Long time coming...

Sorry guys...I know it has been awhile. So much has been going on, and nothing at the same time. Lilly is doing sooo well.

God is so good! Life is so good! Just a couple of years ago I was so depressed and down, wondering how all of these dreams to adopt would play out. I knew God was in it, and I knew my daughter was in China, but I also knew referrals were moving at a snails pace. I was in a valley, and I did not see the way out, and there were mountains surrounding me. My job was horrible, Matthew was working ALL the time, two jobs, the house was a mess, we had no money and I felt my life was chaos. I look back at that dark time in my life today, and reflect. God is so wonderful and always on time. Today as I write, my husband only works one job which allows him more time with us. Lilly is here and doing well. I have been able to stay home with her, and spend more time with my other two, I am genuinely happy. The house is still a mess...but most of that mess is caused my one of the greatest blessing I have ever received. Money is still tight, but we are keeping our head above water. I am completely humbled by these miracles. Our life is not perfect, we have challenges, but I feel as if I am on top of the mountain looking out at all the wonderful possibilities that await for each of us. I say all that for this reason. If you are in the valley in your life...keep praying, keep pressing on, never lose hope, and never doubt that God is right there with you. He is always on time. Even when we do not realize it. The path is not always easy, the road is not always straight...but press on. If I would not have I would have missed the opportunity to be a Mommy to this precious girl. I cherish everyday with her, because I know I could have easily missed it. We could have given up our adoption dream, we could have said No. We could have missed her hugs, laughter, joy,and sense of humor. Thank God we didn't. This is a verse that helped me many times when I was waiting, and my life was not at all where I wanted it to be.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I clung to this verse during that time. I knew God had a plan, but it was hard to trust him completely. But now I see I HAD to wait...I had to wait to get her..not just any her, my her, my daughter. When I look into those beautiful brown eyes, I know we could have missed it all.

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.