What a truly blessed Christmas

Everything I hoped it would be. That would be how to best describe our first Christmas with Anna home. We couldn't have been blessed more. What a truly awesome Christmas present to have our sweet daughter home for Christmas. No more wondering when we would be parents or wondering what she would look like or wondering what Christmas morning would be like. We got to experience it and it was great!

Anna really understood more than we thought she would about Christmas. She was excited about Santa coming, not too happy about Santa getting the cookies and milk and she didn't but very happy Christmas morning to wake up walk out to the living room and see all that she got for Christmas. She seemed a little shocked at first but then she took it all in and had a blast. She went right for her play kitchen and after a few minutes she noticed her Minnie Mouse doll under the tree. Then she started ripping left and right opening all her gifts. It was truly magical to watch it all. We then went to Birmingham and enjoyed a few days with my side of the family..well some of my side. We then came back to Mississippi to spend some time with Scott's side of the family. We had a great time with them as well. Now to find a place to put all the new toys....what a great problem to have :). So that's all for now. Truly a blessed Christmas.

10 Wonderful Months

We have been together as three for ten wonderful months. We went and got our usual Chinese after Anna's speech therapy session. She did really well today trying to sound out new words. I know it won't be long before she is talking up a storm.

I can't believe it has been 10 months. It has gone so incredibly fast. I know we'll be looking back and ten years will have gone by before we know it. I can't say it enough...God has truly blessed us. Please continue to pray for God's guidance for us as we walk along this journey God has laid before us. Next post will be Christmas YEAH!!!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Last night it snowed at our house. We went out to dinner and then we decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We made a pit stop by Chickfila for a chocolate shake and when we got there we looked in the back seat and Anna was zonked out so she missed the Christmas lights and the snow but thankfully the ground was covered in it this morning. So we all bundled up and headed outdoors. Anna didn't like walking in it but she did like to catch it as it fell from the trees....too cute.

I'm sorry it has been awhile since I blogged. It has been crazy busy around our house. We headed to Birmingham for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time with some of my side of the family. Anna got to play with her cousins Elijah, Tyler and Izzy so she had a ball. We ate too much and truly enjoyed spending a few days off with family. It was our first Thanksgiving with Anna and we look forward to many, many more.

As we approach Christmas I can't stop thinking about all the Christmases that came and went while we waited for God to bless us with a child. This Christmas is so special to us. We finally get to do all the fun Christmas traditions with our sweet Anna Banana. We took her to see Santa and she did better than I expected. Like I mentioned earlier we took her to see lights and she missed it by sleeping but we'll go see some more. We are looking forward to Christmas morning. There is nothing like seeing Christmas through a child's eyes. It is truly a magical thing.

We thank God for a sweet miracle. Everyday God shows us just what a treasure Anna truly is. We are working on speech therapy. Her therapist is a very sweet lady that Scott and I joke about is a grown up Anna. She is so bubbly and happy a truly good fit for Anna. We have already seen some improvements in Anna's speech. Please pray that God will loose Anna's tongue and that she'll be able to start saying the sounds she needs to say to put together English words. She is babbling her own "Anna" language a ton but we need her to start speaking a language we understand...and she is trying so I know before we know it she'll be speaking up a storm. There are other obstacles we are facing as we go down this journey and I don't feel at freedom to discuss them except that we covet your prayers. God knows what I am speaking of and I know that He is in control but even still this mama's heart really needs to feel God's presence in a way I never have before as we walk down this new part of the journey. We are truly blessed this Christmas season to have our sweet girl. Thank you Jesus.

9 Months Together

This was Baba's day to keep Anna

Both my babies not feeling well :(

Sweet baby having to do breathing treatments...she did a great job

Where does the time go? Today we celebrated (as best you can when you are sick) the fact that we have had our sweet Anna Banana for 9 months today. I cannot say enough how much I love this sweet little girl. I don't know why God chose to bless us so richly but all I can say is Thank you Father.

Poor Anna has been through the ringer this past week. She had RSV. We have done breathing treatments for a week now and she is finally feeling better just in time for her Baba to possibly get the flu. Please be praying that sickness will leave our house and move on. We went to the after hours clinic today for Scott and he possibly has the flu...yuck! I kept Anna home Monday through Wednesday last week and then Scott pulled duty for Thursday and Friday and now it looks like he'll be away from work another week.

We of course didn't get to the Chinese place today so we have just celebrated at home. We did all feel good yesterday so we took a day trip to Natchez and went to a little local Italian place. It was very good. And we walked around, got some fresh air and a few pictures. So I'll share those since no one felt like taking pictures today.

1st Halloween

The cutest ladybug to walk the planet was a little sick so Halloween was cut short. She has developed a cold so we went to a few houses, went to a church in the area that was having a Fall Festival, grabbed some dinner at Cracker Barrell and headed home where we are sitting in the dark so tricker treaters won't think we have candy because we don't. I didn't get any because I thought our night would be a little longer than it was. I hate that Anna has a cold but we got a few pictures in and she went to about 5 houses which is enough for her age. Some friends and teachers that I work with got to see her and they agree she was one darn cute ladybug. Hopefully next year she'll feel better.

Pumpkin picking

We went to the Pumpkin Patch last Saturday and had a ball. It was very chilly but that just added to the charm. At first Anna had no clue what to do. She just stood there like a statue. Finally she realized the pumpkins weren't going to jump up and eat her and she started to have a lot of fun. We did a hayride, where we saw goats, donkeys, bulls, cows and the strangest looking animal I have seen...a Zedonk.. never knew the thing existed but apparently it is a mix between a donkey and a zebra...poor thing. Not the cutest animal you've ever seen. Anna had a ball trying to pick the perfect pumpkin. I gave her a couple to hold. One pumpkin she literally threw across the field. I think our girl may have a career in professional softball :). Love her so much....love being able to create these special family memories. Next post will be here first Trick or Treating. I tried her costume on tonight (Of course she is going to be a ladybug) and it fit perfectly. Now if it'll just be a little chilly so she doesn't melt in the thing. If you want to see a sneak preview go back some post till before our referral and you can see a picture of Scott holding it up. We bought it the year we started our adoption on faith and wouldn't you know the thing fits perfectly and it is so darn cute.

FAIR FUN

Riding down the big slide..you can barely see them

The fish Baba won

Saturday we went to the Fair. We had a great time. I was like a child as we drove. I was excited and clapping and happy. As soon as we got in there, I couldn't help it I started crying. I was overwhelmed by the huge reminder of God's faithfulness. I tried to quickly pull it together so Anna wouldn't think the Fair was something to cry over :). She had a great time. We all did. We ate too much, walked a lot, rode a little and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. Enjoy the pictures