Ya'll!

I've been up again since like 3:15am. Don't ask me why. I don't know why. A nap will surely happen today. Anyway, I decided to get on my new favorite blog and find me a new recipe. You probably all have known about this lady for a long time now. I have not but I'm so happy to say that I've discovered The Pioneer Woman!! Not that my marriage needs saving BUT....I think she may have just saved my marriage!!!! Brian likes my cooking but sometimes I get stuck in a rut with the same ol' same ol'. Not anymore!!! Oh, Pioneer Woman, what can I say? She is every woman. That's all I know. But there is a section on there with recipes. Gobs and gobs of recipes. Jackpot city!! So I'm just looking through the recipes this morning and found one for a breakfast item. I just so happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry and since I was up and all...I decided to make them. Ya'll! I nearly passed out from the yummy goodness that ARE French Breakfast Puffs. Seriously. And if my crew weren't sound asleep I would have hollered, or whatever. I'm telling you....GO MAKE THEM!!! And don't even pay attention to the amount of butter and other such ingredients. Just don't. They are good!!! So thank you, Pioneer Woman, for taking my marriage to new heights!! My husband is in heaven!!!!!

Look at the time!!!

Why am I up at such an EVIL hour? About 30 minutes ago, at 2 am, my husband got up to go to the bathroom. This happens every night. 99.9% of the time I just turn over and go back to sleep. But for some reason I woke right up. I layed there for awhile hoping and praying I would be able to fall back into blissful slumber. But alas. I'm up. Today(or I guess yesterday would be more accurate) I had a very long day. I started the day very early with my quiet time and then the kids got up and I spent the next couple of hours distributing them to their respective schools. All of that was very normal. I came home and got on the treadmill for a bit and then the craziness started. I had to be on a conference call with our adoption agency so they could fill everyone in on the changes in their "waiting child" program. Before, when we adopted Adiah, we got her through the waiting child program. We filled out an application and checked off the "needs" that we felt we as a family could handle. We prayerfully considered ALL of the needs on that list. Some were severe and some were very minor in our book. We did not check alot of them. When our agency would get a list of children that could be adopted they would pray over all of those children, pray over each family who was waiting for a child, and then make the calls. It was some what predictable. Some what. But now its a little different. We still have to look at a checklist of special needs and check them off but the list is a little more specific. The China waiting child program has changed quite a bit from when we were adopting Adiah. They now do shared lists. Which means agencies from all over the world have access to the same files of children. If our agency were to call us and ask us to review a file of a child some one in Spain may be reviewing that same file. Basically its first come first serve. There were some other changes they told us about too on that conference call but all of that got me thinking....THIS IS HUGE!! We are not just looking at files. These are children's LIVES we are talking about here. You have to decide so quickly if you are willing to adopt that child that we MUST be bathing this entire process in prayer. I've just told God...."YOU bring us the child you ordained for this family. I trust you and you alone here. I'm not stressing about it. What ever the needs, God. What ever the situation. You already know and have this all worked out. Thank you!" Its a very overwhelming process......... Anyway, back to my day. After the call I took a quick shower and ran to get Adiah from Mother's Day Out. I then went and picked up all of the other kids from school and off we went to the dr for physicals and TB tests. All of this has to be done for our paperwork for the adoption. Actually, Adiah and Emily already had their physicals a couple of weeks ago. Nat and Ridge were the last of us to get them done. Just want to give a little shout out to Dr. Sweet for doing so much for us yesterday!! We had a slew of things going on all at one time in that room!! After we get our TB tests read on Thursday I will be finished gathering our documents for our home study. We have our first visit with our social worker this Saturday!! After the dr's appt we ran home to meet the babysitter. I had been asked a couple of weeks ago by our pastor at our new church if he could video my testimony to be used as part of sermon series he is doing in April. So we ran up to the church and spent about an hour and a half doing that. Its weird to tell your story sitting on a couch with your husband in a tiny room with bright lights shining in your face, microphones clipped to your shirt, a microphone guy holding a large mic above your head, 2 cameras pointing at you, your pastor sitting there asking you questions...steering you along, and random other people watching from behind camera. Weird I tell ya! Maybe not for some of you pros out there but for me it was!! But I was glad to do it and just want God to be glorified! My story is my story because of Him. The victory is His!! Its amazing how satan will try and make you question your words after giving your testimony. I mean I sat there later analyzing everything and wishing I'd said certain things that I forgot. When finally I heard God say...."stop. You did your best. Let ME do the everything else". And that's what I'm choosing to do. Brian and I finally got some dinner about 8 pm last night and came home. Whew! After watching the Biggest Loser we went to bed. But now I'm up just 4 hours later. Geez.

So I was hoping that typing all of this out would make me sleepy. Actually, its made me thirsty. I think I'll go get some water. Good night....or morning....or whatever it is!

Warning!! Picture overload!!!

Bubble time!! Ok, y'all. I'm sorry! But I took a lot of pictures of my sweeties playing with bubbles outside and I couldn't decide which ones to post. So you're getting most of them! Actually, Natalie and Ridge were being sweet and playing bubbles with Adiah. I love how bubbles make her so happy! In China last year when I would blow bubbles for her she would just stare at them. She had NO idea what these things were and really had no interest in them. Now look at her.....
(Make sure you click on the pictures to see the look on her face!)







My sweet Ridge...

Sorry these are so dark! I'm no photo girl...

She was running after them saying "bubba, bubba!!"


My sweet Natie Bug.....

They work HARD for their money!!

Yesterday was the first really pretty day for a couple of weeks around here and since its also spring break I decided to put the kids to work. Now before all the booing and hissing starts...they asked for it. No really! They ASKED for it!! They've been trying to find ways to earn money and I had JUST the job for them! I am currently fighting the flu and my flower beds have been sorely neglected through the winter!! If I even wanted to THINK about planting flowers this spring they had to be cleaned out. So I gave them instructions and off they went. They did a pretty good job!! They worked on the area around the front of the house and the center garden of our "circle drive" for lack of a better term. On Saturday, Emily has a friend coming over to earn some money too and they will be cleaning out the flower beds and picking up dog poop in the back yard! Its such a glamorous job but someone has to do it! Her friend is trying to earn money to put towards her horse feed and Emily is trying to replenish her bank account after buying a new cell phone.
See all that lovely green in front of the bushes? Its outta here!


THAT'S where my pink John Deere tractor gloves went! Because I use them so often.....



Recruiting the neighbor girls to help them. They wanted to SWIM on March 17. "Its March 17th", I told them. But they insisted anyway. So the neighbors helped them finish and off they went to 'swim'. I am so glad I was outside still when I heard them jump into that frigid pool. I got a good laugh out of that! I think they jumped right out and lay in the sun the rest of the time!
I don't know why I love this picture but I do! Running after a ball or something....

Gotcha........

I've sat here for the past few moments trying to think how to start this post. Should I go cliche and say "I can't BU-LIEVE its been a whole year"? Or do I sob and snot all over the keyboard with tears of joy and write something like....jkfadsh;kjvdfjl;gaiuhpewat;jk? Actually the snot would be because I have so much of it in my nose right now. Its gross. So I decided to say what just naturally comes out when I think of how a year ago our sweet Adiah was placed in my arms. Oh, Adiah! How our lives have changed because of your sweet spirit. My life changed when each of my children were born into this world and placed in my arms. A new kind of love was born in me. It wasn't any different with Adiah. Except that it was. This child came to us afraid, sickly, untrusting, and had such baggage that her little body carried the burden of for too long. I remember thinking "how could I help her at all?". I felt so unprepared in that moment. I was so inspired by my sweet travel friend, Amorisa, when she was so honest with us about how she felt in the months after we returned home with our babies. I am going to be honest here too. It was NOT easy those first few weeks and months at home. Don't get me wrong I was overjoyed that she was finally here with us. But we were all grieving some sort of "loss". Loss of what was normal before....the feelings of inadequacy. But the Lord in his mercy transformed us! He took this family who at times just stared at each other wondering how to get from point A to point B and made us THRIVE! Slowly but surely Adiah began to love us. She began to trust us. And she began to weave her little self into the very fabric of our beings. I began to get some sleep (AMEN!), learn how to be her mommy, learn that I really AM ok if she doesn't completely catch up on her delays. Brian began to gain trust with Adiah. He became her daddy....her buddy...her LOVE!! The other kids, well.....they melt my heart! I saw them take this child whom they didn't really know and change her!! And they were changed too! They adore her and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual with her. Now we watch this 2 1/2 year old girl march through the house getting into snacks when she shouldn't (but don't think I don't love it!), saying "mine!", and laughing out loud with her whole face!! I am so filled with love right now when I look at these children of mine. Do you think that's what the Lord does when he looks at us? He knows what we've been through. All of our baggage we carry. But he looks at us and says..."But she's mine! And I love HER!!!!". Thank you, God, for the gift of adoption!!! We are forever changed! Happy Gotcha Day, Miss Adiah!!! Can't wait to see how adoption changes us this next time...............................

Happy mommy with baby!

Taken a couple of days ago. I wanted to take one today, on her actual Gotcha Day, but my lens is broken and needs to get fixed. So this is as close as it gets!!!

One of the videos Brian made last year while we were in China

Remebering....March 15, 2008

This day last year we were still in Beijing. We did lots of tourist-y things but on this day but the anticipation was getting to me. And maybe the exhaustion as well!! I was really getting to know our group by now and feeling unusually close to them already. We were bonding over this experience!! Hope you are enjoying my little walk down memory lane!! I probably won't recap the ENTIRE two week journey. At least until we got Adiah and maybe some videos that Brian did last year. Right now I hear my Asian princess singing a song and jumping on her bed. She is such a doll......

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Day Two

Wowie! We just arrived back in the room from another very long day! We left this morning around 9 am and got back here around 6:45pm. Today we went to Summer Palace. Very beautiful! While we were there a couple of young Chinese boys asked if they could take their picture with me. Yes... I'm a super star. Then we went to the Jade factory which was incredible! Too expensive for me to buy anything though! Then we went to another Chinese meal(go figure). I ate alot of rice! I'm very hungry for a hamburger or something like that. But then Rosa, our guide, said she can tell we're tired of Chinese food so we're going to the Peking Duck meal tomorrow and ordering pizza tonight! Can I get an amen?!? Anyway, after that we went to the Great Wall. So awesome!! Brian and I and some other friends went on the difficult side and made it all the way up! I got myself a t-shirt that said I climbed the Great Wall or something like that. On one of the bus rides I asked Rosa if she knew anything about the day we get Adiah. She said our flight leaves tomorrow night around 7pm. We will get Adiah around 8:30 the next morning. Between flying and nerves I probably won't sleep much tomorrow night!! So tomorrow we're going to a church service, back to the hotel to pack, and then shopping for pearls! Not sure if I will be able to post tomorrow because of that so this may be it until we have Adiah! I'll be sure to post as soon as I can. Thank you for all of the comments we're getting! I love to hear from you all and it makes us smile! And thank you for praying for us................I love you all!


Some lady doing some sort of dance/exercise in the Summer Palace

Another deep thought....

Great Wall!! What an awesome experience!

Brian making his way to the top!

Me peeking around the side. It was high up there!

Remember where we were this time last year?

I've been so terribly nostalgic the past few days thinking back to a year ago. I remember on this particular day still feeling worlds away from Adiah. We were just getting to know some of our travel group and we were trying to deal with jet lag before our "Big Day". What fun memories!! This post was taken from our travel blog.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Day One

Wow! Its been alot of fun so far! We've met some really nice people from our travel group! The day started early with a buffet breakfast in the hotel. We then loaded a bus and went to Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City. Unfortunately they were electing officials or something like that today so we could go into Tian'anmen square. But we got some pictures from across the street. Then we went to Forbidden City which was really neat. After that we went to some local people's house and had lunch in their kitchen!! Talk about strange! Don't worry...they knew we were coming! There was so much food this lady had prepared! I guess she thinks us Americans eat alot or something! Anyway, its just amazing to see how other cultures live. In America, we wouldn't consider what they had was alot. Actually, we would probably think they were poor. But she said they were middle class. I couldn't eat much there but I tried because I didn't want to be rude. We were then toted around for the Hutong tour on rickshaws. Not sure if that is how you spell it. Pretty neat! A rickshaw is like a carriage. Except it is pulled by a guy on a bicycle. A couple of near collisions! One funny (not really) thing was when my ball cap caught Brian's glasses and flung them off of his body! We turned around yelling "STOP!" to our driver who doesn't speak English but he totally got it! All the rickshaws behind us were swerving to miss his glasses and one came to a stop about 1/2 inch from crushing them. That would have been fabulous..."Adiah, nice to meet you. I can't see you but I can hear you." Anyway, we're back at the hotel for only 30 minutes. We have a traditional Chinese dinner we are going to and then back here to crash. Another full day is planned for us!
Emily, Natalie, and Ridge- It was so good to see you on the computer this morning! I love you so much! Just 2 more days until we have Adiah!! I miss you!



That is a picture of Chairman Mao behind us. It was windy today thus the big hair!
Deep thoughts...

We got to go to a Chinese kindergarten today. The kids loved seeing their pictures after I took them.

The rickshaw ride. These are some people in our travel group. Kyle and Elissa...

Wild Olive

Hey guys! I wanted to tell you about this awesome website that a fellow adoptive mom and her friend started. They are selling super snazzy t shirts and 10% of all of their sales go to Christian- based charities and non profit organizations. The current organization is Shoahannah's Hope. Here is a link that tells you more about where they "Give It!" Click the Wild Olive box on the sidebar and get to shopping! Remember that Mother's Day is coming up so keep that in mind as you go over there!! I've already ordered some!!

Why, why, OHHHH, why??????

I interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading to ask this very important (er, completely ridiculous) question....

Why OH Why do I love Cool Ranch Doritos so much? WHYYYYY????? Get behind me, satan.


You may now continue on with your day....

Elmo eats a cracker...

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone for your kind and encouraging words to us about this next adoption!! As we walk this road again it will be important that we have support to encourage us along the way. I KNOW I have that from you guys!! Thank you!!

Now, on to Elmo. When you have an adopted child from another country who spent the first 20 months of her life in an orphanage, I think its normal for parents to wonder about your child's development. You look for signs that they are "getting" it. Playing with toys was very scary for Adiah in the beginning. She just didn't know what to do them and they seemed to overwhelm her. But slowly she began playing with them as long as I was sitting right there beside her showing her what to do. Then she would continue on playing. Well today, I gave Adiah a little cup of peanut butter crackers. She was sitting in the living room watching a show and I was checking my email. I walked into the living room and saw that she had spilled her crackers out so I went to help her clean them up. I bent down and saw THIS!!!!!


Can you see it? She fed her inanimate Elmo a cracker!!! She knew what to do! I was so happy that I scooped her up and hugged her tight and swung her around the room. Yeah Adiah!! She laughed and laughed but I engraved that memory in my heart. The Lord is changing her before our very eyes....thank you, Father!