Supporting Elli's Class Through Search Engine...

This is new to me...maybe not to some of you, but I wanted to pass along. There is a fairly new search engine that is owned by Yahoo. When you use the search engine they will donate to a verified charity. If you shop through one of their sponsors, they will donate a percentage of the total purchase!!!

This is an awesome opportunity to support Elli's classroom at her orphanage. I have mentioned Half the Sky numerous times before and the work that they do in China orphanages - including Elli's. They are one of the charities that you can select your "donation" to be given to. As well, Love Without Boundaries is also one of the charities. LWB is the charity that got Elli's palate surgery done. In addition, there is Shaohannah's Hope which gave us a grant for Anna's adoption and we are in process of seeking a grant for Elli's adoption. Shaohannah's Hope not only give grants to adoptive families, but funds foster care and is currently building a 6-story home in China in Luoyang. As well, they educate churches, families, communities on adoption and the need for orphan care across the globe. Autism Speaks is another worthy cause. I have friends whose children have autism and this is a great non-profit that educates, informs and active in research. All are great organizations that could use the financial help. The main thing is - get involved!

So, my request...make Good Search your search engine/home page today! If you are going to be shopping online at one of the sponsor's sites, go through Good Search. There are hundred's of sites, Wal-Mart, iTunes, Target, Children's Place, Chadwicks, Staples, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, eBay, Sephora, JCPenney, Snapfish, Vera Bradley, Netflix, GameStop, Ballard Designs, BestBuy, Nike, elf, Fossil, Gap, GNC, ToysRUs....seriously must I go on?

Sending love and hugs to Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Anna's Gotcha Anniversary

A little late, but "better late than never" and at the rate I was going, I was beginning to think it might be the latter ;-) I have put a video on Anna's blog documenting her amazing progress over the last year.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Anna - we love you!

Blessed to have Anna home & sending love to one I hope is here soon,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Updates...

So far this summer...well actually it isn't summer yet, but we have had 2 yard sales. I have changed up locations - you know, different customers ;-) Once was at our house and last weekend was at my in-laws' house. It was pretty successful. We did Friday and Saturday at my house and raised $640, last week I did Thursday, Friday and Saturday and raised $470 = Grand total thus far $1010!!! Not bad, not bad at all. Next, my brother's. Yes, believe it or not, we still have LOTS of stuff. I am planning on the first weekend in July....I guess I am a professional "yard sales lady"...at least for summer 2008!!!

I am still selling Avon, but with the kids, I just can't do too much. It is helping some though. I am getting our personal hygiene items from there, which saves me trips to Wal-Mart and Target, which in turn saves quite a bit of money...you'd be surprised how much money you can save if you never walk in the doors of Wal-Mart or Target. Yes, I did experience some bargain hunting withdrawals from Target, but I lived! For those who know me and know how I LOVED to shop at Target, you might be surprised to find out that I have only been to Target 4 times since Christmas!!!! Wal-Mart, maybe 3 times. That is quite a change and has helped out a lot.

Unfortunately I don't have any good news about our immigration approval. I really hope to get approval in the next two weeks - surely! Waiting for the mail to run, to only discover no approval is not fun....it can actually be torture! Just one of the many pains of adoption.

Hoping for good news soon & sending love to Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Pay It Forward....

I am sure many of you have heard of this, maybe even done it. It is pretty fun, if you like to get and give surprises anyway. One of the blogs that I faithfully stalk ;-), had a little Pay It Forward "game". I just got mine in the mail so now it is my turn to...yes, Pay It Forward.

Here's the rules...the first three people to leave a comment at the end of this post saying that they want to play AND agree to then do the same on their blog, will get a little present from me. After you get your gift, then you basically do what I am doing. It doesn't have to be expensive, just fun. The adoptive mom (you don't have to be adopting by the way) who sent me the gift knew that I had a slew of kids and sent us a board game we could play together...of course since she and I had and are adopting from China, she went with a ladybug themed game.

If you are one of the first three, I will post the names and you can e-mail me your mailing address. So who's in??

In Memory of Maria...

Since the tragic death of Maria Sue Chapman on May 21, 2008, there has been over $100,000 donated in her honor to Shaohannah's Hope. To learn more about how you can help honor this little girl and help orphans around the world please click here.

Tragedy...

I know that I don't personally "know" the Chapman family, but their family's loss has me in tears this morning. I was so moved by the Chapman's story when we went to a concert about 6 years ago. I sat and cried as Steven shared his 2 adoptive daughters' stories. They went on an adopted a third daughter from China, Maria.

The Chapman family has been a huge encouragement for so many adoptive families and changed the life of so many orphans around the world. Not only in the area of adoption, but their dedication to the children still in orphanages and foster care. We were blessed last year with a grant from their charitable organization, Shaohannah's Hope, when bringing home Anna. We have again applied to help with the expenses of Elli's adoption. I may not know them personally, but they have personally touched our family.

Please pray for this family as they are grieving the loss of their 5-year old daughter, Maria Sue. I cannot imagine what they must be feeling or the long road ahead of this family. There is no doubt that they love their children and are truly dedicated parents. Only God knows and only God can bring peace and comfort to this wonderful family.

Sending prayers to the Chapman Family,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

With Hope

By Steven Curtis Chapman

1 Thess. 4:13-14 / Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how

We thought it was supposed to be

We had so many plans for you

We had so many dreams

And now you've gone away

And left us with the memories of your smile

And nothing we can say

And nothing we can do

Can take away the pain

The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope

We can say goodbye with hope

'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no

And we can grieve with hope

'Cause we believe with hope

(There's a place by God's grace)

There's a place where we'll see your face again

We'll see your face again

And never have I known

Anything so hard to understand

And never have I questioned more

The wisdom of God's plan

But through the cloud of tears

I see the Father's smile and say well done

And I imagine you

Where you wanted most to be

Seeing all your dreams come true

'Cause now you're home

And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor

'Cause we believe that everything

God promised us is true, so ...

We wait with hope

And we ache with hope

We hold on with hope

We let go with hope

Mother's Day...

As expected, Mother's Day was chaotic, but hey, I didn't expect it to be anything less. We got up and did the usual Sunday morning routine to make it to church late :-) During the service, all my kids were given a flower to bring to me. Being the typical cry baby, I cried when Parker first walked up to me and told me that he loved me as he handed me a little red carnation. Trying to swallow the tears, I finally decided to just give it up and let it go. I am truly one of those people that I used to laugh at...my mother's dream is finally coming true!!

Even though there are days that picking up that same toy that I just picked up an hour before gets very, very tiring, I do love being a mom. I would have never imagined having 4 children and another on the way...but I am so happy that I do. It just goes to prove that God's plan for our lives far exceed what we could have planned ourselves.

Anna, Carter, Me, Parker, Elli, Jacob

One Very, Very Proud Mom,
Marcy

Happy Mother's Day...

For 11 years now, I have been able to call myself a mother. The first year brought my first son. The years following brought many happy moments, joyful memories and a few more babies. Every year, I have tried to make sure I had a picture with my kids on Mother’s Day. Last year, I sat on my front porch swing after church to take a picture with my three beautiful blonde boys holding a picture of my daughter that waited for me in China. She held my heart even though she didn’t know it. Anna was just as much mine as the three that surrounded me. The day was filled with many tears as I so desperately wished all my children were with me.

This year, I am so blessed to have my little Anna with me on Mother’s Day. She is no longer a picture for me to hold, but in the flesh. She stands at my feet, swatting at my legs, gesturing for me to pick her up. She dances to the tunes of Backyardigans, hides under her bed with her feet sticking out as a game, brings me cereal boxes to let me know she has managed to open the pantry, kisses the mirror at the sight of herself, tries to put on her brothers’ shirts, plays in the cabinets, loves baths, climbs on her daddy, jumps on beds, mimics everything she sees us do, drags out the clothes in her drawers, comes running when she hears me yell for dinner, gets jealous when I hold Parker, thinks she runs the house, feels so cuddly in her little pajamas, hair falls right over her eyes, waddles when she runs, breaths heavy when she is asleep, makes you giggle when she does, plays kitchen in her room, feeds you food she magically gets out of the TV., understands “the look”, ignores “the look”, happy to be playing at home, loves when brothers come home from school, stands at the door when she see daddy in the backyard, squeals when grandparents come, loves to be center of attention, knows she usually gets her way, rotten as they come, and couldn’t imagine her not here.

This Mother’s Day, I will have my four with me on the front porch swing…holding another picture. A picture of another daughter that now pulls my heart. I will hold my four here just as close as I can believing that next year, she will be here with us fighting for attention, playing with her sister, messing up faster than I can clean, getting into mischief, tattling on her brothers and not wanting to sit still for next year’s picture…but believe me, there will be a picture.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Blessed mother of four & praying for blessing number five,
Marcy

The Grand Total Is....

Big Fat Zero!! Unfortunately, the weather just hasn't cooperated with us this weekend. What started out to be a pretty good weekend for a fundraising yard sale, turned out to be a bad one. So, I have boxed up, stacked up, piled, tucked and just tried to ignore the HUGE mess in my living room. We will try again for next weekend.

All in all, it is probably the best that we didn't do it this weekend. Jacob came home from school on Wednesday sick. Carter got to go back to school on Thursday and Jacob went to the pediatrician. As I expected, it was a virus with some allergies to boot. There was no way I could have done the sale on Thursday with Jacob sick and believe it or not, Thursday is usually the best day?!? Go figure.

Still no news from USCIS. We have not yet reached the average wait time for our USCIS office, but I was really hoping that my request for the application to be expedited would help...which it still may because we still have over 3 weeks to hit the average. I really "need" the approval no later than Tuesday or Wednesday in order to have a potential end of May DTC...but I am beginning to think I need to change my goal to early June. Unfortunately, that could easily push us back into October...sigh! I can't think about that right now, I just need to focus on what I CAN do...which is wait for next weekend and see if the weather is going to cooperate - wow, again, I can't do anything on my own...how many times do I have to learn that one?

I just told someone today that things happen when they should. We just have to wait and trust that they are being worked out. Well, it is true for her and it is true for me. So we wait. We wait for our kids to get better, wait on the weather to clear, wait on immigration, wait on China, wait for travel, wait to hold Elli.....we wait.

Thankful the kids are getting better and sending love to Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

p.s.

I was wrong about the total...I have sold about $50 so far. Yes, I am apparently running an indoor yard sale. I guess that would be like a flea market right? People have come to my house, starting going through the stuff in my living room and bought some things, so I guess considering we actually haven't started yet, $50 is a real good start. It also goes to show that my family members will try to shop wherever, whenever ;-) and that's a good thing - at least for me!

No News...

Do you know how badly I would love to post some NEW news? Well, unfortunately I don't have any :-( I really hope to hear something from USCIS in the next couple of weeks, but you just don't know how fast or slow these things will take. It has been and continues to be my goal to be DTC (dossier to China) by the end of May. I am still hoping.

I am getting things ready for a Fundraising Yard Sale this weekend. My living room is filled to the brim and there is more to come. We have a rather large garage behind our house (big enough to pull a Dump Truck, Backhoe & a couple cars inside)...half of it is filled with Yard Sale "stuff", also known as junk, but you know the saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure". I am so hoping that many men find their treasures this weekend in our yard! I will post pictures of all the goods later....it is quite a site!

In the mix of trying to price and sort all this stuff, I have sick kids. Both Carter and Jacob were home yesterday and Carter again today. I believe he has a virus. He has all the typical symptoms. Jacob had really bad allergies this weekend. Anna is suffering from allergies as well as Parker. Rodney and I are both have runny noses, sinus pressure and headaches...you gotta love Kentucky in the spring ;-) I think just about every possible plant is in bloom not to mention all of the fresh cut grass that is driving our noses and eyes nuts!

Thank you to everyone that has donated items for the Yard Sale. My family has been awesome! Special shout out to Gina, Roni, Missy & Wanda. I will post updates on the Yard Sale and hope that we make lots of money to help bring Elli home!!!

For once happy that you can't walk through my living room and sending many hugs & kisses to Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

P.S.

Please say a prayer for all those effected in Myanmar by the Cyclone. Currently they are reporting 22,000 deceased and 41,000 missing. There will be many displaced families, parents who have lost their children and children who have lost their parents. Such a heartbreaking tragedy.

Yeah For Schedule Change!!!

I just got an e-mail from the Cohen family!! Their schedule got switched and they actually went to the orphanage today.....soooooooo, I have great news about Elli and PICTURES! I have included a excerpt from her e-mail where she describes Elli, as well as the slide show below...she is going to tower over Anna! I guess Anna will get Elli's hand me downs ;-)

Thank you so much to the Cohen Family!!!

Marcy,

Our schedule got switched around and we went to Qingyuan today! Elli is very shy, but she is a big, healthy looking girl. She was afraid to be near us except in the arms of her auntie, whom she seemed to be quite attached to. We lured her into pictures with a lollipop. She ran back to her seat, where they were doing an art project - so we know she can run! We left her room and went to the one next door and she came to peek at us and then wave goodbye and and blow kisses to us. She is precious!

Well, obviously, she is gorgeous, which we knew, but she is healthy and appears to be well taken care of, which is a huge blessing. I am glad that she is attached to a caretaker. Kids need that and it helps with the bonding process following the adoption. I called Rodney and told him about the update and how much she has changed...he will be home shortly ;-)

Apparently she loves doing art, so I now know what to include in her suitcase for the trip...lots of "artsy stuff!" Harris, you are going to have an art partner! I don't know if you noticed or not, but the auntie that is holding her has on a shirt with "Half the Sky" logo on the side. This is a great organization that does so much for the children in orphanages throughout China. They were so active in the recent winter storms ensuring that the children had heat, food, water, diapers, clothes, medicine, etc. They have a program at Elli's orphanage. They are great!

So, so, so thrilled to find out that Elli is doing well. Updates are always bitter sweet. Happy she is being taken care of, but then the feeling of desperation to get her home deepens.

Sending love & hugs to that chubby cheeked princess, Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Hopefully An Update Soon...

A family that is adopting a little girl from Elli's orphanage is in China now. They met their daughter, Eliana (how funny is that?) on Monday. They are scheduled to go to the orphanage on Friday where they will try to get us an update and new pictures. We hope to have some news by Saturday.

I am pretty anxious to hear about her. The last information we have on her is from November and the last pictures were a couple of months prior to that. I am sure that she has changed quite a bit over the last 7 months and will likely look so different. Just with Anna's adoption, the hardest parts are the wait and the not knowing. You can't control either one. The little things like what your child had for breakfast, what they played during the day, if they have a runny nose, are their shoes getting too tight...random, yet priceless information for a mother. You think about all these things when it comes to your kids. You just want to know they are okay.

This may be the last family that travels to her orphanage before us. There doesn't seem to be many adoptions from this orphanage. With Anna we were so blessed to have updates on her nearly every month and that was hard enough having to wait from one month to the next to get news. In a few months, I hope to be able to get another update on her. There are many people in China you can hire to do just that. It is just hard to do "extra" stuff when you are saving to do the "necessary" stuff. So, we do a lot of praying that God protects and provides for her, as well as all the orphans in the world.

We are consumed right now with one, but there are hundreds of thousands of children that need homes. We love this little girl and want to bring her to our home to be ours, but we can never forget the others that wait, that aren't matched, that don't have families working to bring them to a home. Please keep our Elli in your prayers, but also pray for the other children that are alone. No child deserves to grow up without a mom and dad to call their own.

Sending many hugs and much love to our sweet Elliana,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Tomorrow is a Big Day...

The day of Anna's first palate surgery is almost here. I cannot begin to explain the mix of emotions that I have right now. Anyone who has had a child to have to endure a surgery I am sure can understand. I am very excited to begin the process, but then the other part of me wants to say, "never mind...she is just fine they way she is."

I obviously dread the surgery, the pain, the healing process, but there is also a feeling of loss. I know it may sound strange to some, but I will miss her little crooked smile. The first time Anna smiled at us with her little teeth all out of line...it just melted my heart. The precious little grin that we all fell so madly in love with will soon be changing. I have taken many pictures of her because I never want to forget that smile. I want Anna to know that we are beginning this process to help her with speech and eating...not because she wasn't perfectly created.

What some may view as a curse, has brought our family a great blessing. Due to her "special need" a series of events occurred that caused her to need a family. I am so thankful that God allowed us to be that family for her. I am thankful that He has provided the means for the surgery to be done. Although I have a mix of emotions...I am thankful. I know that God started all of this and I know it will all work out as it should....it is God's plan. I know I may wear it out, but I know God's timing is perfect and His plans are complete. He will finish this good work.

Please pray for Anna as she begins this process. Please pray for everyone that has any contact with her and with her care. Also, please pray for Rodney and I that we make all the right decisions and the boys as they will be at home and do worry about her. Her surgery is early tomorrow morning. We are leaving tonight in order to try to make sure Anna gets a good night's rest. Tomorrow is a big day. The surgery will consist of an alveolar bone graft. They will be taking a bone from her rib, grafting it into the "gap" of her gum line and then working as much of the hard palate behind the gum line as they can. She will have a sore mouth and a sore side. They were unable to schedule an ENT, so she will not have the tubes done tomorrow. She will be on a liquid diet, which will be so hard for her now...she LOVES to eat! Something we tried so hard to get her to do (eat solids), we are now taking away. That may be harder for her than anything else.

I hope there is Internet access in the hospital where I can give updates. If not, I will post when we return home....probably on Sunday. I will make updates on Anna's blog.

I am so fortunate that I not only got to fall in love with a perfect little girl's smile once, but I will be able to fall in love with another tiny smile of Anna's that I am certain will be just as stunning ;-)

Praying for a successful surgery & God’s perfect will,
Rodney Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Win A Wii...

For you "old timers" that followed our blog of adopting Anna you will remember Angela that traveled to China during the same time as Rodney and I to adopt her daughter Olivia. Well, she and her husband David are also adopting again. In a fundraising effort, she is having a Wii contest. If you would like to check out her blog to get all the details, just go to the link below.

http://www.familyforsophie.blogspot.com/

It is for a great cause and you know, you might win a Wii!

Good Luck Angela & David!
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei