2012

I can't believe I'm sitting down to write my farewell post to 2012! I have to giggle when I look back at my 2011 farewell post, where I wrote that we were expecting 2012 to be a quiet calm year with no big surprises. We had no idea what excitement 2012 held for us!

February - We celebrated Brent turning 31, Brody had a rootin' tootin' cowboy party when he turned 5, and we also spent a scary night in the ER with Brody with severe bronchitis/asthma.

March - Brent went on his first mission trip to the jungles of Nicaragua, my dad and I took the boys to Dallas for a few days of fun, and we began to talk more seriously about adding to our family through adoption.

April - Brent ran his first Warrior Dash, and we felt The Lord confirm this beautiful calling of adoption.

May - We decided on and met with our agency, completed required adoption workshops and seminars, filed and received approval for our Application 1, Eden turned 1, and Brody graduated from preschool!

June - This month started off rocky as Levi fought a bad ear infection and ran high fever for 5 days, but it turned out to be an amazing month, after all. We completed the never-ending paperwork associated with Application 2, and even though we were unaware, our precious Lennox was born! We ended the month celebrating Levi's first birthday on the beautiful beaches of Navarre, FL.

July - We were thrilled to receive our App 2 approval early this month, shared our news with friends and family, and completed our much anticipated home study a few weeks later. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, and spend the next week relaxing at Lake Claiborne with family.

August - We celebrated a slew of family birthdays, were officially placed on the Wait List, and Brody started kindergarten!

September - We spent Labor Day at Lake Chicot with the whole Webb bunch, honored my grandparents for 60 years of marriage, traveled to Jackson, MS for our USCIS fingerprinting appointment, and had a super fun Mickey Mouse party at the park for Beckett's 3rd birthday!

October - Brent and I celebrated 7 years of marriage, and the kids dressed up as a ninja, an elephant, and a sock monkey for Halloween.

November - It was quite fitting for this to be a month of thankfulness, as we were ever so grateful to see the face of our beautiful little boy for the first time! We also were so joyful for our friends who brought home their baby girl from China!

December - We celebrated a wonderful Christmas with our families!

Was this year what we expected it to be? No way. I couldn't even have dreamed up the plans The Lord had for us this year. It was a year of celebrating, a year of learning, a year of trusting, a year of balancing, a year of waiting, a year of much joy, and a year of just trying to draw closer the Father.

What am I hoping for for 2013? I hope to become more patient with my children. I hope to be a better wife. I hope to worry less and love more. I hope to make lots of fun memories with Brody, Beckett, and Levi. I hope this is the year that Lennox is placed in our arms and joins his forever family. I hope my family stays healthy. I hope to be an encourager. I hope to draw nearer to God and learn to trust more fully in Him.

Happy 2013, everyone!

Levi Hudson {18 Months}

Levi, you turned a year and a half a few days ago, and I can see you quickly changing from baby to toddler right before my eyes. Though you have become quite a handful lately, you are so much fun and we absolutely couldn't love you more!

You weigh 25 pounds, but I'm not sure about your height. We will just say "short" :)

You are wearing size 18 month clothes, size 4 diaper, and size 5 shoe. You have such short little legs, we usually have to roll a cuff on your jeans or roll up the top of your athletic pants. You finally like to wear hats again! Yippee! This makes me very happy. You went through a stage where you wouldn't wear them and it broke my heart.

You still looove your bottle. I know, I know. Usually just before nap and bed time, but right now you are cutting all four of your molars and two lower lateral incisors...and frankly you are just a hot mess. So, I've been giving you your bottle a little more often recently in hopes to keep you in a better mood. We will have it gone before you turn two ;)

You are just a so-so eater. I can tell you don't eat as well when you are taking a bottle of milk more frequently, so that's another reason I really try to limit them. You love turkey, cheese, crackers, green peas, potatoes, corn on the cob, hot dogs, pasta, pretzels, and all fruit. Especially strawberries, bananas, oranges, and blueberries.

You used to be a really great sleeper. You still are for naps. You will nap for 2-3 hours everyday. You fall asleep by yourself in your crib. Usually with no fuss at all. Now, bedtime? It used to be the same way. But Brody and Beckett got new twin beds for Christmas, so Brody started sleeping in his room again in his new bed. Apparently, you had really gotten used to him being in your room, because for the last week or so, you have been fighting sleep terribly. And once you get to sleep, you wake up every hour or two all night long. It's so sweet that you miss him. It could be the teeth too, but tonight (and I know this is terrible of me) I put pillows under the covers of that bed to make it look like Brody was in there asleep, and you fell asleep instantly without a fuss. You are something else. So, I'm not sure how we are going to work this out. Hopefully you'll adjust ok!

When things are going your way, you are sweet and happy and loving and cuddly, but when things aren't going just the way you want them, watch out. You are very independent and VERY hard-headed. You can pitch fits with the best of them and can usually hold your own in a dual with your older brothers. You wear me slam out some days, but we are working through it, and I can see things beginning to get better! :)

And despite your busyness and the many fits, you have so so so much sweetness in there, too. You love to cuddle when you first wake up. You wrap your arms around my neck, lay your head on my shoulder, and squeeze so tight. You melt me when you kiss me and say "Love you." You have the sweetest grin, the best laugh, and you are definitely a mama's boy! (Although you are pretty crazy about your Pawpaw right now, too.) You love to be outside and run! You love to play your new musical instruments, throw a football, slide, dance to music, play with the toy tools and workbench, and watch Fresh Beat Band!

We love you a whole lot, sweet boy!! You bring so much fun and laughter to our days, and we can't wait to see what you'll be doing next!! Happy 18 months!

More than I can imagine...

There was a teeny little shadow of darkness that followed me this Christmas season. We had so much joy. So much love. So much to be grateful for. But Lennox was half a world away, celebrating his very first Christmas without us. Someone else got to see his eyes light up at the sights of Christmas. Someone else got to hold him in their arms and squeeze him tight on Christmas morning. And while I am so incredibly grateful for this family who is loving him until we are able to bring him home, my mommy heart aches to be the one to do those things with him. But like a sweet friend (who is waiting for her daughter from Ethiopia) wrote in her blog this week - It's not about ME. I can sit here all day long and talk about what I want and when I want it to happen, but it's not about me, and it's certainly not up to me to decide. This is about our Lord getting the glory for this beautiful thing called adoption. And I know He is doing something so much more than I can even imagine. It's going to be a long hard journey waiting to bring our son home, but I can't wait to watch the Lord's plan unfold.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21

One thing that helps in the wait is sending Lennox care packages each month! We get to enjoy gathering little things for him, and have such joy knowing he will get to enjoy new warm clothes and a couple fun toys! We are sending his 2nd care package out tomorrow with hopes that it will reach his agency by the time he goes in for his 7 month visit in January. We are still waiting for an update on him and new pictures. Hopefully we will receive some after his visit on the 14th of January!

Something fun we did this time was send over a recordable Hallmark book! I was able to record myself reading the story, and they tell us the foster moms are very good to let the children listen to the book so they will be familiar with our voices. So exciting to know he may be listening to me read him a story very soon! I know there will be a language barrier there, but he will be hearing my voice, and I love to think about it. We also included a small soft photo album filled with pictures of me, Brent, and the boys. We have also been told the foster mom will routinely show him our pictures, pointing us out as Omma and Appa (Mommy and Daddy in Korean). So fun! We hope to send new pictures over every few months so that he stays familiar with our faces.

Once quick side note - Korean adoptions have been on hold for a couple months now due to the government there trying to work out the kinks in a new law that was passed this summer. They added a new step (adoptions now have to be approved by a family court in Korea before the child's exit permit can be approved), and families who had hoped to have their children home by this Christmas are still waiting. Please, please join me in praying that things will get moving again soon after the new year! These families have been waiting for their little ones to come home for over a year now, and I know they are so ready to have them in their arms. Please pray for the officials in Korea to be knowledgable in how to complete this added step quickly, and pray for God to place an urgency in their hearts to get these babies home with their families as quickly as possible! Thanks so much!

Christmas Morning!

I was shocked when the boys slept until almost 8:00 Christmas morning. That never happens. But I was sure thankful for the sleep, seeing how we were up pretty late the night before.

Brody and Beckett excitedly ran into our room yelling, "It's morning! It's morning!" Levi was still asleep, so they patiently waited for me to wake him and change him, so they could all go into the living room together.

I went in first so I could take pictures of them, and then they followed me. It's so fun to see their little smiles when they see what's waiting for them in the living room. I love Christmas morning with these babies!

(The pictures posted backwards, so start from the bottom and scroll up if you want the full effect...)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

This is such an exciting time when you have little ones!! Getting everything ready for Santa to come! It was pretty late when we made it home from my grandparents, so Levi was sound asleep. I tucked him in bed, and then we dressed Brody and Beckett in their Christmas pjs! They were so excited!! They had the sweetest little grins on their faces as they sprinkled their reindeer food on the lawn. We got out our special Santa cup and saucer and set out the milk and cookies. Then, it was time to tuck two very sleepy, yet very happy little boys in bed. We said our prayers, talked about how the next day was Jesus' birthday, and they actually fell asleep very quickly!

Christmas {Eve}

Before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve! This is always a busy busy day...but such a fun one!

We started off the day eating an early lunch at Brent's grandfather's house. It was great visiting with his family that we don't get to see very often! Then, we headed to my dad's to exchange gifts with him and Karen.

Levi sure got a cool car for Christmas!

Brody must have thought little brother needed his help opening up his...

fun new camping chair!

The older boys love their new Tablets!

After we opened all of our gifts, we headed outside to enjoy the nice weather! Little Miss Eden sure was looking cute!

All Levi wanted to do was play in Pawpaw's Gator...he is Pawpaw's boy for sure!

Hey good-lookin'!

Shooting their new Nerf bow and arrow. I think we all enjoyed it as much as they did! :)

Pawpaw took Beck, Eden, and Levi on a fun ride!

Then we had a Nerf shooting contest!

Levi enjoyed being pushed around in his new car...I see lots of walks in our future!

After a fun evening at Mimi and Pawpaw's, we went to my Mawmaw's house for Christmas with the Webb clan! I actually didn't take any pics there other than on my iPhone, but it was super fun! We came home late and finished getting ready for Santa's arrival! Coming soon!