What's in a name?

Elliot has decided that we should change Owen's name to Finn McMissile.   At first we all got a nice laugh out of it.  He was very serious about the name.  But after calling "him" Finn for a few days now, I am starting to like it.  OK, I may not calling him Finn McMissile, but I do like Finn. 

What is it with my kids and names.  Many of you may remember that Ansley was dead set on naming Elliot, Charmin Hinkle, (good thing he was not a girl).  Iris got off easy, however, she has somehow become "Pork chop" 

So should we go with Finn or stick with Owen?  If we use Finn, we need help with a middle name.  Owen's current name is Yong Chen.  They most likely call him Chen Chen.  We obviously can't call him Finn Chen Chambers.  So maybe McMissle isn't so bad.  Any thoughts?

YES!

Finally, We have our LOA!    I can't even type this fast enough.  GOD is so good, he provides even when we don't deserve it.  (sorry about that little rant you received.)
Stay posted folks this one is going to be a nail bitter.  How will it all play out?   Will the Chambers prevail and travel before the end of the year

Or
Will we get stalled at every turn and miss or end of the year deadline?

We welcome any and all prayers for a speedy travel approval.   

Getting Closer

We are anxiously waiting for our LOA.  Just a few months ago we thought we could travel in October and now we are praying to travel this year.  All prayers are welcomed as it is very important that we travel before December 31.  As we get closer the more anxious we are to bring this little person into our family. 

Our finances took a big hit as we recently learned our foundation needed major repairs. This past week we had the work done (to lift our house back up!) and this drained our savings.

So, we started a fundraiser today to try to offset the cost of our travels during the holiday season.  If all plays out as we hope we will be traveling around Christmas.  As you can imagine plane tickets are ridiculously high during this time.  See the fundraiser banner to the right and select a t-shirt.  Please spread the word to anyone you know that may be willing to help and spread the word for adoption.

You can also use this link for the shirts:  www.adoptionbug.com/fromchinatochambers

Guess What I Have...

New Pictures of Owen!

I have been looking at them for hours now.  Just studying every little thing about him.  Trying to glean something about his personality from them.    Can I just say "man my baby is CUTE!"
 I will have to wait for the report.  My agency is still having it translated.  Why didn't I learn to read Chinese?

Iris's room

I just realized that I forgot  to post pictures of Iris' room.  So here it is.  I guess I forgot what with all the back to school stuff. 

 Iris kept changing her mind on what color she wanted to do her room in.  So mom made the decision to just do it like her old room since we already had all the stuff.  She can change it when she is older if she wants to.

Kindergarten here I come

 It came, the dreaded first day of school.  Elliot started Kindergarten and Ansley started 4th grade.  Miss Thing actually started last week. 

As you can see Elliot was very excited. He even asked me to "fix his hair with the smell good stuff" How could I refuse him. I don't know if the school will appreciate the new look. They frown on Mohawk's. But hey, my baby wanted to look good.

Our sassy little 4th grader showing off her bag, not a back pack. She is getting too big, someone stop her. 

Miss Thing had to get in the picture taking too.  The "bat pat" is as big as she is.

Elliot at his locker. Be still my heart

Getting a big hug from Mrs. Dodd.  Elliot is not crazy about hugs.

This picture really makes my heart hurt.  I am not ready for my little man to be gone all day.

I didn't get any pictures of Ansley in her class.  The 4th grade started 5 minutes before the bell rang.  I guess I will have to get that picture tomorrow. 

A, E, & I, I hope you all have a great day at school today.  I don't know what I am going to do at home all alone.  Good thing Owen will be home soon.

Off to school I go

 Iris started school on the 9th.  She will be attending school all day.  So once the older kids get back in school I will have 2 whole days to myself.  What ever will I do?

 She is so excited to be going to school.  She has a back pack and lunch box just like the big kids. 

I hope the preschool is ready to all Iris' activity.  They already informed me that she would not take a nap.  In fact she told the teacher that "you can just take me home now, cuz I don't need to nap"  Well no worries about her being shy.