Special/Handmade Gifts

Hi all. I have been wanting to do this post for a while, but I finally had time to get all the items and photos together! I just wanted to share some photos – knowing that they don’t do the items justice – of some special and handmade gifts that Nadia has received.

From Grandma Brooke
Handmade/Special Gifts (Click to see album)

The outfit above was given to Nadia by Grandma Brooke on Labor Day. It brought tears to my eyes because it’s her adoption day outfit from 40 years ago. She has no children of her own and she wanted it to stay in the family. We were truly touched by this sweet gift.

From Aunt Tahni

This painting was done my Louanne’s sister Aunt Tahni. The verse is so wonderful and the painting matches all the other paintings in Nadia’s room perfectly.

From Grandma Linda

The blanket above was made by Grandma Linda. It should be noted that this was made after she had a 3rd stroke, so quite a lot of effort went into it, but a side benefit was that it was good rehab for her. It’s stamped cross stitch.

From the Petermans

This blanket was given to us by The Petermans and made by Randy’s mom Nancy. The photo doesn’t do the color purple justice….it’s a fantastic shade.

From Grammie

Grammie had this blanket embroidered for Nadia. The cute thing about it is that it’s small enough for her to cart around the house with her, even when she is crawling.

From the McCartys

Karen and Ken M. had this crib sheet made for Nadia. It’s bright white with the red lettering and matches Nadia’s room colors. What a totally cute idea!

From Amy From Amy From Amy
These 2 blankets and bibs were made by Aunt Sharon’s best friend Amy in MO. The blankets are not only cute, but soft and comfy.

From Leigh

This TOTALLY adorable hat was made by a woman who works with Mike, named Leigh. It’s the cutest thing and should keep Nadia’s head toasty this winter.

Thankful Thursday

I want to say I am thankful for our country – America. Don’t roll your eyes and think it’s some kind of cheeseball patriotism thing. Today I met a woman who used to live in a communist country. As soon as communism fell about 11 years ago, her and her husband escaped the country and were able to come to America. In their home county she was a high school teacher of language and philosophy for 25 years and her husband was a Chief Plastic surgeon in a hospital helping burn victims and the like.

Now she works part time as a babysitter and part time as a cashier at a local grocery store. She would love to teach again, but English is her second language and I thought she was incredibly fluent, but it’s still a hurdle in the testing. Her husband is trying to get in the medical field here, but he has to start over and work his way up. And he is way behind in age of all the other people (you know – fresh out of medical school?). But they are happy and grateful to be here in America and call it home!! Happy to be in our country and living in FREEDOM!!!

So all those complaining people who want to talk about how bad America is need to meet some people like this lady! They haven’t had the “luxury” of always living here and the “luxury” of being able to complain about America without having their hand chopped off (or something worse). Good for them that they can complain without fear, but dang….step outside yourself a bit and look around at all the opportunities around you. Okay, I got on a soapbox here, but I am Thankful that I live in America and VERY thankful that God allows me to do things to help people in my community through KIDS HOPE and around the world through World Vision. I need these reminders of how good I have it.

Nadia’s Baptism

Nadia's Baptism Weekend
Nadia's Baptism Weekend (Click to see album.)

Hi all! Nadia was baptized in our church on Sunday September 23rd. There were so many great photos from the weekend that I uploaded a bunch. My cousin Jen and her roommate Shawnaka drove up from Houston for the event (and they attended a Ranger game). My Aunt Paula, Uncle Roger, Grammie and Mike’s Aunt Joy and cousin Janis also attended. Our friends Arvel and Laura came, but left before we took photos. Thanks to everyone who came to share her special day. Grammie bought her dress that Mike and I picked out and Roger and Joy matched without knowing it. 🙂
Nadia's BaptismNadia's Baptism

Here we are with Pastor Darwin Jordan after the baptism.

Mike, Nadia, Louanne and Pastor Darwin

The night before Karen and Kaye hosted the ‘Sip N See’ for Nadia at the McCarty’s house. Many people from our church came to the party and they did the sweetest thing. Kaye and Karen gave everyone a slip of paper with a letter of the alphabet on it (some people got 2). Then they had to write down a prayer or a Bible verse that started with the letter they were handed. Then once everyone was done, they went around the room and read them to us. It really was the sweetest thing. My friend Jaquelyn had ‘Z’ and she started her prayer with ‘He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end’ I was already a little choked up from the sweet things that were said, but that was a fantastic way to end the list. God is good and he brought sweet Nadia into our life. Then Kaye put the book together for us in alphabetical order and gave it to us to bring home and save for Nadia. Thanks to everyone who was a part of that….we were truly blessed by your love.

Here are some photos of Nadia playing with cousin Jen.

Jen and Nadia Jen and Nadia Nadia

Jen took these photos in the car on the way home from the church. Nadia was one tired baby after all that excitement.

Sweet baby Nadia's Hand

11 months old today!

11 months old
11 months old

Nadia is 11 months old today. Some of you might remember this little dress from the China trip when it was ginormous on her. Now it’s just a little big. It’s a 6-9 month dress. Hee hee. Mike and I had fun last night taking her shopping to pick out some 9 month winter clothes. She is growing and getting taller, but we still think she will be in 9 month clothes through the winter because they are all big on her now.

So what is Nadia up to this week? We really think that she knows “Da da” means Mike. It’s adorable how excited she gets when he comes home. She makes a beeline for him and says, “Da da!!!” It’s enough to melt my heart. She is feeding herself the puffs and wagon wheels with ease, she has figured out how her Leap Pad – Fridge Farm toy works – not just how to turn on the music, but where the little farm animal parts go. She is doing well with the sippy cup, but still needs a little help if it’s filled too full. Soon she will be a pro at that. She has learned that you can put small things inside big things. From her stacking cups to her rings and links, she is seeing how they all fit together. She cruises like a speed racer along the furniture, the kitchen cabinets, the chairs at the table – you name it, if she can get up, she moves along.

She still takes 2 naps a day. She has 3 bottles and 3 solid foods a day. She doesn’t want to go to bed at night. It’s like she is so happy to be with both of us playing that she doesn’t want any part of sleeping when she could be playing. Once she gets to sleep, she sleeps all night except waking up at some point early in the morning for a bottle. She makes the cutest faces and smiles all the time. She gets a little fussy when she gets too tired, but even that is not all out crying.

We are so in love with her and blessed that God has brought her into our family. We can’t imagine life without her and it seems like she has always been with us.

P.S. Saturday AM – Nadia had her 3rd tooth pop out overnight. It’s been trying all week and it’s on the top.

Hmmm.... What's in there?

I did it! A closer look