Adoption???????

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my Ron's brother's house. Hannah could care less about the meal (she is not much of an eater). All she wanted was the lefse. The kid loves lefse...she is the best Chinese/Norwegian. Although I think she would draw the line at lutefisk...who wouldn't.

Ron and I were hoping to have some time together this weekend to talk and pray about a big decision we need to make about our adoption. He is on call this holiday weekend and has been working almost non-stop since Thursday evening. When he does finally get home he is so exhausted he just wants to rest but the phone rings all night. Thankfully we have been praying a lot prior to this weekend and God has been working things out so we are pretty certain how he is leading us and we are both in agreement on how we should proceed. I would love to share what this is all about but am not comfortable at this point...too many things up in the air.

There are couple of Minnesota families traveling to get their children this week. We were able to meet them a few weeks ago and super excited to meet their children. You can check out their blogs Wistroms and Hutchinsons . The Wistroms are adopting two handsome boys and Hutchinsons are adding two precious girls to their family.

Blessings,
Bliss

Thanksgiving Eve

Hannah had to help daddy make pumpkin pies today. She loves to help with any kind of baking

Yes, my husband loves to make pies.

She also wanted to help break the bread up for the stuffing. My husband makes some of the best stuffing I have tasted. It is almost as good as the stuff my great grandmother used to make.

We did as much prep as possible this afternoon good thing because my husband is on call for the holiday weekend and is working all evening. We will get up and make the stuffing in the morning before he goes in to make rounds. We usually have Thanksgiving at our house but since Ron is working we will be having dinner at his brother's.

The pies turned out great....Hannah was a little disappointed we couldn't eat some until tomorrow.

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving

On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a formal proclamation, passed by an Act of Congress, initiating the first annual National Day of Thanksgiving:No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy...I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens....[ it is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord....It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.

AMEN

Almost Turkey Day

This is where you can find Hannah a lot...(Nancy I know you are probably reading this...this is the tent where I was held captive during our phone conversation...Hannah says Hi to Mia).

Hannah has been sleeping in her Dog Tent for the last couple of weeks. It was a Christmas gift 2 yrs ago from my parents. It is rare not to see the tent in our family room so I was happy she chose to move it to her room. I did get her to sleep in her bed part of the night last night...she woke-up crying at 3:30AM and I ended up sleeping (no sleep for me) with her for a couple of hours until she was finally out. Then I was up for the day.

The reason she was up crying at 3:30AM...I think she is having growing pains. She has woken up a few times in the middle of the night complaining of leg pain. One episode was very bad (I could tell she was in pain by the intensity of her crying) . This one actually got Ron out of bed as she needed Tylenol which worked. I know all about growing pains as I had them when I was little just about Hannah's age (there was nothing like children's Tylenol when I was little). I would cry almost every night in pain...my mother would massage my legs which I appreciated but don't know if it really helped but it didn't hurt. My mother had no idea what was going on...took me to a Specialist who diagnosed me but also said beyond message there wasn't much more that could be done. I am thankful for my experience with growing pains so I can help Hannah through her pain...Boy I wish there was children's Tylenol when I was a kid.

This day also brings great joy as a few other families from our agency received referrals. We are so happy for them...

This also is a sad day for me as one of my close friends lost her father last night...I just ask you to keep my friend Diana in your prayers. Just knowing that friends and family were praying for me when I lost my mother meant so much to me.

Snow Is a Kid's Best Friend

It is snowing like crazy in SD this evening. Hannah is crazy about the snow. I couldn't resist taking a few photos of Hannah....playing in the snow in the dark...

You have to admit these are pretty cool photos.

Finally Friday

What do you think of my 3 yr. old's self portrait? Hannah drew this figure this morning on her magna doodle and said "look Mama it's me". OK if you have seen Hannah's photos on the blog you know that her head is not that large (and I will have to show her how to put some hair on that bald head). I really thought it was a pretty good drawing especially since Hannah has never shown any interest in just sitting and coloring or anything remotely like it ie:drawing a picture.

OK changing directions. Hannah and I have the best conversations in our van. A couple of days ago we were on our way to get Hannah's flu shot and this is how the conversation went:

Hannah "Mama boys are doctors and girls are nurses"

Me "Hannah boys can be nurses and girls can be doctors"

Hannah "Well....(she couldn't come up with an argument...rare for this child)

Me "Hannah you can be a doctor when you grow up ...just like daddy"

Hannah "But I just want to be a princess".

Oh the girl makes me laugh.

Please notice the new traveling families on the left of my blog...it is so interesting to follow their journeys.

Blessings,

Bliss

Hannah's Haircut

Hannah got another haircut today (by a professional and not herself).

I don't want to you think she got a bad haircut as it is a bit noticeable that she chopped a bunch of hair off the right side of head a few weeks ago. I'm happy she didn't cut her bangs like many children do...

I was so proud of her today as it is the first time she has sit still during her haircut. She is usually little miss wiggle worm and it takes forever. Today was so nice we were done in no time at all. The woman who cuts her hair couldn't believe it...she is used to Hurricane Hannah who can't sit still. Hopefully this will be how haircuts go from now on.

About Hannah's outfit in the photos...she loves to dress up in my clothes and this is the latest dress she pulled out of my closet. She told me she was princess Belle (as the dress is yellow).

Blessings,

Bliss

1st Blizzard of 08

Oh my word our state is getting hit hard with the first blizzard of the year. A good deal of our state's interstate has been closed. There were some crazy folks that headed out and are now stranded...the rescue squads are trying to find them...but are only able to travel about a half a mile an hour. I have lived in SD all my life and this storm is one for the books.
The problem I had was once Hannah saw snow hit the ground she begged to go out and play in the snow. I had to explain that it would be no fun...winds of 40 plus MPH and snow is not fun...she didn't see it that way. She pushed it until I just let her open the back door and grab a hand full of snow. That seemed to appease her until we can get out play without all the wind.
Please join me in Praise as a couple families passed court and will be traveling soon to get their children. I have posted the links to their blogs below...please visit to see their precious children.
http://family-from-afar.blogspot.com/
http://romans815.wordpress.com/
Blessings,
Bliss

We Voted

The Rovang Family voted this morning (including little Ms Hannah). Can I tell you I was jealous that my 3yr. old got a sticker that said I voted (I wanted a sticker...). Our state does have a great program that kids can go to polls with their parents and vote. I asked Hannah who she voted for and she said "I voted for you Mama". Thank God I am not running for any office other than that of Hannah's Mommy...I'm pretty sure I won the election.

Blessings,

Bliss

What a Weekend

We spent the weekend in the Twin Cities. We met up with some fellow AWAA families adopting from Ethiopia. It was great fun meeting others sharing some our same experiences and trials.

I have to say the rest of the weekend has been quite a blur (we were staying at my husbands sister's house for the weekend). I didn't sleep at all on Friday night...had a bit to do with my husband's snoring...so I went to sleep with my daughter...who had a cold and she wasn't at all the best bed mate and woke up for good at 3:30AM ready to go for the day. We started off Sunday AM with Ron & I trying to to have a good run...it all turned bad (too little sleep for me...I don't know what his problem was but I was glad it wasn't working for him either). We went to lunch and did a lot of running around trying to get everything on our list accomplished, visited his other sister in the area went to dinner with his sister we were staying with and his other sister who was on her way back to CT (after being in our home town for the past few days). I am just pooped typing this...you would think I would just pass out after my day without any sleep but it didn't happen. I read until about midnight...my daughter woke me up again at 3:30AM crying...she never wakes up crying. So of course I ran to her rescue hoping she didn't wake up the whole house. This lead to another night of no sleep for me. I am just running on some sort of fumes tonight...just glad to be home and catchin up with everything.Hannah had fun on the rides at MOA.

Hannah had fun with her Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Jim on Sunday morning playing in the leaves.

Blessings,

Bliss