Busy Weekend!

I love my men in uniforms!
Myah was dirtier than Dayton was !

The dads with their daughters on referral day
I love this picture even though it is blurry! Four brothers and two little Chinese sisters!

We had an action packed weekend! Dayton had his first baseball tournament, Mark had to work all weekend and we had our referral day anniversary. It was fun because the tournament took place in the city that Mark works in so he was able to come and watch Dayton's game on Friday night. Mark also decided that he wanted to watch his games on Saturday as well, this meant that he wasn't going to sleep much. I don't know how he does it but he stayed up the better part of 41 hours. So as you can imagine, these past few days that he has been off I have found him napping alot! Then on Sunday we got together for a Chinese lunch with our good friends John and Sheri and all of our kids! Sheri and I got together last year as well and we hope that this is a tradition that we can carry on for years to come. We went to a park afterwards and let the kids play for a while, their family is so special to us and we enjoy spending time together with them.
We gave Myah the book Fancy Nancy to mark this celebration and she just loves it, she calls it Fanfy Dancy. On Monday we went to watch our old baseball team play and Miss Whitney was there watching her big brother. Myah was so excited, she had told me the night before that she was missing her so she was glad to sit and share a snack with her during the game.

It is a big week around our house, yesterday we picked up our boat from storage and brought it home to load it up with skis, tubes and lifejackets, I can't wait to take it out for the first time this year! Even bigger news is that tomorrow we will wake up with a teenager in our house! Dayton will be 13! I cannot believe it! I will do a special post tomorrow in his honor. Here are a few very out of focus pictures from this weekend.

Our Myah, Then and Now

Referral Day 2006 Sweet Memories

click on the image to read the captions

A Letter from Dad ...Special Encore Presentation

As we reflect on what this day means to our family, I can't help but remember the love that I felt for Myah, from the moment I heard her name, she was mine. Ours. We were her parents and big brother. We had a daughter, finally, after 10 years of waiting, we got to make "those " calls again. I will never forget tracking the package online, knowing that it had made it to our agency, calling my adoption buddies, driving across the state to see her face for the first time, and sharing that special day and moment with our friends and seeing their daugther's faces for the first time. It was perfect, that is all I can say....perfect. My dear sweet husband surprised me the night that we received Myah's referral with this beautiful letter that he wrote to her and asked if I could post it on our other website for her. I did not know that he had wrote anything and this completely amazed me, they were the sweetest, most genuine words that I had ever heard. Mark has such a tender heart and while I was reading it the tears were streaming down his face. You hear from me all of the time, I thought it would be special to share his thoughts from that day as well. I think he sums up everything that we were feeling just perfectly.
A letter from Dad
April 27, 2006
Myah...
I want to share my thoughts with you as we wait to come and bring you home. There is so much excitement surrounding your arrival. We have asked God so many times to bless us with another child and until now He has asked us to wait. Sometimes we wondered why we had to wait so long but we had faith that God was leading us where He wanted us to go. Last January, God finally said that it was time and today he has blessed us with you!
God knew long ago that he was going to bless our family by bringing us together.
We want you to know that you are already loved and will continue to be loved by us forever. You will never again be alone, you will never yearn for affection, you will never wonder if you are loved, and you will always have a warm and loving home to call your own.
I also want to tell you a little bit about your Mom, Leslie. Let me start by saying that she is the most caring and loving person that I know. I was blessed when she chose to spend her life with me and you will be blessed by this as well. God could not have chosen a more loving and compassionate person to be your Mom. Your Mom is so excited and anxious to come and bring you home. She has always looked at little girl’s clothes and wondered what it would be like to love and pamper her own daughter … and now she will wonder no more. You and your mother deserve each other and you both will complete each other. She prays for you every day asking God to watch over you and keep you safe. The day that we finally see you and are able to hold you is the very day that God has been preparing us for. When your Mom holds you in her arms for the first time, you will have not doubt that you are loved and you are safe. In fact, I am sure that God has already comforted your heart, knowing that you are loved very much.
What about your big brother, Dayton ?!!!! Well, he is so excited to come and get you. He has been praying every night for you and he always says, “And God bless Myah”. How cool is it that you have a big brother that is asking God to watch over you. He loves you so much and that is the neat thing about your brother, he loves you because you’re his little sister. In fact, last January he came to your mother and I and told us that he would like a little sister – I think this had a lot to do with your friend, Whitney (you will get to meet and play with her very soon). Also, I hope you like baseball because as soon as we get you home, Dayton is going to want you to watch him play ball.
Myah, I just want you to know that your big brother will always watch over and protect you and will love you with all his heart.
Today when we went and got your referral we met our other parents there and we were able to see pictures of your other friends who are coming home with you. You will be so blessed to grow up and make lifelong friends and memories with these girls, some of which you have known since birth.
So many of our friends and family have been praying for us and especially for you. We are surrounded by a special group of people in our lives and we could not ask for anything more. We can’t wait to get you home so everyone can enjoy you!!!
Each and every day, Myah, I pray that God will wrap his loving arms around you and comfort your heart; knowing that soon we will come and bring you home. I pray that your wonderful caregivers will watch over you and keep you safe; please know that the hugs and kisses that they give you are extensions from us. We are so blessed to be your parents; you will bring so much love to our family.
We will be there soon!! You're in God's hands now and we know that he will keep you safe until we get there!!
I love you,
Dad

Referral Anniversary Reflections

Tomorrow marks our second referral day anniversary. This was such a magical time in our lives for us. I am so thankful that I wrote all of this down because I have forgotten so much of it, and reading my thougths just takes me right back to that precious moment in time. I am sorry this is long, I had posted all of this on my other website and really wanted to preserve it on my blog as well.
Breathe, Breathe, Breathe!!
April 25, 2006
Ok, I was getting Dayton ready for school this morning and Linda V. called to see if I was going to water aerobics around 7:30 am. Mark beeped in and asked if I had checked the CCAA website and I told him no and he said that it had been updated overnight and that they are sending out referrals for people logged in between May 31 and June 6th!!!! We made it finally!!!! I couldn't believe it! Everyone said that around the 25th things happen and once again the rumors were right. So obviously I skipped water aerobics because I wasn't sure if I needed to be home or not today. We have since learned that the packages were mailed out on Tues in China ( they are 12 hours ahead of us). So we are expecting that maybe this week we will have our referral in our hands! Can it really be happening? It has been a year since we saw our documents last, and 4 months prior to that of preparing them. It has been a long wait but one that we are sure is worth it! Dayton's 11th birthday is Monday May 1st, what a gift it would be to have her info by then! My head is spinning today and I am really not accomplishing much, I can't complete many thoughts ( which is probably pretty evident if you are reading this!). I am so thankful and grateful to God that this is finally happening! I can't imagine what she will look like, what her birthday is, where she is etc..... ! She is ours now, even though we will just be staring at her picture for a while, she is already in our hearts and we love her. My stomach is doing flips, this is a much different type of labor than what I had with Dayton! Longer too!!! As soon as we can we will post her picture on our homepage so that you may all get your first glimpse of her too! It warms our hearts to know that we have been surrounded by so many loving people throughout these long months. Your excitement has made this experience just that much sweeter. Thank you everyone!!! There are so many more exciting moments to come and we look forward to sharing them with you!


What a day!!
April 27, 2006
I am going to have to write later, I think I am running out of steam, it is late, but I wanted to say something today! We always wondered how this day would feel, I can honestly say I never imagined that it could be so wonderful. I have been smiliing all day. She is so adorable, I can't believe her hair! I can hardly wait to accessorize! It is a good thing that the only thing I have been buying is hair bows! This day was magical and spent sharing this news with all of our loved ones. We were able to share this moment with some very special families and it is a day I will cherish for the rest of my life. The girls are just beautiful, we are so lucky. We were bummed to learn that our group was split up, unfortuately my buddies are split up, but at least we have 2 going one direction and 2 going another so we each have someone, in addition to the other great families that we will be with. And it will only be for the middle part, we start out together and end together. We laughed, cried, laughed some more! We ended the night at Kelly and Linda's, we felt that they were really our inspiration in all of this and we couldn't wait to share the picutures with them. So our early morning, late night is coming to and end. This is a day that will always be special. I put Myah's pictures in frames in her room and it just feels so complete now. It is hers. Her toys, her bed, her clothes and our daughter. Wow. This was bittersweet though, my good friend Debbie lost her mom Sharon B., yesterday, she was a wonderful woman and I had really hoped that she would have had the chance to see Myah's face. Our friends are like family and my heart is heavy. I know that Sharon will log on in heaven and sneak a peak at our little angel. Please keep her family in your prayers too! Thanks to everyone for the calls and well wishes today! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinch me!
April 30, 2006
It is really happening! I just can't believe it! What a full circle moment for us! Tomorrow Dayton turns 11 and I always get a little emotional every year at this time. We have such a wonderful son! He makes us so happy and proud. He has been the light and joy in our lives since the day he was born. I have always called him my little tulip. He was due to arrive on Mother's Day 1995 but decided to come into this world 2 weeks early, on May Day. The day of his birth, we left for the hospital and saw that the only tulip in the yard of our new (to us) house was beginning to finally blossom. We pulled out of the driveway and the tulip looked pink, I thought it must be a sign, my baby is going to be a girl. Well, 8 hours later we learned that he definately wasn't a girl! My parents had come down to stay at our house and when they called the hospital the next morning, they informed me that the tulip wasn't pink after all, it was red. Years later, I looked at the pictures that were taken in the delivery room and realized that there was a picture with hundreds of tulips on the wall. Every year, we still plant red tulips at our house. This past week, the tulips were ready to burst, one had accidently been cut and so I put it in a bud vase. On Thursday morning, it blossomed. I really belive that it was a red thread moment. A connection from Myah to us. A sign that she knew that we were getting our call that morning. As simple as it is, I was comforted when I saw that tulip. I knew that things were going to be alright. God makes everything perfect, and he picked the perfect little girl for us. The fact that her picture was on a police car really struck us immediately. And then we saw those cheeks and that hair! What a beautiful child! We just stare at her pictures and praise God for this miracle. Even though we did not create her, she is ours and we feel a connection to her already. She is our daughter. Dayton no longer will carry around the title of an only child. We by no means ever let him feel that he wasn't "enough" for us. There is never a moment that we ever felt slighted that he is our only child, we are so grateful and blessed to have him, he is our miracle. It is different this time, I really feel like we all wanted Myah in our lives and it was a family decision that we all came to simultaneously. God put Myah in our hearts and gave us the opportunity to act on our desires. Her little face, oh her little face... it has graced our refrigerator, our dashboard, wallets, classrooms, police department, picture frames, friends and family's homes and on this website. Her face makes everyone smile (some people have cried ...... I won't mention any names, you know who you are!) I can't imagine the joy that she is going to bring to our world once she joins our family forever. I know that she is being loved by her foster family. They seem to be taking excellent care of her and are giving her a family atmosphere. I pray that I can take the place of the only mother that she has ever known. I pray that God will allow her heart to embrace me and reassure her that we are her forever family. I want her to feel safe with us.
We have been so touched and overwhelmed by everyone's well wishes. These last few days have been a whirlwind and such a happy time for our family. Our heads literally are spinning. We are so happy!! I can't quit smiling. My friend Debby K. said that I am glowing, I guess that even a paper pregnancy can create that special "glow". It is just such a relief to finally know who our little girl is and to see her face. I am so proud to be her mom already. We are just so thrilled to share her story and her pictures with everyone.. FINALLY! I know that these next 6 or so weeks are going to fly by and we will be traveling before we know it. I actually allowed myself to finally buy some clothes for her, Li Wen Ting. I am like a fish out of water in the little girl clothes dept. There is a lot to it!! Help!!
Well, I have rambled on long enough, I have so much to say, but I really can't even attempt to put into words what we are feeling. We are so happy, blessed and grateful and can't wait to share her with everyone!

Looking Back

I took this of her the first week that she was home with us, look at those cheeks! Oh I kiss them all of the time still!
This was at her first baseball game, Dayton was so proud to push her in her stroller! Our team was so sweet and followed along with us on our journey, they called the morning we left for China on their speaker phone to wish us a safe trip before their tournament started.
She loved these stacking blocks then and still does today!
This was taken on Mackinac Island, she was so afraid of the flowers!
She did not like the sand either!I love this picture of Mark with her on the shores of Lake Michigan in the U.P. , he is such a wonderful father and every time I turned around he was showing Myah something "new".

This week is very special to our family, two years ago we were "next in line" for our referral. We had been cut off by one day the previous month so we knew for sure that this was our turn. It was such an exciting week, we were finally going to see our daughter's face for the first time. I swear I lived on Rumor Queen, Salsa in China and Yahoo boards. I have said it before but we were at the very beginning of this now loooong wait for referrals, we had no idea what was going on. I am by no means whining, we are so thankful that we only had an additional 6 months tacked on to our original projection, but at the time, it was all new and no one had a clue what to expect, each we waited for a referral because at the time China was sending out a months worth of log in dates, all of the sudden it became a weeks worth and then days worth. We knew we were very close, but as time went on we cancelled vacations, packed warm clothes, then cooler clothes, had to buy new things for Myah due to the time of year we were getting her, summer, as opposed to December when we thought we would get her. Mark had to keep everyone at work on stand by with his 3 weeks of vacation because we just weren't sure when we were going. It was crazy, but so worth it!

I remember this being the week that I had everything in order, my house was immaculate, the video camera and still cameras were ready, my phone list was in order. The school knew that as soon as I got the call, that we were going to get Dayton out and drive across the state to pick up our packet and share the day with our adoption buddies. I could not wait to see her face, I wondered about where she lived, how old was she, what was her "story", did she have hair? Oh boy did she have hair! One of the only things I really purchased for her was hair accessories while we waited, it was a good thing! I will share a special post this weekend on the 27th to be exact, regarding this special day for us.

I was going through some pictures and found these from our first few weeks home with her. Gosh she seemed so big at the time but she was pretty little, she had turned a year old 5 days before we got her. She wasn't walking or crawling, or rolling over for that matter, so she sat for a lot of pictures! Boy did that change!

I thought I would post a few for your viewing pleasure. By the way I love this song by Celine Dion, I listened to it over and over during the wait in our lives. Strangely, it would be on the radio when we were visiting with our adoption buddies in restaurants, I would hear it in the grocery store, I still hear it every now and then at special times and I have to smile, it brings back sweet memories!

Check Out A Museum

Our local library along with several others, have started a program where you can check out a free pass to visit some very nice museums in the metro area. I picked up a brochure yesterday when I took the kids to the library and I am so excited! I think you just take a pass to the counter for the particular museum that you are interested visiting that day and they give you a receipt that covers your admission! For Free! Some of my favorite museums are on this list and I can't wait to go! Go to http://www.detroitadventurepass.org/ to see if your library offers this program and also check out the great destinations.

Thankful Thursday

I know I haven't been very faithful at doing this lately, even though I think daily about how thankful I am.

I hear a little girl waking up from her nap so this will be a short one!

I am thankful for....

~Mark, for ALL of your support, love and hugs lately, you know me better than anyone and you know how to make me feel secure and loved like no one else. I am so grateful that you are my partner in life.

~Dayton, for a great report card, for doing so well in baseball, for learning how to sew in your Life Skills class, now maybe you can show me how to do it!

~Myah, for the sweet way you say "oh my goodness" when you see something that makes you happy! For saying "Mommy,did you just see Jesus?" every time we drive by the church on the way to Dayton's practice.

~For my family and all of the support they have given us!

~For these beautiful cookies that Lori sent me along with a local magazine, they did not last long in our house! Thank you so much Lori!

~For the sweet call from my dear friend Sherry the other night, I can still feel how much she loves me even from Wisconsin!

~For the great visit I had with a dear friend Lisa the other day, we could talk for hours, wait.. we did!

~For all of your sweet messages full of prayers and concern for me and my family. Thank you so much!

~For my negative Diabetes test!!! Yeah!!

~For the gorgeous weather filling our days!

Opening Day of Baseball!

His first at bat of the season
Dayton is catching here
A little love tap from his lil sis
Dad saying "good job!"

This is my 200th post! Wow, I know I am a chatterbox in "real"life but it looks like I am in bloggy land as well!


I am dedicating my 200th post to Dayton's opening day of baseball, his season started last night, after practicing since December, living at the ball field every day for the past 2 weeks, we finally started the 2008 season. We were excited but a bit anxious because Dayton is playing for a new team this year in the neighboring town. We really miss all of our friends on our hometown team, but the new people seem very nice and accepting of us rookies. He plays in a travel league so most games are either home or at least a half hour drive away. We are a baseball loving family and enjoy watching Dayton play. This is his one sport that he has stayed with through the years and I think it is because he just loves to play. He started playing when he was 4 years old! He has been on a travel team for 4 years. This year we are so excited to travel with his team to Cooperstown New York for a week to play in a tournament that they put on for 12 year olds only. We have been fundraising like crazy since December to help cover the costs for our players.


Last night was our first game, Dayton was so excited, a bit nervous but ready to play, remember the long winter we had? We had a nice night to play, it got a bit chilly but we were prepared so it wasn't too bad. Dayton is a pretty versatile player, he played catcher and 2nd base last night, he will be pitching some as well during the season. His first at bat he hit a beautiful hit to centerfield and it was caught. His second at bat he got on base and ended up scoring. We won 6-4! We were so happy for Dayton. He had a smile on his face the whole ride home in the car. He has had his fair share of losing so it was fun to see him win! I know winning isn't everything but it does feel pretty good!


Now you know lately things haven't really gone our way, and wouldn't you know that after we got home, Myah and Mark were playing and he picked her up by her arms/wrists and something popped loudly and she started screaming, wouldn't move her arm and was in great pain. This has happened 2 other times over the past day and a half but she was able to feel better within a few minutes. Not this time. So we loaded her in the car, we were literally only home for 10 minutes, and headed off to ER. After we got in a room she started using her arm again like it was no big deal, waving at us. We felt kind of silly at that point. Seems that she has a condition called Nursemaid Elbow. Shouldn't I be the one with that? Anyhow, she is dislocating her elbow and is able to pop it back into place on her own. Yikes!!! The Dr. said she is fine, just don't lift her by her arms any more. It is common I guess for toddlers, I have never heard of it. It is scary! So we marched out of there and dropped into our beds!


We are back at the ball field tonight for a scrimmage. If you want to see us, this is where we will be for the next 3 months! Go Bulldogs!

Praying for a miracle

Ok, I really don't even know how to say this, where to begin or do I even want to type these words. I just am in need of prayers once again. I was told the other day that my Dad's kidneys are failing. For fear of young eyes in my household reading this, I am not going to announce a time frame, use your imagination. He has been a diabetic for about 20 years now and his kidney's have gone down to 16% function. My dad has never been a very healthy man, he has been sick for a very long time. It is now getting very sad. I am not going to go into any details on here, I am keeping things very "normal" around my house right now for the sake of my young family. I am still awaiting the results of my bloodwork, I am hoping that no news is good news. This would not be a good time to find out that I am diabetic. I know I have to take care of myself right now, I am trying to stay positive. Kind of hard. I live 2 hours from my family, makes my heart heavy. I can't catch my breath for a second and something else comes up, these past few months are taking their toll on me. Please pray for me, my family and my dad. I did not even want to post this but prayers are needed and this is the easiest way for me to ask. Thank you all.

I had to add this picture because it was 17 years ago today that Mark asked my dad for his permission to marry me and he proposed to me in front of all of our parents. It was such a happy day for all of us. My dad was so proud here, he had wrote a song about me and recorded it, he surprised me with it at this moment, it brought everyone to tears. I see Mark and his dad behind us in this picture, we lost Lynn almost 6 years ago. I just realized how perfectly this song goes with this post. I received the Steven Curtis Chapman cd that I won in the giveaway the same day I got this news. It is the perfect song because my sister Melanie and I loved Cinderella so much when we were small, so much so that my dad let us name his hunting springer spanial dog, Cinderella, he called her Cindy for short!

Sidewalk Chalk

Spring Is Here!

Myah is loving being out doors finally!
Annabelle has such a sweet smile!
Chloe cracks me up, she borrowed Myah's jacket because even though it was sunny, it was breezy!
My gorgeous baby girl!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the temperature is in the 60's! Life is good! The guys went to the Tiger game last night while my sister Melanie and I stayed home with the girls. They had so much fun riding bikes, going down the slide, flying kites, blowing bubbles, and going for a wagon ride. These are a few images from this weekend, we are celebrating our long awaited arrival of Spring!!!

Catchin' Up

No we did not fall off the face of the Earth, we just have been out enjoying this glorious spring weather FINALLY!!! We have been really busy running Dayton to practice EVERY day! Myah has made my new hair color turn back to its original gray color, making for very crazy days! We are finally getting back to our normal schedule, which is still very demanding but hey, I will take it after the past few months! As my luck would have it, I am now dealing with some health issues. I went to the Dr. last week, she determined I have acid reflux, I can deal with that, but my bloodwork came back with a huge red flag and I have had to go have more tests run today. I am not even going to announce what they are looking for, I am afraid to, for fear it will come true. It is a biggie to me. Please just keep me in your prayers if you would. I guess it was bound to happen, as soon as everyone else is taken care of, I get sick! Nothing I can't handle though so don't worry!

I have had a few lucky streaks this week and I want to thank Jennifer at My Adoption Website for the prize that I won in her monthly drawing! I never win anything and I won a full length lady bug bib!

I also won this today in my sweet bloggy friend Barb's giveaway! I am so excited! I never win anything so I was very surprised to see that the computer randomly selected me for this! Thank you Barb!

And in our little family, I am the only one who can win our March Madness basketball tournament! I know this drives the boys in my life crazy that Mom/Wifey can basically guess at every bracket and kick their butts! Too bad I don't have something to win on the line! I picked Kansas, we will know in about an hour if I win or not! OOOOOHHHH I WON!!!!! Yeah Kansas! I know nothing about your team but Woooo Hoooo!!! Way to go!!! I just went with the best record!!!!!!! Wooo Hoooo!! I think I deserve something for this Mark!!!!!!! Sorry boys!

I also had a wonderful visit last week with Sheri and Sarah, I want to thank her for the beautiful tulips that Sarah picked out for me, they brightened my day!

I was so excited to open this from my buddy Kim at 3 Peanuts the other day! I have always wanted to own something with my monogram on it! She is the queen of monograms and sent this adorable photo album to me! Thank you so much Kim, I can't wait to fill it up with sweet memories!

I also received two quilt squares from Stepanie at Ni Hao Ya'll, this meant so much to me because she was a huge inspiration to me while I waited for Myah. She is waiting to adopt her 8th child! Her family is amazing! Thank you so much Stephanie, it means the world to me that your square will be on her quilt!

Our family was so happy to see our neighbor's Ken and Pam return last evening from Florida! They have been gone since November, Myah squealed when she saw their truck pull into their driveway and ran all the way down to their house!! We love them like family! Welcome Home!

I saved the best news for last! My cousin Jed and his wife Annie had their little baby girl on Thursday! Her name is Alaina Marie, I can't wait to meet her! I love little tiny babies!!! I am sure there will be photos to share soon!

Sarah Comes to Play

Myah is on the left and Sarah is on the right in all of these pictures




We were so lucky to have Sheri and Sarah over to play today. It just worked out perfectly that she is leaving for Florida tomorrow and the men in her life went to the Tigers game so she hung out with us today while they were at the game. Sadly, the time just goes to fast. I can't put into words the relationship between our families. I feel like Sarah and Myah are the closest thing to real life sisters that they will ever have. Same orphanage, born in the same month, same personalities, we got them at the same time, this list could go on and on. Sheri and I always crack up at how it takes a good hour and a half now for the two of them to accept each other. They fight just like sisters. Then they realize that they love each other and they start to have fun. The tea ceremony seemed to be the ice breaker today! We went up to Myah's room and the girls played so well together with the tea set. They each adorned a tiny tiara, you know every princess needs one, we sent Sarah home with one! The girls fought over a toy computer all day, hmmmm, must see the mommies on it quite a bit and they want in on the action! I just love it when we get together, I start missing her at the moment she says it is time to leave. Pout. We are always amazed at how blessed we are to have these special little girls in our lives and we are constantly reminding each other of that even when things get a little hairy. To say Myah and Sarah are spicy is in an understatement. But we wouldn't want them any other way! I just love those little girls so much, Sarah as much as Myah. I always joke to Mark that any of the 7 little girls from our orphanage could have been ours, it was up to the CCAA to match us in that room at the same time. God placed each of our girls with the perfect family, but I can't help but love them all so much. Sheri brought me the prettiest yellow tulip, she said that Sarah picked it out. It was just what I needed to brighten my day! Thanks for coming over girls! Have a great time in Florida!