Remembering Anna

One of the families from agency that just returned in June have lost their little girl. She was a SN angel and went into surgery for a heart condition. Apparently a complication that only happens about 1 percent of the time occurred. She was given CPR for more than 45 minutes before her heart started again. She was on life support for 2 days but her little body was just too tired. She was taken off life support on Wed. evening and went to heaven a short while later. Thankfully her mommy was able to hold and rock her as she fell asleep. You can read an entry from her mommy and see her at this blog. She was only with her forever familyhere on earth for 10 weeks but she is now with her forever father for eternity. Please pray for this family in what must be such a difficult time.

Sick House!!!

Okay this is a hard week for us. I went back to school on Monday the kids start next week. Of course Charlotte woke in the night on Sunday with a fever, has been completely healthy since her surgery. I was thinking it was her teeth, so I took her to Papa's on Monday and went to work. Motrin did the trick and she made it through. Then Monday night, I woke with a fever and thought well Charlotte must have a virus and I guess I have it too. I felt horrible!!! Yesterday morning Charlotte woke with a rash all over so I took her to the Dr. I was still feeling bad as well and my throat was hurting a little. So Charlotte took a strep test that was positive, and since she also had the rash it is called, Scarlet Fever. I did not know kids even got that anymore. So, I left called Jay and went to Patient First and you guessed it I have strep as well, yeah!!!! So we are sickies around here, hoping to get back to work tomorrow. Not how I wanted to start the year, but oh well.

Praying today

I am praying today for some special families from my agency that have had their travel delayed for a month. Due to the olympics there are not any consulate appointments available in September. They were hoping to leave on Sept. 11 and will now have to wait until Oct. 9th (hopefully!) So I am praying for them today and posted this video of Sha Sha's Gotcha day, and hope it will bring encouragement.

Someone got caught RED HANDED!!

So I guess it is not realistic to expect a 7 year old to keep his eye on a 2 year old upstairs while playing a video game?????? SOOOOOO, Sha Sha decided to try out some of mommy's stamp pads. Luckily, she only got it on her and the plastic table. Here are her hands after I wiped them with baby wipes, cleaned with soap and water and even tryed nail polish remover. It will come off eventually but I guess you can say she was caught RED HANDED!!!

UH-OH!!!!

Yeah, I can rap with the best of them.

Our tribute to the Beijing Olympics!!

Wordless Wednesday

Blog Facelift....

Okay let me know what you think about the new look. It makes me happy:) I have been having so much fun working on other blogs that I decided it was time to give my own a makeover. And as my way of saying thanks for reading my blog, if you order a new blog makeover through my site, Ladybug Designs by Carla, and mention this post I will give you $10 off a Basic Makeover or $15 off an Extreme Makeover. (discounts may not be combined) My blog would be an example of an extreme Makeover. Hope you are all having a good week. I would love to see some comments on the new look, please-my comment section is a little sparce these days:)

Thoughts on the Olympics

Yes, I know this is late for me to be making an entry. I am usually snoozing by now, but I needed to do this now while it was fresh on my mind.

I am up late because I was watching the Olympics, I love them especially the summer games. I was watching the Women's Gymnastics Team Finals. Heated competition between China and the USA. When I see the Chinese gymnasts perform of course I think of our Sha Sha, but I was kind of sad watching these girls tonight. The announcer said that the girls are sought out at very early ages usually around 3, taken from their families and training begins. They are allowed to see their families once a year. YES!!!! I know it is hard to believe this still happens but China is a communist country. I think it is easy for people to watch the spectacular Opening Ceremonies and forget that fact. Before the Olympic Village was there, people lived there and were forced to move. I also read an AP story today that said the cute little girl singing in the opening ceremonies was lip syncing. A last minute change was made to use the prettier girl, apparently the singer was not perfect enough to be seen just to be heard. Perfection, that is what China strives for. I think about these gymnasts and the weight they must have felt today, the weight of an entire country that has invested so much in them. I am happy that they won the Gold, sad for the USA, but happy that the sacrifices made by the girls from China was worth it in the end. I love the country of China and its people but it is a fact that they are an oppressed people. Oppressed by a communist government that demands no less than perfection. And so that brings me back to Sha Sha. There is a very real possibility that she was abandoned because of her birth defect. I pray that it was because her parents could not afford to pay for the surgeries she would need and not because she was not "perfect." Because she is perfect, she is fearfully and wonderfully made. Made in the image of God and made just as he intended her to be and I am so thankful that He chose me to be her mommy. And here with us in America, she is free to choose her ambitions. She can be gymnast or a pianist or a teacher or whatever she feels called to be. She has that freedom and I am so thankful for that.

So all this to say, please pray for China. Pray for the people of China who are forced to make hard decisions everyday. Pray for the leaders of China that they will realize, perfection is not something we can attain. Pray that their hearts will be softened that they will accept all that Jesus has to offer them. That really is the only way China is going to change isn't it, through the love of our Lord and Savior.

Sweet Dress

I ordered this sweet dress from a family raising funds for their own adoption. I think it just adorable, and very well made. It also came with a cute head wrap but Charlotte was not into that just yet:) If you would like to see other outfits this mom makes visit her blog at http://sewingforgracie.blogspot.com. She has some really cute stuff.

A Family Picture, finally.....

Every time we have tried to get a family photo Charlotte has not wanted to cooperate. Well finally on Sunday we were successful. I bought a wireless remote for my camera which let me take several shots in a row. The timer was getting exhausting. I know you can see it in my hand if you look close, but I was just happy to have a shot with all 4 of us looking half way decent.

10 years later.....

Don't I have a handsome husband, he is pretty great too. He planned such a wonderful night for us last night. I love him more now than I did 10 years ago. I am so thankful to have such an amazing man in my life and I thank God for him everyday!! Sweetie, you are the best!

Our Week

Well, our week has been reallly fun, Jay took vacation from work so we planned a few outings. On Monday Ethan and I went to see Wall-E all by ourselves. A little mother son time. It was pretty good but full of satire. I can see English teachers all over using this movie as an example of it. On Tuesday we went to the beach, it was perfect. Nice breeze, very little waves and the jelly fish we saw were dead so they did not sting us even when we touched them. Wednesday was a stay home day and yesterday we went the the Virginia Aquarium. Charlotte loved it, she loved looking at all the fish and pushing all the buttons on the exhibit. It was a wonderful time. And today Jay and I celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. It is very hard to believe that 10 years have gone by so quickly. My mom is coming over to stay with the kids tonight and Jay and I are off for a little one on one time. He planned everything. We are staying at the Founder's Inn, the same place we stayed on our wedding night. Dinner at Ruth Chris and a couple other surprises thrown in I am told. We are looking forward to spending a few hours together to just concentrate on us. Hope everyone else had a great week as well, we are starting to gear up for school soon, the summer just flies by. Enjoy the pictures!!!

I made this movie for Jay last year, but I thought I would post it again. Not too many pics of Sha Sha as she was still waiting in China for us.

Orphan's Ticket Home

This is the charity started by our adoption agency. Here is a video that outlines some of the programs currently in place.

Wordless Wednesday

Good Morning America Interview

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5524419

Click on the link above to view the interview with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family that aired on Good Morning America this morning. They are truly an amazing family, continue to pray for them as they work through their grief.

Just Because....

Three Word Sunday

Our Precious Girl

 

 

 

 

What have I/We been up to lately......

I know I have been a bad blogger as of late, so what have I been doing with my time. Well first I have completed 1 new blog header and three new makeovers for my blog design "business." It is really more fun than a business but still. You can check out the new creations at the following blogs The Story of all My E's, Dressed for a Mission, Our Life's Fulfillment, and In The Light of Eternity.

Also I have been doing some scrapbooking!!!! I have done about 12 traditional pages, the paper way and a few digital layouts. I have posted the digital layouts for you here, enjoy!! And to just prove that I really have been scrapbooking. Also Ethan just earned his Green Belt, we are so proud of him.