She's in surgery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!