A Christmas Production!

Olivia and her buddy, Elizabeth, put on quite the Christmas production last night.  It was titled, "The Fake Santa".  Olivia was the Santa. Elizabeth was an Elf, named Ellie, and Duke had the very important role of a reindeer.  I love the imagination those two have and just so you know.... the REAL Santa took out the FAKE Santa in a most dramatic performance! JT and I were on the edge of our seats.....  :-)

Halloween 2009

One more time....

After we were informed that we were not able to adopt Emily, we also found out that the DR changed their laws requiring that documents be apostilled. The seals on our dossier were no longer acceptable.  So... to make a long story short.  Our dossier was mailed back to us and we sent if off to get RE-SEALED! It is now back on it's way to the Dominican Republic.  Once the Secretary of Foreign Affairs approves the new seals, our dossier will be registered with CONANI.   One year later...

Jeremiah 17:7

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him."

We have recently found out that we will not be able to adopt sweet "little treasure."  We have decided not to go into all of the details on our blog, they are not what is really important. What is really important is that we will continue to TRUST God and His plan for our family.  We are called to adoption.  We know it and believe it.  Our journey has taken us to the Dominican Republic and we will continue an adoption from this country.  Our paperwork will be filed with their Central Authority and we will be referred a child (as is the process with most countries and non-special needs children).  We do not have a timeframe right now, but expect some time next year.  

One day we will understand God's plan, but for now we hold on to what we believe.  God is sovereign.  He is over everything!  To say the least, it has been difficult.  We have experienced a range of emotions, but at the end of the day, it is basically grief.  

Sweet litte treasure has a name.  It is Emily.  She lives in an orphanage and will most likely be there until she is 18.  Please pray for her.  Please pray for her health, protection and heart.  She will never know that a family in Charlotte loves her so very much and did everything in their power to bring her to a forever home with them.  She will not know that 2 little girls wanted to be her sisters.  She will never know that a Mom and Dad couldn't wait to hold her in their arms. She will never know how much I love her sweet face.

Olivia turns 7!

Our sweet little sunshine just turned 7!   Hard to believe that "my baby" is in the First Grade - in swim school and taking the violin.  Seems like yesterday when this happy girl was permanently attached to my hip.  No wonder she chose not to walk until she was 16 months old! 

Olivia celebrated her birthday this year with a Beading party at Dish It Out.  She had lots of fun with all of her friends.

Happy 7th Birthday Livvie Loo! 

First Day of School!

7:00 am

 

Bailey and Olivia had a great first day of school!  Me - not so much.  I truly thought our little one would be home by now.  Not sure what to do with myself now that both girls go for the full day. No more half days of school for Olivia! 

Guess I'll think of something... tennis anyone?

While we waited this summer...

Yes - we are still waiting!  No news (yet).  Please continue to pray that our "little treasure" will be home soon!

We had a super fun-busy summer!  The girls kept me busy with the pool, playdates and fun trips.

Bailey joined our neighborhood swim team again this year.  They had a great season and won the Division Championship!  

Swim Team

We went on our annual beach trip to the Outer Banks with the Williams and Hawley families. This made our 7 th year together!  As usual, we had a blast! 

Outer Banks 

(Olivia lost a tooth while we were there.  No worries though, the Tooth Fairy found her!)

(This would be the only time Bailey's feet were out of the water! She spent 90% of her time in the ocean or pool.)

  Dan Nicholas Park

We enjoyed a long- fun day at this park with the sweet Wall girls.  We did everything from carousel rides, gem mining, train rides, water splash park and visited the nature center.  Whew!

Camp Rock - Asheville

Bailey went on her first overnight camp this summer with our church.  Her best buddy, Sullivan was her roommate. They had a great time!  I was really missing my girl by day 2.

Folly Beach - Charleston

(The view from our back porch...very peaceful.)

I love these smiles!

So long summer vacation....hello first and fourth grade!  

Bailey turns 9!

I can't believe my girl is 9!  It really seems like yesterday that JT and I were chasing this curly headed, no napping, full of life little girl, ALL over the place.  She has always been on-the-go! She continues to make us laugh and keep us busy.  Happy 9th Birthday sweet girl! 

At her "Skating" party this year, Bailey asked her friends to make a donation to "little treasure's" orphanage instead of giving her a present. With her birthday money she was able to purchase 2 pairs of shoes for every girl in the orphanage!  We had so much fun shopping and I loved to once again see the BIG heart God gave her shine through.

We managed to squeeze all of the shoes in this suitcase and they will be delivered this weekend!  We are both very excited...

The Orphan Crisis

These eye-opening facts are hard to read, but reality in our world.  I will admit for the longest time I was oblivious to the orphan crisis.  Now that my eyes are opened, they can never close again. 

• Fact: Nearly 144 million children across the world are orphans.
• Fact: Every 2 seconds, another orphan dies from malnutrition.
• Fact: 87.6 million orphans live in Asia. 43.4 million Orphans live in Sub-Saharan Africa. 12.4 million orphans live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Fact: 6,000 children are orphaned by AIDS every day. That is newly orphaned child every 14 seconds.
• Fact: Around the globe, 15,200,000 children have been orphaned by the AIDS crisis. If all these children held hands, they would stretch across the United States. By 2011, this virtual chain will reach around the world.
  
• Fact: Malnutrition plays a part in more than half of all child deaths worldwide. Every year, malnutrition is associated with the deaths of five million children under the age of five.
  
• Fact: Even more often, malnutrition cripples children's growth, renders them susceptible to disease, dulls their intellects, and diminishes their motivation and their productivity.
  
• Fact: India has more orphans than any other nation, totaling 35,000,000 in 2003; nearly 1 out of 10 of India's children are orphans.
  
• Fact: In India, one out of two children under the age of 5 is underweight.
  
• Fact: Millions of children suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, when the body lacks essential minerals and vitamins. These deficiencies can lead to severe mental or physical impairment, life-threatening anemia, lowered productivity, blindness, a weakened immune system.
  
• Fact: 854 million people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union.
  
• Fact: By 2020, southern Africa will lose one out of every five agricultural workers to AIDS. With a shrinking labor force, food is harder and harder to come by in areas that need it most.
  
• Fact: In like sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 20% of the adult population has been impacted by AIDS, orphaned children not only lose their parents but also teachers, health workers and civil servants who die of the disease.
  
• Fact: Sub-Saharan Africa has the greatest portion of children living as orphans. In 2003, there were 43,400,000 children with no living parent. This number represents 12% of the region's children.
  
• Fact: It is estimated that by the year 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa alone, more than 18 million children – more than all the children in the United Kingdom, will have lost at least one parent to AIDS.
  
• Fact: Every week, AIDS claims as many lives as American fatalities in the Vietnam War.
  
• Fact: By 2010, the total number of orphans, from all causes, in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase to 50,000,000.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27

Our blue eyed girl

             So happy her team scored a goal.  Cutest soccer player I know....

 Olivia and her best buddy had fun playing soccer together.  Even on the field (during the games) they stuck close together! Their coach referred to them as "Peas and Carrots".

Olivia is also very excited about becoming a BIG sister.  She will finally know what it feels like!  I asked her what she would like to teach her little sister and these are her top three.  (1) teach her how to brush her teeth (2) teach her how to do her ABC's and 123's (3) teach her how to color in the lines.   Olivia actually had an long illustrated list of things and it was difficult to pick her top three!  

We are so thankful for our blue eyed girl and the VERY sweet spirit God gave her!

Our brown eyed girl

                                          Boosterthon school fundraiser

She scored her first goal at the very last game of the season!  Her best buddy ran over to congratulate her.  Too cute!

Bailey is very excited about becoming a big sister again.  One more sibling to "boss"around! :-) She has a big heart for the people of the Dominican Republic and is very excited to travel there with us. 

 

There are so many things that I know she will teach her little sister.  I asked her to name three and here they are. (1) teach her how to paint and color (2) teach her how to swim (3) teach her about animals. All of her favorites...

Bailey is such a sunshine, always ready to go and have some fun!  We are so thankful for our brown eyed girl and the BIG heart God gave her.

The Nursery

The room is almost ready.  I have just a few things left to do.  The most important on the list is to bring our sweet girl HOME!

This rocking horse was given to us when Bailey was born 9 years ago. It was passed down to Olivia and now to "little treasure".   It is very special to us!  

(It was made by Mr. Hawley.  He is the father of JT's longtime friend, Mark. The two have been friends since Kindergarten!) 

           I plan to spend a lot of time in this chair getting to know our little one.

                                       Every little girl needs a baby doll.  

                                      Her sisters are ready for a tea party.

The color is off in some of these pictures because of the time of day they were taken.  Trust me though....it is PINK!