July 25th is now a special day for us because we welcomed our newest nephew, Liam Hunter! At 7lbs 15oz and 21 in., he was the exact same size as Braylee was at birth! He is sooo adorable...I mean, seriously, look at his hair!!
Braylee's 1st attempt- You can tell she was only concerned about Liam.
That's better. :)
Gabe told Braylee: "Now we gots our baby but we don't know what to do wif him."
Brynna said: "But Mandi does!"
They are all such sweet little blessings to our family!!
Liam, Ella, Gabe, Braylee, & Brynna
Brynna's 1st time holding him.
After we loved on Liam and his family, we went swimming with Mandy, Emily, & Eli at Trevor's house.
Later that day, we heard the official news that Aunt Tracee was hired to teach biology and chemistry at BR!! They are moving home THIS weekend!! We can't wait! I helped my mom move things out of the bonus room and spare bedroom upstairs at her house yesterday so that Tracee and Nick have somewhere to live for now. My dad and my brother & his family are going down this weekend to help them pack up so please pray for safe travels for them.
(Also- As excited as we are to have them home, I know they will be missing their friends and jobs in South Carolina, especially since that's where the twins were born. They've been down there for 7 years so I'm sure it will be a big adjustment moving back home.)
Ella and Gabe came over to play for a little bit. I just love this picture of them playing in the basement, with Gabe & Brynna in the background too. 
Yesterday, we took my mom out for her birthday (which was really Tracee's bday and today is my mom's).
Then we met another new member of our family. My cousin Tomi had her 2nd boy on June 17th but since they live in Texas, this was our first time meeting him.
Braylee & Aiden
And...the super, exciting news in our house tonight??!!
Braylee lost her first tooth!
I love that I was able to catch it on video.
She did it all by herself!
One last smile shot before she starts tugging :) 
Getting excited! 
It's out!
Admiring her new look
She had to call daddy right away.
Her new smile!
Several people have asked about our adoption status. Unfortunately we are still waiting. :( The process is about as smooth as mud, so it's difficult to wait and difficult to explain why we'll wait. We often hear people comment about how there are so many waiting children and why does it have to be so frustrating... Well, as hard as it is to be patient, we understand that most of these hoops we are climbing through are in the best interest of the child. China wants to make sure we are suitable candidates with a loving family and committed marriage. They want to make sure we have the resources to provide for our new daughter. The US government has to follow immigration laws, etc. It's all just part of the process...it's not fun but I know it will be worth it.
We were excited to learn a family who was at the same stage as us (sent their dossier to China the week after us) received their referral on Tuesday! Their little girl is only 9 months old and they are hoping to meet her by December!
There are several factors that play into why we are still waiting, why others have waited even longer (sometimes MUCH longer), and why some seem to be matched quickly.
1) We each get to fill out our own "requests" based on what we think will be the best fit for our family. We can request by gender, age, and special need. We are hoping for a little girl under the age of 18 months...and a lot of other people request this same thing.
2) Each agency has an individual list of children. I'm not sure what determines how many children (or how frequently they are added) are on these lists, but the agency is able to advocate for these children within their group of families. Some agencies (including ours) also have agreements with specific orphanages/provinces and they receive files of children in those specific welfare institutes. Some of the people who are matched quickly are lucky to find their children on these lists and do not have to wait for the monthly "shared list" to be released.
3) When the monthly shared list is released, all the agencies have access to it and you can imagine the frenzy the agencies go through trying to lock files for their families. Some of this matching depends on how skilled your agency is at matching quickly. It also depends on where you fall in the list with your agency. Last I checked, we aren't at the top of our agency's list yet, meaning even if our agency is able to lock a file or two when the list comes out, they are searching more specifically for the families who were on the waiting list before us. Depending on the size of the agency, some families are matched the first month they are eligible, other families wait 12-18 months due to being farther down their agency's list. There may be families who were added to our agency's list after us that may have been matched before us if they are open to an older child, boy, different needs, etc.
I hope some of that makes sense! We are praying that we might be matched from our agency's individual list or orphanage-specific list soon. If not, it looks like it might be several more months before we could get a match from the shared list.
It's difficult when I see others receiving referrals that match our "request" but I also rejoice with those families and accept the Lord's timing for our referral too. I know it will happen eventually. I equate it to the end of a pregnancy...you know the time will come but you just can't wait to meet your new little one!
During the wait, I try to focus on the positive things of only having 2 big kids right now... like the fact that Alex and I aren't outnumbered yet, we can still all fit in Alex's little car, I haven't bought diapers or carried a diaper bag in almost 3 years, we get to do lots of big kid adventures, we don't have to worry about naps or strollers, etc. I love watching my girls grow as they learn more about adoption, China, and patience.
Having said all of that, I would hop on an airplane tomorrow if they would let me go get a baby!! :)
Life with this little cutie definitely makes the wait a little easier!! 
