Hannah's finally coming home!

Each morning this week, I wake up to a new set of pics or video of my newest niece, Hannah. What a treat! You can go here to see pics or here to see video. Hannah is doing remarkably well. Thank you to all who have prayed. Don't stop! I'm so amazed by the sweet gift of children, but somehow foreign adoption sends me into tears like nothing else. Some of the most touching video I've seen on Chinese adoption is here, at Sara's sister's blog about their adorable little Adiah. I remember being overwhelmed by joy when Selah (my sister Erin's little girl) came home. And I'm feeling that once again at the thought of getting to be at the airport next Friday to welcome home precious Hannah. We've waited SO long to meet you, baby girl. We can't wait!

Little Man

First off, I have to tell you that my brother-in-law and his wife are in China right now to pick up their sweet little Hannah. For those of you who don't know, Matt and Sara have been on what seems like the forever journey to get this sweet little girl, and we are all SO excited for the day they bring her home (which happens to be Friday, May 16). As I write this, I think they are getting up on Monday morning, preparing to actually meet Hannah for the first time. Please join me in praying for my newest niece. I can't imagine that this will be easy for her to understand. These crazy Texans are complete strangers to her right now, but what she doesn't know is that she is entering one of the most fun families I know. Matt and Sara are wonderful, Godly, creative parents. And Hollyn and Noah will provide a lifetime of live entertainment.:) Please pray for her to have the smoothest transition possible. Also pray for Matt and Sara to have patience with her, even amidst major sleep deprivation! And, of course, pray for Hollyn and Noah, that they handle the next couple of weeks with as much maturity as they can muster. I adore all of my nieces and nephews, and I'm thrilled to add another sweetie to the bunch! To see pics of Hannah and her family, go here.

So Max turned ONE YEAR old yesterday. Can you believe it? We opted to keep the celebration low-key. Gran and Grandad were here. We opened presents, let the kids play with the new toys (outside water toys), and ate dinner and cupcakes (chocolate cupcakes with creme filling - YUM!). Here are some pics of chocolate-covered Max.

Max has become such a sweet little man. Here is just a random list of my favorite things about him:

If he sees an open door, he crawls toward it as if his life depends on it.

He LOVES to climb the stairs.

He prefers a bottle of formula to just about any other food or drink.

He loves his mama, but he will go to someone else in a pinch.

When he gets excited, he waves his arms as if he might fly. If you are holding him at one of these moments, that arm-waving usually turns into slapping (ouch!).

He adores his siblings. Brady can make him laugh like no one else.

His siblings adore him. They all spoil him rotten.

He has the CUTEST dimples.

His favorite syllable is "DA", and he says it enthusiastically, usually over and over again, loudly.

He loves remote controls and telephones.

He seems to prefer crawling on concrete to crawling on grass.

When he wakes up, he yells and bangs on the wall before he resorts to crying.

He loves baths. He and Brady splash and laugh and splash and laugh.

He is so brown! His legs already look very tanned. Next to Brady, in the bathtub, he looks so brown and scrawny.

He's generally a pretty happy guy.

He loves to be sung to.

He loves sitting in a shopping cart, facing me, while I make funny faces at him and talk to him like he's a grown-up.

He refuses to walk.

He loves Andy's keyboard. He really enjoys sitting in Andy's lap while he plays, banging away.

He loves swings.

He looks just like his daddy.

His nickname is Ma-ma-mo (short a, long o). I guess, because Brady calls him Ma, and Andy started calling him Ma-ma, and Blake started in with Ma-ma-mo.

It's hard to believe that a year has passed. I can't imagine life without him. His smile and little giggle bring us so much joy. Happy birthday, little man! Mommy loves you!

Randomness

Blake is my little Mr. Random. I know I'll regret it if I don't get a couple of my favorite random Blake moments down in writing, so please bear with me.

One night last week, I was reprimanding Blake for fighting with a kid who was playing at our house. He was telling me how the other kid had started it, and suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, got this weird grin on his face and said, "I think I just burped up a little meatloaf." Wow. This is where most of you are saying, "Blake ate meatloaf?!" The answer is not really...he ate his obligatory one bite.

When we told the kids we were pregnant with Max, we were on our way to Erin's house. I'd told her and she'd told her boys, so I figured I'd better tell our kids. So, Sydney's response is: "I hope it's a girl." Blake's is "Hey, look, there's a Shell." Are you kidding me? (Another funky fact about Blake is that he's obsessed with gas stations.)

I know there are more...lots more. But for some reason, now that I'd like to remember them, I can't. I just love his sense of humor. It's part of what makes him so charming and genuinely fun to be around.

Thank you, Jesus, that I not only love my son, but I also really LIKE him (most of the time:).

Sweet kisses

Who knew Helen Keller was so cute?!

Sydney was recently required to prepare a 30 second speech in the first person on a famous historical figure. She chose Helen Keller. Following are the pics from the second grade "Living Museum". The kids were all lined up along the library hall, decked out in their costumes. Parents could walk through and push an imaginary button on their shoulders to make them come alive. It was great fun, and Syd totally hammed it up (I wonder where she gets that?).

The video of her from this particular day is awful (too much background noise). So I had her do it again in our back yard. I proudly present Sydney Moreland as Helen Keller:

Sydney is still really enjoying ballet. She loves any chance to do a "show". She's asking to participate in summer camps that include instruction in singing, dancing, acting, and math. I was right with her up until the math part! She continues to be my little mama. She'll usually tell you that she loves being the oldest and the only girl, although she occasionally complains that she has no older sister. And while I don't consider myself any amazing beauty, I am always proud when people tell me she looks just like me. And what makes my whole year is that she seems proud too. Please pray with me that the Lord gives me the wisdom and grace to parent this sweet, sensitive little girl in a way that makes Him proud.

A little too much Dora and Diego

Anyone who knows Brady knows he is CRAZY about Diego (with Dora a close second). There have been a couple of nights recently when I've awakened at 3 a.m. to the sound of Brady yelling "Go, Diego, go!" at the top of his lungs. He doesn't cry or want anyone to come and get him. He's just playing, so we just kind of laugh to ourselves and go back to sleep. For his birthday, he got Diego everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING). If we're watching Nick Jr. and Wonderpets comes on, he cries because he wants to watch Diego. This is a video of Brady singing the Dora song. We sing through his favorite theme songs daily, but Dora seems to be the one he likes to sing the most.

An Easter I'm hoping to forget...

This was the first, last and only smile from Max all day on Easter Sunday. We got up early to do our egg hunt before church. Blake, as usual, came bouncing down the stairs completely dressed, but not in the clothes I wanted him to wear. Sydney had to be coaxed from a very deep sleep. We didn't bother to wake Brady because he'd been up quite a bit the night before (for no apparent reason). Max happily ate Cheerios in his high chair.

Then Andy left to get to band rehearsal and it all went downhill from there...

Max cried (and cried and cried and cried). I got all the ironing done (regretting all the time that I hadn't done it the night before), got all the kids' hair done, got both babies dressed, got myself dressed and somewhat made up. Max is still crying. At this point, I'm a bit frazzled. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, and my tolerance for screaming babies was a bit low. We managed to get to church sometime during the second song or so. Max was sweet for about two minutes, and then he made it infinitely clear that he was FINISHED with church! I haven't begun leaving him in the nursery regularly yet, but after last Sunday, I think the time is soon approaching.

After church, we had the church egg hunt, in which the three oldest children were, of course, in three separate categories. One of our beloved elders, Mike Ruby, offered to take Max from me (Praise God!) while I helped Brady with his hunt. Mike later commented to his wife that he figured it was a good time to get a baby cheap, because I looked like I was about to sell Max. (Am I really that transparent?)

Brady was more interested in the playground than the eggs. One 3 year old kid was cleaning up because all the other kids were happily tripping over eggs to get to the slide. Every now and then, Brady would slide down the slide, pick up an egg at the bottom, and turn to me with the proudest look and yell "I found one, Mommy!" (like they weren't lying in plain sight everywhere).

The big kids had fun. I think Sydney is approaching the age to outgrow this Easter bunny thing. I'm okay with that because I think the whole Easter bunny tradition is ridiculous. Hiding eggs is one thing, but pretending that a bunny actually hid them for us is kinda goofy. At least Santa Claus is a human being.

When we got home, I announced that I had no intention of cooking anything. Nor did I plan to take Max anywhere. He pretty much went straight to bed. Andy went to the grocery store and picked up a rotisserie chicken, Country Crock mac-n-cheese (because neither of us even wanted to boil water), a can of green beans and a pumpkin pie. Happy Easter. By the way, Sara, my kids call Country Crock sides "Aunt Sara's favorite potatoes" (even when they're not potatoes). After lunch, I put Brady to bed, went straight to my room, closed the door, turned on the ocean sounds feature on the alarm clock and went to sleep.

The evening was much happier because we'd rested. We played outside for quite a while with the neighbors and then watched Enchanted as our family farewell (and good riddance:) to Spring Break. Even the little boys enjoyed being in the living room all together.

Actually, as I look back on it, it wasn't so bad.:)