Our 1st Care Package!

Our friends went over to Ethiopia to bring home their little girls. They took over our 1st care package and hand delivered it to him and took tons of pictures in these outfits. It's just priceless and such a blessing to have your friends dress him, pray over him, feed him, measure him, love on him, and get him to laugh! Oh how I wish I could show the video and pictures to you ..it's killing me! You are just going to die when you see his dimples! YES I said dimples when he laughs he has huge dimples that light up his face. I have watched the videos just about everyday while I pray for him I can hear his sounds of cooing .. oh it's so hard to wait as all I think about is him and preparing for him to come home and be in my arms forever!

THE CALL!!

The start of 2010 has been very exciting. I've had many mixed emotions about sharing our news. There are many people I follow in the adoption blog world and have been waiting so long for their referrals. I really want to be sensitive as I know that waiting is the hardest part of this process. Our story has been so different and I'm sure those out there waiting will understand and hopefully have joy for us:)

It was Tuesday morning Jan. 5th, the day after Scott flew out to Hawaii for the week (as I always had a feeling it would be this week). I was writing some emails and my little Parker had gotten his pants wet and wanted to change. We went upstairs to change when I heard the phone ring. I couldn't get to it... as a mother it's always hard to get the phone when you are in the middle of something. "I will call them back" I thought to myself . Then the phone rang again .. wow my heart dropped... I knew it was THE call. I went to the cordless phone upstairs and it was dead (of course) then ran downstairs while missing it and then I heard my cell phone ringing... oh now I really know it's THE call. I started to shake and looked at the phone... it was my coordinator! OH wow it really is THE call! I put the kids in front of the TV and called her back quickly. My heart was racing while thinking "oh no, Scott is gone". I called her back and she had our referral! WOW I thought I can't believe we are going to know today... and today is the day to remember. We talked a few minutes and I told her Scott was away (the running joke with friends and family is something ALWAYS happens big when Scott is away) So I got off the phone quickly with her and started to call Scott... NO ANSWER! Oh no! with the time change it was like 6 AM Hawaii time. I called again and again but I couldn't reach him... I'm dying pacing the house shaking and so excited. The kids looked at me strangely and knew something was up. I called again and again 3 times in a row and he finally called back 78u(it winds up that he was in the shower the whole time!!)... whew I finally had him on the phone and said "WE HAVE A REFERRAL!!!" We were both so overwhelmed knowing that we were going to find out what we are having. I was expecting an email from our coordinator with pictures, but Scott needed to head into work since it was the first golf tournament of the year and there were some big meetings he had to be at.

After putting the kids down for a nap .. I waited and waited which was a gift to sit in quiet praying to God. It was such a peaceful happy moment I wrote in my journal knowing our lives were going to be changing forever. It was a great time for reflecting but I was still dying to find out about our child. Scott's meetings seemed like it took hours but finally he called me. After a few attempts of Internet problems Scott was able to finally get his email. We decided to do the same thing as we had done with finding out the sexes of our twins. You can do the same thing by counting to 5 in the slideshow. What do you think it could be?

(Continued from above) After seeing our child my heart melted! The instant desire to have your child home arose in me instantly. It's crazy I was wondering about feeling a connection with your child through a photo but there was never any doubt that this was the child that God designed for our family. This child is another blessing from God. He is PERFECT! Everything about him is perfect! Oh how I wish I could show you pictures and tell you every detail but I can't. It is to protect the child, we are not allowed too yet:) His cheeks and big brown eyes are just so beautiful. He looks so healthy and well taken care of until we can bring him home. That night I couldn't sleep knowing I know who I'm praying for now and what to pray! I pray for him to get home safely to us and to pass court our first time. I'm just so excited and would hate for anything to happen... I know I can trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.

So I have a big apology to all my friends! Scott was out of town for the week. We had to do a review of his medical information which took a few days. So, we decided to wait to tell Brooke and Parker until he got home. I was worried if we told friends then it would leak back to Brooke and Parker. We wanted to share that moment, the 1st time telling them they are going to have a new baby brother. We needed time to accept the referral and to tell our children... but once we did I couldn't wait to shout it from the rooftops!
Us telling Brooke and Parker

It's been a whirlwind telling friend and family about our precious new little addition. Please continue prayer for our court date is the next step and what we are waiting on. We need to pass court in Ethiopia for him to become legally ours then we can go get him. We are hopeful in thinking we could travel around April or May but only God knows and we trust Him. Thanks for making it this far in reading all the details... maybe more than you want to know but this is a wonderful moment for our family that we wanted to share.
Here are a few pictures of us sharing the news.

We told MIMI and POPS at Dexter's... same place we told them about the twins. The waitress had a special delivery for them. ( a picture of our angel)

We drove up to Jacksonville to surprise my sister-in-law Dana and my nieces. They couldn't believe we were there telling them about their new cousin. Another bonus is we got to see their classrooms and meet Ellie's sweet kindergarten teacher.

We will keep you updated about our court date. Please pray for our angel for God to keep him safe, warm and healthy. I just can't wait to have him in my arms giving him unconditional love and knowing he will be in our family forever. We can't tell you his name but we are keeping it. So, for now it's "baby J":) Good Night "baby J" you have so much love waiting for you here in Orlando.

God Moment

So after finding out our news we had a great God moment. You know my friends Jessica and Nick? They are the original ones who talked to us about adoption this summer. They are adopting two sibling from Ethiopia they were schedule to travel on the 16th well, after we knew who our baby was they wanted to see him just as badly as we wanted them to meet him. We arranged just in time to fly them two days earlier to visit the care center where our child was at. They left last Thursday the 14th. They got to visit our little boy last Saturday and hold him and give him new clothes, toys and pictures of our family. It was just priceless that God gave us such a gift to have friends be able to meet our child! Our friends that God put in our lives to even tell us about adoption. God is just so BIG!! bigger than we can ever understand and works out so many small details that reminds us to TRUST in him as he ALWAYS knows whats best. They have sent us pictures this week of our little one.. I can't stand it the more pictures I see the more I can't wait to get him home! Another detail God worked out is that my friend is a nurse and could get correct measurements, weight and height, plus most of all she could LOVE on our little angel. Plus lots of pictures and even video! It's just priceless. They have received their girls now and are doing GREAT! Check out her blog http://steadfastminds-ethiopia.blogspot.com/ They get home this Saturday and we can't wait to greet them at the airport. Her emails this week have been amazing and I just can't wait to hear all about their journey. Please pray for safe travels and the adjustment in their home.

Aren't these girls just priceless I can't wait to meet them in two days!

Redesigning with Exciting News

Yes, it's been awhile since I have posted anything but I wanted to let you know we are redesigning our blog with some really great news!!! :) Hang in there .. we will be telling you soon

Christmas Time Part 2

Dec.23rd- Christmas with the Armstrong Family
Brooke was so excited she got a shopping cart from Mimi. It was by far the hit of all the gifts. She still is playing with it everyday. She has taken it with her to CVS, Publix, coffee stores, she would take it everywhere if we would let her.
Brooke and Abby

Parker asked for cars from Santa and Aunt Dana pulled through with cool hot wheels. It made his night. Thanks Aunt Dana!

Christmas at Mimi's house

Brooke opening her gift very slowly

Brooke still opening her shopping cart

She's very excited

The cutest cousins in the world

Christmas Day 09 Merry Christmas Everyone!

This was the first time going fishing with Pops with our new fishing poles.

Christmas Time Update

Our Holidays were full of fun and very busy.. today is my first chance to catch you up on what we have been up too. I hope your season was as enjoyable as ours.
Dec. 10th Christmas Girls night
The girls broke loose from our busy lives to spend sometime catching up. There is nothing better than a night out with the girls. We exchanged white elephants had some good laughs, yummy food, a little or a lot of wine and one grumpy waitress. In the middle of the evening I stopped to look around and felt a warmth come over my heart, I'm so blessed to have so many great girlfriends.

Dec 17th We had our super club come over for a small Christmas party. Usually we all dress up so Scott and I surprised them on the front porch. I couldn't believe how good Scott looked in a Santa outfit he really could pull it off. Brooke and Parker were pretty funny .. Parker knew right away that it was him, Brooke on the other hand was scared and not sure what to think. She stayed far away and never kept her eye off of him.

It was another fun night of food, fun and gifts.
And we were worried when we moved here we wouldn't have any friends. God took care of us and gave us some amazing friendships that will last a lifetime!

Dec. 18th Princess and The Frog Movie
It was the first time that Brooke and Parker took friends to the movies. They were so excited, especially the girls they dressed up as a princess. If you haven't seen the movie yet it's a good one the kids loved it. Don't the girls just look so cute .. it melts a mom's heart to see your child love their friends:)

Dec. 20th We went to UCF Lights up with our friends and cousin Kelsey.

Our wonderful sweet cousin Kelsey was able to stay with us for a few days before Christmas. It was such a great treat to have her around and the kids had a blast with her!

Can you believe there is snow sledding here in FLA and an outdoor ice skating rink?

The Armstrong gang all snugged in our winter gear

The carousel was a hit

Potty break in Barnes n Nobles

Again on the carousel, Brooke and our friend Kendal

Piggy back is so fun!

All our friends met us Riley, Kendal, Brooke and Parker

It was a fun and chilly night to put us in the mood for Christmas!

Stay tuned for more to come ..