Goodbye 2010

Well, another year has come and gone.  We always reflect on our year as it comes to an end.  Each year we experience different heartache and loss, but we also experience joy and new blessings.  Each year God chooses to grow us and shape us in different ways.  Sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is pleasant, but it is always His will... which is exactly where we want to be.

This year our family:

January - Lost Robert's Uncle Jimmy

February - Celebrated Blake's 5th Birthday

March - Celebrated Barrett's 2nd Birthday and lost my Grandaddy Elvert

June - Lost Robert's dad

July - Saw Brynn's face for the first time

August - Our first child started Kindergarten, Spent a week with our family from Kentucky

November - Met our daughter for the first time

December - First time to be together as a family of 5

This year has been filled with heartache as well as pure joy.  The Lord has certainly grown our faith and trust in Him.  We have seen and experienced things this year that have forever changed us.  Our hearts and minds will never be the same.  We have seen real poverty. We have experienced a country who does not have the freedoms we have or know the God we know.  We have seen rooms filled with children who day in and day out sit and wait... wait for someone to love them and call them son or daughter.  We have loved a child with all the positive and negative "baggage" that she brought with her. We love her unconditionally, with our whole being... just as God loves us, baggage and all.  God has shown us this picture through the miracle of adoption.  The perfect picture of God's love for us has been embedded in our hearts.  We have experienced God's plan for the orphan.  His plan to mend the brokenness that sin has brought upon families.  We have trusted God with our whole hearts, taken a huge step of faith, and have been blessed far beyond measure.  Yes, there has been heartache and joy in 2010.  God has been faithful through it all.  He has taken care of us His way.  As the year ends and our hearts have been changed we pray that we will remain faithful to the One who has been faithful to us.  Our prayer is that we will not get too busy with daily life, technology, material things, all the things of the world.  We pray that we will not get too busy to be still and listen to God's voice in 2011.

New Year's Eve

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our annual dinner at the Bell house.

 The kids had their very own dinner table this year!

 Our little party animals:

Jackson, Barrett, Brynn, and Blake

 Blake Ian

 Barrett Owen

 Brynn Olivia AiXin

 the McIntire family 5!

As usual we had a fabulous time celebrating the year with the Bell family!  The kids played, the parents visited... a good time indeed!

Family Outing

My grandfather retired as a big dog from Six Fl*gs.  Every year he gets an envelope of complimentary tickets, which he passes on to my parents.  They then disperse them amongst all of us.  This year they asked if we wanted to take the kids to Holid*y in the Park with the tickets.  Robert and I don't love Six Fl*gs and haven't been in 15 years, but we thought since we had free tickets and a free parking pass, it wouldn't hurt to take the kids for a little bit.

 We were surprised when we pulled up to find that it was completely packed!  As we stood in line to get in, everyone around us was talking about how they have never seen it so crowded... of course on the day we decided to go!  Robert asked one of the staff about it and they said yesterday there were 1,500 people at the park and at the time we were there 19,000 people were at the park.  And so we laughed to ourselves and said of course on the ONE day we decide to come it is a record breaking crowd :)

 So much has changed since we were there 15 years ago, yet so much is the same.  Since we have always had access to free tickets, we used to come every summer when I was growing up.  It did bring back a lot of memories being there again.

 This picture of Brynn pretty much sums up her first experience at an amusement park.  She was in awe the whole time!  She had a great time and did really well! 

 We only rode a few rides since it was so crowded.

We saw a couple of characters.

 The two favorite rides were the Antique Cars and the train.  We loved the cars here because they had a back seat and the whole family got to be chauffeured by Blake!  Barrett loved the train ride!  He sat so still with his hands in his lap just watching everything go by as we chugged along.  Brynn thought it was all fun and smiled and pointed at everything as we rode along.

 We walked around a little bit after it got dark just enjoying the Christmas lights and the sights.

We stopped on the way home to eat dinner and then all 3 kids fell asleep while we drove the rest of the way home.  We were not sure if we would end up regretting our decision to go, or being glad we did it... at the end of the night we were glad we went!

Double Celebration

Today was a special day in our family for two reasons.  The first reason was because it was Mommy's birthday.  Here is Mommy posing with her 3 handsome/beautiful children!

 This isn't the best picture, but I wanted to snap a quick one of these two buddies.  They are the best little pals.  Barrett adores Brynn and always wants her to play with him.  Barrett is at the awkward picture stage... fake smile and flash anticipation get him every time!

The second reason the day was special is because it is Brynn's official 1 month Gotcha Day Anniversary.  On November 29th we were handed this beautiful little girl at the Registration Office in Henan, China.  Our family was forever changed on this day that God had chosen from the beginning of time.

1 month later and she is growing and blossoming so much!  1 month later and she still loves to flash the peace sign for her pictures (thanks to her nannies in China)... of course we think it is hilarious when she does it... especially when she throws the double peace out there :)

Normally Robert and I go on a date for my birthday.  It is one of the rare times that we go out without the kids.  Our social worker recommended us not to leave Brynn with anyone for 6 weeks (for bonding reasons), so we were happy to have a party of 3 for my birthday date today.  After a delicious breakfast cooked by my husband and homemade birthday cards given to me by my children, Robert, Brynn, and I went out for the afternoon. The boys were excited to get to play at Jim and Duby's house while we were out!

The two girls who were celebrating today.

Mommy, Brynn, and Daddy

It was a wonderful day!  I have so much to be thankful for!

Rainy Days

Today was a cold, rainy day so we decided to get out of the house and go somewhere as a family.  Due to our work schedules, it is not often that we get to spend a whole afternoon out as a family.  We made a stop for lunch.  This was Brynn's first trip to Chick-fil @.  She loved every bite of her chicken nuggets.

From there we went to the B*ss Pro Shop.  Robert received a gift card for Christmas and wanted to go see what he might spend it on.  This was a first for Brynn too.  She looked all around at the tall ceilings with lights hanging.  There was a lot for her to check out here!

Blake found this fun Wii game that he played for a little bit.

Barrett and Brynn watched very closely from the buggy... until Barrett decided he wanted a turn too!

It was home to take down the Christmas tree, baths, and pj's.  A quick game of Ring Around the Rosie was in order (requested by Brynn) before they were off to bed.

We made it to 3 nights in a row of good, all night sleep!  Brynn and Mommy have been in much better spirits now that we are getting good sleep at night!  I am so excited about this big step for her... she is falling to sleep at night without me holding her or laying with her and she is sleeping all night.  Crossing our fingers that it continues!  I am so proud of how far she has come!

Playdate

We had a fun little play date with the Baker girls yesterday.  They came to welcome us home at the airport when we got home, but haven't had a chance to see Brynn since then.  Yesterday was the perfect day for them to come play!

Tara and I were surprised at how easy the group picture was this time!  They all just sat there and looked at the camera... so unlike a lot of our picture attempts at previous playdates!  Barrett isn't smiling and Brynn is eating a Cheerio, but at least they are looking at the camera!  We had a great little visit and can't wait until our next one!

4 Weeks

4 weeks already?!

 We can't believe this little girl has already been in our family for 4 weeks!

 Sometimes it feels as though she has been here all along... other times it feels like just yesterday she was handed to us.

 She blossoms more each day and we see more of her personality shining through.  She is gaining more trust and confidence in us.  She is slowly being more affectionate with Daddy and has slept the past two nights all the way through.  We are hoping that tonight makes 3 nights in a row and hopefully means it is a good, new habit for her.   Just the fact that she is sleeping more peacefully means she is trusting us more!

 She is very affectionate and silly, but watch out because she can be feisty too.  She is quick to throw whatever is in her hand or hit one of the boys if she doesn't get her way.  We are working on taming the throwing, as well as the hitting and scratching.

 She loves to give hugs!  She will come up and give me a big, tight hug.  It is a big step in bonding/attaching that she is initiating the hug!  She will hug the boys and Daddy too if we prompt her.  When she sees the boys hugging our family/visitors goodbye, she will join in.  She loves to snuggle and would be happy to ride on my hip all day if I let her.  She is very affectionate!

 We love this little girl more and more with each passing day!

I had someone leave me a comment asking and wondering more about Brynn (example: does she say any English words, what do her brothers think about her?).  Please feel free to leave any questions you have about Brynn or how she is adjusting in the comments section.  I will make a special post answering all the questions you have.  I don't think about those little things people might be curious about... but I would love to answer them!

Daddy Back to Work

Daddy has been off work since the day we left for China.  Today was his first day back.  We are thankful that he was able to take off so long in order to spend time with our new family... but we sure did miss him today when he went back!

 The kids and I spent the day playing with their new toys... and trying to organize and find new homes in the toy closet for them.

 Brynn got these cute markers from Santa, so they all gave them a try today.

We had some great masterpieces when they were done!

Christmas Day

Our morning started off bright and early, as the boys were ready to see what Santa brought.  Brynn was not sure what was going on and she just wanted breakfast.  She sat quietly while the boys looked at their gifts and we showed her what Santa brought her.  Once she ate breakfast she was up and playing right along with them.  Here they come down the hall to see what is under the tree.

 This is what they saw when they rounded the corner.

 Much excitement as they went to look at the gifts Santa left.

 Blake was thrilled to get the remote control monster truck he has been wanting.

 Barrett loved his very own watch he got in his stocking.

 Brynn liked feeding her new baby doll.

 Barrett and Brynn love playing with Brynn's new kitchen together.

 We spent the day at home watching the parade and playing with new toys.  That evening we put our pj's back on and went to my parent's house for our Christmas together.  Our customary picture in the bedroom before we go out to see what Santa has left us.

 Brynn was a little overwhelmed at first, but then warmed up and enjoyed playing.  We had a great time visiting and playing with our new toys.  We always love our Christmas evening with our family.

The kids at bedtime modeling their new pj's Duby made/gave them for Christmas (she is still working on Brynn's).  Look closely at who is on Blake's pj's!

We had a wonderful Christmas!  We had been praying that Brynn would be able to spend this Christmas at home with her family.  We are so thankful that she was home and able to celebrate the birth of our Savior with her new family!

The Night Before Christmas

This year we officially started a new tradition on the night before Christmas.  All my life we have gone to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve.  The past two years both my grandparents have been gone and I have found myself very lost on Christmas Eve.  The first year without both of them we just sat here at the house while I cried all of Christmas Eve.  Last year Robert had to work so the boys and I drove him to work. After we dropped him off we drove around looking at Christmas lights.  I decided last year that was how I wanted to start spending Christmas Eve from now on (minus the Robert at work part).  So, this year we all 5 loaded up with pj's, cookies, milk, and blankets and drove around looking at the beautiful Christmas lights.

 Blake loves everything about Christmas time and is very excited as you can see.

 Barrett is still trying to figure Christmas out.  I think this year he is finally getting it!

 This is Brynn's first Christmas with us and we love watching her reaction to everything.  She loved looking at the lights and eating Snicker doodle cookies in the car!

 Well... we all loved eating Snicker doodle cookies in the car!

 We saw some beautiful houses with lots of lights!

When we got home it was time to put cookies out for Santa.  Each child got to put a cookie on the plate for him.

Three cookies for Santa from our three sweet children.

Blake had to hug Compton goodbye... always a sad day at our house.  I reminded Blake that Compton had to go back to the North Pole to make more toys and learn new tricks for next year.

 Our hearts are full of joy as we experience our first Christmas as a family of 5!

 I mean, how could our hearts not be overflowing?!  Just look at these sweet silly kids!

 Merry Christmas Eve!