Sorry to be so Glum :o)

I just wanted to post a couple pictures and show everyone how beautiful my princess is. All of the pain I described in my previous post is gone. Now we deal with the day to day reality of finally having Ananya. We are planning Anthony's birthday party on Friday evening. He is going to be 9. I can't believe how time has flown. I'll say it again. Anthony is the greatest big brother. He loves his sister so much. He is always giving her kisses and hugs. He like to hold her and carry her around. He is the greatest. His grades have improved greatly since we got home. It seems that he takes his new responsibilities very seriously. I will post more after the party. We are having company for the weekend as well. Grammy (Ananya's Great-grandma) and Pa-Paw (Ananya's grandfather) are coming to visit for the weekend. We can't wait to see them.

A Look Back At 2006

I feel the need to journal here what has been going through my mind for at least a week. One of my new "blogger friends" did something similar and it gave me the courage to put this in writing.

2006 was "The Year Of The Adoption" for my family. We started in 2005. I never thought during our homestudy (October to January) that we were weeks away from seeing our daughter's picture. I wasn't prepared to start waiting for her. January 23rd 2006 was the day that we saw Ananya's picture. We even decided to keep her orphanage name. We dropped our choice of Alexis quickly. Ananya was our daughter and that was her name. The problem became that our homestudy hadn't been approved yet. We couldn't just sign the papers and wait for the courts. We still had paper gathering to do. Once we finally started, I couldn't seem to get all the papers together to send them. I went to 6 different counties to get documents certified. This is no small task when you work 2 nights during the work week. 2 of the counties were over an hour away. The others were in all different directions. It didn't help that I was overwhelmed by the amount of things I had to gather. I wasn't prepared. It was "baptism by fire". Next time I'll be more prepared. I looked at Ananya's picture everyday and it made it harder to work. So early in the year my mood started to fall.

FINALLY in May we were ready to sign our acceptance papers. The beginning of June we started our wait for the Indian government. I thought we should have her for Christmas. I didn't let my heart get set on a date though. We went on vacation a couple weeks later. It was simply torture for me. I didn't want to do anything without my daughter. It started to get harder to enjoy my son. Looking back I feel terrible. I was so closed off that at times, my precious boy couldn't bring me back out. I was so focused on my daughter. It was unfair. The middle of July we got word that the first part of the process was approved. I couldn't be happier. We should have been able to travel in about 3 months. We should have gotten Ananya in October. I had many days to work past the anger in not having her when I thought we should have. It was not an easy leap to realize that God showed us Ananya when we were to see her and and He gave her to us when we were supposed to hold her. I fought my way through Halloween. I had bought a t-shirt for her. I fought my way through Thanksgiving, we didn't take our normal trip to Pennsylvania because we could be leaving soon. I missed my Dad and my Grammy and my aunt Carol's stuffing balls. I missed my family that day. I'm so used to having Thanksgiving with about 40 people. It was me and Patrick and my friend Teena. It wasn't right. So we continued to live each day hoping for word that we could leave soon. It never came. We got court dates that meant nothing. There came a point when I didn't cry. Those who know me know I'm an emotional person always. Not anymore. I didn't feel. Christmas was coming. I did my shopping. Got Anthony his favorite things. I baked my usual cookies. I hated it. It wasn't right. I didn't have much left in me. I couldn't sleep. At 3 in the morning I would be awake praying that my daughter knew I was coming. That she was getting hugs and kisses. That she wasn't lonely. Somewhere along the way God made the wait alittle easier. He gave me strength to look at my husband and my son and realize they were my gifts as well. In the last year, I have pulled away from them more than I ever care to admit. I spent alot of time sleeping. What else could I do. When I was awake, it was always right there. Breaking my heart alittle more at a time. I stuggled through this with 3 other friends. I could hear my emotions in their voices. I prayed for their children to come home almost more than for us to get Ananya.

Before Christmas, we were finally granted guardianship and only had to wait on passport. I never got the relief I would have expected. I still almost couldn't function on a daily basis. I went to work and did what I absolutely had to. Nothing more. We ran into delays with the passport process too. I finally just had to laugh when the passport office actually caught fire. I think it was the day we had to decide if we would buy our tickets. The freaking office caught on fire. What could I do but laugh. We proceed with plans anyway. Nothing would stop us at that point. Patrick made the decision. I couldn't.

Now we have our daughter. I'm so happy. I love everyday. My children are a gift and I love my family. We have all grown from our trip. Anthony's teacher has seen changes in his work. She said he is doing much better and focusing. I'm still struggling alittle. It wasn't the instant change that I expected. It didn't get better overnight. Mostly I'm still trying to figure out what to do with myself.

As for what I would do differently. That is a hard call. I announced so early that we were doing this. I won't do that again. I wanted to actually hit people by November when they asked questions. Of course some were phrased as "well she's going to be grown (or in college) before you get her" I hated that. To me it was the least sympathetic and most hurtful thing anyone could say. I lived each day for an email. Praying that today would bring news that our case was heard. My personal decisions are going to be kept more of a secret. People will know early if I think they will be supportive. These will most likely be the people who aren't going to ask everytime I see them what is going on. I don't want to defend the process again. It is what it is. India is not full of horrible people who just want to keep my baby away from me. I'm not going to try and explain that nearly as much. I'm going to journal more (sorry to those of you who read regularly). I'm going to enjoy my life as God has made it and anticipate the day when it gets better. My family is a gift and I don't want to take them for granted. I've learned to love each moment. I don't know that anyone can fully understand what I'm saying until you have lived it. I felt like my child was being held hostage. I didn't know for sure if she was sick (rationally I know they would have told me). I didn't know if she was having a bad day. I had to learn to trust God to look after my entire family. I can't control everything. I had to change my view. I had to depend on God for support. He brought me this far. He will finish the journey. He knows the ending.

I wrote this mostly for myself. I needed to let it out. I wrote it partly for someone else. I don't know if they will read it. You said I never talked about the adoption with you. Well here is the reason for so much of what you saw. I don't know that you'll accept it as a reason but there it is anyways. I hope you can see where I've been and how hard it was for me.

Pictures :o)

Hi. We're still around. I'm posting more pictures. Ananya is growing everyday. She is getting stronger and learning new things. We love having her around. We have been to the neurologist. He agrees with our plan. We met with our coordinator from the Childrens Development Center. We are hoping to start therapy in the next week or so. We are scheduled for our formal evaluation on April 18th. We are waiting for the Pediatrician to get back from her honeymoon to schedule our next doctor visit. This next one isn't going to be fun. They have to draw blood.

Ananya has her ears pierced now. She only cried for a minute (literally). She even smiled for the lady that pierced her ears after it was over. The sales clerk then started asking us about ou agency and such. She is looking into adoption.

I can't believe how often just telling our story gets other people thinking. I love to tell others about Ananya, and about Dillon, and about all the children that are waiting. I know that everyone reading this already knows how I feel but I'll say it again. I LOVE ADOPTION!! It has brought us the greatest gift. It has given us incite. We enjoy every day.

Ananya got her own swing for her brothers swing set today. She likes to sit in it and look around with mommy pushing her. She doesn't mind being in the backyard with the dogs barking. She likes the animals. We played with bubbles today. I don't think she paid much attention to them. She likes being on the trampoline. Her favorite game is "bouncy". On the trampoline she can stand with me and bounce.

Well, we have had a long day and I'm going to bed. Here are some pictures from the last week.

The Last Few Days

My 2 wonders actually like each other. And this is what happens when daddy dresses the baby. Her tights are on her head.

Tuesday was a busy day for us. Ananya and Mommy drove to Winston-Salem (about an hour and 15 minutes away) to visit the neurologist. In doing this we missed our initial appointment with the Child Development Center. I still have to reschedule that appointment, but the woman doing the evaluation lives close by and can easily come by on her way home. The neurologist looked at the records and agrees with the treatment plan so we came back home. No new tests ordered. YEAH!! We ran lots of errands on the way home as well.

Ananya has now decided that she doesn't want to go to sleep at night. We do ok at naptime, but at bedtime it is a struggle. The last 3 nights have been terrible. We spend about 2 hours trying to get her to sleep. She is still really attached to me and threw a fit Sunday night when Daddy tried to put her to sleep. We have tried a playpen to give her space and that doesn't work either. Oh well, we just keep going and hope that it changes.

Today, she was all smiles and giggles. She ate all of her breakfast (boy can this girl eat). She woke up from her nap and started giving me kisses. It is so wonderful to wake up to a 2 year old giving you kisses. She has started giving kisses now and will kiss her dolls, but she usually gives them when asked to and not at will. It was wonderful.

Anthony continues to be a great big brother. He is getting ready for his first sleepover birthday party this weekend. I think he is excited. We are also planning his 9th birthday party. We are going the same place we went last year. He really enjoyed laser tag and so we will do it again. We are going to have his party during the week just because the place is less crowded and so his guests can roam more free. I can't believe that my baby is about to turn 9. He is getting so big. I don't know where the time has gone.

Today, a big story in the news is that Angelina Jolie is adopting a son from Vietnam. I normally could careless what Hollywood does but this is close to home. I think alot of Angelina because I believe she spends a portion of her life trying to make the lives of others better. I would love to be able to do only a portion of the mission work that she is able to do. I find it amazing that people think that she is just "shopping" for children, when anyone who I know that adopts children internationally is told what a wonderful thing they are doing. To beat all, most of the news stories are not from the person herself but because people have been asking very personal questions about her life. Most of the interviews that I have read, Angelina talks about her experiences, about the people who still are in need. I know that most of you could care less about this, this story means alot to me. It feels close to home. I defend her actions because we have this one thing in common. Adoption rules my life. I happen to think it is the greatest thing God has put in my heart. The entire experience has grown my family. My son has experienced another culture in the process to get his sister. My eyes are open and I want to help others so much more now. I love all of these children and would love to personally find homes for all of them. Sorry, that is my little soap box. My second time today on it. I posted a comment on the MSN discussion board.

Anyways. The days are speeding by. I want it to slow down so we have more time to enjoy Ananya and Anthony. The journey of parenting is amazing. I enjoy everyday of it.

Our First Family Picture

Here we are together in India.

Pictures :o)

Just the 4 of Us :o)

After 3 weeks, we have settled into a routine (most of the time). We had a really busy week here in the Phillips' household. We started with a visit from our local social worker on Monday morning. She enjoyed finally seeing the baby and we went through all the standard questions. We spent the day with Daddy. I went to the doctor (just a normal checkup as well as my ears have been bothering me since we got back). Ananya had her nap in the waiting room with Daddy while I saw the doctor. On Tuesday, Ananya had her first doctors visit with our pediatrician. She now weighs 16 pounds and 3 ounces. She is 31 1/2 inches tall. This is why all of her cloths don't fit. She wears 18 months in length and 6-9 around the waist. We didn't do anything traumatic yet but boy did she scream. We will go back in a couple of months to get blood drawn and such. Joy, Joy. We got referrals for a child development center and the pediatric neurologist and orthopedist. We will probably see them in the next few months. Wednesday we got all off schedule for no apparent reason. I'm hoping tomorrow will allow us to follow the plan and get back on schedule.

Ananya is doing wonderfully. She still cries for me when she is tired or hungry. She has let a couple of people hold her for a minute or 2 while I'm there. She has started to reach for more of her toys, and moving around more on the rug in the living room. She has started to vocalize more sounds. She has learned how to give kisses (they are the open mouth baby ones). She will pet (slap and pull fur) one of our dogs and one of our cats at times. Peanut (Patrick's little dog) actually just moves closer and lets Ananya poke her in the eye more. Some days it is hard to see progress. Other moments, I can look back and see the things that she is doing now that she wasn't doing 3 weeks ago. It is just incredible to watch.

Anthony has handled the transition well. He finished the last of his school work today that he missed while we were gone. He finished all the tests in like 3 days. He is getting back into the groove of school. He is transitioning into being the most awesome big brother. He just walks up to Ananya and tries to make her smile and he likes to give her random kisses. If she is crying, he first tries to calm her down by stopping what he is doing to play with her. If that doesn't work, he picks her up to bring her to me. He even supports her head while carrying her because he knows she will throw herself backwards if she is really upset. Last night, Anthony laid down on the floor next to Ananya and was telling her how much he loves her. The adoration really goes both ways though. Every night at dinner, Ananya looks over at Anthony and starts hollering at him. She knows already that he will holler right back. Pretty soon everyone at the table is yelling just for fun.

I'm enjoying my time at home. This really is a first for me to just stay home and be Mom. I kind of miss work. I just like having that time where I'm really a grown up. I miss taking care of patients alittle. I love being a nurse. I also know that because I only work at night, I won't miss too much. This time at home though has been good for all of us. I have just realized in the last few days the true extent of the last year on me as a person. I have changed. I was depressed during all this waiting. I really couldn't see it, but before we left it was so hard to just work up a smile. I'm sorry that Anthony had to deal with that. I'm glad that it is over now. I have part of my life back that I never knew that I was missing. The empty space inside me is filled. My family doesn't have a hole in it anymore.

As you can tell, I'm completely caught up in the wonder of this little girl (and her brother). They are amazing. I wake up in the morning and see Ananya sleeping next to me. She is beautiful. Next, I go wake Anthony up (after taking a second to brush my teeth, anyone else forget to shower when they spend all day staring at the baby). I brushed his hair back this morning and realized how big he has gotten. I carried him to bed last week and almost dropped him. He weighs almost 60lbs now. I'm not quite sure where my baby boy went. We will be getting family portraits taken for Easter in the next couple weeks. I'll share those pictures with everyone.

I wanted to let everyone know how much we appreciate all the support, prayers, and gifts we have received in the last year. There are so many people we have leaned on when the journey was its hardest. You all made the wait so bearable.

To those who are waiting, enjoy everyday. I know that seems like a crazy thought. While you are waiting for a referral, you may want the days to speed by. Enjoy life. Once you have your child, it is harder to slow back down and enjoy everyday. Having a 9 year old, I realize how much you should enjoy everyday. You turn around and they are doing word problems. The day will come sooner than you could realize when you can bearly remember these feelings. The love you will feel overcomes all the heartache. This time is wonderful.

I will add more pictures soon, but it is not letting me attach them to this post.

2 Weeks as a Family

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks as a family. We are all doing great. Ananya is adjusting to her home well. We are trying to establish a schedule. Its not going too well. I have to give it more time. Ananya has made so many improvements since coming home. She is now starting to bear weight on her legs when we stand her up. She is starting to play with her toys. She likes to eat. She eats everything I give her and throws a fit if I don’t feed her fast enough when she is hungry. It is amazing to watch her develop everyday. We made a trip to the doctor today. Anthony has pulled a muscle in his leg. It did not seem to be improving and I just wanted to check it out. The doctor gave him permission to be lazy for a couple days and stay off of it.

We have a visit with our social worker on Monday. Ananya has her first doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. We can hopefully start PT, OT and speech therapy soon so that we see many more improvements.

I love my life. I love watching my children play together. I love watching Patrick play with Ananya. I love watching Ananya smile when I walk into the room. She is gorgeous. Her and Anthony together are more than I could have ever dreamt of. Everyone always says that you love your child more than life itself and the love does not diminish when you have more children, but it is multiplied. I never worried about loving Anthony less, but I am still amazed by the feelings that I forgot I had when Anthony was younger. After waiting so long to have another child in our house, I am amazed. Its like starting over again. Sometimes it feels like I’ve never done this before. I will try to be more diligent about posting but at the present moment we are having computer problems. I’ll post more later. I will try to take more pictures and post them as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANANYA!!!

Today our baby turned 2. She handled the day very well. We are trying to establish a schedule at home. Anthony is just a great big brother to Ananya. I'm so proud of him. We had some great pictures taken. I've attached a few of them now. We opened birthday and late Christmas presents at Grandmas. We had a Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake that Grandma bought. She didn't really know what to do with it so I stuck her hands in it.

The trip home went well. We didn't rest well on the flights though. We are all happy to be home and eating our normal foods. I'm going to bed now since I got both kids asleep by 8:00. I'll post more tomorrow.

We Will Be Home Tomorrow!!!!

OK. I'm so excited. I've told Anthony several times to go to sleep and here I am on the internet. I CAN'T SLEEP! I just want to leave so we can be back in America (cue the Star Spangled Banner). We leave the hotel between 630 and 645 am. We fly out at 955. The funny thing is that I want home so bad but I want to come back soon. It has been beautiful, starving but beautiful. I was not at all prepared for the dietary needs of Ananya, but most of the things that she needs (or I think that she needs) are at Food Loin. I will miss India. Never have I seen such driving. Its crazy yet fascinating. We had a lazy morning and left the hotel at about 330. We ran by the doctor again because I realized they never gave me Ananya's shot record back. When I realized that I almost threw up with worry. No worry though after a tense minute the lovely lady pulled out the right file and handed me all my paperwork back. We walked through Khan Market for awhile. We ate Indian McDonalds (that was an experience, Anthony got a kids meal and I had to give him my sandwich because his chicken was ground and mixed with curry.) The crispy type chicken sandwich isn't bad though. Remember to order it without lettuce. We bought a few gifts then had the driver drive us literally where ever he thought we should see. He took us to several tombs with beautiful gardens and through some slightly crowded streets. We returned to the shop where I had my shopping spree and picked up the items that were hand made for me (OHHH, AHHH very fancy). Then back to the hotel. I tried on one of my sarees. I'm pretty sure I got the crazy thing on right. Patrick thought it was beautiful. I wore one of my new suits to dinner at the Japanese restraunt in the hotel (Patrick keeps wondering where the shrimp sauce is). Dinner was good and it was the 2nd time we ate in the restraunt. Ananya threw another fit later this evening. She was way over tired because she work up from her nap too early. She had her 2nd bath this morning after a good breakfast at the buffet. She had yogurt, banana, and sugar doughnut. Mommy however didn't get to eat because they started clearing the buffet before I got a plate. The service in the hotel hasn't been great. Anytime we are in the restraunt we have to ask for coffe with our breakfast. I wouldn't stay here (the Nikko) again. The Hindusthan in Kolkata however was so great. The staff was wonderful and so helpful. Anytime we asked for something they brought it right away. The waiters in the restraunt just dolled over Ananya and all of us actually. The courtyard was beautiful to sit in during the day. We fly in the morning and Patrick is excited about that. He just loves Lufthansa airlines now. The service on the way here was excellent. I am so glad that our layovers on the way home are shorter. We may have to run to catch our flight to DC because we only have a 1-hour layover in Munich, but in DC we have 3 hours. That should be enough to recharge our appliances (Nintendo DS and IPOD) with AMERICAN wattage (thank god) and get the baby a decent meal (as well as the rest of us). We have had problems with getting the power converters to work here and so I can't post any pictures tonight as my camera is dead. Our other digital (which I can't download DUH forgot to get a USB cord) is now full thanks to the wonderful hotel driver. We have a total of 4 rolls of film to develop when we get home as well. Well I'm going to try and sleep for a few hours now. My next post will be from the good old USA. YEAH!!!! I can't wait to introduce our new princess to everyone. See you soon.

Our Last Day

This has been one of the greatest trips. Our daughter is amazing. Anthony has been wonderful. He has gotten to see a wonderful country and seen poverty he could never have seen in the US. He has handled it wonderfully. We are all ready to come home though. We want hamburgers at McDonalds and food that isn’t really, really spicy. I personally want people who understand me. Ananya will be happy to be home where she doesn’t have to be in the baby sling so much. She wants to play more. Anthony just wants to go to Grandma’s where he can play. We haven’t seen much of New Delhi except through a car window. I’m too absolutely exhausted to go much of anywhere. Yesterday after we picked up the visa packet, our driver took us to a nice shop. I admit it was rather expensive, but the items are beautiful. I bought myself some gorgeous saris and salvar kemeez. The boutique was more Beverly Hills than we normally do, but they are making all of my sari tops and actually making a few of the outfits. Patrick said it was ok because I don’t normally splurge like that. I know a lot of the things will still be wonderful looking when Ananya is big enough to wear them. One of the scarves is actually a gift for her when she is older. We have one more day to get through. We have to pick up my things at the shop this evening. We have to find something to eat for lunch and dinner. We will be so ready to leave in the morning at probably 6 am to go to the airport. I have to pack all of our stuff again. At least this time I don’t have to worry about having everything with us in case luggage doesn’t make it with us. All I really need is enough formula for the trip and her visa documents. I can’t wait to feel like I’m back in civilization (I just feel like I’m missing everything now because I’m so far away from everyone). Once I have processed the trip I will have some regrets of things that we haven’t done, but I have started to have some system overload and remembered quickly that with Ananya we can’t just continually go everywhere. Anthony too just wants to come back to the hotel and play on the computer. It is 3am and I’m going to try to sleep more. I just haven’t slept well even when I have the chance. I think I just miss having at least 1 dog in bed with me. I can’t wait to talk to everyone and tell you all about my trip. I will try to post pictures later. They will not post right now.
PS Anyone wanting bonus points from me will bring me a large starbucks on Saturday afternoon. They have wonderful coffee here, but I haven’t seen syrups. Anthony wants McDonalds with an unlimited supply of ketchup and all TV in English.

More Pictures :o)

I wanted to post a few more pictures of our grand adventure.

Checking In

Wanted to let every one know that we are all still doing well. We had Embassy day today and go to get "THE PACKET" (the visa packet to those who havent been here) tomorrow. We will be all finished tomorrow morning but our flight leaves on Friday. We will try to relax a little and see some sights. Maybe do a little more shopping. We made it to Delhi on Monday night and checked into the hotel at a little after 8pm. Ananya had a great first plane ride and slept most of the 2 hour flight. Mommy however isn't faring so well. I got sick during take off, took dramamine but I knew what I really needed was food. Luckily the angels at Jet Airways serve a meal on a 2 hour flight. I got to eat after Ananya fell asleep. I felt much better and slept through the flight. Anthony has discovered a couple more times that he doesn't truely like Indian food. Mom has a bit of an upset stomach (just heartburn) from all the spices. Our hotel actually serves hamburgers and they have pasta and fried rice. We will survive. There was also an Indian wedding going on when we checked in and Patrick got to see how beautiful Indian brides are. Today was a really busy day and my lack of sleep caught up with me. Once I saw a familar face at the Embassy, I started crying. Poor Anila and Lenin were trying to reassure me that they knew it was hard but it was almost over. I just knew I had forgotten a piece of paper. Luckily after Visa photos (too cute ones to be exact) and a quick doctor visit, I found that we got our exit interview without any problem. Our packet will be ready by 9 am. We had a lovely dinner with our friends Grace and Shane at their hotel. I had to coax my guys out of their hotel room (they are staying at the Sheraton). We got some pictures of the girls together. We are back at the hotel and I'm going to take a quick shower and crash. The trip has been tiring and even though Ananya only weighs 15 pounds or (slightly less), she is very tiring 24 hours a day. I love her to death but the girl has a temper. One minute she is fine the next she is screaming her head off because she wants to eat now even if the formula is too hot. She doesn't drink out of a bottle or sippy cup so I have to use a spoon or give her drinks straight from the cup. I believe I included a picture of her milk beard. HEHEHEHE!!! Fun adventures of today: I washed my clothes in the sink (they are taking forever to dry) and we saw about 30 monkeys on the side of the road this evening (our driver said it was some Monkey holiday, something about a Hindu god). Well I must go so Anthony can get back on the internet. I will post more tommorrow. Love everyone and will talk to you all soon. P.S. India is really beautiful. Sometimes even the really dirty and dingy things are just amazing.

The Journey

Anyone that has not taken this journey can know the joys of our babies. The love is the same as with any other child you may have, but the appreciation is so different when you stare at the pictures for so long and get “developmental updates”. No one in the whole time we waited saw, held or visited with Ananya. Pam and Joel got a short look, but Ananya is very shy of new people and no one wanted to freak her out. It was so hard to not have any personal accounts of how her personality is or anything. The moment she was in my arms (scared, mad and screaming), everything else was gone. It didn’t hurt anymore. I had prepared myself for the negative reaction. I didn’t want to have the picture of a perfect “Gotcha Day” and be crushed. I’m very glad that God put in my heart that it wouldn’t be all happy and smiling. Within a few hours, I had her smiling. Within a day, she won’t leave my arms (even for me to turn around and get a diaper). To finally have her little head snuggled on my shoulder makes all the waiting worth it. I know why so many families do this repeatedly.
Adoption is definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have met so many great people (Tami, Jynger, Gayle, and Gray) and so many great friends (Melissa and Brian, Kristi and Jason, Grace and Shane, Anila and Lenin, Adrienne and Agni, and so many others that I can’t even name). Once we got to the orphanage, I got to meet one the most amazing people I have ever met in my life, Anju. She oversees the orphanage and takes such wonderful care of these children. I can not imagine doing the job that she does. I would want to bring every child home with me. All of the people at Dillon and in the ISRC orphanages do amazing things. They are truly gifts from God. I can never tell any of these people thank you enough. They made my daughter strong and brought her to me. After seeing all of the children at the orphanage I realize the Ayahs that Anju has are not just good, they are THE BEST. They do so much for so many children.
Ananya is amazing. For such a little girl to have so many things change suddenly, she has handled this with grace. She smiles and plays and snuggles. Even the few times she has cried, you can’t really blame her. In the blink of an eye, her entire life was turned upside down. Within hours of being back at the hotel, I had her on the floor. When I turned for just a second to grab something, she was sitting. I couldn’t believe it. No one ever told me that she could sit on her knees. Yesterday, she was grabbing at the computer. She took a ball from Anthony’s hand. When I held her up on her feet, she started to bear some weight. She is already thriving and the journey has just begun. Without any limits, she will excel so far.
Like Patrick has said since we got here “We are on a mission from God”. Truer words have never been spoken. This trip feels like it is going to make a HUGE difference in all of our lives. Not just by bringing Ananya home as our daughter, but how we live our lives, how we help other, and how we see the world outside of our view.
I can not put into words how amazing the journey of adoption is. If you are reading this, open your heart. Stop for just a minute and look into your heart. See is God is calling you to make a huge difference with even just a little time or effort.

Just as a last note after all that, check out the link to Celebrations that I have posted. Adrienne and Agni are such wonderful people. They are waiting to travel to India to get their son (they have a 3 year old daughter). Adrienne is planning some cruises for next spring to benefit Orphancare, Dillon’s fund for the orphanages the countries they serve. The cruises sound wonderful and money could not be spent in a better way than to help all of the children in the orphanages.

More Pictures :o)

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday.

Saturday was a Busy Day

Saturday we had a very nice day. We met our friends from Dillon at the hotel. It was nice to finally put a face with the voices. They got their children later in the afternoon. We got to spend alittle time with them beforehand. We went sightseeing a little as well. We saw Victoria Memorial, dancing monkeys and the Planetarium. Victoria Memorial is beautiful. Cameras are not allowed inside. The carvings and design is just amazing. They have a lot of paintings and things on display as well. There are sections of the exhibit that show the history of Kolkata. Patrick and Anthony looked through a lot of the pictures. We walked around the grounds for more than 30 minutes. The gardens are gorgeous. There were a lot of couples sitting under trees talking. Before we went in there was a guy with dancing monkeys. I’ve post a picture but it was much more fun in person. The man started singing and the monkeys danced. One of them did a flip. Anthony was very amused. **BTW-This is why I told Anthony not to pet the monkeys in India**. We tried to go to St. Pauls but it was closed at that time. We went to the Planetarium. We made it just as the English show was starting. Anthony and Patrick loved it. Ananya didn’t like the dark at all. She was just starting to get sleepy. She took a short nap. We then went back to the hotel. We had lunch. We had most of the waiters at our table. One in particular, a nice man named Philip, paid much attention to both of the kids. He and Patrick talked as well. He even gave Patrick his address to keep in touch. After lunch, we caved and let Anthony go swimming. I think the water was alittle cold because he didn’t stay in for more than a few minutes. Ananya seemed to like just being outside playing. She paid lots of attention to what her brother was doing as well as the other boys in the pool. I had Ananya’s shoes off and I dunked her feet in the pool. She acted a little scared, but started smiling as soon as I held her close. Once upstairs, I couldn’t stand the suspense anymore and went down the hall to see if Grace was back yet. Jadyn is just a beauty. She was sleeping at the time. We had to go back to New Market to pick up an outfit that Patrick had ordered. By the time we got there it was getting dark. It was even more crowded than it was Friday. When we got close to the shop, people kept pointing us to the right shop. I guess an American family with an Indian baby attracts a lot of attention. We went to a few other shops while there and I got Ananya a few outfits. (Patrick finally realized just how far you could haggle them down and so we got good prices this time.) Anthony ended up with another Indian shirt. I still didn’t get anything, but we can look in Delhi as well. There as one little girl that sort of got to me. She was about Anthony’s age and just started following me. I didn’t have any candy on me at the time. She just chatted with me and told me how pretty Ananya was. She asked her name and told me her name was Puja. I just wanted to make the world perfect just for her. She was the most beautiful little girl. Before we left Patrick had Anthony give her a little money (we were already in the car so we wouldn’t get mobbed). All in all it was a good day. I think it may have been alittle much for Ananya at the end but all is well now as everyone is resting.

Day 2 :o) It keeps getting better!

I never thought it could be true but today was better than yesterday. Once Ananya finally got to sleep, I laid down with her. I didn't sleep soundly though because I woke everytime she moved. Breakfast wasn't one of my greatest moments. I wasn't so concerned with eating because I couldn't get much down her. She had a little porridge. A little juice. I've kept at the water today. I've given her alot through a medicine syringe. As you can see we finally had success with lunch. She threw a fit anytime I didn't get the food in fast enough. Dinner wasn't the greatest though. I ended up slowly pouring it into her mouth from the bottle with the nipple off of it. She did however take some small pieces of solid food from our dinner plates. We went shopping today. I got her to go to sleep for a while at the shops. She is such a strong girl, and sooo strong willed. Tonight she went to sleep rather easily. We are all still doing well. I admit though I would like to be home soon. I want normal grocery stores so I have lots of options as to what to feed her. I definitely don't want to have to worry about Anthony getting sick. I do realize though that we need to experience this so that we can tell her about it. Its been a great trip. Tomorrow we may get the chance to see 2 other families from our agency. They both pick up their children tomorrow. Hopefully we can all have alittle time together. Well I'm going to go for now. I'll continue to keep everyone updated.

SURPRISE!!!!

Ok. So everyone that knows me knows that I'm not patient at all. How were we supposed to sit in a hotel in the same city as our daughter and not get to go get her???? When I called Ms. Roy this morning, she gave me the option to come today and pick Ananya up. What could I say but of course. I couldn't help it. So we hurried up and packed up our stuff and met our daughter at about 320 pm Kolkata time. Boy was I glad that I didn't listen to any of my friends and prepared for the worst. She took one look at me when they handed her to me and started screaming. The ayah actually had to take her back 3 different times before she quit screaming. Even when she's scared and mad she is beautiful. Anthony was able to calm her down a couple of times. She really likes her brother. Patrick had her for a little bit and she didn't cry until she came to me. Of course my heart broke but it was repaired within a few minutes. She stayed quiet in my arms until we went to the other orphange building. Then another ayah took her to calm her down. We were able to see all of the babies. I held a couple of them. This little girl stole our heart all over again. I am typing with her curled up in my lap fighting sleep. She refuses to eat anything and screams everytime we get anything near her mouth. In the morning I may have to be mean mommy and force water with a syringe if she won't take it.

Now lets rewind. We left Charlotte on time at 1155 Tuesday morning. Anthony got antsy in the airport because we breezed through security and had to wait for our flight. We had a 50 minute flight to Washington. Anthony had a great time. I think someone should pick me up in Washington so that I don't have to fly back. We had a 5 hour layover at Dulles. Got told the wrong gate but we were at a quiet place and I got a little rest. We had a 6 hour flight to Frankfort. Then a 4 hour layover. Not too fun. European airports don't have as many restraunts as American ones. We then took a shuttle to our flight and then flew 8 hours to Kolkata. The airport was kind of scary but we made it through. All of our luggage made it here. We had to get a taxi as well as the hotel car just because we had so many bags. Patrick rode in the taxi to the hotel. That was apparently an experience. Also at the airport, there were children begging (now this was 2 am) Patrick had a really hard time not forking over cash. We made it to the hotel in one piece. We went to sleep at about 3am. I was up at 1015 and called Ms. Roy at about 11. She asked if we wanted to come today or tomorrow and or course I couldn't wait. We quickly gathered all our things and had lunch at the hotel. We now have 4 empty suitcases and a new baby.

Anyways. This child will not quite wiggling because she is sooooo sleepy. I posted a couple of pics. Most of the good ones are one the camera that I can't download until we are home. I will post more as I have the chance. I must put my precious rotten butt to bed now.

Tommorrow We Leave

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post one more time before I start one of the busiest days of my life. Of course, I have 10 million things to do today. We leave for the airport between 0730 and 0800 in the morning. I have to make sure to get all of our things into the suitcases. I have last minute cleaning to do and such. I want to thank everyone who has supported us on this journey. It has been a long road, but all the pain of the last 6 months is GONE. We now only anticipate seeing India and FINALLY seeing our daughter. Words can not describe the feeling. In 3 and 1/2 days, very long days, we will have Ananya forever. I will post pictures and descriptions of our experience as I can. I pray I get everything done today. I will let everyone know how this all goes. I'll try to post on Thursday and give everyone an idea of our first glimpse of India. Talk to everyone later.
Love you all.

We Really Are Leaving :o)

We really did it!!! We bought our tickets!!!!

In 7 days we become a family of 4. YEAH!!! :o) We leave Charlotte on February 13. We will be back February 23 at 11:00pm. A day later our daughter will turn 2. I can't believe this is finally happening. We have waited so long to meet our precious little girl. I have alot of packing to do and of course last minute details to attend to. I will keep in contact with everyone and post pictures of my angels together at last. Everyone pray for us to have a wonderful trip and that all of our paperwork is completed so we can return home on time. This has been a long journey for our family with lots of heartache. We have grown in our faith. I can't wait to move to the next part of the journey and be all together at last. We thank GOD for bringing us this far and pray HE will make this a wonderful trip for our whole family.

BTW. (Dad we got a great deal on tickets even if they were last minute.)