Bye, Bye Crib.....Hello Big Girl Bed!

Yes, that is Cubbie going along for the ride!!

She is thrilled with her new bed and the transition was seamless.
(It should have been! She has been climbing out of her crib for months!)

Blessed

Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.
They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.

It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.

But once you do, everything changes.
~Anonymous

So thankful we've been changed by adoption.

Yes, We are alive!

I am sorry it has been SO long since my last post. Let's see.....what have we been up to?

Well, two weeks after returning home from China we left for NC and Alabama. Lauren sees a specialist in Birmingham every August and so the trip had to be made. While there, we spent a few days with the Privett Family...and had a marvelous time!

Dr. Percy~A hero to many Rett families

Swimming in the Tennessee River

We came home from that trip on Sunday night and started school Monday morning. Seriously...what was I thinking?

September is always a busy month as we are preparing for the Rett syndrome fundraiser that we chair. Throw in 4 birthdays(out of the 7 in our family) and it makes for a CRAZY time!

Sarah turned 10 on Sept. 15

Mama celebrated a birthday on Sept 18

Anna Grace turned 3 on Sept. 29

Avery turned 13 on Oct. 7

So, vacation, homeschooling 5, 4 birthdays, and chairing a fundraiser.....and THAT, my friends, is why you have not gotten a blog update.

And just so we don't get bored....Avery had surgery today. The plastic surgeon that operates on Anna Grace, did a nose revision on Avery today. She did great! Her nose looks beautiful but there will be no pictures posted yet. She said not until the stitches are removed in 10 days!

So in the midst of chaos, how are we doing? Really, pretty well. Avery is learning English well. It is coming slowly but she is definitely making progress. She is adjusting to life in America and in our family pretty well. It is a slow transition and not without its struggles but we realize that she is doing wonderfully when you consider all she has been through in her life. She is a brave, smart, beautiful girl and we are proud to call her our daughter. I am hoping to post more often now that the birthdays and fundraiser are behind us.

Sorry for the quick update. But its a start, right?
Oops....forgot a few things.....

Like an ER trip after a bicycling accident

Avery seeing the ocean for the first time!

Anna Grace and Avery getting their ears pierced(Anna because she potty trained...oh! And she did that the first week home from China!)
and apple picking

It's no wonder this is how I feel most of the time!!!!!

More soon......... I promise!

HOLY MOLY!!!!!!!

48 hours from leaving and I spend the day in the ER with Emily....my travel mate!
She has a raging ear infection and they actually thought the infection might be in the bone behind her ear. Seriously? I've decided today that satan is alive and well and he really doesn't want orphans coming into Christian homes! I have had sick children for the past 5 weeks and we really topped it off with a doozy today! BUT, I am not deterred! I am going to China to get my girl! We leave in less than 48 hours and will be in Guangzhou on Friday early morning. WOO HOO!

Please pray for Emily's ear infection to clear up QUICKLY! She did get IV meds today and they are working beautifully! Pray for Anna Grace who continues to tell me that she is going with me to get Xiao Li. I think she could struggle! Pray for Shawn who will be on leave and taking care of the 3 girls while I am gone. Pray for Lauren and Sarah to stay healthy. And pray for Avery's heart....that God is preparing her for our crazy family and all the changes that are coming. I have felt that so heavy on my heart the past few days. Finally, pray for the internet to have good connections so I can skype with my girls back home...yes, that one is totally selfish! : ) I will be posting on "Avery's travel journal" from now on. Head over there for the next few weeks!

Thank you for all your prayers for my family.

Catching up...

I finally got pictures uploaded to the computer and realized that I had not shared these pictures of Lauren. As most of you know, Lauren does not have good hand use. She has trouble holding on to things without dropping them. However, when she is really motivated she has amazing abilities. A good example of this was one night when she managed to get a bag of M&M's out of the pantry. Lauren was the only one inside; the rest of us were in the yard getting ready for a yard sale. We were walking inside every 5-10 minutes to check on Lauren while she watched Dora. Shawn came out and called me inside to see what she had done. Evidently, she had gone into the kitchen, opened the pantry, found a ziplock bag of M&M's, and decided that she hit the jackpot. We found her like this....



And she quickly began doing this.....


and then this....

And this is how she felt about it....

And to be honest, we felt the same way! We were quite proud of our little girl! She "shouldn't" be able to open a cabinet or pick up a bag, certainly not carry it all the way down the hall without dropping it, and that ziplock?? We have no idea how she got that open! But yeah, my girl has pretty good hand use when she has the proper motivation! And I was proud enough that I let her keep eating them while I took pictures! She is our superstar and we really have no idea the heights that she can reach if we keep believing in her and giving her opportunities to grow!
What a blessing she is to our family!

Travel Plans!!

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA! Tickets are bought(ouch!) and hotels are being booked!
Emily and I leave on Wednesday evening, July 14 and fly to Guangzhou. We transfer there and fly to Xi'an. We will receive Avery into our family on July 18 in the afternoon and spend that week in Xi'an. Guangzhou will be our location for the second week. We will head home on July 30, landing bright and early Saturday morning. We can't wait! Avery's travel site is in the works. I will have it linked to this blog.

Avery~We will be there soon!

FINALLY!!!

Our Travel Approval (TA) finally arrived at our agency on Friday! It has been a long and painful wait since our LOA came in early April. Sorry no posts....Anna Grace has been sick for a very long time, like 17 days long time! It started with Salmonella and that was pretty ugly. Friday I thought we were finally in the clear with that and then she started running fever again on Saturday evening and had that lovely barking cough. We did call the doctor when her temperature hit 104.6!! Today's high temp is 103 and medicine does bring it right down. I am praying that this is short-lived as I have a trip to china to plan! We think we will be leaving July 9 and meeting Avery XiaoLi on July 11....just 2 weeks from today! We are so excited at the thought! I have so much to do before then. Please pray AnnaGrace recovers quickly so I can get out to run my errands!