one year

Today marks one year officially waiting for our Henry. I honestly never dreamed we'd be here. With paremeters a bit wider than most on the waitlist, and given that we were told 8-12 months, I was sure our little man would be home by now. Or at the very least we'd be preparing to travel to meet him. I am without a doubt confident in the Lord's timing. I know He is control and when we finally see his sweet little face it will be worth every minute and tear in this wait. But I'd be lying if I told you this was easy, or that I haven't had angry words or even questioned the path we're on. We've put a lot on hold in the past two years in preparation for our son. We've done lots of planning and re-arranging of our home and our lives in anticipation of the next Poulin. And yes, at times it's been all consuming. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. In fact, there's proably not an hour that passes without at least a fleeting thought. But here's the good stuff that comes with the hard stuff and the wait....I've had the privledge to pray for so many families as they wait, travel and meet their precious new additions. We've welcomed new little ones home at the airport with families that will be our friends for life. We've celebrated at baby showers and referral parties and over doughnuts and lots of coffee for the lives that have been united in this process. It is good. God is GOOD!! Time after time I see how He orchestrates the details so perfectly. Maybe not as we would, but so much better. Isn't that always how He works? We have watched our children grow and mature in their faith as they daily bring their requests before the Lord, always including their brother. But not just their brother, other brothers and sisters that are waiting and for all little ones out there longing and hurting for a family. God has grown a deep desire in my heart to help and advocate for the orphan. I am prayerful about how He wants to lead knowing I will be obedient to however He calls me and our family.

We have hearts filled with gratitude for the blessings and miracles we've experienced along this journey. We are so thankful for our friends, family and those who have sacrificed to help us. I've decided the hardest part about the wait isn't the length of time, it's the not knowing when that time will be up. We are hopeful that next year on this anniversary we'll be sending out our 2012 Christmas card with a very loved and very special little addition on the front smiling back at ya!

a little bit of Christmas randomness

Geesh, I got through giving thanks (not that we're ever done giving thanks) and just completely neglected documenting any of our Advent season. In my defense, we were hit like a freight train with the stomach bug this past week and I literally feel like I lost a week of my life. Between cleaning up, washing loads and loads of laundry and being sick myself I'm feeling so behind in every area of life. Thank goodness for a husband who does just as much around the house as I do-especially laundry.

The first Sunday of Advent we had a small group from our church gather at a local retirement center to carol and visit with the residents. It was a sweet time and I enjoyed every minute of chatting with the lovely women. I promise we will go back. I promised them we would be back. I have so many regrets that I didn't spend more time with my grandparents when they were in these same living environments. Maggie has such a heart for elderly and truly desires to spend time with them. So a promise was made to her too, yes we will go back.

 Next up, getting our tree. We broke tradition this year and just visited the produce stand down the road to get a pre-cut number. I'm a traditions girl but sometimes practical and time-saving trumps tradition. We looked ahead at our calendar and realized it was today or not for another week so with Sam fresh from the dentist with two pulled teeth we set out for our tree. I think it took us a quarter of the time it usually takes us to find the perfect tree.

This picture cracks me up for so many reasons. #1 it's not even the tree we ended up buying #2 Josie was in my arms because she was having nothing to do with the photo op, so once again it looks like we only have three children #3 Millie is totally sportin' some Kindergarten attitude #4 Maggie has the tween, hand on the hip pose and #5 the funniest of all, we kept telling Sam to smile natural and quit doing funny things with his lower lip when he finally reminded us that he couldn't actually feel his  lower lip. Poor guy was still totally numb from the dentist! This is one for the memory book!

What would the Christmas countdown be without the gingerbread house? Loved that my cute little egg crate got another use! The kids and I agreed that next year we'll have our own candy stash to munch on while decorating. While the Costco all-ready-assembled kit is great, the candy is rock hard.

Totally random, but I had to post a picture of something I made from Pinterest. FINALLY, I completed a project!

Our Chistmas Pageant was this past weekend and this Mary, Joseph and baby were just the sweetest. Maggie Lu was the only one of our kiddos in attendance at the program as Sam has outgrown the cast, Millie was still home sick with the flu and guess who didn't want to wear her sheep costume? Seeing a pattern with this three year old?

One last picture, if you're still hanging with me. Sam took this. For his Fine Arts portion of school he wanted to try Photography. Okay, let's be honest here. He really didn't want to try anything that had to do with arts but after he saw his other options, photography didn't seem so bad. Today was the first afternoon he played around with the camera. It was freezing out so we didn't spend a whole of time exploring but I have to say it was so fun to see him get excited and actually look for some artistic shots. He said he really liked how the red looked laying against the dark leaves. I'm looking forward to learning along with him and just maybe he can add photography to his list of hobbies and interests someday!

I'm looking forward to the rest of this Advent season and hopeful that we can slow it down just a bit. The last couple years we've tried to be so much more intentional about the season. I will be the first to admit that for years we have celebrated the season slave to the consumerism and materialism that surrounds us. It's hard not to. We have a long way to go but I pray that we are giving our kids the true message. Jesus came to love and to give of Himself. He came to serve others and that's how I want our family to live. We're looking for those opportunities and even if they come in small gestures I'm hopeful that in the process we are transformed and others might be blessed.

I promised Sam I'd be in bed by 11:00 pm....oops, time to call it a night!