A Friend Is Coming Home...

They have been together practically since birth, shared a nursery at the same orphanage, adopted through the same agency and both mothers have anxiously waited for "Gotcha Day"...finally one of Anna's friends is coming home.

When we were matched with Anna, it wasn't long until I met another lady who was adopting through Children's House International, our agency, who was adopting a little girl, just a couple weeks younger than Anna, who was in the same orphanage, who also had a repaired lip, cleft palate. Both Jeanne and I have corresponded through e-mail throughout the process and took joy in the other's completed steps to bring our daughters home.

Jeanne is in China now and received her daughter, Annabelle, on Monday. Today I finally got to see the pictures of Annabelle and a report on how they are doing. Both mom, sister and Annabelle are doing wonderful and she is adjusting well. We are so happy that Annabelle will soon be coming home.

I opened the pictures of Annabelle with her family and showed Anna, she immediately began smiling and reaching toward the computer screen with her little finger stretched out to touch the screen. She would touch Annabelle's face and smile. She rubbed her face over and over and then gave her "sugar" multiple times. It was so sweet. I know she recognized her. I wish I knew what she was thinking.

Wishing all the babies were soon coming home and sending congratulations to Jeanne, Julia and Annabelle!

Toddler Time...

The school year has officially began for Carter and Jacob. After I take them to school, it is just Parker and Anna with full reign of the house for over 6 hours...Toddler Time! From Backyardigans to Diego, Weeble Treehouse to baby dolls, Thomas the Train to Toy Story, it is non-stop play.

Parker, especially over this summer, has gotten so used to playing with the boys, he played "big". All he wanted to play was StarWars, Transformers, Spider-Man, etc. But, this past week, with just him and Anna, he has really started playing like a "little" boy again. He entertains Anna with basically whatever she wants to do. He just wants to play...and Anna, she just wants to do whatever she wants to do.

"Pirates Say ARRRR!" Anna loves Pablo

Her favorite things are a Backyardigan microphone radio type thing, a stuffed monkey that plays music, LeapFrog fridge magnets, and the Jessie and Woody dolls from Toy Story. The change in her personality in just two months is just amazing. She has gone from a very quiet, unadventurous, sedentary, untypical toddler to a vocal, playful, exploratory, teasing, energetic 21 months old.

Anna is now eating IN a high chair. It took us over a month and a half, but we finally done it. When I put her in the chair and put on her bib, she starts getting pretty excited.

Parker loves to play with whatever, especially if it makes noise or could potentially make a mess. It is just the boy in him. He can take a simple juice box and somehow get 'sticky' from head to toe, manage to get it on the table, floor, chair and drip it all the way up the steps. It is only like 4 oz. of liquid, but you would think from the mess it was at least 2 gallons. He has also returned to drawing...on the walls. I thought we were broke from this habit, but he managed to get a hold of a purple crayon, which are all but under lock and key, and drew me a lovely picture between the t.v. and a wall in the family room. The sad part was I was up stairs when he did it. But I was busy, he was being so quiet "playing" I just let him play, or should I say color the wall. He is only three and I have to sometimes remind myself of that. He is soooo much bigger than Anna and I tend to expect him to act a lot older than her. But his is only 17 months older and they are really not that far apart.

If Anna has a baby in her bed, then Parker needs a baby in his bed.

Anna is still very small for her age. She is still wearing 6/9 month clothing with a few 12 month outfits mixed in here and there, but she is acting more and more appropriately for a child her age. She is making more sounds, trying to mimic actions she sees, fussing when she doesn't get her way, and just beginning to act like a normal little girl. When I think about the huge strides she has made over the past 2 months, it just makes me so proud of her and her resilience to overcome the obstacles that she has already faced in her short life.

I know her hair is still to short for dog ears, BUT dog ears was one of Rodney's things. We were both excited about getting Anna and bringing her home, first and foremost, but we both had "things" that we just couldn't wait to do with a little girl...I was excited about dresses, Rodney was excited about dog ears. Finally, I have managed to get two little twigs of hair, that stick straight up, in dog ears for Daddy.

Anna is just the just the most perfect little girl any mother could have every dreamed of. She is sweeter than sugar, cute as a button and she is mine. I don't know why I have been given this enormous blessing, but I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be Anna's mother.

Waiting at the backdoor to show Daddy her new hairdo! Seriously, he almost cried :-)

One very blessed mother. Sending love from Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker and Anna

Anna's First VBS...

Last week, Anna attended her first Vacation Bible School. Obviously, she didn't attend a class, but she was there with her brothers, looking really cute...so that counts :-)

Cutest little girl there...seriously!

In the last few days, Anna has really kicked it up a notch. She is playing lots, lots more and she is actually grinning. She smiled before, but there is a difference. She squints up her eyes and makes an effort to spread her mouth and show her teeth. She sometimes does it even when she doesn't know she is being watched. It is really cute. She is also being more inquisitive and showing out. She likes to have everyone's attention and put on a show. The other day, she was on the kitchen table (I know...bad thing, but it was surrounded by family members) and she was dancing and doing her "shoulder thing". She makes one shoulder come up to her ear over and over...it is like it is a little dance move of her's or something. We would laugh at her and she would start all over again.

Cheese!

Anna has started saying "bye bye" and saying "hi" more. Last night we were sitting in the den and she would open her mouth and slowly say "hhhhhiiiiii". We did it back and forth with each other many times. She would watch my mouth when I would say it. It was almost like you could see those little wheels turning as she opened her mouth and repeated it back to me. She is "jabbering" lots more too. She is making many different sounds. I don't think it will be long until she gives us some more words. But she has "mamama" mastered, so that's the main one that matters :-)

Anna also took off her pjs on her own. She woke up and I was making her breakfast before getting her...when I got to her room her pjs were thrown in the floor and she was just in her diaper. It was the first time she had attempted, to my knowledge, to take off her clothes. I was pretty impressed. She is also climbing stairs now. She had gotten up on the first step before, but never attempted to go further. Now, she will keep going until we stop her. She can climb really good, but of course it is that coming down part that she hasn't mastered. She is 20 months now, almost 21 months. She had been acting like a "walking infant" before, but now she is really starting to act more like a toddler. Exploring, touching, climbing, fussing with displays of her temper...she still has a ways to go, but she is definitely making huge strides.

Carter and Jacob were to start school tomorrow, but due to some air conditioning problems at the county middle school, it has been postponed until Monday....YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They can put it off until September on my account. So we have a few more days of the whole crew at home and a few more days without having a "real" schedule.

The boys had open house the last two days, Carter on Monday, Jacob last night. I asked who they wanted to take them or if they wanted us all to go. They both just wanted Anna and me to go. It was really sweet. They wanted to take Anna to their teachers from last year and show her off. They were just busting with pride and grinning ear to ear. I asked them about what they wanted her to wear and they were both very serious about what outfit she had on. They wanted her to "look cute". She did.

Glad summer break is extended at least 2 more days and sending love from Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker and Anna.