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! 

A Happy Post - Good times!

A happy post. We all need those! 

The past few weeks... although filled with anxious thoughts and prayers for that dern medical form... have also been filled with really great stuff! 

Over Thanksgiving break, we got to see our family! I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to, but it seems like when you live out of town and come home... you are running all over the place to see everyone and hug every neck. So... sometimes my photography skills lack. 'Tis life.

Us with mom

Us with Nanny and Pawpaw.  

When Nanny saw this she said "Wow, I've turned into a little shrimp!" Haha. 

She also said no one told her it was Thanksgiving! So, I told her it was a surprise Thanksgiving party for her! She liked that... whatever works! 

Love them. 

Then, me and mom headed up to Nashville to meet lil' Grant and see my besties!! 

It was a fabulous time! 

Have you ever seen more handsome fellas? 

That night we went out to eat and I told Isaac Henry I was his date. He liked that. 

They said all the way to the restaurant he was saying, "Anna. date. anna. date." 

Yep... I like him. Pretty cute couple I might say. 

We finally got a family picture with Jubi in it!! 

I love our family.

I can't wait until Eric is smack dab in the middle of it! 

Soon... I hope.

When we got back home, we had our College group Christmas party.

These people are awesome! 

I know I've talked about them often... but they really are amazing. 

I've never seen such love... such unity... such transparency in a group that's so different. 

We played Dirty Santa... and Jacob got his beloved Christmas Tree Cakes! 

He's a happy man. BUT... he's so generous these days... he took all of them to SHARE with our new pelican friends at training!  

 Last week we were blessed to go to Praying Pelican Missions training. Although we haven't officially started with them, they want us to be equipped to do ministry WELL when we are able to start. So thankful for people around us having favor on us during all our chaos! It's good! 

Clearwater, FL for training... yep, I'll take it!  

We had fun. 

Thankful that we love each other enough that we are actually EXCITED about working for the same organization, in the same home, going to the same country, being on the same emails... it's good! 

Wanna laugh? 

Okay... we saw a pig... on a leash... walking down the street! Good stuff people.

Love doing life with this man. 

We also got to celebrate a marriage... one of my favorite things! 

It was a lovely occasion! 

Here we are with the lovely couple - Amber & Patrick. Patrick is a youth pastor as well.

There's just some things that only a youth pastor and his bride can understand. I've loved getting to know them and hope to continue to encourage them in their ministry. Pumped to see what all God does with them!

Here's Jenna.

I love thee. Don't know what I would have done without her in Troy this year. She is a blessing. I know God has LOTS planned for her. Love her heart - for Jesus, for girls, for missions, and for intentional relationships. She rocks! 

 Yay for good times. New things. Great friends. Family is always good. 

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...

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!