Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day from our family to yours!!!

And a special shout out to all you first time mamas out there! Happy Mother's Day!

In Memory Of Our Losses (As Mother's Day Approaches)

Mother's Day is a wonderful and happy day. A day to celebrate the wonderful mothers in our lives. It will be a great Mother's Day for me because I have my beautiful daughter in my life and my wonderful mom too. But I know I will still think about the fact that I thought I would have been pregnant on that day. It was the day I was planning on revealing to my family that I was pregnant again after all these years. But it wasn't meant to be. I really am at peace with it now. But I can't say it doesn't still bring me some sadness.

I decided after my last miscarriage that I wanted to buy a rose bush to remember the babies that Doug and I lost (in 2002 and 2010). I picked a rose bush that will bloom lavender roses called "sweetness" from Jackson and Perkins. Doug ordered the bush online for me and it arrived earlier this week (they come with just branches and roots - no flowers yet). We planted it Wednesday night in our little rose garden next to the rose bush we planted for Doug's brother Leo (who we lost in 1997). Leo's rose bush grows like wildfire every year. It reminds me so much of Leo's personality. I found a little angel to overlook our "sweetness" bush and also a rock with the Chinese word for love on it (from Briana) for her lost siblings. I hope that the rose bush will grow big and beautiful. (The pictures are a little fuzzy because I took them with my cell phone.)


Here is Briana watering the plant...

These are some of my roses blooming already...

This is a rose about to bloom on Leo's rose bush...

We have four rose bushes in our backyard now (sorry they are hard to see)...

This is what the "sweetness" roses will look like (lavender in color)...

And this Mother's Day, we will also remember Briana's birth mother and foster mother. This is the candle that we light to remember them and will be doing it again this year.

And to all of you that will have a mixture of happiness and sadness on Mother's Day due to loss (whether it is a mother, sister, child or wife), just know that I am saying a prayer for you.

Briana - The Athlete

Sorry the picture is so fuzzy - I took it with my camera phone. Bri got her new soccer t-shirt last week and she is showing it off for me. (Along with the new crocs I bought her at the mall today. Bad me.)

Besides taking gymnastics now, Briana is a soccer player too! And she LOVES it. She literally beams from the minute she walks into the class until she walks out. She loves her coach. She enjoys gymnastics, but I really think soccer is where her heart is. She has a natural ability to kick the ball in a straight line. I knew she was gonna love it, and she sure does. As we all know, Bri loves staying in constant motion. ;) The class she is in teaches her the fundamentals of soccer (in a super fun way), such as running (forward and backward), kicking, balancing and starting and stopping quickly. Bri won't be playing in any soccer games just yet, but I don't think it is too far down the road.

Here are a few pics from her first day of class a few weeks ago...



And I snapped a few pics of Briana in gymnastics with my cell phone last week. She has really improved there too. I was just told by her instructor that she has moved up another level. Yay Bri!



This Saturday is the "Spring Spectacular" for gymnastics. You can see what it was like last year. The sessions are set up according to age/color level, so Bri's session is at 11:15. Since Briana is a year older and wiser, as well as her peers, this year's spring spectacular shouldn't be as chaotic as last year. Last year, it was kind of like herding cats. Her age group now actually listens to the teachers (sort of) and pays attention to directions (sort of). Pictures to come... :D

Black & White Wednesday - Flowers

I snapped this shot of Briana over the weekend. These flowers behind Briana were so pretty. I really like the black and white, but I also am posting in color because the colors were so vibrant. I love her little smile in this one and the way the wind is blowing through her hair.



For more black and white photos, please visit...

Spending Time With Friends (It Had Been Too Long!)

Bri and I finally got to spend some quality time with Chani and Emily Grace!

Briana and Chani a couple of weeks ago...

Briana and Emily Grace last Friday...

A couple of Fridays ago, Bri and I met Kathy and Chani for lunch and some girl talk. It had been way too long since we had time to chat and catch up. The young gals started getting a little antsy sitting at the restaurant after eating lunch, so we all headed to a nearby park so they could burn off some steam. Chani showed me a few of her great dance moves from her ballet/tap dance class. I was so lucky! Bri and Chani play so well together. It is amazing to see how they interact with each another. Our daughters are such little girls now and not babies anymore. Sigh...





And last Friday, Doug, Bri and I met Amy, David and Emily Grace for some food, great conversation and of course dancing! This is our third time meeting them at Bahama Breeze because Emily Grace and Bri LOVE dancing to the music there. Look how young they looked at BB last year in this post and this post. After eating their dinner, the girls grabbed their mamas cameras and starting taking pictures of each other. Not sure where they learned that from - heh. And then they danced, danced, danced!!!









We had seen both Chani and Emily Grace at several birthday parties over the last few months, but it had been a while since I had a real chance to talk and with visit with these girls' mamas. Now that summer is almost here, I think schedules will loosen a little and we can get in some more lunches and visits with friends we haven't spent time with in a while. Bri starts back at school in August and she will go 4 days a week, so we better get our visits in now!!

Some Very Important Things To Think About

Please hop over to Tonggu Momma's blog to read this great post and this one too.

When starting my international adoption back in 2005, I started learning some important things about adopting a baby from another country but gosh I wish I had known so much more going into it. It would not have hindered me from adopting at all - Briana is my blessing and my whole life, but I didn't realize how many things I didn't know. In the three years since I have been home with Briana, I have learned so much more about the loss and grieving Briana will experience in her life, the racism she will face and the role I need to play to help her get through it.

Please read these highlighted posts. They are worth it - promise.

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary

Doug and I have been married for 13 years today and have been a couple for 19 years. We have been through lots of up and many downs over the years and still love each other very much. Happy Anniversary to my best friend, my soul mate and the amazing father of my daughter.

To Be One With Each Other
What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness, to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories?
~ George Eliot

Briana The Landscaper and Gardener

Like the outfit? I think it is the perfect planting outfit, don't you? ;)

As you can see, spring has officially hit Georgia and we have been mulching, pulling weeds and planting. Briana stayed overnight with Gramma and Papa the night of the Bon Jovi concert and then Gramma offered to let Bri stay one more night. Bri was more than excited to do so. Doug and I got to rest a bit and also get some things done around the house without a 3.5 year old under foot. But now I see why Gramma and Papa wanted her to stay. They had her doing manual labor around their house. She was raking leaves and throwing seed in their yard. I totally get it now. ;)

Here she is raking with Papa...

Throwing seed...

Putting down some more grass seed...

The morning that Bri was going to be dropped off by my parents, Doug and I got up early and started putting fresh mulch in the islands of our front yard. Briana arrived about 11:30 and immediately wanted to help us in the yard too - even though she had helped Papa in the yard the day before.

Getting the mulch in a wheelbarrow...

Let's rake this out...

I'm a yard girl...

For several weeks, I told Briana we needed to go buy flowers for our flower pots on the back deck. I told her she could pick out one of the pots to be her special pot and that she could pick her own flowers for it. She was soooo excited. So the next morning, after mulching day, we headed to the HD to pick out flowers.

Here we are on the car ride over...

She ended up with a little stomach bug that afternoon, so we waited until the next day to actually plant the flowers.

Put on the gloves...

Put in the soil...

Now time for watering... (It was actually slightly chilly that morning, thus the Minnie Mouse socks that were thrown on before planting.)

Voila!

And here is Briana's very special flower pot...

Now that I am back on my feet again, I am really loving spring (except for the enormous amount of pollen in the air). This time of the year is so beautiful in GA. Happy Spring!