Happy Birthday! Sarah!

Today is our babygirl's birthday! I woke up this morning thinking how could this be? How in the heck is our little girl 22 already?! Sarah, better known as "Bunny" (nickname given to her when she was a week old by her big brother, Adam) was such a beautiful baby when she was born! She actually looked Asian! She had (and still does) gorgeous dark brown (almost black) shiny hair, big brown eyes! What a beauty! Sarah has brought so much joy to our lives and is such an exceptional daughter! I wish she could be home on her birthday, but she is in Memphis working hard on her Master's degree in Dietetics. We miss her so much and can't wait to see her on Thanksgiving. WE LOVE YOU, BUNNY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

21!

Yep, we've been logged in at CCAA for 21 looong months! Now that CCAA is finally working on December of '05, maybe we'll see some real progress this month with referrals. There is a rumor over on RQ that CCAA has matched through the 10th! I'm not even going to get excited about this one! But I am crossing everything I can possibly cross that this is the case! There is also a thread over on RQ that talks about January '06 already being matched. If this is true, then how sad is it that our dossier could have a photo of our daughter attached to it and it is just sitting on somebody's desk collecting dust! Even more disturbing is to think that whether we've been matched or not, our daughter could possibly be sitting in a crib (with no mattress) cold, hungry, or wet with no one to tend to her! While we are here just dying to hold her, feed her, comfort her, play with her, keep her warm, and most importantly, LOVE her! I try not to think about that so much as we pray every day for the opposite: That she is being well cared for in her SWI or, even better, in a loving foster care home. Every night we pray that her guardian angel will whisper in her little ear, "Mama and baba are coming, just hold on a little longer."

It's Been a While....

I love this picture of my mom and dad (taken last year)! I know it's been a while since my last post, but my focus has been on my mom this last month. She is now out of the hospital and in a nursing home. I go there every day to see her and make sure she is getting what she needs. Even though, she appears to be getting good care, it is still such a depressing and sobering place. Nothing makes you think about your own mortality like a visit to a nursing home. It is so hard to see my mom in this condition. This is not the mom I once knew. I wish her doctors and nurses could have known her before she became this way! I wish they could know what a wonderful, intelligent, and talented woman she was/is! At least she is still so beautiful ! So many times her nurses comment on what a beautiful woman she is! The good thing is that she still recognizes her family and we are so thankful for that! But, she has lost her ability to walk or even sit up, and only stays awake for short periods. One thing she has not lost is her ability to hear! Yesterday, I said something funny to her nurse and mom laughed right out loud! We thought she was asleep! That brought such joy to my heart! No one really knows, except God, how much time my mom has, but she sure is fighting to hang on and we are so glad for that!

On another note, I turned 46 last week! It really didn't even phase me, either. I don't feel any different than when I turned 40! Except that my feet have been hurting when I get out of bed in the morning! Maybe I just need new tennies, I hope! Age is just a number, anyway, right?