Good News/Bad News

We got our Pre-Approval this week!

Our adoption agency went under and locked its doors!

What?!#

Yep, actually it's not as bad as it sounds, we can transfer agencies, but we need more information. I'll post more when we know more.

 

Just some more fun photos from the last few weeks. Thank God for good friends.

Frannie is heading to the mountains

We leave tomorrow after school for my cousin's cabin in North Carolina for a girls' weekend. Kevin and I have been there a few times before and it's always such a treat. We are meeting my girlfriends from Spokane, which is an even bigger treat. We have not all been together since Angie's wedding almost 6 years ago? From L to R, Ellen, Jennie, Angie and Lynne. This photo was taken in Chicago about 10 years ago on St. Patrick's Day. How fun to spend time with such close, good friends and get caught up on life and laugh a lot. Can't wait!

Frannie's Birthday Party

Happy Halloween

What fun they had!

The Day Has Finally Arrived

We have a baby! Kevin and I were presented with a 14-month old from the Sichuan Province and we both felt it was a good match. We are not allowed to post photos yet, per our agreement with the agency and the CCAA. She will be named Grace Elizabeth. A friend from blogging has a daughter from the same orphanage (they live on the other side of Atlanta) and she has already gotten me excited about going -- although this is the province that was the epicenter of the large earthquake in May, we hear it is a nice, large city with lots to see. You can see where it is in relation to Frannie's province (left click on the bottom photo, see Xian just above the marker) More to come....

Happy Birthday Dear Peggy

I miss my husband!

Kevin has been working the baseball playoffs -- in Philly, in Tampa, and now, in Boston. I never thought I'd cheer for the Red Sox to lose in my life -- but I want him HOME! If the Sox lose tonight, Kevin will be here tomorrow! If the series drags on, it could actually be .... Sunday? before we see him. He's been gone for almost 2 weeks straight and Frannie is getting awfully confused.

Potty Training

Now for the REALLY important things....

Who wouldn't be proud of her bodily functions? I mean, it's not everyone that can actually aim for a potty AND hit the target. I'll spare you the pictures of her accomplishments. Additionally, who wouldn't be proud of that little bum bum?

Relaxing Day

One of the things I love about Frannie is how much she shows her joy with simple things. The summer of 1994, I think, was the 3-month stretch that I spent backpacking in Ireland and England and it gave me a wonderful, renewed sense of calm and relaxation that I had not known before. I came back from the trip so filled with awe about God's beauty in the world and I enjoyed the simplest things like warm sun on my face on a chilly day. This photo reminds me of lying on a hillside in Northern Ireland, watching the long, green grass wave in the wind and hearing only baaaaaa and mooooooo from afar and watching the sun twinkling on the Irish Sea. Thanks be to God for Frannie to help me remember the (reckless) simple times!

Xiangyang Friends

The guy I met at Home Depot got his son about 3 and a half years ago. No such luck. How's everyone?

Next Child

In case you were wondering, we are actively looking for another baby on the Shared List, but it just hasn't happend yet. We have passed over a few because the feelings were not right -- it feels so different from the last time, but we are just waiting for a right fit for our family and for both of us to feel a connection with a child.

Today at Home Depot we went in search of paint for our rental property and we met a paint guy who is waiting for his LOA for his 2nd son from China. His first son is from Ally and Frannie's orphanage! Imagine that. I'm going to check back with him in a few months and see how things are going.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to see the daycare's caterpillar emerging from his/her cocoon (and promptly die, oh boy). They had it in a cage and we've all been watching the metamorphosis with anticipation.

Our Funny Girl

I know every parent thinks their kid is the best, but they are delusional and we actually have the cutest, funniest one.

Pray Even More

This is by far the worst part of my job -- my sweet little Brenzelle passed away last night, no big drama, just gone. Please pray for her family and her nurse. She had a wonderful sense of humor, a great crooked smile and she taught me a thing or two about being a good friend. She didn't love me because I am thin or rich (because obviously, I am neither), nor because I'm particularly funny, smart or pretty. She just liked to see me a few times a week and hope I didn't make her work too hard. Frannie met her once and was a little scared maybe because she moved in an unusual way, but she never forgot her name and still occasionally says "Bwenzelle" out of the blue.

I hope she's now eating a big fat cheeseburger, fries and an ice cream sundae, because she has never experienced that before in her short life. She ate via tube. I hope she is climbing a tree, petting a dog or having a day without pain or discomfort (because I don't think she knows what any of that was ever like either). God bless you Yolanda for being such a good and loving Mom.

Man, Who Is This Woman?

Sarah Palin impresses me for so many reasons, but mostly due to her apparent disregard for what others think.

In Case That Wasn't Clear

My friend Lucy pointed out that I never really stated the fact that WE ARE GOING BACK TO CHINA FOR ANOTHER GIRL. I've asked so many people to pray and e-mailed friends and family about this, but my last blog was somewhat ambiguous. We have our home study almost complete (about 1-2 weeks until we are finally final), then we file a form with the US Immigration, wait about 90 days for that to be complete and sometime during this 90 day-period, we hope to find our next daughter on a Waiting Child List from our agency, Hope for Children. In the meantime, Frannie is calling the baby "Cherylina" after her beloved Cheryl. We can travel to China, probably, sometime between April and June. It would be CONVENIENT to wait until school is out and Kevin has some free time from work, BUTTTTTTTTT.......(that's a big buttttt) (as Pee Wee Herman would say "everyone I know has a big butt...."

Some of You May Know This Story....

We met these 3 families about a year and a half ago -- we had all applied for girls from the Waiting List and happened to be numbered 6, 7, 8 and 9 on the list. We all keep in touch, get together as much as possible and love each others' girls immensely. God has put it in all of our hearts to go back to China AGAIN so this time next year we should have a photograph of EIGHT beautiful girls. By the way, Kevin and I are the only ones who have no biological kids so actually, the photograph should have FOURTEEN beautiful kids in it!

I Really Can't Believe It's Been a Year

Frannie was placed in our arms one year ago -- tomorrow. I think I'll be busy so I'm doing this today. Look how much she has changed! My vocabulary is not adequate -- the pictures say it better.

Fun Times with Shelby

Frannie hung out with Shelby on Saturday and her family always knows the hot spots to hit in town -- the Bass Pro Shop, namely

She couldn't be funnier

This was taken a few weeks ago. In case you don't understand what we are singing, or attempting to sing, it's "I'm a Little Teapot" and apparently it's the funniest thing she has ever heard.

Okay, so I've been busy

To some Moms it may sound like a usual few weeks, but I have been concentrating on our home improvement projects(see attached -- like the old wall paper we found behind our mirror? It says "Valley Forge" in case you were looking for a great retro wallpaper for yourself), having a car accident and dealing with insurance issues, having guests (who were very welcome and fun to have, I might add), getting ready for school to start and being sick. Not whining, mind you, just not putting the blog high on my list of priorities.

Kevin is in Chicago, school starts in less than 48 hours, we are about to close on a piece of mountain property in Tennessee (yippee) near Lake Ocoee and my stuffy nose/allergies are going to be the death of me this week. Frannie has said "bless you Mama" about 100 times today, what a sweetie.

We had our final home study visit this week, due to our impending 12 month anniversary of having Frannie! Thanks be to God for our funny, sweet girl.

More photos to come of Kevin's latest project, installing hardwood floors in our hallway.

My sentiments exactly

When there are not enough hours in the day....

My favorite great niece

She is too brilliant.

The Great Northwest

About 12 days ago I was rushing around to pack and take care of the house before we left for our crazy trip when I heard Frannie fall off the bed in my bedroom. My bed is about 4 feet off the ground. She managed to jam her lower teeth through her bottom lip and they darn near came out the front of her chin. She was a mess, but we left 4 hours later for Virginia.

Kevin got home from a work trip and quickly packed for our 8 days away. We jumped in the car and drove 6 hours to my sister's house in Virginia, where Frannie would be staying for the week while we flew out west. We stayed the night and got her acclimated to her surroundings. We nervously left on Tuesday morning and drove to Charlotte to catch our flight. We had a small bit of extra time so I called my buddy Lynne who had JUST moved to Charlotte that week to see if she and her new hubby wanted to meet for a beer before our flight. We got to spend about 1 and a half hours with Lynne and Chris at the airport, getting caught back up after seeing each other only one other time since our time in Spokane, 11 years ago.

We flew to Seattle, got a night's rest, rented a car and headed east. Although I lived in Washington, my goal was to see as much as we could, sights I had seen and some I had not. Our first real stop was Spokane which made me surprisingly emotional. Lots had changed, but most had not. We had some beers at Jack and Dan's, walked by our 2 old houses and met this year's JVs. The moment we walked into Jack and Dan's, the first guy I saw was a familiar face, if you can believe it. He was the former bartender at J&D's, but is now part owner. I should have asked to take his photo, but those JVs who are regulars will probably remember Kevin the dark-haired bartender with a goatee. Looks exactly the same. I also wanted so much to eat a Sonic Burrito, but yellowpages.com informed me they were no longer in existence. We walked down Hamilton and spotted a restaurant called "Ionic Burrito." Hmmmm. We went in to eat and when we asked the burrito guy told us that they had had a battle with the Sonic Burger people and Sonic Burrito lost their name.

We stayed in Couer de Alene for the night, right on the lake then drove up to Glacier the following day. The photo of the incredibly pregnant Amish lady was a few feet from the entrance. Poor lady. Here I am imposing on her privacy by taking pictures of her enormous belly. Ooops, sorry. We LOVED the scenery in Montana, the weather was fabulous and the B&B on Flathead was spectacular. Go out of your way one day and venture to Flathead, you will not regret it.

I have a small gambling compulsion so it's a good thing we do not live in a gambling state. I only lost about $50. Good thing Kevin is restrained. After leaving Flathead we drove through Missoula (oh, the memories, the beers we shared, the boys we kissed and the hangovers we nursed). We only stopped for red lights so I'm sorry to report (Angie, Lynne and Jennie), I didn't even have one beer at the Rhino or one boot at the _____ (what the heck was the name of THAT place? We drank beer out of a boot??? Sounds funny). Drive, drive, drive back east via scenic Idaho (where, by the way, I'm quite sure that 48 trillion trees could be logged and no one would notice the difference). I don't think I'm leaving anything out by saying bla bla bla, Idaho, Washington, Oregon then Washington again. The Columbia Gorge, Mount Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Ranier are all so incredibly spectacular that the photos and the words could never touch the beauty or the majesty.

Most importantly, we finally got to Shawn, Billy and Sadie's house (my niece and her family). We spent a few days with them, getting to know Sadie a bit better. She's 16 months and smart as a whip. We got to eat out a few times and see the sights near them in Olympia. Shawn kicked our butts in Scrabble, we took some nice walks, had some great meals and I got to see my new budding niece or nephew's ultrasound!).

On Sunday we drove up to Seattle to have lunch with another Spokane buddy, Alex and her family. Her Mom lives on Mercer Island (la dee da) and we ate and chatted on the deck overlooking the gorgeous scenery. Her little girl Ariya is so very cute and I regretably did not take one photo of Alex or her baby! We were about 2 miles away and I could have kicked myself for not thinking of it. Alex is the same as always, helping the world one needy person at a time. God love you Alex. She is a physician for the university in Seattle (Univ of Seattle?) serving refugees and the homeless. She deferred medical school a year to volunteer a year with me in Spokane (now that is charity), along with 4 other roommates, I mean as a Jesuit Volunteer working for the Spokane Food Bank. She's brilliant, fun, sweet and pretty as ever (darn you Alex Molnar!) with husband who is in medicine too.

My flight story is so complicated I will spare you the details, but Kevin and I got home, wanting to run to the hotel to find Frannie and kiss her all over. I will NEVER leave her again for so long. I missed her by the hour and felt horrible about the whole thing until Katie reassured me that she was fine from the start. We got to the hotel where Katie and Frannie were waiting for us and we got the nicest reception from her, I was so worried she would hate us for leaving her! She was so sweet. She kept smiling at us and saying Hi!! We got home this morning and we are not leaving until I have to go back to school in August!

Meeting an Old Friend

We finally got to meet Jane. Her daughter Maddie is Frannie's orphanage buddy from Pennsylvania. Jane and I have been friends via the internet for a year now and we got a couple of hours to play in Auburn, AL before we left for our trip. She is so very smart and cute as a button (her daughter, I mean, but Jane is too!).

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day

When I say 4th of July, I'm not sure how you picture it, but this year makes me particularly weepy. I look at Frannie and I'm so grateful to have our country for her sake. Among my grandfather, my father, my brother and my uncle, they put in over 100 years of service to our country and it makes me very proud to come from an Army family. My Dad grew up in the Navy so I guess it didn't seem too strange for him to put in 27 years of his life too. God bless these men and all the other men and women who do it for our country, not for the money.

In years past, I have been in two other countries on the 4th of July and it makes me think these maudlin thoughts -- people have no idea how blessed we are. When I was in Jamaica 6 years ago for the summer, I watched how hard the natives worked for almost no money and yet we Americans get a FREE education, we can work hard and get scholarships, grants and become millionaires if we work hard enough. Jamaicans can work as hard as they want, but most are banished to the slums for life. Even when I was in Ireland for the summer about 12 years ago (as much as I love it and would never slander the Old Country), I realized how much more we have in the US, handed to us only by the grace of God. In a history class once I listened as a woman bashed our judicial system and I could not restrain myself. I asked her if she had ever been to a third world country or even to Europe and compared the freedoms we have. I honestly can't remember how the argument ended, but I was grateful to have seen parts of the world where I never want to live. I hope you feel the same way. God bless America.

School's out and we are busier than before...

It's so hard to believe I used to squeeze work in my week too. Frannie and I are going to the pool, having lunch with friends, playing at the park, cleaning the house and going on trips. Kevin has been working like a fiend, but when he is home, we have been making the most of it. We finished Frannie's wall unit in her room (pictures later), we are about to start our bathroom destruction project (we have a GORGEOUS vanity in our dining room right now which is too heavy to move any farther), we leave on Monday for our 8-day trip to Virginia then out west, where Kevin and I will celebrate our 4th anniversary and Frannie will wake my sister up at 6am every morning and remind her what a 2-year-old's favorite words are (duh! No and MINE! Of course!) I struggled with the decision to have Frannie spend the week with my sister, but I am sure they will have a blast and I know that Kevin and I need some time together.

Yesterday we had a great day visiting with our 3 adoption buddies -- Darcy lives so close to us that we went to her house to visit briefly and pray for their potential SECOND adoption from China and then Frannie and I headed over to Dunwoody to eat at McDonalds with Lucy and Donna who are DEFINITELY going back to China for their second girls! We all prayed and thanked God for each other, our girls, our husbands and His Will. Kevin and I are still not considering another adoption, but we have admitted that if we do change our minds, it will be this year since we have all the paperwork done and it will expire!

Last week the Braves had a Kevin segment for a few minutes. A few friends have told us they saw him, and luckily our VCR was working properly so I got it on tape. He and Sharon (another camera operator) were featured as "the most important camera operators" of the game because of their positions in center field. My ubiquitously-professional husband played it off like he was out there just to get sun all day. Frannie has learned to spin her finger near her ear and say "Daddy cuckoo."

Lastly, Frannie and I will be travelling to Auburn, AL to meet with Maddie and her Mom Jane who are visiting from PA. Maddie was another little girl from Frannie's orphanage who we met when we were in China. She is just beautiful (see top photo)and we can't wait to see her again -- she wasn't very smiley when we met her before, but her father's professional photographs tell a different story now that she is with her real family. Can't wait to see them and finally meet Jane in person!

*phew*

Yes, it has been a while -- I just have not been able to manage 2 things at one time this month. Now if I had TEN things to do, I would just do them, but TWO things, forget it!

I'm so excited that TWO of our adoption buddies are going back to China again to get two little girls. Ally will have a 5-year old sister, (much to her surprise, I'm sure!) named Alayna (spelling Lucy?) and Shelby is going to have a 13-month-old sister (she'll be closer to 2 by the time they meet...) named _______. What blessed kids to have the Harknesses and Straights for families you two!

We went backpacking yesterday up in North Georgia and my phone actually took some good pictures of Frannie and Kevin in the great outdoors. We had a great day with fantastic weather and no one fell off a cliff or sprained an ankle on the way down from our 5 mile trek.

*blech*

That's all I can say today is *blech*

I found out last night that my crazy, fun, resilient, caring, thoughtful, loving, devoted and spiritual aunt passed away very suddenly. Aunt Veronica (called Bunk because my father could not say Veronica as a kid so he called her Bunk) had just turned 80, smoked a lot for most of her life, had this sarcastic edge to her, loved her family more than herself and was a very, very devout Catholic lady. As a widow she had very little income, but managed to always have a gift for us, sent me $20 when I was broke in Spokane (oh yes, how I remember that) and had just given Frannie two stuffed animals and a beach hat last Tuesday in St. Augustine. Frannie does not like to wear hats, but she wore Bunk's hat those 3 days at the beach for some strange reason. Please pray for her kids who are all completely crushed, I am sure. I'm so grateful to God for taking her quick, sleeping in her chair and not from some horrible, long-drawn-out, painful ailment. Although she was 80, she took care of my Mom every Tuesday. Her six kids were her life. This is my favorite picture of her because she is laughing, as usual, has her crazy glasses on and is leaning against her Mom, not shown, which is what she is doing right now, I just know it. I'll miss you Auntie.