A VERY Merry CHRISTmas!!! (Adoption Update)

Merry CHRISTmas!!! I hope your time with family, cherishing the Savior's birth, and eating lots was amazing.  Ours was!

Our FAVORITE gift was an email from our social worker with THE ARTICLE 5 LETTER!!!!!! Hallelujah!!! It's here!!! Now, we are JUST waiting on court dates!!!!!!! It's REALLY happening!!! Hopefully this time NEXT MONTH we will have a kiddo AT HOME!!!!! O praise the Lord!!!

It's funny though... all throughout this year I kept thinking that all the paperwork would be done on certain days. Jacob's birthday? Definitely not! My birthday? Nope! Eric's birthday? Almost... Jesus' birthday? OF COURSE!!! We received the email on Christmas Eve!!! That's soooo like our great God!!! I didn't expect anyone to be doing any work on Christmas Eve... but of course... our God was working on our behalf and delivered the best Christmas gift EVER!!!

Jacob asked me what I am going to do when we get the email with the travel dates. I said, "I will most definitely pee on myself!!!" I cannot wait to go get our Eric!!! What a great day that will be! So please pray that those dates are set QUICKLY and that I'm not in a public place when I get the email! Haha!

My heart is FINALLY ready to buy, decorate, and get things looking like he is COMING!!! We went on a massive shopping spree the day after Christmas. We spent lots of the gift cards Eric got for his birthday - so thank you all who gave!!! We got to buy him games!!!, clothes, undies, socks, laundry basket (you know a teenage boy needs his own), headphones, skateboard, shoes, and much more! It was so fun shopping for our kiddo! We can't wait for him to be here and play/see/wear everything... we'll probably help out on some of that playing!

So here's some pics from our Christmas... hope yours was just as festive:

First stop - Christmas Eve at my grandparents:

Here are my 2 favorite men in all the world - my PawPaw and my hubby! Can't get better than that! 

Here are some of my favorite women - my auntie M, Mom, and Nanny!!! Love it! 

Me & my cuzzy! We've been besties since we were babies! :) 

Some of my cousins! 

This is a family tradition - Dirty Santa! We play every year! It's super fun. 

This year was pretty vicious! Presents stolen all over the place! Jacob and I actually walked out with the presents we wanted!! woot woot! 

My cuzzy's kiddo got a cape!!! Some might call that extra-large Superman underwear. Nope... it's actually a superhero cape! BOOM! 

Fun times. 

Here's the grandparents and the kiddos.

Love these people. They care for each other like a family should - sacrifice, working together, fixing issues, and making sure their parents are taken care of. 

P.S. - I hope I still look at Jacob like my Nanny looks at "her man." Even though she doesn't know what's going on a lot of the time... she loves her man. She always thinks he's cute and sweet. 

My family.

Third stop (second stop was Christmas breakfast at mom's) - Christmas day at Jacob's parents:

We got the parentals hand-painted ornaments with their grandkids on it. Mom's says "We love Grann" with Walter, Jubi, and Eric on it.  Jacob's parent's says "We love Grammy and Big D" with the faces of Johanna, Kylie (will be born in January), and Eric on it! Love them! 

Jared and Ashley got me an ornament with Belize on it. LOVE THIS! Belize will ALWAYS have a special part in our lives! It's already hanging on my tree, which will be up until Eric gets here! 

We got Jojo a Snow White doll. It was a hit!! She loved it and smooched it a lot! 

 I like her - she's funny and awfully cute! 

Grammy got her a princess tower!!!! She loves it and wants everyone to come in it with her... so we did! 

Here's Jo and Grammy! 

Here's the grandkids! They are pretty cute! 

Jared, Jacob, Zack, Mallory, and Carly! 

Here's the whole Morgan crew

And JoJo discovered static electricity = HILARIOUS! 

Fourth stop - dinner with my brother, sis-in-law, niece, and nephew!

Love this picture! 

GREAT things.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,   

 “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us,   

and we are filled with joy. 

Psalm 126-2-3 

HE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS. 

Sometimes I forget this. Sometimes I allow my lack of faith (aka my worrying and doubting) to control my mood. Sometimes my attitude reflects the fact that I don't trust. Sometimes I forget that JOY is a CHOICE. Sometimes I forget to praise and thank our God who is so good and loves us so much. 

He has surely done great things. And I am filled with JOY. Let me just have a little show-n-tell with you so that you can see all the great things He has done. I'll end it with some great things about our Eric. 

We got to hang out with these AWESOME students this week for multiple Christmas parties! I absolutely LOVE them. So honored with the privilege we've had to love on them, invest in them, and disciple them!  Would not change time with them for ANYTHING in the world! 

First thing... me and my hubby have successfully completed 4 years of marriage! WOO HOO! He took me on an ALL DAY date!!! That says something right there peeps - I know 4 years isn't too long, but my hubs still wants to spend ALL day with me! That just makes me giggle. We went to Waffle House. Shopping. He bought me scarfs because I love them... I would literally wear one everyday if I could. Movies. Smooches. And laughter. It was a great day. He has done GREAT things in our marriage. It's fun. 

One of my favorite people, Kelli (and her fam) gave me this AWESOME gift for Christmas!! Birthdays. Anniversaries. Awesomeness!!! I absolutely LOVE it. I cannot wait until I can get it hung up! He has done GREAT things with this friendship. So thankful for the Knicks. 

Today Jacob had an itch to do a puzzle... so we put Eric's puzzle together. It's complete with the names of YOU... the people who have loved and supported our boy since you heard about it! We can't wait until we can show him and tell him about each name on the back of the pieces!!! We still have a few blank ones if you are interested! $10 each. Just got to the DONATE button on the right side of the screen and fill out the info. 

The completed puzzle. 

Can't wait to hang it up in Eric's room... or wherever we decide to hang it!  

God has done great things - 

Our medical form was accepted, all of our pre - adoption paperwork has been approved, the final letter from the US/Alabama has been sent to immigration, and Eric has applied for his passport!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!! 
Our social worker said it is a Christmas miracle that everything was processed so quickly!  Love that! Our God is a God of miracles. Whether or not it was in MY timing, this story that God is writing continues to show His awesome power and His perfect-ness.
So now we just sit back and wait on the Article 5 Letter from the US Embassy... and then travel dates!!! Please pray for that letter (I really don't know what it is exactly... just know we need it).  Pray that the travel dates are set up QUICKLY so we can go get Eric!!! 

We certainly know the power of prayer - it moves paper work. It brings our case to people's minds. It speeds up approvals. It comforts our son. It keeps us sane. It is essential. 

Some GREAT Eric things: 

We sent Eric a package with a blanket, a shirt, and 3 lb bag of Jolly Ranchers about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago.  I thought it was lost. But... finally on Tuesday, he got it!! He was so excited about the Jolly Ranchers.  The next day, we asked him if he'd eaten all the candy. He said he and a few friends ate ALL of it!!! Holy moly. 3 POUNDS!!! Wowzers. He really likes Jolly Ranchers. 

Last night we were talking to Eric. We were explaining what we know of the process when we come get him and what we have to do once he gets here.  We told him he would be able to change his name.  I asked him what he wanted his name to be (thinking he would answer "Eric Emmanuel Morgan") and he said... "Umm... Mikey Morgan."  Haha! He said he didn't really want to be called Eric... but liked Mikey.  He said it sounds like his favorite skateboarder dude. Nice.  What do ya say??? We just told him we could talk about it 

later... maybe Mikey could be a nickname??? I just giggled. Love it! 

We've been excited to hear about what all the orphanage does/allows for the kiddos around Christmas.  Several groups of people have gone and given gifts out there. They've had several Christmas parties and were even taken out to eat at a restaurant one night. Eric has REALLY been wanting some Nike Jordan sandals (the old school kind with Micheal Jordan on the one-strap flip-flops). We didn't want to send them down there in case something happened to them, so we said we would get them for him for when he got here. He was okay with that but still really wanted them. So... one night we talked to him and he was SO excited because one of the groups that came brought him the very sandals he had been wanting!!!! Yay!! I was so excited that someone blessed my boy in that way! He was thrilled. He said Ms. Natalie from Florida brought them. So... I don't know who you are - Ms. Natalie from Florida... but I THANK YOU! You made my boy's day! 

We love finding out more bits about our Eric each night. We look forward to talking with him all day. Although we don't always know what to say, we run out of questions some nights, have super long and excellent conversations some nights, don't know how to explain how much we love him, and we are new to this whole parents of a teenager thing... I love our family. I'm beyond excited to live life with my fellas. To pray over them and with them. To play video games, basketball, arts & crafts, board games, and everything else. To cook dinner together. Whatever happens... I'm just excited that we get to be Eric's parents.  I just love him. 

A Belated Christmas

PRAISE THE LORD! The medical form has been received!
***PLEASE PRAY IT'S SUFFICIENT AND EXACTLY WHAT'S NEEDED***

What's next you might ask?
to clarify - this medical form was needed to meet the state of Alabama pre-adopt requirements. It's usually (for families from every other state) not needed until after the adoption is finalized in country... but for us... we needed it before we could travel. Go figure...
Since it's been sent (and IF it's enough), the Article 5 Letter will be released from the US Embassy. Not sure exactly what the letter says, but it, I think, gives us permission to come to Belize for the adoption process.
Once that is sent, there will be some meetings with Eric, our attorney, and his caseworker in Belize within the legal system to ensure everything is ready to go.  Then... OUR COURT DATES! The dates we will be in Belize to GET OUR SON!!! Oh... what a day that will be! Can you imagine what a wreck/crazy lady I'll be in the airport???? O wow! 

So... if you haven't figured it out yet, Eric will not be here for December 25th. It is was it is. I know God is able and He is completely in control and that there are reasons. There are things going on that we cannot see. I wanted Eric to be here so bad. It breaks my heart that he won't be. It makes me mad (really... mad. I feel like a 5-year old that wants to have a tantrum) that I have to send a small Christmas present to Belize. I hate, most of all, that he has to spend yet another Christmas in the orphanage. I had imagined this Christmas, December 25th, so perfectly in my head... our whole family... including Eric... just celebrating. But... things don't always go my way.

What does that mean for us?
Well... in all honesty... I want to be the Grinch. I want to be a bah-hum-bug and just gripe and feel sorry for all of the above. I want to mope around and just be frustrated because it didn't happen how I dreamed... and prayed.
But... I can't. I won't. I must cherish everyday with Jacob... out last few weeks (God willing) as a married couple without kiddos.  I must be joyful. I must put my hope in Jesus... not in the events or delays surrounding this adoption... that's tough sometimes.
And Christmas... well Christmas will just come a little late for the Morgans this year. Our tree will be up, presents will be wrapped, stockings will be hanging, wreaths will be mounted, and Christmas music playing UNTIL ERIC IS HOME! We will have Christmas together. We will have family together... celebrating Jesus birth and Eric's arrival. We will have present time, yummy food, and good times. We will take pictures with the Christmas tree. We will find a Santa Claus (Hey... Big-D!) We may even send out Christmas cards (just laugh and hang it up if you get one in February... haha!).

On that note - please forgive me if you don't receive Christmas cards from us before December 25th... because you probably won't. Please forgive me if you don't even get a present from us yet (it's coming). Please just have some mercy on me this year... I'm a little all over the place.

I can't wait to watch Eric see his first bedroom all to himself. Can't wait to see him open presents that are all his. Can't wait to read the the Christmas story with him. Can't wait... 

Our God is good... He always is. He cannot fail us. He will always defend the fatherless. Just because I prayed fervently for our Eric to be here by Christmas and it's not turning out like I hoped, DOES NOT mean He didn't hear or He isn't faithful. He is a Good Father. He only gives good things to His children. His plans are not for evil. He is teaching us and molding us into the mom and dad Eric needs.

PRAY PRAY PRAY for quick processes, for court dates to be set up quickly, for everything to fall together EXACTLY how it should. Pray for my sanity... and Jacob's. Pray that Eric would be comforted and that he knows, with no doubt, that he is loved and wanted... that his family is so anxious to come and get him! 

I'll leave you with my favorite Christmas song... I thought this version was fun:

Advent. More true than ever.

It's Christmas time. 
It's Advent. The waiting for what's to come...

Advent means "the coming or arrival, especially one which is awaited"

I can not imagine how Mary felt... during the advent before the first Christmas. I cannot imagine how she felt... knowing that inside her womb was the Savior of the world and He was coming.  I cannot imagine the thoughts swarming her mind of things that were to come, what life would be life once He arrived, what people would say, and how much joy she would experience holding him.

As the Word says, once Jesus was born "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

Mary, along with the rest of creation, was experiencing advent... waiting for the arrival of THE Someone long awaited for.

Every moment controlled and planned by the Sovereign God. Every day calculated out to fulfill every prophesy... perfectly. Every promise kept. Every expectation surpassed.

We are experiencing advent too.  Yes... we are awaiting Christmas and the celebration of our King being born on this earth. We are also awaiting and expecting the coming of Eric... one which is awaited. It's exciting. It's nerve-racking. It's exhausting. It's frustrating. It's filled with hope... and uncertainty. 

Our Jesus has come. 

Although there is no way to compare anything to our Jesus coming to earth... my heart is full of expectation as we also wait for our Eric to be home. 

I want to be like Mary. I want to treasure and ponder every ounce of who Jesus is.  In a similar way, I want to treasure and ponder every moment, conversation, day, new experience, achievement, hardships, new lessons, and more with Eric. 

Waiting for our Eric...
Hoping in our Jesus.
Thankful for a Faithful and Sovereign God. 
Advent. Adoption. 

Thanksgiving - a tear jerker for sure!

Jacob shared this video during our youth service last week. Right after he pushed play, he whispered in my ear, "Umm... this might make you cry." SERIOUSLY? Might make me cry? I was blubbering like a crazy woman. I couldn't stop. This is so precious. Then he proceeded to tell the youth how thankful he was for me... just showing off and being a great husband.  All the while... I'm in the back of the room playing an impossible game of "GET A GRIP" with myself... I was losing.  Youth were snickering at my loss of control... oh well. Sorry if I made you cry... I sympathize with you!

We are so thankful for adoption and what it means to us. Although I wish, more than anything, Eric was here to celebrate Thanksgiving with his new family this year, it's okay. I threatened many times that if he wasn't here by __________ (insert event) that I would need to be put in an insane asylum. Well... that hasn't happened yet... thank the Lord... not that I didn't need it at times. Eric is still not here, and I'm okay... we're okay... because we believe in a God bigger than time and location. I am beyond thankful for my son regardless of where he is. Yes, life will look different when he actually gets here. Our grocery bill will increase, our sleep will decrease, and the "interruptions" of life will look a lot different... but we can't wait. I can't wait to trip over video game cords/controllers, to have discussions about doing homework, to explain to people that yes... he is my son, to get NO sleep during sleepovers, to spend hours at a ballpark for practice and games, and to cook for 2 very hungry gentleman... who both love candy and meat. Life will look different... but I am so thankful... so so thankful.

I am thankful for waiting (wow... that's tough to say). I am thankful for the learning that comes with it. I am thankful for Jacob... no words here. I am thankful for our family and friends and church... I have struggled with conveying our gratitude to them since day one... Eric's adoption is forever a testimony of the love and community of you all. I am forever grateful to my God - provider, sustainer, keeper of my sanity, lover of my emotional heart, and defender of orphans. I have learned so much since last Thanksgiving. We had no clue what the year would hold and ALL the red tape and PAPERWORK that we would encounter.  We banked on the idea that Eric would be here by this year's feast. God's timing is perfect and not a moment late.

Thankful and expecting great things this year...

Talking to Eric

Happy Friday! 

So on top of my FEAR that I told you about... we haven't been able to talk to Eric since last Wednesday!!! The phones at the orphanage were down... and despite the number of times I would dial the number, hear the busy/not working signal, hang up, repeat... the call would not go through. We weren't able to talk to our Eric. UGH!!!  We didn't even have a way to tell him Happy Birthday. My heart was broken... on top of being utterly fearful.

Not. A. Good. Week. for the emotions! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I wanted to talk to our kiddo. We missed him so bad... and just wanted a night like this picture again - with our computer, phone, and Eric on the other end of that call. 

FINALLY... the phones were restored and working again YESTERDAY!!! It's a good thing... or I might have had to hop on a plane to Belize to help get things sorted out... ya know... a mom has to do what a mom has to do! 

Oh my goodness... it was the BEST thing in the world to hear Eric's voice last night on the phone.  We both just screamed, "Eric... WE MISSED YOU!" He told us he missed us too.  We talked about the week, finally told him happy birthday, told him about his AMAZING party, and reminded him of all the people who already love him and can't wait for him to be HOME! We apologized that we weren't able to talk to him and explained that the phones had been broken.  He said that he was getting worried that we weren't coming or calling again.  TEAR MY HEART IN TWO!  He told us that he couldn't wait to be up here with us... oh, how we know.  Ya know... I have all the respect in the world for individuals who work for departments in ALL countries who care for kiddos and work to get them with families... but I just want them  to hurry up! My son is sad... in another country... waiting for us to come. I'm just sayin'... I'd hop on a plane RIGHT NOW and go get him, but there's policies and procedures that must be followed (which I totally understand)... just wish it would happen a little, ok a LOT, faster. 

We sent him a birthday care package - which he got last week. It was complete with cargo pants (as requested), a t-shirt, huge lollipop, an artist's book, drawing pencils, a teddy bear, a card with a picture of us in it, and an entire bag of jolly ranchers! He told us it was the best present in all the world. The day he got it, he said he stayed up and by the next morning ALL the jolly ranchers were gone! HILARIOUS!! He ate them all! He'll fit in well around here! :) 

I love how God is bringing our family together over a phone - conversations, assurance, prayer. It's so good. I seriously CAN.NOT.WAIT for him to be with us. 

Please continue to pray for that medical form. God is good and perfect and in COMPLETE control. He is able and He can get that form to our lawyer. Let's continue to ask in faith. 

Pray for Eric's heart... that God would comfort him and love on him and reassure him that we will NOT leave him as an orphan. We will come for him! 

Thanks for reading this and supporting our adoption by the way. :) 

God's response to my FEAR

I am not a fearful person.
I will do whatever, whenever.
Tell me to go to Africa without a care in the world... done.
Tell me to talk to a stranger - anywhere, anywho... done.
Ask me to interpret/dance in front of thousands of people (we are working on the speaking)... done.
Tell me to adopt a teenage boy from another country... done.
Ask me to lead trips to foreign countries where the language barrier is intense for me... done.
Ask me to scream, shout, yell, and go crazy in front of hundreds of kids as a camp counselor... done.
Tell me to jump off a 45 foot cliff in Jamaica into the ocean... done.

BUT... ask me to W.A.I.T. and I am dreadfully afraid.

I do not know how to explain the utter and complete FEAR I have felt the past few weeks in the final waiting process of this adoption. I want my son here. I want that medical form to HURRY UP. I want to set foot on Belize soil to make Eric a Morgan forever. I want it more than my next breath. But, I have never experienced ANYTHING like this FEAR before. This is not a feeling of uneasiness like I get when I know I'm going against something God has told me to do... it is paralyzing fear and anxiety.  There have been times when I physically feel it coming on... and I can do nothing to stop the intense fear I feel.  I have thought in the past fews weeks that I might have been having a panic attack... I don't know... but it was so against how I am at my core. I am not fearful. I am not anxious. Yes, I am impatient. Yes, I have lots of ideas that I want to work out. But... I am not an all-out anxious person or someone who lives in fear. I'm just not.

The fear that I've felt literally feels like an additional set of clothes being put on me. I know that's weird, but I don't know how else to explain it. I can feel it being draped on me and then I don't know how to get out of it. I have had some breakdowns and pretty sure Jacob thought about running away. Ha! I'm so glad he didn't.

I was confronted by a lot of questions I had to answer:
Why am I so afraid to wait?
Do I really not trust God... still?
Why am I so afraid of the unknown and the silence?
Do I really not believe He goes before me and is a God of details?
Do I only believe God in the good circumstances or will I praise and trust Him even in the chaos and the not-so-pretty times?
Am I just another conditional Christian?
Is this fear a sign of something?
Do I think that God is going to fail us?
Have I really forgotten all His miracles He's done so far?

Thankfully He still wants to teach me. This is what I have learned... am learning -
Unbelief and fear are strongholds/sins in my life. I may not struggle with the outward "biggies" of excessive drinking, drugs, or whatever... but fear is a stronghold that has held me captive recently. IT IS NOT FROM HIM! It's not.

Fear is a liar. It is from the Father of Lies. 

This past Sunday we went to a church plant in Birmingham we had been wanting to attend.  The worship pastor was basically Jacob's mentor growing up.  As he began to pray to open the service, I felt myself become hard towards God. I crossed my arms and tensed up... not really wanting to let Him in... probably because in all actuality when I'm afraid, I'm not trusting. But, as God does, I just felt Him saying, "Daughter... let me work on you. Let me heal you. Let me release you."

I didn't want Him to work on me... because it hurts. He strips stuff away. He shows me the yucky-ness in my heart. He showed me my unbelief and this paralyzing stronghold fear had on me. Its roots were/are deep. But... He showed me His Grace once again. He is so full of grace. When we are trying to be obedient and follow His guidance, his Grace is there. His grace is ENOUGH. He is ENOUGH. He showed me these verses:

¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

His PERFECT love drives out FEAR! Yes!! If I am consumed by His love... I cannot be consumed by fear at the same time. It's impossible. Fear is NOT allowed where His dwells!! I have to rest in His love... not clamor around in my fear. 

⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD! He gives us power, love, self-disciple, and the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, self-control, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness)... NOT FEAR. 

I cannot let fear have power over me. I must turn my anxious thoughts and dread into even louder songs of praise and thankfulness! He is good. He is faithful. He will not fail us. He is working on our behalf. He loves us in His amazing Grace. He is constant. He is truth. 

I am so thankful for my hubby and his amazing faith.  While I have been FREAKING OUT, he has remained strangely calm and assured. I am praising God for a husband who trusts. Who rests. Who listens. I am so thankful for the days/nights I was filled with fear and he just looked at me and said, "It's going to be okay. God's got this." Yes... yes, He does. And I know that in my heart or head... I don't know which... but the other part has had serious lack of faith. Thankful for a helpmate and leader to remind me of God's faithfulness and think I'm crazy when I doubt. 

Fear is a liar. 

Adoption Awareness Month & Update

November is Adoption Awareness Month! 

Statistics - keep in mind each number represents a CHILD!!! 
There are around 147,000,000 orphans around the world. 
There are around 500,000 children without permanent families in the US alone. 
Each year, around 27,000 youth "age out" of foster care in the US alone.
HIV/AIDS has orphaned around 17.9 MILLION children worldwide.

Staggering...

For Adoption Awareness Month, our new friends from Praying Pelican Missions, Bethany & Eric, featured us on their blog to showcase Eric's story. Read it here! 

There will be/is one less orphan... coming soon to the Morgan home as a SON. So excited. 

But for now... we wait. 

We need ONE medical form on Eric. Once we receive that one medical form, the Article 5 Letter can be sent to us & our lawyer (it's sitting, ready in the US Embassy in Belize... UGH), and then we can go get our Eric!!!! So close... yet more hindrances standing between us becoming a forever family. 

So... PRAY PRAY PRAY!!! We believe God is a God of miracles. So let's pray that medical form gets to our lawyer in Belize THIS WEEK!!!!!!! 

Happy Birthday Eric!!!

This weekend was AMAZING! Thanks to some fantastic friends and family - they had an Adoption/Birthday party for Eric! The party was on Eric's actual 14th birthday.  We wish he could have been here to celebrate with us, but... let's just say that next year's birthday party will be HUGE!!! 

As usual... I'll tell you about the day through pictures: 

Eric's birthday cake! 

3 of my bridesmaids... still besties!! They drove from Huntsville & Nashville to come and celebrate Eric with us! They are the absolute best!!! The other 4 bridesmaids were greatly missed - one is in Africa, one has a 2-week-old boy, and 2 are in Texas. They all sent sweet messages... I just love them. 

I'm 14 months (and years) pregnant! Paperwork pregnant that is. 

Look at all this food!!! This was just one table! There was a ton.  We didn't know how many people to expect. We sent out invitations BUT it was a football Saturday... and kind of a unique idea - having a party for someone who isn't here yet. 

BUT... as we have been MULTIPLE times throughout this adoption process... AMAZED US! 

I honestly don't know how many people came. The house was PACKED... you literally couldn't walk! So many people love Eric (and us)... and don't even know him yet. It was so humbling.  I looked at Jacob at one point and said... "I'm so overwhelmed."  I couldn't let myself really think about all that was happening because I would have broke down in tears. Thank you for coming and loving our son! 

My sweet niece JoJo. 

JoJo helped me blow out Eric's candles.  So sweet. She kept asking where Eric was and then would answer herself, "Oh... he'll be here in a minute."  

Later we were watching the Auburn game... miracle @ Jordan-Hare... and we went NUTS when that touchdown happened. Jojo did NOT understand what was going on, but she looked at her mom and asked, "Oh, is Eric coming soon?" :)

Eric got SO much stuff!! It was incredible - clothes, gift cards, sports stuff, games, and so much more!! Sooooooo blessed! Eric has no idea how much he is loved! 

 And these... 

These are "Labor Socks." Created by some of my besties and me. They are to be worn at every birth/adoption. They have already been work by Lindsey Jo for Isaac Henry and Grant's arrival.  Now... they will be worn in Belize on our Gotcha Day!!! I can't wait to wear these socks and write Eric's name on them!!! (Don't worry... they've been washed!!!) 

 And the amazing hostesses decided to get Eric an iPad!!! He is going to be in heaven!!!! This boy is going to be overwhelmed he's not going to know what to do! 

The hostesses - Ms. Linda, Mom, Mom-in-law, Ms. Julie, Katy, and Ashley (sis-in-law)

So blessed by and thankful for these ladies!!! THANK YOU!! 

Mom and 2 of her sisters!! So glad they got to come! 

Me and my bestie, Em

Me and Mom, Eric's Grann. 

So blessed by this lady - for hosting the party, for working so hard to get things ready for our transition, and just being the best mom/Grann ever!! 

Such a fantastic weekend!!! Can't even explain how amazing it was!! 

Thanks to everyone! 

Our Eric - i LOVE this boy!

Seriously... talking to Eric is our BIGGEST J.O.Y.

He is the best. We look forward to our nightly convos with our boy. We laugh. We learn about each other. We try to figure each other out. We come up with questions to ask. It's the most amazing thing.

I wanted to share a few funnies about our family convos... Yep! Our family!

So, one thing that CRACKS ME UP is when Eric doesn't understand something we are asking him or doesn't know what to say he says, "WHAATT??" Obviously, we will teach him some manners later... you know "ma'am?" or "sir?"... but for now "WHAATT?" is hilarious to me!!! Let me paint the picture  for ya - you know in "The Christmas Story" when Ralphie says the cuss word? He says he heard the cuss word from his friend Schwartz - so Ralpie's mom calls Mrs. Schwartz to tell her of the awful thing her son has done. When Ralpie's mom repeated THE word that Ralphie said, Mrs. Schwartz screamed, "WHAATT?"... Well... all that to say is that Eric sounds like that woman... "WHAATT??" I love it...

Each night we ask Eric if he had thought of anything to talk about/ask.  We just want to give him the opportunity to ask anything he ever thinks of. The other night he said, "Yes, I thought of something... can we get a third dog?" HAHA! WHAATT?? We asked him what he meant and what kind of dog he wanted.  He waited for a minute and said, "Ummm... a pitbull?!"  Haha! He said that he had seen a lot of pictures of pitbulls on the Internet and he thought he might want one! We suggested that he just get warmed up to Walter and Jubi... and we could take him to the pet store to play with the pitbulls.  Oh Lord... (note: I don't have anything against pitbulls... but can you imagine Walter, Jubi, AND a pitbull?)

Saturday night we called Eric and we were talking about different stuff. I asked him if he had ever roller-skated (he had... but he doesn't like rollerblades), go-karted (never), or played laser tag (nope, but he's seen it on the Internet). We have a place in Birmingham that we can take him with ALL those things... CAN'T WAIT FOR FAMILY FUN NIGHT!!!  Somehow we got on the topic of 4-wheelers. Jacob asked Eric if he had ever seen/rode a 4-wheeler. He said he hadn't... but he had seen pictures of ATVs online.  Jacob told him that Eric's grand dad (Big D) has a 4-wheeler he could ride. Eric's response was "WHAATT?? SERIOUSLY?!?!" Haha! It was priceless! We told him that we could take him out to some land and ride him around on it... he was PUMPED! Really... can't wait to do all these fun adventures with our Eric. He's also seen paintball, dirt bikes, and airsoft guns online... yep... my husband is ready to revert back to his teenage years.

Seriously... we have the coolest kiddo EVER. I can't wait for him to be home.

Things to pray for:

• We need Eric's medical forms ASAP!!! Pray that we get it THIS WEEK!!! Once we get the medical, then we can get the Article 5 Letter... then we get court dates!!!! PRAY FOR THE MEDICAL FORMS! 
• Pray for Eric this week. It's his birthday week. I can't even imagine what goes through his mind/heart... not ever having a true birthday party or someone there to truly celebrate HIM. Pray for comfort, love, and for assurance that we are coming for him.
• Pray that he is here for Christmas. This is a huge prayer and our goal.  We hope he is here for the holidays. We know God is capable of moving the paperwork mountains and He is able! 

And here's some pics so you don't forget what we look like: 

Us Morgans Lately

We've had a fun, non-stressful weekend... and I liked it. It was one of the few weekends we weren't traveling or didn't have a ton of stuff planned. It was nice!

Friday night we went to the local high school games. It was homecoming. It's always amusing to me how different each school does Homecoming.  And I will forever think my school did it best... I'm bias.

I think we are pretty cute! :) I like us.

After, we hosted 5th Quarter for the youths.  It was a great night... I'm probably gonna blog about it later in more detail. It was good stuff. 

Today was a fun day. Jacob preached in the morning service. Love hearing my man speak about what God's been teaching him. You can't get any better than listening to the hubs talk about how much he loves the Lord and desires to follow Him... however crazy we may look. Yes. So thankful that I get to do life with him.  I am also planning to blog about marriage... so get pumped! :) it's one of my favorite things. 

This just in - Grant has arrived!!! He has been birthed by his precious momma Lindsey Jo.

We are Uncles again! haha! Lindsey Jo was the first of my besties to get pregnant and I was so frazzled and excited when she told us she was preggers, instead of saying I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl, I said I can't wait to find out if we'll be Aunts or Uncles! Oh bother... but either way he and his bro Isaac Henry are the cutest little lads around! 

Jacob and I had a photo shoot with our pups! Look at how cute they are! 

I'm telling ya... they have brought more entertainment to our family than any TV show, video game, or movie could have. They are hysterical... and a tad bit dumb. And yes... they did dig that LOVELY & HUGE hole in our backyard. Impressive, huh? 

And lastly... I am finally ready to start decorating Eric's room. This is a huge deal. I am usually SUPER impatient with everything in life... but I know me, and I knew if I decorated his room months ago it would have made me even more anxious, worried, and stressed about him not being here. Now is the time. I know he will be here soon and I am ready to get his room done.... designed just for him. The first decorations: 

Simple... but profound. And... I bought a Black Opps II poster (it's a video game) at Eric's request at Walmart yesterday to add to the decor. I know... beautification at it's finest. 

More than ever I'm ready to get him home... not just for my heart but for Eric's even more.  He is worried we won't come. He's fearful that his case worker one day is just going to say, "They aren't coming for you." It breaks my heart. I wish I could erase any doubt, but I can't. He has waited, been let down, and been hurt before... and I just pray and hope he sees and knows this is different... this is forever. 

He's had to go to the doctor for a few things lately and I wish more than anything I could have gone with him... to sit in the waiting room with him, to go to the back with him like other mothers do, and take him for ice cream after the visit was done. But I couldn't.  He does his homework and studies for tests... I wish we could be there to quiz him on his Social Studies and his Math II questions. I wish we could take him for pizza or buy him a CD after he aces the tests. I know it will come... but I just want his heart to believe and know we ARE coming! NOTHING... NOTHING... could keep us from going to get him. 

On a happy note... here are some things we learned lately:

He wants Walter to run with him while he rides his bike... that should be interesting. 

He has asked for v-neck tees, a pair of skinny jeans, and Crocs... what a man! 

He loves the old school Michael Jordan sandals and high top tennis shoes. 

He loves Jolly Ranchers (Grape), Snickers, Hershey kisses, and Twix bars. 

His friends are all happy for him... but I'm sure they are going to miss him. 

His dance group (yes... DANCE group) is performing to "Moves like Jagger" and "Treasure" - LOVE IT!

He is tired of eating beans and bread. 

He has never had his own birthday party - oh... THAT WILL CHANGE! 

He has only eaten ice cream once! 

He loves music. 

Love getting to know our Eric. Seriously... cannot wait until he is home! What a glorious day that will be!