In Time For Christmas

I posted the lyrics to this song and the one in the last post before about a year ago, but I really wanted my readers to see the actual video. So here is the music video to All I Really Want for Christmas. The part that used to always get me choked up is the part about having a dad or brother to wrestle with. I'm not sure why. :-) So I hope you enjoy this song and maybe it will become one of your favorites!!

Thanks to my Creator

Last year's post....Everything in parantheses has been added by me this year.
1. Belly Boy, He is such a cutie (We hadn't even met him at this point. We just had his darling picture)!
2.That God is taking care of us and has a plan for us (Always)
3.That we are able to adopt
4.Eachother (This is such a blessing, even though we can all get on eachother's nerves. If we weren't all together.. we would have a sad life).
5.For all the things God has provided for us! (He always provides)

This year I, (and my family) are thankful for everything above plus...
1. That Jesus died a horrible death on the cross to forgive our sins so that we can have a relationship with a perfect God.
2. Our friends
3. That we have a house to live in especially during winter. We usually take this for granted.
4. That we have a furnace to provide heat during cold days.
5. That we have plenty to eat
6. That Belly Boy is home!
7. That Belly Boy has adjusted so well to American life!
8. That we are able to tell the gospel to our neighbors without fear of arrest or death.
9. For the warm weather we've had during November. Weather is so strange sometimes!
and 10. Besides colds, our family has not gotten terribly sick yet this season!


Happy Thanksgiving to You All!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!! Enjoy the stuffing, (my favorite part!!)

Everything to Me

 This is absolutely one of my favorite adoption songs ever. (I know... I have a lot of favorites), but here is the music video to Mark Schultz's Everything to Me, written to his birthmom. Everything to Me

I dare you not to cry or tear up.

The Lyrics....

I must have held your tears

When they took me from your arms
I'm sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Young and so afraid
Had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
Oh you had dreams for me
And wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night
And you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
When you gave me up
Oh you gave everything to me
And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Or would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
Oh I hope that you'd be proud of who I am
Oh you gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And the chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
Oh when you gave me up
You gave everything to me
And when I see you there
Watching from heaven's gate
Into your arms I'm gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was and who I've become
Cuz you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball with my son late at night
And reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in his room
I'm so grateful that I had this life
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
Everything to Me

Adopting Again

Our family goes in twos. First you have Dad and Mom. They marry.

Then they have me. Then 2, (and a half) years later they have Bob.

Six years later they adopt Sports Dude. And then 2 years later they adopt Miss Bossy.

So, as you can see, our family goes in twos. The only problem is that to keep up the pattern we need to get a newborn baby right away because Belly Boy is 2! Or maybe an older baby in a few months.

This pattern works really well because then we all have someone around our age to play with when we're little!

I think it is very likely that we will adopt again. We like to adopt!
So don't be too surprised if within the next year I announce that we're starting the process again!

P.S. Miss Bossy and I would like to mention the fact that our twos also go boy-girl, (or girl-boy). So we say that the next child must be a girl. That likes to have her clothes chosen specially each day. And a bonus would be that she would like her hair done.

He speaks English!

I know.. all I seem to talk about with Belly Boy's progress is his speech, but it really is pretty amazing. This little guy has had to adjust to three different languages in his 2 years on Earth. It's pretty astonishing how well he understands English after only being around it for about 7 months. He speaks English and understands more than we sometimes realize.

It's pretty cool seeing how God has made our brains. I mean, if you had moved me to Ethiopia back in March and checked on my progress in speaking Amharic today, I would not be as far a long as Minte is in English. God has specially designed babies brains to pick up their parent's language really fast. (even though they may pretend they don't get it when you say "No!"). Once we get older, our brains lose some of the ability to learn a new language so fast.

We have a speech therapist coming to help Belly Boy with his speech because he is behind compared to other kids his age. But these are kids who have heard English all their lives. I think he's doing well for 7 months. He says phrases like, " 'Miss Bossy'. Naughty!" and even sentences like " I want down!" His sentences always start with "I want" and then he adds the part he wants. Once he said, "I want ANOTHER biscuit!" Probably the most impressive part though are the words he knows like, "mail", "music", our names, and tons more. You can actually have simple word conversations with him, but be careful how you ask questions because he will answer, "Yes or No!"

He is adjusting well to our life styles. Right now he is quietly sitting on my lap listening to Veggie Tales, (my kind of boy, music!). He knows our schedule pretty much and though he doesn't especially enjoy going to bed, he knows the routine.

I've said this before too, but we LOVE having him in our family. He is perfect for our family! God is so good!

Changes in Six Months

Right now I'm watching videos of Belly Boy from Ethiopia. He looks so sweet and babyish. He has grown up in the six months he's been home. His face has changed and his personality has changed as he's gotten more comfortable with us.

It's funny though, because we have several videos, but they're all SO long. Like we have one of Mom feeding him in Ethiopia and it's gotta be like ten minutes long. All of him eating. Yeah. But he was so cute, and we didn't want to miss anything.

The specific video I've been watching is of Belly Boy "opening up to us". We were so excited that he was finally acting normal around us. That normal though is nothing to THE NORMAL Belly Boy.

In the video, we keep getting excited when he slightly smiles and laughs or when he makes a cute face. We now recognize these faces as the ones he gives when he is around new people that he doesn't know. Wow! He has changed so much from the quiet, sometimes nonresponsive little guy we met. He now jabbers constantly, laughs loudly, grins constantly, tattles normally, and loves us naturally!

I remember back when we thought it was so cute how he swung his arm when he walked. And sometimes his leg when we were holding him. Now we recognize those movements as showing us that he's really nervous.

As we've gotten to know Belly Boy better and he's learned to love us, he has opened up for real to us. And I am so glad he's what he is now and not what we thought he was. He's so much more fun this way!

And you know what else is funny and cool? He rarely shows nervousness as much as he used to. It's like he trusts us so much, that he can meet new people and places without fear. In fact, he ADORES going places and gets excited when we ask if he wants to go somewhere. God has worked so much in little Belly Boy's life!

Couple Minutes Later as I Watch More Videos-

It's funny. I recognize and remember certain faces, expressions, and actions Belly Boy does in these videos. But it's more like I'm watching some other kid. Or that Belly Boy has two different personalities. I can't imagine the Belly Boy I know now acting this way. So weird.

Two Ethiopia Pictures

 When I see this picture, (actually when I see any picture of our Ethiopia trip), I get a feeling in my stomach, remembering my stay there. The picture above is what we saw every day from our window. It's a very familiar picture.

And the sheep, (with LONG tails), that visited almost every day.