One out of seven? (So far)

Hubby and I have had 7 children so far soon to be nine- alleluia!

We have built sandboxes in many of our homes over the years BUT they have often gone unnoticed. We finally have a little one that is passionate about the sand! This little girl would play all day long in the sand- she loves it! And because she loves it- we love it!

I have been known to be a clean freak and immediately brush off the hands and feet but the Dear Lord is helping me to JUST ENJOY this sweet child as she plays in the sand! Sarah has even taken up a little more interest as she watches Anna who is so content with playing in this incredible tactile experience! What a wonderful sandbox- THE BEACH!

Again my mind drifts to Emma and Ellie- what will they be like? Will they tolerate the fact that their parents love the sunsets? Or will the want to chase the waves on the beach? Would they rather roller blade while the rest of the family stares at the setting sun? Or are they going to dig into the most wonderful sandbox in the world- THE BEACH!

Science Field Trip

While we were on vacation we had a little science field trip to the rookery- a wild life area in Southern Florida dedicated to the local natural habitat both on land and in the ocean. It was fun to learn about the area we were in!

Sarah fed the fish in the large aquarium. I missed my photo op- her she is after the fact!

They had a cut out area in the aquarium where the kids could sit in and see the fish from 3 angles!

The girls loved the touching aquarium! Sarah was very hesitant at first but once she say Anna holding the animals she decided that maybe they wouldn't bite after all!

This is a sea star-they are no longer called starfish. Learn something new everyday!

Honestly if Anna hadn't done it first I don't know if Sarah would have done it! It will be interesting with 2 more darling daughters- who will be the brave and who will not! I am excited to see all the different interactions that will happen!

This is a spider crab. It tickles when you hold them!

This is a horseshoe crab. It was as much fun for hubby and I, as it was the girls!

I got to hold the king conch shell because it was a little too heavy for the kids! Oh yeah- I had fun!

When I grow up I want to be...

To a mom and dad of an adopted older child those words are music to our ears! At dinner tonight Sarah was telling us what she wanted to be when she grew up. We have had many conversations about it and she is so surprised and excited with her options! Had our precious little girl stayed in China she would not have had theses options...

When Sarah grows up she wants to be a -

Doctor

Nurse

Teacher

Chef

She is toying with the idea of being a policeman/woman BUT she is not sure BECAUSE she is still afraid of them. She has also decided to be a Mommy!

As her parents we are very happy with her career choices! She will be very busy but we are encouraging her to go for it!! ;-)

I love that she sees herself as having a future, a wonderful and bright future! The possibilities are endless! Thank you Jesus

Update on Anna- 2009!

We have sent an update to Anna's foster family! It feels so good when we do that- our dear daughter would not be alive IF it weren't for them! The took the time to feed her with her open cleft and made sure she got the care she needed to survive - God Bless them! She was left 4 days after her birth - her precious birth mom loved her and held her until she realized she had to let her go. Anne had a bilateral cleft- a double opening as wide as her little nose. She had no suck what so ever and could not get any food. For 3 weeks she lost weight until they put her in a foster home- then everything turned around and this dear lady did what she needed to do for our precious daughter- thank you Jesus! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We try to send her updated photos each year, a letter and a little gift. We are so grateful for what she did for our daughter. I know she cried for many days after our Anna left. ( I know because we called her). It is heartbreaking to love and bond with a child only to have the child taken away. These are very special women and very special families that do foster care. We hope to someday visit her and her family. Anna is only 3.5 years old. She would have to be about 7 yrs old before we would do a heritage trip. I pick the younger age only because her sisters will be older. Oh my, when Anna is 7, Sarah will be 13, Emma 12 and Ellie 11.

On another note I am so excited to have this done because the next gift goes to Emma and Ellie! We will not know if they receive it until we bring them home. Sarah received parts of the gifts we sent but was not told who it was from, it would be so difficult for them (the girls) to know too early. I do not think they would be comforted by our thoughtfulness but instead they would fear the unknown. I am okay with however they handle it- I will just pray that it is a fit for our girls. If they get something new and it makes them happy that is all that matters. They will soon enough learn about us, their new family and at that time we will begin our adjustment journey!

I know I say this a lot but "Thank you Jesus!"

Had to call 911!

Today when we went out to lunch little Anna reached up onto the counter and grabbed a few things that were not meant for her. The were little sticks dipped in lavender oil. She took them out of the glass jar and they dripped into her left eye. She immediately started crying hysterically. We tried flushing it with tap water but she was so upset we decide to call 911. There is no local poison control here and we really didn't know what was in there. An ambulance came right away and they flushed it with sterile saline. She was not happy during the process but it really seemed to help her. She smiled and waved good bye to the paramedics!

The other kids were so worried about her and upset everyone lost their appetite. Once they saw she was okay they felt much better! The rest of our day went without incident, PTL!