Play Date

Last Friday Shayle and I had the opportunity to finally meet a family who has been close to my heart. We had lunch with my friend, Sharon and got to see Hudson for the first time, in person anyway. I have seen him in many photos over the last 18 months. Sharon adopted her son through the same agency that we adopted Shayle through. While we were waiting, a secret sister exchange began. I was given Sharon's name, who I had already met at a previous adoption seminar that she spoke at. I was very excited to be able to take part in praying for her and her family as they travelled to China to bring home Hudson. It was so nice to see him face to face!

Homestudy Approved!

Last week our homestudy report was completed and went through the final review stages. Our adoption agency e-mailed on Thursday to let us know our homestudy is now being finalized and we should have a copy in the next week. This is great news, now we can begin our immigration phase. I have completed our application to immigration and will be mailing it this week. The next step will be to be fingerprinted in Dallas. Due to China being a Hague country, our immigration steps will be completely different with this adoption. We now will receive a pre-approval from immigration to bring a child into the U.S. whereas with Shayle, we received our final approval to bring her home. Once we receive our RA, referral acceptance, from China we will then have a large amount of paperwork to fill out to obtain final approval to bring home a specific child. This is a major change since our first adoption. Please be in prayer for us as we begin waiting for all of these approvals to fall into place.

We are expecting to see a shared list come out this week! We are excited, since we are open to adopting a boy, the wait time for referral is very short. We may be getting called with a referral off of this list. We are asking for prayer as we will have to make a quick decision. Ultimately, we want God's will to be carried out.

Summer Fun

Shayle with her friends:Mali, Vivi and Max

These photos were taken during Shayle's swim lessons back in July. She took lessons with her friends who have also joined their forever families from China. She did very well for her swim teacher but then the very next week would not do anything for me. Jacob and Payton have taken lessons each summer to keep advancing their skills. This year they took diving lessons.
I am so thankful that Shayle will get to grow up with Mali, Vivi and Max nearby. They are close and have already created a special bond that will last a lifetime. What a blessing from God!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

These sweet girls wrapped up a gift for me! So sweet.

First Day of 2nd Grade

08/24/09

First Day of 5th Grade
08/24/09

We have been very busy in the Pierce house this summer. Now that the kids are back to school, I hope to get back to bloggy world! The kids have had a great first week back to school and all seem to like their teachers and classes. Shayle will start kindergarten the day after Labor Day. She will be going until noon to allow time for rest & speech in the afternoon and some time with mommy. She is doing very well and progressing every week with her speech. We are very proud of her. She is excited to start to school. Everyday she asks if she's going today since all her siblings are away at school. When I tell her not today, she replies, "Awe Man". Wonder who taught her that.

I have a good excuse for not blogging much the past two months. We have some good news to share with you. WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!

Paper Pregnant that is......................Yes, God has been speaking loudly to us as we spent several months in prayer over adopting again. We have officially finished our homestudy and are anxiously awaiting a referral from China's shared list, which should come out in the next 7-14 days. The earliest we think we would travel would be late spring or summer 2010 if we receive a referral in the next 2-3 months.

Just a few of the documents we have been filling out over the last six weeks

WE ARE EXPECTING, another child is on the way from China!!!! We will no longer be a Party of Seven, now we will be a Party of Eight. We are very excited to see who God brings into our family, most are voting for a baby brother except for Shayle. She wants a mei mei, a little sister. I will keep this blog updated as we move along with this adoption journey. We hope you will join us as we pray for God's perfect will, God's timing and God's all sufficient Grace as we know there will be times of frustration along with times of joy as we seek His will.

More Disney Photos

It has taken me awhile to download pictures from our vacation. We have been busy since being home with VBS, speech, and just enjoying summer. I will post when I can over the next few weeks, as time allows with five kids at home right now. Next week, I will have two away at church camp and Shayle will start swimming lessons. Payton and Jacob are going to take a diving class to try to cool off in this Texas heat!

Disney Photos

Inside Minnie's House

In Front of Mickey's House

Magic Kingdom

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Shayle had a special day yesterday at Disney's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. First, she went shopping with mom, Myranda, & Payton to pick out which princess she would like to be. Well, after narrowing it down, she didn't want to be a princess instead she wanted to be Minnie Mouse! She has always favored the color red, but she also loves Minnie and Mickey. She then went to the Boutique to have her royal treatment in Cinderella's Castle. She changed into her dress and then picked out her hair style, which she chose the Disney Diva style. This includes a hair piece to pin into her hair. She had several choices and she chose Pink! So pink it was. She then had the choice of nail polish, eye shadow, and lip gloss. She chose pink and blue polish and pink lip gloss. The Fairy Godmother's finished her hair, nails and makeup and then finished off her treatment with a princess tiara, sash and of course pixie dust. She had so much fun and I must say, she was the cutest Minnie Mouse around!

We then went to Chef Mickey's for dinner where the kids had a chance to take pictures with some of the Disney characters. We all had a great time!

Vacation

Tomorrow we are leaving for DISNEY WORLD!!!!!! Shayle is so excited about going and seeing Mickey Mouse. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets to see it all in person. The Fairy Godmothers at Bibbity Bobbity Boutique in Cinderella's Castle will have a special guest this weekend, Shayle will get a complete makeover in their salon. She is going to be so surprised to see all of the princess outfits and then get to pick one out just for her. We did this with Myranda and Payton a couple of years ago and they really enjoyed it. I will post pictures of this special event. Please keep us in your prayers that we will all stay well, Payton complained of a sore throat tonight. She had a shot just a week ago for strep. Also, for safe travels.

Our First Mother's Day

We had a great day today, despite me being sick with strep throat. We went to church, I wanted to be sure the kids got to go to Sunday School today. Then we went to lunch to eat mexican food and home to have the kids shower me with all kinds of gifts, some made at school and some they had bought. Myranda helped Shayle to paint her handprint for me on an extra tile she found in our attic. So sweet and thoughtful! Shayle thought I needed some Mickey p.j.'s to wear when we leave for Disney. However, when I opened them she wanted them for herself. She was confused when she picked them out, she thought they were for her. Actually, every gift she sees she thinks is for her. That's all she knew since we came home just before Christmas and have celebrated all of the kids' birthdays since being home.

Our first Mother's Day was a special day since it was just before Mother's Day last year that I saw the first pictures of Shayle. It brought back many memories. I am one blessed mom and completely honored to have these children in my life. They make me so proud as they are so full of life. I love each of you very much!!!!!