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Thanksgiving

our beautiful girl the Sunday after Thanksgiving



I don't think any of our attempts to get a family picture resulted in everyone looking at the same time...oh well:)

A few more November pictures . . .

We gave John Harrison a train ornament this year....he was pretty excited



John Harrison loved his Fisher Price Little People Thanksgiving set we bought him.




Elise loves her baby food. She greatly prefers vegetables over fruits. Her favorite seems to be butternut squash (just like her brother when he was her age). She has just started picking up food, bringing it to her mouth, and chewing. She is still far from being weaned from breastmilk (and she still refuses a bottle---even breastmilk in a bottle)--last time I counted, I think she nurses 6 times each day.

Elise's room debut....

I am beyond thrilled about Elise's room:). It is not quite finished, but I wanted to post pictures. I want pink curtains (I don't quite like how the green ones look), we still have to set up a beautiful espresso stained sleigh crib that David's parents gave us for Elise, and there are two "owl" pictures I ordered to hang on the wall above the crib (they are supposed to get here the end of the week), but her owl nursery is nonetheless adorable. I will post final pictures as soon as it is complete.

8 months and counting

Sweet little Elise turned 8 months a few weeks ago. During her seventh month, she started sitting up independently. She usually only gets up once to eat in the middle of the night--hooray!! Elise is a sweet baby and loves to explore, give kisses, and laugh.

Russia Brother

We recently started the process of adopting a little boy (aged 2 or younger) from Russia. Everyone's biggest question is: When will you get him?? Hopefully, we will have him here by Christmas next year!! The first part of any adoption (domestic or international) is a home study and we are hopefully within a month of completing this step. I am going to start a website about our adoption soon and will put a link to that on the blog as soon as the site is up. The Lord has really burdened our hearts about adopting a child and being able to expose him to the love of Christ . . . giving him love and hope here on earth, but much more importantly, hope for eternity with Christ! There is a huge mandate in scripture to care for the poor, orphans, and widows . . . it is incredible how so many people in the church are stepping up and answering this call!

We pray for our baby every day ("Russia brother" as John Harrison calls him). Please join us in praying for our son who is born, but not in our care!! We will be adopting from Primorsky region of Russia specifically from one of the baby houses located within a several hour drive of the city of Vladivostok (which is a major port city on Russia's Pacific side---and a 9 hour flight from Moscow). I found this picture of a baby house in Vladivostok on a blog from a couple who was also adopting from Vladivostok (they were on their second trip to Russia and should be home with their boys by now!). Again, please pray for us and our new son in this process and check back for the website link.

Updates

I absolutely love this owl smocked dress that I got for Elise. She is going to have an owl-themed nursery (hopefully it will be completed in the next week!!!----pictures to follow!)


Elise . . .

started pulling up several weeks ago

got her first tooth around Oct. 24th (I think)

is about to move out of our room and into her own room

turns 8 months old in 6 days!!

loves playing, adores her brother, is as sweet as can be

doesn't sleep too well at night :(

Hope you enjoy the brief update on Elise. My blogging is way too sparse these days! No excuses other than a house to clean, meals to cook, helping David out with a few aspects of his work, two kids to take care of, and a nasty case of the stomach flu that the kids and I had this week. Thankfully we all seem to be on the mend!!

Fall Foliage

John Harrison found an "Elf Buddy" at Christmas Place
Elise and David at the Clingman's Dome lookout point
John Harrison loved the "baby rocks" at the top of Clingman's Dome
John Harrison slammed some cider that Papa gave him.


fun in the double stroller (they were actually much happier than they look in the picture)
A few weeks ago, David's dad went on a trip with us to the Smoky Mountains. The leaves had just peaked and the weather was perfect. We drove through Cade's Cove, hiked to the top of Clingman's dome, went to the aquarium, and went shopping. John Harrison especially liked having his Papa come along on a trip!