Nit Free!!!

Okay...I just wanted to post a couple head lice tips.

First, the Olive Oil treatment is excellent! Most importantly, it is non-toxic. I saturated the hair with olive oil, wrapped head in saran wrap for 4 hours. Then, I rinsed and washed with dishsoap to remove the oil. I then mixed a solution of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to rinse the hair and pick out nits.

Second, today I sectioned off Libi's hair in green bands and went through each section checking for nits. As I finished a section I banded it in pink to indicate the completed sections. This worked so well! Libi is so squirmy this method was key. (Thanks Lynn!!)

and I am pleased to report....

we are nit free!!!

Christmas Update

Christmas Light Cruising

Christmas Claus

This Santa smells like beef and cheese....

Libi had a great Christmas party at school. Unfortunately, Santa couldn't make it and sent an elf...let's just say Libi was onto him. Libi also brought an extra special GIFT home from school for Christmas, but you will have to wait until the end to see what it was.

Christmas Birthdays

Christmas Joke

Eddie???

Christmas Massacre

Christmas Love

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cousins

Christmas Cuddle

Christmas Cuties

Lazy Christmas

Cornerstone Christian Christmas Coat

Rockin' Christmas

Head Lice Christmas!!!

Yes, for the first time ever head lice is making it's debut in the Arnold house. Libi is the only one infected so far, and we are praying it stays this way. She is pictured above having a home remedy treatment of olive oil. Treating Libi for lice is like wrestling a greased pig, with the olive oil, it is seriously almost literally like it! My dad suggested buying her a pet monkey to do the nit picking.

Is that where the expression "nit picky" comes from???

Are you sympathy itching???

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours...

minus the lice!

A gift from the Giver

"How precious to me are your thoughts God! How vast is the sum of them!"

Psalm 139:17

I was blessed beyond measure this morning. I awoke with my precious Maggie on my mind, which is not necessarily unusual. What was unusual was the specific conversation I had with my God. I asked Him if He was thinking of her as I was.

Our paperwork has been beyond SLOW! If you know anything about the process, we just submitted our homestudy this week. It has taken us about 3 months longer to complete the homestudy than normal time frame, but in the adoption process what is normal!

Years ago the Lord taught me that He is a God who remembers, and when He remembers, he acts. This morning He showed me those thoughts He thinks toward us...When I lifted my eyes from my prayer the sky was completely pink! So beautiful...only a sky that a true girl could appreciate. As the glow of the pink sky flooded into the house I praised Him for showing me once again that He is remembering and acting, even when I feel like nothing is moving. As I walked to my desk to grab my camera and capture the moment, I saw an email that said, "HUGE SURPRISE (pictures of Guan Qing)"

I have nothing else to say...

2 years ago...

Before

After

It was two years ago this very day that our sweet Haddie Hope was birthed into our arms. This is one of those days that causes me to look back and reflect. Haddie was so thrilled to have a family, but not too thrilled with her new mama. Within the first minutes she smacked me in the face. That makes me laugh now, but when it happened it broke my heart in a way that is hard to describe.

Knowing Haddie as I do now, I have never seen her be aggressive in any other situation, and it is clear to me she was acting out of all that she was feeling. One thing she has expressed over and over is that when she came home she knew she was safe. To me, that indicates in China she struggled to feel safe. I have seen her grow through fear and insecurity in amazing ways, but the One thing that has brought the greatest healing to my little girl is the love of the One who can heal her far beyond the love and security of a family, Jesus. Haddie knows Jesus. She had never heard of Him, or God the Father before she knew us. We were part of that bridge for her. In a conversation three weeks ago she said to me, "Jesus healed my China hurts, Mommy." Enough said.

Last night I held Haddie on the couch and was forever ruined by what took place. We were watching one of those cheesy Lifetime Christmas movies, which is one of my favorite things about Christmas, but that is beside the point. This particular movie, "The Three Gifts", was the story of three older boys who lived in an orphanage. These boys were around the age of ten, and they express their desire for a family. The boys also expressed that being 10 years old is like 100 in orphan years. Of course, being a Lifetime Christmas movie, by the end these boys are adopted by a family. As we watched these boys have the deepest longing of their hearts fulfilled, my daughter wiped tears from her eyes. Do you know why? Because she lived that. She knew the desire, she knew the joy and completeness that adoption brings to a child who has longed, wondered, waited, hoped and prayed...

Older children wait....

they wait year, after year, after year...

Could you adopt an older child?

Could you be their bridge to Jesus?

I leave you with one more before and after picture to ponder...

Before

After