"New House"

Rachel got a "new house", which is what she has been telling everyone who will listen. Mommom and Poppop bought this as an early birthday present a couple of days ago so that Rachel could enjoy it for a little longer during the summer. Hard to believe Rachel's birthday is a month away already! It's even harder to believe that she's going to be 2! I think Jake likes her playhouse as much as Rachel. They have had a blast the last two days in the house and playing with the water fountain.

You should have seen us when we tried to bring this playhouse home from Toys R Us! Mom and I went over the night before to purchase the house, but we knew it wouldn't fit in either of our cars. Dad and Dave went to pick it up the following evening. Mom and I were sure it would fit in dad's SUV if all the pieces were taken out of the box! Well, we totally misjudged. Dave called me and I had to meet the guys over at Toys R Us with my little car and we had to put part of it on the roof of my car! We tied it down the best we could and all the way home Dave and I had to hold unto it so that the wind from driving wouldn't blow it off the roof of my car! It was quite the scene and my arm was killing me by the time we got home! It was all worth it for the enjoyment of my kids!

"Time flies when you're having fun..."

I can’t believe I let so much time pass in between my posts. I can’t believe I didn’t share a very special post in celebration of our “Gotcha Day” on May 19th, 2009. May 19th, 2008 is a day marked in my heart and soul just as December 15th, 1997 when Jake was born out of my womb. There is a definite truth in the old cliché, “time flies when you’re having fun” and fun is what we’ve been having since our little princess entered our lives on May 19th, 2008 in Changsha of Hunan, China.

I found myself the days leading to our special day reading old posts and emails, looking at photos, watching our China video, crying, laughing, praying and thanking God for Rachel. I thought about how blessed we are to have such a beautiful, fun, loving, spicy, smart, entertaining and strong-willed little girl in our lives. She really is all of these things. There is not one day that goes by where she doesn’t amaze us with something else she has learned that day. She definitely keeps us on our toes and will fight us to the end when she wants something. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve met a more strong-willed little girl! LOL!

When I think back on all that we endured to adopt a child from China, I keep going back to the “what if’s.” Three plus years is a long time to wait to adopt a child. While going through the process, I wanted so badly for things to rush along and for China to get on the ball and produce more referrals each month. There were months I went into depression because there were only two days of referrals matched that month and there were endless nights I cried myself to sleep because I yearned for another child so badly. All the while, God had a plan for us and His plan was for us to be Rachel’s parents. I keep thinking “what if” the time had gone quicker, or “what if” we had switched to the “Waiting Child” program or “what if” we dropped out of the program because the wait time had increased so drastically. All the “what if’s” don’t matter, because God had a plan and His plan was for us to adopt Rachel and she is the most perfect little girl, sister and daughter for our family.

We’ve had a very turbulent year with the loss of grandparents, me losing not one, but two jobs, some health issues, financial difficulties, but all and all, we have so much to be thankful for and I thank God for all that we do have. When I look at my children, I need to try and remember that stuff is just stuff and family and friends are what matters!

I’m posting some photos from our special trip to China. I can't believe how big they are now! On one hand it feels like Rachel has been part of our family from day one and on another hand, I can't believe it's been a year plus already. I’m thrilled to be part of this journey of raising my children and watching them mold into the teenagers and adults they will become. It’s remarkable that we get to be part of it all. What a true and amazing gift that is!