Update on Phoebe!

We got four new pics of little miss Phoebe yesterday!  The information said that she is healthy and she has 4 teeth, she is crawling but likes to stand and hold on to things, and she weighs 17 pounds.  We can't wait to meet our newest blessing and welcome her home!  The kids are really looking forward to meeting her.  Levi says almost daily "I can't wait until Phoebe can come home."  How sweet is that?  We are still hoping to travel in March but we are waiting on immigration approval.  Every day I approach the mailbox with great expectation! :)  I know that the Lords timing is perfect!

2011 Year In Pictures Video

The 2011 Year in Pictures Video has been posted.  

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Family Christmas Pic 2011

 

Dubuque Steele Christmas 2011

A week of firsts

Isaiah started school a little while after we moved to the new house. It was time. Time for him and time for me. I must say that the Lord provided a very smooth transition. His timing is always perfect. Isaiah has been delighted at his new adventure and the littler ones and I are enjoying each other at home (and preparing for the next little one!). The bus stops at the corner of our lot and there are 4 other kids at our bus stop. Lots of the kids in the neighborhood go to our church so he already had friends on the bus. There are so many kids in our new neighborhood that there are TWO elementary busses that cover it! I love that.  And at our bus stop the Moms and Dads wait at the bus stop with the kids.  We all wave and blow kisses as the bus pulls away.  Ok, it's kinda nerdy, but I still really love it.  I'm gonna be out there participating in the nerdiness until he asks me not to do it anymore.  :)

Conversations with Levi

Levi has become totally conversational in recent weeks. It is a pure delight to hear the things that he is thinking. To think that all of these things have been pent up inside for so long since being home and he has not been able to communicate them well. Here is a conversation that I just had with him while snuggling at bedtime:

Levi: You are my pumpkin. (That is one of the names that I have for the kids.)

Me: I love this boy

Levi: I love this girl (Giggles)

Levi: I can't wait for Phoebe to come home.

Me: Me neither.

Levi: She will cry?

Me: Yes she will probably cry.

Levi: I can't hear her crying.

Me: Well she is not here, she is in China.

Levi: Just like me!

Me: Yes just like you were.

Levi: Why?

Me: Because that is where you were born and Mommy and Daddy came to get you.

Levi: Why?

Me: Because we love you.

Levi: And then we go on airplane?

Me: Yes. Then we went on the airplane.

We have never had a conversation like this. The most surprising thing to me was that I don't ever remember talking about bringing him home on the airplane. Not with him I mean. He just remembers.

Another cute thing that he said from about a month ago went something like this:

We were at a local elementary school picking up a friend from school and we were standing beside the playground looking through a fence at the kids playing. There was a little boy who was Asian and as soon as I saw him I knew that Levi would make a comment. He gets excited when he sees other Asian kids, boys in particular. Right away he looked at me with huge eyes and a smile and while pointing at the boy he said "Hey! Like me!" I smiled at him. He looked at the boy who was quite a distance away and yelled "Hey like me!" while waving frantically. As if "Like Me" was the boy's name.

It is a pure joy to parent this kid.  And despite all of our parenting failures and screw ups- of which there have been many- he seems to be adjusting well and as happy as he possibly could be.  Praise Jesus, our Savior, for that.  We are not perfect and never will be.  But he is and always will be.  Our hope is in Him.

New pics of our babe!

We got these new pics of Phoebe a couple of weeks ago and I am ashamed to say that I have not taken the time to post them.  We have been a bit on the busy side with moving and all.  We moved to a different house and are just trying to get settled in and find things.  Like our toilet brushes of which I own three and have not been able to locate.  At least I know I owned three when we left Spires Dr.  Maybe they fell off of someone's truck?  Or one of my helpful friends took one home as payment for helping us move?  Whatever.  If you come for a visit don't judge me for my dirty toilets.