Merry 1st Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you, from all of us.





What a wonderful time it has been teaching our little daughter all about Christmas and the birth our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Last night's Christmas Eve service was one I will never forget...partially because it was so cute watching her try to blow out her Daddy's candle thinking it was another birthday candle. It's just been a sweet (and at times even magical) time together as a family. We have really tried to enjoy every minute of it.

Sorry for going silent for so long on the blog, but I've had to just let a few things go for a while to keep my sanity, and to enjoy this time with my family. With that said, I am putting together a big Hannah update that I will post soon. So please check back soon! Until then...

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah

I started this late that night but had to make the wise choice to get some sleep. Sorry, you are just getting to read it:

To my sweet daughter on your 2nd birthday, I know your daddy is writing you one of his famous birth letters (every child born into our family gets one) but I too wanted to tell you how lucky we all are to get to celebrate this day with you. It has been such a joy watching you grow and blossom over these last 4 weeks. I sometimes get sad that we missed out on those first 2 years, but then I have to quickly remind myself how blessed I am that I have the rest of my life to watch you grow into the amazing person God has most certainly destined you to be.

You have been so brave over the last few weeks and have taken on so much for such a little girl. I know it has not been easy at times but you still somehow always seem to find a smile. When you do smile it's hard not to smile back! One of the many things I love about you is your great affection for people. Even people you hardly know and who can't seem to respect your space, you just seem to handle it all so well for having been through so much. Getting to be on the receiving side of all your sweet hugs, kisses, and even spit baths (this is something they do in China...and yes, she uses real spit on me) is such a treat every day.

I know we still have a long road ahead, but I promise you we will walk it together...forever...as a family. You are so loved! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Now for the fun part...PICTURES!!!

We decided to not do a big party and instead decided to keep it low key...very low key. We got all dressed up and went out to dinner to a place we knew SHE would love, P.F. Chang's. Just our immediate family and Kevin and Amanda Dearing...the old China gang was back together again, and it was a fun, laid back, comfortable night of celebrating this sweet little girl's big day.














We ate.






We played.












We partied.




















We each gave a gift.














(While in China we bought a few things to set aside for future birthdays...tonight's was a pair of traditional Chinese pajamas)


And we danced with balloons.


It was a great night, but like all good things they must come to an end. So we packed up and headed home.


One of the best gifts of the night was waiting for us at home in our mailbox...Hannah's certificate of citizenship. :o)


What a perfect ending to a perfect day. Goodnight!


Sleep tight.


Don't let the bed bugs bite.


See you in the morning light.


Can't wait to do it all over again next year.

Our 1st Post Placement Visit

I cannot believe it's been a month since our gotcha day! Sometimes it seems like 3 months and then other times I feel like we just got home. So, at the one month mark everyone now (thanks to the new China law that JUST passed) has to have the first of 3 post placement visits. It used to be 1 visit at 6 months and that was it. This is a real whip cause it has been so crazy with just getting over jet lag, finding a new normal (if anyone out there knows where I can find one, PLEASE let me know), all the doctor appointments, Hannah's birthday (tomorrow), the coming holidays, and now another Home Study...come on people, give me a break! We skipped Halloween, don't think I won't skip buying presents for everyone at Christmas this year too (and my love language is gifts if that tells you anything...I'm just kidding about not buying gifts...No I'm not).

So today was just a bunch of questions my foggy brain could not answer, 1) How much did she weigh and what was her head circumference in China...I don't know because it was a crazy place and I didn't think to ask, 2) How much did she weigh and what was her head circumference at yesterday's hospital visit...again, no one told me to remember those details. This is our 3rd child, can you tell? 3) What did we think of our registration experience in China...Ummm, when was that??? Basically, we should have been given a heads up on what China expected of this 1st visit before we left so we would be more aware of details as we went along. I just thought it was going to be a time to make sure she is happy, adjusting to life in our family, and making sure all her needs were being met...NOT! Don't get me wrong, she was full of those questions too, I just wasn't prepared for the detailed questions. Just kept sittin there thinking, "I sure wish she'd just ask me about our sex life"...anything I might know something about. So now I have homework...I hate homework!

The good news is that I love our HS agent, and she was so nice to not look at us with a "Poor child has these crazy brainless people as parents" look...even though she was probably thinking it...Hi Jenna!

I guess I should stop blogging and get on that homework now, or wrap a birthday gift for tomorrow. I can't believe tomorrow is her big day! We have a lot of celebrating to do tomorrow, for many reasons!

Hannah's Heart

I cannot tell you how excited we are to tell you that God has answered our prayers and has healed Hannah's heart. The Doctors exact words were, "Her heart is completely normal, the hole has closed 100%, and she never has to come back here again". That's when Charlie and I look at each other with big tears in our eyes and say, "Wow, that's AMAZING!!!" That is just like our God...when He does something He does it big. We walked into that office with a "special needs" child, and came out with a "healthy" child.

Hannah did great going without food all morning, she never even cried. We got to the hospital around 10:30 am and by 11 they were already running tests. 1st all the vitals. Next stop a couple of X-rays...Why do they always make the parent do the dirty work???


Then they began the medicine to try and sedate her (key word "try"). We learned she does not sedate easily...at all! She was just as happy as she could be when she should have been knocked out cold. Cute and frustrating all at the same time. All she wanted to do was kiss everyone. So the Dr. gave her another drug to help...now she's just flat out angry! 15-20 minutes later the nurse had to call the Dr. again because the girl is so stubborn and refuses to sleep...ugh! I am not kidding when I say she fell asleep 5 seconds before the Dr. walked in...thank you Jesus! :o) The doctor told us we will always have to warn future doctors when needing to be put her under about her sedation issue.

Now she is FINALLY ready for her echogram.


It was really sweet of God to give us a chance to hear and see her heart beat. This is usually something we adoptive parents miss out on because we did not get the chance to carry them in our womb and have that sonogram moment...it was a really sweet moment.

Then a new group of ladies came in to do her EKG, but somebody flipped on the lights and our sweet sleeping angel woke to 3 of us holding her down with wires stuck ALL OVER her...now she's a screamin demon. With all the trauma she has had in the last 2 months, this is the last thing she needs to deal with. Thankfully everyone agreed and decided to skip the EKG test...whew!

That's when we were escorted back to our room for the amazing news of Hannah's perfect little heart.


Wow, what a day! Really, what a year! I am so thankful that God placed on our hearts to adopt a child with a medical need, cause if He didn't we never would have met our precious (healthy) little girl that we have now.

She has no clue what really went on today but one day we look forward to sharing each and every miracle moment of this journey with her...over and over again. Not sure what God has planned for this little girl, but what a testimony she has already.

"Thank you God for answering all of our prayers and healing Hannah's heart, may we all use this gift to glorify you."

1st Medical Up-Date

Hannah had her 1st big medical appointment at the children's hospital this last Tuesday in Dallas (thank you for praying). We were there for a whopping 3 hrs. and 15 minutes...that's a long time to be poked on 3 times, stripped down twice, shuffled from room to room, and expected to perform on command. But hey, Hannah did really well through it all. But we were both so ready to get out of there.

We don't really have any answers after all that cause we have to wait for the blood work and other tests to come back. And we have to come back next Tuesday to have her sedated to put her through the heart test...UGH! We should know more after next week's test.

The only thing we do know is that she is REALLY skinny, well bonded to her parents for it being so early, seems to be smart with a big personality, and all the sleepless nights are normal...Really, 3 hrs. and 15 minutes later that's all we got...I should be a doctor. :) Honestly, it was good to hear all the things we already knew from someone who has been seeing adoptive kids like her for awhile now. However, I am really excited about getting to the bottom of her heart condition. We have been praying for this little heart and for the hole to close on its own for some time now. I am really praying we are given a clean bill of health and she will not have to have surgery. It would be nice to walk out of that hospital next Tuesday knowing we will never have to come back. My God is big enough to do just that. I'll keep you all posted with her diagnosis as soon as I can.

Now for a few pictures of our little princes:


This girl can put away some food. She is not all that picky for being almost 2. I was a little worried at first because she seemed to have a very sensitive gag reflex and would spit ANYTHING too chunky back out, but that is so much better now. We also learned she liked everything hot...and I mean everything...really hot. Now she is even learning to eat cold things. We are so very thankful for her HUGE appetite!


She is also VERY independent and insists on feeding herself.


But even that is getting better.


The girl loves to play outside and it was a beautiful day to do so.


Sometimes you just have to stop to smell the flowers.


Just like her Mama, she loves flowers.


Oooh, so pretty!


It was a good/happy moment...so we took lots of pictures.


She loves her babies!!!


A little milk for baby...


A little milk for Hannah. :)


Dancing with one of her babies.


If there is music on, she is dancing...it's SO STINKIN CUTE!


That's all for now...


Thanks for stopping by.