PLEASE PRAY FOR US FROM NOW THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT

Our court date to adopt Isaac is this Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. Taiwan time. That will be Tuesday morning at 1:45 a.m. central standard time here. I would like to ask everyone who can to please put out a blanket of pray between now and that time. Please pray that the birthmother shows up to court and that the procedings go smoothly.

NEW PICTURES OF ISAAC

Another family just traveled to Taiwan to complete the adoption of their infant son. Their son is at the same orphanage where our Isaac is staying. She took some pictures of Isaac for me. She also told me a little bit about him. She said he is very nice and he plays well with the other children. He has made a lot of friends there. She said that one of the little girls asked her if Isaac would be leaving on March 31. That is when our court date is scheduled. She told the little girl that he probably would not be leaving until the end of April or the first of May. The little girl was glad that he would get to stay a little bit longer. I think it is going to be very emotional for Isaac to leave his new friends. She also said that he LOVES baseball. He is also a very good eater and he feeds himself without making much of a mess. She said he eats traditional Chinese food so we will need to bring some instant oatmeal and some instant noodles just incase. He also loves to watch cartoons. That is good because so does Olivia. They can watch cartoons together. He loved getting his picture taken. He refused to smile in any of them, but she said that after she took the picture, he would run to her because he wanted to see the picture she took of him. She told him they were for his new mommy and daddy.

TRYING TO PASSING THE TIME WHILE WE WAIT

Our court date is in two weeks on Tuesday, March 31. After that we wait for the 1st and final ruling and then an appointment with AIT. We really don't know how long it will be after the court date on March 31 before we get to travel to bring our son home. We have been given a very wide range, so we really don't know what to think. There are a lot of things that factor in to how long it will take. We have heard anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months after court. We are hoping for the shorter time, but we have no way of knowing.

I am trying really hard to keep myself busy and get my mind off of it, but I am not having any luck. I could really use some advice on how to pass the time while we wait.

I FINISHED THE PERSONALIZED GIFTS FOR ISAAC

Here are the personalized gifts that I made for Isaac. The first one is a super soft stuffed frog. I put one of my nephew's newborn shirts on it. It was too long, so I cut it off and hemmed it. I then took it to a local monogram shop and had them to a heat transfer of Isaac's name on the shirt. I thought it turned out really cute. I found a soft photo album, thanks to my great friend Sarah. I put some family photos in it to send to Isaac. I love that it has a handle so he can carry it around. My best friend gave me one of her son's old backpacks and I put a train patch and a few train buttons on it. I think everything turned out really cute. I am only sending him the frog and the photo album for his birthday along with a big bag of Starburst candy. I plan to take the backpack with us when we travel and give it to him personally.

ESTIMATED TRAVEL TIME

A lot of people have asked when we think we may travel to Taiwan to bring Isaac home. I checked with the orphanage director and he gave us a rough estimate of 2-3 months after the court date. A lot of other families who have adopted through this orphanage are telling me that the 2-3 months estimated travel time is a very conservative estimate. They think it is very likely that it could be more likely 6-8 weeks after court if everything goes smoothly. Our court date is Tuesday, March 31. We are praying that we will travel during the 6-8 week estimate and the orphanage director is hoping so too, but we are just going to trust in God's perfect timing.

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!

“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25

We just got word from the orphanage director in Taiwan where Isaac is living.

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!
AND WE GOT THE GOOD JUDGE! PRAISE GOD!

It is Tuesday, March 31, at 2:45 p.m. The orphanage director will go before the judge on that day. I am not really sure what that means about when we will travel. Hopefully we could travel to bring Isaac home anywhere between mid-April to the first of May. We will get word to travel as soon as the orphanage director is able to make an appointment for us with the American Institute in Taiwan to get Isaac's visa to come home. Please pray that court goes well and we get travel notice quickly.

NEW PICTURE OF ISAAC

We got an updated picture of Isaac this morning. It is a little blurry, but I think the lady was trying to take it while she was playing a game with him. She said in her e-mail that when she sees him, she will go up to him and hold out her hand for him to give her five. She then pretends that it hurts because "he is so strong". She said he just giggles. He loves that game. A lot of my family play that game with our daughter too. It was great to hear something about him today. I hope to hear about a court date soon.

IDEAS FOR A PERSONALIZED GIFT FOR OUR LITTLE BOY

I have been trying to think of a personalized gift that we can get for our son Isaac to take to Taiwan with is to give to him. I have been back and forth between a lot of different things. Money is definately a factor in what I choose but it also has to be fitting for a 3 year old little boy. I have gotten a lot of great ideas from friends. I thought I would share them on my blog.

Personalization products and ideas for kids.

1. www.lillianvernon.com (This website has lots of products that can have a child's name put on it. One thing about it is that the names are put on with heat transfer instead of monogrammed.)
2. http://www.personalizationmall.com (Here is another website that offers personalized products for children.)
3. http://www.mysweetdreamsbaby.com/ (This is a really cute website.)
4. A personalized Veggie Tales CD.
5. Get a little blanket from the infant section at Walmart and have the child's name monogrammed on it.
6. Get a personalized name cup like they have at Toys R Us and Lifeway Christian store that has the child's name on it. (Olivia has one of these, but I have looked everywhere and they don't make on with Isaac's name on it.)
7. Personalized backpack (I looked into this, but they are very expensive.)
8. Personalized t-shirt (I have made Isaac and Olivia a t-shirt, but it doesn't have their name on it. Here are the links so you can see what I made.)
   www.cafepress.com/pandalittlebro
   www.cafepress.com/pandabigsister
9. Baseball cap with his name on it.
10. Photo album with family pictures in it. (I like this idea. I am still looking for asoft, small photo album that I can use. Everything I can find is too girly, is too big, or is hard. I want something small and soft.)

A lot of these are really good ideas. I haven't decided for sure yet what we are going to do. One thing that I have now realized is that for a gift to be personalized, it doesn't necessarily have to have the child's name on it. I have a phobia about having a child wear anything with his or her name on it, justly so I think with the way things are these day. It hit me that something "personalized" can be something that I make for him with my own hands and creativity. Olivia has a backpack that she is taking with her to put a few toys, coloring books and crayons in to take on the plane when we travel. I wanted for him to have a small backpack for a few toys on the plane too. A friend of mine gave me a good idea for saving money while still giving him something personalized. My best friend has offered to let me have one of her son's old backpacks. It is plain and doesn't have any characters on it. I am considering going to a craft store and getting a few things to sew onto the backpack to make it more personal. It will be cheap, will liven up a plain backpack, and will be extra special because I made it for him. I have never done this before to a backpack, but I have done it to some of Olivia's clothes.

Anyway, just wanted to share some of these ideas with all of my friends. No news yet about a court date. I will let everyone know when I hear anything else.

SNOW DAY - NOT A NORMAL EVENT IN MISSISSIPPI

Well, it snowed here last night. We got about 3 inches. I know for those of you that live farther north, 3 inches of snow is nothing, but it is a big deal here. We don't get snow here every year, so it is a treat for the kids when it does snow. We haven't gotten enough snow to make big a big snowman since I was in college, but it was enough last night for us to have a mini snow fight and make a baby snowman. The main thing was that Olivia had fun. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the morning. You can see that the snow wasn't very thick because you could see the ground after we walked through it.