Wonderful news and a few more pics!

I have some wonderful, incredible, awesome...WOW news to tell you! If you don't already know...we had an ultrasound and much to our SHOCK...we are having a GIRL!! We are so elated and extremely thankful. I don't think I have ever wanted something so much in my whole life...well, at least thats the way it's felt the past 2 months.

I had had an ultrasound in Thailand at 3 1/2 months along and the Dr. said that hey were 80% sure I was having a boy...so John and I have been mentally hashing out whether or not we'd be ready and/or willing to have another child after this one - making it 4 in all - in order to try for a girl again. Don't get me wrong...if this had been a boy that would have been awesome too - my boys are so wonderful they have forever changed my heart on whether or not I am a 2 child kind of woman.

John and I had mentally prepared to have 4 children - which is HUGE step for us! LOL! So...now...are we STILL mentally prepared to have 4 children knowing that we are going to have our girl??? Uh....I'll answer that in about 2 years. 3 is enough for now!

We are so excited!!! Our due date is at the end of April and it seems sooo far away. You know...I still go and watch the VHS tape of the ultrasound just to confirm that we are having a girl. I thought for so long we were having another boy it's almost hard to believe. In other news, we had a wonderful Christmas. Liberty Lighthouse held a baked goods auction and raised money to buy gifts for our family for Christmas. It was sooo incredibly moving! They even had the Children's group that raised the money...hand paint a nativity set that they gave us.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed Christmas and Josiah has been a real stickler about figuring out all of this Santa Claus stuff. Santa came to school one day and Josiah told all the kids that he wasn't real and that their mommy and daddy were lying to them!!! AHHH!!! I LOVE that Josiah is a lover of the truth and wants to always speak the truth but man I wish we could have prepped him just a little bit...I can only imagine some of the shocked parents faces when their child came home and asked if they were lying about Santa.

Josiah has really become a little evangelist at his school. He came home and told us that his friend, who hardly ever smiled and was pretty mean, now believes in Jesus and she smiles now. I haven't met this friend but you should have seen Josiah's face as he told us how he had been telling her about Jesus and what God did for us and that she needs to know the truth. I would also like to say that I have not taught my child to evangelize. I would love to take credit for this but all we have ever focused on was making sure that he knows the truth and what we are seeing now is a result of his belief and faith.

He's such a smart boy with WAY TOO much energy at times but he is our Josiah. Jude is changing and growing every day and is definitly showing off his "2" colors. MAN! I'm being TESTED! LOL! My patience is fully tested everyday! Jude can test you to your limits one second and the next melt your heart..it's amazing.

Welp, I'm going to close up and wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We're heading to Dorchester this Sunday to talk to a Sunday School group there and I can't wait! I'll leave you with some pictures. Thanks for reading!

Josiah toping the tree

Jude giving a hand
John and Josiah having fun with Josiah's litebrite

Jude with his favorite toy
Josiah working hard making Christmas Eve cookies

Jude doing his part
The best part about cookie making...Josiah and Mommy...I just got my hair done!! After a year of grown out mess...FINALLY!

My new hair do...Yes my hair is still incredibly curly but it was so nice to have it straight for a little while. :)

Picture Update

Hi Everyone! I finally have some pictures of the boys to show you.

So here are my handsome boys living it up in America.

Josiah...seriously jet lagged. He has NEVER fallen asleep eating before...

Josiah and Jude waiting for a parade to go by...

Jude watching his brother sing on stage...

Josiah getting ready to sing on stage...

Josiah reminding me to be quiet...

Josiah and Jude hanging out outside.

Jude taking a break from playing hard.

Jude's 2nd Birthday Party at MickyD's.

Jude with his cousin Ethan. Aren't they handsome?

I'm King of Skee Ball!!

Jude posing with some cute art.

Jude laying back for his check up...looking not so sure about all this.

NOW he's ready...

Josiah showing off his "Jesus on the cross" sketch.

Josiah's million dollar smile.

American Life...Josiahs nose issues...10 things that shock us...

We are finally settled in somewhere and it is so nice! We are staying with a lovely family that had a rather large upstairs room completely empty and they have 2 boys like us so there are plenty of toys and lots of boy companionship to be had.

I can not tell you how much I am enjoying American luxuries...don't worry...no thoughts of not returning here! But it is oh so nice to cook meals without sweating and simply placing the dishes into the dish washer. OH and the PICKLES! I have three different kind of pickles in the refrigerator as I write. :) Current favorite: Valasic Zesty Dill Pickles.

The feel of carpet under my feet and the cold weather causing me to bundle up like I haven't done in 3 years!! BlueBell Ice cream still tops my list of American favorites...I've also realized that the Internet is faster here too...I mean...I THOUGHT we had high speed Internet at our house. Now I know what high speed Internet really is. I can't complain though...at least we have Internet where we are!

Seeing family and friends is incredible. Being in their lives and being able to pick up the phone and call is truly a wonderful blessing. I love the conversations but even more than that is that fact that I can...I can pick up the phone and call my mom or let Josiah call his Aunt Christel if he wants to. It's nice.

But of all the nice things we're experiencing there are a lot of things that we are so shocked about. Here are a few:

1. The number of pharmaceutical drug commercials on TV.

2. The number of commercials talking about bringing the family "together for the holidays" - AROUND THE NEW HD TV!!! Or in the new family car with a TV for each seat!!! UGG...makes my tummy hurt!

3. The phones are absolutely incredible and half of the ones I've seen...it takes me at least a few minutes to figure out how to make a simple phone call and I'm a techie...err...I was!

4. How busy everyone is!! Talk about being entangled in life...I don't hardly know anyone who isn't. And I understand why...it's so easy to get caught up in what's going on in life and forget to be eternally focused.

5. The amount of Christians that are just barely hanging on.

6. Watching National Geographic on HD TV is absolutely amazing.

7. How easy it is to make a meal now a days...When I was living here last I thought Hamburger Helper was the easiest meal but now - all you have to do is pick up a box and even the chicken comes in it!!

8. The price of gas and food!

9. The amount of people who have lost weight because they had a messed up Thyroid and got on some prescription drugs...and lost tons of weight...

10. How many people have fallen out of love and have no where to turn to for Godly advice so they just give up. Marriage in America is in serious trouble....serious trouble...more than I ever understood before.

We're staying in a small city right outside of Sherman. After checking out the school here and going in like a detective...John and I decided to let Josiah go to school while we're here for social interaction and it has been wonderful. I still do a lot with him when he gets home but I'm saving most of his curriculum for after we leave.

The curriculum has done wonders for him already - he does wonderful academically at school...while he is learning daily how to interact with other children in America and how to follow instructions at school. We both feel like this is a really good thing for him right now.

Today I was going to grab Jude up and go have lunch with him at school today and right before I started to get ready the school called. Josiah had stuck a piece of paper UP HIS NOSE! For those of you who have been reading for a while...remember the beebee? Yeah...

So they had him in the nurses office, and while he was not freaking out or crying, he would not let them get anywhere near him with tweezers. For those of you who don't know about the beebee...Josiah put a beebee up his nose quite a while back and we had to take him to the emergency room in Thailand. They wrapped him up in a blanket so he couldn't move and used this really scary looking instrument to hold his nostril wide open and went in with tweezers...needless to say, he doesn't like tweezers.

Luckily, with the nurses coaching, while I was still on my way, Josiah blew hard enough to shoot that paper wad right out! We had a great lunch together and while I was there I was moved to tears.

As we were eating a small girl joined us and informed me that she was new. Her name was Isis. The first thing out of her mouth was the following:

"I know 4 things really smart! 1. My family and friends love me very much! 2. 5+5=10 3. 2+2=4 4. 10+10=20" she said proudly.

I told her how very smart she was and asked her name. She later continued on:

"wanna hear a really big story? It's about how my daddy beat up my mommy!"

She later continued on to say while looking at Jude: "He's a real cute little thing isn't he? I used to have a brother but my daddy stole him."

I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and hold her and protect her from all the horrible things this little girl is going through. She's a smart little girl and not just because she knows what 10+10 is. She was really on top of her game and she's in Kindergarten. I can only imagine what she's lived through and seen already.

I encouraged her and showed her love as much as I could until it was time to head back to class. Please pray for little Isis tonight...my heart still hurts from our encounter. As I sat there looking at all the other children I wondered what they were experiencing.

I wanted to find some way to be there for these children while I'm here but it seems as though it's next to impossible to do anything in schools now a days...but I will pray for her and the rest of the wonderful kids I met today.

In other news, Jude had his 2nd birthday and since then he's just been a bundle of personality. It's like he was waiting to turn 2 and now that he is he is growing like a weed in every way. Both of my boys are growing so fast! I'm so glad we're having another one. Speaking of which - I'll have an ultrasound on the 20th of December! WAHOO!

I've already written a lot so I'll save your eyes and your attention span...IF I haven't already lost you. Please be praying for us - the job that John was supposed to get doesn't seem to be panning out so we're still looking and God is still providing...need by need. Thank you God! You are so good!

I miss Thailand and I miss our family and friends there. As we continue to serve him here and cherish the time with family and friends I am so thankful that God is helping me really be HERE and not feel lost. God has a plan for us while we're here and I'm confident in that...I'm not just having a baby and going back...God is always at work and so much we be.