UPDATED PHOTOS OF OUR DAUGHTER!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!! These pictures were taken China time-TODAY of our Hadley!!!!!!!!  I have no other words....I'M HEAD OVER HEALS IN LOVE!!!!!!! Brandon just keeps saying...She's so beautiful, she's so beautiful!!!  OOHHH MYYYY!!!!! Get me on that plane!!! 

Wyatt gets his 1st haircut

So we go in and both get cute little black capes...Wyatt was not a fan of his at all.  Trying to convince him he was a super hero was not working.  So we started off with a little bribery...FOOD!

"I'm humilated, mom and I can't stand this cape but you can go ahead and keep the food coming.YUM!"

"Mom, this haircut lady is really nice...I'll come back again if you promise to bring my favorite crackers the 2nd time around...K???  Mom??? Mom??  Alright, fine...I'll come back anyway"

 I delayed W's first haircut as long as I could because I was so afraid that when we cut it, we'd lose his curls.  I was thrilled that after it was all said and done...The curls remain! Mission accomplished!!

Wyatt's 1st Birthday!

It was a wonderful day with family in town and friends over!!!  Our little man is 1!! He started taking multiple steps on his own this past Friday, the 18th. Today he's been walking from one thing to the next!  He's so proud of his wobbly little self and you'd think that he walked on the moon for the first time based on our reaction.  I really feel like every stage becomes the new "best" stage!

NVC NOTIFICATION!!!!

Hi family and friends!  Today when I got home, in the mailbox was waiting our NVC NOTIFICATION!!!!  Celebrating another big step today!!!  Our last hurdle prior to TA (travel approval) is our "Article 5"...That is expected/anticipated to come on or around July 8th (based on when we received NVC).   By all logical standards...It doesn't look like we will be on a plane heading for China until the 1st part of August.  BUT, that's by logical standards and nothing is impossible for God!  So we are going to rest in knowing that He has his hand on the clock and the timeline for Hadley to come into our family...Better him than me! :)  With that being said, we would still love to travel in July before my mom goes back to school for convenience purposes (1st/2nd week in August).  Continuing to pray for Miss Hadley as we wait to meet her.

Hugs,
Robin

Photos from the Poyang fundraiser

I'm excited to share more photos from the Orphanage Clothing Fundraiser at Poyang!!!!  These are pictures of babies that are currently at Poyang in the clothing that friends and family purchased a couple of months ago!!  How awesome to see those adorable little faces in new, clean clothing!!!  Huge thanks to everyone involved!!! :)  XXOO

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY WYATT!!!

There are genuinely no words to even begin to describe the emotion that Brandon and I feel as Wyatt turns one today.  There is so much reflection as the journey to him was filled with winding roads. Both Brandon and I agree that never in a million years could we have ever imagined the different paths we would have followed and how they would have lead us to this perfect baby boy!  This time last year we were in labor and delivery and C had just been induced...little did we know how much our lives would change at 4:08 P.M. and how spectacular God had worked all of the details out for everyone involved.  So often I think about how amazingly our journey to Wyatt was orchestrated...We started off saying no to fertility intervention, and an ABSOLUTE NO to domestic adoption (haha :-), wanting to adopt from China but didn't qualify, decided on Vietnam and went through all of the processes and the country shut down...We moved on to Russia and withdrew, only to enter our paperwork into Korea for 2 days and then received the phone call that would change our lives forever!  Who planned this?  Not us...We weren't even looking in our sons direction at that time.  We had our own agenda.  But miraculously God directed our path in a direction we had previously said "no" to and in the meantime he had softened our hearts.  The phone call we received on a Thursday afternoon was telling us about a woman with two little girls that wanted to give her unborn baby a good life.  The decision she made gave not only her son a new life but us as well.  This precious angel, Wyatt makes us smile on any given day more times than I can count. The joy we feel as his parents is indescribable.  He was hand picked by a loving God specifically for our family and as I sit here typing this post, my eyes our filled with tears because on my BEST day I couldn't have orchestrated such perfection!!  No thank you will ever be big enough...No prayer will ever be lifted up high enough to show our appreciation for our son!  Thank you to that special someone who picked up the phone that Thursday afternoon!  You already know how God has used you in so many ways to change lives!  Thank you to Wyatt's birth mom and father for making a decision that my mind cannot even begin to comprehend...The love that it took to place him in our arms is beyond anything I've ever felt before.   We love you all in such a new and unique way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRECIOUS WYATT!!!!  We love you so, very much!!!

Marlee Update and diagnosis

I know many of you have been praying for Marlee and have been advocating for her since it was brought to our attention that she was suffering from seizures and getting progressively worse in her condition about 4-5 weeks ago.  After testing...she has been formally diagnosed with a disease called, Tuberous Sclerosis.  I honestly do not know much about this condition at all, other than what I've read on the internet.  So I cut and pasted basic information that I found.  Tuberous sclerosis or tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare, multi-system genetic diseasethat causes benign tumours to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys,heart, eyes, lungs, and skin. A combination of symptoms may include seizures, developmental delay, behavioural problems, skin abnormalities, lung and kidney disease. TSC is caused bymutations on either of two genes,TSC1 and TSC2, which encode for the proteins hamartin and tuberin respectively.  The real blessing in all of this is that due to the efforts made by some very special people thousands of miles away...Marlee is now receiving the seizure meds she so desperately needed.  She is at least comfortable now and that has been such an awesome gift to this baby girl.  The group that is to thank for their efforts and work in the Tianjin CWI, is ICCO.  This group uses 100% of the proceeds donated to their organization toward children that are in need of care similar to Marlee.  Anyone can donate specifically to this group to assist in paying for Marlee's seizure meds and Dr. bills...Which is so awesome!  If at any time you'd like to donate towards Marlee's ongoing Meds or learn more about ICCO please visit, www.tjicco.org . Thank you so much for all of the prayers for Marlee!!!

Last but not least...Today we received our I-800 Provisional approval!!!!!  Moving right along!!!!  Theoretically from I-800 Provisional approval to our NVC notification should take about a week and then from NVC Notification to Article 5 is approx 2 weeks and then 1-2 weeks till TA (travel approval)...That's the jist of the remainder of our timeline.  I know it sounds crazy...All of the oodles of acronyms and stages but the good news is we're getting close :)  Continuing to hope and pray for July travel!  We'll keep you posted!!!

Hugs and love,

Robin

Orphanage fundraiser update

I wanted to share what I received today regarding the orphanage clothing fundraiser...It's so exciting to see what was actually purchased and shipped to the orphanage for the children because of you!!!  Thank you SO much to everyone who contributed to the children of Poyang!  These little peanuts now have clothes that they wouldn't have otherwise had for the summer and that's such a gift.  I've also cut and pasted the letter that was included with the photos.  I'll be sure to share when additional photos are shared with me.  Thank you- Thank you for clothing the babies of Poyang!!!

We just received pictures from Poyang Orphanage of your generous donation of 160 sets of baby clothes, ages 3 months to 12 months.  We hope to have more pictures soon of the children in the clothing.  In the meantime, the orphanage staff and the children are very appreciative! 

Thank you so much for your generosity! 

Andrew Gurthet 

Associate Director, Orphanage Assistance Program 

“Hope and Healing for Orphaned Children” 

Love Without Boundaries 

www.lovewithoutboundaries.com 

Boomer and Claudia at this years first show

Boomer and Claudia competed this weekend at the first show of the year!  It's been a long time since they've been in the arena together and about 2 years since Boomers been in a show.  They were amazing and did very well, especially for the first show in a while.  I was so proud!!!  They took 4th in halter out of 22...Boomer is a halter champion.  They took 2nd in English pleasure and 4th in walk trot!  It was a good day for them...They placed in every class they entered! While I was watching some of the junior riders I was thinking about how much fun it will be to watch Hadley and Wyatt ride!I  Next year Wyatt will be old enough and mobile enough to start introducing him to ponies/POA's.  He loves animals...His first word wasn't mama or dada but DOG! Ha!!  And then uff- uff which is his version "woof- woof".  He has priorities :)  His next word was dada and I came in a distant 3rd with mama in the last few weeks.  But I'll take it!  I could just sit and listen to him chit chat all day long.  Now we're working on sissy and horsey...