It a Tucklebration!

On October 27, at 3:02 PM in Taitung, Taiwan a beautiful baby boy was born. He is amazing and he is ours! We are so excited that Jackson Tucker "Tuck" Kai Land will soon be joining our family.



He was born healthy and well! He is over 7 pounds and it 20 inches long. He is so amazing and he looks VERY VERY much like Will when he was newborn.

From Oct 27, 2011

Tonight we were blessed to have many friends come over for a celebration of Tuck's birth. Tuck is one really loved little boy.








I would love to keep posting, but I'm exhausted.

Please be praying:

1. Pray that the court process would move quickly.
2. Pray for Tuck's birth mom.
3. Pray that Tuck will be healthy and loved.
4. Pray for our Deana, Wuli, and Alexia, the nannies, and other staff in Taiwan who take amazing care of our babies. They are truly doing God's work and we are so thankful for them.



Currently we have a couple of fundraisers going.

The ornaments above are hand-made pottery designed by a coworker. As soon as we figure out the best shipping method, we'll let you know how to order.

Abbey's Weight Loss Journey

Abbey in December 2010 and Abbey in October 2012

I've really been wanting to post about how proud I am of Abbey and her weight loss, but one thing that I have learned about Abbey is that sometimes my idea of a good idea and her idea of a good idea are not always the same thing. So, this morning, I asked Abbey if it was okay if I posted about what all she has accomplished. She told me that she had actually just been thinking about that.

So, I guess we were in "one accord" on this thing, except for the fact that we've never owned a Honda. We have owned a camry, but I don't think it carries the same meaning.

Back in April or May, Abbey decided that it was time to do something about her weight. Actually, we both decided that it was time for us to do something about our weight. I was doing really good until vacation, Abbey has done really well the entire time.

Abbey in October 2006 just before Ava's Wedding/Abbey in September 2011 at Manya's Wedding

Abbey has struggled with weight her entire life and has tried several diets. While we were in seminary, Abbey decided to lose weight. She did a great job and lost lots of weight. Then we moved to Tennessee and several months later, we lost our first child to miscarriage. The depression and sorrow that followed lead Abbey to gain all of the weight back plus. Then there were years of infertility followed by long adoption waits.



Let me also share that I'm not one of those guys that tells my wife she needs to lose weight. In fact, I hate all talk about weight! I'm just not into the whole weight thing.

So, anyway, back in April Abbey began using "My Fitness Pal" on her iPhone to track her calories and c25k (Couch to 5 K) as an exercise regimen. For a while she had Manya's support for those morning runs, but then Manya went and got married on us.



Abbey has diligently counted calories and has been careful to only eat the allotted amount. Personally, I fall for all the gimmick diets, but Abbey has always insisted that the healthiest diet is a lifestyle change and not some pill or weight-loss shake.

Abbey has woken up every morning before I leave for work and gone running for months! After her initial 5K run, she decided that it was time to realize her dream of running a half-marathon. So, for the past couple of months she has been training for that.

Did I mention that I leave for work at 5:30 in the morning? Yeah, do the math, that means she wakes up at 4:30 and goes running!!!



This past Saturday morning, Abbey ran 11 miles in 2 hours! I cannot begin to tell you how proud or in awe of her that I am. She has definitely inspired me and the comments, emails, and facebook status updates from others have shown me that she's inspired many of you.

Abbey the day we got Reed in September 10, 2007/The day we got Nash and Will September 11, 2010/September 10, 2011

To date Abbey has lost 53.5 pounds and she looks incredible! I am so proud of her. If you are hoping that you will take her weightloss as an inspiration. She is definitely one to be proud of. A great wife, a great mom, a great role model. She's the best.

Honey Suckle Hill

Last week, Lola came to town to see the boys and help Abbey with some major projects: Nash big dentist appointment and a visit to honey suckle hill farm.



Nash has teeth like mine! The dentist said he will probably easily get cavities and have some issues. I've dealt with that all of my life. Sweet little Nash, he takes it all in stride.



Will had a great time at the farm. He is so busy!!!!



He tried convincing Lola that he was one of the big boys and that he could run and jump and climb like them. Only, he overdid it and he convinced that he could run and jump and climb better than the big boys! Especially that climb part.



The boys loved looking at the piggies.



Reed taught Nash how to milk a cow, while Will stayed back and offered a few pointers.



It was a beautiful day to go to the farm.



Guess which one is Will?



Do we have the cutest kids in the world or what?



The boys had fun on the hayride.



Nash loved his pumpkin.

Busy Little Boys

On Friday, the boys went to the Frey's home to play together. The boys always have fun when they play with one another. Mrs. Stacy planned a craft time for them.



Friday night, the boys hung out at church while Abbey worked at Parent's Night Out and I went to the Courageous movie. It's a great movie. You should go and see it.



It was a really, really late night. We were out really late and the boys were tired from having so much fun playing with their buddies.



Wesley LOVES Will!



Saturday morning we woke up way too early and drove to Chattanooga for our Tennessee Taiwanese Kiddo Reunion. It was so much fun!



Those kids were so cute!!! The little girl next to Will is named Lexie. She was in Taiwan while we were in Taiwan to get the boys. We held her and told her that her mom was coming to see her! We are not sure how it happened, but Will acted like he remembered her exactly! It was so funny and amazing!

Picnik: My New Favorite Website

So, I've recently discovered picnik editing software online. It's awesome. I really love it.



You can do all kinds of fun things with it. I'm thinking about buying the "premium" package instead of just working on the free things.



The other day, Abbey found a recipe for making "acorns". You use a hershey kiss, a vanilla wafer, and a little bit of a pretzel. After a while, they gave up on the pretzel since it kept falling off.



Reed enjoyed the chocolate part of the cooking.



Abbey is much better about letting the boys cook. I am not really that patient when it is my turn to cook.



This kid looks so familiar, but I just can't quite put my finger on it!

The Pumpkin Place

Yesterday at church Abbey found out about a new place to buy pumpkins not far from her house. She loves fall and the decorations that come with it, so I knew that we would be making a trip to the farmer's market for some pumpkins soon.



As soon as I got home today, she told me about this new place not far from our house. We decided to load up and drive over. It's at this older couple's home. A big pumpkin patch and about 7 trailers loaded with all different kinds of pumpkins.



The boys had an absolute blast picking out pumpkins. Of course, they wanted every single one of them, but I am a little more picky. I just loved the variety and all of the ones that they had.



And their prices were incredible. The biggest pumpkin that we bought was $4.00 and most of them were either $2 or $1. That's way less than the farmer's market.



The boys each picked out their own little pumpkins. It's funny, but the pumpkins are the same size in relation to the boys. Reed's is biggest, Nash is medium, and Will is the little one.



This got us very excited about Miss Candace's annual pumpkin carving party. Well, I don't get excited about carving a pumpkin. I get excited about being with my friends. I don't touch pumpkin guts.



Abbey noticed a huge white pumpkin with Nana and Putty Sprinkles' name on it. She decided to call and ask them if they wanted her to bring it. When she called, she found out that they were on their way to pick it up. Yesterday, they discovered the pumpkin place, but they were in their Miata, so the pumpkin wouldn't fit.



The boys were excited to see them. We don't see them nearly enough anymore. Life is soo busy, and they have three grandchildren of their own these days.



Reed and Nash enjoyed running around the pumpkins and Will enjoyed climbing. That's what Will enjoys ... climbing ... everything.



I'm so excited that Reed and Nash have each other as best little friends. Of course, they are not lacking in the best friend department, but it's so good that they can hang out together. I hope that Will and Tuck will be the same. There is 13 months difference between Reed and Nash. There will be 17 months difference between Will and Tuck. (Mental note: breathe! Doing that kind of math can be scary!)



Nash wanted to take them all home. If Manya's wedding had been a couple of weeks later, I think I would have used the pumpkins as containers for the topiaries.



The cover of either Southern Living or Martha Stewart this month has a beautiful fall door with pumpkins and flowering cabbages. I would love to do that with ours, but finding flowering cabbage around here isn't easy. I think we will end up with mums.

Becoming 六 or Six or Seis

As most of you have figured out by now, we are expecting! I know it is hard to believe that with Abbey's awesome weight loss that we could possibly be expecting.



The truth is, life was getting a little boring around LandLife back in April, so we were thinking "What could we do to spice things up a bit?"



So we did what every other couple in the world does when they decide to have a baby. That's right, we ...



checked our email. Come on now, get your head out of the gutter. You really think I would blog about that?



It was April 29. For those of you more astute blog followers you will recognize that April 29 is Abbey and Will's birthday.



Abbey woke me up and told me that we had received an email from our contact in Taiwan and there was a birthmother who wanted us to adopt her baby.



We were like, "Woah!!! I'm not sure about this." But, we promised to pray.



And we did pray. And then we found out that the birthmother was expecting a little girl. And we said, "Wowee!!! Yes!" And then a week later, we found out the birthmother was not expecting a little girl but a boy! And we said "Wowee!! Wowee!!! Wowee!!! Yes!!!!"



So, that's how we became maybe the first or second couple you will ever meet with a surprise adoption!



However, the real truth is, God's plan is bigger than ours. If He wanted us to have a fourth son, then goodness knows, we want to be in His will. We are so excited.



And that is how the Land family of five is now becoming the Land family of six.



Little Tuck is due sometime in late October. We would love for you to pray for Tuck and his birthmother. Pray that they will remain healthy.



Abbey and I also ask that you pray for our family. Another big transition in our lives and another hit to our vast amount of savings. Well, maybe when I say vast, I should remind you that this is our fourth child to be adopted. So, I guess what I mean to say is that you will pray that we will fully trust that God is going to provide the funds we need.



When Abbey and I said "I do" to one another over ten years ago, we could have never imagined the amazing journey that God was going to allow us to travel. We could have never prayed for a more amazing family. We love Reed, Nash, and Will so much and now He has even given us the chance to walk with a birthmother thousands of miles away through her pregnancy.



We've got a couple of fundraisers in the works, but we promise they will be fun and you will want to know about them. Even if you can't personally help us financially, we know our faithful blog readers will pray for us. That is assuming we have faithful blog readers. I know that Beckie H keeps up wit the blog.




Can you imagine how much fun it is going to be to have a four year old, a three year old, a one year old, and a newborn!?!?!

Well, we aren't sure when we will get Tuck, but our homestudy is ready and we have applied for immigration, so please pray our process moves quickly.