and we wait....

All of our paperwork is in China and we are officially logged into the system.  Now we wait........  

Better Than One Designs

Usually I have more time to post our happenings during the summer.  Not so this year.  My friend and I started a custom wooden sign making business in June to raise $$$ for Mary's adoption and has taken off!  We are beyond amazed and blessed, but crazy busy!  This is our newest creation.  Check out more of our items on our business blog.

www.betterthanonedesigns.blogspot.com

Post and Welcome sign $50

Leave a comment if you are interested in making a purchase.  All of our items can be personalized and customized with words and colors of your choosing.  100% of our profits go to bring our sweet Mary home!

HELLLOOOOO SUMMER!

We love summer around here!  No more backpacks, homework, early bedtimes, school lunches, permission slips and most importantly.......NO MORE SOCKS!  I hate socks in my laundry.  Each day our family produces 16 dirty socks.  There seem to be socks everywhere.  So, summer brings bare feet and flip flops!  LOVE!

We started our summer with a wonderful trip to the beach.  Thank you to some generous friends who let us use their condo!  It was such a great time of hanging out and enjoying each other.  We haven't been on a vacation with just our 'little' family in years.

Trey had the honor of serving as a Junior Marshall for graduation.  He just had senior portraits done last week.  We are busy having conversations about SAT scores, college visits etc....  Makes me feel sick. He looked so handsome the night of his Junior prom.

Jillian had a great time at her 8th grade dance.  We can't believe she is headed to high school next year! She is busy attending basketball and volleyball workouts this summer.

Will finished elementary school and will be in middle school next year.

Mia was chosen as Student of the Year for our entire school.  She is so deserving.  Her dedication to learning amaze us every single day.

Lainie continues to be our energetic bundle of joy!  Her much awaited water day is her favorite day of the school year!

Pearl received the "Most Talkative" award in her preK class.  She has amazed us by how much language she has picked up.  She still has tons of speech therapy in her future, but progress is progress. According to her orphanage Nanny, she never spoke a word in China her entire 4 years.  She's come along way with that considered.

I have been busy trying to generate some funds for our upcoming adoption of Mary.  My friend and I have started a cool little business called , Better Than One Designs.  Our speciality is making really cool looking vintage custom signs.  Check us out on Facebook:  BetterThanOne Designs.  We'd love to make a custom sign for you!

Let us design a custom sign for you.  Favorite verse, saying, name....  we can do whatever you wish!

Better Than One Designs

The Way We Should Go......

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."  Psalm 143:8

Isn't it really each Christian's desire to know the way that God wants them to go???  That has been our desire as we have sought after God's plan for our lives and the life of our family.  That road has taken us on journeys we certainly thought we'd never experience.  As you know, God's plan for our family has included adoption.  3 times.  We didn't plan that one folks.  Not. At. All.

In fact each time God has revealed his plan to us for adoption, we've doubted.  We've struggled.  We've said things like,
       "Not right now God.  We've got a lot going on here."
       "Can you come back later God."
       "When we have more money God."
        "If you haven't noticed God, we're pretty full here.  Pick on someone else."
        "We've done our part Lord.  Don't ask more of us please."
        "We're tired Lord."

Thankfully, God in his unfailing love, and his persistent desire for us to know him more, has continued to knock on the door of our hearts.  And in a myriad of ways, he has revealed to us the way we should go.  And each time, we have experienced his unfailing love in ways that you can't even imagine.

You'd think that after he reveals the way we should go, we would rest in His love for us as we watch his plan unfold.  Not so friends.

There are moments of tears, anxiety, fear, doubt, and moments when we are simply scared as heck.

And because we are human, there are moments when we grow extremely weary of being so, so, so UNordinary.  We want to be normal.  We want to NOT attract attention every where we go.  We do not want to be THAT family.  We want to go places and blend in.  Sometimes I want to hide.  Sometimes it just gets me down.

 And the world.  There is no encouragement from the world.  Instead MOST people tell us we are crazy.  They say things like...
"Are you sure you want to do that?  Again?!"
"Are you really being responsible?"
"Why would you do that?"
"What are you trying to prove?"
"What about your other kids?"
"Are you crazy?"

Crazy?  Who wants to be labeled as crazy.  Not me.  Unfortunately, in my weakness, these words of the world begin to seep in and cause me to doubt our decisions.  I begin to listen to those whose lives seem so much more comfortable than mine.  I begin to listen to those who are living the status quo.  I begin to listen to those who are focused on the here and now.  I begin to listen to those who are saving for college funds, vacations, retirement......  I begin to think that a comfortable, normal, "don't rock the boat"  life seems much more sane.

Then I remember.  We aren't called to be comfortable.  We aren't called to be the status quo.  We aren't called to not rock the boat.  He wants us to listen to Him and not to the world.   We can't listen to both.

Who will I listen to?  Will I listen to the doubters, the naysayers, the worriers?  Will I just be happy with the status quo too?  Will I answer God's call on my life by saying, "That's too scary.  That's too hard.  That requires too much.   That's too crazy."


If you've read the stories of the Bible, you know  how it ends for those who doubted God, for those who gave into the doubt of those around them.  For those who allowed the doubt to seep in and prevent them from going the way God called them to go.  They missed the Promised Land.  They missed the blessing of obedience.


Will will be like those people, or when he knocks on the door of our hearts will we say, "For I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." Psalm 143:8 

The verse we've sort of claimed for our lives are the words of Jesus in John 10:10.  "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full."  If we believe that, then we believe that God's plans for us are good.  His plan is for us to have live to the fullest extent.

Friends, we know this to be true.  We have followed when it didn't make sense.  We have followed when we were tired.  We have followed when we were scared.  We have followed when there was no money.  We have followed when the world said, "no, no, no."  And we have found every time that he does not leave, he does not forsake.  He keeps his promises.  He gives life to the full.  

These words have been spinning in my head for quite some time.  But today, they are more true than ever before.

He has knocked on our hearts again.  He has told us, "Go this way." And we have entrusted our lives to him as we follow him in another adoption.

Around this time next year we will be bringing home this beautiful child.  Now an orphan, soon a beloved daughter.  

Go ahead.  Call us crazy.

She is named for my precious grandmother, Mary Anna Russell 

and Bobby's dear aunt, Mary Barbee Little.

5 Years Old!

I have never seen a child more excited about their birthday than Miss Pearl!  Our day started with getting dressed in her birthday shirt!  She loved it.  Our first event of the day was a visit to the ENT for a follow up.  Pearl told everyone that it was her birthday.  Of course, her speech isn't quite clear yet - so I had to interpret :)  She told the man in the elevator, the lady in the waiting room, the nurse, the doctor, etc.etc.

Next stop was Chick Fil A for lunch!  Lainie was along for the fun since we were out of school!  Pearl told everyone in the restaurant it was her birthday and that worked out great!  The manager gave the girls a free ice cream sundae!

Then it was home to celebrate with presents,

cake,

and a bubble bath for the queen.

All day I've been reminded of the words to a song by Audio Adrenaline:

"Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these!"

Happy birthday to our little five-year-old queen.  

Once among the least of these, now loved and adored!

Our Precious Pearl

One year ago today I met our precious Pearl in a hotel room on the other side of the world. I will never forget how confidently she walked into the room ahead of the orphanage staff.  She came straight to me and NEVER LOOKED BACK.  She walked into that room and into her new life with reckless abandon.  It was if she said,  "Hi. They told me you were mama and that you would take care of me.  So here I am."  She clung to me those 2 weeks in China and every day since.  No one else in China could hold her or do anything else for her.  In that moment she chose to trust me and she never looked back.  I was it.  I was all she had.
I've sat here staring at this computer screen trying to come up with words that would explain the journey we've been on since that first day.  It is only in looking back at her first month or so at home that I realize how far she has truly come.  She has had a major heart surgery, palate surgery, tubes put in her ears, and countless medical and developmental testing.  We've discovered she has a blood disorder called Thalasemia, severe tooth decay, speech impairment, expressive language delay, developmental delay, hearing loss, keloid scarring, orthopedic issues requiring shoe inserts and physical therapy, etc. etc. etc.
Yet, she is our precious Pearl.  She has learned how to love and how to live. She's still tries to be the boss of our house - but she's come a long way in learning how to be a part of a family.  A long, long way.  And although we've been tested more mentally, physically and spiritually than ever before, she is worth it. She is worthy of our love.  She is worthy of all that we have because she is a daughter of the KING.  There will be more struggles and hurdles to come as we journey through life with her, but she is our priceless, precious Pearl and we will go to the ends of the Earth to meet her needs and help her grow into the person that God has intends for her to be.
Here she is tonight.... tucked in safe and sound, surrounded by the love of her family. 

"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 4:7

We LOVE you Pearl! 

Mia's Gotcha Day!

January 30, 2010      Xian, China,  Shaanxi Province

Mia has been home three years today!  I thought it might be fun to record her thoughts on this day, so I asked her a few questions.

1.  What do you remember about the day you were brought to your mom and dad?
I was very, very sad and I didn't really know who you were.  I didn't know where I was going.  I thought I was going to your house that day.  I woke up that morning and Nai Nai (foster grandmother) fixed me noodles for breakfast.  She gave me a red grocery bag with cookies in it.  She gave me those so I wouldn't get hungry on the long drive to meet you.  I was really sad that morning.  I didn't want to leave Nai Nai.  I got dressed and my  clothes were not neat.  They didn't look like what a person should wear.  I had boys shoes on  that someone had passed down to me.  Nai Nai and I walked to the orphanage.  She gave me her phone number on a piece of paper.  She told me to call her whenever I wanted to call. The  people from the orphanage came out to meet us.  I said goodbye to Nai Nai and they put me in the car.  Nai Nai and I were both crying.  We drove a long way.  I was very car sick.  I had never, ever ridden in a car before.  Nai Nai and I walked everywhere.  The orphanage took me to get new clothes because my clothes needed to be nicer to meet you.  They also took the paper Nai Nai had written her phone number on.  It was all wrinkled because I had been holding on to it so tight.  They wrote it on another piece of paper for me.  I was very upset because they changed the  paper.  I wanted to keep the one that Nai Nai had given me.  She also gave me a book with some pictures in it.  The pictures were from a day that Nai Nai had taken me to the orphanage to get my picture taken.  Nai Nai told me to be sure to eat good. 

2.  What did you think when you first saw us?
I was scared of Daddy because he was bald and very tall.  I thought his blue eyes were scary.  I thought I did not want to be with you.  I wanted to go back with Nai Nai.  I was crying because I didn't want to stay with y'all.  I was glad that Sherry (our guide) was there so that I had someone to talk to that could understand me.

3.  What do you remember about your time in China with us?
I really liked the watercolor paint and the playdough that you brought me.  I did NOT like taking a bath in the tub because I had never done that before.  At Nai Nai's house we only took a bath in a bucket.  I had never seen a potty before either. (note from mom - I left details about the bathroom conditions out - Mia thought she might be embarrassed if anyone knew what their bathroom was like), The floor in the house was cement like the floor in our garage. There was not a sink.  Nai Nai got the water from outside.  She heated it up on a little fire in the house.  We had a table where Nai Nai, her husband and her real granddaughter sat.  BoBo (another foster child) and I sat at a small table on the floor.  There were two beds.  Nai Nai, her husband, their granddaughter, and Bobo and me all slept in the same bed.  There was another teenager girl who was part of the family that slept in another bed.  Nai Nai's granddaughter lived with us because her mom needed to work.  We were in the same class at school.  Nai Nai treated her differently than she treated me.  She got better stuff than me. 

5.  What was school like in China?
We learned some of the same math.  We learned how to add and subtract.  My teacher was a woman.  I didn't get to tell her goodbye.  I left during winter break.  We had nap time. I didn't have any friends there.  I don't know why.  We played on the playground after naps.  We learned how to write Chinese characters but I didn't learn how to read.  If we got in trouble the teacher would spank your hand with a ruler.  I got my hand spanked sometimes.  I don't remember why.  We always walked to school.  Nai Nai walked us there.

6.  What did you do to have fun?
We used sticks as phones.  We played with dirt.  We didn't have any toys outside or in the house.  We played outside a lot.  We got very dirty.  We only took a bath every seven days.  We took baths outside.  We had a TV.  We watched a cartoon called The Pleasant Sheep.  There was a bad wolf that tried to get the sheep.  We did our homework.

7.  Did you celebrate any holidays?
 Only Chinese New Year.  We put red signs on the door.  All of Nai Nai's family came.  Some boy, maybe my cousin, played with us.  We played with his toys.  His mom was a real mom.  She brought him stuff.  He even had a jade necklace.  We could see fireworks.  We built a fire and jumped over it.  Now I think that is dangerous.  We didn't get any presents.  We ate eggs, and chicken and noodles.  There was not any cake or pie like at Mamaw's house. 
We didn't celebrate birthdays either.  I didn't even know what day my birthday was on.

8.  What is the first thing you remember about coming home?
I was really surprised  how many people came to see  me when I got home. I thought my house was very big.  I couldn't even find my way out the door.  I thought my room looked really nice.  At first I was scared to sleep in my room because I never had a room with windows.  I was used to everyone sleeping in the same room.  I didn't tell you that because I didn't know how to say it.  Once I learned English - like maybe at the end of the school year (June), I started to really like being here.  Then I saw how much fun it was to have a big family.  I was so excited to have my first birthday when I was  8.   I never had a birthday before.  I really cried a lot at first because I didn't really know that it was going to turn out to be this good.

9.  When you think about being adopted now, how do you feel?
I feel like I really love y'all because y'all have done great things for me.  I have learned a lot of things and I am in a better place than still in China. 

10.  What would you tell a little girl in China that is about to be adopted and come to the United States?  I would tell her that you are going to be in a really good place.  They will love you.  If she is scared I would tell her that it would be okay.  You can learn English by listening to people.  That is what I did.

11.  Do you miss China?
Well, now that I am here, I would like to see the people I knew there.  I think about them once in awhile.  Sometimes I look at their pictures.  I miss them, but I am not sad anymore.  I am happy.  If I had the chance to go back to Nai Nai's house I would not go.  She can't send me to college.  I am happier here.  Nai Nai wasn't my real family, but I still loved her.  Now I have real family.  I wouldn't want to leave here.

Mia with the picture of she and Nai Nai that she keeps in her room.

We love you Mia and we feel so honored and blessed to be your family.  You are the strongest, bravest, most loving girl we have ever known.  We love you FOREVER!
Mom and Dad