Merry Christmas!

Halloween and a Homecoming

mia and her gramma... spencer, luke and mia

our fairy princess...fake eyelashes, glitter and all!

sisters...together at last!

after 3 months in the hospital, mia's baby sister finally came home!

The Wink

Mia's wink - sound affects included! With a click of the tongue you get two for the price of one!

Mia decided to sleep in her rocker this afternoon! She really didn't want to take a nap and when I noticed that she was finally quiet I peeked in and saw her laying like this. Too cute, huh?

Hall's Hayride

Mia and Blake at the Hall Family Hayride - A nice, friendly handshake before a rowdy game of "let's run circles around Hiley & Brian until we puke"




Mia on Uncle Dave's Tractor

India Camp 2007

Mia's a big sis...three months too soon!

Our new blog...

http://emysjourney.blogspot.com/

June 2006

















July 2007

Mia and her cousin Luke & Uncle Chuck















If you haven't yet seen Mia's homecoming video, it's on the previous post.

Mia's Homecoming Video

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO POST THIS! This is a video of Mia's homecoming that my mother and I made last December. It's one of Mia's favorite things to watch. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Don't forget to turn up your volume!
(just click the arrow twice to play the video)

It's A...

GIRL!

Mia's going to have a little sister this November! I'll post the ultrasound pics soon...

Cancun Cutie!

All in One - Our 1st Gotcha Day & Mother's Day

These amazing pictures (in the slide) were taken by our friend, Carl. He is very talented and has an eye for creative and artistic photography. If you'd like to check out his other work just click on this link:

http://www.carlzoch.com/

I'll also attach his site to my links list to the right.

It's hard to believe that we've only known Mia for 1 year now. Sunday, along with celebrating Mother's Day, we also celebrated our 1st Gotcha Day with Mia. It was one year ago on that day that we first met Mia in Kolkata, India. As we left our hotel to take our cab ride to the orphanage we had never felt more prepared and yet unprepared at the same time. The moment that we'd been thinking about for 2 1/2 years was finally here. We pulled up to the orphanage and were escorted in. As we climbed the stairs to the offices, my eyes darted in all directions hoping that by chance I'd catch a glimpse of her. No Mia, just adults, but I knew with each stair step I was getting closer. Dustin and I made ourselves comfortable in two big chairs facing the administrative workers. Anju, the director, had not yet arrived so Dustin and I were left to wait...like two kids on Christmas morning...hearts pounding with anticipation. But this was no Oklahoma Christmas...this was the kind of Christmas were the air was so thick and hot you could almost taste it and we were practically sweating through our clothes. All of that faded from our minds when, as we waited, we could hear babies crying in the background. I strained to hear each one hoping to recognize her voice from the video we had received 6 months earlier. Just then Anju hurried up the stairs, apologized for being late and whisked us into her office. "Where's my baby?", I kept thinking, but I tried to restrain myself and pretend to listen to what she was saying. Just then I heard footsteps behind us. Heart pounding, I turned around and in the doorway, being held by an ayah was our precious Supritha. What happened next I only remember through video. The next thing I know she was in my arms. So tiny, so observant and not even crying...just studying everything. She was wearing a shirt that said "Marie", which I thought was ironic because "Mia" is a form of "Marie". Each day that has followed has only reminded us of the love God has for us that he would bring us such a gift. She is a part of us and was long before she was born. She was meant to be with us and us with her. I am a true believer in the plan God has for our lives...I can't wait to see the plan he has for hers.

Mia and Bear the day we met...

Mia and bear today...

Quite a Reunion & Big Big News

What a day we had on Saturday! We traveled to Tulsa to visit with our friends Nadra and Charlie and their son, Ian and Grace and Shane and their daughter, Jadyn. Mia, Ian and Jadyn all spent the first part of their lives in the same childcare facility in Kolkata, India. Mia and Ian were crib buddies and Jadyn just came home earlier this year.

We had a wonderful time...we spent some time at Nadra & Charlie's before we headed out to the Tulsa Zoo. It was fun to see the little ones interact together! After the kids got their fill of the zoo (elephants, polar bears and the play ground) we all went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, India Palace. Mia sure was tired by the time we hit the road! We all had a great time!

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful people & kiddos in our lives. I know there is a reason we've all been brought into each other's lives and I hope that someday our kids will feel that same special bond. Hopefully, this is the first play date of many more to come!

Okay, here's the big news....

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!

Total miracle! Wasn't supposed to happen, but I guess with God anything is possible! I am almost 3 months pregnant! We had to postpone our current adoption due to the pregnancy, so that's why I haven't posted in a while. It was devastating to have to stop our adoption...in fact I took it pretty hard. I guess it was hard for me to switch gears so fast. The earliest we can start up the adoption process again is next summer, so that's the plan!

We feel totally blessed and excited! We are just so thankful that this didn't happen any sooner...we wouldn't have Miss Mia in our lives (such a sad and scary thought). God's timing is perfect! I guess you can say we will get to experience the best of both worlds!

The Curl Squad

mia's new friend, katie...boy, if katie lived close these two would get into so much trouble together! they have the same energy level! mia had a great time! moms and kiddos...my friend from college, cori (katie's momma)...
curly girlies...looks at those curls! mia and katie are already getting into the college scene...checking those SNU mailboxes...

Happy Easter!

Here are just a few random pictures from today and the past several weeks:

The children's Palm Procession at church last Sunday...
Grandma and Grandpa's Easter gift to Mia...her favorite...Elmo!
Hunting Easter eggs in this wonderful Oklahoma weather...
Speaking of weather...here's what a tornado did a week or so ago to some huge power lines not far from our house...click to zoom in.

If I have any new pictures from Easter Sunday I'll just add them to this post.

Happy Easter everyone!

Sweetest Story...

One of the sweetest things I've ever read is from Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul. My dear friend Shaunna showed me the story today at lunch and I just about cried right there over my turkey sandwich. What a sweet story that can be appreciated by anyone who has adopted or has been adopted. Here's the story...

______________

A young woman named Mary gave birth to her first child, and because her husband was on military duty, she spent a couple of weeks after the birth at the home of her parents.

One day Mary mentioned to her mother that she was surprised the baby’s hair was reddish, when both she and her husband were blonde.

“Well, Mary,” said her mother, “you must remember, your daddy’s hair is red.”

“But Mamma,” said Mary, “that doesn’t make any difference because I’m adopted.”

With a little smile, Mamma said the loveliest words that her daughter had ever heard: “I always forget.”

Babies, Friends and Blessings

mia's friend zachary (son of our friends scott & shelly) reading with the dads...
mia's aunt sarah and i right before luke came into the world...
introducing luke winston (looks like he's studying his momma's face!)
mia's uncle chuck with chuck's dad and luke (now it looks like he's studying his daddy's face)...

what a wonderful weekend! we started out thursday night by having dinner with our friends scott & shelly and their son zachary. we had a great time and it was fun to watch the kiddos interact!

early friday morning we received a call that our best friends, chuck and sarah, were having their baby...one month early! luke winston came at around 3:30 friday afternoon and he's perfect! what a blessing he is already! great pregnancy, great labor...wonderful kiddo! he's just the cutest thing ever!

we are so thankful for our friends and their kids. God just continues to bring such miraculous blessings into our lives.