9 Months at Home!!!

9 months at home, with Mama and Baba.  Spending so many crazy, memorable moments with family and friends.  We couldn't have asked for a better, more fulfilling 9 months.  Thank you for filling our lives with joy and so much love, Ava!!

1.  So many new words over the last month.  Jacket, bath, bed, sleep tight, wo ai ni (I love you), ap-sauce, b-fast, chicken, foo-ball, ball, ma (milk), more, mine, movie, "Move It" from Madagascar, water, shoes, socks, see ya, please, thank you, slide.  You still tell lots of stories that we don't understand yet, but we're getting closer and it's so fun to hear you talk even when we can't understand it all!  You are a very animated story teller :) 

2.  You have been really focused on recognizing family members and knowing their names lately.  You  often pull out her photo book we sent to China with family pictures and "study" it.  Earlier this month I spent some time tacking family pics on the refrigerator and labeling them with their names.  She loves this and we review the pictures and names for probably 15-20 minutes daily.  She is quite the studier :)  I'm certain that comes from Baba!!  From doing this she is fluent with identifying and saying Lau Lau, Pappy, Nai Nai, G-Pa, Uncle Bobby.

3.  You graduated to a toddler bed around a month ago.  The first night you rolled out of bed, but after that did well and slept through the night for several weeks.  But the last week and a half have been  rough and we're not certain what has been going on.  You are waking up on average 4 times nightly; occasionally on the ground but every time you wake up crying and sometimes kicking your arms and legs.  It really seems like you are having nightmares, which makes Mama and Baba so sad.  You are always awake before one of us can get in your room to cuddle but we so wish we could stop the nightmares for you.  This is such a helpless feeling as a parent.  You are not scared to go to bed at night so from our research that shows that you are not remembering your nightmares the following evening~thank the Lord.  Praying that this doesn't last too long.

4.  You enjoyed your first Halloween.  You were able to Trick-Or-Treat 3 times.  The first time you were really confused as to why you had to wear a monkey outfit but once you started getting candy for it you were much more agreeable.  On Halloween night, we only went to a few friends/neighbors houses and the rest of the evening you really enjoyed handing out candy to the other trick or treaters.  

5.  You also made yourr first trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out your own "puppy".  Yes, you called your pumpkin, puppy!!  Too funny!!  You did not enjoy carving the pumpkin and certainly did not want to help clean out the seeds but did enjoy painting your "puppy" in order to give it that Ava style.

6.  The biting at daycare has been up and down...really you probably went about six weeks without biting and then all the sudden (along with the not sleeping) you've bitten a couple of times.  I always feel so bad when I learn you've bitten another child.  I think I'd be angry as the other parent, so maybe that's why God put me on this side as I have so much more compassion when the teeth are towards my daughter.  Hoping that with your words increasing the biting will decrease and go away forever.
7.  You love to play and honestly Mama and Baba love it too!!  We all get to run around the house and act like kids every night.  It's awesome!!  Some of your favorite things to play with are your huge bouncy ball, kitchen, bowling set, building blocks, and your y-bike.  We pretty much play from after dinner until bath time every night.  This way we all go to bed extra tired but it's so worth all the memories and fun.
8.  You still love your books.  We probably read through 5-10 books a day.  Some of your current favorites are:  Mr. Brown can Moo, Mommy Hugs, I Love you Stinky Face, Connor the Conductor, Who Says Quack, and all of your touch and feel books.
9.  At the end of last month we were able to spend a few days in Colorado in a cabin with all of Matt's family.  It was a wonderful, relaxing getaway.  It's so fun to watch and hear all the cousins running around a cabin; chasing each other, teaching other, playing games, and just having a great time!  I so wish they could spend more time together.  They have such a ball, as do all the adults.  I am truly blessed to have such an amazing in-law family.  
10.  You saw your dentist for your six month visit and your love for brushing your teeth showed.  He was super impressed and could tell right away that you love brushing your teeth!  The other day you were so excited when Baba came home from his dentist appointment with a new toothbrush...which you quickly stole for yourself ;)

Picking out her "puppy"!!

Lessons in Love

All you moms out there will definitely understand where I am coming from today. Lately, God has been teaching me more and more about how much He loves me. I grew up knowing that God loves me and loves me unconditionally. I thought I understood what loving unconditionally meant, but I had no idea...

God has been teaching me what unconditional love really means through Ava and baby and through my family.  My family has been teaching me for years what love means by standing by my side during one of the hardest times of my life. Loving me, being patient with me when I was very unlovable at times.  Never giving up on me, always praying, always available when I just wanted to talk about how I was feeling.  It's hard to put into words my feelings of love for Ava. I get giddy when I know I'm going to get to see her soon. I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to see why she's fussy and believe me when I say I love my sleep!  But I love our midnight cuddles more.  She gives the best hugs and kisses. Her smile and laugh carries me through the day at work.  Watching my husband be a baba (daddy) fills my heart completely with peace and joy. I don't mind putting off housework and other tasks that need to get done to keep our house looking proper to just play or read books as a family. Those of you who know me well, know this is a big deal!!  And loving a baby whom I haven't met yet, who is on the other side of the world, waiting for their forever family.  A baby who causes my heart to fill with joy and happy butterflies whenever I think of them. A longing in my heart to just have them in my arms and in our family; their forever family as soon as possible. Only God can teach us to love and feel like that. Unconditional love comes from Jesus Christ...Unconditional love IS Jesus Christ.

And yet, it occurs to me that even as much as I love my family and babies, God still loves me more. There is absolutely nothing that would make Him stop loving me...nothing.

Home Study...Done!

We received our finished Home Study this week!  One more big step done.  One big step closer to our baby!

The Home Study took us a little longer than we anticipated because we took a long while to pray and consult with members of Holt and people we trust discussing the age of child we are open to adopting into our family. We are still not specifying gender but we are being far more thoughtful of baby 2's age. There are many reasons for why we have been so wrapped up in the age but it simply boils down to we have to do what's best for our family, including both of our children. We also don't want to limit God because we know He has the perfect child already hand picked for our family. So we are praying for our family and for our baby knowing that God has us and baby in His hands.