We're having a baby!

I have a funny story to tell y'all. Almost 3 weeks ago-on March 11th to be exact-Aaron woke up very, very early in the morning to leave in time to make it to a work breakfast for the day. Well, I was on cold meds and already sleeping weird. Like waking up at 2 am all jacked up and ready to clean the house kind of weird. After taking that stuff for a few days in a row, I had a whole new understanding of why the pharmacy checks your id before you can buy it. Anyway, when Aaron left that morning around 3 am, I was wide awake. I had the urge to fold the heaping pile of laundry that had been growing like fungus on our dining room table for weeks days, but decided to try to go back to sleep. I knew I would suffer if I stayed up starting that early in the day. So as I was lying in bed trying to turn my mind off, I decided to check out the newly listed waiting children on Reece's Rainbow. I hardly ever went to this website anymore because my heart has been so raw from 2013, but I decided that morning to take a peek. As I was scrolling through all of the precious little faces, I was stopped in my tracks by this sweet one:

I mean, he's the cutest thing you've ever seen, right? Here's what his write up said: 

Boy, Born May 2013
PRC
Down syndrome

Tiny baby Charley! He will be turning ONE year old in May. The orphanage describes him as a “plump little baby” who eats and sleeps well. From his last report in January 2014, they said he could turn over in his bed, kick his quilt off, and follow a toy with his eyes and then his head will also turn to watch it. If you call his name, he will look for you, and he loves to lay or play in his bed. They say he is a quiet child who, when hungry, will not cry, but will suck on his hands instead.

So I immediately took a screen shot of his profile on my phone and texted it to Aaron. All it said was "I like Charley." He agreed that he was precious. And as the day went on, I started getting these hilarious memes from him. Like this (we're big Portlandia fans):

And this:

I didn't even realize until a few days later that Aaron had put a cartoon hammer in his hand. So at the point in the day when I started getting memes, I knew Aaron was really thinking about this little man and I was cautiously excited. When he got home that night our conversation went a little something like this:

Me: "So what do you think about Charley?"

Aaron: "What do you think about Charley?"

Me: "I think I love him."

Aaron: "I do too. Let's go get him."

And that was all she wrote. I contacted the agency the next day and found out more information about him, we submitted our LOI (Letter of Intent) paper work to China on March 21st, and received pre-approval from China to adopt him on March 26th. We are absolutely elated to be working to bring him home after such a tragic 2013, and we are reminded of this passage from Lamentations 3:21-24:

21 But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

    “therefore I will hope in him.”

God is so good to us, friends. Thank you for being excited with us as our family grows by His grace.