I think....my quiver is full??!

5 is a lot of kids.  Ok, so the Duggars wouldn't agree, but to this momma, it's a lot.  Not in a bad way, but I still sometimes find myself with 6 plates fixed, not 7.  You know when you have a baby, you ease into that extra plate.  It takes about a year before that child needs his/her own plate at the table.  Before that, it's just a bottle and an occasional jar of food.

 

Things are still going really well, and daily I think I see improvements.  God is so good.  Lily is adjusting amazingly well!  I know that I might be speaking early on in the game, but she seems happy, secure, playful, content, etc.  Are things perfect? No.  But they weren't perfect b/f we left for China either.  So, we work through those imperfections, and strive towards a goal of perfection.  Sounds easy, right?  HA!

 

Today two things that are on my mind - and they are related to one another.  First, parenting - the Biblical kind where you truly shepherd your children.  Two days ago, we were watching an old home movie, when Molly Kate was about 3.  For those of you who didn't spend much time around me when Molly Kate was age birth to about this age of 3, she was a TERROR!  She was cute as all get out, but the child made my skin crawl b/c of the way she could behave!!!  I have on film where she's throwing a tantrum, kicking the door of the bedroom she was in so hard it looks like it's about to break off the hinges, and screaming where the neighborhood could hear her!  So back to the video...I was filming MK outside at the end of our driveway playing in those cheap, plastic dress-up shoes.  She starts heading towards the road, and I precede to say the following, "Molly Kate, come back away from the road....Molly Kate!  Don't get in the road. ...Did you hear me?"  (DUH!! What was I thinking!)  "Molly Kate!  Do you need a spanking?  Molly Kate!  What did I say?!".....   UGH!  As we were watching this, I was in the kitchen cleaning, and I hollered out to Tim, "I'm thinking what you're thinking!" At times, I was such a terrible parent, and he would admit that he was too! 

 

Since that time, we have studied and learned the Biblical approach to parenting. (We've learned it, but we aren't always successful at applying it - we try..)  The book that helped us the most was a book by Reb Bradley titled, Child Training Tips.  (I know it should be underlined, but I haven't figured out how to underline on this laptop.)  Tim and I said if we ever teach a parenting class like Dr. Kent's at our church, we will have to show this video exert.  The incredible part is that as soon as we began implementing Biblical training and discipline into our home, we saw dramatic changes in ourselves and our children, and today, Molly Kate is probably our most consistent child at being obedient with a good attitude!  The goal of all training and discipline is not merely to have obedient children.  The goal is to train our children to love and obey us so that they will know how to love and obey God.  Even in those times when it is cross-cultural, hard, causes suffering, ...

 

The other thing on my mind, that is also very much related to parenting is from the scriptures we have been reading lately.  Tim and I are reading through the Bible in a chronological order.  Right now we are reading through the many kings of Jerusalem and Israel.  This is when the nation of Israel was divided.  As we read through, the scripture tells of many kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and dispersed throughout these evil kings, there is an occasional king who did what was good in the eyes of the Lord.  It is always refreshing to hear how these kings followed the Lord - tearing out the asheroh poles, destroying alters that were for pagan sacrifices, cleaning and restoring the temple, etc.  This morning I read this, 2 Kings 23:25, "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did - with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses."  What saddens me is that almost all of these kings that follow the Lord are followed by their own sons who did evil. 

 

I don't want my children or generations after me to suffer because of evil in my life.  Tim and I don't have an asheroh pole in the backyard, and we haven't sacrificed any sons to pagan gods, but sometimes

I'm aware that we let other things in our lives take precedence over Spiritual training and discipleship in our home.  Our pastor recently did a sermon series titled "Idol Factory."  We are all guilty of having idols at times.  Right now I'm very aware of my responsibility to train the 5 daughters that God has blessed us with. 

 

Now, on to the lighter side of life...

 

Lily is now singing "Jesus loves me" and it is SO sweet.  Sometimes, Tim will play the piano for her, and she'll sit next to him and sing.  I recorded it a few days ago, and maybe I can get Tim to post it later on to the blog. We're still working on colors and shapes, and she's learning more new words daily.  I'm hoping to start Kindergarten with Molly Kate and her in a few weeks.  I think the Carley homeschool is going to resume around the 23rd - but I do have to get all my curriculum ordered.  Have I already mentioned home schooling as a prayer request?  This year I'll go from home schooling just Carrie Mac and Meg to schooling all 5.  (In the past, the little ones have attended a church preschool program.)  So please pray for us.  

 

She's sleeping very well now - she was waking someone up in the house every night just to tell that person that she needed to go to the bathroom.  She didn't need any help, she was simply waking someone up to tell them she needed to go.  That was a habit I tried REALLY hard to eradicate!  I take my sleep pretty seriously!  Thank goodness, my crazy charades game of telling her "do not wake up Carrie Mac, do not wake up Meg, do not wake up Molly Kate or Annie, and do not wake up Mom or Dad...Just go to the bathroom and go back to bed"  has finally worked.   Oh, to sleep through the night is a wonderful thing!!

 

At the moment, our biggest problem is probably the way Lily and Annie sometimes treat each other.  Sometimes, they are just not nice.  Some of that is normal - they are sisters now, but some of it is just ugly!  However, sometimes, they are playing beautifully together.  I think language will also make this relationship better.  Lily, although 6, acts and looks much more like a four-year-old.  We were really hoping she would be a great playmate for Molly Kate - who ALWAYS seems to be our child w/o a playmate, but that doesn't seem to be working out. 

 

Life right now seems to be returning to the chaos I call normal.  Since school hasn't started, we're trying to play games (Memory, Candy Land, etc.), swim, play with friends, etc.  Washing sheets was a big undertaking!  I'll have to admit that although mine and Tim's sheets always get washed on a weekly basis, the kids' sheets sometimes make the 2 week mark.  That's gross.  But like I said...5 is a lot.  And although people have kindly and graciously signed up to bring us meals (which has been such a blessing!!) I haven't found the list of people signing up to come and clean my house.  Maybe if we ever adopt a 6th, somebody will get a house-cleaning volunteer list going....Right now, on my computer in the bedroom, I've got a chore list going so I can hopefully successfully divide household chores/responsibilities among this 7 person household. 

 

I'll leave you with a funny story.   A few nights ago I was reading one of our last history chapters (from last year) to Carrie Mac and Meg, and Molly Kate had walked into Carrie Mac's room to join us.  She began looking around in Carrie Mac's room studying her stuff on dressers  and in her closet.  After I finished reading, she said to Carrie, "Carrie, I think you're the best sister I got.  You've got lots of neat stuff."  I guess when you have 4 sisters, you have to have some way to decide who's highest on the totem pole... (That was also a great opportunity for Biblical training.)

 

 

 

 

lily's progress

For those of you who are still following, I thought I'd spend just a minute (yes, this one will be much shorter than most) sharing Lily's updates. The biggest update is that each day now, we are seeing improvements in how Lily is responding to both the animals and Tim - Meg's prayer (and ours) is being answered. She seems to be letting Tim fill the role of Daddy, and his heart is melting. Yesterday, Tim gave her a makeover, and she LOVED it!!!! Tim and I both think the child pageant thing is pretty grotesque, but he turned Lily into a child diva, and you would have thought he'd just purchased her a candy store by the look on her face! (One expert in adoption bonding suggests that if a child is not bonding, do things that require some physical interaction that is welcomed by the child - this worked.) Tim got several big hugs and a gigantic grin. Lily is also now allowing Tim to hold her, kiss her, tuck her in at night, etc. Sweet. And, she's also warming up to Maggie, our aging dog, and Batsy, our cat. (They would probably prefer that she didn't bond with them, but it seems to be important to the girls that this bonding take place too.)

This child is a fast learner. She knows all our names, the names of our parents (Nana, Daddo, MaMaw and PaPaw), how to count to 10, apple, banana, uh-oh, bath, brush teeth, ...and she knows a lot of words when I say them, like, "Which one is the circle?" She can point it out, but if I had said, "What is this shape?" she might not have remembered the word "circle."

We are all enjoying being home SO much. I have only left the house 4 times since getting home Sunday evening. I've had one quick run to Wal-Mart, a trip to the dentist office w/ the whole family - Lily has 6 cavities-, my parents' house for swimming, which Lily loves, and a visit to Tim's parents' house this evening.

I had told a few friends my next blog entry was going to be titled "5 is a lot" but I didn't have the energy for that blog entry tonight. Maybe it'll come later.

Home Sweet Home

Friends, I cannot begin to express to you how WONDERFUL it is to be home!!! Our flight from Detroit to Hattiesburg was just ok - I was feeling pretty puny by this time, and we had a mean stewardess (She loudly scolded Carrie Mac for getting up to use the restroom because the seatbelt light was still on - poor CM was humiliated and exhausted by this point in the trip!) However, landing in Jackson was fabulous. I practically ran through the airport with Lily in the stroller trying to get to Molly Kate, Annie, my parents and Tim's parents. I was elated to see them!!! Thankfully the feeling was mutual, and they were all just as excited to see all of us too. Lily recognized our parents from Skype and from pictures that I had sent to her about a month ago in a care package, and she seemed happy to meet more of her new family.

My parents were able to rent a 12-passenger van for the day, which was also a big blessing because we were all able to ride home together. When we arrived home, my sweet friend JJ had arranged for a "welcome home" gathering of some friends and family. It was perfect! My mom and I talked about how neat this was not only for Tim and me, but also for our girls to see the body of believers rejoicing with us! Everyone visited about 20-30 minutes, and then they all went home. When I walked inside, I got to enjoy my home decorated with these adorable Chinese lanterns and a beautiful boquet of lilies - compliments of my mom. Those of you who know her, know that this is SO like my mom. She really is blessed with the gift of giving/hospitality! I love my lilies. They smell good, look beautiful, and I've been wanting some beautiful flowers since Mother's Day - all of you who get to see Tim will have to ask him about the "flowers" he got me!!

Sunday night we ended up having cereal, some goods that my next door neighbor grilled for us - sausage and bacon wrapped chicken, etc., did some unpacking, laundry, baths, etc. (Molly Kate, Annie and Lily were cute in the tub. I wish I didn't think they were too old to take pictures of in the tub, cause it was cute. By the way, Lily LOVES the bathtub!) We got all the kids to bed around 9:00 p.m., and Tim and I followed a couple of hours later. I did get 2 suitcases unpacked that night and 3 loads of laundry done, which was also great. (I know I'm boring you with details here, but it's therapeutic to relive that accomplishment.)

Praise God we all slept well. Lily is a great little sleeper. From what I have read, often times, sleep can be one of the biggest issues with adopted kids, and we are very thankful this doesn't seem to be a problem with her. I haven't had to get up with her at all yet.

Yesterday, we all seemed to wake up around 7:00 a.m., and we had a lazy morning. Tim ran up to Corner Market for eggs, bacon, and blueberry muffins, and we had a great family b'fast. It was so nice to have my whole family around one table. Lily didn't eat much, but maybe that's because we didn't to pull out the noodles and seaweed! Most of yesterday, Lily was entertained by her sisters and our neighbors. We have lots of little girls in the neighborhood, and she was a big hit! We also watched a good bit of TV - America's Funnies Home Videos (you don't have to understand English to think that stuff is funny) and Kit Kitteridge. I finished unpacking us and doing the laundry, and Tim took care of the yard (I know our neighbors are thankful). The day ended with a delicious meal (care of Stephanie Weathers and Nancy Shows) and one more episode of AFV - Lily fell asleep in my arms.

The great news is that Lily seems to really like home and really like Annie and Molly Kate. The not as great news is that she still is doing 180's with Tim - liking him one moment and then pushing him away the next, and she's not so sure about our cat and dog. With the pets, it's like she likes them from a distance, but we've even seen improvement over the last 24 hours. Meg prayed yesterday at lunch, and it was too cute. She prayed, "please help Lily to bond with our animals and Dad." Tim and I got a laugh out of that one.

Jet lag hit us last night. Tim, Carrie Mac, and I were awake at 2:00 a.m., and Meg did some sleep walking last night. Thankfully, we all went back to sleep, but the sleep was kind of restless for Tim and me. I think we'll probably enjoy a Tylenol PM tonight.

Tim's done some research online this morning, and the "doctor" has diagnosed Lily with scissor-gait CP. Sometime today we're calling UAB International Adoption Clinic to schedule an appointment there for Lily. They'll access her physically, mentally, emotionally, etc., and they'll provide recommendations for treatments, etc.

One of Lily's favorite things in our house is our piano. I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that her fine motor skills are fabulous, so maybe we have a piano prodigy in the making. I'm sure she will take lessons - after we've mastered English.

Our biggest prayer request is for bonding for Lily and Tim. We have so many praises - we had safe travel, Lily is healthy, she has bonded with me, we're home!!! we got to sit together on the plane, we have wonderful family and friends!!!, all our girls seem to be adjusting well with this change...and I know I'm neglecting to mention some.

Thanks for praying!

Arriving Home

the flight

Love, joy, peace, PATIENCE....

Getting to the airport went smoothly.  After we went through all the check in, security, and finally made it to the gate, Tim went to purchase breakfast for us.  He comes back with a drink for everyone.  Lily is not the most graceful child when it comes to drinking.  Quite a few times, we have experienced little spills, so I brought along an empty water bottle so we could pour her just a little.  She wanted the whole bottle of fanta, and Tim said to give it to her.  After about 3 sips, I stand dumb-struck as I watch her holding the bottle sideways totally ignorant of the fact that Fanta is literally pouring out of her bottle onto our carry-on suitcase, two chairs, and the floor.  That was the end of the Fanta.  Then, over the loudspeaker, they announce that you cannot carry on liquids that have been purchased since going through the security.  So, Tim has just come back with 6 drinks for the five of us, Lily spills half of hers, and now we are supposed to throw away the remaining ones.  Not good!  (mind you these weren't 50 cent cokes and waters - you know the mark-up in the airport!)  Oh well, right?  If that's as bad as it gets......

 

Right before we get on the airplane, I'm a good mom, and I remind all the girls it's time to go to the bathroom.  Successful trip.  Everyone goes.  I'm feeling good.  It's gonna be a good day.

About 15 minutes after sitting on the plane, Lily says, "Show pee in."  If you remember from an earlier blog I told you that's what Lily says when she needs to go to the restroom.  I told her we have to wait until the seatbelt sign went off.  As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, I took Lily.  And then, I took her again.  And then, I took her again.  Then it was time for the snack lunch and drink.  This drink also got spilled.  Rice was all over her, the floor, etc.  And then, we also had to go back to the bathroom.  At this point, PATIENCE was being prayed for.  And, drugs were coming out.  I gave Tim a Benadryl with instructions to pour some of the contents into her little bit of sprite leftover.  Unfortunately, she could taste the med., so she wasn't to keen on drinking it, but we got a little down the sweet angel, and about 30 -45 minutes later, she slept.  Not long, but it was sleep all the same.  Can you guess what she wanted to do when she woke up?  You guessed it.  Thankfully the planes have western potties and not squatties, available toilet paper, and soap.  (things you don't find in China)

 

After that, thankfully potty visits slowed down, and overall, the flight was ok.  It did get VERY turbulent at one point, and that was a little unnerving to me, but Lily was boasting her ear to ear grin.  I guess she didn't mind the trays sliding back and forth and the sloshing cups, etc.  After 14 long hours, we finally made it.  None of us slept much on the flight, and I think the fatigue wore hard on Carrie Mac and Meg.  Meg started to get sick but was able to ward it off while we waited in the customs line, and then Carrie Mac did get sick right after that, but she was able to make it to a restroom.  Now we are able to take off in Detroit headed to Jackson.

 

 

 

almost home

We're in Hong Kong!  In less than 24 hours, we'll be in the air headed home, and we can't wait.  However, we slept well last night in nice accommodations, and we're looking forward to our day here.  Our plans right now are to go to the Victoria Peak.  We'll take a cable car up this mountain, and then hopefully we'll go to the Ripley's Believe it or Not auditorium.  There are also several restaurants up there, so that's probably where we'll have lunch too.  Then maybe back to the hotel for packing/swimming, and then sleep and fly home.

 

Thursday we spent a little time shopping for our souvenirs, and then we spent the afternoon getting to and from the U.S. Consulate office for the swearing of an oath.  This was kind of neat.  There were 2 shuttle buses full of families adopting that were taken to this office.  We each waited for our child's name to be called, and after about 40 families had received their paperwork, a lady at that office led us in a group oath.  She shared that there are approx. 9000 international adoptions each year, and about 3000 of those are China children.  Almost everyone we met here was adopting a special needs child.  It's really kind of neat to see all the families with all the different children and their needs.  That night we had dinner with one of the other Faith families.  Tim and Katie are similar to us in that they have 4 biological children, and they were doing their first adoption, and they are believers.  It was so nice to have dinner with them.

 

The hardest thing I have seen here with the adoption process is how many of these families are not Christians.  I guess I had on my rose colored glasses and thought that most of the families that would spend the time, money, etc to travel across the country for a special needs orphan would be Christians.  Not so.  We did meet quite a few that were, but there were also plenty that were not.  There is a man that owns a shop in the area, and he is a Christian.  As a free gift, he'll right your adopted child's name in Chinese and tell the meaning - it's really pretty.  While we were in there a lady asked him if he would be willing to do her other son's name -Jacob.  He smiled and said "good name, Biblical."  She kind of laughed and said that actually she was Buddhist.  Broke my heart.  I was near her little adopted girl at one point in the store, so I placed my hand on her and silently prayed that God would put her places with Christian influence.  Later this same woman tried to haggle on prices with the owner and then we think she lied to him saying she had run out of money, and asked if he would come down on his prices any more.  (He had already come off some for her.)  Tim offered to pay the difference, but she wouldn't take the money.  Then she walked out of the store and returned quickly with a 100 RMB bill.  We think she had the money, and she was just trying her hardest to get a lower price.  We also spent a good bit of time with a lady who prayed to her deceased mother.  The crazy part is that this woman was very likeable.  She had a big heart for orphans.  She and her husband have 3 biological children and 3 adopted, special needs children.  We need to be praying for orphans and for Christian families for these orphans.

 

Yesterday we spent our morning getting ready.  The two big girls and I ran out for 2 more things we wanted to purchase, and to pick up some food for our journey to Hong Kong.  When we got back, Lily was red-faced with tears.  Tim said she had cried big for about 20 minutes, and then she just hid herself in the bathroom.  She wasn't treating him very nicely, and it was killing him.  As long as I'm around though, she seems to be fine with him.  We all know that having Molly Kate and Annie around will help her bond with Tim too.  Plus, Chinese men have little if any facial hair, and several people have said his beard is probably a little frightening to her.  Who knows? 

 

I wish I had a little more time to blog this morning, but it's 10:30 a.m. here, and we still haven't had b'fast, so I'll blog later.  Pray for safe travel, seats together on the plane, and keep praying for bonding. 

 

 

Time in Guanzhou

I'll start with something funny.  Lily had diarrhea the night before last, and when Tim talked to our guide here, Cordelia, she asked if Lily was tucked in well.  She said it might be that Lily got cold air in through her belly button!  I'm being serious!!  So, last night we made sure to tuck that child in really well.  Tim said he might try to patent the belly-button warmer.  Do you think Patagonia or North Face would be interested?  They are really funny about staying warm here.  They think it is healthy to be warm-hot. 

 

Cordelia is great.  She's really sweet and very organized which is highly appreciated by me.  Tim's pretty good with the go with the flow, but I really like to know times, details, etc, and Cordelia has provided that very well.  When she met us at the airport, she gave us a sheet with our weekly plans, times, and all that we would need at each meeting.  She's also just sweet.  It's a pleasant change from Hangzhou. 

She is not a believer, but she says that she respects all religions.  We have not had much time with her one on one.  There are four Faith International families here now, so we have been in a larger group, usually with 2 of these families.

 

I know I've already told you that I like our room, but I just have to say, when you're living out of suitcases, space and cleanliness can make a HUGE difference, and the Japanese suite is the way to go at the Victory Hotel in Hangzhou!  Before coming to China, I tried to do some hotel research online, and that's how I picked this hotel out of my choice b/t this one and the White Swan.  I did remember seeing that one of the hotels I researched had a sketchy salon - that really it was more of a brothel, and I think this hotel might be the one.  Needless to say, we're not getting massages, although Tim said the other night when he crossed the street to the 7-11 he had several offers of "massage by pretty girl."  (There is an exterior entrance and an interior entrance to the hotel salon/spa.)  I'm telling you it is a different world.  I know it happens in the states, but not openly and actively quite like it does here.

 

Our past couple of days have been really nice.  The family we spent time with in Hangzhou met up with us Monday.  We went to the antique market which wasn't great, but the rest of the day was great.  They can speak Mandarin, so they were able to take us to a great Chinese restaurant here and order.  Luca asked for a private dining room which required that you spend at least $100 US dollars.  We had 9 people b/t the 2 families, so this wasn't asking too much.  We had this great private room, and the kids could run around a little, and we had way too much food and a huge variety...  Meg tried pigeon head - you don't really eat the head, but the head is still attached, and you eat the meat that is around the neck.  That is probably the craziest food eaten here.  (I hope!)  We had broccoli, scallops, fried noodles and rice, pork, spare ribs (they didn't look like ours),  sticky rice and meat wrapped in lotus leaves, wontons, spring rolls, dim sum, etc.  I probably only named 1/2 of what was served.  It was lots of fun.  Then we went back to their hotel and let the kids swim together.  They are staying at a really swanky hotel called the Garden Hotel.  The spa there was SO nice, but they are paying about twice as much as we are, and they are a cab drive away from all the stuff around here, and, we got to see their room and it's really not much nicer than what we are in.  After our swim, we took a cab back here and met the Nashville family for dinner at the Thai restaurant, Cow and Bridge.  The food was not my favorite, but the conversation was a blessing!  That made it sound like we had theological conversation, when really we talked about bluegrass music, Allison Krauss, Franklin, TN, Ole Miss and State...and it was so much fun!  I needed some southern talk!  Lots of people here are from NY, Chicago, Oregon, Washington, etc.  I got some ya'll talk!

 

Tuesday we met our guide and 2 of the other Faith Families and went to Safari Park.  IT WAS INCREDIBLE!  The only thing that kept is from being a perfect day was the heat.  Probably around 95 degrees, humid, and very little was air conditioned.  In spite of the heat, it was great!  We rode about a 20-30 minute safari and saw elephants, tigers, emus, bears, lions, all sorts of deer, peacocks, swans, and other animals.  They weren't separated from us by any barrier, and while we're watching, trainers are out feeding them, so the animals were up and active.  Really, it was fascinating.  Then you walk through other areas like a zoo.  The girls got to feed giraffes and elephants.  We all touched an elephant and had our picture taken with it.  They held a baby white tiger.  There was an animal nursery where we saw baby monkeys, tigers, bears, goats, etc.  We saw baby tigers being fed with a bottle.  We saw Koala bears, Panda bears, etc.  And, I bet we only did about 1/2 or less.  If we hadn't been with the group, I know we could have spent more time here.  There was a little amusement area with a carousel and other rides. And you could ride on an elephant.  I know our girls would have loved all of that, but I guess our guide didn't want to include that.  That was probably our favorite day in China!

 

Wednesday was our first day to get to sleep in.  We do have to get up by about 8:30 to make it to breakfast though.  Yesterday we had to stay in our room from 10:15-12:15 (morning) while Cordelia met with the consulate.  Then we got out, had lunch and shopped around here.  We had group pictures last night and a group dinner.  I was cranky yesterday b/c we had agreed that the group dinner would be at Lucy's, but Cordelia said she had to do at it the Thai place due to seating.  We ended up at this long table.  I was at the very end and only spoke to my family b/c I was too far to visit w/ anyone else.  I was not a happy camper.  I tried to remind myself that the Bible says to do everything without grumbling or complaining.  It's getting hard.  I'm really ready to go home, and I'm really missing MK and Annie.  Soon.  Soon.  Soon.  (And I won't have to do Thai anymore.  Did I mention that at the Thai restaurant you have to buy your napkins and they aren't even really napkins?  you get tissues!  All of you who know how I am frugal will enjoy this - I took my roll of toilet paper with us last night!  Radical.)

 

Today we have a consulate meeting at 2:15 p.m.  We're about to get out and do a little more shopping.  It's really more of looking.  We've made a few purchases, but not many.  Even though things are pretty cheap here, a lot of it is made cheaply, and a lot of it is stuff I would throw out in another 6 months to a year.  I just did major cleaning/nesting b/f we left, and I don't want to bring home a bunch of unnecessary stuff.  Trying to live "Radical."

 

Right now, Lily is beside the couch (her bed here) playing with her American girl doll.  It's so cute!  She just caught me staring at her and burst into her mile-wide grin!  It's so cute!!  I can't wait to see Annie, Molly Kate and her together!  I think we are going to have lots of tea parties, dress-up, etc.  Poor Tim in a few years!!  Maybe you should all just keep him on a permanent prayer list.  Do you think Temple would add him to the prayer list for living with 5 girls, his wife, a female dog and cat?

 

Oh, I have to tell you that she is calling me "mama" now.  Did I already blog that?  It's so hard to remember.

 

Thanks for your prayers.  We love you.  MM