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.

Red Couch Pics

It's tradition that every Chinese adoptive family has to get a "red couch" picture at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. I think Paul did an awesome job picking out Karis' Chinese outfit...even a bow! The last pic is of Karis and her Chinese sister, Maddie, who shared their first 9 months together at the Laibin City Orphanage.

Karis Cuteness!!

Here are the latest and greatest of Karis!! Today was their big embassy appointment and it sounds like it went well...she will be coming home soon! Each morning we get on the computer and all sit on the couch and get so excited for the pics of the Paul's day. As soon as we sit down Elli excitedly says, "Karis Paul Papa on puter!" I cannot wait to see them each morning in person:)

In Guangzhou

They arrived in Guangzhou, the last stop before home. They will be working with the embassy to finalize paperwork to bring her into the US. Paul said they are staying on a beautiful island and the hotel is amazing. Karis has a pretty nasty cold as some of the other babies do, too. But Paul said Karis' personality reminds him of Elli's. She constantly laughs and smiles and is a little comedian. By looking at the pictures, she's pretty attached to her grandpa.