Indescribable JOY and pain!!

We got THE call!!! It was an amazing moment. I sat there and cried through most of it in disbelief at how perfect little Joleigh sounds for our family. She's 15 months old. Happy, healthy baby girl. She was terribly sick with a parasite but is now better. She's beautiful. Just Beautiful! I memorized every detail of her photo. I've been on cloud 9 all day... literally telling strangers about her and pulling out my phone to show them a pic.. I'm sure they thought I was crazy;).
BUT now... honestly... I'm so heartbroken! My heart aches, physically for a mom a world away who had to make the decision to give up this beautiful baby. She sacrificially chose to give her life! I honestly can't imagine the pain she is going through. I remember how much my heart hurt just to leave my babies in the church nursery when they would cry. I really can't wrap my mind around the pain. I have sat here and bawled and bawled for this lady who I don't know but yet am forever tied to. She's so much stronger and more selfless than I could ever be.
Would love to write more... but honestly I just don't have words to describe everything I feel right now. Please pray for a sweet, terribly needy family in Ethiopia tonight. Pray for a little girl in a crib missing her mommy. Pray that God prepares our hearts to help heal hers.

Final push ...

When we began can collecting people thought I was NUTS! Okay... so maybe I am a little nuts but no one really thought we'd make much money with it. It didn't help that aluminum has been terribly low over the past year but even with low prices our can collecting has been SO successful. We've raised almost $2200 in just one year! The most amazing thing is we've gained SO many supporters for our adoption through this collecting. We have hundreds.. HUNDREDS of folks collecting cans for us! We are in awe at how these cans have invested people in our adoption process... so many people are longing for our Joleigh to be home!

We are wrapping up our collection efforts at the end of January. We are hoping to collect another $300 so our final total would be $2500!! Soooo.... we need you guys to help us finish strong. We NEED all your CANS! Tell your momma, your aunt, your cousins... everyone you know to drink, drink, drink and save, save, save! Thanks so much for supporting us!! You have no idea how much it has meant to us.

P.S. I'm hoping this is my last blog post until our referral:) THIS week... I can feel it... this WEEK!!!

You are the Highest Bidder!!!

I heart eBay! Always have... even when I bought that really cool phone and then the guy dropped off the face of the earth... with my phone:/ but Bank of America made it right and I didn't lose any money... LOVE eBay (and Bank of America;).
Our latest purchase is by far our biggest purchase. We are the PROUD owners of a NEW (to us) 2006 Nissan Quest.


It.Is.NICE! This is a much, much nicer vehicle than we've ever had. Low mileage, excellent condition, EVERY feature known to man at an EXCELLENT price (2 dvd players, heated seats, back up camera, sun roof, 4 moon roofs, GROCERY hooks!!, automatic doors, etc). The people we bought it from could NOT be any nicer. I felt like we were old friends by the time we finished the transaction. We met the sweetest old man who bid on shipping it from Alabama.

I am VERY excited about the mini van BUT nothing compares to the excitement of the boys. Andrew has talked about that mini van for DAYS!! His teacher even told me on FB that Andrew was pretty excited and had told her about it. THEY love it! We look forward to MANY, many family trips in our new van.

Oh AND I told Cameron there is plenty of room for at least ONE more adoption;0)

Holiday pics....

I.LOVE.PICTURES! Luckily, the fam is always pretty kind to mommy and lets me take pictures pretty often. We need to get out and do some family photos for Christmas cards! This past weekend, we drove up to Branson to see the Lighting of the Christmas Tree @ Silver Dollar City. It was SO much fun! We've never been at Christmas time and couldn't pass it up since we have Silver Dollar City passes... which I think we'll do again next year (well Cam and I will get season passes and just use our bring a friends to bring the kiddos;). We LOVE that place and it's such a short fun trip for the whole fam.
Anyway, back to the pictures. Every year I buy a calendar with photos from the previous year. The kids absolutely LOVE these calendars. I started this when Andrew was a baby so we have the last 7 years documented on the sweetest calendars. I always buy them at Shutterfly. AND anytime I do pics for people, I always recommend they use shutterfly... easy to use and great pics!
The past couple of years, I've also bought some cute photo desk calendars as presents off of shutterly. They are adorable and make the PERFECT gift for Grandma. I've always been able to find great deals on them. As a matter of fact, I've ordered one for a gift this year BUT don't tell.... shhhhh!
I've contemplated doing some photo books for the kids b/c I think they would LOVE to have their own. We have a couple that I got a super deal on and we look at them often.
Last but not least, I always buy our Christmas photo cards from Shutterfly. We need to hurry and take a pic so I can get them ready AND get my 50 free holiday photo cards for doing this post:)
Do you have any "photo" traditions like calendars, etc that you and your fam do?
This next sentence is for my brother in law...
Witch is you're favorit holiday greating card? ;0)

**Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. Sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Hard to describe in words...

The waiting has been so hard the past couple of weeks. EVERY time my phone rings, I get knots in my stomach. Every time the office calls into my classroom, I get knots in my stomach. We know we're at the very top of the waiting list for a little girl and it's just so hard to wait any longer. I know His timing is perfect and we find peace in that but I so badly want to hold our little girl. I want to watch Piper fuss over her. I want to watch the boys stare in amazement at how sweet and cute she is. I want to watch her daddy melt with tears because she's HOME! I want to feed her, clothe her and watch her breathe. I want her to know she has a home forever... a constant, consistency, a haven. Joleigh, your absence is painful but your homecoming will be a picture of Heaven. We are longing for your arrival.

SO thankful God has called us to adoption but once you KNOW ... you can never not "know" again so it's hard. Joleigh will have a home but close to 150 million still do not. My heart longs for Joleigh but it literally aches for those children who are waiting for someone to answer that call.... for a family to say yes to being PRO-life in the truest sense.

Live Simply...

I am pretty confident we are at the top of the waiting list for a little girl from Ethiopia so we are on pins and needles around here waiting on THE CALL! We still have t-shirts to sell and would LOVE it if you'd consider purchasing one to help bring our little girl home. My friend Shanna (pictured below.. what a cute shirt model;) bought one, took a pic and posted it on facebook and has sold almost 15 shirts FOR US!!! Our friends Mark and Phoebe did the same a couple of months ago. We are humbled by those who've helped us. Please know asking for money has been SO very difficult.... which is the reason we've collected cans. Much easier to ask for trash, than money. Sad to say though isn't it?? I mean honestly how many of us throw away $15 a week or a month and have no idea where it went. We've love for you to use your $15 to make a huge difference in a little girls life. We currently have White, Red and Turquoise shirts available for $15(plus $2 shipping). We even have some kid's sizes in Red beginning @ size 6-8. Thanks to those of you who have already purchased a shirt... especially to those we have never met. God has used you all to encourage us and to help bring our little one home! If you are interested in purchasing a shirt send me and email and let me know what you'd like:)
wallace0302@windstream.net


AND if you're looking for a way to do some thoughtful Christmas shopping this year, head over to this blog and check out all the fams who are raising money for their adoptions. There are some PRETTY cool items that would make great gifts!