I'm soooooo in LUUUUUVVVVEEEEE!

We received new pics of you today from Mrs. Jarvie - Thank you SO MUCH STACI!!!

Oh Ellie - you're truly the cutest thing we've EVER seen!!!



I could honestly sit & stare at you ALL DAY! But I'm not the only one! Your daddy & brothers talk about you all the time too. They all had to have pictures of you to keep at their desks at school. Caleb has decided where you're going to sit in the Suburban...next to HIM of course. And he is constantly bringing you up quite randomly in conversation :) Jack has figured out that he only has 9 more days of school until he gets to come & get you....and your poor mom....she has a count down going until she gets to hold you for the first time!

Bottom line - we've all been Ellie-paited!!! Similar to twitter-paited - but we've all been smitten by YOU my little one.

You have one more goody bag coming with the Gore family. They're coming to pick up your friend Solome! Then less than 2 weeks later we'll be THERE!!! We're praying so hard that you'll come to love us as quickly as we've come to love you. We know that God planned for you to be a part of our family before you were even a "twinkle in your mother's eye". Even your dad says that he feels so complete now that you're a part of our family! I feel the same way too! I've packed you all kinds of fun toys & books to play with on the way home. And just a "few" cute little outfits. I did find the most ADORABLE shoes for you. They're soft like slippers - hopefully they'll fit you my little Cinderella!!!

I know wishing the next 3 weeks away won't make it go any faster - and I know that God has things we both need to do in the next 3 weeks. So try to soak up as much Ethiopia as you can. I promise I'll try to soak up as much as I can when I'm there so I can help you remember it!!! I know it's going to be hard for you to leave - but we'll all be here to help you.

Be safe my sweet girl! Stay healthy! Give your nanny an extra big hug from me & tell her thank you from your mommy. I know she's going to miss you a LOT!

Love,
Mommy

thoughts.....

So I could spend all day dreaming about Ellie! Surprise! ha!

I think about things like...
*how cute her hair is going to look in pig tails
*how long until I get to hear her laugh
*how long until she realizes I'm her mom
*how much she'll be laughing watching the antics of her brothers
*what she'll look like when she's grown
*if she'll ever understand why all this had to happen
*what her favorite toy will be
*what if she doesn't like PINK???

Then my to-do list starts banging at my door - I beat it back by crossing a few more things off it - and go back to day dreaming :)

One of the comments that's really struck me - and we've had more than a few along this line - is:
Your little girl is going to be so blessed! Her life will be forever changed!

It really got me thinking about how Christ adopts us too. Sometimes, often times, we don't even know what we were saved from. We can be adopted as children and never know what paths our lives would've taken! What God has saved us from. I've been struck by how much I love Ellie already. Both Matt & I have been almost overwhelmed with our love for her! She doesn't even know who we are! Yet, we'd walk over hot coals for her....we'd spend 7 months completing paperwork and getting shots, having our home inspected, our relationships examined....and she doesn't even know who we are.

God pursues us with an even greater love - a perfect love. We don't even have to know who He is. We don't have to understand how He works. He LONGS to hold us close, to tell us it's going to be ok, to comfort us, to encourage us, to tell us we can be ANYTHING! It doesn't matter the circumstances we grew up in. It doesn't matter the circumstances we find ourselves in now. He just wants a relationship with us. He wants us to call him father. To let him hold us close.

Thank you Lord for pursuing me with an everlasting love. For never giving up on me. For leading me besides still waters. For restoring my soul. Help me to be the mom that Ellie needs. Give me the words to answer those tough questions when the time comes. Thank you for the opportunity to be your hands & feet to this world.

Ellianna update!!!

Here's what another adoptive mom said about Ellie!!! THANKS so much for the update KRISTEN!

Hi Jill!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!! I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED your daughter during my visit. I truly could NOT take my eyes off of her the entire time! I can't begin to tell you how much I fell in love with Ellie - there is something about that child that is amazing and I was totally drawn to her. She has the cutest little face ever! It is hard to say what kind of toys she liked because they had so few! She seemed to hold the rattles a lot, but she was definitely an observer. There were a couple of toddler boys who were wild (not in a bad way - just really, really active!) and she would sit and watch them with a very amused look on her face. One time I saw one of the boys walk by another kid and bop him on the head and Ellie busted out laughing. It caused all of us to laugh. She loves to be tickled and tipped upside down - she would giggle! I did not see her crawl, but I think that is more likely to the fact that the kids don't leave the room much, so most things are essentially within arms reach. I think all the kids will catch up fast. My only recommendation is get an exasaucer and/or a Johnny Jump Up. I bet Ellie's leg strength is weak so a month or so of standing in that and building up some muscle will have her walking in no time! She looked perfectly healthy, though. In fact, most had horrible colds (my girl included!) but she didn't seem to. I mean, they ALL have runny noses, but she didn't sound congested like the others. Oh, but that sweet face!!!!!! She seemed like a perfectly happy child - very calm. I never saw her cry the whole week we there.
My friend Jennifer and I held her a ton. She is so cute. Oh, I am SO HAPPY that this little beauty is going home. I had no idea she was HIV positive. God bless you for being called to her. She is precious! Congratulations!

She is SO totally going to fit in PERFECT with her new family!!! Laughing while kids bop each other on the head - yikes - she's going to giggle her day away :) YEAH!

I am still crying....

Tears of JOY!!!!! God has lined up even the filing cabinet keys & the right number on the paper!!!!!

ELLIANNA is OURS!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Now we wait on travel dates!

Our case is in court NOW!!!

So we rallied the prayer warriors tonight!!! Nothing like modern day technology to help that along :) Christie, Rockelle, Janice, Kim, Gina, Mom & Dad joined Matt and I for an "old fashioned" prayer service - via conference call!!!

Our case is in court RIGHT NOW!!! 4 of the last 5 cases to appear were delayed because of silly reasons - like someone didn't come to work that had the key to open the locked filing cabinet with all the paperwork - kind of silly!!! So we figured - it's time to call in the reinforcements!!!

We prayed for:
*a successful court date - duh!!!
*that the judge would be astounded at the completeness of all the paperwork & sign off with out a blink!!!
*all the other cases before the court today
*Ellie's transition
*our transition
*traveling mercies
*Ellie's health
*our community accepting her
*that Ellie come to know Christ & raise her children to know him
*homes for the other orphans
*that we would be the parents she needs
*that God's will be done!!!

We've prepared for rain.....but God's the only one that can make it rain. And if it rains we'll praise him....and if it doesn't rain we'll praise him!!! Blessed be the name of the LORD!!!

AMEN

So do you think I'll be able to concentrate in bible study tomorrow?!??!?!?! I'm praying we'll have the answer before then!!!! YEAH!!!