Laina Turns Six!

It seems that most of my posts these days are birthday posts--I guess when you have five a year to document, and you don't post very often, that's what you get. Ha.

Anyway.

Our Laina-Bug turned six last week! Six! Six is a fun age, and a good one. She had such a fun birthday because her friend Avivah (who was adopted from Rwanda at the same time as Laina) was here with her family, spending the week with us. So much fun.

(Laina's last day as a Five)

Laina and Aviva were inseparable the whole week (and the fun continues: they're face-timing right now as I type). I am so very thankful for their friendship. What a gift to grow up with someone whose story is so similar to yours. Laina actually spent Avivah's second birthday with her, in Ethiopia, which is pretty amazing.

Birthday Banner Time! A Brannon Family Tradition:

We had Laina's birthday party on Wednesday (the day before her birthday) with the McLennans and the Whatleys. She requested sugar cookie bars with purple frosting and sprinkles.

(Lania got Bumblebee, the DC Superhero Girl from Nona and loved it. Also, a dress from Nona and a skirt and headband from the Whatleys, and a baby ergo and hair beads from the McLennans. And I have no idea why she and Avivah attended the party as Snow White and Tinkerbell. :) )

The other big news of Birthday the Sixth is that Laina got an American Girl doll. I had bought it for her on sale a year ago (a year! I've been waiting and waiting to give it to her!) but we decided she wasn't quite ready for it yet. For Christmas, she got a My Generation doll from Target and we told her it was a test to see how well she could care for it. She did very well, and that, along with the fact that she's taking an American Girl class at Timothy this year, meant that it was time!

She was just a little excited.

(yes, she is kissing her doll through the box!)

And so was I. :)

On Thursday (her actual birthday), we loaded up all the kids and drove to the American Girl Doll store where Laina very dreamily and happily spent her birthday money from Grammy and Papa. She named her doll Amanda and got its ears pierced. The boys spent the morning at the Lego store, so they were very happy too.

(I had been waiting for years to take her to this store! I loved my American Girl Doll--Kirsten, if you're wondering, and yes, I still have her--and couldn't wait to share this fun with my girl! Also, note Laina's party hat. The girl has style.)

We love you, Laina Kate. You are growing up to be such a lovely girl, inside and out. You have a quick and beautiful smile, you love to help people, and you are a joy to be around. We are so thankful for you! Happy birthday!

(first day as a Six!)

First birthday (cupcakes and pink lemonade at the park):

Second birthday (and one of my favorite pictures of her of all time! M&M party at home):

Third Birthday (Butterfly party at home):

Fourth Birthday (Mermaid party at Grammy and Papa's beach):

Fifth Birthday (Craft party at our house):

 Sixth Birthday (party at home and at the American Girl Doll store):

Homeward Bound!

This is Kristen, Allie's mom:

Allie, Jeremy, and Laina Kate are at the airport in Ethiopia, waiting to begin their journey home! They will arrive in Atlanta tomorrow (Thurs). We can't wait!!!

Please join us in praying for safe travel and good health.

Praising God for bringing Laina home to us at last!

We're in Rwanda!!

So things never go quite as you plan. We can share more details later, but the gist of the story is that we made the decision to come to Rwanda several days early. With help from family and friends, we hopped a plane and now we are, unbelievably, in the Land of a Thousand Hills.

That's the good news.

More good news? We have a name for our baby girl. Her name is Laina (pronounced Lay-nuh). Laina means bright light. Middle name to come.

But the best news? Yesterday we got to meet our daughter for the first time. It was sweet and amazing and Laina is wonderful. I wish we could go into details about that first meeting--sometime I will but for now, I will just tell you that we spent hours holding and loving on her. It was surreal and precious.

(from Laina's orphanage, soon to be her former orphanage)

Pray for Laina's health, and for us as we begin the task of getting all the paperwork in order to bring her home. We are not yet allowed to take her with us, and leaving her is rough. We also cannot post pictures until she is legally ours. Thank you all for your prayers.

We are missing our boys like crazy and loving our girl. Can't wait until all five of us are together again. But for now, we are soaking in Rwanda and every precious second we get to spend with Laina.

Baby Sister's Room!

Thanks to some help from Liz, Kelsey, Jenna, and Lindy, the nursery is ready. I love it. It's peaceful and fun, whimsical and bright, girly and sweet. Ready for a look?

When you walk into the room, here's what you see:

This is the glider I rocked my boys in (and fell asleep in many nights). Can't wait to hold my little girl in it too! There's a butterfly mobile over it that is so fun.

(shelf: garage sale, we painted it white; two dolls on the shelf: from Grammy; giraffe made by me months ago; pink dogwood blossom painting I did at a sips-n-strokes)

I love this arrangement over the crib. Kelsey and I painted the canvases (we just painted a solid color, traced images onto them and painted the silhouettes brown) and we arranged it based on a Pottery Barn picture. The canvases say faith, hope, love, and grace.

Love this place! I just walk into it all the time and dream of my sweet little baby girl. Soon!!

Psalm 78

For me, this adoption journey has been nothing if not spiritually rich, fraught with glimpses of Him seen more clearly through the lens of suffering and waiting. The lessons continue.

Today I was reading Psalm 78, which is a command to tell the coming generations about the deeds of the Lord. (Noel Piper talks a lot about this passage in her book on traditions). I love this chapter because I love the idea of remembering--something God commands us over and over again to do--and telling our children what He has done.

Further along in the passage, though, we read an account of what God did in protecting the Israelites, setting them free from the Egyptians, bringing them through the Red Sea, and providing for them in the wilderness. And then at one point, here is how they react to a trial that comes upon them:

They tested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

They spoke against God, saying,

'Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

He struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can He also give bread

or provide meat for His people?'

(Ps 78:18-20)

In other words, He provided what we needed before, but can He really do it again? Note that what they wanted wasn't bad: food. God wanted to provide it for them, and He did, even in spite of His anger and their lack of faith ("...they did not believe in God and did not trust His saving power..." vs 22).

So then, He gave them food, and while it was still in their mouths, He struck some of them down. His anger was kindled against them. But where His justice goes, His mercy often follows:

Yet He, being compassionate,

atoned for their iniquity

and did not destroy them;

He restrained His anger often

and did not stir up all His wrath.

He remembered that they were but flesh,

a wind that passes and comes not again...

...They did not remember His power

or the day when He redeemed them from the foe...

(Ps 78:38-39, 42)

All this relates so exactly to this adoption journey. How many times has He shown Himself strong for us? How many times has He provided? How many times has He fought for us? As we prepare to leave for a trip full of many unknowns, He goes before us and will be with us. When the times come on this trip when we are tempted to doubt that He will do again what He has done before, may we remember this. And when we are home with our daughter and beginning our life as a family of five,

We will not hide them from [our] children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might,

and the wonders He has done...

...so that they should set their hope in God.

(Ps 78:4, 7a)

Iain, Cory, and Baby Girl, we will tell you what He has done. We wille always remember His works and never doubt that He can again spread a table in the wilderness. His might and power know no end, and He is leading us, carrying us, feeding us, fighting for us, rescuing us. He is strong, just, able, good, and full of mercy. You will hear the stories, and you will live them with us, so that your hope will be forever in God.

Getting Ready

Baby girl, here we come! Twelve days until travel. Well, 11 really, since we're making a stop at Haylee's graduation before heading to Orlando and flying out the next day. Gosh--what am I doing blogging?!

Here's Iain's first family portrait including Baby Sister. That's her, the cute little one floating in the sky. Under her is Cory with the brown hair, and next to him, blonde Iain. And the tall one? Nona. :)

I have a whole extra table set up right now solely for adoption-related paperwork.

Piles of stuff to pack:

And I'm totally stealing this from Laura: the best Fed Ex I've ever sent:

And We Are Filled With JOY!

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,

we were like men who dreamed.

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.

(Ps 126:1-3)

Yesterday, we saw our daughter's sweet face. Yes, you read that right. WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!! In a perfect moment, all four of us sat on the couch and opened it together, and fell in love. She's beautiful. She's tiny. She has the biggest brown eyes you've ever seen. She is a good and perfect gift from our Father.

When I saw her picture, I recognized her. Not as though I had seen her before. I dreamed of plenty of faces, but none of them hers. But I knew when I saw her that she was ours, that she is just the one God has chosen for us. I really recognized that sweet little girl, and it was amazing. I don't think any of us have stopped grinning.

We will be meeting our daughter in a few weeks (details to come!!), and be home with her sometime in May. May!!!

The boys are enamored with their sister. Iain, after grinning and saying it's time to leave and go get her, said seriously, "I like the dress. Do we get to keep the dress, too?" Cory said, "I think we should name her Beautiful Baby Sister," to which Iain replied, "I don't think she'd like that name forever." And then this morning, the boys went over to the computer (not knowing I was watching) and looked at her picture again. Iain said, "Isn't she just the sweetest little cucumber?" :)

Baby girl, we love you and we are so happy to have you. We'll see you soon!!

The One About the Lava Juice

It's been almost a month since I last posted. I've been writing like a fiend the whole time, but it's been journalling, thinking on "paper," stuff like that. Not really masterpieces for the whole wide world at this point.

It's been a hard few months.

But the boys are as adorable, impish, and funny as ever, and they are the bright spot (and sometimes the hard part) of my day. I am treasuring the moments with them these days, aware of how fast they are growing and longing to remember every second, every little funny phrase, the feel of their hands in mine, the sound of Cory's cute little voice, and Iain's leprechaun dance. I am so blessed to be their mama.

And they have been so darn funny lately.

--Today, in the car, Iain piped up with this: I thought of a new rule, Mama.

Me: What's that?

Iain: Stay out of the way of steam rollers. Can that be our new rule? And we can make sure to remember it?

--Iain to Aunt Jenna: Iains don't like cucumbers. I don't know why. They just don't.

--And then there was the whispered conversation between the boys tonight at dinner. The adults at the table got very quiet to listen in. The boys were leaning toward each other and whispering in each other's ears throughout the whole conversation. Imagine the cute little whispered voices as you read...

Iain: This summer, we should learn how to ride a pony.

Cory: Actually, I already know how to ride a pony. But you don't.

Iain: Well, a horse would be better.

Cory: But we don't have a horse.

Iain: I know that.

Cory. Pretend you're mad. Don't smile.

Iain: (trying and failing) I can't.

--Jenna and Curtis kept the boys for us while we went on a date a few nights ago. They reported this conversation back to us.

Jenna: Iain, do you want some guava juice?

Iain: (horrified expression)

Jenna: It's good. It's got mango in it. Uncle Curtis is drinking it.

Iain: (tentatively) Okay. Is it really from volcanoes?

Jenna: (laughing, realizing he thought she said lava juice, and he has a fear of volcanoes)

Cory: (looking at the carton and brilliantly realizing that lava doesn't start with g) This is the other kind of lava juice.

Iain: (to me the next morning) Did you know that sometimes g says llllll?

--Iain just got out of the bath.

Me: Hi buddy.

Iain: Look Mom! It's Iain!

--Because we have to renew our home study (arg), I took the boys to the pediatrician to get updated physicals. This was a new pediatrician (we used our Florida one last time because we had just moved here), and I was answering his questions about their developmental, sleeping, eating, and tv-watching habits, and feeling pretty good about my parenting. Then Iain interrupted me.

Iain: I only like to eat junk food. I love candy and chips. Junk food is what I like.

Me: (blushing) I promise, I don't feed him junk food all the time!

The pediatrician: Mmm-hmmm.

--On a walk:

Iain: Look! Broken pieces of sidewalk!

(Both boys stoop to examine the treasure. Both pick up a piece. Cory goes back for more.)

Me: You can each choose one piece to take with us.

Cory: (holding one in each hand) But this one is for the baby sister!

Me: (melting) Okay, we can take that one, too.

Cory: Now all the children have one.

I love my kids. All three of them.

DTR One Year

Today is the one year anniversary of when our dossier--that big important stack of papers holding our hopes and dreams for a daughter--was "logged in" in Rwanda. DTR: dossier to Rwanda.

It's been a year.

I don't know what to say. It's been a long road, and we're not done yet. I hope we're close. We actually have more hope now than we have in months that we're moving closer. It's good. It's hard. It's painful. It's worth it.

C.S. Lewis said, "What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step."

What saves us is to wait a day. Then another day. And to cling to the hope that He who called us is faithful, that He has been faithful every single day of this year of waiting, and that He will not change.

Appeal to His Mercy

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness." --Archbishop Trench

"Our Lord God could not but hear me; I threw the sack down before His door. I rubbed God's ear with all His promises about hearing prayer." --Martin Luther

One Year Ago

A year ago today, I mailed our dossier to our agency to get it checked over, before it was sent to the Rwandan Embassy in DC and then on to Rwanda. A whole year. Sounds like a really perfect day to get some good news, don't you think?

Thanksgiving '10, Etc.

So, I haven't felt much like blogging lately. The news out of Rwanda is that there is no news, and it's been hard to feel much hope. So as we enter into the season that is supposed to remind us of Hope and who He is, I am trying to remember what I know:

--He is good.

--He is strong.

--He is Emmanuel, the God who is with us. And with our daughter. Oh, come Emmanuel.

But life goes on, and there are good things that happen in this crazy time that I want to remember, and for the boys to remember. And so:

We did shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Iain choose to pack for a girl, and Cory a boy. Iain especially really got into it. When we dropped off the boxes, Cory prayed for the boy and girl, "that they would have lots of presents and wouldn't get bites from any bugs, but would have roly-polys, and that we would have roly-polys too."

We got a dog. Her name is Posey, and she's a three-year-old sheltie that my aunt found for us on Craigslist. She's a good dog (except she sheds and she can't really help that - although she can help rubbing herself along the length of our blue couch and leaving a trail of hair behind. Yuck.), and the boys love her.

The boys and I (and Posey) took a really nice walk the other day to find leaves. They loved running down the road and finding "really gorgeous leaves."

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with Grammy and Papa, Yaya, Phil and Kelly, and Uncle Larry and Aunt Lisa. I hardly took any pictures.

Aunt Lisa got a gingerbread house for the boys to do.

They were both sick over Thanksgiving, but they loved being there. We saw a huge gator in the pond out back (I even spotted it with a flashlight by its glowing red eyes), and Cory dreamed about him one night.

I finished Nano for the second time (Nanowrimo = National Novel Writing Month, where you write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November). My first time, in 2008, I really loved it, and I ended up with a workable manuscript. This time, it was so hard. I didn't like the novel, nothing really flowed, and it was a fight to the finish. If Alison hadn't been doing it with me, I think I would have thrown in the towel. But we both finished, so that's something.

That's about all our news here. And I can think of no interesting way to end this post...

The End.