Monday, February 22, 2010

Swimming at the YMCA!

Well there is no pressure but we are hoping that by the time Lucy turns 3 (August 5th) she will make the swim team. Perfect timing for fall tryouts!LOL.

The Brown's have officially made the Saturday open swim (noon to 3pm) our family time. If anyone wants to join us be aware that Lucy will dunk you and wreck your hair do! She is a total wild women in the water and I feel at this stage she will surely take after her mother and kick total butt in the water. The only problem is that the Marlins don't know what is about to happen to the team next year.

In close, please don't be offended by her wedgie. Her bathing suit is a little small and we are waiting for the suits to come out in stores real soon or for someone in a Florida state to mail us one!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Mission Accomplished!

We've got Lucy!

Our trip was a success and to sum it all up in a nutshell it was a mixture of the "amazing race" and "Punked". Two weeks in China is a true test of your marriage, how tough your stomach is for funky food , a test of your patients, balance (squatty potty), sense of humor and a good old fashion spanking for all that we Americans take for granted.

The 30 plus hours of total door to door travel time, touring and sight seeing of the great wall, forbidden city,
tianaman square, summer palace, the olympics in Beijing, jade & and Pearl factories/museums, shopping, long bus rides, traveling in China by plane, bus, taxi and foot and the 3 and a half year wait it was all worth it when we finally got to meet Lucy!

She totally won our hearts on Monday January 25th at 12:21 pm when we looked into those almond shaped eyes and that capturing smile. This child was truly worth the wait. We now know that the lord perfectly made her for our family. She is full of joy, laughter and a splash of the terrible two's.

During our trip she was a total trooper. She was dragged by stroller threw the worst of worst in China. She endured long bus rides, turbulance and lots of appointments that caused her to miss meals, naps and go to bed 4-7 hours after her bed time. She got a peanut stuck in her nose, pee peed all over mommy during a visit to the squatty potty and took her dad to a full battle of war, which resulted in making friends with him on day 10.

Nobody could have possibly prepared us for this experience. I don't want to bore you to death with this post but our lives are changed forever. This Child is a true gift from God and we are so excited to have her in our life.

It was a true blessing from God to be traveling along with 8 brave families who were also adopting. They became extended family after thick and thin. It was so awesome to trade wet wipes for antibiotics and or have melt downs over several terrible meals. If it meant making a pit stop for McDonalds late night or delivering cough drops across the hall in pajamas we were all so perfectly matched. May the lord bless these families as they live the same story as us in Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Florida, Lousiana, Minnesota and New Mexico!

Upon arriving home in the USA a friend told John and I that what we did was very special and that she is lucky. Our reply to him was that no we are the lucy ones! If somehow the funds to adopt again would be provided we would do it again in a heartbeat.