"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!

TODAY IS "GOTCHA DAY"!
Which means that today is the day that Rachel was placed into our arms forever!! May 19, 2008 - Changsha, China.

From Rachel's Daddy.

Reader's Want to Know...

how we all are doing. I know, it's been quite some time since my last post. I think about posting constantly, but I just can't seem to get on the computer long enough. It can be time consuming, especially when you are uploading photos. No excuses! Quite honestly, I didn't think too many people cared about this blog anymore since Rachel is now home and things are pretty "normal." But in the last week or so, I'm finding the opposite to be true. Family and friends do want to know how we are and how Rachel is adjusting to her new life.

Can you believe we are less than three weeks away to our one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary on May 19th. It's hard to believe we have had our little angel in our lives for one year. On one hand it feels like we've had Rachel since birth and on the other hand, it's hard to believe that it's been a year already. The saying "time sure does fly when you are having fun" rings true in our situation. We plan on celebrating our "Gotcha Day" on Sunday, May 17th in a small intimate setting of our home with close friends and family. Rachel will have no idea what this day means to us this year, but Dave, Jake and I will remember how Rachel stole our hearts that day. God has blessed us so abundantly and we are forever indebted to Him.

Rachel finally got to meet her grandparents in North Carolina. We took a trip down there in the first week of April where we got to see my parents, my sister, Sandy, and her husband, Marion, my brother, Paul and my niece, Mary. Rachel did very well on the long road trip, better than we thought since she absolutely hates to be in car confined to her carseat. The trip took us about 9 hours going down and about 10 hours coming home. Rachel really took to my dad and I think he was pretty smitten himself.

Rachel is right on track developmentally. Actually, she may even be advanced for her age with talking and her problem solving abilities. She is starting to put two and three words together and you can easily understand what she is saying now. She now says "miss you" when we don't see her during the day or when we kiss her good night. Every time she says "miss you", it just grabs me in the heart! She still ceases to amaze us each day with all her new words and developments. She is still quite the "spicy" girl and probably even more so as she gets older. If we are out and about and a stranger looks at her, touches her, or even speaks to her, she yells at them and says "nooooooo!" It's quite embarrassing sometimes. I used to apologize and make excuses for her fiestiness, but now I just say "sorry." She's really in the hitting and pinching phase, especially with Jake, who just seems to be in her face a little too much. The only way she seems to get her point across is to hit or pinch. Just in the last few days, she started this raspberry spit thing when you say no to her or you correct her for something. Oh, that will NOT fly in our house. I may have to pull out the pepper or soap if that continues! Where do they learn this stuff?! I truly believe we will see this girl on stage or television. She is to theatrical and absolutely loves to sing and dance. She is constantly picking stuff up and using it as a microphone. About two weeks ago, we were in our sunroom which is where we have our Wii television game. Rachel stepped up on the Wii Fit pad and picked up her plastic ice cream cone which she used as a microphone and started dancing and singing. I just sat there as her audience and watched in amazement as she performed for me. I am a HUGE American Idol fan and Rachel will sit with me mesmerized by the show. If Rachel starts singing, don't you dare join in, she will yell and swat at you for trying to steal her show. She cracks us up! It's hard to keep your composure when around her because she just puts a smile on your face regardless of your mood!

Jake started baseball about a month or so ago. We've only had a few games so far because of rain outs. The weather hasn't been very cooperative. Jake is still trying to get into the groove...he's in a major dry spell with hitting, but he's doing an awesome job pitching. I think playing for an all-star travel team the last two years has diminished Jake's love for baseball. We hope his confidence will improve as the season continues on this year and that he starts making contact with the ball again. He's a powerful hitter when he's in the groove. It's hard watching him be so frustrated with himself.

Jake got straight A's again during the third semester of 5th grade. We are so proud of him and hope he continues to do well. He will have a big adjustment in the fall when he goes to middle school. You realize how fast life passes by when your kids start school. It's so hard to believe that he's in 5th grade and that he'll be heading to the middle school in the fall. We thank God that he's such a great kid and we pray that he continues to stay that way as he gets closer to teenage years.

I'm so proud of my sister, Sandy, and her husband, Marion, in North Carolina. They are heading down the road of adoption as well by participating in the "foster to adopt" program in their state. They both have been attending weekly classes that is required by the state and they are only two classes away from finishing. They will then have to go through rigorous home studies and background checks. God works in mysterious ways. Adoption seems to be the way God wants us to grow our family. My sister, Debbie and her husband, Mark, adopted twin girl's, who have been a part of our family now for 5 years. We have all been a tremendous support to each other and I can't wait to meet my new niece or nephew sometime soon! So, please pray for them has God takes them down this exciting path.

We met some new friends who just came home with their little one, Lauren, in January. Our girl's are only one month apart in age. We had our first playdate at a close by playground and we all had a blast! Denice and Mike don't live too far which is wondeful! It is so nice meeting other families who have the same family dynamics!

April was a big month for us with Dave celebrating his 42nd birthday and Dave and I celebrating 15 years of marriage! 15 years is hard to fathom. I really believe that our marriage gets stronger and stronger every year. We've been through so much together and I'm blessed that I went through all life's trials and tribulations with a wonderful man!

Goodbye till next time!

PS, Hello to a good friend in Hawaii, (Peggy)we miss you. I know you are having a blast with Sunny and your family!

Easter 2009

Happy Easter Everyone! We hope everybody enjoyed the holiday. Just a quick update. Wanted to post some pictures of Rachel and Jake. Sherry will add another post soon.

Rachel and Jakes dad.

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