Adopting Friends = Harrison's Buddies

The Lord has blessed us in the fact that 2 of our very close couple friends are also adopting.

Jim & Adrienne are accepting the referral of a little girl from Korea. She is 1/2 month older than Harrison. Oh my goodness...what great friends they'll be!!

Hannah and Clay are adopting domestically and are turning in their profile TODAY! We worked hard on wrapping it up last night. It wasn't too long ago that Hannah was helping me do something very similar. When we tried to adopt the twin boys domestically last summer, we had to put together a profile. We sat at the very same table and worked hard on it. Our agency had us send a book and letter to Harrison's birthmom so I was able to tweek the one from last summer to make it fit perfectly for us now. What memories we are making as we journey this season of life together.

Hannah and Clay are only open to African American or bi-racial babies because of the great need for this here in the U.S. Their adoption will probably move very quickly so this will be another buddy for out little guy that will be close in age. Since we live right behind each other...this will be quite fun!

It is so nice to have a community of people that have the same calling on their lives as us. We have an understanding of what one another goes through like NO ONE else. We can giggle at the questions people ask and the comments people have because we all get almost the same ones. Soon, we'll all get the same looks too. Each of our children will look very different from us or our spouses. Most of the time, this is a great opportunity for us to spread the word about adoption. Sometimes...that's not peoples intentions when they look or ask, but that's ok too.

I am just so thrilled that Harrison is going to have a multi-cultural circle of friends. Friends that he can share the history of adoption with!

Tonight, Brandon and I will head to Jim and Adrienne's for their gold party fundraiser. We didn't have gold because we had our gold party but we are taking food to share with all of the guests and we'll be there for moral support :o)

When you hear orphanage...

you probably think horrible things. Unfortunately, in some areas/countries/orphanages this is the case. I am very confident with the fact that this is NOT the case with our little ones current temporary home. We are so blessed and so thankful for this. Our agency just started this home for birth moms and for orphans when they began their program in Taiwan. As a result, Harrison and his bunk mate Janie (whose mom and I found out we live a state away from one another and have big plans for our little ones to stay in touch) are the first ones to be testing it out :o) The same sweet lady that sent us THIRTY pictures also replied to me when I inquired about how things seemed to be going for him there... with this:

They are really good at giving them tummy time...they give him toys to play with or chew on.lol He is a sweet boy and you could tell the nannies love him...he may be a little spoiled when you get him, but at least you know he was loved. I didn't see him outside when I was there, but I know they go out in the courtyard with them. He was very alert...looking around at all that was going on. Seemed to like being up so he could see everything. He seemed like a happy boy, wasn't fussy at all when we were there. Enjoy the pictures.

This made me super super happy and even more confident about the care he is receiving until we can hold him in our arms and knock his socks off even more with the love we are so eager to share with him!! This doesn't make me want to get there any less quickly. The longer he's there...the more bonding, attachment, and *potential* devlopmental delays we *might* *possibly* come up against!! Again...we're claiming Jeremiah 29:11 for him!!

And to top it all off...Harrison's mommy with Harrison's favorite NEW cuz! & this picture was not made without LOTS of effort. The nurses didn't bring him back to his mommy and daddy until almost 11 lastnight. I was the last family member standing. I WAS going to hold my nephew on his birthday. It was just a quick hold though...my eye lids were like lead and then I wanted his mommy and daddy to have some time to love on him alone!!

Surprise Surprise

A very kind family went to Taiwan and worked with the director of the orphanage Harrison's in to bring her son home. I don't believe he was staying in the orphanage beause I only know of one other sweet little girl in there with him. Anywho, they ended getting to see him. She (the wife) took 30 ...yes THIRTY pictures of Harrison for us! How kind! It was such a surprise...we were not expecting this! I've only seen 5 so far because I had to set up a Skyp# account to log in for the last 25! My favorite though is of his open mouth giggly smile. His little nose is even scrunched up! I couldn't put that in it because that would give too much away!!

*we can't put a full picture of our boy up on the internet until he is legally ours...for safety reasons*

Introducing....

Lucas Tuff Alford

born at 5:43 pm

weighing in at 8 lbs

20 1/4 inches long

He's a sweetie! My sis had a hard time but pulled through right before they prepped the O.R for her to have a c-section. I was blessed to be dubbed the "motivator" for the last half of the pushing. I was able to go into the room and provide a few laughs along with some sensitive but helpful cheerleading. I was blessed to be able to witness the miracle of childbirth.

I am amazed at how strong my sister is! I am very impressed! We had 22 people in the waiting room between both families. Please pray for her healing...Tuff was a little bigger than where he was coming from and my sister is in some pain, but again...handling it like a champ!

Lucas Tuff Alford is on the way!!

My sisters dilated to a 4 and her waters broken! She just had her 1st really strong contraction! We're waiting patiently! Come on Tuffy! Aunty's ready to love on you!

Blogger background fix to happen soon!!

Sorry ya'll! I am working on getting someone to help me fix my messed up blogger background. I have no idea where to start. I am going to try and get it fixed pronto. My normal blog designer is out of town!!

My sister is being induced tomorrow to have our nephew...so we'll have lots to share tomorrow!!

Proud!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1 Corinthians 1:24

After several years of hard work, Brandon graduated with his Bachelors in Business with an emphasis in accounting on Saturday. He got his prize! He actually finished his coursework in December, but he had to clep out of Health and Ethics in America in order to get his diploma! He did both in 1 day with 1 try! He is so super smart and talented and I am so super proud of him and thankful for him and blessed that he chose me to be his wifey! He is now deciding what to do next...the pursuit of an MBA was what we originally thought, but we've just started tossing the idea of law school around!! We're asking the Lord to make it clear for us!

Myself, Brandon's mom, and Brandon's dad were able to attend the commencement ceremonies!




The rest of Brandon's family met up with us at a restaurant off of a local lake that we all like! The weather wasn't cooperating so we couldn't take the boat to it.


Then we played around on the docks feeding the ducks for quite a while. I got a shot of the grandparents with the grandkids! It won't be long before our Harrison the Great joins the clan!