So My Sister Got Married....

Well, my sister got married so now I am officially old. Sigh.... Lauren married a sweet man back in October. She's always wanted a fall wedding, and since Steve didn't propose until, well, six weeks before the wedding (it's ok Steve. We forgive you.) we didn't have a whole lot of time to plan a shower for her. So~ long story short~ she just had a shower this past weekend that was thrown by members of our family! And it was great! I mean, wouldn't you think a table FULL of all different kinds of cake was AMAZING? We did! We probably gained 10 pounds in a two hour time frame, but IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

Lauren and April

Lauren and I

Aunt Wylene, Cousin Susan, Cousin Connie, Cousin Cathy, Lauren, and Aunt A

Lauren and Mom

Amy and I(She was a cake maker too! Just not in the picture!)

The shower was fabulous and we had a GREAT time just spending some time with extended family that we usually don't get to see a lot!!!

My Sweet Friend!

I'm not bragging or anything.....however.....I just want to take a moment to recognize a person who means, for lack of better words, A WHOLE LOT, to me!!!!! But back to the bragging......I have the BEST best friend in the entire universe! Not only can she do practically anything because she's SO extremely talented~ but this week she chose to give me a gift that I will certainly cherish forever! Because she painted it for me! Have a look and be TOTALLY jealous that you don't have one..... :)

I LOVE this! Not only because it is absolutely adorable (and matches my kitchen PERFECTLY by the way!), but it absolutely represents something even bigger to me. It represents the beauty of our friendship. I SO hope that you have the blessing of having a friend that gives like I do. Friendships, just like any relationship, take investing. And she always finds it worthwhile to invest in me~and for that~I am forever thankful!

So-kudo's to you Crysten! I am SO glad that you invest in me!!!! And, I also want to apologize that I don't have a creative bone in my body so you won't be getting any pottery from me! I will just have to find another way to invest back! Thanks for being my BFF!!!!!

Paige

LOVE this!

I saw this on another blog that I read (Bring the Rain is the name of it! Just in case you're dying to know!) and wanted to share it! There is some amazing talent in this group. Praying for the kids EVERWHERE who are hurting.....be it through divorce, death of a parent, disaster, or the kids who are longing for a forever family. May we ALL reach out!


Don't forget to mute the music at the bottom!

Life - With EXTRA Sprinkles!!!

Well, we've had some excitement around our house this past week. And NOT the "happy" kind I might add. Adoption is a mystery and so are ALL the things that come along with it. Like, medical things. When we go to the doctor, those of you who have birthed children know how long it can take to fill out all the forms that request medical histories from both parents. Well, that is one advantage I have over you! I don't ever have to fill out those sections! I simply write, "UNKNOWN". Oh the little things...



Well, I've learned today that this also has disadvantages. Grace's medical history has always been a mystery and let's face it- we attract weird illnesses. I think it's the communist in her...



Anywho...



I probably had my scariest time as a parent today. It all started about a week and a half ago. Grace was a little snotty, congested. She had that typical kid sickness they all have this time of year that their snotty little hands pass around at preschool and the church nursery. Well, then came the hives. And not just a few of them but armies of them all over her body. Called the doctor, gave them a small fortune (haven't met the deductible yet) for them to tell me it's viral and it will pass but here's a steroid just in case! Went home, opted out of the steroid (they are NOT our friend!) and gave her a healthy dose of Benedryl. Twenty-four hours later we're good as new! Just a few patches left. Fourty-eight hours after that she starts breaking out in knots. And I'm talking about KNOTS- the shiner kind that look like they were strategically placed everywhere that clothes didn't cover. I felt like Bethel might call DHR on me...so we filled the steroid. :( Sunday night, our most alarming symptom showed up. Bruises. I was SO sure the social worker would be at our house the next morning. They didn't go away, they kept showing up and before we knew it, both feet, the palms of both hands, and the backs of her knees were completely bruised. Taking matters into my own hands I called a specialist we had seen before at Children's and was told yesterday afternoon they would meet us at Referred Testing first thing this morning. We headed to Birmingham and the nurse was there just like she said.



I'm gonna rabbit trail for just a second. I could NEVER be a nurse. And it's so ironic that my husband is in nursing school because I use to think that it just didn't fit his personality. Now-I know that it takes special people to be nurses. They have to speak the truth- no matter how difficult it may sound or how much it may rock our world. Back to the story.



The nurse made sure I knew they were testing her for everything. I simply said, "ok." She said, "I mean everything. Even Leukemia." And freeze...



I don't think I breathed for like 5 minutes. I was scared to death. They drew blood...lots of blood. I quit counting at 4 vials. She had to have lost half of her blood volume. We went to the Galleria, fooled around Build A Bear (left with a psychodelic pink cute bear by the way!), went to the Disney Store, rode the Carasoul, and I just stared at my child. Wondering if this beautiful little girl was going to have to suffer. Well, thankfully, they called two hours later and said everything was normal. Watch them for another week. If they don't go away, or if more come back we are suppose to call them and have more work done. So we're not out of the clear yet, but we are one step closer.



I have never had such a roller coaster of emotions in one day. Scared, happy, worried, frantic, ecstatic. I told Grace she could pick whatever she wanted to for supper and we would get it. Know what she picked? Chinese food...with ice cream for dessert...topped with Sprinkles. Strange combination you might think? Who cares! The Asian Emperess has spoken and I quote..."It's just been an 'Extra sprinkle kind of day'."



Today, I felt my heart ache for my child. It was fearful. And now it is peacful. But even so, there are many more parents in the halls of Children's Hospital whose hearts are suffering due to their child's illness. And although we have been spared today I feel a connection with them. I've had a slight change in perspective, you might say. Webster's defines perspective as "the ability to see things in a true relationship to what they are." I've been thinking about those sprinkles Grace got SO excited about. You know what she likes about sprinkles? According to her, they make anything pretty good. Need some happy? Throw in a happy sprinkle. Some peace? I'm pretty sure you can add a sprinkle for that too. Whatever life throws at you-throw back a sprinkle. At least you'll smile! So-whether you've had a fantastic day or a pretty crappy day...just add sprinkles. Because everyone could use an "extra sprinkle kind of day." Looking forward to my sprinkles! Blessings...



Paige

Sour Blessings

Well, I know the title of this NEW blog adventure of mine probably has you wondering, "Sour Blessings? Seriously?" Well...yes! This blog is essentially an online journal of mine. I LOVE to journal, but for some reason, do not have the time to sit and write and ponder and hear. Besides, I type much faster! Over the past year I have been asked a million times about the journey that brought us to adoption. At first, it was something I didn't like to talk about. But over the last year my heart has been changing. Undoubtedly, by the 5 year old who now holds it. This journey was painful, heartwrenching, joyful, anxious, doubtful, you name the emotion and I had it! But-it's also a journey of surrender and how healing surrender can be. I hope that you will not judge what you read on this blog. The counselor in me feels the need to put the disclaimer, "All emotions and feelings are ok. It's how we handle them." Anyone who has adopted has a different story. No two are the same. This is mine...

When Brandon and I began to try and have a baby I was ecstatic! SO excited!!! A year goes by....nothing. Another year goes by and an exploratory surgery...nothing. Needless to say I was beginning to question everything. My ability to parent (a child I didn't even have!), my status as a wife, woman. I felt DEFECTIVE. LABLED. I essentially felt like I was walking around with a scarlet letter on my chest. I did a lot of searching. A TON of praying. And still nothing. So, we began to see an infertility specialist. Now, let me insert here that at this point I began to feel God moving me towards adoption. But- those of you who know me well- know that I don't give up easily and I was determined to prove that I wasn't defective. So-I ignored him. And for another year we battled. Brandon and I battled, God and I battled. Shoot, I battled with everybody! (If your one of those people and your reading this, Sorry! Especially you Debbie Waldrep!) I was angry, hurt, and...defective. This battle that I fought was in every since a physical, spiritual battle. I screamed, fought, got physically sick, cried (a lot!), and stood my ground. This battle went on through 4 failed IUI's (intrauterine inseminations). I eventually got to the point where I was willing to give it up if someone could tell me why this form of parenthood wasn't in the cards for me. (Again-those of you who know me know I like to know why!) And again-there was no give. There was NO answer. We have both been checked. We were both-FINE. During this dark year, perhaps the darkest time of my life, I had a conversation with Debbie Waldrep that I believe to this day was ordained by God. We talked about me seeing a therapist and reluctantly I did. This was the turning point. The first point of surrender if you will. I had been seeing Melissa for awhile when this wonderful, caring, beautiful person led me to the point where one day she said, "This makes me think of something I read in Habakuk."

Cue scene- Now how many of us can say we've EVER read Habakkuk? It's this tiny book that is just kind of there sandwiched between Nahum (another book we've all probably never read) and Zephaniah (some of us might have read this one). Okay back to the conversation...

There were two points she made. One was in Habakkuk 1:5 where it reads, "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." And the second was just a chapter over. In Habakkuk 2 it says, "I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint." And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-it will not lie". I have NO idea what she said after that. She may as well have turned in to Charlie Brown's teacher. I firmly believe that God used her as a vessel that day. I did exactly what that verse said. I went home, wrote it down, and put it in a drawer. I gave it a one month time period. We'll reevaluate then. This was the second point of surrender for me. I guess I thought God would change his mind or something. But after a month I still heard, "This is not the plan I have for you." So- I gave in. I surrendered. And we began the process....hesistantly.

A year and a half later we boarded a plane to Beijing. I still wasn't sure what in the world we were doing and even thought about changing my mind right as we stepped into that plane. But- there was a peace. We got our beautiful, scared, traumatized Chinese baby on October 15, 2006. And believe me! Life has not been boring since!!! She is life personified in every fashion! I can't imagine life without her and I am so glad that I surrendered to being her mother. This is what I mean by "Sour Blessings". Infertility was such a sour, bitter journey for me (and Brandon!) But it led us to the blessing of Grace. Now I don't want to act like I have this licked. This is one battle I still fight. I still want to feel a baby move inside me, see what a little Brandon would look like. We've even tried again-with two miscarriages. But- the miracle that occured on October 15 inside that Civil Affairs office in Nanchang, China was just as much a miracle as anything could have ever been. And I still feel God telling me he has a better plan for us. Adoption has become my passion. And I SO glad God chose me for this journey. Hard as it may be at times.

So- I hope you'll check in from time to time to read my ramblings. And stories of Grace...and besides...we'll have a BIG announcement coming from our house soon...you will not want to miss it! Blessings to you!!!! The sweet and the sour kind!!!!

Paige