walked gently down memory lane.....remembering the ornament bought on a family trip to Myrtle Beach....remembering the first time we proudly hung our Precious Moments, "Our First Christmas" and later, "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments on our tree. Seeing my fledgling attempts at cursive handwriting on the old ornament boxes, proudly claiming them as my own. Remembering well the year we only hung ornaments on the top 1/2 of the tree to safeguard tiny, curious hands. Wondering what our tree will look like next year with another, "Baby's First Christmas" ornament hung on its branches....... this one in blue!

Yes, I believe that every tree has a story to share.......


Our main tree...a bit blurry ( sorry!) but the only one with Lexi posing!

Lauren's collection of ornaments has grown! We started this new tree for her last year!

This was Lauren's initial tree for her bedroom. She outgrew it, so now it sits on our landing.

The feather tree that matches my Mom's. We stalked these for weeks waiting for a sale!

Lauren's miniature tree. My Mom has decorated these trees and started this tradition for each grandchild. There is one waiting for baby Tyler in his nursery too!!

*** P.S. Okay, Martha Stewart I am not! LOL But I had a few requests to see the "trees". They are not all full sized, but each one represents something special to our family. BTW, I didn't want to show Tyler's tree, cuz the nursery is still not quite done! ( gotta get going on that!!) But I counted the two "mini" trees as one! :) Yes, I took some liberties!! :)

Potpourri

There has definitely been a hustle & bustle around our house! In the days following our First Ruling we have gone from joyful "deer in headlights" to gleeful, "let's get busy mode"! At first we stumbled a bit feeling torn between balancing everyday needs, the festive demands of the holidays and preparing ourselves for eventual travel!! There were a few nights of sporadic sleep....am I the only gal that wakes up in the night & finds it impossible to shut the brain off? :) But now, if a bit groggy, we are in full ACTION mode! I thought maybe potpourri summed up well the scattered comings & goings and thoughts of these past few days! I also wanted to share a bit of sugar with ya all in the form of Lauren & Mama's awesome romp in the snow! Please meet the newest member of our household, fondly dubbed: Nature Snow Dude

So where exactly has the time gone? Since Monday, I have finished up the Christmas letter (mostly photos of our best girl and best baby boy!), addressed the envelopes and am 1/2 way done with personalizing each Christmas card! I have also done the following:

* Unearthed & washed all the big pieces of baby gear ( high chair, saucer, stroller, etc.)

* Put most of the finishing touches on the nursery ( almost there, will share when completed! )

* Completed 50% of Christmas shopping - completely done with Lauren! No wrapping yet! :(

* Began trying to make heads or tails(?) out of travel documents needed for our trip to Taiwan.

* Shampooed all the carpets upstairs & the area rugs downstairs. ( Ugh......)

* We girls completed decorating our house for Christmas! (HO! HO!) 5 trees decorated!!

* Sent the baby's Christmas care package.....here's a portion of what we sent!




And lastly, squeezed out a bit of time for some blogging and checking out all the blogs of my peeps! LOL Oh, almost forgot too.....my sweet & wonderful friend Tammy gave us an adorable baby photo album yesterday & I'm starting to gather our little man's life book materials!

Phew.....tomorrow its off to Lauren's classroom to help out; Friday is my normal day and I just love it! The kids are darling and they say & do the most hilarious things! Best of all is knowing that Lauren anticipates me coming in & starts asking on Mondays if its my day at her school! That melts my heart!
Happy Friday & weekend everyone!

P.S. Please check out Shannon's blog, A Journey of Love on my blog roll for their fundraiser information to help bring their child home from China! A beautiful family & a worthy cause!!

First Ruling News!

Oh my goodness, we are still completely exhilarated and thrilled! We received word today from our agency that we have received our First Ruling and should anticipate our second ruling within 4 to 6 weeks. This is a HUGE & significant step and means we are one BIG step closer to having our little man in our arms. All along I had a Mama's intuition or 'feeling' that we would most likely travel in January. As some cases moved along faster, we began to hope that we may travel prior to Christmas, but based on this Ruling believe we will most likely travel in January or early February. ( fingers crossed please!!) It would seem my intuition was close all along and what a tremendous birthday present it would be to bring our baby son home in January! :)

I hope you all enjoyed a glorious long weekend with your families & thanks again for stopping by and sharing this journey with our family.

Yippee!