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......

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, we already had our Referral Acceptance letter from China and were waiting on our last piece of paper to make concrete travel plans. I knew there was a group leaving on November 1st and if it did not come quickly we would not be able to leave until after Thanksgiving. I posted this request on our website:

Hello Everyone,
We have a major prayer request today. We are still waiting on our Travel Approval. The last piece of paper we need before we can go get Charlotte. Our agency has a group leaving on November 1st. We really want to be part of that group!!!! Please be in prayer with us that God will move mountains and bring that TA to us from China very soon. We still have a chance to get in with the group if it comes in the next week and a half. Thank you for all your prayers thus far and please keep them coming! If we do not get in with the 11/1 group it may be closer to the end of Novemeber before we will be able to leave.
Love you,
Carla

Then later that day I posted this:

We serve an amazing God!!!! Our Travel Approval came today!!!!! Praise the Lord, we are so blessed! We still need prayers for our last little hurdle. Our agency will now request a Consulate Appointment for us in . This is where we get Charlotte’s Visa to return to the US. As long as they can secure the appt. for the 2nd week in November we should be able to leave on or around November 1st. We should know by Tuesday for sure! Keep those prayers coming-it is working!

We were able to leave on November 1st and what an awesome day it was!! And now one year later we have a special little girl that blesses us everyday with her spirit. And I am headed out to do my first solo Adoption seminar for America World. God is so amazing!!

What to do today???

So, I actually have a Tuesday off with nothing that I absolutely HAVE to do. So I am trying to decide what to do, here are some of the things I was tossing around after dropping Ethan off at school:

• Making some new hair bows
• Scrapbooking
• Taking more pics of Sha Sha, in her Halloween costume and new Halloween dress
• Try to figure out what the educators discount is on Photoshop CS4-I really want this program but it is kind of $$$$$$
• Pay Bills-ah, probably not!
• Clean the Car-as usual it is a wreck
• Play at the park with Sha Sha-there is a small neighborhood park in our cul-de-sac
• Play on the computer-this will probably win out-but I will let you know!

Purple Belt and Flag Football

We had a BUSY weekend. Or should I say, we were busy taking Ethan everywhere. First Friday, eye appointment.....New Glasses for Ethan! Then TKD, belting ceremony and demonstration practice. On Saturday, Flag Football at 11:00, pick up new glasses at 12:30, TKD demonstrations at 2:15 and 3:30, then head to Nana's to spend the night with cousin Austin! Wow, needless to say we took it easy on Sunday!

Wordless Wednesday

One of my favorite things!

One of my most favorite things is staying home with Charlotte on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I only teach on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which means the other days are mommy and Charlotte days. I cherish the times we have together just the two of us. We have lots of fun playing pretend, and cleaning the house (for real). She is a big helper, sometimes she helps a little too much-LOL! Sometimes we go to the store or the park, whatever we do it is lots of fun for the two of us. I loved these days with Ethan when he was little also. I feel so lucky to have the best of both worlds, working and staying home. Don't get me wrong sometimes I wish I was home all the time but I have the most incredible part time job! I love my school and I love teaching music, and Ethan can go to school with me. Anyway here are some pics of Charlotte from Sunday. She was not in the mood for modeling, but I had to get a couple shots in her new, adorable outfit. Have a wonderful Tuesday!!

2 years ago today!

Two years ago today, we were officially DTC (Dossier to China.) I was so happy to have all of that paperwork behind us, little did I know that just a little over a year later we would have our Charlotte and that 2 years later I would be doing it all over again. Isn't God's plan for our lives just plain amazing. Here is the entry I made on our Adoption Website that day:

We are officially DTC (Dossier to China) today. I got an e-mail from
America World with our fedex tracking number so that we can make sure it arrives
in Bejing safely. What an answer to prayer that we were able to finish our
dossier in just 5 months. We were lucky and blessed so many times along
the way. It takes some families 10 months to get everything done. We
are so excited to begin our long but well-worth it wait. We will continue
to update, thanks for checking in on us.