Amazing Grace and a Safe Haven

MORE LOVE for Valentines Day!

2012-02-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

You know what would make the perfect Valentines gift. MORE LOVE! Make that a MORE LOVE t-shirt! Order yours in the next 5 days and we'll make sure you get it by Valentines Day. Just click below and start ordering now!!!

click here for the MORE LOVE STORE

And so you'll know just how much we LOVE all of you for your support, we will be giving away some gifts on Valentines Day, too.

Three winners will be receive CD collections from the Christian recording artist, Wendy Jepsen. Her CD collection includes Deeper Still, Meeting the Gaze, Song of the Bride, and Sanctuary.

One winner will receive a copy of the book Fields of the Fatherless by C.Thomas Davis.

One winner will receive a copy of Disney's Lion King Diamond Edition, which includes Blu-Ray and DVD.

Three winners will receive a MORE LOVE t-shirt in the size of your choice.

One winner will receive a beautiful set of Silpada silver, coral, and cinnabar jewelry, a necklace and bracelet, valued at over $300!

So how do you win one of these awesome gifts?!? Well, if you have already made a purchase from the More Love Store or if you have made a donation towards our "Rose Puzzle Fundraiser" then your name is already in the drawing.

But if not, there is still time to get your name in the drawing.

All people who make purchases between now and midnight on Valentines Day will be entered to win. Or for every $10 you donate you'll get your name in the drawing. So if donate $50 you'll get 5 chances to win and 5 pieces will be added to our rose puzzle.

I just had to share a sneak peak of some sweet little baby toes. Baby K or Baby L???

So, for what its worth, call it mother's intuition (or maybe just wishful thinking) I sort of feel like our girls might be home sooner than we expected. Of course, I'm praying for that day and night, but I've started to feel it. So I'm also starting to feel like I've really gotta give this fundraising a kick in the pants. If you can help, please consider doing it now. If you have already helped, as many of you out there have, please share this information with others.

But most of all please pray for my girls. Pray they stay healthy, pray they grow and thrive, pray they really do get home soon. My arms are aching for those baby girls.

Ballet Lesson

2012-01-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

Grace gives her brothers a lesson in ballet. But she insists they wear their "tattoos". Oh, these little people make me smile so big!

Don't forget to check out our Valentines Day Giveaway!!!

Nine great prizes are coming your way!

On Off On Off On Off

2012-01-29T19:33:00.000-08:00

And this is why, little by little, we have had to remove all the furniture from our house. JoJo can and will climb anything!!!

one MORE to LOVE--a new Baby L

2012-01-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

So I'm still feeling a bit unsettled at the loss of little Lisette, but we knew that if we were going to bring home 2 little girls at the same time that we would have to get another referral very quickly or the two girls would be way out of sync on their court process timeline. So we dove right back in and we were very blessed this weekend to have received another referral.
I'm taking a lot of deep breaths. And I'm a bit afraid to exhale.

Our new Baby will be another Baby L. As you might already know, our kids names are in alphabetical order: Grace, Haven, Immanuel, Josias, Baby K, and Baby L. We thought about skipping the L since it already belonged to Lisette and moving on to M, but we couldn't find just the right M name. Plus, I was a little concerned about my kids having to have the conversation later in life about why there was no L in their family name list. So there will be a Baby L. I'm really excited about the name we have chosen. And who knows, maybe there will be a Baby M some other day???

As with Baby K, we are not sharing any pictures on the blog until the girls are safely home in our arms. Then you will be forced to see hundreds of their pictures. But until then just imagine a tiny little face with creamy brown skin and sleepy eyes. Chubby cheeks and a beautiful cupids bow set of lips. Baby L looks remarkably like Baby K. So much so that I put the pictures side by side on my computer to make sure they weren't the same baby. If nothing changes, they will definitely look like sisters.

I can't wait for you to see them for yourselves!

I can't wait to hold them in my arms. So here we are, back to waiting again. Send up some prayers for us that this wait has a happy ending. I don't know if my heart can take anything less than a fairytale from here on out. I'm ready for a house full of princesses!

Yes, This Is A True Story

2012-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

"Hey, what's that in Carrie's driveway? Is she going on a trip? It looks like an airport shuttle van."

"Did she get a new job? Maybe she's driving one of those park and ride vans to make a little extra money."

"Oh, maybe Brian finally started his own daycare!"

Nope. That's just my new ride. My new minivan. Or should we call it the MAXI-VAN. No, let's not call it that. Sounds too much like maxi-pad.

As I mentioned in my last post, our minivan lost its transmission on the way to church on Sunday. Some part of it snapped in half. Which rendered the van undriveable and beyond reasonable repair. It would need an entirely new transmission. Which would cost about $2000. Which was very possibly more than the value of the van. Plus, we were going to have to get a vehicle with enough seats for our soon to be family of 8, so it seemed senseless to put that much extra money into the old van. Mind you, we didn't plan to buy a new van until probably June, and only if we got really lucky on our tax return. So this did not come at a great time! But car trouble never seems to be convenient.

So as soon as our wonderful friend Melody had dropped us off at home (thank goodness for Melody!!!) I got online and started researching large family vehicles. We were looking for a 12 passenger van with no bench seats, captains chairs instead. This was such a specific sort of car that there were only a handful of them available within a 50 mile radius of our home.

That evening some more wonderful friends named Geraldine and Mike said that we could borrow their (lovely, clean, unspoiled by toddler hands) car because Mike was going to be out of town for few days and it would just be sitting at the airport anyway. What a life saver. We could actually leave the house with the kids and go car shopping. The next day we all hopped in their beautiful, vanilla scented car and headed out to the car dealership that seemed to have the best online deal for what we were looking for. It also happened to be the farthest away from our house. At least a full hour drive one way. Go figure.

A little more than half way there and I hear screaming. I turn around to discover that Grace has thrown up. A lot. OMG. In Geraldine's pristine leather seated car. OMG.

By now we are, of course, in a terrible part of town. But puke doesn't wait until you're in a nice neighborhood, now does it. We take the first possible exit off the interstate, pull into the first possible driveway and find ourselves at a "pay by the hour" kind of motel, if you know what I mean. We immediately agree that this is not where we want to stop and park the car. We continue down the road a few more blocks and find a grocery store. A little better.

We strategically lift Grace out of the car so as not to jostle any of the puke. Miraculously, she has not hit the leather seats, only a small dollop on the carpet. WhOOO! I breathe a small sigh of relief and try not to inhale the scent coming off of Grace. She is covered in goo. So there in the parking lot we strip her down, try to repair her and the car with baby wipes and then re-dress her in a spare set of clothes.

Oh yeah, we didn't have a spare set of clothes for Grace. She's 4, what does she needs spare clothes for anymore. She doesn't have leaky diapers or really get dirty very often. OMG.

So we put her in a pair of Manny's pants, the only spare piece of clothing in the diaper bag (yes, Manny has a big butt, but his legs are considerably shorter than Grace's) and her fleece coat (it is 75 degrees outside). That is all. No shoes and socks, they've been defiled.

Now what? We decide to carry on, push forward. We're more than halfway to the car dealership, what other disasters could lay in our path? Oh what fools we are.

We continue down the highway and arrive at another bad neighborhood where the dealership is located. It's one of those businesses where you can buy a car by making weekly payments to a greasy business manager with an extra long pinkie fingernail. What are those for anyway?

Brian goes inside while I stay in the car with the kids. He fills out some forms, test drives the car, fills out more forms. I have now been sitting in the car for an hour. The alternative is to go inside with all 4 kids. No thanks. Finally, Brian wants to make sure that we can safely attach our car seats to the van seats. While Brian, JoJo, and I are testing the seat, Grace suddenly realizes that she can't see me anymore and she starts to panic. Our car is just on the other side of the van, but the van blocks her vision and she FREAKS out. And wets her pants. In Geraldine's car.

I come around the corner and Grace's tear streaked, hysterical face is pressed against the window of the car. I can see that she is screaming and out of control. When I open the door I see she is now wearing a very wet pair of Manny pants. My poor girl. She has had a really hard time emotionally as of late and not knowing where we were when she suddenly had to go to the bathroom was just too much for her.

JoJo's sweat shirt jacket, zip it up, but Grace's legs in the arm holes and turn it into a makeshift pair of pants. This will get us home. I hope.

Brian comes out of the dealership and breaks some very bad news to me. We have to come back to this place again TOMORROW. NOOOOOOO!!!!! They need a copy of our insurance, 3 pay stubs, 2 bills that show proof of residence, and a list of 5 references. OMG.

We head home. It is now dark, we are hungry, Grace is half naked. It's pretty late to go home and cook so just before we get home we stop into Taco Bell to grab some tacos. While in the line of the drive through, wait for it, Grace throws up again! Just 2 highway exits from our house. UGGGG! This time we were prepared. We had given Grace a soda cup to get sick in if she felt it coming again. The girl has good aim. Not a drop on the car or herself. But by now she is a sobbing, smelly mess. And I feel like one as well.

We get home and survive the night with no more puking. We suspect it was car sickness brought on by watching DVDs on the big screen TV in Geraldine's wonderful car. So as we head out the next day, arrive at the dealership without anyone puking, peeing, or even crying. So far so good. This time we have to both fill out forms and sign paperwork so we are forced to drag our entire circus act into the dealership. Did I mention its not in a great neighborhood? Most of the car salesmen are heavily tattooed and smoking cigars with the plastic filter tips out in front of the building. We get a few stares. OK, we get all the stares. The crack addict and prostitute trying to buy a car that day are not nearly as interesting as my pack of puppies.

Clearly the business manager does not want us in his office for very long because this part of the car buying process happened with lightning speed. Suddenly we owned the car and we were on our way. By the time we got home the smell of puke had mostly dissipated from the back of Geraldine's car. Our new van had no broken down or exploded on the long drive back. And we are now the proud owners of a really big vehicle that makes that "BEEP BEEP BEEP" sound when you back up, like a garbage truck. Our neighbors will always know when we're leaving the house. It's a very glamorous ride!!!

OK, its not. But its big. And I have 3 extra spots that are ready for to be filled with baby car seats. So lets bring'em on already!!!

The moral of the story:

No more TV watching in the car.
Never leave home without a change of clothes for every child.
Never loan anything to my family and assume you will get it back in the same condition!

And most definitely--don't say "Oh Lord, what else could go wrong this week" because just as soon as you do you will wake up and step into a puddle in your bathroom. Yep, this morning I discovered our toilet has a small but steady leak in the tank. "Oh Lord, what else could go wrong this week"!!! Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that. :)

When It Rains It Pours

2012-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

I need a really big umbrella.

I don't mean to complain but so far this week...

our daughter-to-be, little Lisette, died of malaria
our dishwasher broke. Not a big surprise, since it has only washed about half the dishes we put inside of it, half the time.
our garage door opener is broken.
and on the way to church this morning our minivan broke down. We had just gotten off the highway when it felt like it slipped out of gear. We managed to limp into a gas station parking lot, but we fear that the old beast is ready for the scrapyard. She has over 190,000 miles on her. If we have to replace the transmission it will easily cost $2000 to $3000. Oh, I'll bet that's $2000 that we don't have because we are in the middle of adopting two more children. But we also don't currently have a car payment so its not really in our budget to purchase a new (make that used) van. Although we know that we can't all fit in our current minivan once the girls are home because it only seats 6 and we were going to have to break down and buy a new car at some point. But really, did it have to happen this week. REALLY. I didn't have enough to feel crappy about already!

Sorry, I just needed to get that out of my system. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself at the moment.

Obviously, somebody out there thought we were just a little too happy, a little to comfortable. Well, I don't care what else goes wrong this week, we are adopting two more baby girls, dammit! Baby K is going to come home with a sister. We are going to have 6 kids. Maybe more! Don't push me! We are going to have to buy a 10 passenger van after all.

So I guess we will just have to hand wash our dishes. And use the front door instead of the garage. And not drive anywhere as a group for awhile (the car I drive to work only holds 4 people). And we'll eat a lot of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. And we'll just save a little more and scrimp a little more and pray a little.

And we'll lean on all of you a little more. We'll need your prayers and we'll need your help to get our girls home. I'm really needing that cup of coffee about now.

Where Baby K is living right now there is no dishwasher (barely even running water), no car and no garage. Not even any mac and cheese. Maybe all this is just to remind us how important it is to stay the course. To stay humble.

Well, I'd better be going. Grace and Haven are throwing me a birthday day party. No, its not my birthday, but I think Grace senses that we all need a party. She made every one party hats and everything. We're having chocolate milk and popcorn. I feel better already!

P.S. A HUGE thank you to Melody for coming and picking us up and driving us home in the middle of church. You are the BEST!

Baby L

2012-01-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

As quickly as she arrived and became our daughter, she was gone.

It is with a very heavy heart that I write to let you all know that yesterday afternoon we lost another referral. And this time it is a real loss to the whole world. Another baby lost to malaria.

Our precious Baby L was to be called Lisette Josephine. She was chubby and sweet faced. She had chocolate brown eyes and a head full of hair. I imagine from her picture that she had a calm disposition and was a cuddler. But I'll never really know for sure.

I do know for certain that she was loved. Loved by a family an ocean away. Loved by a foster family that had the awful responsibility of preparing her burial and attending her funeral. Loved by a God who knew her little body was suffering terribly and took her home where she would never feel pain or hunger or loneliness again.

I'm going to show you her picture. I want you to know her. I want to show proof that she existed. That she mattered to someone. That she was loved dearly.

I'm really struggling with this loss. It was impossibly hard to be at work today, to make small talk and concentrate on things that suddenly seem so ridiculously unimportant. I wanted just wanted to curl up and lay on the ground.

I know there are probably people out there thinking this is an extreme reaction over a child I never met. And I suppose I should learn to guard my heart. But I just can't. The moment I see that picture for the first time, they're mine. It has happened with all of my kids. I didn't have to carry them in my body for 9 months, I just had to stare at them on my computer for a few hours and they're mine.

So my daughter died yesterday and I just really don't know what to do with that. I never even got to kiss her and tell her I loved her.

Why do babies like Lisette have to die? Maybe so that adults will stop for a moment and look at the way we've screwed up the world.

So the next obvious question is what now?

Well, I can't stand the thought of another baby dying without a family. I can't stand the thought of our girl's room not being filled up with sisters. So we wait again. We are ready to move forward with another referral because there are millions of children in Congo, more and more everyday, who will spend the rest of their lives in an orphanage. And Grace and Baby K need another sister. And I need her too.

I'm going to finish Lisette's rose puzzle and add it to our bouquet. She was a beautiful little flower.

How About a Cup of Coffee?

2012-01-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

So imagine you and I decide to meet at Starbucks for a chance to catch up on old times or maybe get to know each other better and enjoy the treat of a fancy coffee. I order my favorite, a white chocolate mocha. But when I get ready to pay I realize that one of my kiddos (probably JoJo) has snatched my wallet out of my purse and I don't have the money to pay for my purchase. You're such a nice person and you can see I'm a bit embarrassed at this awkward moment and you very graciously offer to make it your treat this time. You pay the bill of around $10 and we enjoy our coffee together.

Price of two coffees at Starbucks--approximately $10

Cost of the adoption of two daughters--approximately $25,000

Your help making it happen--PRICELESS!

So we got some news yesterday and the news is GOOD!!! We are the very happy, very excited, very anxious parents to be of TWO beautiful baby girls. They are not twins but both look to be about 6 months old. We've been waiting for a couple months since we lost the referral of our twins and the wait has not been easy. But no part of this adoption waiting game is. So once again we are off to the races. The court process has been started for both girls, we just got a very important approval document back from the US government last week. We are cruising.

And we are humbly asking for your help because we still have about $15,000 to raise before these girls make it home. We still have to pay for airline flights, lawyer fees, visas, translation fees, medical exams, lodging and meals while in country, foster care expenses, taxi rides, phone cards, etc, etc, etc.

Yes, this all makes me sweat a little. Right at this minute, my forehead is a bit damp.

So I am going to take a deep breath and remind myself that we are doing the right thing, these girls need a home and we need these girls, God will provide. Everything is going to work out just fine.

Here's where you come in. You are an important piece of the puzzle. We need you to buy us that cup of coffee. We are asking for donations of $10. About the price of two cups of coffee. One for Baby K and one for Baby L. Or maybe one for me and one for Brian because we are probably going to need a lot of caffeine in our bloodstreams in order to stay up at night with two more babies.

Donate to the Wood Family Adoption Fundraiser HERE

As a way of recording our progress and as a special memento to show our girls just how many people out there helped to bring them home, we are putting together two jigsaw puzzles (before kids I was a huge jigsaw puzzler and I'm really excited to have an excuse to put one together now). For each contribution of $10 we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece and add it to the puzzle. If you give more than $10 we will put your name on more pieces. Hopefully both puzzles will be completed before the girls come home (which could happen anywhere between March and June) and we will have raised $10,000 (each puzzle is 500 pieces).

Grace and I looked at hundreds of jigsaw puzzles and she picked out these rose shaped puzzles to represent her sisters. My girls will be like a beautiful bouquet of flowers in my home.

We will also add your name to our bucket for drawings of some gifts to give back to you. I have lots of Silpada jewelry, a highly coveted Disney DVD, some more Congolese gifts. Who knows what goodies we will come up with! We'll be doing drawings about every two weeks and your name will be added for every $10 you donate or for every item you purchase from our MORE LOVE store! If you can't afford to donate, and we certainly understand if you can't, please consider donating your Facebook status or a blog entry to let others know about our fundraiser.

Donate to the Wood Family Adoption Fundraiser HERE

In addition to our rose puzzle fundraiser, we will still be selling our MORE LOVE t-shirts, sewing more Congolese blankets, making more Africa applique shirts, working some extra hours, selling everything in our house that's not nailed down, and praying for some kind of tax return that arrives in this decade (not holding my breath on that last one).

Shop at the MORE LOVE Store HERE

Somehow we will find the funds. Somehow it will happen.

You are part of that somehow. You are a piece of our family puzzle. So what do you say, how about a cup of coffee? It'll be my treat next time!

Mommy, Take My Picture!

2012-01-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Anybody know a good agent? This kids a natural born camera hog. I think he could totally sell grape juice or cough medicine or.....loc gel!!! I love those eyes, those dimples, that completely contagious smile. And those cutie patootie twists. Oh, he just melts this Mama's heart!!!

I just love that Havey Wavey!!!

Grandma Makes Things

2012-01-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

Most grandmas make great pies. Or pretty quilts. Or decorative flower arrangements.

Not Ione.

She makes furniture. And not just any kind of furniture. BIG. HEAVY. FURNITURE.

She started doing woodworking about 10 years ago. She'd tried her hand at just about every artsy-craftsy pastime you can think of. But she didn't really find her niche until she started making furniture. In our home we have several Ione originals. Our coffee table, our king size head board, our night stands.

But her crowning glory of furniture construction has got to be THE BUNK BEDS! They are amazing, enormous, built to last hurricane, flood, tornado, and THREE BOYS!!!! Custom made to fit the boys bedroom and with each of their names engraved in their own storage drawer.

Behold, THE BUNK BEDS!!! They were the best present ever.

Ione, guess you'd better start working on the girls beds :)

And a Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

The house is quiet as I creep up on the end of the first day of 2012. It was a pretty good first day. We got all the laundry on the couch folded. We managed to rid the house of most remaining sweets so Brian can get back on track with the last push on his diet. The river of snot that has been running out of Manny and JoJo seems to be slowing down a bit.

And we might just have some good news to share in the next few days. Yes, that kind of news. So say a little prayer for us.

2011 has been a year full of change and blessings for our family. On this day, one year ago, we got a phone call to tell us to start packing because we could be leaving to go pick up Manny and JoJo at any time. Of course, as it turned out we didn't leave until the end of March. But we probably needed that extra time to get our ducks in a row. And our ducks have certainly not been in any kind of a row since returning from that trip. In fact, traveling to DRC really turned my world upside down. If you didn't get a chance to read about it or you're new to my blog you might want to check out some entries I wrote right after we returned.

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part I

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part II

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part III

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part IV

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part V--an orphanage is no place for a child

Congo--the good, the bad, and the sweaty--Part VI--some final thoughts

Changing from a family of four to a family of six has been a huge transition. Bathing four, dressing four, feeding four, getting four into the car and buckled into their car seats, taking four to the grocery store. Everything takes a really really really long time. But the trade offs are well worth it. Four sets of giggles as we wrestle on the floor. Four sets of dancing feet rocking out to YouTube videos in my living room. Four goodnight kisses. Four beautiful futures.

And I guess all that wonderful is what led us to turn our four into six. Even before we brought the boys home in March we were talking about whether we would ever adopt again. In fact, I remember sitting on the scabies couch with Kristie Craig, both of us daydreaming about coming back for another girl. Or two. If one of the boys had been a girl we probably would not have adopted again. We probably would have thought two of each was just fine. But the plans were not ours to make. Manny and JoJo are most definitely both boys and our house feels out of balance with 3 boys and only one girl. Besides we couldn't say no to Princess Grace when she asked for two sisters, now could we! So we made the call in August to get the ball rolling again on another adoption for a baby sister. In October we were referred a set of twins and one baby sister suddenly turned into two. Then just as suddenly we lost the twins. But that picture of two girls just wouldn't get out of our heads so we have plugged along waiting for a referral for two more girls, two more sisters for Grace.

Speaking of Grace, this was the year she discovered that she didn't come from my tummy. Yes, it was quite a revelation for both of us. She has grown and matured so much as a four year old, but I didn't see this one coming yet. Read about how that discussion went here:

Are You Going to Tell Them They're Adopted?

We've ended the year with a lovely quiet holiday vacation. Lots of trips to the park, lots of movie nights and sleeping in. Unfortunately, tomorrow I go back to work. I'm glad to have a job because lots of teachers in Texas lost their jobs this year, but it is so hard to leave my babies every morning. Even if it is in the hands of my way-more-capable-than-me husband. I told Grace today that I wouldn't be there when she woke up tomorrow. She said "Oh Mama, you're going to miss me aren't you!" I sure am, Grace.

I'll end today with a link to one of my most read and most commented on blogs of this year. It was the post where I explained why we had decided to adopt again. Even though the Baby K mentioned in the blog is not the same one that will be joining our family, all the sentiments are still true!

What Every Child Needs

And finally, what every reader needs--some video clips of my kiddos. JoJo at the piano and Grace and Haven cutting a rug. Enjoy! And have a very happy new year! I plan to do the same.

Make a Difference--Win An iPad 2

2011-12-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

Help support an orphanage in eastern DRC and possibly win an iPad2!

Donate ANY amount at www.ourfamilyadoptions.org, (click on "Donate" tab and put *Kaziba* in the notes field) before midnight Dec. 31st. The 100th donor will win the iPad2, and dozens of children at the orphanage will benefit from your generosity.

OFA is doing amazing things in Congo to help those children left behind. This is the organization that helped us bring Haven, Manny and JoJo home and is also the organization we are working with to bring home two more daughters!

***NOTE*** we are donating and if we are to win the iPad2, we will be reraffling it to help us to raise the money needed to bring home are two new babies!! This little iPad2 has already been redonated to OFA and has already raised over $7,000 for orphans in the DRC. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could keep the momentum going??? See how much money this iPad can raise total... for orphans in the DRC, our sweet girls, and who knows what else?!?!? :)

Would you consider donating to the orphans in DRC??? And if you win the iPad2, would you consider donating it for a raffle to help us raise the funds needed to bring home our girls?!?!?!? Hope your all having a wonderful Holiday!!! Happy Giving!!!!!

Not every child is lucky enough to come home to a family. Please help those that need you so desparately in DRC.

Mugshot Monday--The Christmas Hangover

2011-12-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just better with kids. In spite of the problems we have had keeping the tree decorated and the philosophical differences we have with Grace over Santa Claus and reindonkeys, and in spite of the fact that JoJo was up at 6am and starting tossing presents around the room like he knew what was coming, Christmas morning with 4 littles gathered around the tree is just better.

This is our fourth Christmas with Grace, and of course, Christmas and Grace have a very special connection because Christmas Eve 2007 was her official adoption day. Our first Christmas together was spent in a hotel in Chongqing, China, with the Solberg family holding a simple Christmas church service in their room. Then dinner at "Cheers", the restaurant across the street, that was filled with beautiful Chinese women dressed in Santa dresses. On that first Christmas with Grace we dressed her in a little baby Santa suit of her own. Maybe these early childhood memories are what make Santa so important to her now.

This year's Christmas was a little more chaotic with the addition of Manny and JoJo, but filled with so much laughter and fun. The boys got a tent with tunnel attachment and it was a big hit. My friend Jackie described it as "a habit-trail for kids". Perfect for my little hamsters! Grace and Haven got some new DVD's. Haven's favorite has turned out to be The Princess and the Frog. Go figure. Grace got a pink pony with comb-able hair and a Barbie from one of my students that she absolutely loves. Both have been riding together all over our house.

Last night we took a long walk around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. On the way home Grace and Haven were singing "Angels We Have Heard On High". Here's how their version went:

"Angels we heard were high! Gloooooooooooooooria in ex-shell-sheesh-day-sir!" They sang these two lines over and over at the top of their lungs. They would stop to shout out "There's God" every time they saw a nativity scene on someones lawn. It was definitely the highlight of my Christmas Day.

But today we all suffered from a bit of post Christmas depression. The day after Christmas hangover! The kids were all a little grumpy, the babies were coming down with colds. The house was a disaster. Thankfully, Jackie said come on over. She cooked us dinner and our kids played for hours with no fighting. I guess we sort of had a little hair of the dog to end our day.

I am missing my future daughters a bit this Christmas. Wish they could have been home to enjoy the day, wondering what their Christmas was like. Praying we don't have to spend another Christmas without them. Because Christmas is way better with kids. And even better with lots of kids!

Wood Family Christmas Card

2011-12-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

Create your own free ecard

Mugshot Monday--Trimming the Tree

2011-12-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend we put up our Christmas tree. Since then JoJo has tried to climb it, Manny has tried to eat it, Haven has tried to electrocute himself on it.

And everyday since then Grace has redecorated it. Maybe a bulb or two has been adjusted. Maybe a candy cane or two have been consumed. On this particular day Grace decided it was missing something, so she added her own kind of Christmas decorating flair. Check out the "ornaments" that are currently calling our tree home!

hanger

hair rollers

dragon hand puppet

panda bear

baking dish from kids kitchen filled with Candyland cards

hippo hand puppet

red truck

wash cloth

etch-a-sketch

thomas the train

And I believe I see some mardi gras beads. This tree must be straight out of the pages of Martha Stewarts Living!!!

Mother Teresa Had a Lot to Say!

2011-12-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

When I was designing the MORE LOVE t-shirts I knew that I wanted to have a really eye-catching design. Something simple, but meaningful. So I started researching quotes. (I love quotes. It comes from my days as a competitive public speaking kid in high school and college.) Quotes on adoption, quotes on children, quotes on orphans, quotes on poverty. And then one day after probably 6 different t-shirt designs had been created and rejected, there it was--THE quote, THE design. And it came from none other than my favorite saint, Mother Teresa:

"I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

It just jumped off the page at me. It spoke to my heart, as the life of Mother Teresa has spoken to me so many times.

I am Catholic, sort of. I was born into a Catholic family. I was "christened" as an infant, went to CCD classes, and went through first communion. That was when I was about 7 years old. I pretty much haven't been back to a Catholic church on a regular basis since then for lots of different reasons. But I've always thought of myself as Catholic and I've always admired nuns.

Nuns are a puzzling character in modern society. They are selfless, giving, and devout. They don't get married, they don't have families, they live in poverty on purpose. They are the antithesis of the American Dream. And they dress funny. But nuns are, in my opinion, some of the most unsung heroes of our times and Mother Teresa has got be in the Top Ten List of All Time Best Nuns.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910. She died in 1997 at the age of 87. She left home at the age of 18 to start her work as a missionary and then shortly after became a nun. She is most famous for her work in India with the poor, orphaned, and dying. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Even now, in her death, she's kicking butt and has already been beatified by Pope John Paul II, which puts her on the fast track to sainthood.

Throughout her life of amazingly good works she was also talking up a storm, which made for some very good quotes. Mother Teresa had a lot to say:

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.

I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
Intense love does not measure, it just gives.

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

See, this woman could talk your ear off! All simple, but all so full of wisdom. And so full of love.

More LOVE.

Some days it is hard to keep all the junk in perspective. I imagine even Mother Teresa had days when she really didn't want to put on the habit, walk to work, and hang out with the lepers. But she did it anyway. Everyday.

Some days I don't want to love my neighbor, or my co-worker, or my husband, or my kids. But seriously, when I put on my MORE LOVE t-shirt and think about Mother Teresa and about my girls waiting to come home (whoever they turn out to be), I can't help but have a slight attitude adjustment. It's just what I gotta do. I gotta love until it hurts so that my girls and all the other babies out there in the world waiting for a family don't have to hurt anymore.

It's all about MORE LOVE.

Why Laundry Takes Twice As Long At The Wood House!

2011-12-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

Snow White and a Dozen Or So Dwarves

2011-12-12T17:31:00.000-08:00

My name is Snow White. I got that name because of my blinding white skin.

It is a terribly unflattering picture, but it is the best I had for tonight. It must be the camera :)

I live in a small cottage with Prince Charming and a whole bunch of little people. We are hoping that even more little people will be joining our cottage someday, but that is story for another day. Today I'd like to introduce you to the characters in this story.

Prince Charming!

Cheesy Dwarf

Surprised Dwarf

Pouty Dwarf

Sleepy Dwarf

Invisible Dwarf

Sad Dwarf

Scary Dwarf

Super Model Dwarf

Very Grumpy Dwarf

Lazy Dwarf

Stoned Dwarf--please no one call the authorities, I just caught him in mid blink.

So those are my dwarves. I know that on Mugshot Monday I usually share the pictures of the more attractive dwarves that live in my cottage, but thought you might want to catch a glimpse of these other dwarves that live here, too.

Oh ok, here are some happy dwarf pictures, too!

Spoiler Alert: Santa Claus is NOT Real, but Reindonkeys Are!

2011-12-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

Before we ever brought Grace home, we had decided not to encourage the belief in Santa Claus. I read somewhere that things like Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy can be very confusing to adopted children--"If you would lie to me about these people, what details of my adoption story might you be lying about."

We also didn't want to contribute to the commercialization of Christmas in our children's eyes. We didn't want this holiday to just be a mad gift grabbing event. We wanted it to be a celebration of our family. After all, Christmas Eve of 2007 is the day that Grace became our daughter. It is the day that our family was created. So it is not that we don't LOVE Christmas. We are just indifferent to Santa and presents. In fact, I am happy to say that none of the kids have asked for a single thing for Christmas. We don't have cable TV so they don't know that they are supposed to be begging for every new toy that gets advertised.

So imagine my surprise this year when suddenly Grace became insistent about the fact that Santa is real. We've had this conversation, or variations of it, over and over this holiday season.

"Mama, lets go visit Santa's house" (Santa's house, by the way, is a very over the top Christmas decoration display down the street from our house. On Saturday nights in the month of December, the owner of the home dresses up like Santa and passes out candy canes.)

"Grace, remember Santa is not real. He doesn't really live at that house."

"Yes he is, Mama. Santa lives down there."

"Grace, Santa is pretend. Just like a cartoon character. The man at that house is just somebody dressed up like Santa Claus, like for Halloween."

"Mamaaaaa, can we pleeeeease go see Santa's house. I want a candy cane" (Grace is like a crack addict about candy).

"But Grace, do you understand that Santa Claus is not real? He is just a man in a red suit. He doesn't bring presents to our house. Christmas is not Santa's holiday, it's Jesus' birthday. Christmas is the day Jesus was born" (well, sort of)

"Jesus was in his mommy's tummy?!? Like I was in a ladies tummy in China! How did Jesus get in his mommy's tummy?"

So this is where I stop the conversation. I'm not quite ready to dive into virgin birth, the birds and the bees, or Grace's complicated adoption story. I just want to get rid of Santa.

However, I do not want to get rid of reindonkeys.

"Reindonkeys" is what Grace yells out each time she sees a reindeer lawn display. She got a reindeer stuffed animal as a gift at one point and was confused about the reindeer name for something that so clearly to her looked like a donkey. So she solved the name problem and invented the reindonkey. I love reindonkeys. It makes me laugh every time she says it. I don't know when I'll tell her the truth about how reindonkeys don't exist. Maybe I never will and it will just be our special family tradition.

Good riddance Santa Claus, you have to leave, but your reindonkey's can stay.

And the Winner Is...Green Tuesday Giveaway Results

2011-12-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm 24 hours late. But hopefully for the winner, it is worth the wait. Thanks to all who purchased, donated, blogged, linked, shared, etc, etc. We will be doing more giveaways in the next few weeks so keep coming back to hear about some great prizes including some beautiful Silpada jewelry that has been donated to our adoption fundraiser. And please keep spreading the word to other readers. We have a fun new project just around the corner. But in the mean time--keep buying those shirts, blankets, and other items at our

MORE LOVE Store

Congratulations to the winner. We love you and we're so grateful for your support!!!

Mugshot Monday--Home At Last

2011-12-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

I've been away from my blog for over a week. I was out of town and I am so behind on every aspect of my life. So I thought I had better throw down some quick pics until I can get some really writing done. I have a lot of blog posts whirling around in my head, I just have to find some time to write. But in the meantime take a peek at these cute pies.

MORE LOVE Sunday--Daddy Love

2011-11-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

My computer is acting a little screwy tonight (hope its just Cyber Monday internet traffic) so I am squeezing in one quick pick for MORE LOVE Sunday. Daddy and the Bigs sharing popcorn and a movie. I love these moments.

By the way, I'm extending the Green Tuesday Giveaway by one week. I can't access my comments or my email. They keep dropping in and out. So keep shopping, sharing, and earning more entries!

Click here for more details.

My Incredible Shrinking Husband

2011-11-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday week Brian lost a pound. That's on top of the 39 pounds he has lost since August of this year. It has been incredible to watch.

One day he came home from running some errands and announced that he had signed up with Quick Weight Loss. There happened to be a location close to our house and he had heard it advertised on a local radio station quite a lot so he went in and signed up.

I was a little freaked out. Brian has been talking about losing weight for years. Getting back into shape, getting healthy. Being around for our kids. But we are typical fluffy Americans, with not enough time in our day and too much easy access to bad foods. We just never got around to it.

But signing up and paying someone to tell you exactly what you are allowed to eat obviously did the trick. At first he had to go to the office and weigh in every single day. Then every other day, then twice a week. Now he is checking in about once a week. His goal was to lose 50 pounds and he is getting very close. The program has not been easy. First of all it is incredibly boring. He has had to eat copious amounts of plain grilled chicken breast. Secondly, he can only eat very small portions of starches. One of the things he eats is this awful diet bread. It comes in very small, very thin, very sweet slices. In fact, a lot of diet foods seem to be extra sweet, I guess to cover up something else. Yuck, I just have to buy my own loaf of bread and my own mayo.

I have lost a few pounds by osmosis. I would have lost a lot more, but for awhile Brian was cooking two dinners each night: what he had to eat and what he wished he could eat. He was serving me some pretty good stuff. But I told him to cut it out and just let me eat the same as him and if I didn't like it just let me fend for myself. I am a terrible cook, so if I'm am really desperate and can't stand the sight of another chicken breast I'm usually satisfied with a bowl of cereal (which I can cook for myself) or a cup of yogurt.

Probably the best of part of Brian's weight loss in my opinion is this week his doctor took him off of two medications: high cholesterol meds and high blood pressure meds. Whooohooo. Brian has had high blood pressure for over 15 years and he has been on medication for it the whole time. But now he doesn't need it. My sweet husband is healthier, not just skinnier! I almost started to cry when he told me. I didn't because he makes fun of my when I cry about good stuff. But I am so happy for him and so happy for my kids. We are, after all, slightly "older" parents. Now, I feel a little more confident that we are going to grow up to be really old parents!

Strike a pose!

Don't forget you have just 24 hours to enter you comments in our drawing for a whole bunch of cool gifts in honor of Green Tuesday. Check out the details here!

Thankful but...

2011-11-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

...a little less joyful than I'd like. A little blue in fact.

Maybe it's a case of post holiday let down.

Maybe I am already starting to dread Monday morning when I have to leave my kiddos in bed and head out to work before the sun comes up. I miss them so much on Mondays.

Maybe when I'm on vacation I have too much time on my hands to ruminate.

Maybe I'm just being a little whiny. OK, yes, I am being whiny. So here goes.

When you are in the process of an adoption it is pretty much all you think about. You spend enormous amounts of time deciding whether you are even going to go through with it or not. Then once you've made the decision you spend enormous amounts of time thinking about it while you wait and wait and wait. And even though you know the wait is going to be long and you should just stop thinking about it because it is mostly out of your hands, you just think and think and think.

So this week I've been thinking a lot about the twins that we are not bringing home. Are they safe? Are they getting enough to eat? Do they have malaria? Did they get the matching dresses I sent for them? Will they ever know that for one month when they were not even a year old, I was their mommy? Will they ever know that a family half a world away prays for them every night?

I still have their pictures in a folder on my computer desktop. I haven't looked at them since we found out they weren't going to be ours, but I can't bring myself to delete them either.

I have also been thinking almost non-stop about getting new referrals. When will they come? When will we get the call? Why is it taking so long? There are millions of orphans waiting for homes, why does this ridiculous process have to take so long. In the time since we lost the twins referral some dear friends of our got a referral. I am so happy for them, but so jealous at the same time. They have a picture to stare at each night before bed. I'm ready for some new pictures.

And even though we don't have that picture, it could come at any moment, so we have been continuing to keep pushing full steam ahead with our fundraising. Fundraising, for the record, is not fun. It's stressful, humbling, embarrassing. It's like being a telemarketer (yes, I had that job one summer in college). I know there are people out there who think it is wrong to fundraise for adoptions--if you can't pay for it then you shouldn't do it. Some of those people are probably related to me. I'm sure all of you are sick and tired of hearing about my t-shirts, and blankets and all the other random stuff in my store. I'm sick of posting about it. But just today someone said I need to post it more often because she had a hard time finding the link, so here it is one more time.

https://www.wepay.com/shop/morelove

Just click that link and it will take you to the MORE LOVE store. I do have to say that I have been pretty overwhelmed by the support and generosity of so many of you out there. That's why we're doing the giveaway. So please enter. I want to say thank you. I can't send all of you a present, but one of you will get one! So if you haven't already, go leave me a comment on the blog post link below.

Green Tuesday Giveaway

We've sold a ton of t-shirts (we had to make a second order for some sizes), I've made and sold 12 Congolese blankets and got two more orders today (hope everyone liked them), and there is some interest in the Africa applique shirts I made. I have loved making all these items. I love that something I made with my own hands will help bring home my babies. I have also been blown away by the generous donations we have been given. Literally, people I don't even know have chosen to help my family. Wow. Humbling.

But I look at the numbers and sometimes freak out. I look at the pile of t-shirts on my shelf and freak out. We've done all this work and we are only about one quarter of the way to the total we will need. I know absolutely that God will provide when the need arises. I believe with all my heart that God wants us to bring home two more girls. But in the early hours when my brain starts to wake up and stress out, I sometimes forget.

OK, believe it or not, I feel a little better. I guess I just needed to say all this stuff out loud. I needed to feel sorry for myself in writing and get it out of my system. I needed to see it right there in front of my face, even if I'm the one that wrote it--"God will provide" and "God wants us to bring home two more girls".

I am thankful. Haven told me I was a great cook tonight after I served him some "homemade" chocolate chip cookies (you know, the homemade kind that come in a package and are already cut into squares for you to bake). And Manny signed "more, more" to those same cookies and then squealed with delight when I handed him another bite. And JoJo was especially clingy tonight and didn't want me to put him down to bed. He squeezed my neck really hard and laid his head on my shoulder. He is the snuggliest baby ever. He wanted a few more minutes in Mama's arms. And Grace decorated our Christmas tree tonight and when we plugged in the lights she danced around like it was already Christmas morning. No presents necessary, just colored lights. And my sweet husband brought me a Dr. Pepper when he came home from running some errands. Probably why I'm still up, but it sure hit the spot. I am blessed, I am thankful. Tomorrow, I am going to work on a little more joy.

Thanks for listening.

Gobble Gobble Gobble

2011-11-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight I got all dressed up for our Thanksgiving dinner feast.

OK, I got dressed. Ok, I put on my nicest eggplant colored sweats. But both top and bottom matched so that 's something right?

Brian, Manny, JoJo, and I ate turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and cresent rolls, slathered in gravy. Those babies can eat.

Haven ate two servings of mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese on top. No gravy, one bite of turkey.

Grace ate air.

Ok, she one graham cracker, one bite of turkey which she might have spit out because "it tastes like chicken wing" and one bite of green bean which she said was "too crunchy".

Sometime around lunch she did sneak into the kitchen and eat all the bacon that Brian had cooked to add to the green beans for dinner.

Right this minute she is eating a bowl of goldfish crackers, the one constant in her diet. I hope that we don't find out many years from now that the orange food coloring in goldfish crackers is toxic. Grace will be in real trouble.

Hope you had a day filled with thanks and some good food, too.

Have you left your comment for the Green Tuesday Giveaway yet??? Click here for more info!

Give Me More TURKEY!!!