My funny girl

Annslee has always been so expressive. At first we thought it was because she was so language delayed and frankly we worried she would lose her great expressions once her language caught on. Well, she hasn't : )

I have no idea what she was thinking as she drank her water LOL

Looks like she isn't the only one concerned about this face painting

Speaking of language delays we had a moment at the fun zone where she was in tears and I almost was. She kept telling me something that she wanted and I could not understand her~ I kept "guessing" and she was so upset. I don't know how I finally got it but she was saying polar bear and referring to the picture she colored at school and wanted to give Mia. Here she is after handing it to Mia and looking at me saying "mama, polar bear!" Any of you who have children with language delays can totally relate to how upsetting this was for both of us.

Can you guess who was on the field?


She really, really LOVES him

She had to get out of her seat for a closer look!

It was T*Rac!!! She loves that crazy mascot : ) She yells "Go T*Rac about a hundred times during the game



She was so excited to find that the fireworks weren't as loud as she usually thinks they are


Apparently she really enjoyed watching them go off when we scored...I love how animated she is about it!




Jenny snapped this one of her just enjoying the game with her friends


You can barely see Mia's hand but I love how she is sharing a laugh with her friend~ looks like it was a pretty funny story!

My best friends

Yay..our team is now 3-0!!! As great as that is it is not the best part of today's game. As Annslee put it~ she was with her best friends Mia and Paige


Nothing like running through with your sparkly earrings on!

There was a lot of hand holding going on today~ and we had to stop for ice cream on the way to the fun zone

These three had so much fun together! They are so beautiful of course and so we got a lot of looks from people. I always like walking behind them so I can see others looking and I did hear a lot of "oh, how precious, etc..." I felt like saying..yeah, I know!

She got a little tired and had to rest on daddy's shoulders (noon is her nap time) and he didn't mind a bit

She perked back up the the game of course. I had to laugh when I noticed the face on the boy behind them. I think he is saying "what's the big deal" b/c I was being the mamarazzi!


Sharing a lemonade : )

Even at a ballgame you have to make sure you keep your lipgloss on~who knows when the camera might pan to you and you will be on TV

This guy with a jersey that read "Flame" intrigued Miss A. She was afraid at first but then loved him. I had to go get my camera and then find him again but the squeals from her were worth it. She would have hung out with him all day and he was so sweet with her

After the game the girls were carried to the car in style!

Annslee was entertained the whole way home talking to Paige on the phone. They would call each other, chat, hang up and do it again. They were laughing so hard and loud!



Yeah, she is tired and well, stinky (hey, it was hot out) so it is bathtime and then off to books and bed : )

I have a ton of pics of her different expressions during the game and they are so funny...I didn't want to make this post super long so I will give them a post of their own later : )

A to Zs

Today we met the Zs at the park for some playtime!! I did get asked once if they were all mine~ I wish!! Seriously, aren't these some beautiful girls!! We travelled with the Dorris family when they brought home Zola (she is from Jiangxi but we were together for most of the trip) and we are so blessed to know them : )

*Zara, Zola, Zena & Annslee

Running, jumping, sliding, climbing, swinging...all part of the fun!

I love this shot~ the sun was shining through the holes above and Annslee and Zena thought it looked like sparkles in their hair

Miss A has finally mastered the art of swinging herself. I give her a big push and then she can lean back and pump her legs to keep going. I know she is no pro like Linlee but it is a start ; )

Going down the slide together. They really had such fun!! We are looking forward to playing again soon!

*I know a few of you are so jealous~ aka Stacie : )

Just the stats~

What in the world will I do with a little peanut. They are so different in size : ) Annslee is always saying he is "teee tiny" and she is right. Now remember these percentages are for the US growth charts not the Chinese/Vietnamese ones but it does at least provide a comparrison.


Here are Annslee's current stats!

At 3 years and 11 months:

your child is 37 pounds, and that is at the 69th percentile for weight.

your child is 38 inches, and that is at the 17th percentile for height.

*no head circumference at this age...but she is from Hubei and they call them lollipops..so I am sure it would still be in the 90s : )



We just got updated measurements yesterday and here are Coby's stats!

At 8 months:

your child is 15 pounds, and that is at less than the 3rd percentile for weight.

your child is 25.75 inches, and that is at less than the 3rd percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 17.3 inches, and that is at the 19th percentile for head circumference.

I think I will be packing a lot of 6 month clothes for him ~ better get shopping!!

Go HERE to do your own calculations~ luckily it only goes up to 20 yrs old so I didn't have to see mine!! I did go look in my baby book and at exactly Annslee's age I was 36 pounds and 38 1/2 inches. Sorry baby...you are built just like Mommy : )

Lift this child up in prayer

I saw this on Cindy's site and wanted to call out to all of you to lift up this child and this family in prayer. They are in China now and have met their daughter. It was not the meeting they were expecting as they had to meet her in the hospital~ she is not doing well~ she is dying~ they are asking for miracles to get her home to Vanderbilt where she may be saved. Please stand in the gap for this family.

You can go to their site to read more of their story and leave them words of encouragement.

Does my heart good

to see my sweet baby smiling AND sitting up!! We just got new pics of Coby...go on over and check them out!!! I am hoping to get updated measurements~ he looks so tiny for 8 months old. One month ago today I got "the call" and now we are 11 days into our wait for our I 600 approval. Annslee is so excited about going to get her brother. Her teachers say she talks of Coby constantly and about getting on an airplane to go to "Vee et vam" : )

Moon Festival

We went to our FCC Moon Festival party tonight and everyone had a great time! I snapped this picture of her in the car and I just think she looks so grown up!! *sigh*



She was so excited because Paige was coming. Paige made the comment once that if she had a little sister she would want her to be like Annslee. Well, Miss A took that to heart and now refers to her as her "big see wa" and she is the "lil see wa" It is really, really sweet : )



Look at these cuties!!! Annslee had a great time running and running with Amelia and Jack! I promise there were about 60 people there but these were the four I spent the most time with : )

My sweet girl loves giving hugs!!

I hope you all enjoy your celebrations (the actual day is Sunday) and take time to go outside, look up at the moon and send your wishes up. I know when I look at it I can't help but think of a little one on the other side of the world who sees the same moon : )

Fourth Time's Charm

I was nominated by Patricia , Missy, Marla and Kimberley for this sweet award. I am so honored to be nominated by these sweet ladies. The four of them love the kids in their lives so much and all you need to do is visit their blogs to see it. I am so blessed to know all of them.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude.
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

These are the rules for The Smile Award.
1. The recipient must link back the the award's creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

The creator of the award is Mere

Now I need to nominate 5 people. This is so hard because I know so many who make me smile and so many people have already received this one so here goes : )

1. Michelle~ She is a beautiful woman who was unfortuantely not given a referral from Vietnam in time and is now deciding where to turn next. She loves her family and always offers support to the rest of us.

2. Chandra~ She was involved in the Vietnam program but like so many when she saw the shutdown coming she decided to chase her dream elsewhere...all the way to Russia. They are currently waiting for a referral : )

3. Melanie~ She is waiting for her Kaylee and now turning somewhere other than Vietnam to find her. It has been a long painful wait for her but she is such a woman of faith and is so joyful in the journey.

4. Kris~ Another Vietnam family who found their daughter elsewhere. Their beautiful Malia (yep, you read that right) is waiting for them in Korea!

5. Tina~ She is an adult adoptee from Vietnam and had dreams of bringing her first child home from Vietnam as well. That dream hasn't happened yet but she is faithfully waiting out the shutdown for that to happen. She is going to be a mommy soon though as she is pregnant~ what a wonderful surprise : )

I had to add one more!!

6. Heidi~ I think it is obvious why she makes me smile...she held my son last week. I am so thrilled for their family! It has been a long journey to him but so worth it!

Yeah, there was a pattern there : ) I enjoy all of their blogs and the smile I get knowing they will all be united with the children God intends for them (Heidi already has been!!) When we were making our changes (gender/age) someone wisely told me, "God already knows what your family is suppose to look like even if it is different than what you thought" Yeah, God is good ALL the time!

*Our agency sent two new pics of Coby..they are on his website : )

Coby Pics

Just wanted to let you alll know that our care package was delivered and he loved it. We loved seeing him with things we had actually touched. Annslee kept saying "aww baby Coby" and pointing to the goodies she sent.

I have updated his website~ you can link to it on the sidebar~ with all the pictures we have received so far. It is password protected so if you don't already have it email me, tell me who you are or how I "know" you, and I will send it to you : ) You can leave it all in comments if you want. We have pictures on there from May, August and YESTERDAY!!! The family also took video for us and once we receive it we will post it there too!

Go check him out and please sign the guestbook : )

Go Team Go

It was opening day for our home team and Annslee was ready! I took her shopping yesterday for a new jersey as hers was too small. She really wanted a pink one but the smallest we could find (at the 5 different stores we tried!) was a YS so I was steering her toward a regular jersey so we could use it later for Coby. She spotted the cheerleading outfit and that was that! I did take the jersey into the dressing room for her to try on with it but she kept saying the words I hear every morning when I present her clothes for school "I no love dis" It was useless...she put on the cheerleading outfit and twirled, jumped, squealed and had to wear it out of the store. Hey, she is terribly cute in it : )


Before the game we played in the kidzone and she got her face painted. She did get a lot of compliments as I am pretty sure she was the only one there with a crown and sparkly earrings on : )

We invited her friend Andrew to come along and they had a great time together. He is two years older but is so sweet with her.

I captured her with her hand over her heart during the National Anthem. She does this at home too if she hears it on TV~ sweet

The flyover was awesome and loud!!


This was during the second half...she is tired so of course her fingers are in her mouth~ yep, both my kids do that! She had a great time cheering on her team and it was even better that we WON!! The funniest thing was since we were playing the Jag*uars she kept asking where Die*go was? LOL

*On another note, the family with our agency who is in Vietnam met their son and HELD our Coby!! They also got video and pictures they are sending to us. They said he looks healthy and strong and was holding his head up well and rolling over a lot!!! You can follow their blog at Dear Sam and Sophie to see what we will be doing in a few months : )

Coby Update

I know many of you are not familiar with the process of Vietnam adoptions. The "new" process is the one we are working under and it requires you to file your I600 to the USC*IS and wait for their approval before travel. Under the old procedure you got your referral then went to Vietnam and at that time applied for approval which really meant they would issue a Vi*sa for your child to come home. Personally, I like the new procedure better as we know before we leave that all is well and they are doing a much more in depth investigation now so we can sleep well knowing we did all we could to carry out an adoption that is ethical. The truth is we could leave today and go to Vietnam and adopt Coby (at least in the eyes of Vietnam) but the problem is at this point we wouldn't have a way to get him back home, so yeah, we'll just wait : )

Today I did have to send a letter to Vietnam to reschedule our Giving & Receiving (G&R) ceremony as they had it scheduled for Sept. 16th. Yep, under the "old" rules I'd be frantically packing right now!! I admit it was strange seeing that date in writing and saying no to it. We also just got our confirmation that the USC*IS received our request on Sept 4th (actually they got it on Aug 29th but with the holidays this is the date we have) Currently the wait time for approval is 60-100 days so we will just have to wait and see when we get the go ahead. The thing is, when you get approval they set your G&R immediately so we'll have about one week until we travel after receiving the OK from the US!!

Here is my current mantle....Annslee likes to point out that she is in all but two of the pics : )



Thank you for your continued prayers!!

Our sweetie!

We had a really fun weekend with our Princess. A lot of that time was spent at our pool which is now closed, which makes no sense as we could easily swim at least until the first of October before the water would be too cold. Annslee is not happy about it closing.

On Sunday night we went to Mia's house to continue our referral anniversary tradition. We had them pose with their referral pics from three years ago!



Annslee said about a hundred times on the way to Mia's house "Mia house too far" We should all have a friend who loves us as much as she loves Mia!



Two girls on a sit-n-spin makes for some cute smiles : )

We sent a care package to Coby through a family with our agency who is meeting their son on Sept 10th. We sent a puppy, a blanket and a picture of our family and one of Miss Annslee at the beach. Thank you so much Heidi and enjoy your trip!!




Monday night kicked off football season for our household. She was NOT in the mood to pose for me as you can see



Well, with the way the game ended maybe she was in the right frame of mind : (


I hope you all had a safe weekend. Some of my good bloggy buddies are in this referral batch from China. One in particular, Jennifer, is going to see her sweet Malia's face tomorrow. I am so happy for all of you!!!

3 years ago today

we received the call that would forever change our lives. The words "you have a daughter" were such beautiful music to my ears. Back then the wait was nothing compared to now but it was still difficult and full of uncertainty. I can't believe it was three years ago that me and my Lovebug (Feb '05 DTC) friends waited for the call while we stalked the yahoo groups to see if our date was "in" (this was before the RQ was around)

I have written about this day for the last two years HERE and HERE. I will just let those posts speak for themselves. We are soooo blessed to have Annslee as our daughter and will continue to give thanks that she was matched with us!

Referral Day 2008

Referral Day 2007

Referral Day 2006

Here are a few more shots from today. I should have done it earlier b/c by the time I did it she was ready to go to the pool and the sun was so bright. This was the most I could get out of her LOL

Today is such a day of celebration for our family but this year this date is also a reminder that there are over 1,700 families who did not received their referral from Vietnam in time and their dossiers will now be returned to them. Please continue to pray for them and also for our paperwork in Vietnam to move along smoothly.