A blogger friend, Sheri, who is also adopting from China has a business selling charms. All the money raised from the sales of their charms will go towards their adoption fund. She has a lot of cute stuff so check out the website. This is a great Christmas idea.....
Just click on the picture of the charm to get to her website.
This last weekend Erik's sister, Julie, and her husband Kevin flew into town for an unexpected visit with Kevin's family. Although, we wish they were here under different circumstances, we were thankful to meet up with them for dinner. This was their first time meeting Carly. We had a great evening and it's always good to see family!
As most of you know, adoption is dear to our hearts. Carly joined our family in May through adoption, here in Arizona, and we are awaiting our time to travel to bring Claire home from China.
I recently found Sheri's blog who is also in the adoption process with China. The following are words that she wrote, and with her permission I wanted to share them here. I couldn't have said it better.
November is National Adoption month and we thought it only appropriate to celebrate by honoring the one person that that makes all adoptions possible. Whether the path of domestic or internationally adoption is chosen, the one common denominator is the birth mother.
To all birth mothers across the US and around the world; thank you for making one of the hardest decisions in your life. Thank you for choosing life. Thank you for carrying a child for nine months, going through the pain of labor, holding the child in your arms and loving the child so much that you did the most unselfish thing you could do. You gave this child a chance to live, you gave this child a mommy and daddy, you gave this child hope.
The video below is a song by Mark Schultz who was given up for adoption. It is his tribute to his birth mother and birth mothers around the world.
That is exactly what we are of Connor and Carter. First quarter at school came to an end and the grades are out. Drum roll.....Connor made Principal's List AND...so did Carter!
For Carter this is a huge accomplishment. School does not come as easy for Carter as it does Connor. Carter has many challenges and there have been many times he just wants to quit but we keep encouraging him, telling him we are so proud of him and that he can do it. When he received his award from his teacher he told me that he almost cried! I told him that it's ok to cry. They're happy tears. He knows himself what receiving this award means. It means he did not give up and he can do it. He too is so proud of himself.
As I write this I have happy tears. When you have a child with special needs, it's easy to limit your expectations for them. But today I am reminded of what Nurse Rita (the school nurse from Carter's pre-school, who back then was little, frail and so sweet, and I'm sure was in her 80's) said to me on Carter's last day of pre-school. She said "I know that one day, in years to come, Carter will surprise us all." She knew Carter when he was only 3 and 4 years old and yet knew then that Carter would exceed all of our expectations......and I agree. He already has. And God is still working in Carter and Connor and I know He's not done yet.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!
So, way to go Connor and Carter! We are so proud of you!
Although it is October, the weather here is still warm during the day. The kids had a great time washing the car and then of course getting into a water fight with dad afterwards.
My cousin, Merdal, is in town visiting from Michigan. Love having her here.
Connor had his game Friday night. We love having the game in the evening, sitting under the lights and enjoying the cool air. Their team did not win this game but they did play hard. Go Cardinals!
Carly's 2nd tooth finally came thru this last week! I didn't think it would ever happen. She loves sitting in her high chair, which is no surprise since she loves sitting up so she can see all that is going on. She can't miss a thing!
And....Sunday afternoon we all got together at Phil and Audrey's and had a fun time hanging out.
Hard to believe another month has passed. Today Carly is five months old. She is doing so well. She loves to grab for everything and put it in her mouth. There is still only the one tooth but I'm sure it won't be much longer til we see the next one come in. She can roll over from her back to her tummy but still has not gone from tummy to back. She smiles all the time and even gets a good chuckle going. We love her so much and is such a blessing.
Once again, I couldn't post just one or two pictures so I made another slideshow using several. Carter helped me take pictures and you will see the one he took turned out to be my favorite. Good job Carter!
Sunday evening we had Carly dedicated. We as parents made a commitment before the church and to the Lord to teach Carly of His love and grace so that one day she will proclaim Him as her Lord and Savior and choose to follow His ways. The verse given to her, which comes from one of my favorite Psalms, was......"Thou has covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13&14
We had a nice evening with family. We tried to get a picture of all the cousins but it was just too hard. Getting 7 kids to sit together, look at the camera and smile, is not easy. As you will see in the pictures, there is at least one kid missing each time.
