Can't Fix Stupid

Yes, I said stupid, and No we don't allow our girls to say that word but I'm assuming that not many small children are reading this so I said it. Stupid.

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate Avery making the honor roll!! yeah Avery! This is normal for her, however, with missing a total of 14 days of school to go to China and having to make up a zillion tests....it was cause for a celebration! She has worked so hard and we are very proud!

Now back to stupid.

We got the normal questions...Are they all yours? FOUR girls? *grin*

Then she came. The waitress. Here was one for the ages....

"So are ya'll doing that thing on TV where you like, sponsor a child for $15 a month...is she one of those kids?"

Really. Really? Ya'll I was good. I could have seriously come back with something sooooo sassy...

(yeah, she's just 15 bucks a month and we can send her back whenever we want...you should do it!! It's so much fun!! Make a difference...they actually let you go and GET the child you sponsor!!")

I wasn't sassy...there were children around and you know, they watch how I react to *STUPID* questions. Praise Jesus Ashley isn't old enough to understand what they're saying. Yet.

"No, she is our daughter and the Lord led us to China to get her....isn't she just the cutest thing? Now could you bring us some more rolls please?"

Can't fix Stupid. But with the Lord's grace and some "Holy Duct Tape" (ash), maybe we can educated it.

Tammi Nowack Photography (see post below)

Two Months Home

We've had a busy few weeks at our house!

Nana and Pop came for a weekend and Pop got to meet his newest granddaughter for the first time! I was a tad bit nervous about her reaction to him, but she did FABULOUS! She just "knew" that this was her pop and let him hug and cuddle and rock her! I really think the only other man that she has ever let hold her is her daddy so this was big! Nana and Pop were here for three (short) days and we can't wait to go to their house once school gets out.

Tammi Nowack also did a shoot for Ashley. When she gets nervous she puts her fingers in her mouth and apparently she was nervous a lot. Or maybe she was cold. It was about 45 degrees the morning we did pics and this bad mama made her wear a summer dress:) Go check out Tammi's site....she is AMAZING! We were honored to have her photo Ashley...and wish she could have been with us to take pics IN China :)

Well, today marks two months home with our Hunan "spicy" girl. In some ways, it seems like it's flown by and in others, I can feel everyday. I know things appear to be perfect and rosy with her, but I can assure you they are not. SHE of course, is a tremendous blessing whom we adore, but adoption is hard. This 21 month old has been through more in the last 2 months than most of us could ever imagine. She is still grieving her life in China and will for some time.

The only way I can wrap my brain around it is to think of Annalyse. She's 2 years and 4 months old. Think if one day, someone picked her up, drove her to a Chinese family, dropped her off and then 13 days later, flew her to China to live forever. Changed her diet, her language, her clothes and took away us...her mama and daddy. Ashley has experienced just that. (remember she was not in an orphanage, she was in foster care.)

For the most part, things are going beautifully....but she still has hard days. Overall, she is a JOY and we love her to pieces....and we continue to pray for her heart to be healed and mended.

The other night as Jay was praying over us, God reminded me that this was a CALLING on our life. Not some fun, cool, "idea" or a quest to "save" a little lost orphan. It was something that He called us to as a family, and being called requires sacrifice. And hard work. As a family who is called to full time ministry, I can tell you that in many aspects it is the same. God never said it would be easy....He only said it would be worth it. And even on the hard days...it is worth it.

Stay tuned....she's discovered chocolate ice cream and it's one huge, hilarious mess :)

Annalyse's favorite three words....

"ASH A LEE DID IT"

"Annalyse, who got mama's diet coke and poured it all over the floor?"

"Ash a lee did it!"

"Annalyse, who got the lotion down and rubbed it in the carpet?"

"Ash a lee did it!"

"Annalyse, who pulled out 172 wipes out of the box?"

Funny....."ash a lee" was asleep.....

"Ash a lee did it!"

My Hair is GROWING! (and bath time is SOO fun!)

Quick Update

I have only a few minutes of silence during nap time so this will be quick.

Ashley continues to blossom and let down her guard with us. She laughs more often and is sleeping great! 12 hours straight or more at night and a 1.5 hour nap...couldn't ask for more. I really believe that she understands everything we tell her...even little specific things like, "where is your baby? Go get her stroller! Take this cracker to Annalyse, etc..." Everytime we put her shoes on she says, "bye bye" and just last weekend came to the kitchen to find her sister standing on a chair and boldly proclaimed, "SIT!" "SIT DOWN!" HA!

She went to the nursery last Sunday night (she's in annalyse's class) and I got to attend worship!!! Praise the LORD! I hadn't been to a service without her since Jan 8 and I was hurtin, if you know what I mean! She really did good and was all smiles when I came to get her....she quickly turned to the worker and said "bye bye" over and over!

The new blog is still in the works, again, please be patient with my tech. friend, she is a supermom and these things take time! Rest assured it will be good:)

Vocab. after 6 weeks with us, 5 weeks home...