November......

November has been an emotionally exhausting month for us. We have had to make some pretty tough decisions about Ethan's schooling. He has been going to the school I work in, but we decided it would be better for all of us to move him to our neighborhood school. I did not want to move him mid-year, but he is really excited about going and riding the bus so everything is set now and he will start next Monday. Both Ethan and Charlotte have been sick this month, and I have battled with a pinched nerve in my shoulder. We are still adjusting to getting 2 kids ready and out of the house on MWF by 7:00am. And Jay and I have not had much alone time as of late. We had our 12 month post-placement visit and found out that our Social Worker will be out of the country Jan-March. This meant I needed to start jamming on all of our home study docs so that we could have the rest of our visits in Dec. Which in a way is great, it will all be done before the beginning of the year, but added a little stress to the paperwork-Queen-ME!! All of these things have made November hard and I am ready to move on to December. BUT..........

I have so very much to be grateful for!!! Last night I met my good friend Chelsea for coffee and had some much needed girl time. We had an awesome time talking about life, and reflecting on how God is working on both of us. She shared with me a scripture: which is one of my favs but she has been reading a book which caused her to look at this scripture differently.

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31

Chelsea was sharing that the author of the book mentioned that in the Hebrew translation of the verse the end is meant to build on itself. That soaring on wings like eagles is really only the first step. What? That seems like the best part of the scripture right. How awesome it would be to soar like an eagle but no, the best part of the verse is to "walk" and not be faint. And isn't that so true. Our mountain top experiences are special and important, but it is the daily walking with the Lord where we really see Him at work. That is where we see all He is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us. It is in that daily walking, that I look at my sweet Sha Sha's face and am so thankful for her. So thankful for the ways she has changed my heart forever. I am not the same person I was a year ago. I have come face to face with my savior, through the life of a small, spitfire named Charlotte. And I am so grateful for that.

Wordless Wednesday

Catching Up!

I have been meaning to blog about these pics but life has been a little busy around here. Ethan had his very first TKD Sparring Tournament a couple of weekends ago. He is only a purple belt but had to go up against a junior blackbelt and a blackbelt. He won his first match but lost the 2nd 12-9. He finished in 2nd place in his group. We were so proud of him. He did an awesome job, especially considering he had not been at TKD the entire week before because he had strep, again! I also wanted to share a couple of cute pics from our Gotcha Day celebration. It was a really fun night, celebrating Sha Sha and our trip to China!!

Jam with us!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Card??

What do you think about using this photo for our Christmas Card this year?

GOTCHA!!....One year ago today!

This is so surreal to even think about, but one year ago today Charlotte was placed in our arms for the very first time.

Wow-she is so different now, yet still the same in many ways. Her strong will was definitely there from the moment we met her, she did not eat for the first 36 hours with us. Her sweet little smile, and lively eyes.

Her nannies told us when we got her that she was very smart, and believe me she is. Sometimes it is hard for me to look back at pictures of her from that day, I did not realize it at the time, but now can see just how terrified she was.

She was stripped away from everything, and I can only imagine what she was thinking those first couple of days. But now, we see so much love in her eyes. She freely gives hugs and kisses and loves to torment her brother, just like a little sister should. And definitely keeps us on our toes. When we got her she could not walk, made very few noises, only took a bottle and refused all solid food. Now she can do all of those things: now she runs, talks and babbles all the time, can say mommy, daddy, Ethan, bye-bye, more, milk, and tries to repeat everything we say to her, she also has about 30 signs that she uses frequently, drinks from a sippie cup, can suck through the straw on a juice box, is eating lots, even had pizza and grilled cheese this week! God is so good!! It is just amazing to see how far she has come, and how much joy she brings us everyday. We are truly grateful that we were chosen to be the parents of such an amazing girl, thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. She is a gift from God.

Happy Gotcha Day Sha Sha!

I've Been Tagged-Twice!!

Okay, since I have been tagged twice for this I have to play along. I was tagged by Carla and Jenn for this meme.

So seven random/weird facts about me?!?!

1. I love watching football, and I have since I was a young girl. My favorite team, as you can see from the pic below, is the Redskins. My husband loves this about me:)

2. I HATE seafood, don't even like the smell of it. No lobster, shrimp, fish nothing. I can't get past the fishy taste.

3. When I was in high school I was a dance instructor. I took dance from the time I was about 5 all the way through school. I even taught a couple of my own classes, small kids. My favorite style: tap! (I hope Sha Sha likes dance, but I have a suspicion she will be a soccer girl.)

4. I used to sell Longaberger Baskets and I probably have 100 of them all around my house and in the attic.

5. I graduated 5th in my high school class of over 400 students, unfortunately it did not help me get a single scholarship.

6. I love Broadway musicals!!! (all-time favs: Wicked, Les Miserables, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)

7. I always have my nails painted.

Okay so there you go! I finally did it. It was kind of fun actually. And now to tag my 7 friends, at least I hope they will still be my friend.

Tagging:

Our Journey to Jillian

As For Me and My House

The Story of Us

Threads of Faithfulness

Bringing Home Noelle

I think everyone else has already been tagged so I will stop there.

Happy Halloween

Halloween will always hold special meaning for us. Last year on this night, all our bags were FINALLY packed! And we were preparing to travel half way around the world to a daughter we had only seen in pictures. Wow, what a completely surreal feeling that was. Many of you know that Jay and I tried for years to have a second child, even under went fertility treaments and one cycle of IVF. Our yearning for another child, really turned into a dark time in our lives. We were on a path, but the wrong path. Once we realized God's plan for our family, our despair turned to hope. Don't get me wrong, it was not an easy path, many ups and downs, many times I doubted our decision, many times I didn't think we could do it. But, I have never felt closer to the Lord, then when we were waiting to see Charlotte's face. Everything was out of my hands, all I could do once the mounds of paperwork were in was wait. Wait on Him and how perfect His story has turned out to be. And the incredible thing, is He is not done yet. When I look at pictures of Charlotte then and now, she is so different. She has so much love in her eyes and in her heart. It is like she has always been with us and yet it seems like just yesterday we were preparing for a 17 day journey to China. So that last night before we left for China, we went Trick or Treating with our son, by himself, for the last time. And this year we had a little sweetie with us for all the fun.

Thoughtful Thursday

First here is a little something from my amazing 7 year old. He never ceases to amaze me. This is a writing assignment he had for school. They had to right the steps for a process.


Here is the transcription:
How to Adopt from China
1. First you need to do paperwork.
2. Next, you need to do some more.
3. Then, they call you so you can go.
4. Last, you go to China and go to adopt your child.


If only it was that easy, oh to have the wisdom of a child again. This has been a hard week for me adoption paperwork wise. For our last dossier I had the most trouble getting my Physical Forms and attached letters completed correctly. I was hopeful this time with a new Doctor it would be easier-HA! But I just kept smiling and apologizing for the inconvience, even though I was screaming on the inside. Hopefully when I go pick it up this afternoon it will all be correct. I know that they don't understand the severity of one little piece of paper, but this is China we are dealing with and perfection is very important:) I am going to try and keep Ethan's words of wisdom in the forefront of my mind!!! What a great kid!

My Sweet Girl

My Sha Sha is such a little beauty, she actually posed for our little photo session tonight. I was thinking when I took these that there is possibility that next year at this time we may have two little beautys to pose, that would be so amazing. I have been thinking about our new little one lots, I guess because I am working on our Dossier and following some families in China, and for 4 of the families this is their second trip. One of the families I followed on their first trip as well so it is so neat to follow them again. Enjoy the pics of our sweet girl. Oh and by the way what do you think about the name Leah Grace??

FALL FUN!!

I watched my niece Alexis today, her babysitter is on vacation. We had lots of fun together. I had hoped to take the girls to a pumkin patch, but they were either only open on the weekends for individual families or not until after lunch, not really an option for 2 year olds. I guess the area pumpkin patches have plenty of work with school trips??? Anyway so we went to a local nursery so I could at least have my photo op and then we went to the park. So we still had lots of fun.

I also wanted to make a shout out for little Susannah!!! She is doing so well, and home with her family now. Check her out when you have a chance. Also Susannah's mommy gave a shout out to all her blogger buddies, of which I consider myself:) and made her very own award. Susannah's Sunflowers......