To China or Bust!

The bags are packed, the arrangements for the girls are set, the good-byes have been said to our friends and co-workers.  There's not much left to do to prepare for the gigantic changes that are getting ready to take place at the Tucker house!  I feel like I have been going non-stop for so long, I wanted to take a minute to blog a little bit.

I think Tim and I are both holding back our excitement, not because we think something terrible will happen again, but because we are just being more reserved this time.  I don't want anyone to think that we are not beyond thrilled to be leaving tomorrow, because we definitely are!  Things have gone so quickly with Reese's paperwork and everything has worked out perfectly for us to get both kids at the same time.  Although August 20th seems like a long time ago in some ways, in other ways, it seems like we were just packing and preparing to bring Ethan home.  Now, we have done all the preparations again for him and also for Reese.  Her room is so adorable and I am so excited to have all the little girl clothes, bows, shoes, etc. back out and ready to be worn!  I am so sentimental when it comes to stuff like that, remembering Ryleigh and Reagan wearing those things and the memories certain things bring back.  I am so anxious for Isabella and Becca to be a part of Ethan and Reese's lives.  They missed out on so much in their early childhood, I hope this will be a great way to show them how to love and nurture a child.  I am so ready for all the change, even though I am usually not a person who likes change! 

I am amazed at how God has blessed our family.  I really hope our story is a testimony to how big our God is and how He can do anything.  His love is so much bigger than I can imagine and I feel so not worthy of everything He has given me.  My dream growing up was to have 4 kids and He has blessed me with 2 more because He knows what is best!  There was a time when Ryleigh was an only child and I was so desperate to have another child.  I hit rock bottom and realized that God was there and that He was going to give me the desires of my heart, if I would let Him do His work.  Adopting Reagan had such a huge impact on our lives and the blessings just keep flowing! 

I am still sad that Ryleigh and Reagan won't be with us this trip.  Neither one of them could go to sleep tonight.  They were crying so much and were just so sad, it broke my heart.  I couldn't hold back the tears when we were praying and putting them to bed.  I wish that everything wasn't so expensive and our whole family could just go.  Two weeks is a long time and it makes me physically hurt to think about being away from the girls for that long.  I told them that we were all going through this so Ethan and Reese could be a part of a family and even though 2 weeks seems like it will be unbearable it is what we have to do to give them a mommy, daddy, and sisters.  Everything I said to them, I was saying to myself, too.  It is not fair that our trip in August was wasted and that the girls missed the chance to be a part of Gotcha day and the whole China experience.  But, as the saying goes, life is not fair. 

We got the carseats put in the big van tonight!  It's funny how something so small can be so exciting!  We also got the highchair and booster seat cleaned up and put around the table.  It's going to be crowded, but so much fun to make memories around the table with all 8 of us! 

I am humbled by all the people who have supported us so much in this journey and it's awesome to think about how happy so many people will be to see pictures of our babies with us!  So many people have had a part in bringing these precious children into our family and we are so thankful!  Check back, next post will be from China!

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!!!

It has been even busier than usual at our house, but we wanted to let everyone know that we are headed to China on January 3rd to meet and bring home both our babies!  We are amazed by how quickly Reese's paperwork has been processed on both the Chinese and American sides.  God has proven over and over again His power and love.  We are excited to tell our story and will do so when we have more time!  Thanks for the continued prayers! 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Tim's birthday!  We celebrated with homemade chicken alfredo pizza, grandma's salad, and cheesecake for dessert and a few presents for our China trip.  The girls love to make a big deal out of birthdays, so we had fun making a "fancy" dinner with candles and special glasses.

I was really hoping to be able to post our travel dates, but we got word today that there is no way we will be leaving on December 27th.  I am so bummed.  I felt like we were getting so close with less than a month.  I sat in church yesterday and counted the Sundays left of peace and quiet during the service.  I started feeling giddy just thinking about bringing our babies to church.  Now the soonest will be January 3rd that we will leave.  Even though it is just a week, it seems like an eternity.  It's one more week that Ethan and Reese are orphans and that is too much.  Not to mention the tax credit will not be a possibility for another year and that is only if the bill gets passed.  So frustrated and tired of waiting.

We have been working on Reese's room.  It was kind of a last minute decision to redecorate, but I absolutely love it and am so glad we changed it.  Her room was Ryleigh's original room when we built this house when she was 2.  It was cute and would've worked, but we felt like our baby deserved something new.  I'll post pictures when it is all done.  We did zebra stripes,  pink, and black. It is super adorable! 

Ryleigh and Reagan had their Christmas program at church last night.  I was blown away by how awesome it was!  We had been practicing for so long, but it was not coming together at all until this weekend and it turned out to be an amazing show!  There were over 600 people in the audience.  I know many were blessed by the kids' performance!  It's sad to think it's Ryleigh's last play since she will move up to youth group next year.  Not sure Reagan will ever want a big part like Ryleigh always has. 

 

We were very proud of Becca's basketball team for starting the year off winning the Waynesville tournament!  Becca played great defense and scored some points, too!  They are a great group of girls!

 

 We celebrated our Family Day (Reagan's "Gotcha Day")with our tradition of the girls getting new pajamas.  This year it was quite complicated to find matching ones, so I ended up (after spending waaaaay too much time at Wal-Mart) getting the three older girls matching and Reagan her own.  It will really be complicated to add 2 more!  (But I can't wait!) 

 We found a beautiful tree at the tree farm.  It is the perfect fit in our living room!  We also let the girls get a short chubby one for the basement!  I love real Christmas trees!  And I love walking around the tree farm trying to pick the perfect one! 

 

That's pretty much what has been going on!