Monday, April 6, 2009

The Concert






We'll we have returned home and BOY are we tired! I was up to midnight on Saturday night packing and getting ready. We pulled out of here on Sunday morning at 8 am. The trip was, well . . . I was about to say uneventful, but that would be a lie! I had a very brief conversation with a Sussex County Police Officer and came away with a yellow slip of paper. I was really hoping for a warning, but although he was very nice - he was NOT that nice. I saw the speed limit drop at the last minute and hit my brakes. I even mentioned it to mom. I obviously didn't hit the breaks hard enough! He said he would "help" me out if I came to my court date. However, we have standardized testing that day and I can't miss school that day. Mom drove the rest of the way.

Lily seemed to handle about 1 hr 45 min of the car seat then she needed a break. We arrived in the area about 12:30 after two stops in addition to traffic stop. We hit the VA Zoo and then headed to the hotel for a late nap for Lily. We arrived at the venue just before 5 pm. The first couple hours before the concert were tough for Lily. She was very busy! Once the concert started, she enjoyed the music off and on. The DVD player from Nana Susan came in handy on several occasions.

I didn't have too many heart to heart conversations, but we had a TERRIFIC response to the sponsorship program. 154 people made their first month's pledge and many more took the packet home with them. SCC's daughter, Emily, was the Show Hope rep who walked us through the evening. Her previous best night for sponsorship was around 120! From the SCC concerts that I have seen in the past, it seemed like a small venue. Thank you all for those who were praying. The sponsorships just from the Norfolk concert will bring in somewhere between $5300 and $5500 a month for adoption grants and orphan care. Yeah, God!!!!!!

Lily was quite the ambassador. She didn't have as much that she could do this time around, but when she saw Mommy licking envelopes, she insisted on getting in on the action. Lily really took a liking to Emily! Emily is the second person to mention that Lily looks a bit like Stevey Joy!

Towards the end of the concert, Lily started saying "Hug him, Hug him." She was quite distraught when we told her that both MWS and SCC were working and she couldn't hug them. About the only that consoled her was when we asked her if she wanted to give his (SCC) daughter (Emily) a hug. They did not hold a meet and greet for the volunteers at this concert as we were the last stop on this leg of the tour before they headed back to Nashville (11 1/2 hours). Lily held up well until crashing back at the hotel around 11:00.

This morning we enjoyed a pretty lazy morning at the hotel before beginning our trip back. We had no more encounters with law enforcement and she even took two "cat naps" on the return trip. We went back via Richmond, so we could visit the Children's Museum of Richmond. More posts in coming days with pics from the Zoo and CMoR.

I better start getting ready for bed. None of us rested really well at the hotel. Lots of coughing and snoring. Neigher of which came from me - I promise! I am not used to sleeping in the same room with Lily!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

United Tour - Norfolk

I would really appreciate your prayers tomorrow. As most of you know, we received a grant from Shaohannah's Hope to bring Lily home. So when Steven Curtis Chapman goes on tour, I get an e-mail requesting volunteers to help man booths for Show Hope.

Tomorrow, Lily, my mom, and I are travelling to Norfolk, VA (3 1/2 hours away) to assist at the concert. The concert begins at 7 pm, we arrive at the venue at 5 pm, and leave around 10 pm. Yes, I love getting to see SCC in concert (and Michael W. Smith this time too). Most important to me, though, is the opportunity to serve an organization that helped bring Lily home. Show Hope does so much for orphans around the world. Check them out here.

Check back here for pics and maybe some video if it will upload :)

Pray for:
- Safety while travelling
- Peace for Lily in the car
- Peace and calm for Lily throughout the evening (did GREAT job last time)
- Hearts to be turned to adoption or assisting adoption financially
- Words of encouragement might flow from God's heart, to my lips, and to the ears of those who need to hear them.

Conversations with a nearly 3 yr old

Lily: "You can't have my hair bow. I want my hair bow!"
Me: "Mommy just needs to borrow it today, please."
Lily: "NOOOOOO!"

I finally got her distracted, out the door, and into the car.

Lily: "Mommy, letter P, letter P!"
Me: Confused at first until I notice that the inspection sticker on our windshield says 9/09 which is seen backwards when you are in the car making it look VERY much like a capital letter P.

Me: "Oh, yes. That is a letter P. You are amazing, Lily."
Lily: "I make mommy happy?"

Me: "Yes, Mommy is very proud of you!"
Lily: "You can have my hair bow now." This was repeated several times on the way to school and returning from school to home.

__________________________

Me: (on the phone with my dad) "Bye, Dad."
Lily: "Daddy?!?"

Me: "Remember we talked about how Daddy is your Daddy and Grandpa is my Daddy?"
Lily: "Why?"

Me: ". . . . Um, um, Grandpa is mommy's daddy."
Lily: "Oh."

__________________________

We were reading "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" the other day.

Me (reading the book): "How did they make this perfect match a world away? Do the Chinese people have a special window to my soul?"
Lily: "No!"

Me: "Who did it? Did God do it?"
Lily: "God did it. God did it purpose!"

Me: "God, did it on purpose?"
Lily: "YES!"

_________________________

There is so much more, but I can't seem to remember them all. That is precisely why I am blogging, so I can get at least some of them down. Lily's heart is so tender towards things of God. We met with our pastor just before Wednesday night church the week Steve was home. I tried to send Lily home with me, but she refused. She really WANTED to stay for church.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Has it really been TWO years?




I know I am actually 21 hours late (we received Lily just before 3 am EST), but I couldn't go to bed without recognizing this very special day for our family! More "Lilyisms" to come in the next couple days!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Prayers

Lily and I have started calling "Daddy" right at bedtime to allow for Daddy/daughter prayer time. Steve and I have been praying together every night since he left for school. Just this past week, Lily started asking to pray with Daddy. Now, Steve has a class on Wednesday night's so Lily can't pray with him at bedtime. Yesterday she was asking to pray with Daddy and was pretty upset that she couldn't.

Me: "Do you want to call and pray with Grandma?"
Lily: "NO! DADDY!"
Me: "Grandpa?"
Lily: "NO!"
Me: "What about Nana Susan?"
Lily: "Yes, Susan!!!!!"

We proceeded to call Nana Susan in Ohio and talked for 6-7 minutes! Nana Susan you saved the day!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Another Week Down!


x
I am one more week closer to the end of the school year. I think we are all counting the days, 50 school days to be exact! I have two weeks of "regular" school, one week of standardized testing (yes, my K students will be attempting to fill in circles that I will later have to fix), Spring Break, three days of school, two days of Kindergarten registration, a week of school, Steve is off for a week, then there are only 3 weeks of school! If that was completely confusing to you, I keep it simple! THE END IS IN SIGHT! It is going to be VERY busy, so please keep praying for us! Lily's birthday, a wedding, and volunteering at a SCC/MWS concert all occur in the next 7 weeks!

The two pictures should say a lot! Lily found the suit on her own Friday night. She took her clothes and pull-up off (she did put it in the garbage) by herself. She wore it the rest of the night. She woke up Saturday morning and proceeded to do the very same thing! She CANNOT wait for summer!

BTW, Lily is on her fourth round of antibiotics in 11 weeks. She goes back to the doctor for her well check over my Spring Break. They will make the decision then whether or not to refer her to an ENT to discuss the possibility of putting tubes in her ears. She also had a little guck in her eye (the real reason we took her to the doc in the first place - we had no indication at that point that her ears were bothering her) when we took her to the doc yesterday. She is on an anti-biotic for her ears, drops for her ears, and drops for her eyes!

I think I am done now with my random ramblings!

Sisterhood Award


Well, I have never done this before . . . Here goes . . .

I follow Linn's blog and she was awarded the "Sisterhood award." She is passing it on to all her bloggy friends, so I am going to pass it on as well. I felt funny accepting, but she said that she would be checking on us and I can't exactly pass it on unless I accept it! Here is the link to the original post. I am nominating the following people:

1. Kim, my sister-in-law
2. Cindy, fellow mom to a Xuwen girl
3. Leslie, fellow adoptive mom
4. Shannon, travel family
5. Stefanie, fellow adoptive mom
6. Kim, travel family
7. Naomi, "waiting" mom
8. Kerry, orphan advocate
9. Marybeth, fellow adoptive mom
10. Linn, giver of the award

Anyway, in order to officially be the recipient of this award, here are a few things that need to be done -----
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.