Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The end of one journey is the beginning of another

Like I said on Aaron's blog, I'm sorry it took me 2 weeks to update the blogs. We really are not tired. We just have been enjoying the babies so much plus to keep things under control my attention has to be re-directed from the computer to the demands of our home and children and so far, we are doing well, we are happy and very well adjusted. Each time you bring a child home it seems there is a huge adjustment period but we don't seem to be facing that. Everything feels so normal, so right! We are thanking Jesus for that and all of you for your wonderful prayers and support.

Lily is doing so well. She sleeps through the night still. Both babies adjusted to the the new room and cribs very easily. They go to bed and down for naps without protest. Lily is eating very well and will try new foods we give her. She also loves our Bichon, Frosty, very much and he loves her. She yanks his hair and he licks her fingers. She really loves watching the big girls dance around and put on *shows*. She will get so excited, giggle, jump up and down and shake her whole body...especially when they played the guitar for the babies and sang them songs. The big girls love to touch nose to nose with Lily so that she will pull their hair. I don't know why but they like it and so does the dog!

Lily also went to the doctor with her brother, Aaron. Lily is also very healthy and doing fantastic.

Again, thank you for praying us through Lily and Aaron's adoptions. It's been amazing to see God's hand at work in this and to see how fast he brough our children home and to see that we have not one but two! We are still amazed at "How Great is Our God".

We will start a new web location for pictures and updates, for the next journey of our life....just being a family of 6. Amazing feeling! It's been a long 4 years since we applied for our first adoption in 2003. We have met many friends, changed our social circle and changed the entire tenur of our lives. We spent the better part of 4 years bringing our children home, filling out forms, being poked with needles, fingerprinted, interviewed and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next child. It's been 4 years full of anticipation and emotional roller coasters. I am beyond greatful that God trusted us this much and gave us this calling and gave us those 4 years of our lives and I am now greatful they are over. It's a whole new way of looking at the future and we are excited about it. We will never close the door to God if he says "It's time to go back" but for now, there is no current calling but to be parents to these wonderul and amazing 4 miracles he's blessed us with.


Last morning nap in Guatemala. Lily is actually asleep here! And we couldn't move her.


Lily's first airplane ride - She's on her way home!!!


Lily is meeting her Meema and Aunt Hope. Protective Big Sis, Kya, is over-seeing the meeting.


First night home, all the kids are playing in the living room. We are so blessed to have a large family.


1st morning home! Lily's new Uncle Joel is giving her morning bottle. (Joel's actually really happy. He just doesn't smile for photos.) Again, Kya is over-seeing the situation.


Lily being so cute here on her first full day at home.


She easily went down for her first nap in her new crib.


Lily's first bath at home.


I have a picture of Kya just like this, in this very towel from our hotel room in China. I had to take this snapshot of Lily.

Here is big sister, Kya's, picture taken in 2004.


Lily is loving the new exer-saucer and is generally this happy! Thank you Jesus for these precious babies (all 4 of them!)

Monday, January 7, 2008

Lily's Embassy Day

Ms Lily Bug's Embassy Appointment was today and way too early for us, 7:15am. It took just a little over 2 hours but, just like her brother Aaron, she was approved for U.S Citizenship. When the babies land in Ft Lauderdale on Wednesday they will become permanent Citizens. It feels so incredibly good to have all our appointments and paperwork completed. We are finished!

Lily Bug is 8 months old but she has 6 teeth!!!!! Both of the babies are on coffee already. They started them about 5 months old. They dip sweet bread in coffee for breakfast and dinner.

We had a good day today with the babies. Here are a few pictures to capture our memories from today.

You can click on the photos to see the larger images.

The restaurant we had dinner at last night on Gotcha Day served cough drops instead of mints.



Hanging out in our room. We have a very large living room.


Some Lily Bug first: first peanut butter cracker and first cappuccino.



Shopping at the market next to our hotel


Happy Mom & Dad at dinner tonight

Sunday, January 6, 2008

GOTCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!!!! IT FEELS GOOD! She's OURS!



Lily was brought to us at our hotel approximately at 3pm today, January 6, 2008. She is forever our daughter; the feeling is overwhelming and a huge relief. We are so incredibly grateful to our Father who made this dream come true. The foster family good-byes were terribly tough and full of tears. The foster family loves her so very much. We are so thankful that a family loved her so much and cared for her so well.

Here are pictures of Lily with her Foster Family. The first picture is Lily with the daughter of the Foster Mother. The second picture Lily is with the Granddaughter.


Thursday, December 27, 2007

Monday, December 3, 2007

Our last Visit Trip

It was great to see our Lily Bug and to know it was our last visit. Next time we see her, we will not ever give her back. We look forward to returning very soon and bringing her home!

Click on the thumbnails of the collages to see the larger images.



Sunday, November 25, 2007

Hello from Antigua

Hello Everyone,
Sorry I have not been able to post. My mother posted for me on Aaron's blog on Thanksgiving Day. I have since been able to post there once myself.

We were lucky enough to get Lily on her 7 month birthday! She is teething! And, a bit cranky from it. She is now almost 16lbs. She is now eating Gerber baby food at lunch and some rice cereal at breakfast. I tried to give her eggs but she didn't like it. She is no longer waking up for feedings and sleeps great through the night.

We got some good news!!! Our agency emailed us on Tuesday evening to let us know that Lily's birth certificate is in hand! We now just have to wait for Aaron's and as I posted on his blog it should be ready on the 27th. It will take about 1 to 2 weeks for the DNA process and then another 1 to 2 weeks for the U.S Embassy to issue us an appointment. We should be returning very soon! And, we are very happy about that!

We got a nice surprise this morning over breakfast. One of the volcanos outside our hotel room erupted! Whew, that was neat. Unfortunately, for us, it was only smoke. But still was something we never expected to see. Dale got plenty of pictures of that.

We will have to post pictures next week. We forgot to pack the cable to transfer the pitures to our computer. And, our computer cannot directly read our new cameras memory card. Sorry about that but everyone is doing great and I can't wait to share the pictures from this beautiful week.

Love,
Dawn