Trip to Columbus-- 9/25/12

On Tuesday, September 25, we traveled to Columbus so that Ellie-Kate could meet with our pediatric opthamologist, Dr. Fogt. Ellie-Kate had been poked in the eye by her best friend, Jack, and we wanted to get her eye checked out by an expert. (The lady at Walmart had been reassuring, but she mentioned some possible unrelated problems.) Ellie-Kate was a real trooper at the appointment. Dr. Fogt was great too, and she found a muscular problem with Ellie-Kate's eye that might, in the long term, require surgery. (heavy sigh) We're supposed to come back in six months. In the meantime, we celebrated Ellie-Kate's great behavior with a trip to Chuckie Cheese. After stressing that she didn't want to be around CC, he won her heart by giving her free tickets. She played a game with him, posed for pics, and even ran after him to give a hug. Very cool!! What a way to pre-game for pics with the Disney characters in seven weeks!!

Mr. Potato Head!! September 24, 2012

 Emmy had dance class so Ellie-Kate, Mommy, and Daddy had a great time with creating potato head characters!

Ellie-Kate's soccer game-- September 23, 2012

Saturday, September 22, 2012

 Britti and one of her interns at the 4-H fundraiser outside of Tractor Supply.

Kali, Emmy, Teagan, Divya, Martha, Hannah, and Elizabeth get ready for to shoot their movie during the first Girl Scout meeting of the year.

All Band Night-- September 21, 2012

 Izzy really likes his perch on the couch!

 Emmy smiles with the band. Apparently, older band members kept trying to teach Emmy and Chris (the french horn players) how to play the melophone (which they would need to play for marching band).

Emmy and Chris play their french horns near the front of the football field.

Wow... Referral day finally arrived... September 19, 2012

On September 22, 2006, Living Hope Adoption Agency submitted our packet to China, with the estimate that we would receive our referral in around nine months. With each passing month, the anticipated wait grew longer and longer. Well, you all know the story... In May, 2008, we decided to apply for the special needs list, and, on March 23, 2009, we held Ellie-Kate in our arms for the first time. Thank God that He led us to the special needs list and to our precious baby girl!!!

Today, September 19, 2012, the other seven families in that original cohort finally received their referrals-- nearly six years to the day that we submitted our packets to China. I feel so much for them... for their wait... for their patience... for their faith... Yet, I cannot even imagine our lives without Ellie-Kate for the past three and a half years. To think that we never would have met her if we had not made that decision to go special needs. Praise God for *always* being in control and for bringing exactly the right addition to our family!!

For a few moments, I allowed my mind to drift... If today had been referral day for us, this new baby would have never bonded with Chelsea, given that she's away at college... she would have missed three trips to Disney... she would have missed the last three years at the fair... Perhaps most importantly, she never would have met Great-Grandma Groscost or Uncle Wade or known of Aunt Marilyn. All three of them passed away in this year-- 2012. If today had been referral day, that new baby would have entered our home and hearts, but she would have missed out on these three important people and on all of the life events over the past few years. No pictures with Chelsea at her graduation... No walking with Great-Grandma's walker... No basketball at Chuckie Cheese with Uncle Wade...

Lord God, I praise you for your control of all things! I praise you for nudging us to the special needs list! I give you all of the glory for guiding us to those precious, big brown eyes in that long-ago photo. "Kristen" (Ellie-Kate's name on the special needs list) had haunting, huge eyes that lingered in my mind even after I turned off the computer and drifted to sleep. Yes, she had such a long list of special needs-- far beyond what we had ever agreed to pursue. Yet, those eyes penetrated my mind and prompted me to return to the website again and again... Praise God for Jenn and Dan and their encouragement after trick-or-treating!! Praise God for the team at the International Adoption Clinic for their realistic yet positive assessment of her file!! Praise God for keeping OUR baby available when we took awhile to grasp that Ellie-Kate was ordained to be our daughter!!

I am so grateful to hear this news today. I am so grateful for the other families. I can't even fathom their journeys, and I'm so glad that their end is now in sight. However, selfishly, I am eternally grateful for the gift of Ellie-Kate and for the gentle, persistent nudging of the Holy Spirit about adoption, in general, and about the special needs list and then about Ellie-Kate. He truly guided us to our little girl. We cannot ignore His role in our journey and His mercy in putting Ellie-Kate in our home.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers! We're grateful to be a family for Ellie-Kate!!

Christie

Emmy with her AMS Lady Bulldog Soccer Team-- 9/19/12

Ellie-Kate's first soccer game-- 9/16/12

Christie's 51st birthday-- September 15, 2012

 Project Make-over: OU style... Crews work on renovating the old Baker Center into the new home for the Scripps College of Communication.

 Britti brought over a very cute cake!

 With most of my girls-- September 15, 2012

What a great birthday! Tennis with Britti... bike riding on the bike trail... college football on tv (go Irish, Bears, and bobcats!), dinner with Roger, and watching for Chelsea on tv...

Reflections... September 13, 2012

Hi everyone--

It's so nice for the blog to be up to date with photos so that I can journal a bit as time permits... Our friends from New York are on their way to pick up their new little girl from China. Wow, even thinking about their journey makes me reflective of our own journey to pick up Ellie-Kate and bring her home. It's so hard to believe that we wouldn't even have her now if we had not decided to go special needs. We would still be waiting on our little girl... since May, 2007 when we began our quest for another daughter. Can't even imagine our lives without her...

I'm having an odd kind of day. Social media has become so much of a part of my life. I *LOVE* interacting with so many different communities-- fellow soap fans, colleagues from work, high school and college friends, and, of course, friends from church and the adoption community. I really enjoy posting statuses and photos on Facebook and sharing our lives through the blog. However, ever since announcing my candidacy for office in my national association, I've felt more than a little self-conscious about posting on Facebook. Am I being sufficiently "serious" and "presidential"? Should I be "serious" or "presidential" when Facebook is really about socializing, but, truly, it's not just about socializing. Implicitly, Facebook (and this blog) are really exercises in self-presentation. How do I want for others to view me? Ahhhhhh, I'd love to feel that I'm just over-thinking this entire situation, but I think that I'm going to just be a little self-aware for the next five months.

I know that I don't want to back away from who I am-- a Christian, a mom, a busy professional. I want to be real for many reasons, but, for especially for the election, I want for people to really know who I am and what I prioritize. For the people who follow this blog and who follow our family on Facebook, I want to continue to capture our life journey as honestly and transparently as possible. So many people have commented to me that they do keep up with us through these means and that they enjoy learning about what we're doing and how we're doing. I don't plan to change just to win anything. On the other hand, I do think that it's important for me at least to realize that, if I do win, I represent something much bigger than myself and our family. After all, people in other elected offices don't just post when they like a show or one of their kids gets poked in the eye. As I said, I'm trying to figure out this balance between representing myself and our family and realizing that I have just placed myself and our family very much in the public eye. Well, I have said that we would make a good reality show :)

Thanks for reading/listening... It's nice to be able to just "chat" through a blog post again. It's very nice to be caught up enough on the blog and on our lives for me to do a quick post here.

We appreciate your continued concern and love! Please send up a prayer for our friends from New York that they will have safe travel and that they will have a smooth and joyous introduction to their new daughter, Nola!

Fondly--

Christie

Big news for Christie!

On September 4, I learned that I have been selected as one of two nominees for Second Vice-President of the National Communication Association. If I am elected in February, I will serve as Second Vice-President and then move into First Vice-President and then President over the next three years. I am just thrilled and excited by this nomination, and I'm eager to talk with colleagues throughout the discipline about ideas and input for the National Communication Association. Roger, of course, is very happy for me. The little girls kind of grunted when I told them, and Chelsea Meagan gave me the most enthusiastic reaction... Of course, her enthusiasm really bubbled up when I told her that, if elected, I would plan for the conference in Las Vegas, and she squealed, "Great! I'll be 21!" Have I mentioned that I really love ol' Chelsea?

Thanks so much for caring about me and our family!

Christie

September 6-8, 2012

 Emmy starts again at Center Mid for the AMS girls' soccer team during their home opener versus Gallia Academy on September 6, 2012.

 Emmy and Ellie-Kate enjoy dessert at Jackson Ponderosa after Emmy's game on September 8, 2012.

 Ellie-Kate dances to the OU Varsity Alumni band at the OU volleyball game on September 8, 2012.

 Emma and Emmy hang out at the OU volleyball game on September 8, 2012.

 Ellie-Kate, Carter, and a random friend at the OU volleyball game-- September 8, 2012.

 Ellie-Kate serves during half-time at the OU volleyball game--September 8, 2012.

 Emmy and Ellie-Kate head off to the OU tail-gate-- 9/8/12.

 Britti, Emmy, Ellie-Kate, Christie, and Roger enjoy the season opener for OU football versus New Mexico State on September 8, 2012. We were pretty happy-- free volleyball, free football, and free tail-gate. We only had to pay to get into Emmy's middle school soccer game for our triple-header sports day.

Catching up on Summer, 2012...

 Ellie-Kate loved tee-ball!! She had a great swing, and she could throw the ball with great accuracy. Overall, she had an awesome time, and she's ready to get rid of that tee and just swing at a pitch :) July 16, 2012

 Emmy and Ellie-Kate had a fun time at a Copperhead game in July, 2012.

 Emmy represented Athens County at the Ohio State Fair in Sports Nutrition 2. She earned an Outstanding of the Day on August 1, 2012.

 Emmy and Ellie-Kate had a great time on the Lucky Fours float on August 7. Christie was busy with fair queen stuff so Roger and other parents got the kids all ready for the float.

 Emmy got to take a tour of Athens Middle School on orientation day-- August 16, 2012-- while Christie and Chelsea were at Baylor for Move-In.