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amazing photographer
.......she captured our trip on film

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Last 2 slideshows from Ethiopia Email me for link to others-alexander@integrity.com

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Saturday, December 27, 2008

merry christmas and happy new year!


The birthday cake that Avery whipped up!

I pray that you and yours had a very Merry Christmas and are ready for a great 2009!

We have been very chill over here at Team Alexander and loving it. We loved having Abe with us this Christmas. He didn't know what to think about all of it, but is enjoying his new toys. He is probably enjoying a little break from therapy too. :) His neck and trunk continue to get stronger and he is working hard. We praise the Lord for the progress he continues to make!

Abe and his tiny Toms!! :)

Thought you would like to see that TOMS will be taking over 30,000 pairs of shoes to Ethiopia! So great that so many people responded to this incredible goal they set for the month of December.
Monday, December 22, 2008

time bomb

Love this! Still need the perfect give for someone?? Give them the gift of clean water. :)
Sunday, December 21, 2008

a full weekend....one week late.....

Proud papa here...if you can't gloat on a blog where can you??? See below for some cool pics of both boys winning their City Championship football games. Granted they are 11 and 12, but in our little world it was big time. Both boys' teams beat the defending city champs. Hill's team won big and Wick's team, if you see below, went into OT. A certain #33 scored the winning TD on the last play! That's Daddy/Coach getting a winning hug.




That weekend we also had Abe baptized. It was a special Sunday morning with lots of friends and family. Our whole church prayed and cried for sweet baby Abe. FYI, everyone has giraffes in their living room don't they? They do if Mim (my mom) is their grandmother!



Wednesday, December 17, 2008

happy birthday wick and melissa



Today Wick (Wicky as we call him over here at Team Alexander) is 11 years old. It is so hard to believe how fast they grow. We love you Wick!! He is one great kid and I am blessed to be called mom by him! 

It is also Melissa's birthday- head on over to wish her well. I won't tell you how old she is because she is 3 months younger than me- if she were older, all bets would be off. Love you Mel! 


Thursday, December 11, 2008

abe update


Abe continues to work so hard in therapy. He is progessing and for that we are thankful. The Lord teaches us so much through this happy guy. His trunk and neck have gotten so much stronger! He is really working on our big goal of sitting up. Check him out below- that is his wonderful physical therapist's hand. We are so grateful to the team that He has provided to walk this journey with us. We also appreciate your prayers!  Thank you.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

couldn't agree more

Friday, December 5, 2008

my little elves

Our tutor made this little gem for our kiddos! I think it's hilarious. Enjoy.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

nashville and giving thanks

What a welcome from my blogger friends in Nashville!!

My soul sisters- thank the Lord daily for you girls! Our time together blessed me richly. 
Suz, me, Gwen and Corinne.

This group is such a gift! These women are such an encouragement to me the way they love the Lord. Thank you for taking time to spend with me on Monday. :) Kelly, Kristi (with George), Tracie (with Levi), Gwen, Katie, Lindsey, me and Suzanne.


Kristi has a true gift of hospitality and we all benefitted from it greatly! Thank you for opening your home to us. I can't wait to do it again. :)

I was worried that Abe might miss me terribly and cry the entire 48 hours- not so much! He did great. I am thankful that he enjoyed his time with his siblings, nanny (my mom) and daddy. Thank you guys for letting mommy get a break!

This is Abe hanging with his brothers. :)

I'm pretty sure behind this smile he was thinking "mommy, where are you? Come home mommy!!!!"


I'm working backwards, but Thanksgiving was wonderfully relaxing! I loved being with family, friends and enjoying way too much food. The cousins played non-stop and the adults got to hang out and visit.

Sweet Kristin joined us this year and it was such a gift. Our family considers this amazing woman to be one of our own. :) It helps to have really creative people in your life. She blessed us immensely with our pictures and videos from Ethiopia and look what she whipped up in a few minutes Thanksgiving morning.

She came in with some paper, asked the kids to help and next thing that I knew- we had a giant Thanksgiving tree in our house. Everyone loved writing down what they were thankful for and taping it to the tree. What a blessing to read everyones leaves. Trey won for most creative- and Abe won for most leaves total. Everyone is thankful for that little guy! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and are preparing your hearts for Christmas.



Here is a video that convicted the socks off me. I have seen it on many blogs, but wanted to share it as well!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

toms

Nashville was amazing. I am waiting on some pictures to write more about the trip. It was a blessing for sure and refreshing to my soul. :)

Please watch this and give a gift that will help those in Ethiopia this Christmas. I just got some of the fleece lined ones and they are COZY!!



Saturday, November 29, 2008

surprise!


I have the best hubby in the world! He is incredibly thoughtful, generous, sensitive, helpful.........I could go on and on. He just surprised me with a 48 hour get-away to Nashville to visit these girls. Woo Hoo!!







Moody wanted this to be 48 hours for me to get recharged, have sweet fellowship and get 2 nights of solid sleep, so baby Abe is staying here. He is much happier in his own surroundings with those he knows and loves, but I will miss my little man (I will miss all of them). Please pray that he sleeps well for Moody! The kids and my mom will help out and I will be back before I know it!  I am so looking forward to this gift from my man.  Thank you honey- I love you dearly!  
Monday, November 24, 2008

thankful


Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 118:1

We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to spending the week with family, friends and really yummy food! :) Happy Thanksgiving.






Wednesday, November 19, 2008

make a joyful noise

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100

Please look beyond my obnoxious laugh and body convulsions, and simply delight in the joy the Lord has given Abe! 
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

abe update

The Lord has graciously given us much encouragement this past week. Several of the comments from the previous post on "Welcome to Holland" were such blessings. A friend from college mentioned the fact that I have been to Italy, and it was interesting because the day before she wrote her comment, He gently reminded me of that fact. I have actually been to Italy 3 times literally and 4 times figuratively, yet not one time have I traveled to Holland.

We were also blessed this past weekend with a trip from Matt and Nikki Ness, the KVI directors stateside. We were able to share our passions for Ethiopia and how we can best serve this ministry that we are so grateful for and share our hearts on the road we are now on. They have walked this road themselves and the Lord used them greatly to minister to our hearts. Thank you guys for coming by faith, and we look forward to watching the Lord work in Ethiopia through Kingdom Vision International.

Abe is already doing so much that baffles the Drs.! Isn't that amazing? Praise the Lord for His mighty hand. I tell all of the Drs and therapists that Abe has so many people praying for him and that we love that he continues to surprise them. We keep on camping in faith and know only the Lord knows how far He will take sweet Abe. We just know that God is at work and we are blessed to witness His glorious working in our baby boy.

I am so blessed to be this guys mom! He is one amazing kid. He works so hard in his therapy (physical therapy 2x week and occupational therapy 2x week) and we are all so very proud of the progress he is making. We have learned to celebrate and appreciate the small things here at Team Alexander. I think this is the way that we are intended to spend every day- noticing the little miracles throughout our days.

We have to identify goals with ECI and his therapists. We have several, but the big goal we have is getting Abe sitting up independently. That is a 6 month goal. Would you please join us in praying for that specific goal? Pray that his little neck and trunk would strengthen and he will accomplish this goal! Thank you for that friends. :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

Here is one of those celebrated moments in our day- Abe working so hard to grasp the rings and bring them to his mouth. You should hear the victory dances and cheers that erupt over here when he accomplishes a new skill!









Thursday, November 13, 2008

Welcome to Holland



WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.


I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.



I have had several people share this story with me- thank you. It does such a great job of articulating my emotions.  A different trip, yet beautiful none the less.  It is by faith and God's grace that I can say that- I have absolutely no idea what lies ahead, but I do know that He will faithfully provide for each and every step along the way.





Monday, November 10, 2008

hands and feet



‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 28

We have felt an overwhelming amount of love and support to our family these past weeks!

Thank you to: my sweet friend that brought us dinner on Wed. night because she knew that I would be thinking about MRI results and not food, the friend that brought me a very large, delicious Sonic drink, the friend that brought me a latte from Starbucks, the friends that simply came by to hug, cry and pray, the friend that insisted I get out of the house with her for a least 30 minutes to breath, the friend that brought lunch to all of us one day, neighbors that literally are willing to do ANYTHING, the countless friends and family members that called to leave "I'm praying for you, no need to call me back" messages, the precious emails from perfect strangers offering hope, love and a commitment to pray, to all the friends that have driven my kids to each and every activity, my sister and her prayer warrior friends, my dear mother and sister-in-law and friends that hosted sip-and-sees for our little miracle, my mother in law that paid for and sent me to get a pedicure while she watched the kids, multiple people for taking the time to write and send notes and cards, my mother in law and precious father that have been here for every single one of Abe's physical therapy sessions so they can help in his progress, to friends that faithfully write "just checking on you, I'm thinking about you" emails, thoughtful friends that text scripture at just the right moments, to the incredibly generous friend that offered to do Abe's occupational therapy twice a week- just because, to bloggers that have asked for prayers on Abe's behalf, and the blog friend that came and spent a day with me, it was perfectly appointed and exactly what I needed. Thank you Heather for making the effort and being a great sounding board. She also encouraged me to watch this and the song has blessed my grieving heart many times.

I'm sure that I am forgetting some amazing folks that have literally been standing in the gap for us. It is such encouragement to our souls to know that we are NOT alone!




Abe continues to amaze us with his radiant smile and joy for life! We are blessed and we all wait with anticipation to see the Lord reveal Himself in many ways through Abe.
Thursday, November 6, 2008

results



People tend to think their circumstances determine the quality of their lives.  So they pour their energy into trying to control those situations.  They feel happy when things are going well, and sad or frustrated when things don't turn out as they hoped.  They rarely question this correlation between circumstances and feelings.  Yet it is possible to be content in any and every situation.

Put more energy into trusting Me and enjoying My Presence.  Don't let your well-being depend on your circumstances.  Instead, connect your joy to My precious promises:
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.  I will meet all your needs according to My glorious riches.  Nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from My love.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things thorough Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:12-13

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.  For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.  Genesis 28:15

And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor present things nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38:39

This is the Jesus Calling (Sarah Young) devotional that I read moments before the pediatric neurologist called to give us the results to Abe's MRI.  The line about being sad or frustrated when things don't turn out as they hoped was like a whisper from the Lord that the results might not be clear as we had so prayed.

The results were definitely not what we had hoped, but they were exactly as the Lord intended.  He formed Abe's inward parts; you knitted Abe together in his mother's womb.  I praise you, for Abe is fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw Abe's unformed substance; in your book were written, every day of them, the days that were formed for Abe, when as yet there were none of them.

Oh how these words from Psalm 139 make me cry out to the Lord this a.m and then rest in His grace.  It is believed that Abe suffered several strokes in his birthmothers womb and that has resulted in brain injury.  


While I thought this blog was started as just an adoption blog, I invite you join us on this new journey the Lord has called us to.  We are indeed clinging to His truth this morning.  My sister in law, Melissa, said that we all have a front row seat to watch the Lord be glorified through this amazing little gift named Abe!



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Belated Halloween pics



I was waiting on my sweet friend to send these because I forgot my camera!  I also forgot to have anyone else take a picture until I was inside my friends house, giving Abe a bottle in his pj's.  It then occurred to me that sweet little pumpkin hadn't been photographed, so I changed him back into his costume (he didn't love that idea) and gathered the kids (after much trick or treating)!  Note to self- take the pic before you ever leave the house next time!  

Abe's MRI is tomorrow morning.  Prayerfully we will know something by tomorrow afternoon. We would appreciate your prayers. :)
Monday, November 3, 2008

Raider Power


Remember this precious picture of Abenezer? This is the very first time that we saw his face and were simply blown away by the sweet provision of our Lord to place him in a Texas Tech outfit.

For all of you Longhorn fans that are still a little blue from the loss on Saturday night, I'm pretty sure the mighty Red Raiders pulled it out for Abe! It is hard to be mad about that right?

Lets just say that the victory made Abe's daddy really, really happy! This is the sport court that he insisted on putting in our backyard when we built our house! Oh, I gave up long ago on trying to temper his love affair with the Red Raiders! :)

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24

His grace is sufficient for us moment by moment! Thank you for standing in the gap for us, the prayers and support have been such a huge encouragement to us.

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emily
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from becoming polluted by the world." James 1:27
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