Update - 11 weeks!

2 weeks until the end of the first tri-mester, YAY!

I promised a new Tad picture. Here it is. My clever little husband has cleverly labeled it so that you can tell what exactly you are looking at.

We have Gurt news as well. Last Saturday night we came home from Barnsdall and found our list of available children in our mailbox. We were only signed up for three children this month. A sibling group that was a one year old girl named Angelina and three year old boy named Brandon. (Brangelina) In my current condition, I feel that I can't take on two children in addition to Tad so I immediately knew that they wouldn't work out. We were signed up for a 14 month old boy named Evan. The only issue is that Evan was the ONLY kid on the WHOLE list that had a stipulation of no pets. Those who know us know that we have three dogs and we like them more than some people. I e-mailed my caseworker and asked if that was negotiable or if he had allergies and she said that was up to Evan's caseworker to decide and since they don't release the names of the children's caseworkers, there is no way of asking. So my guess is that Evan will not be coming to live in the Russell house. Regardless, please pray for these three kiddos that they will find great adoptive homes.

Prayer Focus:

1) Pray that Tad can "hang in there" for one more week. At 12 weeks our risk of miscarriage drops by 65%. I get more confident with each new day and each new vomit. You might also ask God to let my morning sickness ease up as long as Tad is safe.

2) We may be praying or Gurt for a LONG time, but pray that regardless of how long it is that God's perfect will is done. Also pray that Gurt is safe and healthy and unaffected by any negative circumstances.

3) Dr. K says that I can go to Mexico on vacation yay! He told me no fish and only bottled water. Which will be easy at our resort. Please begin praying for traveling mercies and that God will keep us from getting sick during the trip. I have never been sick on any of my previous trips but it is even more important to stay healthy now. We are going with my friend Lynnse and her husband Justin. I am not much fun to travel with right now. We hope that they will still want to be friends with us after a three hour car ride to Dallas and a flight to Mexico.

I love you all.

Mindy