embrace the camera: march 31st

one of the best embrace the camera posts yet!

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!



quick video

hi friends!  just popping in to say thank you for all of the congratulations!

elsa is doing well...and i can't wait to share more about her with you.

for now, i wanted to show you a fun, quick video of mr. anderson arriving with elsa at the airport. 

sweet moments.

{make sure to turn my music off, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and press pause on the music}

we ended the video looking for hadley...turns out she was overcome with emotion and sitting in the stroller crying...sweet girl.

by the time we got to the car, she was good though...she just really missed her daddy.

be back soon!

welcome home, elsa.

she's home.

we love her so.



you can view more of her homecoming pics HERE.

love.

the kids and their signs (to hold up high at the airport!)

i love how hadley got super creative with her sign.  she drew a whole flippin' scene.

and of course you can't forget the bajillion "i love you's" on the back :)

and caedmon's sign...loving the picture of her on there:

and of course milo and his sign...and his look of disgust.

this kid is one of a kind.



the time has come, friends!

the time has come!

 (can you hear me shouting that from my rooftop?)
we will be picking the mr. and the daughter up from the airport, REAL SOON!
and this weekend, we will be enjoying our new normal...as a family of 7.
be back monday...with lots and lots of pictures!
{oh heck, who knows, maybe you'll see us before then :) }

love!

embrace the camera: march 24th

i feel the need to give a refresher on why we embrace the camera and what it's all about.

so many new readers have joined us since we started this gig, back in may.

embrace the camera is about YOU being IN the picture.

not just a picture of your kids.

not just a picture of your animals.

not just a picture of that random object.

now, if you are in any of those pictures, then that is embracing the camera.

but the point of it is to get out from behind the lens...and to get in front of it.

you can read about how it all started HERE.

so, get your camera out and turn the self timer on and get in a picture with a loved one.

here's me with my biggest little man (and random people walking in the background)...on our last day at disney.

i love that monkey.  (and the monkey on the shirt).

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

we're back.

wow.

when i said i needed a break, i really wasn't kidding with myself.

saturday morning i woke up feeling way sick.

after a few days of feeling like death, i took myself to the minute clinic.

turns out, i had strep throat.

strep throat?  are you kidding me?

i thought you had to be like 8 to catch strep.

apparently not.

but i do know one thing.  i would much rather naturally birth all of my babies again, then to have that strep throat pain.

it felt like death i tell ya.  death.

so, we've spent the last 4 days doing this:

movie days, holla.

i'm pretty sure i overheard caedmon praying that i would be sick longer so that we could have more movie days.

rude.

and yes, hadley is sitting in a bumbo.  she's 5, and she loves to sit in a bumbo.  actually, they all do.  it's the hot seat in the house.

anywho.

for the news you really came here for:

elsa will be home in just a few days.

days.

not weeks.

not months.

but days.

there's so much i want to tell y'all, but it's just not the right time.

thanks for being so excited for us---and with us.

y'all are lovely.  really, really lovely.

and since in just a few days i will have 2 little ladies under this roof, i went ahead and changed my blog banner.

what do you think?

eventually, i'll make a new one with pics of ALL the kiddos, but for now, this one will do :)

it's all so exciting!

you want to read this post. i promise.

some days, life gets to be overwhelming.

caring for kiddos.

helping at school.

grocery shopping.

making dinners for children who hardly enjoy what i cook.

answering emails.

wiping booties. (lots of them, lots of times during the day)

sweeping the kitchen floor 18 times a day.

being a chauffeur.

writing blog posts.

dealing with adoption paperwork.

basketball practice and games.

piano practice.

finding a pile of poop on the floor from my baby, who was walking around without a diaper on, and decided to poop.

you know, the usual overwhelming stuff.

because life is feeling slightly overwhelming, i've decided to take a mini vacay from this blog.

don't worry, i'm not leaving for too long!

i will be back on wednesday.

just need a few days to chill.

oh, and want to know the biggest reason why i won't be blogging?

because we have to prepare for elsa.

she'll be home next week.

{yes, you totally read that right.  and i'm sorry, but i'm going to leave you hanging without details for now!  let's just say, God moved some mountains.}

see ya wednesday!

embrace the camera: march 17th

no words today.

feeling grateful for the munchkins that i do have to hold.

and praying for my 5th little.

whom i can't wait to hold.



so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

update.

i know that y'all care for us and for elsa, so i wanted to make sure you knew that our paperwork DID NOT get submitted today, like we had hoped.

it is still in translation (which has to happen before it can be turned back in to the embassy).

so now we wait and hope for next wednesday (it can only be turned in on wednesdays).

our hearts are hurting, but we are trusting God that his plan is grander.

please keep praying her home.

thank you friends.

what hadley wore wednesday.

y'all know i let my daughter pick her own clothes out.

she comes up with some AMAZING outfits.

she can pull any outfit off...maybe it's because she's so darn cute.

whatever it is, i love my little fashionista.

{look at her beaming smile!  that is my hadley bean}

any girl who can rock polka dots with striped knee highs, and ankle boots...is a winner in my book.

i hold tight to this time with her...soon enough, she will actually care about what people think of her and her outfit choices.

i'm hoping she will still be confident in her style.

and to all those people who might look at her and laugh at her choices? 

well look out. 

 i'm a mean mama bear.

a new theme.

my blog has this new theme these days...it's called "waiting for elsa."

i had to go to a meeting on saturday, and during that time, we had a few minutes where we got to pray.

my emotions got the best of me while praying...this waiting game has been a hard one.

i just want to know a timeline.  i've had to give up all ideas that i know when and what is going on.

so, we prayed a bit for elsa...and when i went back inside and sat down, my phone beeped.

i had a new email.

my new email was from our agency, stating that our paperwork should be ready to go to be submitted to the embassy this wednesday.

the very email i had been waiting and waiting and waiting to get.

rarely, have i ever had prayers answered so instantly.

it was exactly the encouragement from the Lord that i needed.

a simple reminder that His hands are in all of this.

that He hasn't forgotten us, or elsa.

so, good news is, our paperwork should be submitted on wednesday.

i don't want to get my hopes too high, but i definitely want our paperwork to make it to the embassy this week.

(ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us, so while i sleep tuesday night, i'll be dreaming of our paperwork actually getting submitted and being approved).

assuming that all is good with our paperwork, we could be called to head out there very VERY soon.

you can dream, and pray with us, if you'd like.

we would all appreciate it.

hearing about all of the disaster and heartache in japan has hit me particularly hard.

as if i wanted elsa home before that, it's nothing compared to how i feel now.

watching a country deal with mass devastation is hard when you have a child, far, far away, that you can't help protect.

i know that the Lord is keeping her safe.

that He cares for her deeply. 

even more than we care for her.

knowing that, and remembering that, is giving me hope and a promise.

a promise that our baby girl will be home soon.

this, i'm sure about.

happiest place on earth.

our disney, year long passes, have officially expired.

it's been fun to pick up and head to disney world, anytime we want.

that is a definite perk about living in florida.

i have learned one thing though:

i really dislike people who stop in the middle of the walkway.

especially when i have my double stroller right behind them.

i can't even count the number of ankles i've hit this year.

anyways.

here's a few fun pics from our year:

and, i've of course saved the best for last:

milo, the castle and his weenis.

goodbye happiest place on earth.

it's been fun. 

 (and slightly stressful...and a bit crowded...and sometimes totally hot...sometimes totally cold...definitely dirty...but yah, besides that, it's been magical)

look out.

don't be fooled by the sweetness...

...as soon as you're not looking, he'll stab you with that fork.

we affectionately call kohen "the terrorizer" in this house.

and it's for a very good reason.

happy weekend ya'll.

embrace the camera: march 10th

embrace the camera day snuck up on me like......well, like something that sneaks up on you.

i was not prepared this week with any photos of the kids and i.

so, i checked my archives and found one of mr. anderson and i.

it's fitting for this week, as i just got done yelling at him for not wanting to try some new food out.

i'm tired of eating rice, but i'm married to an asian, so it's like, a staple in this house.

i asked if we could ever so gently make a switch over to quinoa.

and he got super defensive over it.

he even said the words "i'm chinese.  i eat white rice."

okay, mr. anderson.

i get the point.  you love your rice.

geeeeeez.

so, i am posting this picture to remind myself that i do love mr. anderson.

even when we argue about rice.

and maybe i'm also posting this picture to kind of say sorry for being a jerk about it.

maybe...but i'm not sayin' for sure.

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

a bit breezy.

oh, hello crack:

i mean, don't you think the girl would feel a breeze or something?
i'm pretty sure if my butt crack was hanging out like that it would make me feel really uncomfortable.
or maybe not. 
maybe i should try it first before i judge.
but (no pun intended) let's be honest here, yo. 
generally, the person who has the butt crack hanging out, is not the one who feels uncomfortable.  it's usually the one who sees the butt crack.  like, "omg, is that person sitting in front of me really letting their butt crack hang out?"
awkward.
unfortunately, the most awkward part of this post now is not hadley's butt crack showing but the amount of times i've said 'butt crack'.
i'm done for the day.

all i need is some food and elsa.

waiting does not make me a nice person.

i would consider it a HUGE area in my life that needs major work.

making me wait for anything is a sure fire way to get the stink eye from me.

2 things i can't wait for without an attitude:  food and elsa.

and wouldn't you know it...apparently the Lord thought the same thing.

i know He very well could get Elsa home tomorrow, but apparently my attitude isn't what it should be.

i'm not blaming myself for elsa not being here.

i just think the Lord is still trying to teach me something...and to this i say (very loudly) "teach me already!"

just when i think i can't wait any longer, i get an email stating that things haven't gone as planned and we will be waiting longer.

just when i break down into tears because i can't handle the thought of waiting, i get an encouraging email or word from a friend.

james sent me this:

it says "waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be." ---john ortberg

...it confirmed what i felt like the Lord was telling me...

"emily, i'm shaping you into something greater.  stick with me here."

i'm sticking Lord. 

 like glue.

  gorilla glue to be exact.

  i'm not going anywhere.

{a view of my kitchen sink window--filled with crafts made by my littles}

so, we wait.

and we try to wait with joy and patience.

we are praying hard that our paperwork will be turned in by tomorrow.  if it doesn't get there tomorrow, then we have to wait a whole week (it can only be turned in on wednesdays).

it's been 11 weeks since mr. anderson has seen elsabeth.

11 weeks is a long time for us, but i mostly worry about her.

my heart truly does feel like i have a child not with me.

i didn't think i would feel this achy about it, because i've yet to meet her, but i've seen so many photos and video of her...and heard stories from friends who have just met her.

i want her home, now.

thanks to jessica for that picture of elsa.  she is waiting for her sweet daughter as well.  and as she posted here, we need mountain-moving prayers right now for our children in ethiopia.

{random bit of info here, jessica is part of a group i meet with once a month---there are 5 of us ladies, and we all are adopting--or have adopted--from ethiopia.  once all of our children are home, we will have 29 children between the 5 of us.  29 children!}

so we will be praying...feel free to join us.

mountain moving prayers, people!

and while i'm waiting and praying for these mountains to move, i will take random breaks to spoon nutella in my mouth.

a girls gotta eat.

y'all know how cranky i get when i don't eat.

the girls room.

i love saying that..."the girls room".

makes me excited for what's to come.

if you've read this blog for a while, you might remember hadley and kohen's room.

kohen slept in that room for only a few months, because he proved to be much more vocal than we anticipated, thus, waking hadley up all. the. time.

dangit.

so, we moved kohen into our room (we have a separate sitting area, which has now become kohens' room).

hadley's room will be shared with elsa, once she gets home.

i wanted to show the fun wall that i've put together.

it's still missing some items (frame for the invite, flowers for the pink vase on the wall, and a few other doo-dads) but it's just so sweet...especially that hadley and elsa sign:

a sweet blogger friend, won a sign from cardboard sheek, and gave it to me---how nice was that?  i'm telling ya, the blogging world has some amazing people in it.  i'm lucky to have so many nice folks that read this blog.  for real.

so, the sign came last week and i put it up, immediately!  i love it.

loooooooove it!

"hadley and elsa" sign - cardboard sheek

yellow fabric, orange polka dot fabric - michael miller

pink thing-a-ma-bob, embroidery hoop, aqua picture frame, bambi picture - goodwill

"elsa" embroidery hoop art - little dear

invite from my sprinkle - paper and pigtails

another awesome gift i've gotten for their room?

this painting from lindsay at paint me a picture:

lindsay is great.  and so is her shop.  go check it out.

she even has a painting for sale that the proceeds will go to our adoption fund.

soooo, once elsa is home and i get everything in order, i'll do a full tour.  the stripes on the wall are staying (i love the stripes)...furniture has moved around and i've added pink accents in there now, since i can because it's a girls room.  yah, a girlS room.

i'm excited.

{and no, we have NO IDEA when we will be leaving to go get elsa.  so we continue to wait.  rather impatiently.  you can pray that our paperwork would be re-submitted this week.  that would be a miracle.}

600th post. wow!

as i went to write today's post, i noticed that it would be my 600th post.

way to go em.

600 times i've sat down to write a little something.

this is a proud accomplishment for me, as i tend to be the type of personality who begins things, but rarely finishes them.

so, to have kept up with a blog for 3 full years, is quite fabulous.

3 years of our lives that are now documented.

i get asked the following few questions nearly all the time...so, i will answer them here.

so, why do i write a blog?

so that we always have something to look back on {i get my blog printed into a book too---1 for every year}.

it's a great way to record all the little moments...that i would most definitely forget, otherwise.

how do i have time to write a blog?

i use nap time to write and schedule my posts. 

do i ever run out of things to say or post about?

have you met me in person?  i never run out of words.

and have you  met my kids?  they are always doing something post-worthy.

is it overwhelming to blog 5 days a week?

no. 

and i'll tell you a little secret about how blogging became fun for me.  i stopped blogging "events"...but decided i would rather blog "moments".

it's like scrap booking.  i couldn't move forward unless i scrapped about christmas {or insert whatever holiday/event that is holding you back from moving forward}.  but, i was never in the mood to scrap christmas, so i just kept getting farther and farther behind.

same thing with my blog.

finally i decided "who cares if i post about christmas".

i don't need to post oodles and oodles of pictures of my kids under the christmas tree.  now i just post moments.  so, maybe that one present that milo really wanted?  maybe i post about that.

whatever.

it just makes blogging much more simpler.

and i'm good with that.

so, thanks for reading this little blog about our family.  it's been fun to watch this blog grow...and so much of it has to do with elsa, this i'm sure. 

thank you for all of the nice and encouraging comments and emails you send me---they really mean so much.

{oh and if you're wondering, i do get the occasional fun emails too (and by fun, i mean rude).}  the delete button is my friend.

so, thankfully the good outweighs the bad...

here's to 600 more posts!

{i'm pretty sure mr. anderson just rolled his eyes at that comment}

happy weekend ya'll.

embrace the camera: march 3rd

another embrace the camera day has arrived.

this week, my oldest turned 7.

we surprised him monday morning with a note that said "surprise, you don't have to go to school today, instead you and mommy are going to universal studios!"

while i know he was really excited, the first words out of his mouth were "but, i'm supposed to be helper of the day at school today".

have no fear, he got to be helper the next day.

caedmon loves harry potter.

like, loves it so much that he's already decided that he would like to name his children, harry potter anderson, hermione granger anderson and albus dumbledore anderson.

very unique names, caedmon.

he has currently read the first book and is working on the second.

(before you judge, please know that i read it before him, to make sure it's acceptable, and he's never allowed to read past whatever chapter i am on---and, he isn't allowed to read anything after the 2nd book.  nor is he allowed to watch any of the movies.  okay, i feel better getting that out.)

sooooooo, knowing his love for harry, i thought it would be fun to take him to the "wizarding world of harry potter".  i have the most generous friend who got caedmon and i into the park for free (thank you--you made this day so special!)

we really had so much fun (i LOVE one on one time with my littles)---and our embrace the camera picture is of us riding one of the roller coasters:

this picture makes me laugh.

i am definitely trying to stay still while taking a picture, whilst on a roller coaster.

we rode this ride about 10 times in a row. 

 it was a favorite of the day.

and for anyone who hasn't been there, please look at the hogwarts castle they built:

i first went to the park with my sister, back in august.  back then, i didn't even know who harry potter was (okay, major exaggeration there, but i really could have cared less) but even back then, i thought that this castle was amazing.  and there is a ride in there too!

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

the naughty chair.

somebody has been spending a lot of time on the naughty chair lately:

i know what my dad is thinking right now, "no way...none of your kids are naughty!"

i know it's hard to believe but kohen is coming up fast as being the naughtiest.

he loves to throw a fake cry in here and there.

just to make the moment more dramatic.

and then he flashes his puppy dog eyes at me.

then when i start talking to him, about how he needs to say sorry, he looks away.

then he gets a little teary.

and hugs me (his way of saying sorry).

then all is right in the home for 2.5 minutes till we start this process all over.

naughty i tell ya, naughty.

toilet paper?  yes, it's completely unrolled.

legos missing?  yes, because kohen wanted to taste them.

pages torn out of books?  well he was only trying to read them.

sitting on the kitchen table?  he just wanted to show off his mad climbing skillz.

marker on the wall?  he's an artist at an early age.

if i had energy to begin with, it would be all gone.

memories.

for the past 5 or so years, you can pretty much guarantee that if it happened, then i took a picture of it.

while that makes for lots of photos, i'll never regret having that many.

it's memories of our family, that without photos, would only be images in our minds.

every so often, i like to sit down and look back through those old photos.  it's fun to see where we were 1 year ago, 2 years ago, etc.

this particular picture was taken in february 2009:

{thanks to allyson for snapping it}

that's milo i'm holding hands with...

such a little peanut.

i can almost taste and smell the memories associated with this picture.

shortly after it was taken, i found out i was pregnant with kohen and the sickness began.

unfortunately, i still can't get over associating spring time with being completely and totally sick.

thank goodness these peanuts are worth it.

so, who knew 2 years later we would have added {nearly} 2 more kids to our family?

makes me wonder what our family will look like in 2 more years.