Life Goes On.....

I have a brand new niece, weighing in at 8 lbs 5 oz, Miss McKenzie Rose baker.....parents are Suzan (My wonderful little sister) and Jason Baker. She was Born on Jan. 26 at 1:01 pm.






Aubrey was the baby of the family for exactly 2 months and 6 days. Its hard to believe we have been home for two months and six days, but alas we have and life goes on.....



Here are my two babies, my little baby and my big baby, finally got a farely good shot:)


Aren't they beautiful!!

Shay

All about Aubrey....

I wanted to make this post all about Aubrey, they precious little gift from God, the daughter Jimmy and I have prayed for for too many years to count. Her name we picked years ago from a song by a band called Bread from the 70's about a girl named Aubrey...I loved the song and the name and now she is a real live person to me instead of just an idea and we love her so much. We feel like God hand picked her just for us. I never gave up hope and faith that one day we would have a daughter, the lessen I learned is that I had to wait for God, who knew something that I didn't know. That our daughter would be born to a mother who would be forced to give her up, and that we were meant to be her Mom and Dad. We had to wait until we were ready and until she was in need. The links of the adoptive parent to the adopted child are not just random, Gods hand is at work, we are bound together by that invisible red thread and it was predestined for us to be her parents, I feel it in my soul.

About Aubrey: She's beautiful..... smart, funny, very affectionate, energetic, charming.....she is just amazing. She is a blessing! Jimmy and I wake up every morning to a happy face and a hundred kisses.....then she gets moving. She loves to eat so that is the first order of business. She sleeps 10 hours a night and takes a two hour nap. She loves her, elmo, her grocery cart, her stroller, her I love you kissy baby, her glow worm and books. She is smart as a whip she is quickly learning our language and says mama, dada, zach, gugu (brother in chinese), thank you, please, more, eat, up, down, hello, bye, hey, baby, nana (banana) mamaw, papaw, good, milk, yes, no, tickle, dog, ruff, ruff, book and lots more...not bad for a girls who 2 months ago did not have any english words. She is using a potty chair already (not all the time). She loves to dance and sing. She loves to rough house with her daddy and brother and loves to be tickled and tickle everybody else. I could go on forever...she is just a good girl. She seldom cries. We are just very blessed by this little girl, I pinch myself sometimes, after all the waiting and wanting a daughter for so long, she'd here. AND I can finally put the tiniest little bow in her scant hair!!!! Yeah!

At a time when our country is changing so much that we actually have a AA president being inaugurated today, I feel blessed to have our little chinese american dream....and I am looking forward to so many wonderous new adventures and to a new beginning for our country, God Bless America!!!

Just what will the new year bring?

We got a camper, a pop up camper to be precise. It was Jimmy's gift to himself this year, he has always wanted one. As you can probably tell from many of our pictures we love to spend time outdoors, hiking, biking, camping, fishing, you name it. So for 2009 my resolution is to get healthy.....mind , body and spirit. I have always focused so much on how I looked but I have come to the point after having some struggles with anxiety and depression last year that looking good really doesn't mean much if you don't feel well emotionally, physically or spritually. So that is my challange. I have already lost a bunch of weight, but depression is not the way to do it trust me. I recently started seeing a Naturopathic Dr. who is amazing. When I first started feeling ill, I went to several Dr.s convinced that there had to be a physical cause for my anxiety, for the heart palpitations and fatigue. I did not buy that it was strictly emotional. I asked for blood tests and was told I needed to see a therapist and that blood tests were a needless expense (by 2 reputable Dr.s mind you). Finally my OB did a blood test and said I had a very high estrogen level he put me on the pill and sent me out the door. Long story short my new Dr. order a full blood panel and discovered that my vitamin D, calcium, Zinc and Iron levels were all very low, among other things. All of the above mentioned deficiencies are linked to anxiety, depression fatigue and insomnia. Mind you my problems manifested acutely in August which is when I saw the first Dr. I went months with little or no sleep and began to feel severely depressed for the first time in my life. I feel that all of this could have been cut very short if I had a blood test way back then. I am angry about it, I think I will write letters. Anyway what does not kill us makes us stronger right? So back to what this year holds, I no longer have to obsess over when the baby is going to come, she is here in the flesh and she is yummy!! This year holds so many possibilities for me. I have been trying to have a baby in one form or another or wanting one desperately for the better part of 10 years. It is time to move on. I have totally ingored myself for so long, this is my year. My year to be a mommy again, my year to get truly heathly, my year to fosus on the things most important to me....my family, my health, my spirit. I want to be the vital and happy person that I know I can be. We are going to use the camper for our maiden voyage this weekend. Wish us luck on the weather. Pics are of our recent trip to Benton Falls and a few others... by the way Ms. Aubrey is learning so fast, she can say her name, Mama, Dada (or Baba), GuGu (Zach), Zach, I love you, bye, hi, Mamaw, Papaw, More, eat, Milk (she can sign those too), dog, please, thank you (she stil says sha sha which is chinese for thank you), and others I can't think of at the moment. She is very affectionate and funny, with a little bit ot Ms. Independence in there. She is very attached to me, but loves her daddy and brother very much. We got very lucky, I know some people struggle to adjust initially in adoption and we have all done so well, she sleeps and eats well and is just in general a good girl. God has truly blessed us and we were humbled by our experience in China. For anyone who reads this that is open to adoption, there are so many children in need of loving homes, it would break your heart...anyway enough rambling....Happy New Year!!!