Happy New Year!

(Thursday)
I'm sorry I don't have any photos to post tonight. Last night we just had too much fun to pull out a camera (or I was too lazy). After keeping Ellie from taking a nap yesterday afternoon, we put her to bed minutes before our company arrived. We had a quiet game night planned with our friends Jonathan and Faith and Kristen and Viktor. We made up individual scorecards and during the hours leading up to 12AM we played a variety of different games from board games to Wii games to wagering our accumulated points on which colored marble would reach the end of Ellie's marble race track first. It was nice to spend some time with friends, even though we'd just returned from family time, the student center (and Wilmore in general) has been SO quiet!


One thing we didn't consider about putting Ellie to bed slightly early was the fact that she might wake up early. She did wake up early, but is still enjoying becoming reacquainted with her toys after being away as well as playing with some of her new Christmas things so we managed to catch a few more light z's while she played in her room.



It's hard to believe we are starting our third year of parenting her. It's really getting to be a lot of fun as her communication improves and her frustration and frequency of tantrums diminish. We're getting to see more of her fun-loving personality emerge and enjoy getting feedback from our interaction with her. I noticed this morning that she is now making sentences using "It's..." For instance, this morning she climbed on a stool and starting pointing to items on Nathan's dresser saying. "It's Daddy's hat! It's Daddy's... [fill in the blank]." She climbed into his chair and proudly announced, "It's Daddy's chair!" She's using all kinds of verbs now which has enabled her to convey even more, though her sentences are still only 3-4 words at a time. Then tonight as we were putting her to bed giving hugs, she said to Nathan, "One more squeeze!" Melt my heart.



As we look forward to this next year, I hope I can add potty trained to her list of accomplishments. Yes, she is three and a half and still doesn't see the point. Even now that she can say "pull ups" and "diapers," she can't seem to remember consistently to tell us when she has to go!



I also hope that this year we might be able to anticipate adding to our family! We mailed our dossier for a second adoption up to our agency in Michigan last week and hope that it will be able to be sent to Albania sometime later this month to begin translation. The wait time for Albanian adoption can be very unpredictable so we don't know how to answer the question you may have in terms of when we 'might hear something'. Before our dossier can be submitted to the Albanian Adoption Committee we first need immigration approval from our government here in the U.S. and lately that has been taking several months now that we (the USA) must comply with the Hague Treaty on International Adoption. In light of the increased wait time, Bethany has permitted the balance of our paperword to go ahead with translation so it's all ready to go when we get the necessary approval from USCIS. We'll keep you posted as to the status of our immigration approval, but really don't expect that Bethany will be able to submit the complete dossier to the committee in Albania until later this spring. Then the real waiting will begin.



It's fun to ask Ellie now if she wants a sister or a brother (we haven't specified a preference). Originally (as in, within the last month) she would answer, "brudder." Now, she says, "sister." Pretty cute, even though I know she doesn't really know what that means yet.



Thank you for your interest in our lives. We will covet your prayers with us as we do this again! We know how incredibly rewarding the adoption experience can be, but we also know how many anxious days and nights are in store; that there may be times when our patience will run thin; when we will doubts and questions. Thankfully we serve a sovereign God who has all of our days in his capable hands, including the days of a child whose life will someday intersect with ours. We can't wait.