Life is good!

Roll Tide!!!

Father-Son face off in the Belly Bowl.

Three sisters... great friends!

Fast friends waiting on another!

Lydia's room that is not being used.

Thought I would post some fun stuff (to us at least) that will soon go to the archives. Lydia is sleeping in the master BDR in her crib for now, but praise the Lord it is through the night! She is a little cranky in the mornings and we have learned to give her some "alone time" in her crib before getting her. It is actually quite funny, if we go to the crib too soon, she shakes her head no. When she is ready to meet the world, she lets us know and her day begins. She is eating much better and has the waistline to proove it! She basically wants to eat whatever we are eating. She is adorable with her little spoons and measureing cups, she pretends they are pots and pans. She stirs and cooks up a storm, then feeds us. We are thinking she spent alot of time in the kitchen with her foster mother.

The photo of the Belly Bowl was from our first Saturday home. The Bellies team was made up of my brothers, Mark, and my brother-in-law. The Brawn was all the cousins. What fun! The house still smells like Bengay from that game! Needless to say... the Brawn won. ;-)

The photo of the Three Sisters is my twin Cheryl, and a friend from college. We all have daughters from China and we are forever bonded by this blessing. Allyson is truly like a sister to me and I am sooo thankful the Lord put her in my dorm at Lee all those years ago. It's uncanny how the Lord weaves our lives together. She and Frank drove up for the baby shower from our church and spent 2 days getting to know Lydia. What a treasure to watch Molly, Josie, Emilie, and Lydia all together.

As I type this blog I am watching Lydia plunder through her toy basket singing her little heart out. She has a very sweet gentle voice while she sings. Mark and I can hardly believe she belongs to us! The stress of all those years of waiting, and the aggrivation of the adoption agency flip/flop all fade into the past as we watch our daugher blossom with the rest of the Spring flowers.

Psalms 103:1-5
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

Easter 2009

What a wonderful day! I love Easter! One of the neatest traditions at 10th St. is the Easter Parade. For the last 3 years I would watch the little ones march around the church to the tune of "Easter Parade." I would try to imagine our sweetie in the mix, and today we finally got to experience the dream. Lydia has enjoyed having her cousins Josie and Emilie this week for their Spring Break. They have gotten her to crawl (such as it is) by scooting along the floor on her bottom. She is doing her best to keep up with them. We have also enjoyed having cousin Nathaniel here as well. He was sweet enough to help me get her dressed. Church is sweeter when you have kinfolk to sit with.

I have especially enjoyed this Easter season as I look at our growing family with a heart full of thanks. Thankful for our Salvation, our Healing, the Love Christ has given us to share. During Mark's message this morning he held Lydia for a while as he prepared the church for the alter call. What a perfect picture of "adoption" and the gift of salvation Christ brings to us through the Cross. It was very moving. Mark made the statement to the church that we are often seen as "hero's" for opening our hearts and home to Lydia. We're constantly told how "lucky" Lydia is... but the truth is we are the "lucky" (blessed as we see it) ones. We have been given far more than we gave. Adopting Lydia has refocused us all to what is really important in life.

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

The New Norm

We are slowly falling into a routine and can safely say "jetlag" is a thing of the past. Lydia is sleeping through the night most of the time and is in her crib next to our bed. She has come so very far!! She sits up, is beginning to use her arms and feed herself, (Cheerios) and has even fed me a few. :-) It is wonderful to hear her in the morning talking and playing in her crib. She usually wakes up happy. We have had some sad somber moments, but our love seems to be working its magic. She is readily making eye contact, and reaches for us to be held. Her smiles for each of us let us know that she knows we are her forever family. She has become a parrot and especially loves playing "battle of the noises" with Andrew. Her brothers are a big help around the house. Jason is her favorite person to play "roll the ball" with. So the new norm is being established. Rocky (our Lab) is eternally grateful to Lydia for his new favorite spot...under her highchair! We cannot thank you all enough for the prayers that have gone up on Lydia's behalf. God is answering each and every one of them!

(FYI ~ the Mt. Dew can is a prop only)

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37