Christmas Ornament Site Is Up and Running!

Our Christmas ornaments site to raise money for adoption is up and running!  Click below to visit online and purchase a handmade ornament (or two)...

I'm A Sewing "Machine"

Ok, not really...but, I finally did dust off the beautiful sewing machine my sweet husband bought me for my birthday a few years ago (haven't sewn a lick since we adopted Eden) and started a project this past weekend. I wasn't brave enough to go at it alone, so I headed to my grandmother's house so she could talk me through the supposedly "quick and easy" pattern.

I had a lot of fun! The dress isn't done yet, but I'm close. Let's just hope the buttonholes and buttons don't undo all my hard work :0) I'm making Eden an Auburn jumper. I'll post a photo when I'm done. My next endeavor is another jumper, and then a Dora shirt to wear with blue jeans or leggings. Then, I'm on to some super-cute Christmas PJ's. We'll all faint if I actually get all this done before Christmas, won't we? But, it's a good goal.

I'm posting this cute picture I caught of Eden the other night at bedtime. Nights are SLOWLY improving. But, even when it's difficult, I can't resist this cute face!!!! Have a great day!

Her sweet eyes were the FIRST thing that drew me in when I saw her photo for the first time on December 14, 2006. They still get me every time!

One last bit of exciting news, my sister who is my best friend in the whole world, is pregnant with her first baby...I'm going to be an aunt and Eden is getting a little cousin. This is my first "local" niece or nephew and I can't wait. I LOVE being an aunt! Well, tomorrow (Tuesday) morning Kelly and Matt will find out if it's a boy or a girl. I can't wait so I can start buying cute stuff and planning a shower. I will post the info tomorrow if she'll let me. I don't want to spill the beans before she gets to tell everyone.

AND, two of my other great friends, Alisa and Amber, are both pregnant and having girls (Hannah Elizabeth and Millie Marie). All 3 of these babies are due in Nov., Jan. and Feb. Blessings abound!

Eden's First Christmas

Eden's New Kitchen

Say Cheese! Eden with her new pink camera

The candy necklace in her stocking was a HUGE hit!

How cute is this pink piano her Meemaw gave her?

Eden with Aunt KK on Christmas Day

I'm finally posting Christmas photos. I will be doing lots of posts over the next couple of days to catch up. Eden got a kitchen for Christmas and she LOVES it. We put it in our kitchen so she can "cook" with mommy. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church for which there was no childcare. That was interesting to say the least. Eden broke out in song during a really somber instrumental number, and erupted into "YAY!!!!" with clapping as our pastor was preaching. Other than that, she did great :) Thankfully, the people sitting around us were so taken with her sweet smile and silly personality it didn't seem to bother them.

We spent Christmas morning at our house, just the 3 of us. Then Gene's parents and brother came for a late breakfast. That afternoon, we traveled to Anniston to my parent's house and spent a few days there. It was a wonderful Christmas. Gene made me a DVD of our China trip as my gift and I literally sobbed so hard when I watched it that Eden came up and patted me on the back to comfort me.

Seeing the footage of her in China was so hard to watch because she was grieving so hard for her foster mother. She is so happy now. The Lord continues to heal her heart. I am amazed daily by what He has done in her life, and in ours. I will get Gene to post the video on our blog sometime soon.

Sorry this post came a month late but hope you enjoy the pictures!

A Christmas Prayer

Merry Christmas everyone! I am about to head off to bed and I have so much on my mind. I am so humbled and thankful for my precious daughter who will experience her first Christmas tomorrow. At the same time, I am so keenly aware of the millions of children who have not yet been adopted, and many who never will be, who are spending this Christmas in orphanages, foster homes, hospitals, and even on the streets. I am keenly aware of the birth mothers who may be faced this very night with the heart-wrenching decision to give up their babies. After all, that's how Eden started her journey to our home.

Most of all, I am comforted by the truth that God knows each of these little ones by name. He holds their future in His sovereign, loving hands. He numbered their days and appointed where each would grow up before they were born. He is the Father of the fatherless. I praise Him because He has allowed me to live this truth this year as He guided, protected, and brought Eden home to us.

I praise Him because He, too, was a helpless infant, dependent on the care of a teenage mother. He was born poor, with little to His name. He can sympathize with our weaknesses because He has been tested in every way and yet didn't sin. Tomorrow we celebrate that God came to live among us. He was born to die, and rise again. He is our living hope, and the hope of orphans all over the world. Because of Him, they will never be forgotten.

I love this photo of Eden. We received this ornament last Christmas and it has children of all different nationalities joining hands around the earth. Eden was playing with it and a friend snapped this photo without us realizing that the Chinese girl on the ornament was facing the camera. It gave me goose bumps when I saw it.

This Christmas, take a few moments to pray for the children who will not have a mommy and a daddy this Christmas. They will likely have no presents, no big meal, and no mention of Jesus Christ...and He is their hope. Let's remember them. Because God has not forgotten them.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Word Became Flesh

How do you even do it? How do you even begin to try and put into words the depth of God's love and grace during this season? I cry every day. This is not my first Christmas as a believer - but this year everything seems so...real. John chapter 1 says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." God as a newborn, then a toddler, then a teenager, then a crucified and risen Savior. God with us. Emmanuel. Wow! There are no words. As I contemplate the birth of Christ with a toddler in my home it brings this reality alive in my mind and in my heart. When Eden does something silly, or needs a diaper change, or tee-tees in the potty like a big girl, or asks to be held and cuddled I think, "Jesus did these things." How humbling!

For 2 years we "looked forward to" meeting our daughter in the flesh. She was alive in our minds and in our hearts...but she wasn't here with us. We hoped and we waited and we dreamed and we imagined. We prayed and we prepared and we wept and we believed. We watched the mailbox waiting for I-171's and passports and visa's. And then one day, July 23, 2007, Eden "became" flesh to us and dwelt among us. She came to live with us. She became real to us. What a miracle!

I can't help but see the parallel in this adoption process. And I can't help but think how many thousands of people are going through all the motions of the Christmas holiday, but Christ isn't real to them. He is just a story, a Christmas carol, an idea, an excuse to be off work and exchange gifts...but not their Lord, Savior and friend. Not their rock, refuge and strength.

You might be thinking, "Keri, you are way over-thinking this!" Maybe so. I have been quite contemplative with things that I used to just "gloss over" now that I'm a mommy. You see, Eden mimics me...in every way. When I yell, "GO!" in traffic, she yells it, too. She sits in the bathroom and pretends to put creams on her face and contact lenses in her eyes. She tries to repeat what I say. When I hug Gene, she hugs Gene. When I kiss him, she follows suit. When I tell him "I love you" so does she. She is like a dry sponge soaking everything in.

So, what about Christmas? What attitudes, traditions and values am I pouring into her? She is so teachable right now. So eager to please and to learn. These are precious days with her. So this year, we're talking A LOT more about Baby Jesus than about Santa. Why? Because I want Christ to be real to her. He is so very real to us.

I hope as you celebrate this season He is real to you. I hope you are able to take time to worship Him with your family. And if you are struggling right now and feel sad, lonely, or forgotten, I pray He will give you the grace to look past your circumstances and see how much He loves you. So much so that He gave up a throne to enter a womb, and a world that rejected Him. He is real, and He loves you.

Merry Christmas!