Sweet Dreams

Just a couple of sweet pics tonight of my sleepy kiddos. Helen was up most of last night with an earache. She cried in her sleep and ended up vomiting every 15 minutes for a couple of hours early this morning. It wasn't until about 1:00 this afternoon when she was seemingly fine that she mentioned that her ear was hurting and I finally put it all together. So, off to the Dr. we went and sure enough, another ear infection. I am hopeful that with a couple of doses of an anti-biotic in her, she will have a much better night of sleep. (Hopefully I will too!) She and Pooh seem to be sleeping pretty soundly.....
Here is Beckett's favorite thing to do at bed time. He puts on a head-lamp and reads until he gets sleepy. He doesn't have a night stand with a lamp on it, so he got resourceful with the head lamp. That way, he doesn't have to get out of bed to turn off his over head light! Tonight he was reading about Extreme Sports. I hope he doesn't get any crazy ideas!

Now when we head to bed, I can't help but think about little Will "T" and wonder what he is doing. Is he sleeping well? We certainly rest easy knowing that he is being well cared for at Hannah's Hope. I just can't wait to have him tucked snug in his bed here at home with us!

Good Night to All! Sweet Dreams!

Whirlwind Week/Mega Post!

Aren't those just the sweetest little hands? I can only show bits and pieces of his cute little self on the blog, but if you see me, you better believe that I have my little book of pictures ready to whip out and share with anyone who asks! "He" by the way, has a name and although we are not able to tell his given Ethiopian name on the blog, we can tell you that we have decided to name him Will. We are planning to keep his given name as his middle name. That name begins with "T" so he is Will "T" Harper. When Beckett and Helen were born, we chose to not find out if we were having a boy or a girl. So each time we had to have a boy name and a girl name picked out. When Helen was born, we would have named her Will, had she been a boy. We just love the name and as with both of our biological children's names, the name honors family members. Sean's father and grandfather both share the middle name Willard. Although we shortened it a bit, we wanted to give Will a strong name that honors two very special and influential people in Sean's life!

So, this past week was a complete whirlwind. We were so excited and blessed to receive our referral last Monday! It came at the beginning of a very busy week as we were planning a MEGA yard sale for Friday and Saturday. About a month ago, we decided to have a yard sale to help off-set some of the expenses that go along with an international adoption. So many friends and family members donated items for us to sell and it was amazing! After our garage was full, we had to stack stuff in our living room. It was over-the-top! So, not only were we busy organizing and pricing yard sale items, we were now finalizing all of the paperwork for accepting our referral! That included a couple of conference phone calls with our agency and with an international pediatrician, as well as getting signatures and having many papers notarized! Needless to say, we were quite busy. But it all came together and turned out great! We sent our acceptance of the referral back to AGCI last Thursday afternoon and it arrived in their office on Monday morning!

Quick summary....my sister, Susi came in town on Thursday night and we went to Beckett's baseball game. Came home at 9PM and made signs and came up with a game plan for our set up. We slept for a couple of hours and then Sean, Susi and I got up at 3:30AM to begin to set up. Sarah and her kids, Susan, and Nana and Papa showed up at 6:30 to help us finish getting set up. (Fortunately, the majority of the items were already priced bc there was SO much stuff that it took all of this time just to unload it from the house to the driveway!) Our first customers showed up at about 7:00 and we worked all day long and did it all over again on Saturday! It was hard work, but a lot of fun. So many friends blessed us by coming to help, by donating items to be sold, by baking yummy treats for our bake sale, and by generously giving way more than their purchased items cost! At our "check out" table, we had a picture of Will and a sign telling why we were having this sale. It generated a lot of talk and we enjoyed being able to tell everyone all about this journey of adoption. Everyone was so positive and encouraging! It was just an amazing weekend!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. This first one was taken bright and early on Friday morning. I just wanted to remember the set up and how much STUFF we had to sell! To the left was our "check out" station with the baked goodies and bottled water for sale!

Here is Helen paying for her items. (That is our friend, Matt, taking her money!) Nana took Helen shopping at her own yard sale, and she got to purchase some of the things that she had been checking out in our garage since they had been donated! (Auntie Mame, do you recognize our cash box? That is the jewelry box you gave us full of your old jewelry! It made an awesome cash box!)

It was my initial intention to photograph all of our friends and family who helped and who came to shop! However, this became quite impossible. It was funny how one minute we would have no one shopping, and the next minute there would be 25 people there who needed help or were asking questions. That was great but I missed getting pictures of lots of people! I thought I'd go ahead and post some pics of a few friends who came by, but these are just a few! Everyone was so kind to drop in and visit, help, hang out and eat bake sale items! Here is my sweet friend Carrie and her mom and grandmother! She was celebrating her 30th birthday with a special girl's day, and they came by to support us!

This is one of Sean's former youth group members, Jesi with her husband Kyle and their little girl Blayke! They came and visited for a while and we got to see how much Blayke has grown!

The Kirkland family was a very valuable asset to our yard sale! Sarah came early in the week and spent a whole day helping me price items (along with Nana and Papa) and then she also returned on Friday and Saturday mornings at 6:30 and spent all day helping! She also baked lots of goodies for the bake sale! The kids were here to help as well as to play with Beckett and Helen which was lots of fun for them! We appreciate them so much!

Our neighbor Matt stopped by with Carson and the twins, Noah and Turner to breeze through the sale and see what they needed! Martha (Matt's wife) isn't pictured here, but she was so sweet to coordinate our bake sale! It was so nice to have those goodies for sale. People really seemed to enjoy having the opportunity to purchase something yummy to eat. Especially those hard core yard sale people who go so fast and furiously all morning! Thanks again, Martha! (And thanks to Nana for making sausage biscuits to sell on Friday morning! I'm not sure how many were actually sold, because I think they were eaten up pretty quickly by all of the workers!) :)

Here is a picture of my sister Susi with Beckett on a piece of exercise equipment that was for sale! She helped us so much! She is a visual merchandising specialist and she helped us to lay out our sale in a very "marketable" fashion! We loved having her with us for two nights! We just don't get to see her very much and I'm sorry that we had to work so hard and didn't get to play much, but just having her here was such a blessing!

So many people helped us in so many ways and we want you all to know how much we appreciated your help!

Last week was such a whirlwind, that Sean and I felt like we had barely had a chance to talk! We would lie down at night, exhausted, and try to cover the items that needed to get handled the next day and then we would fall asleep in minutes! So Sean decided that he would take Monday off so we could just re-group and connect as a family! On Monday we headed to Tellico Plains to the Cherokee National Forrest for a day of rest and relaxation! It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. Of course, relaxation for Sean includes a fly rod, so here is a picture of him doing what he loves! He also spent time teaching Beckett some of the finer points of fly fishing and Beckett did really well! In fact, he caught a few fish on his own! He is anxious to tell about his day and to share a few pictures on his blog, so we will try to work on his post sometime on Tuesday afternoon. Check out his blog, The Slam, in a day or so to see his fish and hear how he describes the experience!

We had a picnic lunch and the kids even braved the cold water temps so that they could float down some small rapids in their inner tubes! They had a blast!

I'll leave you with a couple of silly pics of Sean and Beckett and then one of Helen and me. We had a great day as a family enjoying the wonderful weather and just being together.....our favorite thing to do! Now we just enjoy these days with the anticipation of adding Will to the hullabaloo as soon as we can get him here! :)

This is our prayer for all of our family and friends who went above and beyond the call to make this weekend's yard sale a huge success. We love you all!

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Numbers 6:24-26.)

A Special Day!

What an amazing day. We are so happy to share with you that today, we received a referral of a beautiful 6 month old baby boy! We were totally taken by surprise to get the call so soon! He is perfect in every way. The next couple of days will include lots of paperwork and a conference call with our agency as well as an international pediatrician, and then we wait some more. God has definitely been preparing our hearts for this little guy because we were instantly in love! This has been and continues to be an incredible journey and we are amazed at each new turn to see how God is working!

This is a busy week for the Harpers! I think I made Beckett's day when I told him that we had decided that this was going to become a Spring Break week! I had spent the morning preparing for our yard sale by making phone calls to local newspapers and designing a flyer all to advertise and I was planning to begin Beckett's lessons after lunch. Well, that is about the time that we received the call. Needless to say, I quickly turned on the waterworks and became a bit scatterbrained, so it was clear that school would not be happening today. When we looked at all of the paper chasing and continued preparations for the yard sale that are on tap for the next few days, we decided that an impromptu Spring Break was in order! We will be doing school until the beginning of June, but that is OK....just one of the blessings of homeschooling!

I'll post more in the next few days after we receive a packet from AGCI with more info and we learn what the next few months will look like for us! Thanks for your continued prayers!

We have been blessed!

Just Catching Up!

What a week. We have been homebound most of the week with Beckett. He was sick last Saturday morning with a virus and his fever finally broke on Monday evening, only to re-appear on Wednesday evening along with cold symptoms. I took him to the Dr. on Thursday and he tested negative for everything he was tested for, just had a cold and absolutely no energy. His fever broke on Thursday evening and he has continued to improve, although he has very little appetite. He has lost 6 or 7 pounds in the last week and still isn't back to normal!

Grankaki and Auntie Mame came over on Thursday to bring items for the yard sale and to help us get organized. Thanks for all of your help!

Here is a picture of B and H being silly with their crocs. They were trying to make it look like they had short legs.
This picture is for Aunt Susi. Remember this sweater? It is a "Smartwool" brand sweater that she bought at REI. It is a women's XL. Unfortunately, Susi accidentally threw it in the washer and dryer and it shrunk considerably! So, she gave it to my sister in law, Kathy, bc she is the only person that Susi knew that might be able to wear it. Well, last week, Kathy sent some things for the yard sale and we found this sweater in the bag. This is the same XL sweater, but it looks like Kathy might have shrunk it a little, too, because now Helen can wear it! She should stay nice and snug next winter! :)

And finally, the River Dogs played this morning after they had their team picture made! (Beckett is on the front row in the middle.) He had to miss 2 games last week while he was sick, so he was glad to get back out there today! He had two singles and a double and made another great stop at third combined with a good throw to first! The River Dogs finally won a game today! Extra innings....20-17! What a fun game! So glad they won! They are a great group of boys!

2009 Easter Memories

Make a Smilebox greeting

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you,who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. *1 Peter 1:3-5

Random Pictures

Well, we are hanging out on a Saturday afternoon, trying to decide if Beckett is well enough to travel to Brentwood for Easter! He woke up early this morning with an upset stomach and all that goes with it! He is beginning to feel better, but he isn't going to play in his 3:00 baseball game. He is pretty bummed about that. We were hoping to leave after the game and drive to Brentwood to spend Easter with my parents, but we haven't decided what to do yet! So, in the meantime, I thought I'd post a few pictures from the last few days!

These first two pics are of Beckett trying to do his best Toby Mac jumps from the fireplace! They both had fun doing this one afternoon this week!

Catchin' some air!

We are having a Yard Sale in a couple of weeks! So many people have been bringing tons of things to sell. Thank you all! The only problem is, that Helen goes through everything and decides what she wants to keep. Bailey sent a huge garbage bag of her old "Build-a-Bears" and Helen has had SO much fun with them. I don't know how I'll ever convince her to put them in the sale! She has fun lining them up and talking to them. I took this picture after she had put them all in the chair (along with several of her stuffed animals!) See if you can find her little face peeking out in the crowd!

And finally, I love this picture. Helen found this dress in her closet the other day and it has become her favorite. She has worn it for three days in a row. She wears it with the pink sparkly shoes that Grankaki gave her for her birthday and she loves to swing around in it and watch her skirt fly around! I took this picture after she had been riding her bike and came in for a sip of her Icee!

Hope you all have a blessed Easter celebration with family and friends!

New Number

So, I'm trying really hard to be creative, but I just want to get it out there! We got the email that we had been waiting for today and our new waiting list number is 4! We are amazed and thrilled! This part of the process has moved so much faster than we were told to expect. We certainly hope it keeps up! February 19th we were placed on the list at #21. March was #12 and now, April #4! There are no words. I just keep saying WOW! I can't even speculate as to when our referral might come! I did email our case manager to see if she could shed any further light on a time frame, but I doubt that she can give us much more information. I think that I will probably just start freaking out every time the phone rings!

When I was trying to think of some way share our new number, I found lots of pictures of four leaf clovers! Aren't they pretty? I guess I've never found a four leaf clover, but I'm feeling pretty lucky right now! I love how the leaves of a clover are in the shape of a heart. Our hearts are certainly being drawn to this new son and brother that God has chosen for our family! I like the one that is in the shape of a cross as well.

Then I found this little poem about a four leaf clover. I love that each leaf represents hope, faith, love and luck! This journey has certainly required faith and a hope for the future. We are already falling in love with our little one!

What a blessing to receive our new number during this Holy Week while we are reflecting on our Heavenly Father's amazing love for us!

And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father.Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you.

Galatians 4:3-7

Springtime in Tennessee!

It snowed off and on all day yesterday! The kids ran outside during one of the quick snow flurries and tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Usually, by the time we would get all bundled up, the snow would have quit. But this time, they were able to play for just a few minutes! You've got to love east TN weather!

River Dogs Opening Day!

Today was a great day for baseball! Beckett had his first game of the season and it was a lot of fun! Here is a picture of him in his uniform (pre-dirt) before we left the house! Sean is Beckett's coach again this year! He has a lot of dads who have been great help. It is definitely a team effort to get the boys in the right place at the right time! Here they are before we headed to the field.

Here is a picture of Helen with Gracie who is a sister of one of the players. I love how she is checking Helen out! We are going to have a long (and expensive!) season with Helen! All she wants to do is visit the concession stand. I'm going to have to remember to pack lots of snacks this season! Granbob kept her in hot dogs and chips today!

Here is Beckett at bat. He had three hits today. This is the first season that they have kept score and had three outs. In fact, there are several new rules. The last two years he played in the instructional league. This year, he is in machine pitch and there are a few new things to get used to. He hit the ball well today!Here he is playing third base. He made a great stop at third today, but didn't know that he had to tag the player. He stepped on the base and his mom thought that should have been enough, :) but evidently, there is some rule that you have to tag them when some other combination of events has happened! That sure seems like a lot to keep up with! He has a lot to learn defensively this year! (and I do too!)

Here is "Coach Harper" with the team after the game. They lost their first game, but they all had a great time!

My mom and dad (Grankaki and Granbob) came over from Brentwood to watch the game. Nana came too, but I didn't get Beckett's picture with her. Thank you all for coming to watch Beckett play! He had quite a cheering section!

We couldn't help but think about how many more years of coaching and sports we have in front of us. The fun has only just begun! We wondered this afternoon about what kind of sports "baby Harper" will want to participate in. Can't wait to meet him and begin to learn about his little personality! Hoping to hear something on Monday about our waiting list number!

What we've been up to!

Well, I promised that I wouldn't get caught up each month in anticipaiting our new number on the waiting list, but I have found myself checking email every 15 minutes for the past few days! We are supposed to receive an email during the first week of this month to update us on our new number and I'm getting a bit obsessive! I have tried to get signed up with a Yahoo group list from our agency that will help me to figure out "unofficial" numbers, but I haven't had any luck. Maybe I haven't been posting on it correctly because I'm not really sure how it works. Anyway, based on what I've read on another group list from our agency, there have been some referrals of baby boys in the last couple of weeks, so I expect that MAYBE we will be in the single digits this time! We are getting excited as we anticipate seeing his little face for the first time!

So, here are some pictures of things that we've been busy with over the last week. Beckett had a scrimmage last Sunday afternoon and Sean put him in the catcher position! Yikes! He is playing machine pitch this season, and there he was, with all of that equipment on, squatted down while 40 mph baseballs came flying at him. He basically just acted like a ball stop, which is what Sean said he is supposed to do. He didn't really enjoy it. He thought it was boring! Saturday is opening day for the baseball season! Stay tuned for pictures of the "River Dogs" in action!
On Wednesday mornings, Beckett goes to Nana and Papa's house so that Helen and I can participate in BSF. (Bible Study Fellowship) I will usually send a book for him to read and a couple of skills pages for him to review and then we do our lessons in the afternoon. He usually gets those things done pretty quickly and gets to do fun stuff with Papa and Nana. This week, he found that he has a new "gift." (Direct quote from Beckett!) The picture below might give you an idea of what this new found gift is, but if you are still confused, check out his blog, The Slam to find out what he did for a good part of Wednesday morning. Then, if you can tell me how I can incorporate this into his first grade curriculum, just let me know! :)

On Monday afternoon, my Aunt Marilyn (aka "Auntie Mame") came to visit. She lives in western NC, so it isn't too far from us. We went over to the lake side trail and did a short hike on Monday afternoon. Sean and Beckett went to BSF that night and the three girls went to dinner at Abuelo's. We had a great time.

On Tuesday morning, we headed downtown to The Tennessee Theater for a school matinee presentation of The Magic Tree House Musical. Beckett has always enjoyed the Magic Tree House books and he and Auntie Mame used to play "Jack and Annie" a few years ago when I first started reading these chapter books to him. We thought she might enjoy going with us to see the musical. It was a great show and we all had a good time. Here is a picture of AM with the kids in front of the theater!

Here is a picture inside the theater of them with a cardboard cut out of "Jack and Annie." Helen must have seen something more interesting!

So, that is the latest news! Hope everyone is doing well! Stay tuned for our waiting list number! I hope to find a message in my "inbox" soon!