My 1st Easter

We're all ready for church Baba - let's go!

The biggest stinker winker bear ever, and here's the picture to prove it!

Baba giving Mattie her 1st Easter eggs...

She's SO excited she actually is shuddering! As you can see by her reaction we never give her anything to play with...harhar!

Wow - eggs and a bunny both?!

And of course our Easter was about more than eggs and a bunny...

...He has risen, just as he said. Matthew 28:6

My Mom

Many have asked why I've not been good about blogging since we've been home...This is the first time I've had the courage to share with all of you what has been happening in our lives...

We learned my mom had Pancreatic Cancer 3 weeks after we returned home from China; she had just turned 55 yrs old, July 31st. She was having medical tests while we were in China, for some stomach pain she had been having for several weeks...She knew she had lesions on her Pancreas, Liver, Hip and a tumor in her stomach, from the results of those tests, when we arrived home. She held off telling us right away...she said, "she didn't want to take away any of our joy..."

October 14, 2007

November 21st, 2007December 8th, 2007

December 29th,2007 We, along with many others, prayed for mom. We had faith God could heal her by intervention or through modern medicine, and we also knew that may not be His plan.

I watched my mom’s health decline rapidly, and it reminded of when my mom was diagnosed with Crohns disease. She was 32 and we nearly lost her before they found out what was wrong with her. I was about 8 yrs old the first time I had to think about no longer having my mom here on earth... But mom did well after her Crohns surgery in the 80's, and her cancer was not related to the Crohns. There are no words to express how caught off guard I felt when we found out or how diffcult the last 6 months have been with a new baby, that I am so grateful to God for, and watching my mom suddenly die from cancer at the same time.

Mom went to heaven on January 18th 2007.

To keep God's goodness throughout in perspective:

I have pictures of me and mom on vacations, at my high school graduation, my wedding, baby shower and with my daughter. I have mementos from places we’ve been together, and memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I am at an age that I can reflect on what mom taught me, her character, and her love for God, me, my dad, my sister, my husband, my daughter, her family and my dad’s family. I will think about mom and miss her for the rest of my life…I will want to pick up the phone to share a heartache, get her opinion, ask her for a recipe or to talk about Mattie Gail. I was not ready for mom to go. At the same time, I thank God and praise Him that He answered my family’s prayers 24 yrs. ago, the memories that I treasure, and for the legacy she left behind.

You may wonder how Mattie did through all of this. Mattie and I talked to my mom every day on the phone and we seen her as much as we could. For awhile now, when the phone rings, Mattie will put her hand up to her ear...it's very cute. After mom died, when Mattie would see a picture of my mom, or if she heard me say 'Grams', she would hold her hand up to her ear; she wanted to talk to her. Mattie loved my mom and she was a champ through all of this - she was everyone's sunshine in the rain.

More Birthday Photos

We have some catching up to do....I want to finish up the 'birthday post' and then talk a little bit in another post about why we've not been posting to our blog for awhile...

A B-day Eskimo kiss for my big sister...

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...
Cry if I want to...Cry if I want to...

You would cry too... if it happened to you!

Mattie is a real baby and does not always smile:) LOL!

Well, on to the happier part of her birthday evening... We had so much fun watching her eat spaghetti!

I'm asked a lot, "does Mattie still put her foot up in her highchair?"

Of course - and she has spaghetti on her foot!Mattie's socks are typically as dirty as her bib's are after she eats! LOL!
My girlfriend Lee Ann called a couple of days before Mattie's b-day and said she was bringing us up a special cupcake...
At first she was a little leery...

But as you can see, it didn't take long for her to dive in!
Apparently she didn't want to use the plate anymore...

That cupcake must be pretty good! She doesn't want to waste a crumb!

Well, it looks like she's all done! I had to put her in the bath tub! Happy 1st Birthday Mattie - we love you so much...

I AM 1 YEAR OLD TODAY!

We took a lot of pictures today - I will post more photos from today over the next week.

These get us to about 4pm today...

8am

Two New Babies!

2 of my friends just got pictures of their babies!

Baby Grace is also from Jiangxi! http://myadoptionwebsite.com/ourblessing/
Baby Mary http://www.chinaangels.blogspot.com/

We got an additional photo of Mattie from when she was at the orphanage recently, that I wanted to share.

My friend Sue found it while looking for photos of her daughter at Guixi SWI. The photo was taken in April, 2007...so Mattie would have been about 3 months old! So this is the earliest photo we have of her and we are thrilled Sue found it and was kind enough to send it to us.

Here's a recent photo of us playing on our bed...

Playing on the bed is still Mattie's favorite spot!

And here's that crooked smile that I love so much! She pushes her bottom jaw sideways b/c her bottom teeth hit the gums on the top, where she has new teeth coming in.

Mattie turns 1 yr old in 2 days! So we'll update with birthday photos soon!

Christmas 2007

Mattie's Big Brother Jason is home from school right now...Mattie had not seen him since our first week home from China. She was a little hesitant at first but has really warmed up to him again...

Mattie with Jase and her Big Sis Ashlee...

Mattie at Grandma Marge's and Grandpa Joe's Christmas Eve...

Christmas day we were at the hospital visiting my mom...we put Mattie in her Christmas dress to see her Gram's, my Uncle brought in a small Christmas tree with lights, and we were thankful that mom was out of ICU so we could all spend the day with her...I love handmedowns...mostly b/c they are meaningful to me. This dress belonged to a friend of ours little girl and was given to us for Mattie to wear for Christmas...

Happy New Year To Everyone!