Year In Review - 2008

Where to start on the year in review. Since I can't remember what happened five minutes ago, I've had to peruse my blog for highlights from 2008:

January:

• I did a project in South Carolina
• We started our Little Caesar's Pizza Fundraiser
• I made a "like to have" list for Ellie. This was funny to find. Here's what I wished for. Interesting to review.

1. A child who sleeps through the night from the first night she comes home.
2. A child who is calm and will sit contentedly in my lap through a church service, doctor's appointment, etc.
3. A child who does not throw themselves down in the middle of the store having a tantrum.
4. A child who does not try to flip themselves out of the cart in the grocery store.
5. A child who likes fruits and vegetables.
6. A child who LOVES to be clean.
7. A child who doesn't puke on me.
8. A child who doesn't pull the cats' and dogs' tails.
9. A child who can sleep through noise.
10. A child without colic

• I began a Beth Moore study, Stepping Up, at church
• Kevin began the Deacon-Partner program at church; he will be ordained Sunday as a Deacon.
• Our contracts were sent for our adoption
• Josh played basketball.

FEBRUARY

• Josh won first place with his Science Fair project on predicting weather
• It snowed
• Josh got the flu and strep
• Ellie's bedding came
• Our friends Heather and Charlie lost their dear first referral to respiratory illness while she was still in the orphanage
• We began to paint Ellie's nursery and purchased her furniture
• Our homestudy update was completed
• Josh had his first "love letter"

MARCH

• I got pneumonia
• I dreamed about Ellie (the night she was born, no less)
• Our dossier was delivered to our agency two days before Ellie was born
• We celebrated Easter
• We had a concession stand fundraiser at the church's Easter egg hunt to help with our adoption
• We went to Atlanta with Kevin for one of his training classes
• Baseball season started
• We made a Build-A-Bear for Ellie. It is the only thing we got back from the orphanage and is her favorite bed item. She pulls on it and loves on it every night.
• We were fingerprinted
• Ellie born
• Our friend Emme born and brought home to mom J.
• Addison, Ellie's soon-to-be BFF (per the moms, of course!), born

APRIL

• Josh visited Middle School
• Josh and DeeDee were in a fishing tournament and Josh won a fishing pole
• The church held it's annual dessert auction.
• Apparently I had a lot of fun at Once Upon a Child in Clarksville based on the photos I took of all the clothes for Ellie.
• Josh hit a homerun in his baseball game
• The blog had it's 10,000th visitor - our friend Mayme
• We had our photos made for the church directory
• I was deeply enthralled in American Id*l
• I developed laryngitis

MAY

• Josh's 4th grade class put on a 50s musical
• I took a project in south Georgia
• We celebrated Mother's Day with both mine and Kevin's mom and grandmother
• We worked the concession stands at the park for another fundraiser
• Josh's baseball was in full throttle
• On MAY 14, 2008 we first saw Ellie's face when we got her REFERRAL!
• We began whirlwind travel preparations and "met" our travel friends, Elizabeth and Bill
• Joshua "Graduated" from elementary school
• Our friends Charlie and Heather received their referral for Samantha
• Our friends Kat, Ivy and Karen brought home their children from Kyrgyzstan
• Josh had field day at school
• We frantically gathered "good" money, packed, made travel arrangements and arrangements for all the things back home so we could travel for Trip 1
• We flew half way around the world and MET OUR DAUGHTER for the first time in an orphanage in Tokmok
• We visited Flamingo World - a Disn*ey knockoff in Kyrgyzstan
• Milana came home from Tokmok with M. and T.

JUNE

• We visited Buarana Tower in Kyrgyzstan
• We visited "The Princess" repeatedly and then got information that she was a sick little one and made the very difficult decision that we could not accept her as a referral. We returned home broken-hearted.
• We grieved
• Kevin's family came in for a family reunion in Kentucky
• We celebrated Father's Day
• We awaited our next referral
• We found out, through what we deem nothing short of miraculous, that Ellie was not sick and after having her records reviewed by international adoption doctors, we accepted her referral once again
• Kevin and Joshua went to Centri-Kid camp

JULY

• Josh had his tonsils out
• We celebrated the 4th of July without much ado as Josh was still recovering
• Kevin installed cabinets, flooring and a counter in our office (former garage)
• I went to Macon, Georgia for another project
• The judge went on vacation -- enough said
• We got new pictures of Ellie
• Josh developed thrush in his mouth after his surgery
• We went to the zoo with Josh's cousins
• We got Ellie's carseat
• Four AO families brought home their little ones from Tokmok, including April, Michele and Dominique
• I got to see my friend Diane as I came home from Macon
• Josh learned to put a worm on a hook
• Court didn't happen and passports are taking longer all of a sudden
• We went to the zoo with Kat, Charlie and Jia

AUGUST

• My parents bought Ellie's stroller
• Josh began this year's football season
• I had a shower at church
• Josh's team had their end of the year baseball party
• I made hair bows for Ellie
• Josh wanted to baptize the cats
• We registered Ellie for free books each month from Imagination Library
• Josh started middle school
• I went to a consignment sale (compliments of my friend Michelle) and got TOO MANY goodies
• Court happened!!
• We got our first tentative travel dates
• We had a yard sale fundraiser and made $1300
• We began the countdown until I returned for Ellie and made travel arrangements
• Josh's team continued to win football games
• We had a Krispy Kre*me donut sale
• We celebrated Aidai's birthday

SEPTEMBER

• Our friends, the McGowans, come home with Emma
• Nana and Grandmother celebrate their birthdays
• Josh continues to have an AWESOME football season
• Vietnam closes adoptions to American families
• Packing, presents purchased, airline tickets reserved, countdown of days until time to leave

OCTOBER

• Jennifer and I prepared to travel to pick up Ellie
• A and S, M and P., R. and E., and S. traveled to pick up their daughters, Baby C. came home
• Nephew Ben graduated from his Naval RTC
• Elizabeth and Ellen travelled with us to pick up Aidai
• Our luggage was delayed
• We had GOTCHA DAY for Ellie
• We climbed a mountain
• We lived through Almaty
• We came home -- praise God for home
• Ellie had her first pediatrician visit
• We didn't get to Trick or Treat as Josh was sick and I had contracted the "can't leave the bathroom" problem that Jennifer had

NOVEMBER

• Ellie attended church for the first time
• Josh's team had playoffs and then won the SuperBowl in football
• We voted -- Ellie experienced her first election
• Ellie met her great-grandmother
• Ellie's citizenship papers arrived
• Ellie and Josh had their first photo shoot
• 50,000th visitor to the blog (whoo hoo!!)
• Our Sunday School class had a shower for Ellie
• We celebrated Josh and Kevin's birthdays and our anniversary
• Ellie had her first Thanksgiving -- in Florida
• We travelled to Florida for Josh to play in the SnapperBowl

DECEMBER

• Christmas cookies
• Christmas decorating
• Ellie begins crawling and loves to stand/cruise
• My friend Dianne's 40th birthday party
• Visits and photos with Santa
• Josh wins DARE award
• We visit with Kat, Jia and Charlie
• Ellie's First Christmas -- Joshua's 11th!
• Logged in for China - two years
• Volunteer at mission
• Lindsay and Jason bring home Hudson
• Coby comes home from Vietnam to big sister Annslee
• Kelli brings home Aiden from Vietnam

So, all in all, with the highs and the lows of the year, I am glad it is in the "books". It is a year I will never have the opportunity to live again. It was a cross roads year for our family -- transitioning up from a family "in" the adoption process to a family who "has" adopted -- a place I'm glad to be. Josh has transitioned well from elementary to middle school. He is transitioning from a little boy to a young man with the normal amount of adversity and, at the same time, sweetness (can a boy be sweet?). Kevin and are transitioning from a one child to two children family and "starting over". God has fulfilled His promise and given us our dream of another child.

All our family members are well right now and that's a huge blessing. Kevin's brothers and their families are doing well and are all stateside.

We are most certainly looking forward to what God has planned for us in 2009.