What A Whirlwind It's Been

Our red thread is now tugging at me - telling me to come get her!

I have been dreaming for the last 3 1/2 years about how things would happen. Isn't it funny that usually things aren't the way we planned or even imagined. I always swore up & down that I'd keep posting to the blog even if it was just a journal post for memories' sake. And look at me, it's Saturday & I still haven't updated you on THE DAY we got THE CALL. I still plan on documenting that, I can remember it all perfectly clear. I will do it soon.

Let me tell you - "A funny thing happened on the way to the agency." Alright, so it wasn't funny, but it also explains a little why I haven't posted. We headed to Memphis to sign all those papers for our little peanut. It was a rainy day. We had made it to the sign for the exit ramp where we were to get off (only a mere mile from our agency's office.) I was getting out of the middle lane turning right into the right lane when I hit a huge amount of water. Yep, I hydroplaned. We went down into the ditch did a full complete turn then I got control to slow it down enough that we ended up in some bushes. God was totally in control. He kept us from going into the other side of traffic - Thank You Lord Jesus. Our truck wasn't damaged, except for needing a new hubcap (thanks to the fender that we ran over because there had been no less than about 10 other people who had the same fate as us in that spot). It really is a bad spot with run off water. We didn't flip, which we still don't know how we didn't. We weren't hurt & we were able to drive home (after signing the papers of course!) We got to spend over 2 hours of quality time together waiting on the wrecker to pull us out. We met 3 ok 2 nice Memphis police officers. The third just stood there staring at us, so we're not so sure about him. I have to applaud the people of Memphis. A ton of people would stop & BACK UP (NOT SMART OR SAFE - DON"T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!) on the side of I-240 to check on us. They really were nice people. Everyone wanted to help. Even the two guys in their very expensive SUV's & designer suits were willing to get muddy to help. We were stuck about 200 yards off the road up in some serious mud! During all that I wondered if I would do the same for someone. Huh. It makes me think. We are very blessed & God never ceases to amaze me and remind me that I am His hands & feet - just like those who came to our rescue.

Oh - warning if that should ever happen to you - if you don't happen to have roadside assistance like we do (again Thank Goodness), you CAN allow those bright green trucks with TDOT help you out for $135. But, if you do, the police WILL issue you a ticket for failure to keep control of your vehicle which does go on your record (so even more $). Can you believe that? There is just so much wrong with our system.

Oh the stories we'll get to tell our daughter. Things are moving along. We have turned in our LOI. Now, we just sit & wait for China to send us our LOA. As soon as we get that - you will get to see the cutest little girly face that this Mama has laid eyes on. We are making lists & checking them twice. Right now there is a notebook on my kitchen table that has right now 8 pages just waiting on me to mark some things off. We are trying to guess her cute little size. We have measurements, but not sure how accurate they are. We are asking for updates, but don't know when we'll get those. We are preparing for our little one to probably be wearing a big 2T or small 3T. I've already gone to our consignment shop (hey my friend Lesa!) and asked her to call me when she gets those sizes in. Of course during that trip, I found an ADORABLE white dress with the most beautiful smocking and a cute little swimsuit coverup to take for our trip. I guess it's a blessing the boys came first. Girls just have way too much to choose from in the shopping area.

We are narrowing down what we are going to do in her room. I had planned on pink for so long that this adjustment is not as easy as you'd think. My girly likes RED!!!! Except for one bedding set we found at Sears, it's hard to find red. Most things look too old. So, we think we are going the black & white route. We are finding cute, funky patterns that we like. And I thought I'd buy red sheets, accent pillows, & curtains. What do you think? Too much for a little girl?

We have almost 4 minutes of our cutie on video (what a blessing!) We have a friend here in town that is Chinese. She was more than willing to come and translate it for us. Oh my what we've learned. First, the sound her name makes isn't in the English language. Isn't that fun? She's going to work with us to be able to say it correctly, but we are using a very LOOSE translation when telling others because we know no one will ever be able to get her middle name right. We also discovered some of her favorite things & she was able to tell us about a poetic song that she recited (OH that gets me every time. I can cry just thinking about it) One thing we will have to work on - the nanny told her & the ladies videoing that she can't sing. WHAT? First of all, she CAN and we will have to remind her of that & encourage her of that when she gets home. Next, I'll have to hope Andy doesn't meet that Nanny. He's pretty fired up that someone told his daughter that she can't do something. LOL

Have a great weekend. Will have to update you on one of the most important days of our lives - the day we became parents to our 4th child!
Pray for us Monday. We've been asked to speak to a MOPS group about marriage. HAHAHA isn't that funny? I told them the only qualifications we have is we had 3 sons in 3 years and we didn't kill each other during that time. I guess I need to go work on my speech.