Welcome Home LaiCie

This sweet little angel has only been with her new mom and dad 2 weeks and only back in the US 30 hours or so, but she has captured a lot of hearts! Her mom brought her by work yesterday and we started out being very careful, because she has been through a lot and still bonding, so we didn't want to upset her or touch or hold her if it wasn't the right thing to do. It quickly became evident that she is already very attached to her mommy, very comfortable with everyone and going to be a live wire! She blew bubbles, threw kisses, squeeled and laughed, showing her dimples (which I couldn't capture).
She is beautiful and very smart! She definitely likes her Cheerios and had great fine motor skills! At ten months she is sitting alone and often that's not the case for babies who have been in orphanages and cribs most of their lives. I just know that soon she will be crawling and pulling up and right on track.

We all fell in love! She is the cutest, happiest baby girl you could ever want. None of us got much work done and we just stood and watched and loved her. She is such a blessing! Her mom and dad know how blessed they are - even after a long 4 year wait. They had a great (but long) trip to China to get her and are thanking God for her! She is also very blessed and she will now have a great home!

Let's hope China will speed up the process and get more of these children out of orphanages and into homes where they can be loved! (Especially my granddaughter!)

Thank Goodness for Saturday

Is it just me, or does anyone else wish their life away waiting for the weekend? I have been very tired this week. Last weekend the children and grandchildren were here (B had been here for the past 3 weeks and her mom, dad, and little sister came to get her), so even though I love having them, it takes me a few days to recover. Also, for some reason I am having trouble falling asleep. This happens for awhile, then gets better, but while it is happening, it is miserable. Often I lie there for 2 hours or more tossing and turning with my mind going crazy. Makes for long nights and days!

Thank goodness for the weekend - I slept a little later this morning, did just a little housework then met daughter at the movies to see Julie & Julia. SO GOOD! I highly recommend it. It is laugh-out-loud funny and Meryl Streep is fabulous as Julia Child. Also it is about food and blogging - how could I not like it? Near the beginning of the movie Julie cooks a bruschetta-looking thing, where she cooks the bread in butter and then puts tomatoes, etc. on it and it looks delicious. Anybody have a similar recipe?

Just have to post a picture of N from the weekend. She is the most nurturing little girl. She babies everything! She loves to carry, rock, comfort, and cover with blankets, all her dolls and stuffed animals. She is very inventive too. Boxes become beds, dish towels can be blankets. Here she took a little basket I got at the dollar store and it became Elmo's carrier. She took very good care of him.

Notice her Dora dress!

And now a special prayer request. I've been reading about this family since Jonah was born with a rare genetic skin disorder, EB. He is the sweetest little thing, but has so much to go through. Please keep him in your prayers.

In China Now!

After a LONG 4 year wait, a co-worker (and friend) and her husband are now in China picking up their beautiful baby girl, LaiCie. Last week we gave her a shower at work, which was lots of fun. They got some great gifts.


This is their beautiful little girl.


Part of the food table with cherry blossom decorations. We had some great food.

Some of the other table decorations.

Everyone got fortune cookies for favors.

Look at this cute panda cake that Linda made. Brenda and L.C. decided not to cut it yet, but freeze it and bring it out in October for LaiCie's 1st birthday. We ate the sheet cake!

Even though I begged, Brenda isn't doing a blog while she is in China so we can't follow along, but they have promised to email us updates. They should have arrived in China sometime early this morning so I'm assuming they are very tired today. The next couple of days will be sightseeing in Bejing, then sometime this weekend they will fly to Nanching and their lives will change forever. Keep them in your prayers. We hope they are having a wonderful time!

A Great Time

was had by all! Granddaughter, B, has been visiting for the past couple of weeks. Last week she found out that one of her favorite Christian groups was going to be in concert in Lynchburg Friday night. No tickets were required in advance and the tickets were only $5.00 each (you can't beat that)!


DH decided a Christian rock concert just wasn't his thing so she and I headed out on our own Friday afternoon and it was one of the best decisions I've made. She had a wonderful time and that made my day! She is growing up so fast and I feel honored that I get to be a part of her life.

While standing in line she took her money down to the t-shirt booths and was able to get shirts from two of the groups that were playing - 33 Miles and Building 429.

The sanctuary doors weren't open yet, so this is the line from our vantage point in the lobby of Thomas Road Baptist Church. It is a wonderful facility! (Sorry my pictures are so terrible. I had trouble with the settings on my camera all night!)

33 Miles performing.

Getting autographs. (and handshakes) All the groups were great and so nice to everyone.

She had a wonderful time and I loved getting to see her enjoy it so much. She got to go onstage and dance when Building 429 performed since she had one of their t-shirts.