Black Friday

Our Black Friday is much different than most. We don't shop - we don't even leave the house on this day. The girls and I bake christmas cookies all day long. Lizzy usually invites one of her friends and we have some good quality mother/daughter time. This year we out did ourselves. We baked 8 different types of cookies. Soooo good and so much fun.

We also have a tradition that we put our Christmas tree up on this day as well. All participated in decorating the tree. It is beautiful. Maddie is quite excited that it is Christmas time! She was so cute as she bounced around and hung ornaments.

My mantle over the year's at Christmas time has changed. It began with only 2 kids stockings and now has grown into 4 kids stockings, a stocking for each Keith and I and one, of course, for pressley the dog. We are all looking forward to the Christmas that the last and final member of the Portie family is here and celebrating this season with us - digging in her stocking for goodies left by Santa.

May you and your families enjoy this Christmas Season...

Thanksgiving 2011

This year so much has happened that we can be thankful for. This Thanksgiving is a time for us to pause for a moment and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all the blessings that he has bestowed upon us. We also give special thanks to Him for what's to come in the new year with our adoption of Mia Catherine.

This Thanksgiving feast was a group effort. Everyone, including Maddie had to contribute to the dinner. Christopher baked the Ham, Lizzy made the Carrot Souffle, Keith fried the Turkey, Maddie made the green bean casserole and I made the rice dressing. My parents contributed too with a yummy cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole. It was so nice to have all my children in the kitchen, cooking, laughing, talking and having a great time.

This year we did something new and hopefully started a new tradition. My mother brought over a "thankful jar" filled with coins (that we will eventually donate to a charity). Each of us had to add slips of paper of what we are each thankful for. The pink papers filled the jar.

Lizzy helped write down what Maddie was thankful for. Hopefully you can see in the below picture what she was thankful for. Grass, Noodles, Ice Packs, her family, etc ranked pretty high on her list.

Here are some things that I am thankful for:

- Each one of my children - Christopher, Elizabeth, Madelyn and Mia. They are all special and GOD has blessed each with their own gifts.

- My wonderful Husband and best friend. 20 years together, a few bumps along the way but still going strong

- For the continued health of my parents. I love having them part of my life and am very blessed to have them building a house across the street from me!

- My wonderful and supportive family

- For my wonderful friends who each add so much to my life.

- For forgiveness

- For GOD giving me situations in my life that make me better and help me grow into the person HE wants me to be.

- OH and I forgot to mention - I am thankful for our I-797 approval, which completes our Dossier. Our dossier has been sent to our adoption agency and we should have a Log In Date soon. THEN... we are on our way to Travel Approval.

I hope that each of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

What's In a Name?

Names are important. They speak to who we are and where we come from. Most times our names have been handed down from Generation to Generation. With Maddie, we elected to keep her given Chinese name as her middle name. With our new baby, we chose a special name and chose not keep her chinese name, as her given name was truly a boy name. So here it is.... Drum Roll please....

Mia Catherine Portie

Mia was a name that we had all liked during the selection process for Maddie's name. It was a logical choice and she even looks like a Mia. Mia means "Mine" - mine to love, mine to hug, and mine forever. Catherine means "Pure".

The process is slowly moving along. As it inches forward and in the coming months I should have somewhat of an idea of when we will travel to get her. In the meantime, please pray for her - that she will continue to be well cared for and most importantly that her upcoming lip closure surgery will be successful. I'll keep you all posted as more details about the timeframe of surgery and the ultimate outcome become available.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Our Decision

After much thought, prayer, discussion and expert physician input we have decided to accept the referral of Wan Le Guo. She is 6 months old, born April 16, 2011 and currently lives in Jiangxi Province in China. As you can see from the photos she has an unrepaired cleft lip and cleft palate - but is one beautiful baby girl!!! We have many hurdles to cross before we can bring her home - now starts the paper chase. Please be in prayer for our family as we wait for the day to come where we will have her in our arms. Most importantly pray that she remains healthy and well cared for until she is safe at home.

It is almost unbelievable how GOD continues to bless my family. I am overwhelmed with joy as I prepare to welcome another beautiful child into my life.

P.S. We think we have a name for her but will post an announcement later once the entire family has bought off on it.

Referral...

Today is the beginning of National Adoption Awareness Month and I had big plans of a post that would be reflective of my journey through adoption and hopefully inspire others to consider this wonderful journey. However, this post is going to be completely different than I planned. Today we received a referral of a beautiful baby girl, Wan Le Guo, from Jiangxi Province. She is 6 months old and has an un-repaired cleft lip and palate. As soon as I received the referral, I sent her medical record to a Physician specializing in International Adoption - (the same one that reviewed Maddie's medical record and was so helpful). Tomorrow afternoon I will have a telephone conference with the Doctor to review his findings. Aside of a professional opinion, she appears to be healthy and is cute as a button. Please keep our family in prayer as we make this decision and begin this journey again....

I will post pictures once we make a decision.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween to all. Tonight we took Maddie Trick or Treating for Halloween. Lizzy and her friend Maegan dressed in their Cheerleader outfits and walked with Maddie, who was a Lady Bug, door to door. Maddie was so excited about all the candy she was receiving and happy to say thank you afterwards. We are having so much fun experiencing all of these fun Holidays again - through Maddie.