Cody's Birthday

Today my first-born is 15 years old!
15... didn't we just celebrate his 1st birthday with a cake and the number "1" on it?
His 1st birthday actually was on Thanksgiving Day that year. I had a lot to be thankful for that 1st birthday.
I had preterm labor starting at 22 weeks, surgery to close my cervix, put on bed-rest the rest of the pregnancy, my mom practically moved to Nashville to help me, many middle-of-the-night trips to the hospital, a first marriage falling apart, and through all of this... my baby boy continued to grow inside of me and became the most important thing in my life.
I am thankful for this day... Cody's birthday... to remind me of how much of a miracle he is and how much I love him. There are so many times that we don't agree and yes; we argue like most teenage boys and their moms. But half of the time, the arguements and disgareements stem from THIS mom having a hard time letting go of her son. (the other half are from his temporary loss of reason,hygeine,and decision-making skills)
It is hard to let go of something you fought so hard to bring into the world. I am so blessed to call him my son and I am so thankful that he calls me MOM. Happy Birthday Cody... I love you more than you will ever know.

Is it Time?

A child sat on Jesus’ lap in the splendor of heaven. The child asked, “Is it time?”Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,“No, not yet child.”The child asked, “When will it be time?”Jesus replied, “When lessons are learned,hardships endured, and loneliness lived,then it will be time.”Time passed. The child asked, “Is it time?” Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,“No, not yet child.”The child asked, “When will it be time?”Jesus replied, “When maturity is reached, self-worth affirmed and spirits strengthened, then it will be time.”Time passed. The child asked, “Is it time?”Jesus parted the clouds, looked and said,“Their love is strong and their hearts are open.Yes, now it is time-“Your family is ready.”~Author unknown

Provisional Approval and more

I am posting this blog more for me than any of you out there in blogger world.
I am trying to keep all these dates straight in my mind so that I can somewhat know what is coming next in the way of paperwork,email,letter,etc.
We received Provisional Approval on Friday Nov. 12. This document says... yes, we can make Dang Xue Yuan our daughter and she will be recognized as such once she comes to the USA.
This is a BIG DEAL!
The other letter we received actually came this morning by email from the National Visa Center.
This document states that Abbey's visa paperwork has been sent to Guangzhou for processing at the US Embassy.
It makes me dizzy to think of all the paperwork that has to be processed in order to make Abbey our daughter. Our agency is great at guiding us through all the forms that have to be submitted and tell you exactly what to do and when to do it!
Anyway... next step is waiting on some piece of paper called "Article 5" . So when people ask me "any news, when are you going to China?" I tell them "still waiting on paperwork" and it is the actual truth. I am tired of waiting... I want to hold my little girl.

Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy paid a visit to Madeline. This is the 4th tooth she has lost. The first three were pretty traumatic, so I decided to just let this one fall out by itself.
However, after much wiggling and jiggling, my big girl pulled her very own tooth!
She was very proud of herself and said "and I didn't even cry".
Mom was proud of her too!
sniffle, sniffle

Baby Shower Time

Did I really just write that?

A baby shower for me? for Abbey? Is it really our turn to bring our daughter home?

All of you know how long we have waited to bring our little girl home.
And this past Saturday evening it was time to celebrate our little girl coming home to her family.

My great group of friends, affectionately known as the "China Moms", met at Amerigo's for dinner/baby shower. It was wonderful! The food, the laughs, the gifts, and...

the CAKE.

Is this not the most beautiful cake you have ever seen? The most special, meaningful, make-me-cry cake that you have ever seen? (tears of joy)

The Chinese symbol is the word "LOVE" and there were cherry blossoms all around the side of the cake. Gasp!

And it tasted good too!

I feel so blessed to have such great friends and know that Abbey will come to adore each and every one of you just like I do! Thanks for making this evening so special!

Why adoption?

"Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

I saw this verse on another adoptive mom's blog and had to share it.
God placed adoption on my heart long ago. Bringing Madeline into our lives through adoption changed my life forever. I will never be the same. God changed my life for the better... no, the BEST! Now we look forward to adding Abbey to our family and experiencing God's mercy and blessings once again through this miracle called "adoption". Please continue to pray for our family as we prepare to meet our little girl. Please pray for all the necessary paperwork to move quickly through all the "red-tape" so we can travel to China soon. And please pray for our Abbey to feel my " hugs" through God's sweet embrace as she waits.

Musings of a Mom

I finished reading Mary Beth Chapman's book "Choosing to SEE" this past weekend. It was hard. I cried a LOT! So much, that one night I just had to close the book and go crawl in bed next to Madeline and hold my sweet little girl. Do my kids really know how much I love them? Do I tell them enough? More importantly... do I SHOW them enough? Reading this book will remind you just how quick our loved ones can be taken from us.. and what will be the last words they will hear?
I want to always hold dear our daily routine and all the "chaos" involved. I never want to take my children, my husband, my family, my friends for granted. I want to walk in the day-to-day things that make up this thing called life with Jesus by my side. And I pray that I stop to listen to my children and smile at them more often.
If you haven't had a chance to read this book, do it. Yes, it is hard, but it is also a testament to the faith this family has. It is also a beautiful source of hope for any person that is hurting and endured loss of any kind. Let God open your eyes and heart and maybe our lives will be a little richer for it. I know mine is.

Happy Halloween

And the girls were adorable! The "girls" being Madeline, Lily and Rivers; two little cheetahs and a princess. They had so much fun trick-or-treating. The weather was perfect, just a hint of cool autumn air. We loaded the girls up in the back of Eric's truck so we could cover more territory...(aka get more candy!!) So much fun to watch see these three play and giggle.

The boys each did their own thing this Halloween. One at a friends house trick-or-treating and the other passing out candy. I didn't even get a picture of Matthew in his "gross-as-mom-will-let-me" costume.

When did they grow up??