a productive weekend

Our weekend was rather uneventful.
But productive.

We spent a lot of time getting the boys' room ready.
That was SO fun!

Macy and Lucy helped a lot.
It was great to have their input.
Well, with Lucy...you get her input on anything and
everything, whether you want it or not.
I've never known a more opinionated or controlling person
in my entire life.
Well, except for the gal in the mirror.

Ahem.

I'll show you pics of the room once we put the finishing
touches on it.


So, speaking of our new boys...
we've been re-thinking names.

I think we are pretty set on Isaiah Jack for our littlest guy.
We've already been calling him Isaiah,
but a huge part of me thinks he looks like a JACK and
I'm a tad torn to want to call him that instead.
We don't plan to keep his Chinese name...I hope we don't regret that.
We didn't keep Lucy's Chinese name either.

And as far as our older fella,
here's the dilemma...
We definitely want to keep his Chinese name (Hao Hao...pronounced How How)
and we also want to keep the name Andrew,
which was given to him by a really special person who volunteered
and spent a lot time with him in the orphanage.
But I really love the name Elijah...and call him Eli.

So...that leaves us with,
Elijah Andrew Hao Hao.

Do you think that's way too long?
Obnoxiously long??

We are kind of thinking of just dropping Elijah
and call him Andrew...or Drew.

I don't know!!


I hope you all have a super duper week.
If you think of it,
please pray that our TA gets here this week!
That's a little on the early side,
but you know how it is,
we can boldly approach the Throne of Grace with our
heart's desires!


Let me know what you think of the name situation.
If any of your Chinese children have long
names, has it been a pain?
Or is it no big deal?

Thanks, everyone!

BIG changes!!

What a difference a day (and a ton of prayer) makes!!

Yesterday was WAY better.
But before our day as a family began,
I had gotten up early....really early.
I spent time in the Word,
and on my knees in prayer.
But I kept feeling so unsettled.
Then all YOUR emails and comments
started pouring in and God used them to really
encourage me.
I captured every thought of doubt and made
it obedient to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10: 5)

I was determined to have a positive attitude and to be
the best mom I could be to our new daughter.

So when Shu Li woke up,
Lucy and I went in to check on her.
I was a little worried because Lucy's attitude
at bedtime had been really negative.
But to my surprise, Lucy said to her,

"Good morning, Sunshine!!"

It was so sweet and it set a great tone for our day.

We all loaded up in the mini-van (it's pretty full these days!)
and went to a Chinese market.
To back up just a bit, one of the things I had been
praying early in the morning for was that God would
direct our steps...literally, and bring into
our paths people that would be an encouragement to
our new family and to Shu Li.
Well, while we were at the market
(which is about 45 minutes from our house),
an elderly couple came up to us and asked if we
remembered them.
Then they said,
"Bob's Big Burger!!"

OH YES!!

From the time K-man and I were dating until
about ten years ago,
we frequently ate at a WONDERFUL burger joint that
was owned by this lovely Chinese couple.
Interestingly,
it was a constantly-busy place to eat...
but yet, they were always so gracious to us.
Well,
they eventually retired and we never got to
say good-bye because we hadn't been in in a while
(it was far from our house).
We were so sad to go in one day and find that
there were new owners.
So,
when we saw them yesterday, it was like a direct
answer to the exact prayer had I prayed just hours before.
They talked to Shu Li
and she seemed tickled to talk to someone who
shared her language.

We had never been to that market before,
and decided to try going there at the last minute.
It was a God-appointed encounter, no doubt.

We loaded up on food that lit up Shu Li's eyes!
She was thrilled to see familiar things!
When we got home,
she and Lucy shared some dumplings,
and later, some noodles, tofu, red peppers, and HOT sauce.
It was cute that Lucy still craved this food!
And btw,
it gave them both DRAGON breath.
Oh my.

Sorry this is so long, but there's more.

As we were still struggling with the name thing,
my sweet friends Mary and Patty
(who are the new mothers of two of Shu Li's
friends, Lina and Ellie)
came to the rescue!
Patty had called so Ellie could talk to Shu Li
and help straighten out the name thing.
The girls chatted away!
Then Patty told me that Shu Li told Ellie
that because another friend of theirs now has
the name Katie,
she DOES NOT want that name.
I was so relieved to get a definite answer on that!!
Then Mary called shortly after that
and had her daughter also talk to Shu Li (online) about
it and tell her that we like the name Macy.

SO.....
as of right now,
and we are pretty determined to end this
name game,
Shu Li is now Macy Shu Li!!!
Interestingly,
while in China, we did not have the chance
to change the paperwork to from Macy to Katie
once we found out that (at that time) she wanted Katie.
We had decided to change it (which wouldn't
be all that easy or cheap, I'm sure) once we
got home.
Well, as it turns out,
we don't have to change a thing now!!

I hope all that makes sense!!

Macy and Lucy...warming up!!

Macy Shu Li

I have fallen in love with not only,
Shu Li....our daughter,
that we have yet to meet in person
(yet I feel I already know her in many ways),
but I also love her name.
Hearing it just makes me smile.

Hearing Lucy say it makes me smile.
Shoo Wee.

But because I know that she will very likely
want an American name,
we have decided on

Macy.
Macy Shu Li.

I love that name...and I love that it
goes well with Lucy.

Macy and Lucy.
Cute, huh?

But still...I'm really struggling with bringing
myself to call her that,
even as I type this...
or say her name around the house.

It feels the same as me changing
my name to Betty.

Cute name but....it's just
weird.
I talked to Patty about it
(for those who don't know she just adopted on of Shu Li's friends)
and she said she feels the same way about
her daughter's new American name.
I'm relieved to know that because I thought
I was being rather odd about it.

Anyway,
ultimately we will let Shu Li, I mean Macy,
choose what she wants to be called.

If she wants to stick with Shu Li,
I'll be tickled.
If she likes Macy Shu Li,
I'll be tickled.

************************

I am up earlier than the chickens today
as Nick and I are heading to his
BIG golf tournament.

YES, I'm positive that it is today.
He is so excited.
And I'm excited that it's the last time
I have to get up so dog-gone early!

"Yes, I'd Love to!"

Thanks to all of you for your sweet comments yesterday! We are so excited about Shu Li!! We keep getting bits and pieces of info from our agency about her. We got her complete file yesterday in the mail & I thought I would include a little bit of it...


Shu Li's attitude towards being adopted by foreigners:

Many of her friends have been adopted, and most of them would visit the institute again with their new parents, which arouses admiration in her. She would ask her teachers questions about being adopted and wonders whether she would be adopted one day. When she was asked by her teacher seriously, "are you willing to be adopted?" one day, she gave a very affirmative answer, "Yes, I'd love to."

**sniff, sniff** I would get on a plane tomorrow with nothing more than the clothes on my back (and my flat iron) if I could.

Here are a few name possibilities...tell me what you think! And let me know if you have other name ideas!

Katie Shu Li (if she wants to keep Katie)
Elizabeth Shu Li *or* Shu Li Elizabeth
Shu Li Grace (I don't know if that flows)
Carly Shu Li (not sure if I like how that sounds but I like the name Carly)
Sally Shu Li (Yes Sally! I love your name!! But, not sure if I like it w/ Shu Li)

Unrelated, we are in the final week of basketball for Nick & Brenden's ends next week I think...not including their state tournaments. Anyway, they both had games tonight hours away from each other so we had no choice but to split up. Golly, I just hate missing games!!! I went to Nick's since it was closest to home & it allowed me to get Lucy home at a decent time (and so that I could catch up on my blogging).

After B's games he sent me a text and it went as follows (pardon his colorful language):

B..."Mom, did you hear about my block?

Me...."Dad told me a little but you will have to tell me all about it!!"

B...."Ok!"

Me...thinking he will tell me when he gets home.

B...."OK! this kid was on a fast break and was well ahead of me but! I ran his butt down and stuffed the CRAP out of him!! He was still holding the ball, about to release it but I got all of it and slammed the ball into the wall and he strongly followed suit!!!! It was amazing, I yelled "GET IT OUT!" as loud as I possibly could! lol (followed by 1 Cor 13:4 that is at the end of each of his texts, which with this particular text, I find humorous).

Me...."Woo Hoo!!! Darn, I wish I had seen it!!!"

B...."Yeah, it was the moment of the game for me =) lol and when I say I ran him down, I mean I RAN HIM DOWN! I have neve ran so fast in a game =)

Oh man, I love my boys!! They are so talented & keep me in stitches ALL THE TIME!!!

Hey, now hop over to my friend Patty's blog for a great laugh!! She had a hilarious encounter with the UPS man.....