SO THANKFUL

Man am I behind on things! We went up to Phoenix to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends and then I got swamped with work & meetings when we got back. I can't believe it's Dec. 1. Oh....I forgot to mention that I spent the week decorating for Christmas too, so I guess that's where all my time went. ha! Sorry about the long blog...I have a lot to catch up on.

During our 2.5 yr wait for Nate, the holidays were the hardest for me. I kept thinking, "will this be the year that we get see Christmas through the eyes of our child?" The answer was always "no" and even this year I was becoming doubtful. But let me backtrack a bit. Thanksgiving was awesome! Of course we have much to be thankful for and the biggest thing is bundled in a 23lb package. I want to take a minute and remind you how God answered your prayers for Nate:

You prayed for help when we found out we needed $15,000 in adoption fees. He answered your prayers by providing us over $16,000 in just 3 months! He went beyond that by bringing many people together during the fundraising weeks.

You prayed that our baby would be healthy. God gave us a healthy boy. He is in the 90th percentile for height, is average weight for his age and the worst he had was a little cold.

You prayed that he would adjust to his new life easily....God answered you by helping Nate bond to his dad immediately and adjust to his new home within 3 weeks. He never had night terrors or bad reactions to new food...enjoyed being with us and has slept throught the night since Day 1.

You prayed that WE would adjust to our new life as parents....God gave us an easy child...a fast learner, who helped us get into a routine quickly, professions that allowed us to be with him, and understanding/ patient friends & family who helped us during those crucial first few weeks.

Even through the long wait, Nate came to us at the right age, at the right time in our lives. Any sooner and we would not have received him. Not that we wouldn't have been happy with another baby....but we are glad that we have our son.

Nate totally enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. Actually he enjoys his food at any meal but he completely cleaned his plate of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, & 2 types of cranberry sauce! I'm telling you, this kid has an appetite. We weren't sure how he would adjust to the change...staying with friends for 2 days...but he did great. We stuck to his routine and he warmed up to everyone quickly. Our friends 3 kids absolutely loved him. They were amazingly patient with him, helping him, & playing with him.

My friend Mary & I got up at 3:30am the next day for Black Friday shopping. Actually, her daughter (who is 9) got up at 3:15 intending to go with us but she had to stay home because Mary had to get some Christmas presents for her. I stumbled into their dark living room around 4am to see Julia sitting at the top of the stairs, pouting. I can't believe she actually got up that early! We got to Toys-R-Us at 4:30 to stand in a long line....oh...but not before heading to Starbucks for some "Go Juice". Some girl was interviewing/filming people for her school project and asked if we would volunteer. We agreed and the conversation went something like this:

(reporter girl): "So, is there something at Toys-R-Us that you're waiting in line for?"

(us): "Uhhhh....no, not really"

(reporter girl): "Soooo, you're waiting in line at 4:30am for no reason?"

(us): "Uhhh....yeah. Well actually we heard there were these $10 mp3 players"

(reporter girl): "Soooo, you're waiting in a long line at 4:30am for a $10 item?" (with an look on her face that said "are you guys insane?)

(us): "Weeeell, we do have kids. Maybe we'll find something else there."

Ok so we really are insane. Actually we did find a few things and they were very organized in the store, so we got in & out quickly. I had heard from all my friends that their little boys loved the vacuum cleaner. Maybe it's the sound or the burst of independence but I decided to get Nate a toy Dirt Devil vacuum (that really does pick up dirt). Hey I don't mind the extra help! Well, apparently it became the source of controversy later. I suppose I could've got him a toy drill or chain saw...in fact, when we gave him the vacuum, he immediately picked up a screwdriver and tried to "fix" it. We hit a few other stores before heading home with our stash.

We've decided not to get Nate a bunch of toys for Christmas. I know, I know....you can stop throwing things at your computer screen now. But c'mon you guys...he already has a TON of toys...more than he knows what to do with. Both toy boxes are filled to the brim. Plus we don't want him to become greedy at Christmas. I remember when I was a kid, my brother and I would line up our gifts to see whose "line" was the longest. I never really appreciated what I got until years later and always expected to get stuff. I remember on my 10th Christmas, I asked Santa for a Lite Brite. Instead, my brother & I got new bikes...and cool ones at that! Now you'd think I'd be thrilled but my heart was set on that Lite Brite so I pitched a pouty fit...only to open my presents later and discover the Lite Brite toy (by the way, my bike became one of my favorite toys). My parents are big givers and I'm the same way. I love giving things to people and my son is no exception. I could easily go overboard so I want to reign in my desire to shower him with stuff & teach him to appreciate what's given to him and not be like I was as a child. Of course we'll always do the "Santa Gift". As a child, every year my brother & I would ask Santa for 1 thing. And the "Santa Gift" was always displayed out in front of the tree. It was exciting every Christmas morning to run into the living room and see what Santa had left....even after we stopped believing in him. ha! When my brother was 2, Santa left a little toy farm for him, complete with animals and a tractor. He was so entranced that he just stood there and stared at it with his hands folded behind his back!

Every year we participate in Operation Christmas Child. What a great way to get kids involved in giving something to another child in another country. We used to do the Christmas Angel Tree at past churches and my favorite part of that was volunteering to help wrap the gifts. We'd also like to help out an adopting family every year to honor God and the people who helped us bring Nate home. This year, we donated to help some friends of ours who adopted from Vietnam. Yes, the very same ones many of you prayed for.

I am so excited about Christmas this year. As I was unpacking all our decorations, I came across the stocking holder that we had bought over 2 years ago for our expected child. Each year it sat up there empty, but this year, it will hold our new son's stocking of goodies. This week, Nate helped me decorate the Christmas tree and went to see Santa. He did really well...sort of shell-shocked until the 3rd photo and then he started crying. I'm excited to watch the Christmas shows I grew up with, with him and take him to see the lights. Of course, Christmas just isn't Christmas to me without watching "A Christmas Story".

We have one other new tradition that we're starting. We have a little Christmas ball that opens up and has the story of Jesus' birth. Every year, we're going to hide the ornament for our child to find and read the story of baby Jesus....the greatest gift of all...our Savior.