Our journey to Pala so far...

This is just a quick little slide show that I put together to document our journey so far.

UPDATE: I received an email today (March 20, 2009) from our caseworker and our Acceptance Paperwork is on its way to India.

"The Lost Labor of Hercules"

With all of the excitement of Pala's referral, I forgot to share the video of Treyton's OM team. This was the dress rehearsal for their Regional Competition. They will be competing at the State Competition on April 4th at Binghamton University. This video is special to Treyton because it was taken the day we received Pala's referral. I told him about "the call" AFTER his performance so that he would be able to concentrate. He has pictures of Pala all over his desk at school. He's so sweet!! (Treyton is the ClockMaster in the skit.)

Mama Bear Mama Bear what do you see?

I see an Angel looking at me!

What a wonderful surprise! I checked my email during lunch and found this sweet little angel waiting for me. She looks healthy and happy (she's even wearing pink!) and that's all I can ask for right now. The FedEx man delivered our paperwork this morning, so you know what we'll be doing tonight!!! :D

Thank you for your many thoughts and prayers. The next few months will be difficult but there IS light at the end of the tunnel!

Pala is 6 months old today and sharing "the call"

"The call" was quite amazing I must say!! Everyone said it would be. But... I'm telling you, words can't even describe it!!!! It's beyond amazing!!!!

Thursday March 5, 2009 started out a typical day... rush around... get Treyton to OM practice... drop the other 2 off at school... get to work on time.... blah, blah, blah.... my day ends at 2:30... I run home quick to let Herbie out and then drive back to the middle school to pick Austin up at 3:00 and then head over to the elementary school to help Treyton's OM team get ready for their family night/dress rehearsal. AND THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED...

Austin was playing with my phone and asked who Tami Davidson was. I never thought twice. The kids are always playing with my phone so I just assumed he was scanning through my contacts.

I said "Oh, she's just our caseworker for the adoption, why?!"

"Uh... because she's calling you..."

"Oh my gosh... oh my gosh... " I'm yelling as I'm fubbling to get the ear bud in my ear, not to mention my battery was about to die!!! Uhg.....

So I answer "Hello"

"Maggie?! This is Tami. Tami with Dillon. Is this a good time?!"

For those of you who are waiting or have been through this... I don't know about you, but she has her own special ring tone AND her name comes across in bold letters!! Uh... and do you really think I'm going to say NO, call me back in an hour.... I don't think so... I've been waiting for this call way too long!!! :D

By this time I'm shaking to death... a little small talk is exchanged and then...

she says "I want to talk to you about a referral of a little girl." My heart stopped. All I kept thinking was, "Is this for real?!" Austin's yelling in the background "A referral? A referral? We got a referral?" and the seatbelt dinger was going off because I was bad and didn't have it on. Ahhh...... :)

Tami told me everything about this sweet little girl and then said "Go home and talk it over with your husband and let me know if you want to know more."

Our special needs check list was very very very open. Open to things such as crossed-eyes, mild CP, and cleft lip just to name a few. Her "special need" is no big deal in my opinion. Of course I want to know more!!!

"Tami, I'm more superficial than my husband and THIS is not something I find to be a big deal. I know Shad will agree with me. Go ahead and send me her file. By the way... what is her name?"

Tami said "Pala" (pronouncing it like Paula). She went on to tell me that she would hurry around and email the file to me. I quickly hung up from Tami and called Shad crying and told him about "the call". Of course he had to laugh because I was balling my eyes out!!

So.... already late to help with the OM dress rehearsal... I rush by everyone and log onto the first computer I could find. Remember... I'm not at home. I'm at the school!!! My mind was NOT on OM at this point.... I'm dying to see a picture!!!! (Sincerest apologies Evelyn and Jamie! My mind was a little preoccupied!!) I printed all the attachments and "supersized" her picture. I called our pediatrician and set up a time for him to review her file (11 am Friday) and joined the OMers for a few minutes. Remember... this is a family night performance... both mine and Shad's parents were coming to watch... how in the world was I ever going to contain my excitement?! Well.... I couldn't.... I spilled the beans to them!!! Ooops.... but, I did tell them that we still needed Dr. Kassas to review her file.

Shad and I read over her file together when I got home and pondered on her name. We played with all of the possible ways to pronounce her name but leaving the original spelling and came up with "Payla". She comes to us with a very unique story and circumstances so we agreed that we would keep her Indian name. I didn't sleep much that night because I was so excited. We knew this was OUR daughter!! Now we just needed confirmation from Dr. Kassas that everything we thought was minor indeed was. I dropped the packet off to his office at 11:00 and he called me around 12:30pm. "Maggie, looks like she's a keeper!!!" I called Shad and told him the good news and then tried to call Tami... and tried again... and tried again... and then finally just emailed her.

"YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! Do I need to say any more?! .... We are officially accepting the referral of Pala. We are blessed to be able to have her in our family!!!"

There was 1 yes for each member of our family and 1 for Dr. Kassas. :D Do you think I over did it?!

She called me when I got home from work to discuss what happens next and then we chatted awhile and the rest is history!!!

Pala was born September 7, 2008. She was a mere 5 1/2 lbs when she was brought to the orphanage in October. At a checkup on February 18th she weighed 11 lbs and was 23 inches long. She's just a peanut!! She is saying "Ma" and "Ba". She can roll over on her own and sits with support. She is thriving right now!! It's sooo good to see a report like this!!

Welcome to our family Pala! We can't wait to hug and kiss you! Your mommy, daddy, and brothers are sooo excited to have you in their lives!!! We know that you are being well cared for in India by all of your Ayahs and that helps to ease our hearts. We have a home full of love waiting to share with you !! Happy 6 month birthday princess!!

Catching up before "the call"...

The past few days (week actually) have kept us hopping around here!!! I ended my long term subbing position in 2nd grade on Monday and began another long term position in 7th grade on Wednesday. I'll be there through June. So much for having a breather!

Treyton has been preparing before and after school the past few weeks for Odyssey of the Mind Regionals that were held today and they placed 1st. His team participated in the Classical Competition and their problem was "The Lost Labor of Hercules". Everyone worked really really hard. I believe 5 Wellsville teams are going to be competing at states April 4th! Great job everybody!!

and... my brother-in-law Jared graduated from Police Academy this week!!! Way to go!! We are so proud of you!!

OK.... now that you know a little bit about how busy we've been lately, the next post will be ALL about Pala and the long awaited "call".

And "Pala" makes 6!!!

Sugar and spice,
and everything nice,
that's what little girls are made of...

Making her first public debut....

Miss Pala Alsworth
(pronounced "Payla")


Born September 7, 2008
Currently weighing 11 lbs.

More details to follow after the reality sets in and I can stop crying long enough to type! :D I'm a Mama again!! God is gracious!!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

You have got to check out this adorable little skirt! It's described as "So fluffy and soft, like butter cream icing on a cupcake." Doesn't it sound so scrumptious?! This would look soooo cute on Asha. If I'm not the lucky winner, maybe I can talk my mother-in-law into making one!!! I'm not that handy with a sewing machine.

Tis the season for school projects!!

Yep... we have many things keeping us busy these days! Thank goodness, right?! All 3 of the boys have projects for school. Cooper just finished his COMMUNITY DIORAMA and is soooo proud of it. Each second grader had to do one this year. They could pick Rural, Suburban or City. All of my boys had the same teacher for second grade so I knew it was coming, but... uhg.... projects usually turn into "Mom" projects if you know what I mean!! Not this time though!! Cooper insisted on doing it all by himself with very little guidance. I was only allowed to show him how to work the hot glue gun. The rest he wanted to do. He did let me do a little bit of painting but when it looked like I was having fun, I was shut off. :D Coop originally started out with suburban and took pictures of all the houses on our street but when we went to Walgreen's to pick up his pictures, they had had an internal server error and couldn't print them. Bummer, eh?! Not to this kid. His comment to me was "Should always have a back up plan, right mom?!" I was befuddled!!!! Uh... yeah... you always should! Think maybe I need to take lessons from my 7 soon-to-be 8 year old!!

More projects to follow in the next few days or so....

God bless!!!