Christmas photos...

I can't get my thoughts and words to align tonight for some reason, so I will just upload the pictures. If Lilly looks confused, its because she is....she kept saying "all of it for me?"...

Merry Christmas!

Surgery

As soon as we got Lilly, 6 months ago, we noticed she had some really bad breath. We brushed her teeth, and everything but it kept getting worse. I talked with several doctors about it, but no one seemed to have a solution. Well one did advise her to go to the dentist to check for cavities, thinking maybe she had some dental issues. Nope...actually no cavities at all (yea!). So when I took her to the ENT last week to have her hearing checked I mentioned it to him, hoping he had some insight. He looked in her nose and did indeed see something. Actually he thought it maybe a tumor. YIKES! That's enough to really worry Momma. SO he scheduled surgery to get what ever it was out. He was sure this was causing her really bad breath. So we went for surgery on Tuesday and after about 30 minutes he walks out with a HUGE wooden bead in hand. WHAT! A bead? I saw so glad it was not a tumor! That BIG bead was in bedded into her nasal cavity, and it was starting to rot! Thank God we found it. I can't imagine how terrible that felt for her to have that big bead up her nose. The Dr. thinks it may have been there for over a YEAR! What a relief! God answered our prayers in the form of a wooden bead! I asked Lilly later when she put the bead in her nose, and she said "in China." I also asked her why she did it, and she said "to hide it from my friends at the orphanage". She told me thank you for getting it out! I know she can breath much easier now, and her breath is as fresh as a rose! Who would have thought? The above pictures is the bead...of course. The picture doesn't do it justice. I have no idea how she got such a big bead in her little bitty nose! The other one is Lilly playing with her kitchen. For those of you that have been to China, she reminds me of one of the people who work at Lucy's. HAHA!

Attempt at a Gingerbread house....

So what if it looks a little "off", we had a good time constructing, decorating, and eating the Gingerbread house we made today. I will admit it is pretty bad. Landon came in and told me how great it looked...till I showed him the box and how it was suppose to look..then he laughed. Oh well..

PARADE

Christmas Cupcakes!

Lilly went to battle with a green cupcake...she won.

Winter vacation!

We just returned from Beech Mountain. Lilly loved sledding and the seeing the snow. It was so cold though, and I am recovering from the Swine flu, but I went anyway and suffered through. We had been telling Lilly we were going for a few weeks and I just couldn't disappoint her. She had so much fun as you can tell. Now on to CHRISTMAS!

We are so thankful....

I can not really find the words to express our gratitude for all the blessing that have been bestowed to us this year. Our God is so amazing. As I type Lilly is beside her self in anticipation for the meal at Nana's house. She is loving the holidays and all the Firsts. Thank you God for an amazing family, a great life, and health to enjoy it all. I am so thankful for my children. Its a beautiful life!

Six months ago..

Six months ago....I could sleep in when ever I felt like it, although I never wanted too.

Six months ago.....I was not excited to check the Gymboree website.

Six months ago...songs from Noggin were not stuck in my head like glue.

Six months ago...I wasn't putting socks on little feet.

Six months ago....I did not have a fear of stepping on a Barbie in the dark.

Six months ago.....I was not pouring over racks of clothes for the perfect Christmas dress.

Six months ago.....I had no one to read books too.

Six months ago....I had never been to China and witnessed the grace of God first hand.

Six months ago...I was a Mom to two.

Six months ago....I was missing all the joy you have brought into my life.

I am so thankful that I don't have to go back to six months ago....

Happy 6 months home Lilly Yin!

Dear Lilly,

My heart is full of things I want you to know....about my love for you and God's grace that brought you to us. You were planted in my heart by God, before I even knew who you were, what you looked like, or how it would all work out. I loved you before I knew you and I will always be grateful that we were blessed with the gift of you.

You were not born of my body as your older siblings were, but you were brought into our family with no less desire, joy, or purpose than they were. Adoption was not our second choice, and neither were you. It was only that we discovered the blessing of adoption later in life. We are so glad we did because it led us to you. We simply cannot imagine our lives without you.

As you get older, you may have some questions. I want you to know that it's OK....your dad and I are strong enough to handle them and we expect them. You will wonder about your birth family and why they let you go, and about your birth country and it's people. It's OK. We will love you through the questions and do our best to help you process the grief that accompanies adoption. We will hurt for your hurts and are already praying that God will heal those empty places in your heart where your questions linger.

We continue to be amazed at this incredible gift we have received. I pray we will be the parents you need us to be and you will always know of our love for you. There is nothing you could ever do to change that....nothing. We will never give up on you, leave you or turn our backs on you. You are ours forever

I love you,
Mom

Six months ago today...I looked into these beautiful eyes for the first time...



What a difference six months makes! We love you Lilly Yin Dockery! Happy half a year home!

Lillys first Halloween!

Catching up!

I know its been a long time...I have lost my camera cord AGAIN! I have already ordered two since we have returned from China. I have no idea what the deal is! Anyway, for the updates. We have had some challenges lately, but I happy to say I think we are now headed in the right direction. I am learning so much, and so is Lilly! I am trying to learn how to help her and heal her heart from all of the trauma she has went through in her short life. Oh how I wish I could have been in her life sooner!

Lilly is growing so fast! Its funny to look back at pictures from just two months ago and see how she has changed. I can not say enough about adoption and how wonderful it is. Please, if you have ever considered adoption, I beg you to pray and ask God to guide you to your child. These children want nothing more than a loving family. They deserve it and you will be blessed by them as well. We can not imagine life without Lilly. I would gladly go back to China again tomorrow if I could.....maybe one day!

UPDATE! Finally!

I know I have been really slack latley! I am just trying to enjoy every moment possible with this precious girl, and my other two sweeties! This summer has been wonderful. We have spent so much time together getting to know each other. Lillys English is really getting good. She understands at least 90% of what you say to her and I can understand her too, which makes things much easier. We have so much to look forward to this year. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! What will she think of Christmas? I can't wait! She loves jumping on the trampoline, and cats. Of course she loves her sister, brother and Nana. She also loves her Aunt Lynn and Aunt Kim.

She is just so sweet! What a miraclulous and amzing plan God had for our family! We could not be happier!

o

I've been really slack about writing lately. Not much new or exciting has been going on. Lilly is still doing good. Everyday she learns something new. She is such a sweetie and we are so happy to have her. We went to the park one day last week. She liked that of course. She loves to swing. Baba and I are going to have to get her a swing set soon. Hopefully we can do that before Fall.

We also went to visit my dear Grandmother in the nursing home a few weeks ago...isn't she beautiful! Oh I hope I got the gene for her skin! Anyways, Maw Maw loves Lilly and I really wish she could be around her more, and I wish Lilly could understand how much Maw Maw loves her. My grandmother is so sweet. I know she instilled values in me that made me who I am.

This week Lauren and Landon are on a mission trip with the church. I always miss them when they are gone. Lilly does too. She said ME GO!!!! Its gonna be a long week! Much love and hugs to you all!

Wordless Wednesday

Two months later....

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Beach!

We just got back from our first vacation with Lilly. She loved the beach! So many memories were made this past week! She liked the ocean and the pool of course. She loved riding in the golf cart and playing games. We even took her to ride the "old" rides from the Pavilion. She was so excited to see all these new things! We were so happy to watch her experience all these new things. I will post more pictures later.

Summer Time!

Hi all! The Dockery's sure are enjoying summer! We have spent everyday in the pool, soaking up the sun! We are so glad that Lilly loves the pool as much as the rest of us do, maybe even a little more! She loves jumping in, and says Eee, Arrr, Sunnn, T-yao....Which is 1, 2, 3 JUMP!

We have also enjoyed Landons baseball games. Lilly loves going and cheering on her big brother. Lauren and Landon both have been so good with Lilly. She adores them! We are starting to look forward to a possible vacation to the beach. I can't imagine what she will think about that! Much love to you all!