Sunday, October 31, 2010

Almost Walking......

Yes, that's right. We are getting close. We go for her first fitting on November 9th. She is so excited. This little thing will run first. I just know it. She is something : )  I'll update soon.

Super Izzy and Mari the Butterfly



Our girls enjoyed the Fall Fest at our church tonight. Mari wasn't sure what to make of all of it, but she had a good time. Her butterfly wings were bigger than her. She loved them! And Super Izzy finally became a reality. Izzy's been pretending to be Super Izzy for the last year and a half, so she was excited to finally get the outfit : ) 

Thursday, October 28, 2010


CHANGING THE WORLD ONE CHILD AT A TIME


Free Informational Seminar

Thursday, November 11  7:00 - 8:30pm

 
First Baptist Church Student Center

4141 Pontchartrain Dr. Slidell

 
For more information contact:

Paula Falgout (985) 641-2236

Liz Waguespack (985) 774-3131

First Baptist Church (985) 643-3456

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Geaux Saints......



Will this football season bring THIS ?



or


THIS ????

Come on guys.....

Sisters in Shades








Thursday, October 21, 2010

Our answer was No. It’s still shocking to me that I said that.


Our social worker visited us yesterday for our first post adoption meeting. Our visits with her always go by so fast. She’s just that kind of person that you enjoy talking to and one hour seems like 5 minutes. When she left I started thinking about our journey. We first met Shannon in May of 2007 when we started the adoption process. On her first visit which is the BIG visit where she gets tons of information about us. Its two hours long. She asks everything you can imagine. I was scared to death never having done this before, but Shannon completely put me at ease. We enjoyed talking to her. It was a great visit. Not one bit uncomfortable until ……she asked us if we were considering a child with special needs. Rob immediately said “No, not at all. I don’t think we can handle a child with special needs. “I chimed in also saying “we would rather adopt a healthy child.” That was it. It jumped out of my mouth before I even had a chance to think about. Later on in the visit she asked again and again. I found that strange, but we answered the same way. After Shannon left Rob and I were really uncomfortable about our answer. We didn’t know what “special needs” meant. We had an idea but didn’t even give it a consideration. We knew nothing of the Waiting Children. We didn’t research it with our agency. We made a decision without praying about it, consulting our agency. Nothing. Nope. No special needs. We want a normal child. Ridiculous, right? What is normal anyway?

Clearly we were clueless. Even though we felt convicted of our decision to not pursue a special needs child, we didn’t change our minds. We began the endless paperwork and started pursuing a non special needs adoption. The Lord obviously had another plan. After Shannon left yesterday I was doing a puzzle with my girls. We giggled. We laughed. I love to hear them laugh. I looked at both of them. Both are special needs. Both have this amazing joy that can only come from the Lord. Both treasures to Rob and me. I could not imagine life without them. When I see them I’m so taken by their beauty. Amazed by their love for me. Amazed at their ability to overcome the heart break of abandonment. Marianna hasn’t been with us two months even, yet it seems as though she’s been my daughter all along. I thanked God for them. I thought to myself had He not opened our eyes to special needs orphans, we would be missing out on this. This incredible family that we now have. To think we could’ve missed this. I don’t think there are coincidences. I do think though that people just sometimes choose to not listen to the Lord and insist on doing it their way. We could’ve done it our way. Our way was no good though. His plan is always better. I’m so grateful for the email from my agency on June 27, 2007. The email that contained a precious Wang Ting. I looked into the beautiful dark eyes and I knew instantly that she was my daughter. That email eventually led us to Hidden Treasures Home and in time led us to Marianna. There are no mistakes. This was clearly God ordained and absolutely what He planned for us. Is it hard sometimes? Yep. It’s never more than we can handle though. There’s no way in the world the Lord would give us more than we can handle. It stretches me, sharpens me. It means that I lean on Him more and less on myself which is the direction I want to be going in anyway. Izzy and Mari have taught us so much already in just a short time. I consider their special needs a blessing now. I know that sounds weird. Of course, if I had to choose for them I wouldn’t want them to have had to go through the pain and suffering that they did, but at the same time I know the world is being changed by these little girls because of what they’ve been through. Because of their special needs they interact with Cardiologist, Orthopedist, and Prosthetic Specialist etc. I see people being blessed by these two. It’s a beautiful thing to see the Lord work through them. People are inspired by them. The joy of the Lord shines through them. It inspires me every day. So many people are out there considering special needs adoption. They are not sure if they can handle it. I encourage you to pray hard and research all the different special needs and open your heart to it before you make a decision. The Lord will lead you to your child. Rest assured. You will know her/him when you see her/him. There are no mistakes. And if you trust the Lord to guide you He will make your paths straight. He certainly straightened our paths out. It’s His promise after all:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Christmas in October

Our sweet friends the Arnold's sent the girls a care package. Oh, my goodness. You would've thought it was Christmas morning. They were squealing with delight. So sweet. Laughing and Giggling. Gosh, I don't want them to ever grow up : )








Closer to walking

Yesterday we went back to Children's Hospital for Mari's first fitting. They made a cast of her left leg and they are working on a test socket. Her knee is back ordered (sounds funny, huh?) so we will probably not get back there until the first week of November for a trial fitting. The goal is to start physical therapy on the 15th. She is so excited about walking. The prosthetic specialists just loved her. She charmed everyone. She certainly has that way about her. Walking around Children's Hospital really helps you keep things in perspective. We are so blessed. Blessed by Mari's determined spirit. Blessed that she was in such a wonderful place while waiting for us to become a family. Blessed that she can do everything with her right hand. She won't even need a prosthetic for that one. Praise God. Amazing is the word that keeps coming to mind day and day. She just amazes me. I am so blessed to be her Momma. I have so much to learn from her.

Friday, October 15, 2010

My girl is getting too big. Look at her. Doesn't she seem older? Something has changed. I don't like it. I want her to stay little forever. When she turned 5 she didn't really seem 5. Now she seems like 10 all of a sudden. And as you see in the 2nd picture.... she has the attitude sometimes of a 10 year old.  Yesterday she said to me "Mom, you've got to be kidding me. Are you serious?" What??? Where does she get this from? I want my little Izzy Bean to be little, not big : (

And when I told her that I wanted her to stay little. She said, "Mommmm, I have to grow up. This is the way God made me. I just have to get big. You have to deal with it Mom."  She is too much.




Thursday, October 14, 2010

Answered Prayers

Our God is so good. So good. Yesterday we went to the Amputee Clinic at Children's Hospital. They of course : ) fell in love with Marianna. She's quite the charmer. So engaging. So sweet. They loved her determination. That joy that just comes from her.... what's not to love : ) We found out that she will not need surgery on her knee right now. In fact that little area behind her knee will not need to be removed till she's much older (8, 9 or maybe 10) It's not in the way of the prosthetic at this age. We are so grateful for that news. Can you imagine keeping a three year old off of her knees for 6 weeks. No way.  So, next Tuesday she will be fitted for her prosthetic and by Thanksgiving our daughter that is almost 4 that hasn't walked a day in her life will be WALKING. Yes, get the Kleenex because I'm already in tears. Visions of our girl walking just brings tears to my eyes. Our Lord has some amazing things planned for this little one. I can't wait to see what He has in mind.

We will spend about 10 days in the hospital having physical therapy twice a day. That will be a little tough. Izzy can come during the day and go to therapy with us. We can even home school while we're there. They are wonderful about accommodating us.... family and all. Ten days of sleeping at the hospital will not be fun, but a small price to pay though for the results. Mari is so excited. She thought when we went to the ENT she was getting her leg and was so disappointed when she found otherwise. This time she asked the doctor "Are you giving me my leg?" Then she said "I want to run". I can see her doing just that. Not walking, but running right away. Thank you all for praying for us. We appreciate that so much. Much love.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Ok, so… we’re alive over here. And doing well. Just so busy. Even on the days when I don’t leave the house…. I’m still so busy. It’s amazing how much one little person changes the whole dynamic. I know it’s early on. I’m trying not to rush things. 6 months till a new normal. I know. I know : )


It’s just Izzy and I were in such a groove before we left for China and now there’s definitely NO GROOVE YET ! I know it’s coming though. It’s like I can hear the music in the distance and I know we’ll find our rhythm soon. I’ve had glimpses of it. A couple days and we’re getting into the groove of things and the next day the music stops all together. Then a couple more days of moving right along and then we screeeetch to a halt. I have to smile when I think about it because it’s not lost on me as to “why” we have these struggles. I see how the Lord uses these opportunities to stretch me. I'm not always smiling though : ) Just when I think this is all about transitioning Mari into our family I’m reminded gently that “no my dear, this is about you too”. He never misses an opportunity to draw us near to him. So, when I’m in tears because I’ve attempted big girl panties for Mari and it didn’t work out and she’s crying because she’s so upset that she had an accident during the night. I’m upset for her. I’m upset because the pee pee is so much that Piglet is soaked and it’s running off of the plastic mattress cover onto the carpet. I’m kneeling in pee pee trying to console her, trying to console myself. And she’s reaching for me to hold her but I can’t because I’m trying to get the wet clothes off of her. I’m in tears. She’s in tears. And I finally just have to hold her. That’s only thing that I can do to calm her. She’s covered in pee. Soaking wet. Now, I’m covered in pee….. ugh!!! And all I can think is “This is exactly what He does for us. He holds us even when we are filthy and covered in sin.” He holds us. So I held her. As tight as I could. I could feel her body relax as she sunk into my arms. I love the feel of my child in my arms. All stinky... I can't stand the smell of pee pee. Just can't stand it. Don't you love the irony in all of that. Believe me I wasn't smiling, but I held her as close to me as ever. It did give me some peace and the strength I needed to pull it together and go take a bath…..  and ended up having a sweet time in the bath at 6:00 a.m. with my littlest one. Knowing that He's carrying me through these struggles and teaching me all the while.... gives me a lot a peace. Oh, there’s the music again. Ahhhh!!

This is our life lately. Two steps forward, one step back. Still going in the right direction, so I’m grateful. I do miss the rhythm of my former life, but I’m looking forward to the sweet music of my new life.