Eleventh week of 4K

Big week this week. :)

This week was "T" week. She was excited as she knows how to write my name. :)

She also brought home her "M" book. She only colored one page. :):

She colored a turkey:

I asked her what she drew on the back and apparently this is her friend, Avery. :)


They played a matching game. The teacher would hold up a letter and they needed to put a dot next to the letter it matched on their sheet:

She made a pilgrim (it was a busy week or a week of sending home papers and projects :)):

Friday was Moms and Muffins! She was so excited! I felt so bad as I didn't prepare her for the fact that moms only were there for half the day so it was hard for her to see me leave. :( But we had so much fun and it was fun to see what a day is like for her.

Here we are at the house before we leave:

Eating our muffins:

Making a turkey project together:

Here are some pictures that the school posted on Facebook. Not any real good pictures of Hannah and I but you can see us in the background and how the kids were playing. :)

Can't believe that 6 years ago I was so down as I was facing another holiday season without my baby and this year I was going to Moms and Muffins with my daughter and making a project with her.

I am so blessed.

Tenth week of 4K

We're in the double digits for weeks now! And we still have a happy, excited girl. :)


This week was the letter "M".


She is still focusing on colors. According to her teacher, she's doing very well and knows all her colors. Here is her scarecrow colors book she worked on this week:


She said she had to draw hearts on this page. :) She's really into hearts now


And she also had to draw a bunny :)






We're excited about next week when it's Moms and Muffins. :) Hannah won't stop talking about it. I get to go with her to school. :)

A letter to my daughter following the election

My dear sweet Hannah,

I don't know how old you'll be when you read this. Maybe you never will. Who knows what the future holds. This world may be a better place....or not. I don't know.

I can tell you this---As I'm typing this I'm terrified.

We just elected Donald Trump as our president.

Honestly I didn't really care for either candidate. Usually with every election I can be very proud and happy with my vote. That wasn't so much the case this time. As I stood in line waiting to vote, holding onto your hand, I literally felt sick to my stomach. I was wondering if I was doing the right thing. Would your future be okay by the choices we made?

I voted with my conscience. So I walked away with a sense of relief, even if I was terrified of the outcome.

I voted for Donald Trump.

The next day was a hard day. Not directly, but indirectly, I was called a lot of names---racist, bigot, sexist, unloving, uncaring, uneducated, etc. So many hurtful things. People who had voted for Hillary Clinton told those who voted for Trump to explain to the minority groups why they mean nothing, why we don't care. Explain to your children why you would support an awful human being and why you would ruin their future.

I can reassure you, sweetie, I'm none of those things. I love all people. I love Jesus. I love you.

I want you to know I really don't care for Donald Trump. I really hope he succeeds as a good president. I hope he's changed from the stuff the media shows. I hope he's not the same person and he can help make America great again. By the time you read this, you'll know what happens.

I do want to explain to you why my vote went to Donald Trump.

I've always been pro-life but even more so since you came into my life sweetie. According to your birth mother, abortion was never an option for her and I'm forever grateful for that. She didn't know she was pregnant with you until she was 7 months along. I can't imagine the anxiety, terror and panic she faced. She had a lot going on at that time, many troubles, and being pregnant with a baby was a lot to take in.

It would've been so easy to just get an abortion and forget about it. Hillary Clinton says that would be okay. Donald Trump says it wouldn't.

What if Hillary Clinton had been the president at that time? What if your birth mother would've wanted to get an abortion?

You wouldn't be here. I wouldn't get to see you grow. I wouldn't get to hug you and kiss you. I wouldn't be your mommy.

The thought literally brings tears to my eyes as I'm typing this.

How could I vote for someone who says it's okay to not let you live? How could I support someone like that?

As much as I dislike Donald Trump, I disliked Hillary Clinton more. I voted for who I thought was the lesser of two evils.

I wish I knew if I did the right thing.

I assure you, sweetheart, I love all people. I don't judge people--that's God's job, not mine. I will answer to God for my choices, not the world.

What I do want is for you to learn from this. Be kind to everyone. Don't give into the hate, even if you disagree with someone. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Please don't put people down because they have different opinions than you.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another John 13:34

Put God first, not the world.

My honest hope is that you will never read this letter. My prayer is that the rapture happens very soon and God will bring us home. I pray you don't have to worry about a future in this world. But if you do read this, I hope you take to heart my decision and my words. Because being kind to others and being your mom are two of the most wonderful, important journeys of my life.

I love you sweetie. I pray this world truly is a better place for you.

Love,
Mommy

Ninth week of 4K

Hannah loves to dress herself up going to school...which is why she shows up a lot of the time with a crown on her head:

I really hope teachers realize that some kids dress themselves. :)

This week she did a project on following directions:

She did pretty good, although I know she got a little bored with it and didn't do it all. :)

It was Q week this week and learned all about the letter Q.


Here is her "Q book". She was supposed to color all the pages and she wanted to do the minimum. :)




This week was a shorter week as we left Thursday afternoon for Kentucky to go to her first clogging competition ever. So she didn't get to go to school on Friday. She wasn't too heart broken though as she was soooo excited to go on a road trip and go to a clogging competition. :)

November--the month of awareness

November is a special month of awareness for me. Not only is it Diabetes Awareness Month but it is also National Adoption Month.

Both have affected my life tremendously.

Diabetes runs in our family very strongly. All 4 of my grandparents had type 2 diabetes and I also had an uncle with type 1 diabetes. Our holidays, birthday parties and other family get-togethers had dishes for the nondiabetics and diabetics including angel food cake that was half frosted and half not. I grew up knowing the limitations diabetics faced in their diet and I thought nothing of it.

It wasn't until I married Mark did I become aware of how much diabetes affects the whole body. My uncle had passed away from complications from the disease when I was in middle school but I never really knew the extent of how much diabetes took a toll on the body. I had watched my grandparents and uncle eat the sugar free Jell-o and I knew they couldn't have a lot of the "good stuff" I could have. I even watched my grandparents give themselves insulin shots. At that time, I figured they just got the bad luck---no sugar and shots every day for the rest of their lives?

Little did I know that was the tip of ice berg.

Watching what my husband has gone through since I married him 15 years ago, it has really opened my eyes. Diabetes literally affects every organ of the body. It may seem hard to believe, but it's true. Diabetes has severely affected Mark's eyes, stomach, kidneys, heart, brain, nerves and vessels all over his body and of course his glucose levels. He suffers severe pain on a daily basis. Diabetes is one of the most misunderstood diseases and one of the most damaging diseases to the body.


This is Hannah and I next to my uncle's grave. Watching what Mark goes through every day, I have more knowledge of what my uncle went through while fighting diabetes. I wish I would've known him better and I wish he could have known Hannah. But I'm excited to know he's no longer suffering.


And then there's the beauty of adoption.

We struggled with infertility and underwent treatments for about 8 years before turning to adoption. The term "just adopt" has always been a sore spot for me. It's not as easy as it sounds. Adoption is a huge financial and emotional journey. You spend hours going through a home study, talking about personal things with a complete stranger (who by the end of the process you've spent so much time with you're bonded for life). You drain your savings, have fundraisers, budget everything in your life to save even just a couple bucks for the adoption. You go through so many background checks you feel like a criminal. Mounds and mounds of paperwork--so much you're certain you've killed a tree. In total, Hannah's adoption cost us $65,000.

All for your child.

I'd do it all over again and 100 times more if I had to because it brought us our daughter.

On November 11, 2011 we received an email saying we were chosen to be Hannah's parents. A miracle in itself as we had requested our profile not to be submitted to this particular situation because it was too expensive, and yet because of a communication error, it was submitted and we were chosen. Only God could do that. God chose long before that time Hannah was our daughter and I'm so grateful for that. During the years of infertility, struggling, so many tears and frustration, Hannah was being created as a perfect daughter for us.

Adoption is good. So very good.


Hannah 4 days old


Hannah 4-1/2 years old