Pictures from our weekend in New Orleans

Lucy being a "princess" in a French Quarter store.

It's been awhile....

As I was lying in bed waiting for Brandt( so I could say good night), I decided to click on my blog link that is on my facebook page. When I did I was surprised to discover that it has been just over one year since I last updated! It really struck me as funny because my last post was all about Lucy and her yearly eye appointment. We just had her this years appt last week. So, this year's update is that Dr. Mungan has decided to try glasses on her. The glasses will not completely correct her vision, but rather correct her nearsightedness and help with distance vision. She and I went last Monday to pick out some pretty new glasses. They are going to be purple!!! I will post pictures (definitely on FB, but maybe here, too) when she gets them. It should be the end of this week or the first of next.

So what else has gone on in the past year???? Zachary is growing faster than I'd like. He is almost as tall as I am now, and I really hate that. I made him (very briefly) sit in my lap last night, so I could remember how my baby boy felt. He thought I had lost my mind!! He will be 10 in a few weeks!! He has had a busy few months. He played AYA basketball during January and February. His team came in second place overall in his division!!! He is also participating in the Natchez Pilgrimage Pageant -- he is dancing in the Big Maypole. I just got to watch him tonight, and he did a fabulous job!!! He is also still excelling in school. He has been the top Accelerated Reader student in the school this year. One nine week period alone he earned over 200 points!!! He continues to amaze me everyday!!

Lucy started preschool this year! She loves her teacher , Mrs. Hutchins. It has been just perfect for her as there are only 4 other kids in her class. Her social skills and language have just blossomed!!! She has grown so much (especially her hair!!) this past year. It is hard to believe that not too long ago she was a scared little girl being placed in my arms in China. As I write this, I realize that tomorrow will be the 2 year anniversary of the first time we saw her picture!! It seems forever and just yesterday at the same time! That precious little strawberry blonde girl has sure changed (and completed) our lives!! She continues to bless us everyday.

Brandt is still the Chaplain at Trinity School ( and he teaches a couple of science classes), and I have gone back to work at the school as well. I will try to be better about posting. If you actually read this let me know, so I will know that it wasn't all for naught!

Checking In...

Lucy's doctor appointment went well on Friday. Dr. Mungan said that she has gotten a little more near sighted since the last appt in Aug. He still feels that there is not a need for glasses at this time. Lucy has tons of fun running through the halls of UMC. IT was really funny to watch the crowds part to let her through. Each group of people that we passed remarked how cute she was. Of course I agreed with each of them whole heartedly! Afterwards, we went to look at Bridesmaids dresses for Becca's wedding. It will be here soon. We are all getting excited!

Saturday, we attended a Pine Wood Derby race for Zachary's cub scout den. Sadly, he did not win, but it was fun watching how the kids (parents) designed and decorated their cars. Lu enjoyed running around the room with the other children. I will try to add in a picture later.

Today, most of the day was spent at the church attending the funeral of our Rector's son. He passed away last Wednesday. It was a beautiful service. The church was standing room only, and a beautiful meal was served afterwards. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with this family.

When all else fails...

So, today we were supposed be at the school at 4 for report card pick up/ teacher conference. Which, by the way, was very good -- all A's! Brandt just stayed at school, and Lu and I were to meet him there. We got ready to go, but I could not find my keys. I searched everywhere, but no luck. Brandt ended up coming home to pick us up for the meeting. So later this evening, we started looking for them again. Brandt and I searched the entire house again for the keys. They were no where to be found. I had to have them, so I can take Lucy to her eye appointment tomorrow. We were beginning to plan how we could do it all with one vehicle when I thought of stories people would tell about their young children finding things. So....

Me: "Lucy, do you know where mama's keys are? Can you go find my keys?"

Lucy: "keys"

Lucy turns and walks into the other room. Brandt followed her to see where she was going. She trotted back less than 30 seconds later keys in hand. Apparently she put them away for me. So, when all else fails.... ask the 2 year old!

Notice the keys in her lap!

Dr. appointment on Friday

This Friday we have our second visit with Dr. Mungan. He is a pediatric ophthalmologist. Because of the Albinism, Lucy will see him pretty regularly (this is the second visit - first one 6 months ago). Then he said that her vision was perfect for a person with Albinism. There were no refractive errors at the time. This means that there was nothing that could be fixed with glasses. Because she was so young, he was unable to tell what exactly her vision was. He guessed it was 20/100. She has more language now, but I am still not sure if he will be able to determine much about her vision. I will post more after the appointment.

~Erica

A New Game

Lately Lucy has taken to strapping her booster chair to her then walking around the house. She even will keep it on while dancing. I promise that I did not strap her in. She did it all on her own! The problem? She can't get out of it by herself! It is really funny!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Here are a few pictures of our day! (Actually we celebrated a day early, shhh! Don't tell!)

Lucy got a shopping cart (which she loved).

Brandt and Zachary got a three set of Guitar Hero - which they love!

I got a new purse and a wallet - which I love, and some really cute pictures of my family!!

Remember when I wrote that Lu liked to strap a booster seat to her??? Well, she was at it again today!

Two of my favorite Valentines!

2008: A Year in Review

The year began much like the previous one. We spent time with good friends. We also found ourselves wondering if, in fact, this would be the year that we brought Lucy into our family. We'd been waiting on her for so long. Even before we entered the adoption process. (Recap: We were accepted as clients to CCAI (our agency for China adoptions) in June of 2006. We were officially logged into the CCAA (the part of China's government that oversees adoptions) on Dec. 31, 2006. In July of 2007, we decided that Lucy was one of the many waiting children in China, so we switched to Special Needs adoptions.) We were hopeful that 2008 would be our year, but when we had no idea. In February, I called CCAI to check on our status – really to make sure that we were still on the list and had not been lost or forgotten: ). I was reassured that we were still on the top quarter of the list, and that we would meet Lucy this year. Hurray!! I watched the Yahoo! Groups to try and guess when our time would come. By my best guess, I calculated that we would probably get “The Call” in August or September. That was good. That let us have something to look forward to with and end in sight.

We went about our lives as normally as possible, but continuing to prepare for Miss Lucy. I finally started buying pink things! On March 19, 2008 at 4:30 pm we received a call that would change our lives forever. I was working at a jewelry store at the time. Brandt and Zachary were on their way home from school. Brandt called me at the store to tell me that someone from the agency had called him and left a message for him to call. I checked my phone, and I too had missed a call from the agency. It was not August, but my hands began to tremble just the same. I called the agency back. Denise told me that she was looking at a picture of a beautiful little girl with strawberry blond hair that needed a family. I was speechless! Denise went on to tell me that her special need was Albinism. In the midst of the conversation, Brandt called to see what I had found out. I told him to come quickly because I thought that we may have found Lucy!! Meanwhile, Denise filled me in on what they knew about this child and asked if I was interested in reviewing her file. Well, yeah! I waited for Brandt and Zachary to arrive before opening the email. We all crowded around the computer and opened it together. We quickly read her description. She was 19 months old and she sounded perfect. We scrolled down to see her picture. The picture was taken when she was 10 months old. She was wearing a yellow sweater over what appeared to many other layers (imagine the little kid from A Christmas Story) sitting in a red car. Zachary said, “ Oh, she is so cute! She looks just like me!” We told Denise we were definitely interested. We were given about 24 hours to look over the file, make our decision, and get paperwork returned to them. This was it!!! This was the day that we had waited for for so long. We had a doctor review her file, but we already knew that she was ours. I don't think I slept that night as I was finishing up the paperwork. From there, there was lots to do to get ready for Lucy. Aside from more paperwork, there was shopping to do! We spent the next few months waiting to see if the final piece of paperwork was going to come through so that we could travel at the first possible date to pick up Lucy. It came through at the last minute and we were to leave for China on June 4, 2008!

June 4, 2008 we boarded a plane from New Orleans to Newark to Hong Kong. Our trip was amazing! Of course it consisted of many long hours on airplanes, lots of waiting, and lots of things that were outside of our comfort zones, but meeting our daughter/sister erased all of those things. After about 24 hours of travel, we finally landed in Hong Kong. Exhausted we went straight to the hotel and to bed. We spent the first few days in Hong Kong then we traveled to Lucy's province of Jiangxi. We were traveling with another family during our entire trip, so we always had familiar people around. (We became so close to this family and feel that we will always share a special bond!) Because we arrived at the end of a major festival/ holiday in the area, we did not receive Lucy until a few days after arriving in Jiangxi. On the morning of June 10, 2008, we were met with all sorts of emotions. The children (ours and the other family's) were due to arrive at 10:30. The other mother and I found ourselves like giddy teenagers waiting for the cute guy to come by. We were looking out windows, running downstairs hoping for a peek of the babies – anything. Finally we got a call from our guide saying that they were on their way up with the girls. This was it!! It was finally happening!!! We heard the elevator ding as they walked off. Lucy was the first one in. She was precious! She was wearing green pajamas. Her eyes were wide and she looked so scared. Her hair had been shaved for the occasion, but she was precious still. I walked over to her and she shied away from me. Finally I took her in my arms, and she screamed. She screamed and kicked and was terrified. I tried to comfort her, but it was useless. After a bit, I handed her to Brandt. She soon began to quiet. During the first few days, she wanted nothing to do with me, but clung to her “ba ba” (daddy in Chinese). On our fourth day with her, an amazing thing happened. She transformed from this terrified, shy little girl to a funny, outgoing toddler. She began to attach to mama and “ge ge” (big brother in Chinese). We had so much fun with her in China! Although it broke my heart to take her away from her home, her country, her heritage, I knew that eventually she would have so many more opportunities with us. We loved her and would give her all that we could. We left China on June 19, 2008.

We brought her home to MS to meet all sorts of friends and family. She was shy, but quickly warmed to the new faces and her new home. We took her to camp two weeks after arriving home, then spent the rest of the summer getting to know each other. Now that we have been home for 6 months, it is amazing to think that she was once not a part of our family. She is the most wonderful little girl, and we love her so much more today than yesterday!

Aside from traveling thousands of miles across the world, our year has been pretty uneventful. (Thank goodness!) Brandt finished his curacy at Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez and accepted a job as Priest Associate at Trinity and became full time Chaplain at Trinity Episcopal Day School. (He was part time there as part of his curacy.) He is also teaching some math classes at the school, so he is still in touch with his first love. He loves his new position. He is also doing some supply work in the area, so he feel as if he has the best of all worlds.

Zachary is eight, and is growing into a handsome young man. He loves reading and has for the past two quarters held the first or second place spot for the most Accelerated Reader points in his elementary school. He is also a cub scout and enjoys the meetings with the group of boys from his class. Zachary is a great big brother and loves his sister immensely. It is so special to watch them play and interact. He also loves video games and thanks to Guitar Hero that he got from Santa, he is in love with classic rock music. His favorite is Jimmi Hendrix (his dad is so proud!).

I am currently a stay-at-home-mom. I love spending the days with Lucy. She has gotten over her aversion of me and is quite the mommie's girl. She has the most amazing personality. She loves music, dancing, Dora the Explorer, and Choc Milk. She keeps me busy almost always with a smile on both of our faces because of her escapades.

Have a happy New Year!!
Love -
Erica

Years from now when we look back...

Years from now when we look back on today in history, I want to remember that I spent the day with my sweet daughter. I want to remember watching my husband play guitar hero as his "down time" for the day, and I want to remember Zachary coming into my room at 4:15 am telling me he was cold. (Come to find out, he'd been awake since 2:17am reading a book. I took him back to bed and snuggled with him for awhile.) This is not the life of the rich, famous, or even the exciting, but it is our life, and it is good!

A Special Day

Well, I am back to catching up again. In August we celebrated my grandfather's (Paw Paw as we call him) 84th birthday. If that wasn't special enough, it was the first time I got to see my new cousin Ryder. He's a cutie for sure. Lucy was enamored with him! The surprise of the night, however, was my sister's engagement announcement!!! I am so excited and happy for her. We can't wait to welcome Danial officially into the family.

My sister just glows with excitement!

Lu is so excited about all that happened on this special day!

Happiness

Happiness is ...

1. spending the day with your two children doing errands (crazy, I know but it worked today!).

2. seeing your son's bare arm for the first time after having a cast on for 4 weeks.

3. feeling the soft skin of your son's hand as he grasps your hand while telling you all about video game strategies while walking into K-Mart.

4. realizing that 5 months ago today your daughter was placed into your arms for the first time in a foreign country over 18,000 miles away.

5. feeling as if your daughter had been placed in your arms so much longer than a mere 5 months ago.

6. seeing your daughter laugh with her daddy after not wanting to have much to do with him for the first few months.

7. seeing your daughter sit in her big brother's lap while he plays video games.

8. seeing your husband when he comes home from work.

9. hearing the excitement in your daughter's voice when she hears her daddy coming in the door.

10. watching your children sleep.

11. watching your children play Guitar Hero in Wal-Mart.

I was overwhelmed with happiness this morning. I am not sure what made it so, but the day just clicked for me. I allowed Z to stay home from school because he had to go this morning to get his cast off. I decided to let him take the rest of the day off also. We had a really good day. We didn't do anything spectacular -- like I mentioned before we just did errands, but it was good! I am posting some pictures of our day!

I will post more catch-ups later.

My son will not take a picture without some sort of goofiness to save his life! That is part of his charm I guess.

Can you believe that parts of this cast used to be white?? Even Lucy wonders if it will ever be clean again.

This is Zachary so excited when he knows for sure that his cast is coming off.

Lucy is watching to make sure that the nurse does not hurt her Ge Ge.

These are two of the most precious (if not THE most) precious children in the world, and I am proud to be their mama!

I love you Lu and Z!

Crazy? Probably.

I really need to have my head examined. No really. I need to have my head examined. You see, a couple of weeks ago I had a few cysts removed from my scalp. Not a big deal except that my hair had stopped growing in that spot. So my hairdresser/friend said it was time. The procedure was not as bad as I had expected, really. The stitches in my head were the pits, though. They itched and pulled and were terribly uncomfortable. This is also the first time that I have ever had stitches that did not relate to an incision in my lower abdomen. I guess the other pain surpassed the stitches, so I did not notice. I digress. Anyway... I was due to have the stitches out today. Whoo! Hooo!! I could not wait. The doctor that I see is in Zachary, LA which for those of you unfamiliar with the area is right outside of Baton Rouge (almost 2 hours away). Normally I love going with my friend to Baton Rouge to shop after the appointment, and I thought that might be what we could do today. She, however, had things to do, so she could not accompany me. That left Lu and I to venture on our own. Well, I don't know B.R. well enough to drive there and shop on my own, so I decided that I would cancel the appt (driving almost 2 hours with a 2 yr old only to have a few stitches removed and drive almost 2 hours back did not sound like my idea of fun!). I told the receptionist that I would have a nurse here in town take out the stitches.

Well, last night the stitches were really bothering me, so I decided to get Brandt to take them out for me. I mean how hard could it be right? I sterilized a pair of scissors and tweezers. I don't want infections, you know! I broached the subject with my dear sweet husband. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: "Brandt, do you feel like doing a little surgery?" I figured he'd jump at the opportunity. BTW he was watching some animated show when I asked.

B: "What?" I repeated the question. "I thought you were doing that tomorrow." I gave him my rationale for needing it done now. "Can't Janee (my friend) do that for you?"

Me: "She said she would but not until tomorrow, and I want them out now."

B: "Wait until this is over. I have been waiting a week to watch this show."

Me: I happily and patiently wait for the show to end and try not to think about the fact that I have offered my husband a chance to be intimately close to my head with scissors and tweezers. I suppose I really do trust him. The show finally finished and he suggested that we go to the bathroom where the light was better. I sat myself on the toilet and said, "Try not to hurt me or cut too much hair."

B: "You really want me to do this?"

Me: "Yes!"

He begins to work, but is having a hard time with the scissors that I had given him. After a few minutes he gives up and tells me to wait until tomorrow. Well, those of you that know me know that I don't give up too easily. I proceeded to find him another pair of scissors, sterilized them and got him back into the bathroom.

B: "I can't do this. It is harder than it looks."

Me: "How hard can it be. You snip the stitch and pull out the thread -- easy!"

B: "It's not that simple. The stitches are tied on like you tie up a roast."

Me: "What??!! How do you know?"

B: "Because I watch Alton (Brown off of Good Eats -- B's favorite cooking show). "

Me: "You're crazy. It is not."

B: "I'm serious. Your head looks just like a piece of meat that has been tied up."

Me: "Well, how would Alton remove the string from the meat?" At this point I think that he went on to explain how it all worked while I sat there holding my hand out to catch the stitches that he was pulling out of my head and the small clumps of hair that came with them. He finally finished and said.

"Ok, that's all I can do. This is really grossing me out. I think that I left one or two in, but I did what I could."

I really could not feel anymore stitches. It was very tender, but the pulling that I was feeling was relieved. I went to see my friend Janee today who was going to finish what Brandt could not get to, but surprisingly, there was only one little piece of thread that she found. She said that he'd done a really good job and that it did not look like there was too much hair lost in the process.

I guess that all he really needed to do was to relate it to something that he knew about. I really do have a wonderful husband. He is a great teacher, priest, cook, and now nurse. What more could a girl ask for! Thanks, honey-- Love you!

A Few More Pictures from the Birthday

This picture was taken on Lu's actual birthday. She just looked so sweet napping!

A sweet lady from church sent Lu some balloons on her birthday. This was Lu's first experience with balloons, I think. She played with them for well over 30 minutes. She kept trying to get them to the floor, but they just wouldn't cooperate!

A friend of my mom sent Lu this sweet bear for her birthday. When Lu opened the present, she hugged it tightly and said, "Ooooooooh!"

Lucy's First and Second Birthdays

I was looking back at all of the pictures that I have on this computer (as opposed to our old computer- got a new tower a few months ago and have yet to transfer pictures from that computer to this computer, because I am not sure how to do it and Brandt hasn't had a free weekend in like forever, blah, blah, blah!). Anyway, I think that the first event that I have pics from is Lu's birthday. We celebrated here at home with Na Na and Jessa on her birthday (Aug. 14th), then celebrated with family the following Saturday in McComb. I will insert some of the cutest pictures. Enjoy!

This first picture was taken as we were finishing up supper. Daddy cooked us steak and baked potatoes, and Lu loves a baked potato! Yum!

Here you see Lu looking at the beautiful cake that daddy made for his sweet Lu's birthday! She was very curious about it all.+This is Lu and Z after daddy dabbed pretty green icing on their noses. I think that she liked it actually!Lucy's family birthday was on Saturday. She wasted no time in diving into the icing. She remembered what to do.I think she is looking to see which finger had most of the delicious icing on it.

Getting Started Again!

I am back again after a long absence. So much has happened that it will probably take weeks to blog about it all. I thought about skipping all of it and just starting anew, but you'd miss out on so much. Thus, I will try to begin where I left off. (That is I will begin where the other blog that we had during our trip to China left off. If I come across some things that I did not cover on that blog, I will add it in here!) So the 2 of you that read this, keep me honest and nag - I mean brag on how wonderful this is so that I will keep on a postin'! e

An exciting few weeks

Well, once again, it has been a few weeks since I have updated this blog. So much has happened. We were fingerprinted on May 2. It was the easiest 10 minutes of our lives. We were really happy during that day also b/c we found out the night before that we'd gotten our Letter of Acceptance from China. YEA!! We could plan to travel in 5-8 weeks. Wow that's quick!! Here it is a few weeks later and we find out that the group will probably travel on June 4 or 5. We, however will probably not be able to go with the group because we have not received our I 171-H. That is the piece of paper that you get after USCIS (the fingerprinting people) check our fingerprints and our home study. I have absolutely no idea when we will get that piece of paper. If we don't have it by next week, we will not be able to travel with our group. Boo, hoo! It is not the end of the world, however, because we will be able to go as soon as we get the piece of paper and the final travel plans are made. So, long story short, we could travel to get Lucy as early as 3 weeks and 3 days from now otherwise, it will be sometime later in June or even July before we can travel. I just hate the not knowing of it all.

On a sad note, there was a massive earthquake in China today. There was lots of devastation throughout the region of Sichuan. Luckily, it was not near Lucy's orphanage and rumor has it that the other orphanages in China were spared the devastation. So, while I am extremely relieved that my daughter is safe and sound tonight, I am also saddened that it will be many more nights before I can see her safe and sound here with me. Erica

I am most thankful today for the well being of the children of China who do not have parents with them.

Catching Up

If anyone actually read my blog, I would apologize for not keeping it up to date, but because this is mostly for my benefit I will just recap all that has happened in the last week.

Regarding the Snafu -- We got to N.O. almost late - so panic mode had begun. I went in before Brandt (he let me out and went to park). You have to put all items through the x-ray machine -- just before doing so, I remembered the camera in my purse. I took it out and was told that it could not be in there. They would not hold it either. Had to take the camera to Brandt and get him to put it in the car. In the meantime, I went to the first window for processing. The lady at the window, told me that she was the one who called me. I played ignorant. She took my paperwork, and asked where my letter was requesting a renewal. What?? Where is the copy of your 171 - H? What? I was told that I had to have both of these things before she could take my paperwork. She also informed me that they do not make copies there. I was close to tears, but asked if we could get fingerprinted when we returned with these things. No - we will make an appointment for you. What??? Last time we were able to do all of this on one day. We left, found a Kinkos, wrote a letter, made a copy, went back turned it all in, and did not get finger printed. They did, however, give us a fingerprint appointment for May 2. ARGH!! We were not able to go to the zoo as there were 5,000 school children there on a field trip. (slight exaggeration - maybe). We went to the aquarium instead. I did take pictures, but they have not been downloaded to the computer yet. I will add them one day.

Working - I have decreased my work hours, so that I may spend more time doing the things that I want to do. See earlier posts. I have gone back and begun to work on Zachary's quilt, even.

Lucy - Still waiting to hear the next steps in our journey.

The best thing about the past week has been spending more time with Zachary and finding bedding that will match Lucy's room decor.

Snafu??

The week has been progressing well until today. I will recap it all quickly. Monday was a fun day of perusing plant nurseries with Janee for the Mayfair plant sale. Tuesday -- thought I had to work, but did not so I did some errands for Janee, had lunch with Brandt, got a hair cut, and prepared to go to N.O. on Thursday to be re-fingerprinted for our 171-H (Petition to Adopt an Orphan). I got lots of forms ready, spent a lot of time on the phone in the past week with the social worker to make sure that our HS would be finished and ready. Everything was working out beautifully until about an hour ago. We were planning to go to McComb tonight so that the drive would not be as long in the morning (our appt is for 8:20 am -- my thinking is that we will wait less time the earlier we are there). I came home from work early to get ready to go. I stopped to listen to the messages. There was a message from a very unprofessional sounding woman that said, "Erica Dick. We'd be appreciative if you would cancel or change your appointment for USCIS tomorrow. I will call you back if I get a chance." That was it!! There was not a name given, not a telephone number given, nothing!!!!! Brandt thinks that someone hacked into the system and got our phone number and is trying to get us to cancel so that they can have our appt. time. : ) Not sure if that is the case, but this is CRAZY! On the caller ID the phone number says US Government, but if you try to call it, you get a disconnect message. I am so frustrated. We are still going to go tomorrow. We have taken off of work, and all is planned. I hope and pray that it works out!

The best thing about today is the hug from my sweet son and the hope of soon getting one from my daughter.

A Busy Weekend

I felt I needed to let the world in on our weekend -- such as it was. We stayed very busy! Friday, Brandt had to be at a wedding rehearsal for his brother's wife's sister (aka Roni). I went with him to the dinner. Although they are from Birmingham and her family lives in McComb, they wanted to have their wedding here in Natchez. They booked Dunleith for the occasion.
Nice place for a wedding, eh?! The dinner was wonderful, and it also gave us a chance to spend some time with Ken and Kim (Brandt's brother and his wife.) Saturday morning, we got up at the crack of dawn and went to Jackson for MS Chinese Cultural School. Z has been attending this once a month for the entire school year. This month was especially fun b/c we were able to take pictures of Lucy to show off. There was another mother there that has just recently received a referral and PA as well. I had the opportunity to meet her and share in her excitement as well. Several of the families are giving us (us as in my family and the other recently referred family) a shower next month after Cultural School. That will be soooo much fun. It has been quite a long time since I had a shower!! (Ok, you know what I mean!!) We rushed home from Jackson to go to the wedding and reception. Brandt did a fabulous job officiating the service. The wedding was beautiful. (See the above picture -- the bride even arrived in a horse drawn carriage.) The reception was fantastic -- great food, great band, and open bar! Since it had been such a long day for us we retired early -- I think we were home before 9. Today was our church's day to cook for Stewpot -- a place for people to come get a hot meal -- kinda like a soup kitchen. We served spaghetti. I always enjoy doing it, but often leave not wanting the meal that we served 100+ plates of. This afternoon, I bummed around with Janee and Jessa. I shopped, watched 3 week old goslings swim in a bathtub, and watched a documentary called China's Lost Girls. It is about the journey to adopt a daughter in China. It was really well done, and it helped to make the reality of our lives a little more real. Tonight I have been reading other blogs of families that are either in China as we speak or have just returned home. It still is a very surreal experience. I pray that Lucy (Fu Ni Hua) finds a bit of peace and comfort today and that she has a smooth transition into our family. ~Erica

The best part of today was imagining our "Gotcha Day" with Lucy as I watched the film and watching 3 week old goslings swim in a bathtub (that was awesome!!).

A Quiet Day

It was a fairly quiet day. It's beginnings were not so quiet, however. I was awakened oh about 4 minutes after dosing off last night. Z had an earache. It was pretty painful according to his tears and moans. About an hour and a half later (and Tylenol and ear drops and going downstairs to sleep in recliners - yes both of us), we finally were able to get some rest. Poor thing was just miserable. He was so sweet though. He apologized for waking me up and thanked me for taking care of him. I told him that was my job, and I was happy to do it. After an early morning visit to the pediatrician, we were able to spend the day together at home. He even kicked my butt at Leggo Star Wars! (He always does though!)

While at the ped. office I asked about immunizations for our trip to China. It turns out that he only needed one shot, and we were able to get that done today!!! I don't think Brandt and I will be so lucky, however.

On a sad note, my friend's cat died this afternoon. She had been sick after eating three colored pom poms that her daughter had been using to decorate a project. What made the cat eat these pom poms I will never know. Kitty will be truly missed.

I still haven't figured out all there is to know about this blogging. I have tried for the last hour almost to replace the map of China or Lucy's province on here, but it keeps turning out way too small. I will have to check into the issue again tomorrow. It has been a long day. Good night!

PS -- I have decided to have a best thing about the day post attached to each one.

The best thing about today was my sweet son thanking me for taking care of him and the spontaneous "I love you, Mommy" he gave me! I love that kid!!