Happy Easter

We celebrated Easter a little early this year... Kind of ironic seeing as it is already so early. However it is due to rain and storm here in Texas so we had a wonderful dinner with family and the kids hunted eggs. The had a great time and I loved watching them. James is getting really quick and Miah is picky... She likes certain ones and that is that!

They will get their baskets tomorrow and we will talk about the true meaning of Easter and do the egg hunt with eggs that tell the story of Christ and his Resurrection. We attended church tonight and had a Praise and Worship service ( I am a worship leader) it was wonderful and I really am thankful for the cross. How amazing is my God that he would allow his only son to die for me and how Great is my Lord that he chose to die so that I might live.... Thank you Heavenly Father. ( not sure what I am talking about?? got questions?? feel free to ask)

Be sure to check back, I have zoo and snow pictures to post that I am way behind on. Happy Easter!!

Child of Mine

Child of Mine

Your beauty is as radiant as the sun coming up at first light touching all that it sees with warmth and golden caresses. You shine my little one from the inside out and you take my breath away with the very tenderness of your being. I am blessed to know you and yet even more so to love you. How is it that I was given the wonderful task of being your mother, how is it that I can call you Child of Mine? Joy, so full that all the containers in the world could not hold it is what I feel when I call you my daughter, so much am I in love with you Child of Mine. Your laugh is like the most beautiful waterfall, rushing out and embracing all that it touches. Smile and I am blinded by the pure innocence behind it. Cry and I can hardly bear the thought of anything causing you pain. To protect you and keep you from harm is my wish and I try diligently to do so. I love you, Child of Mine.

Look Who is Two

Happy Birthday Miah!

Two years in one little life and yet she has been through more change and drama than most will see in a life time. As I sit and type this I am filled with mixed emotions and scattered thoughts. I am thrilled to celebrate Miah turning two if not a little sad that the baby stage is quickly making an exit. There are so many exciting things going on with her right now and she is just blooming in a whole new way. Lets just say a parrot has got nothing on Miah and if you do not want something repeated then do not say it in front of her LOL! She is loving and giving so much more lately and it is a joy to see. My thoughts turn to China and a mother who made a choice that brought my daughter and I together and I wonder if she knows. Is there any chance at all that she may have a clue that this beautiful child is half a world away being loved and cherished every moment. In my heart I hope that she has peace and if nothing else a mothers intuition that the baby she left wrapped in nothing but a quilt and placed in a cardboard box on a busy sidewalk is in fact a healthy thriving little girl who is loved. Then I think of the foster family who loved her for several months and then gave her back days before her first birthday. Do they know what a gift they gave her. She came to us with the ability to attach and I know that she was well taken care of, you could just see it in her eyes. I will forever be grateful to them for making a choice to open their home for my child. I wonder about the person who found her that cold morning and I am grateful to them and to the orphanage who took her in. So many hands placed on a little life that held a place in her destiny if you will. I am so very grateful.

One year ago today we walked through the doors of the Dianjiang SWI and were greeted by the staff with smiles and open hearts. We toured the facility and saw other little ones waiting for their forever families and the nannies who were dedicated to them. I took pictures and video and I stood in awe that this was my daughters home for most of her little life. In fact as I stood there is weighed heavily on me that a year to the day had passed since she was brought here. How strangely wonderful that we would have the privilege of visiting this very place on her first birthday. They surprised us with a beautiful cake for Miah and had Randy do the honors of cutting the cake and seeing that every one had some as is their tradition in China. When we left I was overwhelmed with emotion and yet so very very glad to know that my daughter would not haft to spend the rest of her youth in a SWI. On the way back we were given one more wonderful yet sad gift. Our guide took us to Miah's finding spot. I can not tell you how it feels to stand where you know your child was placed venerable and with no way to help them selves, the questions flood your mind and to the why, who, and hows of that moment, that choice that was made. I knew even more so that the woman who left my daughter was very probably thinking of her this day, the day she was born, and I was standing in the spot she had placed Miah. I remember looking around wondering if just maybe Miah's birth mother was somewhere near by. Did she come to this very spot today to feel close to that infant she chose to leave? This like so many other things in Miah's first year of life I will never know. I am grateful to her, this woman who brought Miah into the world, so very very grateful.

Check out my Slide Show!

I can hardly believe it has been a year, but with the leap year in account this day marks one year from the moment I first held my daughter. It is amazing to see all the changes she made in a short time and to see her personality emerge. I am awed every day by this little spit fire that has us all wrapped around her little finger. She came into our lives with a curious stare and as is to ask us if we were going to treat her like the princess she is and she has lived up to that stare every day. Thank you China for one of your most precious gifts a daughter. There are so many things I could say and want to say, but I think I will leave you with the pictures and spend this time with Miah, my beautiful China girl!

Up to

James had his First Grade music performance and boy did he look handsome! He sang all the songs and was on the first row so we could see him really well. I could not get over the fact that he was really singing and doing a wonderful job. GO JAMES!!
We did have a little something for the kids on V. day just to see the smiles on their little faces!


The weather like usual here in Texas has been great one day and crummy the next so we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and play in the back yard.

Back

Back to my hobby! It seems like I have been away from my scrapbooking forever and I am so glad to get back to it. I would like to say that it was just time that kept me away, you know being to busy, but really I was having a few problems. See I have a few health issues that when I take care of them are no big deal and easy to control, but when I don't every thing gets out of wack. Well I needed to have a real big wake up call and I did so now the moody blues are on the way out and I can focus on the little things I love again. When I would sit down before I would feel agitated and not creative so I would sigh and just leave it undone. That was not like me and there were a few other signs as well like getting angry over little things or being in a hurry to get no where. Oh and then there was not wanting to get off the couch. Yep I was depressed and it showed. Now I do not take meds for depression, I do not need them really. What I did need was to recognize that my health is important and that I can not live in denial or try and wish it away. I am a diabetic, plane and simple and it sucks. Really really sucks, but I am blessed in that right now all I need are a couple of pills some exercise and to eat right to make me feel better and to live a long and happy life. I was angry, and hurt. Why would God let me be this way? I do not know, but I do know that he did not leave me and he does love me and some day I will understand his plan, and in the mean time he has given me the tools to overcome! I have so much to be happy about and it is time I get back to being happy... Watch out world I am back and stronger than ever!

Our first Chinese New Year as a family was very simple and to the point. We dressed up and went out to eat at our favorite Chinese restraunt and the kids loved being in their new clothes and trying out a few chinese phrases on the wait staff who ate it up. Next year we hope to join in on a few more activites , but I think for our first year we had a great time. Enjoy the pictures.

Little Miss Avery

What is the next best thing to getting your own refferal?? Watching people who are over the moon special get their refferal of course!

Robyn and Paul, words can not express how truly happy I am that your day has finally come and now you are on the last leg of this journey and about to start a whole new one. Your little Avery is such a beautiful child and I know that you are going to be "rockin" parents for her. I can not wait to meet her and I am praying for a safe, filled with adventure trip to China for you. May your TA come quickly and your plane fly swiftly!

Now if by some chance you out there have not seem Little Miss Avery, your missing out and you should go directly to see her! Make sure you give a shout out to her parents as they deserve all the love... They have waited a long time for this day.

bubble fun

It was a sick day for James, but Miah was loving that as she had a playmate all day. Not to mention he is the best buddy a girl could have. They had a wonderful time with bubbles and I am still learning with this camera, so it was fun all around. Even with two fevers and a lot of snot

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Randy and the camera

I thought I was the budding photographer at our house, but it turns out Randy is not to bad himself. I asked him to take a few shots of me since I am rarely on the right side of the camera, and he did a great job. I hardly ever see a picture of me I can stomache, but he had two or three that were not so bad. Oh and since I know you really came here to see the kids there is a shot he took of them too!

Saying Goodbye to Gram

Virginia May.... Beautiful, Loving, Precious, Sweet, Kind, and so much more. My Grandmother was a true Lady and it breaks my heart to haft to say goodbye to her. She left this world in peace on January 19Th and tomorrow we will say goodbye for the last time as we lay her in her final resting place. She will be forever missed.

Gram,

I am thankful that God gave me you as a grandmother. You always knew how to make me feel like I was special. Your love for me was always so evident in your smile and the way talked to me, unconditional and I knew it. The things that you taught me with out preaching at me are lessons that I have come to cherish and am grateful to learn. Your love of reading and Vick's( smile), a REAL coke poured into a glass, these are all things that I love too, because of you and I will always think of you when they are near. There are so many more things I want to tell you and there were never enough I love yous even if we said them a thousand times. I do Gram I love you so very very much. I miss you already, the world is missing an angel that God has reclaimed, and I am missing a very bright light in my life. I promise that you will shine on in my heart, I promise to tell my children and grandchildren all about you and what a wonderful person you were. I love you Gram....... Goodbye for now. Stacey

New Camera BandWagon

I have been a shutterbug since the day James was placed in my arms and I have not looked back since. When he was a little over a year old I went digital and I must admit it is a wonderful thing with instant gratification that I love so much. I also like that I can take tons of pictures and get just what I want... Most of the time. I am a long way from being really good and just barley scratching the surface with ok, but I want to grow. I am looking into taking classes and I took a giant leap and bought myself a Digital SLR . I did a lot of reasearch, but what I found most helpful was other adoption bloggers who have also bought new cameras latley and SHE really caught my eye with a few photos and after really looking at all the pros and cons I bought the same one and I LOVE IT!! It is just right for a beginner that wants to really learn about photograpy or even some one who just wants to "point and Click". It has a great learning curve with room to grow, and since my kids will only be little once I look at as an investment. I will tell you I did not buy this in store. I got it online with a huge bundle package and paid a few hundred dollars less so if you are looking into getting one too drop me a line and I will be happy to tell you where I got it. Now for the fun part.... Pictures!!!

Miah talking to mommy

Is she not the cutest thing ever!

22 Months

It is so hard to believe that we have been the proud parents of our Little Miss Miah for 10 months now, and it is even harder to believe she is 22 months old today. She is just a little ray of sunshine where ever she goes, always smileing and laughing for us. Right now in her life the "fun" thing to do is mimic the ones she loves. This especially means James, and that can be super cute or just down right frustrating! Miah is really starting to speak here and there and is now putting two words together on her own. She loves to dance and I have started to see some real potential there, it is the way she moves and that she keeps the beat. Her Lovie is her best friend in the world and she is never to far from it, and her cutest expression is the way she says "Owie" I will try and catch that on film cause it is darn cute. Every day brings something new and I am so blessed to be the one watching her discover it!

What a diffrence a year makes

This is a picture of "THE CALL"

First of all I want to say Happy New Year!! Also congratulations to the new mommies and daddies who just received referrals yesterday and today.

As I sit here this morning my mind clearly goes back to a year ago today and I can still remember the tension and excitement in the air. It was our turn, finally. Today was the day we would see our daughters face for the first time and there were no doubts as we had just missed the cut off the month before. I was up early and scouring the Internet for any glimpse of news and the day seemed to drag by so slowly for me, but our moment did happen. This is the first glimpse we had of Miah. Later I wrote down all about that day here " The Call". It happened and now time seems to be flying by so fast that I can hardly keep up. A year ago today one part of our Journey ended and another part began, the best part, knowing our daughter, if even from a distance in the beginning. This past year brought so many things to our lives, and it all started with that call. Thank you China, for one of your daughters. She is the most amazing little girl and we love her so very much. We will always be grateful that we were chosen to be her parents and family.

Pictures as Promised

Here we are about to begin our Christmas Eve traditions, the ones I started with James on his first Christmas and now we get to share with Miah.... Time for Jammies!
After getting them in Matching PJs (how CUTE!!) They each get to open one gift and this is Miah's first Christmas present ever ... It is a Barbie magna doodle board. She would tear one little strip of paper and then hand it to me and then another little strip. By the time it was all said and done I was ripping into them for her.Ok I hate posting pictures of myself, but I will sacrifice for this one. Randy and James had gone shopping for a few last minute items and Randy comes home telling me that James had talked him into buy one more gift for me and that it was to be my Christmas eve gift. James was so excited about me opening my gift that he went on and on about it and was not even concerned with what he would get to open at all. Well I am not a big sponge bob fan at all so you can see by the look in this picture I was VERY surprised at the gift my son HAD to have for me. James laughed so hard and was as excited as I have ever seen him when I opened this up and Randy told me that these were to be my Christmas PJs and I was to go and put them on right now. Yep I wore Bright Yellow and Neon Blue Sponge Bob PJs for my son and he loved every second of it.
Miah gets to help leave milk and cookies for the first time ever, and James insisted the milk be chocolate this year so Santa could have something different. He is so thoughtful.
After the kids as safely tucked into bed and fast asleep we took all the gifts out from under the tree to put them in groups so we can have all the kids gifts near the front of the tree. Now during the month leading up to Christmas I try to keep anything for James well in back of the tree and out of reach, but this year while I was away shopping and Randy was working from home it seems that James found an opening to go digging under the tree and proudly told me the exact number of gifts that were under the tree for him..... Ok not good!! Do you see all the gifts in the pictures.... Well he had to dig through almost all of them to get to his. Little stinker!This is what my little darling woke up to this Christmas.

Miah appears to be first in the picture, but the real story is that James ( after me calling his name a few times) came down the hall first and ran to bury is head in the couch for a few more seconds of sleep. We can have none of that ... not of Christmas day. So I send him after his sister, who would usually by this time be up and yelling for anyone to take her gate down, but wouldn't you know it that when I want her to get up early she can not be bothered. IT took James a few tries to get her up and then she was running down the hall to me. Here is James with all his loot. Such a happy camper was he!Miah had her fair share too. Near the end of opening gifts she got real mad that every time she got a present open we seemed to take away and MAKE her start all over again. She just wanted to play with what she had and why should she open any thing Else if we were just going to take it.Other than my daughter, I would haft to say that this is the most wonderful gift this year. It is one of the most beautiful, heart wrenching pieces of art I have ever seen. I was so taken when I saw it that I cried. Miah also loves it and seems to be very possessive of the book.

One last little story of the day though I could tell you many, but this one takes the cookie! After opening the first round of gifts,and before our families arrived I put Miah in the highchair for a little breakfast and then went to check on James. Randy and I both were walking into the kitchen when we were stoped in our tracks by the sight before us. It seems Miah was not happy with Cheerios and decided that the foil cover close to the chair look far more interesting so apparently she helped her self at 6:30 in the morning to the cookie plate. When she saw us she beamed with pride at her accomplishment and was delight that we could join in on her fun. It is a moment I will never forget... To CUTE!

All and all our family had a wonderful Christmas and we are so blessed to have them both home, safe, and sound! Miah's first Christmas was a hit and all of our family was here to share it with her and you can not ask for more than that.