Reminiscing

I took a little while today to go back and read some of my old posts. It makes me smile to see things about my joys, but boy do I have a lot of typos. I stopped to fix some, but then it got too tedious. I could not be an editor.

Registering

We went and registered for gifts for our baby shower. It was fun. We did seem clueless on a lot of things. We did the main things first, car seat, stroller, and high chair. Those were easy. The rest took us an hour to look through. It has been so long since I've done this. The other expecting moms kept looking at my stomach as I scanned. They must think I am registering really early, or I just don't show too much. I made sure to suck in my stomach the whole time. We did keep telling Hattie and Emogene that Lydda was too big for certain items, so they may have figured it out.

Eric did some last minute impulse registering at the check out area. He is hoping to open 4 peanut butter cup candies and three bottles of soft drinks. He is so goofy.
He also wanted to register for a bunch of breast feeding stuff to confuse people. By the way, I am clueless about formula. I will need some help picking that. Emogene used formula for a week and Hattie never did. I gave Emogene some sample I got in the mail. I've never had to buy it.

I did find out that B*bies R Us is having an incredible deal right now. If you bring in old baby stuff (certain brands), you will get 25% off of a replacement. This is exciting. I don't have stuff to bring in, but I might come up with some ideas. It is only until February 20th so I will need to get creative quickly. You can do it an unlimited amount of times. It is called the Great Trade In . Click on it to read more.

I did get a strange comment from an employee. I had looked up cleft bottles on line and wanted to check to see if they carried any. I wanted to bring one with us along with other bottles with larger holes cut into the nipples. The lady looked at me and said that she didn't know they still had cleft affected children. She had not heard of that since the eighties. That was her reason as to why they didn't sell any. Huh, that baffled me.

We had a great night doing something for our little girl. Tomorrow I start emptying out closets and the attic looking for stuff to sell online. Someone might want our junk. Wish me luck.

Giving Hearts

Emogene and Hattie have separately, many days apart, approached us with a handful of change. I assume it is the whole contents of their change purses. They want it to help bring their baby sister home. I know this is from two loving and giving hearts. Do you know how much a young child treasures just one penny?

Popsicles

I opened my fridge at school and found three pencils in it, along with some earthworms, but that has nothing to do with this story.
I said loudly, "Why are there pencils in my fridge?"
Hattie answered back, "For to make pooopsciiiicles!"

Family Photo Fundraiser

(This was taken in Holly's backyard!!!)

Photographer Holly Boze from Bozartia Photography is offering a free mini-session with a $10 or more donation towards Lydda's adoption. The family gets a free 5x7 photo of their choice from the session. Families can purchase packages starting at just $10. Holly is also giving 5% of all package purchases to Lydda's adoption. Holly is an incredible friend who has been by my side for almost every craft show. She has such a big heart and is always wanting to help. I thank God for her being in our life.

Fundraiser Info.

Date: March 13th

Time: Contact Holly to make an appointment. She has already filled up many spots. yardgirl78@bellsouth.net

Around Here

- Found one unopened box of cookie snacks in the gym last week.

-Many fifth graders were moved to take bracelets home to sell around their neighborhood.

- Eric has been working 12 hours a day instead of ten.

- I opened up a birthday card to find a check for Lydda from her aunt and uncle.

- Eric had lost his nice work gloves only to be find them after some strange events.

- My nephew was found safe and sound after being lost in a park for 30 minutes.

- Sheldon not pooping in his crate for two days. Seriously, someone has got to stop feeding him "Colon Blow." (Eric told me I had to share that one, because he is the poop cleaner upper.)

Just a sampling of blessings. Do you have any big or little blessings that you would like to share?

FAILED

Yesterday was my birthday. We went to the movies. We used the gift cards we got for Christmas. I had a mini-breakdown because the cards wouldn't work when we had our drinks and popcorn ready. I was in the bathroom. When I came back and found that Eric PAID for the snacks I was soooo upset. You see, I have been a big time stickler about not spending money. My Lydda needs it. Well I calmed myself down and dried my tears. We went into the theater.
As the movie previews were playing, I took out my phone to update my f*ceb**k status. This happened just as the little drama about not TALKING or TEXTING on your cell phone played. Hattie looked over at me and said, "Mommy, they said no "testing!"
I responded with, "It is called f*ceb**king, and there is a difference!" Boy, that little stinker sure has some issues with following some rules. I really should be a better example. I did put my phone away. Eric then fussed at me for taking pictures with a flash. I took TWO.
Now back to the gift card issues. I couldn't let it go. I was very upset. After we had gotten back in the van, I told Eric to give me those cards. I went back up to the window and told them to check our cards. They were fine. The lady then proceeded to tell me that the new girl waited on us at the concession stand and didn't know how to use gift cards. Well I felt better that they were still good, but horrible that we spent money. We failed.

A Loving Heart

I wanted to draw attention to a blog with a special post on it. My aunt composed a post about Lydda that brought me to tears. The way she described her was so loving. Thank you Dee Dee, and Lydda can't wait to meet you too.

Dee Dee's blog

Vegetables and Vitamins

Emogene is not a great vegetable eater. She gags her way through the little bit we want her to eat. She likes to please us, so she will try to eat anything we give her. I pile on the ones she will eat(corn). The other night she was very wary of the brussel sprout (1) on her plate. She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and said, "Can I just eat a vitamin instead?"
Now where on earth would she have gotten that idea? It couldn't have been from her mother. Her mother did not forget to cook a vegetable one night and placed a vitamin on each plate to make up for it. That certainly did not happen.

Prayers for Jeff and Amanda

Our good friend Jeff landed in Haiti today. He is going to help get the paperwork completed for many Haitian orphans to join there forever families. Jeff then gets to escort them by military plane to Florida. He has the joy of placing the children into the arms of their waiting families. Please pray for his safe travel and return. Please pray for his wife, Amanda, during the next few days without him. They will have little communication and it worries her. Please pray for the Haitian children to be united with their family and pray for those left behind in Haiti waiting for a family. Jeff was so blessed to be given this opportunity, and I must say I am jealous. His heart is with the Haitian people, and he has the opportunity to physically help them. Wow, that is awesome! May the love of Christ be seen through Jeff and all those helping and praying.

The Scr*bble Master

I am the champion! I am the champion of Scr*bble! You ask how I came about this title?
Well, I had to play many days in a row and win every game.



I whooped the eight year old.



I creamed the English as a second language child.



Can I say I'm proud about it? Why, yes I can.

Does it dampen their spirits? No, they keep coming back for more. Isabel is getting better though. She almost got me in our last game. I might have to start making fake words. Shhh, don't tell her. She will never know.

Just a Thought

"Oh my goodness! Could I be pregnant and not know it? Were those kicks from a baby instead of gas? Those five extra pounds COULDN'T be from overeating during the holidays. I have been moody. I do want chocolate a lot. I better call my husband."

or

"Seriously! How could they not know?"

These are the possible things that go through a woman's head after watching, "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant."

I love that show.

Mommy's Newest Joy

We are unable to hide the joy we feel just thinking of our newest little girl. We would like you to meet Lydda Yi Chen. She is 11 months old and waiting for us in Kaifeng in the Henan Province.


I can't stop wanting to talk about her. My body aches if I go through a whole conversation without mentioning her, so I'm sorry if I talk about her too much. She is so cute and sparkly. I show her picture to strangers. I am one proud mommy!

We are dreaming and praying about the day we get to hold you in our arms my sweet baby girl.

Please Keep Praying for Haiti

Please continue to pray for the people that need everyone's help. Haiti is hurting so badly. The news articles just bring tears to my eyes. They need healing from the Father. Please if you can, help with the relief by donating. Our agency had recently started an adoption program for Haiti. You can donate through our agency here. The money will go to help the orphanage Maison des Enfants de Dieu. You can view a slide show of the children and the condition they are in right now.

Not Enough Rice

Isabel has been complaining that we haven't had rice in a week. She was wondering why. I told her that the meals I made didn't call for rice. Well today was her lucky day. We had gravy and that calls for rice. Eric told her that she was allowed to make rice for her self anytime she wanted. What was Isabel's response? "I'm don't want to make any. I'm too lazy."
Well, at least she is honest.

Milk Does a Body Good

Emogene was playing tennis on the W!!. She was getting pretty tired.

Emogene (breathing hard): "Mommy, could you please fix me some drink. My cup is over there."
Me: "Sure baby."
"I'm drinking milk. I'm drinking it to try to get better at my games. I can already tell it is working."

Well there you have it folks, straight out of Emogene's mouth. Milk helps you improve your W!! tennis game. Drink more milk.

What Day Is It?

I talked to the girls today about next Sunday. It is my birthday. It is tradition for us to go to the movies for everyone's birthdays. We received movie tickets for Christmas, so we still get to go. We haven't decided what we are seeing yet, but I'm sure it will have something to do with chipmunks. I decided to start early to prepare Hattie for the special day. Since we are on a spending freeze, I informed her that we would not be getting any popcorn, candy, or drinks. Emogene understood.
Here was our conversation.
Hattie: "Is your birthday today?
Me: "No, it is next Sunday."
Hattie: "Is it tomorrow?"
Me: "No."
Hattie: "The next day?"
"No."
"The next day?"
"No"
"The next day?"
"No"
"The next day?"
"No."
"The next day?"
"No."
"The next day?"
"Yes."
"Oh good."

I don't think she listened to the part about no popcorn. Wish me luck.

For Lydda

We have had lots of friends call and come forward asking us what they could do to help us bring Lydda home. So far, our friends Holly and Damon are making jambalaya for us to sell. My friend Amanda is doing a Silpada jewelry party on February 6th. The kind consultant is donating 20% of the sales to help Lydda come home. My friend Holly is also doing a family photo shoot day to help raise funds. She is an excellent photographer. My friends Racha and Evan came by tonight and dropped off five big boxes of beautiful items from Thailand for us to sell. I have a couple of Thirty-One parties coming up that will help. My friend Ashli gave me the tip to see if anyone has any frequent flier miles they aren't using. That is a great idea. Thank you all. We are so blessed by you.

Keep checking for a picture of Lydda soon. We will hopefully get our PA next week.

Concerned

We went to open house at school on Thursday night. We listened to the principal and music teacher. Then up came our dear high school English teacher. She is quite funny and went through the accomplishments of the high school students. She mentioned one of the winners of the state Algebra II competition. She then said, "She was unable to attend our school this year, because she was well, Chinese." The English teacher then went on to a new subject. The elementary teachers quickly exchanged glances. We giggled a little. Our assistant principal went up to make his speech. The first words subject in his speech was, "I need to clarify something. The Algebra II winner was not sent away because she was Chinese. Our school did not have the correct certification to host an international student. She is actually here with us tonight. Isabel could you please wave to everyone." A laughing Isabel gave a wave.
My concerns were also addressed. Whew! I was beginning to get worried that Lydda would not be allowed to attend.
We all had a good laugh!

A Whisper

I was driving to school this morning. Hattie was in trouble for pitching many fits before we even got in the car. The tv and radio was shut off to give her some quiet time. While I was driving in silence, a very rare moment, I was worrying about Lydda and her adoption. I was worrying about how we are going to be able to do it. Then I heard it, "Don't worry, remember Gideon." I held my breath and there it was again, "Don't worry, remember Gideon." I started thinking about Gideon and how he applies to our adoption.
You see, Gideon was chosen by God to lead the Isrealite army against the Midianites. The Midianite army was great in number. Gideon called his men to come forward to fight and 32,000 men showed up. God said it was too many, even though it was much smaller than the Midianite army. God instructed Gideon to tell the men that were scared to turn back and return home. 22,000 men left and only 10,000 stayed. Surely this was the number of men the Lord wanted in battle. Nope, God said it was still too many. God instructed Gideon to lead the men to the water to drink. Those that drank eyes down were asked to go home. This left Gideon with just 300 men. 300 men!! How could Gideon win in a battle with just 300 men? You see that was God's plan all along. He wanted everyone to know the battle was won because of his incredible power, not because of the army's power.
That is how I see adoption. If we do it all on our own and have an easy adoption, how will anyone know of God's hand in it? Eric and I may struggle, we may not have all that we need to complete our adoption right now, but God's power will be seen and we will rejoice.

Pocket Dialing

Your phone rings. You answer the phone only to hear one of your friends driving, hollering at her kids, digging through her purse, singing a song from the radio, etc.. If you have experienced this, you are a victim of pocket dialing. I enjoy receiving these calls. It's like I'm a fly on the wall, and they don't know I'm there. I keep waiting for them to say, "Oh Tricia is my favorite person in the whole world. She is awesome." It hasn't happened yet, but I keep listening way past the appropriate amount of time just in case they are about to say it. I'm not sure my friends enjoy getting them from me, but from what I hear, it happens quite often. I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I pulled my phone from my pocket and found out that I had pocket scriptured. I pulled it out and looked at the screen and Psalm 121 was staring at me. God knows just what I need.

I lift up my eyes to the hills--

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip--

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you--

the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm--

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

What an awesome pick-me-up that was needed at just the right moment!

FYI church members. I have the Bible on my phone, so I am not checking Faceb**k, texting, or checking emails during church. You can stop the whispering.

Christmas Went Bye Bye

Eric and I were incredibly awesome. We took down ALL of our Christmas decorations on New Year's Day. That is such an accomplishment for us. My neighbors are probably excited. No wait, we still have pumpkins in our front garden. We are still a disgrace.

A Family Bully

I learned something the other day that will surprise you just as much as it surprised me. My mother is a bully! I met a man that was terrorized by her as a child, and she is still doing it. His name is Robert, but my mother tortures him by calling him Wee Wee. He has asked her to call him Robert like everyone else, but she has refused to stop torturing him. Can you imagine what it is like for an almost 60 year old to be called Wee Wee in front of his peers? Hmmm, I learned something new this past weekend. I'm glad it is out in the open. My mother will be known as "Linda the Bully." I think I know from where Hattie got some of her behaviors.

Guess What!

Our family is known for being a little low key sometimes. We would rather play a game than party hard. Eric gave me Scr*bble to add to our fun times, and we have played a good bit lately. Emogene and Hattie have been begging to get a chance, so I finally let them (with a little help of course). Here were our results.

Hattie was studying her letters.

Wow!! I was impressed. What a sweet thing to spell!

I guess she has heard and seen that name a lot lately.

Emogene took her time deciding upon her first word.

What??? Could it be???

Surprise! We accepted a referral yesterday for our daughter. She is eleven months old,

and we are over the moon in love with her. We are waiting for our preapproval from China. We can post her precious face as soon as we receive it.

So how has the news hit her sisters?

Isabel: Super excited! She needs to start making a big decision about her sleeping arrangements. Hmmmm, sleep in Lydda's room or switch places with Hattie and share a room with Emogene? What will it be?

Emogene: She is doing well. She is very excited about her new baby sister and can't wait to kiss her sweet cheeks.

Hattie: What can I say about Hattie? Well, she announced she was cute right away. She already told one of her teachers about Lydda. She enjoys looking at her picture and gets upset with me if I accidentally close her picture on the screen before she gets a chance to see her. She has voiced a little bit about Lydda to me. Let me share it with you.

#1: Hattie thinks her mother is a loon. She has listened to me talk to Lydda's picture many times and finally decided to tell me what nobody else had the guts to say. "It's just a picture!"

#2: I decided to ask her a big question. "Hattie, do you love her already?"

"Mmm hmm, I have to poop sooo bad!"

Did she misunderstand the question? Did she think I was referring to her bowel movements? I don't think so. I'm a little concerned that the thought of her new sister may cause her to have to poop sooo bad. I'm not sure I can take a poop increase from Hattie. She is already super regular.

Speaking of bowel movements, Lydda has 2-3 a day. We got such fascinating information about her.

Get ready to see her face soon!

The Lord has blessed us and we are so thankful.

Paw Paw, watch over her for us and keep her safe until we get there.

My Paw Paw

God called Paw Paw home tonight. He was on this earth for 91 years. This was such a short time compared to the eternity he will spend in heaven.

I will see you again Paw Paw.

Love,
Tush

Please Pray

Paw Paw has asked Jesus to hold his hand. Please pray that this great, faithful, loving man doesn't suffer. We are very saddened by what is to come for us, but we are rejoicing at what is coming for him. He will soon meet his Savior and hold his wife again. Paw Paw has asked to spend his last days at home, so his children are going to try and bring him home on Monday. Please keep our family in your prayers.