Our Journey with Anna Banana

Slamming doors

2011-11-13T13:21:00.002-06:00

My verse right now is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." My future right now is sort of up in the air. Right now I'm the director of the preschool where my precious Anna Banana attends. I intentionally took that job so I could spend more time with Anna before she starts "big" school. I am so glad I made that decision although I have come against a lot of struggles. Some small and some pretty big that have had me questioning decisions I have made. I know looking back ten, twenty years from now I will be so thankful that I made the decision to be with my daughter more before she has to go to school. And I know God is faithful but never did I dream two years ago when I decided to quit my teaching position would I face so much opposition from satan. He has had me second guessing so much and I'm sick of it.

Satan hates families. He hates when families try to become stronger and he uses just about every weapon he has to try and destroy families left and right. Our family is strong. Not because of ourselves but because of our God. He has shown me a lot about myself in the last year and half. A lot of it I don't like at all about myself. But that is good. It is only when we take an honest look at ourselves and our shortcomings can God change us and make us more like him. Our family has a lot of growing to do to be more like him but we are taking steps in that direction. One is through our finances. We had it pretty easy when I was teaching. We had plenty of money for bills and for playing. That isn't the case now but God is showing himself faithful. Every month we have the money to pay our bills and while we don't have much money at all to play with, it has been good to see how much we don't need that we think we do. So when God changes our financial situation for the better, I hope he finds us faithful to use that money to further his kingdom and not our pocket books.

Another thing God is teaching me is to be humble and content. Not saying I'm perfect or even close in these two areas but I think I'm learning. I can look around at others who have more finances and more "toys" and it is easy to let envy slip in and destroy and steal contentment...but God has been good to continue to remind me of how blessed we actually are. Joy doesn't come from earthly toys but from endless laughter from my daughter when we are playing and having a good time at home, when my little family is snuggled on the couch watching the latest Tinkerbell movie or just going on a drive and looking at God's beautiful creation.

Now the struggle for me is letting faith and not fear guide my future. My sweet Anna Banana is getting ever so close to starting "big" school and I feel my time at the daycare is coming to an end as well. I figured my move was to go back to teaching. I would get my old income back, be on the same schedule as Anna and it would work out great. So far ....SLAMMING DOORS. I don't understand it. I have had a couple of leads and the door has shut on all of them. Satan is using fear and an individual of which I won't name to try and scare me that I won't be able to get a job. But my God is stronger, My God is bigger and My God is greater than any other. It isn't easy and I have spent a lot of time crying and letting fear try to guide me but that isn't what I'm called to do. I'm called to walk by faith and not by sight. It is not for me to understand but to trust in God, acknowledge him in everything and let him direct me. Please pray that is what I let God do.

Waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel

2011-08-19T20:36:00.003-05:00

Man it feels like things are only getting worse. I was hoping when I wrote my last post that the next time I posted it would happy and cheery and all about "life is good" but that just isn't the case right now. It feels like we are being attacked on just about all sides. We never make New Year's resolutions but for some odd reason this year we did. It was to get some debt paid off and use more of what God has given us financially toward His kingdom. Let me just tell you now satan has tried all year to throw that resolution off course. It is so frustrating when every time you turn around something else is hitting you upside the head.

A couple of weeks ago there was some hope that things were about to change and change quickly for the good but unfortunately that didn't pan out. Very frustrating when you have been praying for release from some hard and very bad situations but then it doesn't happen. I know God is good and I know Jeremiah 29:11. It seems like so many well meaning Christians are quick to quote that verse ("I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you.....") when you talk about struggle and hard times. But the truth that many "well meaning" Christians forget or just don't want to mention is that the bible also promises "In this world you will have troubles".....many many troubles. I know our troubles could get a lot worse and we aren't promised that they won't. It is what do you do in the midst of those troubles that really counts. Me....I'm crying out to the Lord A LOT!!! It is all I can do right now. Many people would want you to put a smile on your face and "fake" happiness. I don't think that is what the Lord wants. He wants us to be honest with one another and encourage one another and lift one another up in prayer and if we are "fake happy" all the time, how can we truly do that.

So right now I cry out and wait on the Lord........that is what my faith and scripture tell me to do. I'm waiting for that light at the end of this very very long tunnel.

Need to vent

2011-06-25T19:27:00.002-05:00

I don't even think I can call myself a blogger anymore since it has been 6 months since I last updated. I can't blame being tired or not having time just haven't updated. I did get a new laptop because my old one died and the picture program to get the pictures off the camera and on the computer never got transferred and well to be honest how many people read. Most are just interested in the pictures. So warning there will be no pictures posted until my husband gets the program transferred. Don't know if that'll happen.

The reason I'm posting is just because I'm frustrated with everything and need a place to vent and I don't think anyone is reading the blog anymore so here I go.........well that 's the problem really don't know where to go. Everything in our life is unsettled right now. I don't like that feeling AT ALL. Scott and I just celebrated our 8th anniversary and that also marks my 8th year of living in Mississippi and I don't like it anymore now then I did then. But my husband is in a secure job and can retire in 7 years so he isn't planning on going anywhere for the next 7 years so here I sit stuck for at least 7 more years UGH. After 8 years you would think I have this great base of friends to be a support group but NOPE. I have friends but we all lead such busy lives and I would rather most days come home after my job and just be at home and quiet. We live in a house that was supposed to be our first starter home....here for 3-5 years but about to celebrate our 7th year here and Lord knows how many more years we have. I think we'll be in this house five years from now. At least we have a home but about a month ago we decided to sell and well we did fix some things up but since then NOTHING. We haven't done anything. My job- don't get me started - could possibly be one of the biggest mistakes I have made in a long time. But don't know what else to do. Even frustrated in our church situation. Not the churches fault- Godly church with great people just not plugged in anymore. One of the biggest ones for me is I want more children. God has blessed us richly with Anna. Thank you Lord for her but I want more. The only way I see that happening is going into foster to adopt but Scott says NO. So what do I do with this aching for more and no possible way for more children??? Easy to read this and say stop complaining. I know I HATE WHEN PEOPLE COMPLAIN. I hear people complain all the time about how horrible their lives are and then they go to the beach or a Disney vacation or go buy a new car or a bigger house. Are people so self centered and selfish that they think only good things should ever happen to them? What is frustrating is when all the small junk just keeps going and going and going and never gets better and there isn't the option of going on the dream vacation or buying the shiny new car or the $100 shoes. When the daily grind is bad and doesn't get better.

Okay so if you are reading you are probably thinking, "you've got nothing to complain about." Let me stop you and say you are probably right. God has been good to us. He has given us a sweet little girl who we love with all our heart. He completely healed her of an unhealable disease. He has given us a home when millions around the world are homeless. He has given us income when many don't have anything. I don't want to be one of those typical selfish, self-centered Christians but I just don't like being so unsettled. I feel like we are at crossroads for everything and begging God to show us and tell us what we are supposed to do with everything in our lives. If you are reading, I would covet your prayers and any words of advise or encouragement you have.....or if you think I need to stop complaining you can say that too. I can take it. I know God is good and has been good I just need direction.

A good and gracious God

2010-12-03T21:03:00.003-06:00

That is what we serve. A good and gracious God. He has been so good to me and my family. I can't get over what He has shown me in the last few weeks and I don't want to. I mentioned in the last post that we read the book "Radical" by David Platt and it has really messed with me in a good way. It has made me take a serious look at how I live my life and what I spend my time, talent, resources and money on. That last one is a big one. In America we have sold into the "American Dream" where we believe we are "owed" certain things and that our goal in life is to dry a fancy car, live in a big house, have a nice savings account and see how much "stuff" we can accumulate. THAT ISN'T WHAT OUR LIVES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT. That isn't why we are here. That isn't what God has destined for us.....that isn't why Jesus Christ gave his precious life on a old wooden cross....that isn't it. It is soooooo much more. It means so much more. None of that matters. What matters is what did you do for Him. Not what little did you give in your tithe...which many "Christians" don't do to begin with, what did you do above that. I have been praying that God would open my eyes to those in need because it is so easy to get sheltered in our lives and loose sight of those hurting around us. Well let me tell you if you are going to pray a prayer and mean it that God opens your eyes to those in need get ready for it to hurt. It hurts my heart, my mind and my wallet! But my goodness the blessing that comes along to see in someone else's eyes hope restored. Not just doing good but telling those you help why you do it. I have been given that privilege the last couple of weeks and it is AMAZING and contagious. It makes me want to do more. My life is counting, it is making a difference. I am loving people with the love of Jesus. Am I perfect? Absolutely not, just ask my husband. But I have a Savior who loves me with all His heart and He is teaching me how to love Him with all of mine.

The pictures of our recent trip to Gatlinburg. We were blessed by some friends who let us use their cabin and we had a nice family get away.

Now that over 3 months have passed

2010-10-29T22:43:00.003-05:00

So last post I talked about being better at blogging and now it has been over three months and I'm finally getting around to updating this thing. I really, really do want to keep going with it but then life happens and next thing you know three months have flown by. We have been having fun and staying busy. We just had a big fall festival at work/Anna's school. We had so much fun but am soooooo tired. Anna was a princess and she truly believes she is a princess....look out world.

We are praying through some pretty serious stuff right now. We are reading the book "Radical" by David Platt....highly recommend it but only if you want to really challenge what you say you believe. We just read the chapter about going out into all the world and telling them about the love of Jesus. In the book, he mentions that 1 billion people in the world have NEVER heard about Jesus. Have no clue who He is. Can you believe that? IF you are a believer does that not shake you to the core to think how we have failed in the Great Commission. David Platt also addresses the question he gets all the time that surely God will make an exception for those people....a loving God wouldn't send those people who have never heard about Jesus to hell but then David supports his argument with a ton of scripture that if this were the case the worst thing we could do is send missionaries around the world, because then they would have the opportunity to reject Jesus and for sure go to hell. Makes you think. We have gotten very comfortable in "our" faith and turn a blind spot to what God said to go into ALL the world and make disciples. My daughter came from the other side of the world. How many people are going to her side of the world and taking the hope of Jesus Christ? If we hadn't have been blessed to adopt Anna, if she had never been adopted and lived her life in a Chinese orphanage would she have ever been told about who Jesus is? If she didn't hear and never gave her life to Jesus, the bible is clear where she would spend eternity.....it shakes me to my core. What am I going to do to make a difference in my life? What have I done to make a difference in my life? When I stand before God what will I say when he ask me what I did to further His kingdom? He isn't going to ask me how big was my bank account, what kind of car I drove or what size house I lived in. Makes you think!!!!!!

Bad blogger...so much so little time

2010-07-08T20:52:00.005-05:00

The party is never over with this girl
Our new puppy---Cooper
Anna's reaction to the dog
"How old are you, Anna?"
Party, Party, Party

At Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago on Anna's Birthday

Baba's birthday-we won't say which one
At Nana's playing dress up-girly girl

I really do want to keep this up and going but I have been so bad lately to keep it going! I hope people haven't give up on my blog altogether, although I wouldn't blame them. I use to look at blogs non stop when we were waiting for Anna and would get frustrated with people when they didn't keep up with their blogs and here I am doing just that. I have started a new job which I love. I'm the director of a daycare...one of the best in the area if I do say so myself. Anna is there with me and I love it. Time literally flies while I'm there and I wonder how I will ever get bored at this job which is a good thing because I don't like to get bored. Since I last blogged, we have had Scott's birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Our Anniversary, Anna's birthday and 4th of July....Whew that is a lot. We both had a wonderful Mother's Day and Father's Day. Scott got me a diamond wedding band (yay Scott) and I got him a watch. I'll have to say he did a little better on my gift then I did his. Anna got an above ground swimming pool for her birthday, which we are all enjoying in this incredible heat and humidity. We got a trip to Shriners in Chicago for our anniversary :). It went well except we go back in two weeks for tubes. Other than that, the doctors were pleased with her progress. Wonderful to hear. Other than that we are just settling in to life. God has blessed us richly. I can't thank Him enough nor do I want to for healing Anna. It is amazing to me how God does these amazing things in our life and for the moment we thank Him and praise Him and share His wonderful works with the world and then a little time goes by, life happens and we start to grumble about "what has God done for me lately" I don't want to get like this with what He has done for our family and for our precious Anna Banana. I pray the Lord won't let me forget his healing mercy. The next day I wait for with great anticipation is the day He heals my little girl's broken heart for eternity. The day she accepts our precious Lord Jesus as her savior. That is the healing I'm praying for now.

One other thing is we added to our family....through that of a furry little four legged friend who will hopefully one day answer to the name of Cooper. He is our 4th of July present. Scott didn't realize you get those but we did and so far we are enjoying him. Hopefully though, he'll learn really soon that outside is where you potty. So far no accidents inside other than his crate but he sure likes to take his sweet time outside sniffing EVERYTHING before he wants to even attempt to go. So enjoy the pictures. They are a little bit of everything we have gone through the last three months.

Spring and Easter 2010

2010-04-05T16:02:00.006-05:00

I apologize for being missing in action for two months. Life is so busy at times. I sat down many times to update the blog but laziness and being tired or running after my very active almost 3 year old won out and I'm forcing myself today to sit still long enough to update in case anyone still reads this blog. I hope you do. I'm going to be better in the future about updating.

Anna is doing wonderful. She is growing so quickly. We are now caught up to the size she is supposed to be for her age. When we got her 14 months ago she was wearing 6-9 months now she is in 3T. Can you believe it? Time flies when you are having so much fun.

Over Spring Break we took a mini vacation to Memphis. We went to the zoo. Which if you live anywhere around there I recommend it. It was very interesting and well done. We had a ball. We also got some good ole Memphis BBQ. We could eat BBQ all the time. So some of the pictures are of that trip.

We stayed around here for Easter and had a relaxing couple of days although I really miss having a lot of family around and definitely miss Memaw's big meals with every around the table enjoying each other's company. Maybe next Easter. There are some big changes in the works for our family and we are excited....NO I"M NOT PREGNANT. It seems like whenever I say I'm excited about something that is what people think. That is all I'm going to say for right now. Please pray that God will reveal His perfect plan for our family. More to come later on that one :) .

We are truly blessed by our sweet girl. She amazes us more and more by her intelligence and love of life. She is truly one of the happiest people I know except when we are working on speech. Please pray that God will loose her tongue and she'll really start grasping how to make some very important consonant sounds. I know she is getting frustrated trying to communicate and we are too trying to understand. She has come a long way but she still has a ways to go. So I guess that is all for now. If you haven't read the "ONE YEAR" post be sure to scroll down and see the awesome miracle God performed on our sweet Anna Banana.

OUR BIG MIRACLE-One Year Gotcha

2010-02-08T15:40:00.003-06:00

Today we have had our sweet Anna Banana for one year. Hard to believe. So many ways she seems like she has always been here. Other ways it seems like yesterday we were in a conference room in a hotel in China waiting for our sweet miracle to arrive. Then crying happy tears as she came in the room and was handed to me. I'll never forget that sweet moment. I wanted to share with y'all that read our blog the big miracle God performed in our lives over the past year. It is long but will be well worth the read. SO here it goes:

We received our referral for Anna August 2008, and she was special needs. We have always made public that she was cleft lip and cleft palate. Well she had another special need that we didn't tell very many people and that was that she was Hep B positive. We kept that private because we had talked to a few physicians and they told us that a lot of people are uneducated about Hep B and sometimes children with Hep B can be ostracized and made fun of, or people are afraid to be around them because it is contagious disease. Children are now immunized for it at birth so they cannot get it but those who have not been vaccinated could although it would be hard. So we didn't tell anyone except our family. We actually didn't tell them until we were home with Anna. We had to wait 6 months to travel to get Anna and the whole time we prayed that the referral paperwork was wrong, that she didn't have Hepatitis B..it was NOT.

We took Anna to an International Adoption clinic in Birmingham once we got home with her in March of 09 where they tested her for everything including Hep B; and a couple of weeks later we got a call saying she indeed had Hep B and not only that but it was very active. They told us we needed to start seeing a pediatric gastrointerologist. I started heavily researching and talked to some sweet ladies who had adopted children with Hep B and they gave me a peace saying it was a pretty easy special need to deal with. Basically in their child it was something they monitored every six months by having blood taken and that was all they had to do at that point.. For 75% of people with Hep B it stays dormant and they live a long live but for the other 25% it is active and attacks the liver causing liver damage, possible transplant and even early death. We prayed and claimed that Anna would be a part of the 75% who lived a long life. We then met with a Peds GI doctor locally and she told us basically what I explained above and that right now they would monitor Anna's blood and if they saw that it was staying active they would refer us. Hep B is a disease that children NEVER clear, they are NEVER healed from it. So we left that doctor's office having a peace that Anna was a part of the 75% that would always have it but that it wouldn't affect her and she would live a long life, be able to get married, and have children. In September, it was time to have her blood tested again. We waited and about two weeks later we got a call from the Ped GI office saying that they were referring us to a specialist in Birmingham. The doctor here wouldn't meet with us and told us we needed to take the referral and go because she felt like she didn't have the therapy/treatment Anna would need; and if she needed a transplant they would be able to do it at this hospital....TRANSPLANT?????? We started freaking out. We thought she was fine. Surely this nurse didn't understand and she even admitted so on the phone so we waited for November to meet the specialist. In the meantime our pediatrician saw us and I told him everything that had been going on with Anna's Hep B and he told us he didn't understand why we were being referred already and he would call the GI doctor and see. He called us right before we left for Birmingham and told us this was basically a visit to meet the specialist and start building a relationship with him so we went thinking all is well.......

Well we were wrong. We met with him Wednesday before Thanksgiving to hear the worst news we could possibly hear. According to this specialist, Anna was not part of the 75% but a part of the 25% who would need a transplant and would probably not live a long life. He told us that her viral count was in the millions, her liver enzymes were up which meant there was liver damage already. We were FLOORED and shocked and devastated. He took blood then and told us he wanted us to come back in 6 weeks to do a liver ultrasound so they could see the extent of the damage to her liver. Also he was going to talk to some other hepatologist and get their opinion about what would be the best course of treatment for Anna and what medicine she would need to start on....neither medicines would cure her but one of the medicines would hopefully bring her numbers down so she possibly could live a long life. But the specialist wanted to make sure we understood that the path we were on now was not good.

Needless to say we cried and cried and cried over the next 6 weeks. It definitely put a damper on our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with Anna. So we went back January 6th scared to death but trusting that whatever lay ahead God would get us through. We first had the ultrasound and the technician took pictures of everything in Anna. I was worried sick wondering why it was taking so long. We then had over an hour to wait to see the doctor. My mom met us there to be an emotional support fearing what the doctor had to say. Well in walks the doctor and he says "I don't know how to explain it but she doesn't have HEP B. " He asked us "Do you pray?" We started crying and laughing and I kept saying "GOD HEALED HER" Scott than said, "Well we have done research and understand that the viral load can fluctuate and get low," and the doctor looked at Scott and said "You don't understand her viral load is ZERO" "She doesn't have Hep B anymore!" He said he has never seen this before and he can't explain it. We just kept telling him Our God healed Anna. He agreed but said he wanted to run two more test on her and that is what they did a few weeks later and do you know what CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN.....HER BLOOD IS CLEAN!!!!!!

God cares, God heals, God loves us beyond what we could ever imagine. As much as I love my sweet Anna Banana- God loves her more and MAN AM I EXCITED TO SEE WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR OUR MIRACLE GIRL. God is good.

Almost a Year-11 Months

2010-01-08T19:18:00.003-06:00

11 months down one to go till we have had Anna Banana for an entire year. God is so good to us. We quickly went and got Chinese tonight because it is so stinkin cold. We aren't use to this type of cold in Mississippi. So cold and no snow. It isn't right. It is supposed to stay freezing cold for the next couple of days so we won't be doing a whole lot this weekend. Just enjoy being a family of 3 and snuggle together.

I mentioned a couple of post ago about an issue that I didn't feel at liberty to discuss but seriously needed prayers for peace and wisdom. Let me tell you we serve a God of miracles!!! He performed the biggest miracle we have ever experienced and gave a blessing we did not expect. God is so good. I wish at this time I could give more details but right now I can't. However in a couple of months I hope God gives me the freedom to fully explain how GREAT our God is and how He is so loving toward his children.

If you don't know the Lord or if you are going through something hard and hopeless please take it from someone who has been there. God is alive, He cares and He loves you more than you can ever know. He cares about your problems and He is working ALL THINGS FOR HIS GOOD!!!

I can't thank our Heavenly Father enough not just for Anna but for the MAJOR MIRACLE he performed. God is soooooooooooooo Good!!!

What a truly blessed Christmas

2009-12-28T14:05:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-08T19:33:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-05T15:24:00.005-06:00

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

2009-11-08T16:28:00.004-06:00

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

2009-10-31T19:00:00.003-06:00

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

2009-10-26T17:39:00.004-06:00

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

2009-10-15T16:05:00.005-05:00

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

8 Wonderful Months

2009-10-08T18:48:00.004-05:00

It has been 8 months today since our sweet baby girl was placed in our arms. As we are getting close to the holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm getting more and more excited. Finally after so many years of waiting we can do all the special things this time of year holds. We are going to take her to the Fair this week. I'm so excited. We go to the Fair every year and pretty much eat our way through it. For the last several years we have walked by the kiddie rides thinking "Maybe next year we'll be parents and we'll be able to bring our child to the Fair." And year after year the Fair would arrive and we would be reminded all over again...."NOT THIS YEAR" We'll guess what WE ARE PARENTS THIS YEAR WHEN THE FAIR CAME!!!! Thank you Jesus for fulfilling the promises you make to us. I'm like a child this year waiting for our turn to go to the Fair. I can't wait to see the Fair through Anna's eyes. I can't wait to see her reaction to the rides and the lights and all the goodies the Fair offers. I know it might seem simple but this year the Fair coming to town is so significant to me because it is another reminder that God is Faithful to his children. Thank you Jesus for eight months with our little miracle.

7 Months Together

2009-09-08T18:41:00.003-05:00

Wow 7 months. It doesn't seem possible. She fills our life with happiness and contentment. Right now I'm listening to her laugh has her Baba chases her around the house. I love the fact that my house is now filled with the sounds of one precious little girl.

We got to go to Pensacola this weekend to see family. We enjoyed our time with Nana, Papa, Grenny, Papaw, Granny and Memaw. We also got to go to the beach for a little while. Anna loved it. I have a beach babe on my hands for sure. She wasn't scared of the water or the sand. I look forward to taking her more and making priceless memories.

Going back a little

2009-09-02T19:40:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to post about Anna's birthday party but life happened. We had her party two days before we got the call for her surgery at Shriners. We had a wonderful time. A lot of family and friends helped to make it a very special day for Anna and her parents. I know Anna won't remember this "first" birthday party but she can look at pictures when she gets older and realize how much she was loved from the very beginning. She truly is a blessing from God. We love her so much. So enjoy the pictures from her first birthday party over two months ago :)

1 year ago today...

2009-08-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

We saw our sweet baby girl's face for the first time. A year ago, Scott came to my school with the best news I have ever heard. We finally knew what our baby girl looked like, where she was and how old she was. Thank you God for the miracle of Anna. She is so much more than we ever could have hoped for. She is a true treasure from God.

6 months and Chicken Pox

2009-08-08T18:15:00.003-05:00

Here is a picture of "kitty"

You can see some of the chicken pox around her mouth

She loves to play dress up--get a look at the shoes :)

Oh my goodness has this month been a challenge. Not because of Anna but because so much has happened medically. You know she got her palate fixed and then we had two weeks of cast on her arms. I have never heard her scream so much. She hated the cast and would get so frustrated. She screamed for almost the entire two weeks. I don't blame her. I know she didn't know what was going on, she was healing from surgery and she couldn't understand that the cast were only temporary. However it didn't make those two weeks of screaming any easier. I was so happy to get them off. It was a little ordeal but we finally got them off thanks to my friend Tajuana. The cast came off Thursday and she started getting "bites" on her legs. Friday Anna and I went out shopping since it was my last day of freedom before school started. I noticed the "bites" were spreading. I finally noticed they were on her torso and I started to get worried. Of course it was Friday at 5:00 p.m. so the pediatrician's office was closed. So we went to the after hours clinic where two doctors told us this was not chicken pox. They said she had some type of viral rash that wasn't contagious. So we went to a Sunday School get together, Sunday School nursery on Sunday and Anna spent two days at her new child care....all with chicken pox. The "rash" wasn't getting any better so finally we took her back to our pediatrician. He looked at her for about a minute and said "this is a classic case of chicken pox". WONDERFUL. No telling how many people we exposed to chicken pox. ....if you are one of them I truly am sorry....we didn't know.

On top of that I started back to school. So it is truly hectic around here. We had open house on Friday night and right before Open House I twisted my knee some how so that is hurting pretty bad and tomorrow Scott and I are suppose to have nursery duty. Of course we can't take Anna so one of us will have to stay home with her. She goes back to Shriners on August 20th and the tickets have already been purchased so please pray that she will have no more pox and can make the appointment. Her surgery went well and she is healing great...or at least I think so. What I can tell, her palate looks good. She is back to a sippy cup and regular food so life is good in that respect.

Today is our 6 month gotcha anniversary. I cannot believe it has been six months. Man does the time fly. She is learning more and more. Her hair is really starting to get long and I can put it in little piggy tails which I'm excited about. She has a new love....her kitty. She got this stuff kitty from the Ronald McDonald House before surgery and she doesn't let the thing go. It has already been washed two times (thank goodness it washes) and is in desperate need of another go around in the washing machine. Hopefully she'll be weaned from kitty before she graduates high school :). I guess that is all for now. Sorry I haven't updated sooner...life has been crazy.

Home and Healing

2009-07-20T12:42:00.003-05:00

Sporting her new cast

Pre-surgery (notice she is still smiling)

Play area in Shriners Hospital

We got to come home Saturday. Anna had a rough night Friday night. She woke up about 12 a.m. and had a 101.6 fever. They said that if the fever didn't come down we might not be able to come home but thankfully her fever did come down. She did ok on the flight. In the airport waiting we got a lot of stares because of her arms being in cast and a few people asked how she broke both arms. We tried to explain that she had surgery on her mouth and her arms were fine. She has slept ok the last two nights but during the day she is extremely whinny. I know she has gone through a lot the last few days so I'm trying to remain calm. Scott and I have been spoiled the last five months because she has been such an easy baby. Hopefully once she is healed and her arm cast are off, she'll be her happy, normal self. She is fighting eating. She is eating yoguart and a couple of bites of other things but refuses to drink anything right now. I'm just praying everyday will be easier.

Doing Better

2009-07-17T09:47:00.002-05:00

Anna had a rough night at the beginning of the night but around midnight she finally settled down and slept well. She is much better this morning. She is laughing and playing. They let us stroll her around and we got to go outside and get some fresh air. I think we'll be here one more night and hopefully we'll be able to fly home tomorrow like we planned. Thank you for praying. Please continue to pray that she continues to do well, eats more and has no pain.....and is able to sleep tonight :)

She is recovering

2009-07-16T17:16:00.002-05:00

Surgery was a success. They were able to do what they wanted to do. She hs tubes in her ears as well. She should now be able to hear the words we are saying and start saying the words clearly. She hates the cast they had to put on and really hates the IV in her foot. She is in PICU tonight and might be discharged tomorrow. She is drinking apple juice and eating gogurt so she is really doing well. Thank you so much for praying. Please continue to pray that Anna doesn't hurt and is able to rest.

She's in surgery

2009-07-16T10:41:00.001-05:00

She went back about 10 till 10 a.m. So we were delayed in when we thought surgery would start. They gave her some happy juice before the wheeled her away. She was laughing at nothing. It was cute. We of course cried when they wheeled her but we feel your prayers and God's peace. Please continue to pray. We'll update when she is out.

Surgery Time

2009-07-15T16:55:00.003-05:00

We just found out that Anna will be the 2nd surgery tomorrow. They said they should take her back about 7:30 a.m. The surgery will be about 3 hours and she'll be away from us for about 5 hours :( Please pray for a successful surgery for NOOOO pain for Anna and for Scott and I to be strong. As the day draws to an end I'm getting more emotional thinking of what my precious Anna has to face tomorrow. I know she is in good hands as far as the doctors and the best hands that being God's but the momma side of me does NOT want my baby to go through this. Please continue to pray.

I'll try to update after surgery. Hopefully she'll be done by 12 p.m.

Love y'all
Shelley

Surgery THURSDAY

2009-07-13T13:49:00.001-05:00

Hey guys,

If you would please pray. We just got word that Shriner's Hospital wants to do Anna's surgery THIS THURSDAY. This is an answer to prayer because she'll be fully recovered before I have to start school. If we didn't do it this Thursday we would have to wait till October/November. We are a little in panic mode because Anna and I are in Birmingham right now visiting family but they are driving us to Jackson tonight and we are flying out tomorrow morning and have to be at Shriners Wednesday morning for lab work and other pre-surgery things. The surgery is Thursday morning and if everything goes ok we can fly home Friday afternoon. I don't have any other information right now. But please pray that God will give me peace. I thought we would have a couple of weeks to prepare before her surgery. Please pray that we can get a flight tomorrow and for safe travel back to Jackson tonight and for clarity of mind as I pack for this next part in our journey with Anna. Please pray that Scott and I will have peace while Anna is in surgery and please pray that my precious baby is ok during the surgery and that everything goes ok. Ok I'll end now but please pray.

Love y'all
Shelley

UPDATE: WE HAVE OUR FLIGHT FOR TOMORROW MORNING AT 6:30 A.M. AND WE FLY HOME ON SATURDAY. SURGERY IS THURSDAY MORNING. UNSURE OF THE TIME YET. SCOTT WILL BE STAYING AT THE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE WHILE WE ARE IN CHICAGO. PLEASE PRAY

5 Month Gotcha

2009-07-08T20:40:00.004-05:00

She was supposed to be taking a nap, when I checked on her this is what I found

Chillin' out in her chair from Papa

Today we celebrated having Anna for 5 months. I cannot believe it has been 5 months. Time has flown by. Everyday she amazes me more and more. She is learning to sign a number of words which is helping her be able to communicate until her palate is fixed.

We went to Shriners a couple of weeks ago and they are going to do her surgery. They are supposed to call us this week with a date for surgery. I'm ready to know when it is so I can mentally start preparing for this new part of our journey with Anna. I know once she has the surgery her vocabulary is going to take off. She already tries so hard to talk most of which is not understandable but once she has a palate and can form some of the consonant sounds that she is incapable of doing now, she'll just soar.

Our neice Kathryn is here for a few days before Anna's party and she is such a big help with Anna. Anna really loves her and is having a blast with Kathryn. We all are. Happy 5 month Gotcha Anna Banana......We love you sooooo much.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T19:23:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday America!!! This has been a wonderful 4th of July. Our first with Anna and Anna's first as a US citizen. We have so much to be thankful for. We went to a waterpark in the area and had a terrific time! Anna had so much fun. We played and splashed for most of the day. We then came home, grilled out and played with sparklers. Anna thought they were really neat. The only one to get burned was me...........at least it wasn't Anna. It was my fault for grabbing the sparkler on the wrong end. Nothing too bad just a little burn. We forgot to take the camera so unfortunately no pictures from the water park. But here is Anna sporting her new do for Independence Day. Happy 4th Everyone.

Happy Birthday Anna

2009-06-22T21:29:00.005-05:00

My little super star

Oooh this is some good stuff

"Thanks, mommy"

"Baba, you should try this. It is good"

"I like birthdays"

"Wow, I'm 2!!"

We are in Chicago and having a wonderful time. Traffic here is crazy, reminds me of China some. We found Lincoln Park Zoo today and went around the zoo. It is a nice zoo. Anna enjoyed it. The weather was very pretty. We then attempted to find our hotel. It took us a while but once we purchased a city map we were good to go. Our room is really nice. It has a kitchen, a living area and then a bedroom.

We went to Gino's Pizza for dinner. We had the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. It was very, very good. We have a ton of it left. Can someone say lunch tomorrow. We then found a grocery store and got cupcakes for Anna's birthday. She loved it. I mean loved it. She gobbled it up. She has such a sweet tooth. We brought a few gifts with us for her to open. She really liked the gifts. She is such a sweet, sweet baby....well I guess I should say little girl now that she is 2. It is hard to believe. She was 13 months old when we got the referral and now she is 2. Time sure flies when you are so blessed.

Happy Father's (Baba's) Day

2009-06-20T18:14:00.003-05:00

I cannot say enough about how wonderful a father Scott is to Anna. Anyone who knows us, knows she adores him. She lights up every time she sees him. When he comes through the door, getting home from work, she runs to him and he grabs her up and they give each other the biggest bear hug. My heart is full when I see the love they have for each other. I remember when we were going through infertility and then waiting for the adoption to happen, one of the main things I wanted to see was Scott as a daddy. I knew he would be a good one but he is so much better than I even thought. It is clear he loves his little girl with all his heart. Happy Baba's Day honey. You're the best!!

Summer Fun

2009-06-16T09:50:00.004-05:00

We got to go to Florida this past weekend and let Anna have her Pensacola debut. She was a hit if I do say so myself. We had a wonderful, busy, fun-packed weekend. Saturday my family threw Anna a birthday party and a lot of family that hasn't seen her yet got to come and meet her. She had a ball. She loved the cake. I'll get some pics on here soon. Then Sunday we went to my home church and many ladies who have prayed and prayed got to see our little miracle. She had a good time at Sunday School. We then got the opportunity to go boating with my sis and her family. Anna had so much fun. She did great. We boated for a little while and then we found a secluded beach and got out and played. It was so much fun and Anna really loved it. We came back home yesterday just in time to get ready for our trip to Chicago. We leave Sunday. Anna's appointment is Wednesday. It is all day like 8-6. Please pray that it goes well, that Anna isn't too upset from having to be seen by doctors all day and that they can do her surgery and do it soon.

4 Month Gotcha Day

2009-06-08T18:22:00.004-05:00

Bike riding

Posing for the camera Haha

Today we celebrated having our sweet Anna for four months. That is hard to believe. In so many ways it feels like we have had her since her birth. She continues to amaze us everyday with how sweet and smart she is. She has now learned to jump and that means jumping on the bed :). While the responsible mother in me says she shouldn't do that she might get hurt, the little girl in me remembers how much fun it was to jump on the bed so I sometimes let her do it.

VBS is this week at church and Anna went to her first VBS today. She had a great time. I peeked in on her once and of course she was doing her favorite thing.....eating. We are enjoying our summer. It is going too fast. But it is a blast.

Picture parade

2009-06-05T13:38:00.004-05:00

We got a new camera Saturday and we have been having fun figuring it out. I love it because it takes pictures continuously without pausing in between so I can catch all those Anna moments that she won't sit and pose for. Enjoy the pictures.

A lot of news and few pics

2009-05-30T10:03:00.003-05:00

I know it has been a while since I've updated. It has been a busy two weeks or so. I haven't been good about taking pictures of Anna these last two weeks so there aren't a lot of pictures but there are a few of her playing this morning with some of her bling on. But there is a great deal of news to share:

WE GOT INTO SHRINERS! That is probably the biggest news. We go for Anna's first consultation with the craniofacial team on June 24. We are going to make a mini vacation out of it and visit some of Chicago's hot spots. We have wanted to go to Chicago and now we have a real reason. We don't know when Anna's surgery will be. We will meet with about 9 doctors on that day and then they assess her case and let us know. I don't think it'll be this summer. I figure more like October. We'll see.

Secondly....I'll be working next year. We have prayed and prayed and prayed about this and once we sat down and really put pen to paper we just felt like the most responsible thing would be for me to work. Our goal is to pay off some bills and really save this year and hopefully I'll be able to stay home the next two years with Anna before she goes to school. We feel this decision will put us in a much better place to possibly start another adoption for a brother in a year or two. That is something we're starting to pray about.

Anna is doing well. Actually that isn't entirely true. The last full week of school she had a cold...which I was lucky to get as well. And this past week she caught a stomach bug. Hopefully we're getting to the end of that and then hopefully she'll stay healthy. We are going to make the most of the summer and have a great time together. She is a blessing and we are having a ball.

Random pictures and thoughts

2009-05-18T17:06:00.003-05:00

So sweet

Hey Sweet Girl

Stylin and profilin thanks to Aunt Lorrie

Nana and Anna hanging out

This is my last week of the school year. I'm so excited to be out for the summer. That is almost ten weeks with Anna. I'm not sure yet about Shriners. We are still waiting to hear. We finally got all the paperwork sent off to them last Monday. We haven't heard anything yet. We are hoping maybe to find something out this week.

Please pray that God will give Scott and I wisdom on what I need to do next year. I want so badly to stay home with Anna but with Anna's surgery, not knowing about Shriners, and other cost, I don't know if we can do it or not. We have been praying and praying and honestly we don't have a peace either way and well it is crunch time. Contracts should be coming out any day now and I have to make a decision. Right now I'm leaning toward working. I don't want to but I think it might be the most responsible decision. Please just pray that we both we'll have a peace about what we need to do.

Here are some pictures from last weekend when Nana, Papa, Aunt Lorrie and Izzy were here and some random pictures taken throughout the week. Anna went to school with me last Friday. We had field day. She loved it. She had quite a fan club with all the girls in my class. So on that note I'll say goodnight and thank you for praying.

First Mother's Day ....finally

2009-05-10T15:28:00.003-05:00

Today we celebrated Mother's Day. A day I avoided like a plague for the last five years. I was finally able to rejoice in the fact that I was a mother. I have my baby girl. I can hold her and kiss her and rock her and tell her I love her more than life itself. And she can kiss (a pretty wet kiss :) and hug back. My life is full. She is the joy of my life and I cannot express in words the gratitude that is in my heart toward my Savior for this wonderful blessing.

Anna was dedicated to the Lord today. She did great. She looked pretty cute too. She wore her Chinese dress that was made by a lady in China to remember her adoption. It was a very special day to celebrate the desire of my heart finally coming true. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

3 month gotcha

2009-05-08T20:34:00.004-05:00

"No more pictures, I'm eating!"

"OOOHH I love the noodles"

"Didn't you hear me, NO MORE PICTURES"

Sweet kisses

Cute dress from Mrs. Cassandra

"Don't I look pretty"

"Bring on the food MOM"

Today is our 3 month gotcha day anniversary. We have had our sweet pea for 3 months today. Some ways it feels like she has always been with us. She continues to amaze us and our love for her grows more and more everyday. She is a true blessing from the Lord. God has been so good to us. We thank Him for bringing us our sweet Anna Banana!!!

Happy birthday Baba

2009-04-29T19:26:00.004-05:00

The Happy Family

Happy Birthday Baba

One of momma's students got Anna this at Disney last week

Anna decorating Baba's cake

Beautiful job

At Cheddars.....YUM YUM

Anna getting ready for church...our friend Mandy made this beautiful dress...Thanks Mandy

Today was Baba's (aka Scott's) birthday. It was so wonderful to celebrate with Anna here. I think she had a good time today. She woke up early to "sing" happy birthday to Scott before we both left for work. Grenny and Papaw are here this week with Anna. They are having fun. Anna and I then made a cake for Baba. She enjoyed licking the batter and decorating with sprinkles. Happy Birthday Honey.....I love you very much!!

Doing well

2009-04-22T19:26:00.005-05:00

They are both unsure of the other :)

Fun on the playground

Soft bunny

She liked the tortoise

Ooh, more bunnies

Look at all these animals

Such a big girl

Not sure what this was

She didn't know what to think of the bounce house

Peggy and Anna

We are three days into me being back at work and all is going well. Anna loves Cassandra and Braysen so much that she sees everyday as a big play day. I have done pretty well too. I cried all the way to work the first day back but have since done better. I am sooooooo ready for summer though. I miss being home with Anna so much. Only 4 1/2 more weeks to go :). I am extremely tired though. Please continue to pray that all continues to go well and that we all have patience and endurance. Also please pray that Shriners accepts Anna as a patient. We were sponsored by the local Shriners and they sent our application to Chicago. Now we wait to hear from them. Please pray that we get accepted and that we get accepted soon!!!!

The pictures are from Saturday. Bethany had a picnic for the adoptive families and we finally got to go since we finally have Anna. It was so much fun. Anna loved it. They had horses she could ride...loved it. They had a petting zoo that she could pet all of the animals...loved it. They had a playground for her to play on...loved it. They had jump houses for her to jump in....didn't love it. Oh well she is learning. We all had a great time and are looking forward to next year.

Going back to work

2009-04-17T16:40:00.003-05:00

Well the day has come for me to go back to work and I'm very sad. I don't want to go back. I'm having so much fun with Anna watching her learn and grow everyday and blossoming into such a wonderful, sweet little girl. God has truly blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined. I have truly enjoyed the time I have had home with her. The good thing is I only have a few weeks till summer break and then I'll get to be home again. Please pray for me and for Anna and for Scott as we go through this adjustment. Our dear friend Cassandra is watching Anna so I have absolutely no worries. She is going to be in great hands. I'm just sad and will miss her while I'm at work. Enjoy the pictures from the park. Scott and Anna and I went the other day. She is getting more brave with the swing. She didn't like it up until the other day when we went. Anna and I met some ladies from church and their children and went to another park today. This one has sand. Anna has been once and she really didn't care for sand at all. That has changed. Today she saw Brayson digging in the sand and she went right over there and joined in. She had a ball. She was upset with me when I told her it was time to leave. She was having so much fun. I'm so proud of my little girl for trying new things and growing so much. One other sweet thing. This morning before we went to the park, I was crying because of having to go back to work and leaving Anna. I was holding/hugging Anna and she started to wipe the tears off my face. She has such a sweet heart. We're blessed.

HAPPY EASTER

2009-04-12T15:32:00.006-05:00

"Mom, what does this card say?" Oh this is a pretty card

Look what I found---yummy Smile for the camera sweet girl

"Oooh--animal crackers, I love the Easter Bunny "Ok mom, enough pictures already"

Pretty Anna Banana all dressed up for Easter morning

Baba and Anna Easter morning "I think there is something in here"

Look at all the eggs just lying around Farmer girl in my overalls and on the tractor

Having fun at the Ag museum "You want me to ride this thing?"

God is good. This has been the best Easter ever. God has so greatly blessed us. We has such a wonderful Easter weekend. We went to the Ag Museum Saturday morning for an Easter Egg Hunt. They had free pony rides, free train rides, free carousel rides and free hot dogs! Plus we were outside which Anna loved. She however didn't care too much for the Easter Bunny. We then went out in the country with our good friends David and Cassandra. Their family had a big cookout. We had so much fun. Cass's dad has a mule that Anna rode with Mrs. Cassandra. She was such a brave little girl. Plus she got to hunt Easter Eggs with Brayson. She understood it pretty much although she kept trying to take Brayson's eggs but he was such a good sport about it and shared his eggs with Anna.

We went to church this morning. Anna was all dressed up in her fru fru dress. She really liked getting all dressed up. Such a girly girl. We kept her with us in the service and she did pretty good. She loved the music. At one point Scott tapped me on the shoulder and I looked and Anna had her hand raised in the air. It was so sweet. It touched my heart. I truly believe she was worshipping the Lord in her little way. She wasn't trying to be silly or waving or playing, she had her hand in the air and was worshipping. Hey if the "rocks will cry out the praises of the Lord" so will our sweet baby girl. Enjoy the pictures.

2 Month Gotcha Day

2009-04-08T19:47:00.003-05:00

Winner, Winner Chinese Dinner

"What does my fortune Cookie Say?"

Today was our 2 month Gotcha Day anniversary. WE got our precious daughter 2 months ago today. Man time flies when you're having fun. We got Chinese tonight to celebrate. We love you so much Anna Banana.

Oh and Happy Birthday Katie :)

Camera Woes and Rudolph nose

2009-04-06T12:50:00.005-05:00

See my red nose?

Who is this "Rudolph" that y'all keep calling me?

"Mom, Someone is in my chair!"

Aw we match....isn't that sweet.

Sittin' pretty

Preview of my beautiful Easter dress

"I know I'm a pretty princess"

"Mom, Can't you see I'm busy eating my Cheerios?"

Well our camera is acting up. We bought a new digital camera before we left for China and found out it literally eats batteries. So we use it sparingly and we tried to use the old one more. Well we took both of the cameras to China and the old one got dropped. While it still takes pictures, we can't see the pictures till we download them because when the camera dropped, the screen busted. So we don't know when the battery is low either. We went on a picnic the other day and to our surprise the battery was dead on the old camera so no pictures from that camera. Then the other day we discovered the new camera (that eats through batteries) won't come on half of the time and when it does it doesn't want to take pictures and when it happens to take a picture, it won't let you view the pictures. It freezes. So no pictures of the picnic from that camera either. So I'm sick and tired of them both. Life goes by too fast and there are too many precious pictures that we have missed because of our two sorry cameras. So I see camera shopping in our future. Maybe for Mother's Day?

Now the red nose part. Anna had a little fall the other day. We were about to head out the door to go Easter dress Hunting. Nana got all the granddaughter's a green dress for Easter and Anna's was too big. I can't believe how many people do not have green Easter dresses. So I thought of two other places we could go. Baba had taken Anna outside with him to put some mail in the mailbox. Well Anna got tripped up and went down face first......OUCH. She now has a red nose and a little scratch on her head. Just in time for Easter pictures :). Scott felt horrible but it was an accident. So she is fine now just a red nose and a new nickname....rudolph. By the way we finally found a green dress at a fru fru shop that really sells beauty pagent dresses but had some Easter dresses too. Anna loves it and so do we. She looks like a little princess.

Spring is here

2009-03-30T12:09:00.005-06:00

Papa, Nana and Anna

My Sweet Bunny

Too Cute!!

"Yeah, What do you want?"

We love when Grandparents come!

Nana "dressing" Anna up

Can you say 'bed head" in a major way

Pushing the laundry basket is one of her favorite things

Working hard

Well we have been staying busy. Anna is just so full of life and we love her so much. This weekend we had the opportunity to speak to local waiting families. We think there were about 20 people there including some grandparents. The families were so friendly. I hope for their sake the wait speeds up and they are able to hold their precious little ones very soon. Once you get to hold your child the wait truly is worth it. Some of the families told me they follow the blog so if you are reading and we got the pleasure of meeting you Saturday.....hi and thanks for continuing to read. Mother and daddy better known as Nana and Papa were able to come. They mainly watched Anna for us while we spoke to the families. Anna did great. She was a little trooper charming everyone and anyone who would look her way. She is such a flirt.

We heard from UAB that Anna's immunizations look good. So that'll save her some shots and us some money :). That is always nice. We will probably be going back to our pedatrician sometime this week to finish up the immunizations and make sure her ear is doing ok. We went last week and the infection had cleared but she still had a lot of wax. As long as the ear is clear, our pediatrician thinks we can hold off on the tubes till palate surgery. We finally were able to get the ball rolling for that. We contacted a local Shriner and he is letting his local temple know. I guess we wait to see if they'll sponsor us and then we go from there. I'm hoping to hear really soon so we can send our application and hopefully nail some things down as far as that goes.

Life is good. I cannot complain. Anna is doing so good with the sleep thing. Friday night she slept the entire night by herself!!!!! Yeah Anna. Nap time she also sleeps by herself. And most nights we sleep in her room till about 1 a.m. and then go to our room and she sleeps till about 8 a.m. in her room. So we are making great progress. I guess that is all for now.

I know I've got to do better

2009-03-22T12:27:00.005-06:00

Silly girl--she loves the camera, can you tell?

Seeing the fishies at the Bass Pro Shop

Giving Baba some love

Again hamming it up for the camera

Anna, Baba and her Great Grandmothers

Anna and Granny Colleen

Anna's first pony tail:)

Anna sporting Papa's hat

Too Cute for words

Anna's first snow. She liked it.

It just amazes me how the time flies now that Anna is home. I don't think the days have 24 hours in them anymore....more like 6. There just seems to be soo much to do and soo little time to do it in that by the time I actually get on the computer, I'm so worn out that I just quickly check my email and the bethany boards and then I'm in the bed or moving on to the next thing on my ever growing to do list.

Anna is doing much better with the sleep thing. We are slowly trying to get out of her bed and back into our own. At nap time, I lay down with her until she is asleep then I get up and get things done. At night I do the same thing and one of us goes in there when we are ready to go to sleep. Last night, I got up at 4:30 a.m. and went to my bed and we all slept till 8 a.m. everyone in their own bed :).

We go back to the pediatrician on Wednesday to see if Anna's ear infection has cleared up. If so the doctor thinks we can wait till we have her cleft surgery to have tubes put in but if not then we will probably go ahead and have that done here. We are trying to get the ball rolling with Shriners. Please pray that works out and they take Anna on as a patient and agree to do the surgery. It is our desire for me to stay home next year with Anna and help her adjust and bond. We don't think that is possible if we have surgery cost to pay. If Shriners agrees to take us then it is NO cost to us except travel. We feel God is leading us to Shriners so now we wait to see. We are hoping that we can have her surgery around the beginning of June. That will depend on Shriners and if they take Anna as a patient. Ok. I guess that is all for now.

Routine.....Maybe??

2009-03-11T18:52:00.004-06:00

So it seems like the days just fly by now. I have little time for much of anything other than taking care of my daughter, which I love. Let's see we have gone to the park numerous times. Anna seems to like it a lot. She is still learning about the playground equipment but she really loves the leaves :).

She is saying momma a whole lot and we think she has even said her name a couple of times. We got her a new bed because she absolutely hated her crib. She screamed her head off everytime we put her in it to the point she would make herself sick. So we got a double bed and are co-sleeping with her. I know you may not agree with that but we have talked to numerous professionals, other adoptive parents and prayed much about it and it is what our daughter needs at this point. She has gone through a whole lot of change and she needs some comfort and stability. Nighttime can be a scary time for toddlers especially ones who are taken from everything they know. We had no peace about letting her cry it out. We have done a lot of research and talked to professionals at the international adoption clinic and we will be able to transition her once she is able to understand, once she has the cognitive and language ability to understand that we are just in the next room. But for now this is what we are doing and she has been able to sleep through the night the last few nights and so have we. Plus it is GREAT for bonding and the more we can help her then the more I'm willing to do it.

So all that to say, she loves her new bed. She woke up the first morning so excited. I told her, "This is Anna's room" and she kept pointing to herself everytime I said "Anna". It was so cute. I was super proud that my genius daughter already knows her name and is trying to say it.

We went to our local pediatrician today. It went ok. Anna has an ear infection so we are giving her an anitbiotic. The doctor thinks that if we can keep her ears clean she can wait to have the tubes in when we have the surgery. We are hoping for late May or early June to have the surgery. So I guess that is all for now. Thank you for those who still follow this blog. I'll try to do better about updating. We are starting to get in a routine and that is so nice. I am able to get a little more done and soon I feel like I'll be able to really get organized and get everything done in a day that I want to get done......or at least 90%.

First visit to the zoo

2009-03-04T19:39:00.006-06:00

Well we are finally starting to settle in here. Anna is doing great. She is a little trooper and a charmer. She can own the room very quickly. She can charm the socks off anyone. Everyone who meets her falls in love very quickly. She is always laughing and smiling. We love her to pieces.

We visited the zoo the first week we were home. Anna had a great time. We went after naptime and the zoo was almost empty. There were three other families with their little ones there. The animals were all up and active so that made for an enjoyable visit. Anna was able to pick the animals out right away. I think she liked the monkeys and the ducks the best.

We went to the UAB International Adoption Clinic on Monday. They did a number of test to try and establish a baseline on Anna's health and what she may or may not have. They took a lot of blood to test her for various illnesses and to see what vaccinations she has had and at what level. One thing we were told was she has a lot of wax build up on her ears (very common for cleft lip/cleft palate babies) so she'll need tubes put in pretty soon. We are thinking of having her palate surgery done at the beginning of the summer. We got to visit Nana, Papa, Aunt Lorrie and Family including our new niece Izzy this weekend while we were in Birmingham. I think Anna enjoyed it and we really enjoyed being with family. Now we are just trying to get really established in a routine and work on bonding. While we believe Anna has bonded a lot already and God certainly prepared her heart to know who we were, UAB still feels like she has a way to go. And we see areas where we need to help her understand exactly who we are and what our role is with her and for her.

Thank you for all of you who are continuing to keep up with our blog. I'm going to try and keep going with it but it won't be on an everyday basis like in China. I'm sure you all understand :).

We are home

2009-02-24T18:56:00.004-06:00

We have been home for about five days now and things are going well. The first night was rough. Anna was so mixed up on her days and nights. She finally zonked out about 4 a.m. and I did shortly after. Friday night she did better. Saturday night was rough as well. She didn't go to sleep until about 2:15 a.m. Sunday was a little better and for the great news. Last night she slept through the entire night :) :) :)!!!!!!!!!!!! We put her down about 8:45 and she cried for about 30 seconds and fell asleep. She didn't wake up until 9:00 a.m. this morning. We all got a good night's sleep last night and it felt wonderful!!

We are trying to get into a schedule. The last two days we have put her down early for a nap, which I think is helping her sleep at night. We'll see. I really think that she'll be well adjusted within the next week. I can't believe how fast the days go. You know when you babysit, after a few hours you are like "Where are the parents?" but with Anna it is like "Wow it is already time for a nap or "Wow, it is time for her to go to sleep" The days are just flying. I can't believe how short the days are now. When we were waiting to go get her the days seemed soooo long and now that she is here, wow they fly.

She is incredible and we are in love. She is a happy baby that never stops unless she is asleep. We had a great homecoming at the airport. We had so many friends and family come to the airport. My father-in-law counted and said he counted around 80 people at the airport. We couldn't believe how many people showed up and showed their love. It was so wonderful to get off the plane and see our friends and family. SO thank you very much for all of you who came to the airport to welcome us home. You are all the greatest.

Much love,
Scott, Shelley and Anna Banana

Goodbye China, Hello America

2009-02-18T06:23:00.005-06:00

Well this is my last post from China. I have to say today I was emotional. I really love China. The people, the culture, and the shopping :). It is truly bittersweet to say goodbye to our daughter's homeland. Like I said before, before we left I didn't know what to expect. But I have to say now going through this journey, it has forever changed me in more than just the obvious way.

God brought back to my mind a couple of months ago a memory of when I was just a little girl. I was in G.A.'s (Girl's in Action) a mission program for girls. We had a missionary come talk to us about Lottie Moon and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. For anyone unfamiliar Lottie Moon was an American who came to China as a missionary. Anyway. I remember after the missionary talked to our class, we prayed about how God might use us. I vividly remember praying, "God I will do anything for you, just don't send me to China" "I don't want to go to China because I will miss all my family". Little did I know then that God would send me to China to get my family. Isn't that awesome how God works.

We have truly loved our time here more than we can ever truly say. God has been good to us. We have the sweetest, happiest, most beautiful daughter. We truly are not deserving of the blessing He has given us but we praise Him for His wonderful mercy, love and favor. To end, God showed me a verse in the middle of waiting for this adoption to happen that has now come true. It is Psalm 113:9 (New Living Translation)
9 He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!

Love to you all from China. See you soon in the good Ole USA

Visa appointment done

2009-02-17T05:46:00.005-06:00

Today Shiyan took our information to the US Consulate for them to begin working on issuing Anna's visa. She said that if we didn't get a phone call before 12 p.m. than everything was ok. We didn't get a phone call so everything is okay. We go tomorrow afternoon to pick up her visa and do the swearing in ceremony. Then we are officially done!!!!!!! Our trip is very near the end and I have to say it has been the quickest two weeks and the longest two weeks of our life. We have truly enjoyed our time here. We have seen some interesting sites, met some wonderful people and gone through one of the most life changing events half way around the world. God has shown us some wonderful things in our time here. We have met some great friends that we will miss. I have to say as I'm starting to pack up for the final time there is a big part of me that is sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm very ready to come home. But I will miss China dearly. I didn't really know what to expect before we came but now that our time is drawing to a close, I can truly say part of my heart will always be in China, as will Scott's. God has already started to plant some seeds that we will spend the next year or two praying about. God has truly, truly blessed us. We cannot believe how wonderful of a daughter He has given us. She has been such a happy baby. When I look at her, I don't know how to explain it but when she smiles and laughs, my heart truly does a somersault. All the waiting, all the tears, all the wondering if this adoption would ever happen was TRULY WORTH IT. To finally see the harvest of this journey is more than amazing. What an awesome God we serve. I cannot praise Him enough for what He has done here in China. HE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

She passed

2009-02-16T06:44:00.004-06:00

Today we had medicals done in the morning. Anna passed with flying colors. She however didn't like it at all!!! She did okay when they weighed her and measured her. She is now 22 lbs. And she did okay when they checked her hearing and eye sight but she screamed her head off when they tried to listen to her heart. I think she was scared and didn't know what was going on. It was hot in there and tons of people too which didn't help. We then went to a local pearl market. It was about a 30 minute walk and we got off the island and into the city of Guangzhou. It was VERY VERY interesting. We got some great pictures. It was true China. Poverty mixed with upcoming development. One minute you were looking at buildings that looked 100 years old and then you had skyscrapers. The pearl market was incredible. More pearls than I had ever seen in my entire life. We went to one store that has the best quality and the guy didn't want to bargain at all. You are suppose to offer less than what they tell you. You are suppose to start at like 1/3 of what they say (which it is already very cheap) but it is sort of an insult if you give them the price they first quote you. Well the guy in the pearl shop didn't want to bargain at first but we finally talked him down. It was interesting. We went to a Thai restuarant for dinner. Last night we went to a local Chinese restuarant. Both of them were good but I enjoyed last night better. So I can say we both have tried some Chinese food and what we have tried has been really good. We have a free day tomorrow. So Anna and I are going shopping and giving baba some down time.

Wow what a night

2009-02-14T22:19:00.005-06:00

Well last night was rough. Anna went to bed perfectly fine. But about 11:30 p.m. she woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. Everything I tried didn't work. She didn't want a bottle, she wasn't dirty, for a while I just held her why she screamed thinking she was grieving and the unfamiliarity of it all. Finally I thought maybe she has trapped gas. So I was able to get some gas relief drops down her which only made her more upset. I was sure we were waking up everyone on our floor. It was SOOO loud. So Scott threw on some clothes and Anna her in pajamas, me in my pajamas and Scott went down to the lobby. I didn't care that I was walking around in my pj's. We had her in the stroller because she didn't want us to hold her. Well, while we were walking an older Chinese lady stopped me and grabbed Anna. I was telling her no but she was not listening to me. After about a minute, I went over and got Anna out of the lady's arms. I don't know what she thought of that but I was not comfortable with her grabbing Anna like that plus Anna wasn't being comforted by that. So then we walked some more. She started to calm down. She finally burped really loud and she laughed and she was back to her happy self. (This was after almost an hour of her screaming at the top of her lungs.) We were still in the lobby, so I handed her to Scott and went in the lobby bathroom and cried my eyes out. I felt so horrible for not figuring it out sooner that she had gas issues.

So today she is doing MUCH, MUCH better. We have gone back to formula and congee which is a type of rice cereal. She seems to like it very much. We took Visa pictures today and red couch pictures. It is a tradition that the babies are dressed up in traditional outfits and all take a picture together on the red couch. Anna didn't like it. She is one of the two that really cried. She just wasn't sure what was going on. But we got the pictures, just excuse the fact that she is crying. We are hoping tonight goes much better. We are enjoying our time (minus last night) but are ready to come home.

Love, love, love it

2009-02-13T21:50:00.007-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ok so we are in Guangzhou. We love it here!!!!!! The people are so friendly, great shopping and wonderful food. It has some beautiful buildings. I think the French may have developed a lot of this area. The buildings are much more European than anywhere else we have been.

So Anna did wonderful on the flight. She didn't cry at all. It went great. We got to the hotel about 9:30 p.m. and she zonked out on the ride from the airport to the hotel. We saw Denise and Michelle right away (Bethany families) and that was really nice to see a familiar face. As soon as we drove on the island, I knew I would love it. So we got settled in our room and as soon as we walked in the air conditioning hit us. It was wonderful. I got Anna changed and settled and sent Scott off with the task to find food. Well about 30 minutes later, he comes back with what can only be described as manna from heaven- an American cheeseburger and french fries.

We slept well last night. We were full and we were cool. What more could you ask for. We had a wonderful breakfast this morning and met some other adoptive families. We then went walking around a little bit and did some shopping :). We had two people come up to us and ask if they could practice their English on us. One girl walked around the whole time, talking to me. I understood about half of what she was saying but she was sweet. Anna soaked it all up. We then found the playroom here at the hotel. She ABSOULTELY LOVED IT. She didn't want to leave. And Nana or Grenny there is something Anna loves that she doesn't have yet---Leggos.

We feel like we are in heaven here. We truly will enjoy every minute we have here. The people are very friendly, the rooms are nice and cool and there is great food. Enjoy the pictures.

And we're off again

2009-02-12T21:37:00.003-06:00

Well we leave in about 8 hours for the last leg of our journey. We are flying to Guangzhou. While I was packing up items, Anna was trying to help me. It was so sweet. She is such a sweet baby. I wonder how she'll be on the flight. It is just an hour flight so it shouldn't be too bad. We are headed to the police station to pick up Anna's passport, then we'll head to the airport and sit. So this is going to be short and sweet. Next post will be from Guangzhou.

Pandas, bowling and Cuties

2009-02-12T03:43:00.005-06:00

We had a good day today. We were on our own today. We went back to the park that we went to on Tuesday. It was beautiful. We had so many people gather around us and take pictures and try to talk to us. We didn't have our guide so we pretty much had no clue what they were saying. The funny thing was that didn't stop them from continuing to talk to us. We made our way through the park and to the Panda Zoo. It was neat to see the pandas. Anna liked to watch the pandas but then she got tired and fell asleep on the way to the hotel so that means yes she had a nap today.......thank goodness.

We were going to get a cab and get some lunch but we didn't want to wake Anna up so Scott went on his own. I was a little nervous with him going on his own in a city of 6 million people but he found his way to Pizza Hut and brought us back some lunch....yeah BABA. Anna slept the entire time he was gone so she got a good long nap.

Our guide came in the afternoon to give us some paperwork we need to complete the adoption. She came up to our room and after about five minutes she said "Why is it so hot in here" We haven't menitoned it to you but it was sooooooo hot in our hotel room. (easily 80 degrees or more in the room) We just thought that was how it was here. Chinese people stayed bundled up and want their babies to be bundled up so we just figured they thought it was winter and no need for air. So we told her it had been like that and she said "NO, NO it is too hot in here" and she made a call and next thing we new much, much much cooler. We felt dumb for not saying something sooner but we didn't want to offend. We should sleep really really good tonight. Just in time to leave. We leave for Guangzhou tomorrow. It'll be Anna's first flight. We are praying it goes well. It is only an hour flight so hopefully it won't be bad. Enjoy the pictures from today.

And she walks

2009-02-11T17:16:00.002-06:00

She is just the most amazing little girl. She is so cute waddling around. She amazes us everyday. She is still such a happy baby. Even with no nap yesterday she was a little trooper. She got a little crabby but nothing like I was expecting. She pretty much slept through the night. We have been leaving a light on near the bathroom and last night after she went to sleep, we turned it off. And we zonked out. I think we were all asleep by 7:30 p.m. Well about 8:30 she woke up screaming because it was too dark so needless to say the light came back on :).

She had a little rash yesterday on her tummy, probably from the detergent but it is much better today and she doesn't seem to be feeling bad. God has been good to us. We have one more full day here in Fuzhou and then tomorrow (Friday) we pick up her passport and fly to Guangzhou. WE are all looking forward to that because we meet back up with our group. Plus it is much more westernized there and some GREAT SHOPPING from what I hear. We are going to see the pandas today (if we can find the panda zoo). There are some sweet pictures below this post. So scroll down if you haven't seen them yet. Can you say daddy's girl :). I knew she would be.

Another day in Fuzhou

2009-02-11T04:33:00.004-06:00

Today was another busy day. We went to another park on the Min River. It wasn't as big or pretty as the park yesterday. We then went to the Fujian Provincial Museum. It has some neat displays, on of which was two mummies. A couple from 700 B.C. It was kind of gross. They were floating in water and still had all the parts if you know what I mean. Anna fell asleep in the museum. We then went to a local mall and picked up some really neat wares from this area. I enjoyed the shopping...Scott not so much. He entertained Anna. We then had KFC for lunch. It was good, the mashed potatoes were not. We got back later to the hotel and Anna decided she wasn't going to take a nap. So yes we have been going since 6:30 with no nap. She has done better than I thought but she is getting cranky fast. Don't get me wrong, we wanted her to nap but she decided she wasn't going to. Hopefully that won't happen tomorrow. So that is what we did today. We are all tired. Enjoy the pictures.

One on the go little girl

2009-02-10T00:32:00.005-06:00

We are doing well. Anna is such a happy baby. She very rarely cries. She threw a fit last night because I didn't get the baby food opened soon enough. We are still trying to learn her schedule and her cues for food. She is an eater. She eats anything. She loves food. So far we haven't found anything that she doesn't like or that scares her. She has been a little trooper.

Monday we did the paperwork for China's side of the adoption. I'm glad it is over. It really is a formality but still we were nervous. Anna's nannies came. An older lady must have been her main nanny. As soon as she came through the door, she grabbed Anna and held her for a long time. We have a picture with the nannies that I'll attach.

Tuesday we went to the local park. It was beautiful. As soon as we got out of the van, we were surrounded by Chinese people. They all wanted to see Anna. Many of them commented on how beautiful she was. A lot of them were happy we came to adopt her. Our guide has been wonderful. I think she likes that I'm a teacher. She ask me all about it. Education is very, very important here. After the park, we went to a traditional tea ceremony. It was incredible. The tea was pretty good. Anna loved it. She wanted to hold the cup but it was hot. I was afraid it would be too hot for her but she drank it up. We enjoyed it too. We then went to Pizza Hut. We both said it was the best pizza we have ever eaten. The food here is different. So for the last two days we have eaten very little but we had a pepperoni pizza for lunch today and it was wonderful.

Last night was the biggest day of Chinese New Year-Red Latern Festival. There were thousands of red laterns everywhere and fireworks. Our room faces the Min River and we can see for miles around Fuzhou. Well last night we saw no less than 10 displays of fireworks all over the city from our room. It was cool at first but it went on for like 5 hours. It was a constant boom, boom, boom for five hours. I was afraid Anna wouldn't sleep but she did fine. I on the other hand did not. I woke up at 1:45 and Scott happened to be awake. We talked for a few minutes and I started crying. Mainly because I was tired and not sleeping but also because I guess the reality of parenthood hit me. I don't want to mess up with Anna. I know I will but she deserves the best in the world. She hasn't had a mommy and daddy for 19 months and I wonder if I'll be a good mommy to her. I know this is such an emotional time for all of us. Plus the fact that we dont have anything familiar makes it hard. But it is a good thing because it helps us see what Anna will go through when we take her to the USA.

We are having a great time. We are seeing some incredible sights and trying some new things. Not to mention waking up every morning to a beautiful sweet baby. She is such a wonderful baby. We love her so much. We are trying to take everything in and really enjoy our time in China. However, we both are ready to come home. We miss you all. Thank you so much for your comments. We both read them all....sometimes several times. Ok I guess I needed to talk. If you are still reading, thanks. I'll sign off for now. We are taking Anna for a walk in the park.

Love you all, Shelley and Scott and Anna

**If you haven't seen it yet, the Gotcha Video is below this post.

Gotcha Video

2009-02-08T17:29:00.003-06:00

Well we made it through the night great. She went to sleep about 8 p.m. and slept till about 6 a.m. I on the other hand did not. I slept better than I have the last two nights but still have only gotten about 5-6 hours sleep....but that's ok.

She woke up just like she went to sleep - smiling and giggling. She is such a happy baby. We are so thankful that our Father has prepared our little girl's heart. Today we go sign the paperwork and by China law she will be ours.

Enjoy the video.

We have her

2009-02-08T03:39:00.003-06:00

We have Anna. She is absolutely beautiful. She has done soooo good. She is bonding with both of us. We already got her smiling, giggling and laughing. We got it on video. She is just in her diaper now and I don't know if she'll ever let us put clothes on her. She likes the freedom. Our gotcha moment was amazing. I'll put the video on later. For now enjoy the pictures. Oh and Mother,,, we tried to Skype you but you weren't logged in,

Happy Momma and Happy Baba

It is a Great Big Wall

2009-02-07T03:47:00.006-06:00

Ok so pictures just don't do it justice. What an amazing site. No wonder it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. So we got there and had to take a cable lift up the mountains (I, Shelley, was scared to death going up. We had another family from Bethany riding up with us and they have a little girl named Anna (adopted from China over four years ago) and she kept saying "Scott if you move too fast in here we will all fall and be doomed" over and over so that was NOT helping my nerves. But it was worth the few minutes of fear to see something so marvelous. And let me tell you Stairmaster has nothing on the Great Wall. It was a work out and a half. The steepness of the steps was horrifying. We saw a couple of people slip down them. CRAZY. Scott decided to venture further than me and as soon as he left me I was surrounded by people talking to me in Chinese and taking my picture. I started to get a little nervous because I was on this great big wall by myself, people speaking some foreign unknown language taking my picture. I can see why celebrities get sick of the paparrazzi. Scott got a little upset because they didn't want his picture as much as they wanted mine and if they didn't take my picture they stared. But I tried to smile and represent America well.

Going back down the mountain wasn't too fun for me either. Scott loved it. I told him NOT to move. He got a picture of me that I think shows my fear well. I truly enjoyed climbing the Great Wall but I really enjoyed my feet hitting solid ground again. After we got off we went to a authentic Chinese/Jade Factory Restuarant. I enjoyed it ....Scott did not. So we are having Pepperoni Pizza for dinner tonight.

We get Anna in less than 24 hours from now. It is hard to believe. I have been very emotional today thinking of her and that in less than a day she'll be with us forever. WOW is all I can say. Next post our family will have grown by one.

Thanks for the comments. It really makes us feel like we aren't so far from home. Please continue to leave comments. We are reading each and everyone.

Love

Scott and Shelley

Here is the picture of me in the cable car (and this was near the bottom)

2009-02-06T05:41:00.003-06:00

I thought I would share a video of what we saw when we flew from Detroit to Tokyo. This is also practice for us for when we put the Gotcha video on here. We went to the Chinese Acrobatic Show tonight. It was very good. They are very talented. Still no Jet Lag. The other two couples here are amazed because they both have had jet lag pretty bad. It might hit us tomorrow. We'll see. We go to the Great Wall tomorrow!! I'm so excited. I know it is going to be beautiful. Hopefully the weather will be like it was today. It was very nice. It warmed up and really wasn't very cold. We are having pizza tonight for dinner. Shiyan thought it was a good idea not to try anything to different (food wise) for a day or two. So pizza it is. We did have rice for breakfast this morning. We had other things as well. A funny story. At breakfast, the only drink options weren't things Scott could drink so I tried to ask the waitress for bottled water. She finally brought a menu and I saw Coke and Sprite. So I ordered one. After we finished breakfast, the manager of the buffet came and talked to us and asked if it were common for Americans back in the US to drink sodas for breakfast. She had never seen that before. Also while we were in T-Square a woman came up to me and started talking and talking. Of course I didn't know what she was saying so finally Joy told me that she wanted my picture. She said that many Chinese have never seen foreigners before so she said that'll happen a lot. As we walked through the Forbidden City many people took our picture. We felt like we were famous. So that is all for now. Check the post below this one for pictures from T-Square.

Day 1-Beijing

2009-02-06T00:37:00.002-06:00

Wow is really all I can say. We are having a wonderful time. Absolutely no jet lag!! We both slept from about 11:30-7:30. I woke up around 5:30 and checked the clock but then went right back to sleep. Here are some pictures of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Sqaure. Breathtaking and awesome. Enjoy the pictures.

Shelley

Our bums are numb but we are here

2009-02-05T08:58:00.002-06:00

We have never been so happy to be off a plane. We have now been up for 29 hours straight. Well Scott got about 2 hours of sleep but not me. All of our planes were on time, easy take off and landing and the best part all of our luggage made the trip with us :).

We got some really cool video of the Alaskan mountains. They were incredible. We are going to put that on here tomorrow which will be later tonight for you all.

We found out from our guide that we are going to T-Square and Forbidden City tomorrow morning. We meet our guide at 9:30 after we have exchanged money, showered and eaten breakfast and somewhere in there got some sleep. Because here it is 11:00 p.m.

Oh and the beds are rock HARD!! but not as hard as the seats on an airplane .....and tonight I don't think that'll be a problem. Two more days till we get our baby girl. Of course I cried on every flight because we were getting closer and closer to her. When we touched down in Beijing we both cried because we were in our daugther's homeland.............FINALLY.

That's it for now. Please leave a comment. We really would like to hear from you while we are half way around the world.

Love you all,
Scott and Shelley in Beijing China :)

And we're off.....

2009-02-03T16:10:00.005-06:00

I can't believe we are finally going to China. It has already been an adventure. We have ran around for the last four days (after having two and half years to prepare) almost nonstop. But we are about to have 22 hours of sitting around. Oh and for those of you counting (we have 13 1/2 hours from Detroit to Tokyo, not 12 like I thought) Woohoo an hour and half more on the plane(hope no one missed the sarcasm in that last sentence).

After much prayer, many tears, countless paperwork and a wait that seemed to never end, we are on our way to our sweet baby girl. I cannot believe it. Our next post will be from our daughter's homeland. I thought you might like to see the bags all packed. I don't know how we did it but I think we managed to pack the entire local Wal-mart and Babies R Us in our bags. :)

I cannot leave here without thanking each of you that have played such an important part in our adoption. You have loved us, encouraged us, prayed for us, listened to us complain about the wait and been there for us so many times in so many ways.

Over 2 1/2 years ago, God put a dream in our hearts. That we would travel half way around the world, to a land we never dreamed we would visit to pick up the most precious gift....our daughter. And now that dream is finally coming true:

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (Contemporary English Version)

"2Then the LORD told me:"I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. 3At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting--it will happen!"

God showed that verse to us and WOW how true it is. God is good. I cannot end without thanking our Heavenly Father who has truly been by our side through every step, every tear, every disappointment, every delay and every joy. GOD IS GOOD.

Love,

Scott and Shelley......and soon little Miss Anna

China Itinerary...it's getting more real

2009-01-20T17:50:00.006-06:00

So exciting news. We got our schedule for our adoption. We know what we'll be doing everyday, when we'll get Anna and where we'll be each day. Here is the schedule:

February 5, 2009        Arrive in Beijing.  Stay at Days Hotel &
Suites.

February 6, 2009        Orientation meeting at 10:00 a.m.  Acrobatic show
in the afternoon.

February 7, 2009        Visit the Great Wall and Cloisonne Factory;
Tiananman Square & Forbidden City.

February 8, 2009        Flight to Fuzhou; stay at
Lakeside Hotel.  Receive Anna in the afternoon.

February 9, 2009        Adoption registration and notarization.

February 10, 2009       Free day

February 11, 2009       Visit West Lake Park and Fujian Provincial Museum.

February 12, 2009       Visit Old Town Street and Riverside Park.

February 13, 2009       Receive all the documents.   Flight to Guangzhou; stay at
the White Swan Hotel.

February 14, 2009       Meeting at 3:00 p.m. to prepare for the consulate
documents.

February 15, 2009       Free day

February 16, 2009       Medical exam in the morning.

February 17, 2009       Visa appointment.

February 18, 2009       3:00 p.m.  Go to the consulate to take the oath
and pick up visa.

February 19, 2009       Flight to Tokyo.  Connecting
flight to U.S.A. COME HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that is our schedule.  We are sooooooooooooooooooo excited.  Only two
more weeks.  Praise the Lord.

Gotcha Day Changed????????

2009-01-12T15:38:00.005-06:00

We got an update from our agency that we need to be in Anna's province a day longer so we have no choice but to go a day sooner. So we'll go to the province Sunday, February 8th not Monday, February 9th so I think that would mean we get Anna a day sooner. YEAH but that means we only have 2 days in Beijing instead of 3. Right now they are saying that means we'll miss seeing Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We are going to see if we can skip out on the Cloisonne Factory and go on our own and meet up with the group later. We still get to go to The Great Wall. So we shall see. Only three weeks till we leave :).

UPDATE (TUESDAY):

WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM OUR SOCIAL WORKER AND WE WON'T MISS ANYTHING. WE ARE GOING TO GO TO THE GREAT WALL AND THE CLOISONNE FACTORY SATURDAY MORNING AND THEN OUR GUIDE IS GOING TO TAKE SCOTT AND I TO TIANANMEN SQUARE AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY. SO WE WILL HAVE A JAM PACKED TWO DAYS IN BEIJING. FINE BY ME. THE TIME WILL FLY TILL WE GET ANNA

Travel Dates

2008-12-23T15:13:00.003-06:00

Well we have TA. and that means we have our travel dates. We will leave here February 2 or 3rd and return February 19th. We should get Anna February 9th. We are sad that we have to wait six more weeks to get her but happy that we have travel dates and know when we will finally get her. Please pray that the next 6 weeks will go quickly and will be enjoyable.

Here she is Miss America......

2008-12-06T06:41:00.011-06:00

Ok not really but she is beautiful enough to win any contest HANDS DOWN!!!! We got updated pictures of our sweet girl today. We sent her a care package through Blessed Kids. We got an email Tuesday letting us know that she got the package. Then we got a second email saying that her contact got updated pictures of Anna and if we wanted them she would give us a quote. Well of course we said yes and here they are. We think she is beautiful. ENJOY-

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-27T18:46:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We have a lot to be thankful for. We are thankful for our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are thankful for godly family and friends who love us, pray for us and support us through live. We are thankful for the wonderful blessing of Anna who will be home very soon.

Anna update:

We got two updates on Anna. She is now 20 pounds and 28 inches long. She has 9 teeth. She understands simple terms. She is not talking or walking yet. She will laugh if you tease her. And then we got a second update:

Her lip has been fixed. Praise the Lord. We were praying that she would go ahead and have the surgery....probably the reason for the weight gain.

We are hoping to travel in the next 5-6 weeks. We have been busy with the small details that we have had to wait on. We are working on packing....man does one little girl require a whole lot!!! We are packing and repacking to get it all in. We bought the last of the supplies we need for the trip (or at least we think we have).

We put the Christmas tree up today and I cried a lot..not sad tears but happy tears because when we take it down.......................Anna will be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are leaving it up till she gets home and then we are going to have Christmas when she gets home since it'll be the first of January or at least we hope. We are waiting for TA (travel approval) to know officially when we'll be traveling. We think it should be the end of December beginning of January. So not too much longer now.

Happy Turkey Day

Here she is

2008-11-13T17:24:00.003-06:00

Our beautiful baby girl

Here she is saying "Mom I need a manicure and a pedicure":)

Well everyone ....we have our LOA so we can show her picture. Scott came to work today and surprised me. I thought that he was telling me his granddaddy has passed but he wasn't crying; so then I thought that we got an update. We had asked Monday for an update on her size, if she has had the surgery for her lip etc. Bethany told us that they would get us an update but that it would take a couple of days. So when I saw Scott smiling I asked "Did we get an update?" and he said, "Well we got an update" and I said "Don't tell me we got our LOA?" and he said we did and well then there was much celebration. We are so thrilled that we are officially approved by China to adopt our beautiful daughter.

We are hoping that we will travel by New Years. There isn't enough time to travel by Christmas because there is a group leaving in two and half weeks and we won't be able to get our LOA back and get our travel approval. But we should be able to travel right after Christmas hopefully. It'll depend if there is a Consulate Appointment available. So please pray that we are able to travel by the end of December and early January.

Two happy parents!!!

Another incredible blessing

2008-10-21T19:09:00.009-05:00

My mom, me and Scott at the shower and a painting for Anna done by a dear friend

A handmade ladybug blanket and other ladybug items

Ladybug rocker given by our dear friends and DVD's to entertain Anna

A collage of the gifts our dear friends blessed us with at one of the
sweetest showers I have ever been to. There were so many more priceless and precious gifts given by our sweet friends.

Too cute ladybug cake and diaper cake

Up close view of the ladybug cake

Some of the blessing that our friends gave us

We had such an awesome shower this past Saturday. Our dear friends gave us a wonderful shower that touched our hearts in ways that words cannot express. God has blessed us richly with godly friends and family who have walked this adoption journey with us and prayed and supported us in some of our most desperate times. It is because of our family and friends support and prayers that we were able to celebrate the miracle of God's blessing of Anna this past Saturday night.

We are waiting for our LOA (letter of approval). We are praying that this is the week that we receive that precious piece of paper. Once we have that we then wait for our TA (Travel approval) and with that we will finally have our dates of when we will travel to China. We are praying that we get to travel before Christmas. We would love to have her home before Christmas. But God's timing is perfect and I know without a shadow of a doubt that His hand has been guiding this adoption from the very beginning. So I know in God's timing we will hold our precious daughter....and everyday is one day closer to having her!!!!

So blessed

2008-10-07T19:14:00.005-05:00

Well I am overwhelmed by the love of others. The ladies at my school gave me a baby shower today. My first baby shower. They blessed us abundantly. There were about 45 ladies there and my principal. And there were so many gifts. I couldn't believe all that they gave us. The ladies in 4th grade threw the shower and they made it perfect. They are wonderful ladies to work with and I am truly blessed. Mother and Daddy drove up last night to be there and that made it even more special. What a blessing. I included pictures of what we got.

I'll do better

2008-09-20T11:09:00.005-05:00

Ladybug blanket from our friends
This is a handmade bib made by one of my
Bethany Board Buddies-Thanks.
Cute hoodie from our wonderful friends
More ladybugs-YEAH
We love this brown and pink outfit-too cute

O.K. I'm going to do better about updating. Especially when we have Anna. I still can't believe we are post referral. It is so wonderful to know what our baby looks like. And believe me she is beautiful. We still can't post pictures yet but I promise as soon as we can, I'll have her picture up.

We celebrated our 1 month anniversary/17 month LID on Monday. We couldn't believe it has only been a month. It feels like it has been four months since we got our referral. People would say that the wait up to referral was very hard but the wait after referral till travel is a killer. And I thought, 'No way, I'll be fine once I know she exist. The waiting after referral till travel will go quickly." Well let me tell you.....THEY WERE RIGHT!!! It is a killer knowing she is growing up with out her mommy and baba (for those of you who don't know baba is daddy in Chinese; and is what Scott wants Anna to call him). She will be 15 months on Monday. We would love an update on her but we are at the orphanage's and China's mercy as to whether we will get any.

We got our USCIS approval last Saturday. We couldn't travel till we got that. We were afraid with Hurricane Gustav that it would delay us getting the approval since the regional office is right outside New Orleans. But it finally came, although the envelope did look like it went through a hurricane. Then we found out Tuesday that we got P.A. (Pre-approval) from China on 9-2-08. Which from our research means that China has our LOI and our dossier in hand and will at some point begin evaluating and checking our dossier and her dossier. We aren't through review yet so it'll be a couple of months before we get our LOA (Letter of Approval); but once we get that, things will move pretty quick. Please continue to pray that our dossier will be reviewed quickly and they will approve us without any questions or delays.

Now we are looking forward to October. Why you ask? Well my school is giving us a shower on October 8th (less than 3 weeks :)!!) and then our church is throwing us a shower on October 18th. I posted some pictures of some cute outfits our dear friends gave us for Anna, along with a handmade bib from a Bethany Board buddy. I just wanted to update everyone who checks our blog with what has been happening. We cannot wait to get our precious Anna Meili. Not too long now.

Hugs and kisses.

I AM A MOMMY!!!!!!

2008-08-18T17:16:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that I finally get to type that I am a mommy. That's right for those of you that don't know, Scott and I got a referral for a baby girl Friday. It was a total surprise. She is 14 months old, she is 13 pounds and 2 ft tall. She is itty bitty. But that is O.K. with me. She is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. WE ARE SO IN LOVE!!! We hope to travel in 2-5 months to get her.

So here is the story of how we found out:

I was in my classroom teaching when my principal came to my door. He had a very serious face and said "I need to see you in my office, immediately" I was scared to death. I thought I was in serious trouble or getting fired or something. Well when I walked down to the office, everyone was looking at me very serious. My principal was standing outside his office with the door closed. He then opened the door and ushered me in. I saw a man sitting in his office and it took me about five seconds to realize it was Scott. I thought at first it was a parent wanting a conference. I looked at him and said, "What are you doing here?" Scott was crying and I could tell he had been really crying. My first thought was that someone had died and then he starts reaching for some papers. My second thought was that Scott had been fired for some reason. And then I thought, "Oh no, we didn't make it through review. So I repeated, "What are you doing here?" He then said, "Would you like to meet your daughter?" I said, "Are you kidding me?, Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?". He then showed me his picture and then I started jumping up and down, screaming and crying. It was an outer body experience. So surreal. After about five minutes of crying and praying we left my principal's office. All the office was standing outside the office and they said "Well?" I started jumping up and down and said, "I am a mommy." I then saw my principal and told him. I then told him I had to go to our social worker's office, but that I needed to tell some teachers who had been praying for us first before I left. They all cried and were so excited.

SO we went to our social worker's office and she cried, we cried and we officially accepted Anna as our child. When we first got to her office I asked, "Is this my baby, is this my baby?" and she said, "She is if you want her." Of course I shouted "YES". We then flew (well quickly drove) to Florida and surprised our family. They had no clue and were very surprised. We showed up at Mother's office right as she was closing and showed her Anna's picture and told her about her new grandbaby. We then went to the apartment, where I walked in first carrying her picture to show daddy. We then called Christy and told her. She and Jeff were thrilled. Oh on the way down we called Lorrie to make sure Mother and Daddy weren't going to Birmingham. She kept asking why so I told her. She is convinced we are going before Thanksgiving more than ever. (Another story) We went over to Scott's parents and surprised them too. It was dark by the time we got there and Scott pounded on the door. His dad answered the door like what is going on? They were like "What are y'all doing here?" We showed them and told them about Anna and they were thrilled. We then called his sister on speaker phone and told her. Finally Saturday we skyped Katie and Mikey and told them. IT WAS A WONDERFUL WEEKEND.

Now we start the paperchase to get her. We hope to have her by Christmas but if we don't that is ok. China has got to review our dossier and get us a court date so that is why we have to wait. Please continue to pray that the rest of this adoption will go smoothly and quickly. She needs her mommy and daddy and Nana and Grenny and Papa and Papaw and Aunts and Uncles and Cousins and Memaw and everyone else. We are so excited.

We are having her file reviewed by the International Adoption Clinic and are awaiting the call from the doctor. We got our Hep A and Hep B shots today. Once we hear from the doctor we can then move to the next step. Please pray that as China reviews our dossier that comes smoothly and they send their formal approval soon and travel dates soon. So this has gotten long and if your still reading--thanks. We are so excited.

We love you and you just don't know how much you all mean to us. Your prayers have truly gotten us through and we can't thank you enough. But the person we owe all of our thanks, praise and love to is OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. He has sustained us and seen us through one of the most difficult journeys of our life. He has been our strength and our guide. He is faithful and GOOD and kind and generous. We have seen His miracles this weekend and How Good He Really IS!!!

Love
Happy Mommy and Happy Daddy

Hallelujah...SOME GREAT NEWS

2008-07-27T15:55:00.003-05:00

A MIRROR I PAINTED FOR ANNA-THE FRONT HAS HER NAME ON IT
OUR CRAZY, AND MOST OF YOU KNOW SHE IS, CRAZY DOG. Yes I know she desperately needs to go to the beauty shop.

SOMETIMES SHE CAN BE CUTE-WELL MINUS THE RED, DEVIL EYES :)

So on to the good news. Our agency just sent out an email a week or so ago and announced that they are now taking part in the shared list for special needs children from China. So now that I told you all that greek let me explain. The shared list is a private portal where China puts the files of special needs children for certain agencies to look at and find families for. So what does all this mean? It basically comes down to there will be a whole lot more children available for our agency to find children for waiting families. One of the best things is that we can participate now. We don't have to wait to get through review. We have filled out a form telling Bethany what we feel comfortable with as far as special needs. We are hoping to turn that in tomorrow. They then check the portal and when they find a child that matches what we said we would feel comfortable with they lock in that file so no other agency can see it. We then have 48 hours to make a decision. After we say yes, we then have two weeks to have a doctor review the file and let us know their opinion. IF they find something more major or more special needs, we can decline the referral and then the file becomes available for other agencies to see. We then would continue to wait. WE feel pretty confident that the child we are referred the first time will be our child. What this all boils down to is that our referral could come at any time. I have talked to some people whose agencies have been participating with the shared list for a while now and they say their agencies have place two to three times the number of children with this new system. Plus they seem to think that with what we are open to as far as special needs, we could possibly have our referral in FOUR TO EIGHT MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lorrie, you might be going to China after all. :). We know that it could take longer but if you'll look at older post, just a couple down you'll see we were talking five to six years----FOUR TO EIGHT MONTHS PEOPLE :) :) :) :) Can you tell we are thrilled??? We are both so excited and have a peace that God will see us through and we'll have our precious one soon.

Also there are rumors that February 07 is out of review which means March 07 is in. We are getting close. I'll admit that as we get closer I get more nervous that something will happen and we will be questioned in review. That could potentially keep us from adopting from China. I keep turning my worries and anxieties over to the Lord and keep asking Him to give me the faith I need to trust He'll see us through. Please continue to be prayer partners with us as we come up on this very important step in our adoption.

Oh and China made it to January 25, 2006. SO not very far. As you all know the Olympics is in less than two weeks and then we'll just wait and see how the wait goes from there.

Love you all.

Beach Trip

2008-07-05T21:38:00.012-05:00

We got back yesterday from the beach. We had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful and the condo was spacious and nice. We really enjoyed spending some time with the family. Thanks Mother and Daddy for the trip. We truly had a blast and look forward to getting together next year at the beach or mountains. We missed you Christy, Jeff, the girls, Craig and Mikey. Hopefully next year we all can come.

Our anniversary trip

2008-06-25T18:36:00.005-05:00

This is us in the train station waiting to go-it took a million pictures for us to get a decent one.

This white tiger was in the "Asia Domain" of the zoo

The gorilla was a real show off

Posing with the elephants

Who is taller - Scott or the giraffes?
Scott in the train terminal, can you tell he is tired of me taking pictures :) ?

The two of us in front of Jackson Square

Cafe Du Monde-need I say more?

Man are they good even in 100 degree weather

The happy couple celebrating 5 years

We had a great time in New Orleans. We ate a lot of beignets at Cafe du Monde, went swimming in the hotel pool, visited the New Orleans Zoo and walked about a million miles. I have attached some pictures of our trip. We took the train down to New Orleans and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend taking Amtracks to your next destination. We took a lot of pictures at the Zoo. We really enjoyed the zoo except that about five minutes after being there I stepped on a rusty nail. I was wearing flip flops (I know not too smart) and stepped right on it piercing my big toe. Luckily it didn't go too far in. It hurt a little but I was determined to keep looking since we had just gotten there. After we left the zoo, we got some first aid products and this past Monday, I went and got a tetanus shot. So I think I'll survive :). Anyway hope you enjoyed the pictures. We go to the beach next week with the family. We are really looking forward to it. I'll post pictures when we get back.

More good news

2008-06-16T12:23:00.004-05:00

Well we celebrated our 14 month LID anniversary. We had Chinese and it was good as usual. Scott's granddaddy had been sick in the hospital so we had been going up there every day for the last four or five days so we ate Chinese came home and crashed. His granddaddy got to go home yesterday so that is good. We leave for New Orleans tomorrow :)! So excited. We are celebrating our five year anniversary. We are taking a train to New Orleans. Neither of us have done that before. The past five years have had difficulties, especially with us trying to become parents, but they have been a wonderful five years. I know God has blessed me beyond what I deserve when He gave me Scott for a husband. He is truly my best friend. There is no one else I would rather spend time with. He is giving, kind, tenderhearted, funny, committed, godly and loving. He is my knight in shining armor :).

Ok now that I have been mushy on to the good news. We just got word that January 2007 is out of review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means they are reviewing February 2007, three more months to go and we are out!!!!!! We have to get through review before China says officially that we can adopt. Our agency has a strong track record with the review room so hopefully it'll be smooth sailing through review. Please pray that we don't get asked any questions and that we make it out of review without any problems. We also are working on updating our homestudy. It has to be updated every year or so until we have Anna. We hope we don't have to update too many more times. Oh and China did 8 days of referrals. They are now on January 20, 2o06. We are praying that things change soon in the area of referrals--maybe after the blasted Olympics!

We'll post pictures of our trip when we get back.

Another Month and School's Out!

2008-05-24T19:56:00.004-05:00

So we celebrated another month of waiting. We got Chinese and wondered if this adoption will ever happen. Our agency got another COP list and there was one little girl we fell in love with but she was matched with another family so we continue to wait. January 07 is in review and hopefully we'll get word soon that they are out and Feb. 07 is in. China got to January 12, 2006 so they only did four days this past month.

Scott and I found a pottery painting place and went last week to paint pottery. I attached some pictures for your enjoyment :) . The plate was done by me two weeks before Scott and I went. My Bunco group got together and had a party so I thought I would paint a plate for Anna. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Yesterday was my last day at school for this year. Ten glorious weeks of summer break. I hope it goes really, really slow.

Please continue to pray that something will change and that God will bring us our precious Anna. We long so badly to hold her in our arms and as the wait continues it seems to only get harder.

WhooooooHooooo...Some good news

2008-04-24T16:24:00.003-05:00

I'M SOOOO EXCITED TO TELL YOU ALL SOME GOOD NEWS. China has made it through 2006 for reviews. (Before you start jumping up and down- not referrals but review) Let me explain. The first step is to get your dossier logged in. Which we did on April 15, 2007. The second step is to go through the review room. They look over your dossier with a fine tooth comb so to speak. Only when you are through review are you approved by China to adopt. Our agency has a great track record for getting dossiers through review. I sure hope that holds true for us as well. There have been some rumors that the review room is starting to review some dossiers using the new guidelines which we do not qualify for. So we are praying that there are no hold ups or questions about our dossier because that could cause us to get a later LID which could possibly disqualify us. We know God has brought us down this road and we are trusting him to get us through review. SO as of today China is now reviewing January 2007. OUR YEAR. Finally they are in our year for something. SO once we get through review we are good to go. We are then also able to request COP (special needs) children in the first round and we don't have to wait for a re-release of the list. This is a great step in the right direction. We are trusting God to get us through review (hopefully before summer is over) and then bring us our precious Anna very soon. Please pray with us in that way. We love you all.

PS. If you haven't read our last entry (The one year LID anniversary entry) please scroll down and read.

ONE YEAR!!!

2008-04-15T13:45:00.002-05:00

I'm a member of Bethany forums. That is the agency we use and this is what I posted on the forums today. Scott said to put that on our blog because he said that is truly where are heart is right now on this our 1 year LID anniversary:

Well today marks our one year LID anniversary. China says we have been officially waiting for one year today. And I'm not sure how to feel. Part of me is thrilled that we made it through the year and in some ways it really has gone fast. Other parts of me are very sad today. Scott and I have tried for four years to have children. We went through countless infertility treatments with no success and then God turned our hearts toward adoption. When we went to the first meeting with Bethany we were so excited and couldn't get enough information about China. We were told the wait was ten months from beginning to end. We were so thrilled to think that in a year we would finally be parents. Well we all know what has happened with China's IA program.

Scott and I took off work today so we could be with each other today to celebrate and to comfort. We are going to have a date all day and try to think about the good things and daydream about the day we finally get to hold our precious child in our arms. My heart literally hurts to think it might be another four years before I become a mommy. God has turned our hearts toward Special Needs kiddos and we are excited about that possibility. I'm just ready to hold my child NOW. To give her kisses and take her to the park and rock her to sleep and to comfort her when she cries and to see her smile and to hear her giggle and to tell her about Jesus and what He has done for us and to promise her that I will always be here for her and will never leave her ..so many things I want to experience with my child and so we wait and wait and wait for China to allow us to adopt one of their precious children and finally I will be able to say I'm a MOMMY!

With much love,
Shelley

The song from Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" is so relevant in our lives right now:

I was sure by now that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away stepped in and saved the day but once again, I say "Amen," and its still raining.

As the thunder rolls I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you" And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.

I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will Praise You in this storm .

I remember when I stumbled in the wind. You herd my cry, You raised me up again. My strength is almost gone. How can i carry on if I can't find you?

As the thunder rolls, I barely hear you whisper through the rain "I'm with you". And as Your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God that gives and takes away.

I'll Praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands. For You are who You are no matter where I am. Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will Praise You in this storm .

11 months and what can I say...

2008-03-28T17:41:00.004-06:00

Ok. I know that I haven't posted anything this month and well we are half way to our next LID month anniversary (the big 1 year) but I don't really know what to say. I guess the good news is that China is finally in 2006. That's right we are no longer talking 2005. They got to January 4, 2006. Now for the bad news. It took 31 months to refer 2005; and well if they take that long that's almost three more years to get through 2006 and then we have to get to April 2007 so you can do the math.......not great. I know anything can happen but with the Olympics coming to China, we are praying they don't stop referrals for a couple of months which is what is being said could happen.

We are beginning to look at our agencies special needs kiddos. They are called Children of Promise (COP for short). Once a quarter (every three months or so) China sends Bethany a list of special needs children. The list has boys and girls on it with varying degrees of special needs and varying ages. Some special needs are very minor and that is what we are looking at. However, how Bethany does the process, we are in the second group that can request a child. What I mean is those who are through the Review Room in China get to request children off the list first. After Bethany matches those children, they re-release the list with children who were not matched. That is when we can request (at least till we get through the review room). The Review Room is working on November 2006 dossiers. So we have to wait till they get to April 2007. The Review Room was moving pretty quickly but has really started to slow down (Surprise, Surprise). They have been working on November 2006 dossiers for three months now. Once we are through Review Room, we can request as many children as we want off of the special needs list. They only match you with one but you can request as many as possible. So that is what we are looking at right now. Truthfully I don' t know if we'll find Anna off the COP list but I do know that I don't want to wait four to five more years to hold my first child.

So I guess I had some things to say after all. I'll end with this. Please pray for us. Some of you know the situation we just went through and you know our disappointment. Our blog is public so I won't go into more details about the situation. However, we are both struggling with our disappointment and I'm struggling with why it didn't happen. I know you can say "It wasn't God's will" but I believed God was showing me that it was going to happen and I was convinced in my heart that it was going to happen and now here I am with empty arms and an ache in my heart so great. I know that the Lord is good and I know He is working but that doesn't take away the hurt and disappointment I'm feeling right now, so I really covet your prayers.

We love you all.

10 months and 4 days to go

2008-02-20T17:10:00.005-06:00

I know I'm a little late on this post but I really don't have a whole lot to update. We celebrated our ten month LID anniversary with some delicious Chinese. We then went to Florida for the weekend to see the family. We got to see Alexis and Rae so we were happy about that but we missed Elijah and Tyler, which was a bummer. The title is a clue to how far China got. They made referrals to December 27th, 2005. Only four days and finally we will be in 2006!!!!! I won't know what to do with myself when we are finally in 2007 (probably be celebrating my retirement :)!). We had some excitement last Tuesday. A tornado came through our neighborhood. I have attached some pictures. God protected our home and we had just a few branches down. We continue to pray that God will move and do what He wants in our adoption and that He will receive all the glory and praise. We don't know what that is but we are excited about the possibilities.

9 months and a New Year

2008-01-19T17:01:00.000-06:00

Ok. I'm a little late with this post. Tuesday we celebrated our nine month LID anniversary. We got our Chinese but we didn't get Anna an outfit this month. My sis, Christy, gave me a ton of clothes from her girls and Anna's closet is full. So for right now I'm not getting any new outfits. China made referrals to December 19th 2005. They didn't get very far down the road but we are praying that God does a miracle in our adoption. Whatever He wants, we are going to be obedient. We are praying that God will clearly show us His will for our adoption and we are going to be obedient .... whatever that means. So It snowed in Mississippi today. I thought I would share some pictures. I kind of went crazy with the pictures but what do you expect with a Florida native?? Enjoy.

(Well the blog will only let me show five pictures so here they are. I know there are some people reading who don't know us personally, so I thought I'd share a picture of us, as well)

8 Months and Christmas is here again

2007-12-15T21:19:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Today we celebrated our 8 month LID anniversary. We had a very busy day which was good because it kept our mind off the fact that we have waited 8 months and we are not very much further down the road than we were when we started. China made referrals for the month of December. They got to December 14, 2005. We were hoping they would go further than six days but they didn't. Our hope for the new year is that China will begin to refer more babies and maybe a miracle will happen and next Christmas we'll be celebrating Christmas with our precious Anna. Here is Anna's Christmas outfit for this year. We think it is adorable. We look forward to seeing everyone at Christmas. We love you all.

7 Months today

2007-11-15T20:28:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you all

Well another month under our belts. We enjoyed our Chinese tonight but the mood was quiet. We didn't get Anna an outfit tonight but we got a really "fitting" Halloween costume for her to use once she is home. This month went pretty quickly. We figure the next two months will go quickly as well. We are happy to report that China finally made it out of November 05. They made it to December 8 05. One day they will actually make it to 2006. We continue to hope and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait...............well you get the picture.

6 months or half a year

2007-10-15T18:52:00.000-05:00

Ok. I hope people are reading our blog. We didn't get any comments last time so I don't know if because it is slow people aren't checking in. Unfortunately there is little to update. We are at 6 months and China is still in November they sent out referrals for this month and they went up to November 30th. The forecast for future referrals doesn't look too good. They are thinking that a year from now China might be referring March 06........UGH!!! We need you to pray. My heart is heavy right now and I'm fighting depression on how long we have to still wait. At China's current pace it'll take six to seven years to get Anna. Please don't say "Oh it won't take that long" or something to that effect because unless God does a miracle (and yes, I know he can) it'll be six to seven years at the current rate. The best thing you can do for us is to pray because our hearts our heavy with the thought of it being six more years till we hold our baby girl. Ok time to go too many tears.