Sunday, July 25, 2010

table for 22

growing up everyone thought our family with 5 kids was big.  I just thought it was normal.  harbin party of 7. now the 7 has turned into 22 and growing.  this week we are all in florida getting sandy, burned, and letting the cousins soak up time together.  their are 10 grandchildren so far.  4 of them are 3 years old.  the last 3 are sweet babies that we pass around...well, charlotte sort of does her own thing now.
so here are some of our first days together.  I just can't help how cute everyone is.
more to come...of course!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

papier

I've heard the adoption process called by a few names.  the "paper chase" and a "paper pregnancy' are among them.  today I mailed off a list of 21 items that served as an application to our home study agency.  over the last 2 weeks or so I have carefully checked off each requirement as it was completed.  blood work, pediatrician visits, questionnaires, a floor plan of our home, references...you name it, it's in there. once this is approved we will receive an actual home study visit, complete a heck of a bunch more paper work, and then send it off to ethiopia to be approved.  THEN we will be put on a waiting list for our sweet baby.
with every paper signed, item checked off...we are closer and closer.  and more excited.  and it all becomes more real.

here are the big sisters in their new shirts that we bought from another adopting family.  and you can bet your bottom that we'll be selling a cool adoption fundraiser t-shirt in the future.  so save up your dollars to help bring baby home!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

28 is great

yesterday I turned the big 2-8.  and I thought it only made sense to exercise my harbin ice cream eating gene to it's full limits.  I slowly and steadily made my way through a "love-it" sized waffle bowl...filled with coffee icecream that had raspberries and brownies mixed in. mmmmm.
oh, and of course I ate the waffle bowl as well. didn't want to let the family name down.
it was a lovely day with my pretty family. I can't help but wonder what year 28 will bring.

Monday, July 19, 2010

where's charlotte?

and yes, she did this all on her own.  big sister brought the stool into her room so she could reach something on the top bookshelf...so little sister decided she needed to do a little work of her own.  and in the end, a little exploring and climbing.

Friday, July 16, 2010

sam-I-am

here in the dockery home we are big dr. seuss fans.  I mean, come on...who isn't?  eden has loved the beloved classic green eggs and ham for a good long while.  before bed she always picks books for us to read.  sometimes she gets stuck on one or two favorites for a few nights in a row.  green eggs and ham was one of those favorites in recent bedtime book reading.  the other night I read it to her and told her that if she remembered to ask me in the morning I would make her green eggs and ham for breakfast in the morning.  her eyes twinkled and she shouted "you're the BEST mom!!!".  sometimes it takes so little.
so, the next morning...she hadn't forgotten.  at 7 a.m.  I put a drip of green food coloring into 2 scrambled eggs. and voila...green eggs.  the only ham we had was the lunch meat packaged kind...so I didn't turn it green.  eden was thrilled with the green eggs but requested green ham as well for next time.  should have known she'd need complete accuracy in recreating the story.

we also had a few other cute picture worthy happenings last week.  it was cow appreciation day at chick-fil-a, so we dressed up the girls and they got free kids meals.  we had black spots pinned on charlotte, but she ripped them off before we even got in the door.  oh well, they still gave her the nuggets.

also...that night we went to the el paso zoo's members only night.  ooooh aren't we fancy?  we were the first to see the new zebras, meerkats, and giraffes (along with a few hundred other members and their families).  the giraffes were apparently too frightened to come over a bridge into their new habitat so we didn't actually see them at all.  eden was really upset about this and even cried.  we never knew she had such an interest in giraffes.  later that night she told us she had an idea.  the next time we went to the zoo, she would bring her flute (pink plastic recorder) and play it for the giraffes so that they would come out.  because "all animals love instruments".  now, why didn't WE think of that.  of course! 

Sunday, July 11, 2010

ode to charlotte

on july 7th our second born daughter turned one.  since her birth she has brought joy, joy, and more joy to our lives.  her sister adores her.  her father beams every time he looks at her.  and me, well, I just cry thinking about a way to express how I feel about her.  she is stunning.  she has captured my heart.

charlotte's favorite things include: balls, books about animals, making animal noises, sissy, dada, puffs, pancakes, being outside, mama's jewelry, being held, and any type of cookie she has ever tried.
almost every picture I take of her...she's smiling.  the only time she gets cross is when she can't drink out of eden's cup...or when something she might choke on is taken away from her. 

the other day eden asked me why charlotte was SO cute.  and I told her, because God made her that way.
I am so thankful God made her.  and that I am blessed to be her mother, help raise her, hold her, kiss her, and teach her all about her maker.
and many more...miss charlotte mae.

Monday, July 05, 2010

waiting for our third

well, we have some big news to share. 
nope. I am not with child.  but...we are expecting.
we have officially been accepted into an international adoption program.  and we're hoping and praying that in 12-18 months we'll be holding our third child.

even just typing that out is beyond words exciting.  thrilling. 

pete and I have always wanted to adopt and it seems that now is the time.  there are more orphans in the world now than at any other point in history.  143,000,000.  a lot of zeros.  way too many.  close to 6 million of those are in Ethiopia.  this is the country that our son or daughter will most likely come from.

we looked into adoption within the u.s., mexico, and other countries...but ethiopia seems to be the best fit for us at this time.  the main factors being the age of children that are available, and the country requirements for adoptive parents.

we are just in the beginning stages of this whole process, and would really appreciate your prayers.  we are learning new adoption terminology, reading books, talking to friends that have adopted, and preparing our little ones-- as much as a 3 1/2 year old and almost 1 year old can be.

so, we're waiting.  and are assured we'll be doing a lot of that over the next months.   waiting for our child that we are certain will be worth every minute of it.  I wonder all the time who we're waiting for.  I pray for them.  for their birth family.  for their country.  I am so grateful to be on this journey.

Friday, July 02, 2010

I love you day

the computer is still being funky...but I sort of figured out a way to make pictures work again.  and in celebration here are my daughters.  charlotte with nothing but a diaper, her usual uniform.  eden with messy, two-day-old braids and pajamas (she'd had on since nap time).  we were outside being a family this evening and I couldn't help but take too many pictures of them. 

I can hardly believe that in 5 short days our sweet charlotte will be one entire year old.  before she was born I wondered what it would be like to love two people as much as I loved eden.  I knew it was quite possible...because my mom for sure loves me as much as my other 4 siblings.  but I couldn't really understand it all happening. 

and now...now I get it.  my heart bursts and overflows and gushes with love for those pretties.  and it didn't take almost a year to get that way...took about however long it was for the soundwaves of charlotte's first cry to reach my ears.

eden told me that today was "I love you day".  she kissed me a million times at the dinner table.  charlotte got jealous and so I held her, too.  an all too perfect ending to eggplant parmesan with feta a la crockpot for suppertime.