Life is Grand

As I was watching the Oscar's last night, unbeknowst to me...I was being given an award by my friend Denise at There's Always Room for One More. I have been given the Life is Grand award and according to the rules, I am to list five reasons that I think life is grand and pass the award on to five friends. I think life is grand because
1. I have two beautiful wee ones sleeping peacefully upstairs and blessing my life each day.
2. I am going through a time of new beginnings in my life and while it can be scary at times, it is also really exhilarating too!
3. I have a new obsession...facebook...and love chatting with old friends. It has been great to reconnect.
4. I have a new found peace in my daily life.
5. It is Mardi Gras and even though I am not in Louisiana for the true celebrations, I carry the spirit with me!!!!

So for the five friends to share this with, I can't pick. Anyone who reads and blogs has many reasons to see that Life is Grand and I hope they accept the award and share with me their thoughts.

Snow Day....A Week Ago

So about a week ago, this was the scene from my front door....

It was so quiet and peaceful. The kids and I stayed inside as the snow fell

I ventured out to capture the fresh snow pics. Bailey joined me and loved racing through the snow in our side yard...

I actually had to convince Lily to get out to play...She took this picture of Graeme and I

Then Graeme took this one of Lily and I...

I'll spare you the attempts we have of taking one of the three of us. With this solo parenting, I am going to have to work on taking pics with the timer feature on my camera. We had lots of laughs but not one decent shot. So onto the pics of my favorite subjects..

As you can see, Graeme thoroughly enjoyed his first "real" snow at home.

There they go

And here they come!

As these dried, we enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate!

What a difference a week makes! Today it was almost 70 out so we broke out the shorts which Lily wore with her snow boots! They are performing a tune from the Imagination Movers...oh the talent and style!

Our Little Starfish Antonia

I have been following the story of the Starfish Home in China for a while now. It is a foster home that is ran by Amanda and she recently started a whole new part of the home for babies that are cleft affected. She needs sponsors for the babies and Graeme, Lily and I have chosen to sponser Antonia. Her little picture looks so much like the one I have of Graeme prior to his first surgery that I just could not resist. She is also the oldest baby at 11 months to enter the home. She has the biggest eyes and I just think she is beautiful. She needs more sponsors to help with all of her care. Could you help Antonia or one of the other babies? You can read more about the babies and sponsorships at http://www.chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com/. I can't wait until all of the babies have sponsors. Thank you Kimberley at The Seventh Diamond (link on my sidebar) for letting us all know about these precious little ones.

Living with Seperation Anxiety

So I have mentioned that I have had some changes in my life and there have been long silences on the blog. I struggle when I feel that I can't blog honestly and openly so....the rest of the story (at least as I see it). On December 30th, I thought that I would be celebrating my 13th wedding anniversary. I never (well maybe never is a stretch) would have thought it was the beginning of the end of my marriage. The specific details are not really that important. On the 30th, he decided he was done. I can't say that I was surprised or that I disagreed. Maybe, I was even relieved. The anxiety is what follows:

How do you explain to the wee ones the decisions of their parents? How can they possibly understand and how do we keep this from permanently affecting the rest of their lives? How do we insulate them now and keep their lives happy and healthy?

How do you divide 14 years of a life together? All of the things accumulated and all of the memories associated? There are memories that I have that Wes is the only person in the world who shares those memories. How do you honor the good times while letting go and moving on?

How and when do you tell your family and friends? I was in Louisiana when the decision was made so my family knew....at least most of them. I have been amazed by the outpouring of support from family and friends for the children and I. Some friends had me up for a beverage and conversation when Lily and Graeme went with Wes for their first visitation. I was in a puddle when my whole heart drove away in that truck. They reminded me of how lucky I am to be where I am and to be so loved here. I have had 2 wonderful evenings with friends, a blizzard with a friend and a much needed chat and many cell conversations with friends near and far. I still struggle at times to get the words out and am always amazed at the loving support that is recieved once I do.

How do you put it out there for those that I have met through the adoption community? Well I guess this post answers that and to answer some of the other questions.....

We are doing well, relatively speaking of course. I currently have sole custody and Wes speaks to the kids daily and has weekend visits. Lily and Graeme are reassured daily of our Love for them and that will never change.

So I guess this little Snow Day at home gave me just enough time to contemplate and formulate the way to share this information with all of you. The snow continues to fall and the children continue to play and I am off to cook dinner. It's our new normal and it continues...

February is for Friends!

I received this lovely award from my friend Kristin at A Family is Forever and I was completely flattered. I have not blogged as much lately as I have been going through a difficult time personally. Some of my favorite bloggy friends keep checking in on me though and pulling me back. I am hoping that I will find the words soon to share but for now I want to thank those that inspire me.

Here are the rules: "These blogs are exceedingly charming.These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly- written text into the body of their award."

It was hard to chose only eight but here goes as I want to share this award with these fine blogging friends:

Cora at Little Miss What's Her Name. I have been following Cora's journey for a while now and I love the sense of humor that she shares. Her hubby Jim leaves some of the sweetest and funniest comments too. Her paperwork has made it to the review room and even though she is still waiting, she is always so optomistic.

Gail at Aging with Grace and Strong Will. Gail and I are both raising a daughter and strong-'will'ed boys. I love catching up with what they are doing and seeing her pictures of the kids. She just celebrated her 300th post. Amazing!

Amy at When Love Takes You In. She and her hubby are celebrating the long awaited referral of their daughter Lynnmarie. They should be traveling soon so her blog is one to watch. I love her Monday Meditations...inspiring!

Tina at One Blessed Nest. We almost got to meet in China but we traveled about a month after her family. We both adopted cleft affected children and I have loved watching her littlest one join the nest. They are an amazing family.

Janelle at Wise Tales. Janelle and I first 'met' when she was one of my secret pals.

I have loved watching her Chloe grow and change. She completes beautiful scrapbook pages and they are on display on her blog. One of these days, I will learn how to do that.

M at Faith, Hope and Love. M is someone that amazes me. We lead very different lives and at the same time, we have a bond. I am a working Mom, working 2 jobs to support my wee ones and M is a Mom who home schools her son. Home schooling is something that fascinates me and I love checking in to see what cool new field trip they have gone on or what new project they are involved in.

Mel at Waiting for Amelia. Mel is my friend and we have known each other for years. She is one of Graeme's Godmothers and I am blessed to know her. She has been there for me a lot lately just to listen. She will be hearing about her Amelia anytime now so her blog will be one to watch too!

Allie at Adopting Quincie. Allie and I traveled together to adopt Quincie and Graeme and we bonded. We bonded before we ever landed in China and I count her as a dear friend. She blogs with detail and just lays her heart and soul out there. You see we all knew that Quincie had a heart condition but right before we traveled we found out that she may also have a hearing impairment. Quincie is deaf and has a rare type of deafness where the latest technology, a cochlear implant, will not enable to her to hear. The entire story is in great, heart wrenching detail on Allie's blog along with all the fun and silly moments that occur with a family of five children.

Time with Friends!

It's about time I post these pics. They were taken at Christmas as we visited with dear friends. First we visited with Mary Grace and her parents, Kim and David. We all became friends when we waiting for our referral for Lily Wen. We had some wonderful discussions that kept me going during that first wait. We also got to spend precious time with Mary Grace as we envisioned our future. Our time with them is precious and wonderful and we can't wait for our next visit.

Graeme, Mary Grace and Lily Wen

Lily looking so FABULOUS!!!!

Mary Grace and Lily Wen in their fashion show!

A few days later we headed to visit with our friends in Pride. There are three families on one street who have all adopted from China. We all got together the first time a few months after Lily Wen came home and before they had received their referrals. One of the Mom's to be, Roxanne, and I had gone to high school together and she found me through our travel blog. That first visit forged a bond between our four families that is special. I look forward to seeing them each time we are in Louisiana. This trip was special as we got to meet Sophie for the first time and introduce Graeme.

Makenna, Lily Wen, Graeme and Hannah

Sophie, Lily Wen and Sydney

All 6 together for the first time, Lily Wen, Makenna, Hannah, Sophie, Sydney and Graeme

A tradition....we have to do one upside down shot every year!

Graeme and Sydney....I LOVE this picture. You see, knowing Sydney helped open my eyes and heart to Graeme!

Hugs and Love to all of our special friends in Louisiana....until this summer!

New Beginnings

I have been absent again. Sorry to my blogging friends. There are many changes going on right now. I am also making some changes to the blog and need your help. I need a new name for the blog. Journey to Baby Miracle never really worked since we ended up with a Journey to Toddler Miracle. What a journey it has been. Now the blog will focus on life with two very busy wee ones. With a last name like Miracle, it should be easy to name the blog but I don't want it to sound cheesy so HELP!!! I would love to say that there is a "name my blog" contest with prizes but alas, no prizes. You would just have the pure JOY of helping a friend in need. Of course, if I go with your idea, I will give you full credit on the blog. I have a few ideas of my own and may go with one of those but wanted your input and creative ideas.