He's Home!

Friday Paul and Dawson got home and it's been wild, hilarious, trying and yet so fun! We can't believe how adaptable Dawson has been! We walked in to the house after arriving from the airport and after clinging on for a few minutes, he was off chasing Elli and they broke out in dancing! He loves to laugh and play and though Paul is still his favorite, Grandma and I are OK and can soothe him. He is still having issues with jet lag...any suggestions out there? I think Elli can get the most laughs out of him and he would love to play with her all day long, but he is a tornado coming through, throwing and crashing things while Elli loves all of her teacups and dolls in order so.....I see a lot of potential issues:) Dawson is not one bit shy, so we are loving his love for life and bright eyes! Just don't invite us over for dinner because meal time is insane! But all of your prayers and support have been amazing. Seriously, this has gone shockingly better than we ever expected and Paul repeats how much he felt your prayers as their time in India went so well! Thank you Jesus, we are all in the same continent

He's Coming Home!!

Dawson is in good hands...Gotcha Day was Friday and it went amazingly, shockingly well considering the day! Paul and John got to hang out at the orphanage for a while and then headed to airport to catch a flight to Dehli because Dawson's medical appointment was Saturday morning. Before they left for the med appointment they skyped and it was hilarious to watch sweet Dawson. He would look from Paul to John to Paul to John with the biggest eyes. Poor guy, trying to figure out his new situation. The last few days Dawson has been super laid back and just hangs out. But this morning we skyped and he's a new boy!! He was laughing and throwing a ball and trying to take his shirt off and enjoying life! Now it was a new hilarious to watch him be so active and verbal... I am realizing how lively our household will be! Another praise...Paul has his Visa envelope and they are free to come home. They still have 2 more days, but the Taj is on the list and maybe a little shopping. So far, I cannot believe how well this is going! Thank you Jesus! Thank you John for helping Paul through Dehli belly and burning his hand and being a fun uncle to Dawson!

Off to India!!

The journey continues...Paul just joined his brother, John, and they left for India today! For some reason I have really grieved not being able to go on this trip. I guess I have thought about this trip for a year and really looked forward to it. A special time with Paul as well as seeing where Dawson has been living, meeting his wonderful Ayahs and just take in the culture. But, I am still in no shape to do such a thing and so thankful to John who is helping Paul! Friday is the big match day!!

Dawson, your daddy cannot wait to meet his son!

Happy Easter!

Sharing some pics from this weekend. We had a great time at the Evans for a Easter hunt on Saturday and today enjoyed a wonderful Easter service and lunch. Elli had Bethany/Abby's Easter dress/jacket/hat and felt very special today. She would not take off her jacket despite the hot Texas weather and had to tell every stranger that she had a hat on...had to bribe her to take off the outfit! I have to note, too, that getting good pics of Elli these days is a little difficult.

Dawson Is Officially Ours and Ready to Come Home!

We just got these photos and I fell in love with this guy all over again. We also found out that his passport is in Ms. Anju's hands...the last step! Paul won't pick him up until May due to immigration needing more paperwork because of Karis joining our fam as well as for other reasons. A lot of our other friends are heading to India this week and we are pretty jealous, but know he will be in our arms soon!

The Many Faces of Karis

Karis is an amazing joy in our lives!! She is even sleeping through the night minus one bottle at 2am. Thank you Jesus for such a fun loving, laid back little girl.

Sisters...and God's Faithfulness

It couldn't have gone better...I met Paul and Karis at the airport (I couldn't believe how nervous I was) and after Karis hadn't slept for 30 some hours she giggled when she saw me. She melted my heart. It was 10pm when we got home, so I gave her the bottle and she fell asleep in my arms...yeah, I was hooked. She slept through the night (except one dirty diaper), we couldn't believe it! The next morning Paul got Elli out of bed and she was absolutely ecstatic that Daddy was home! After they played for a while we asked if she wanted to meet Karis? She came into her room and watched her sleep then we woke her up. We sat the two beside each other and Elli told Karis all she knew like all of Karis' body parts and Karis thought this girl was amazing. We also noticed they both like sucking on their left thumbs:) Karis was a sweetie all day, laughing and cooing. It couldn't have been a better first day.
Then night came...Karis didn't get the memo that her new world is on a different time zone. At 11pm she woke up and laughed and smiled at Grandma until 4 or 6 am. Then it was time to sleep. Well, we got her up and she wasn't too excited about that and tried to keep her awake a lot of the day and she didn't like that either. By evening there was no way we could keep her awake and put her down at 7:30pm. But 10 pm was her party time and she thought it was so fun to see Grandma again. Paul was on major jet lag and I am still in first trimester ickyness, and night time is the worse for nausea. So poor Grandma. Finally at 3 am, Paul took Karis and went for a walk and tried it all. She went to sleep close to 6am again. Elli had woken up, too, at 3, so Grandma ended up with Elli, and everyone was so nice to me, but I couldn't sleep through the commotion, so I woke up this morning pretty sick. Needless to say, our household was a mess. I had to be out the door at 8:30 for a doc appt. with Karis. I laid on my bed this morning crying out to God..."We can't do today...I can't do today...I NEED you!!!" After a while, I started feeling better, it even felt good to get out of the house and see the pediatrician. She was so helpful and got Karis signed up for Early Childhood Intervention because Karis is pretty delayed and helped out with other things, too. Karis, of course, was a total trooper and still cooed and smiled for everyone, though she had a few hours of sleep. I felt so encouraged and knew that at my worst hour God had provision.