Blessings galore!!!

Pala's paperwork arrived in Kolkata, India on March 24th.

We have had plenty to be thankful for lately!! March is certainly a glorious month for our family!! We recieved a referral of a healthy baby girl and we are blessed with sooo many birthdays.

My 2 nieces Aliya and Alana both turned 4 on the 18th. No, they are NOT twins! Believe it or not, Aliya is Shad's brother's little angel and Alana is my sister's princess. How ironic that they have the same birthday, eh?! Happy birthday girls!! Aunt Mimi loves you!!

The real excitement was the following week!

On Tuesday, March 24th we welcomed...

ELLYANA DALAINE JOHNSON


to our growing family.
(Alana is now a big sister.)


On Wednesday the 25th, Austin turned 12.

He is now old enough to take his Hunter Safety course so he can hunt with his dad. Shad had been waiting forever to give him this Browning pump shot gun for his first gun. Shad has had it for quite awhile but I wasn't ready to let Austin have it yet. I kept telling him "Not until he's old enough to take the safety course." Well, the time has come and I had to keep my word. I have to admit though... I DID try to get out of it! :) I'm still a little nervous about that but he is very responsible for his age. I've learned that quickly after working in the middle school for the past month!! (And he finally decided to get a hair cut!!!!)

On Thursday March 26th, Cooper turned 8.

Cooper got all of his catcher's gear for baseball this year. He was pretty easy to please!! That's all he wanted.

We kept things simple but each boy got their own special dinner on their birthdays and family stopped by to celebrate with us. I can't believe how big they are getting. It's so amazing to see how much they've grown and changed. They are a true joy to have and I am sooo proud to be their mom.

Friday, March 28th was my cousin Wendy's daughter Alyssa'a birthday.
(Happy Birthday from your cousins in NY!!!! We love and miss you!!)

I have been asked time and time again about when we are going to get Pala and why it takes so long and how hard it must be to wait.... so many have told me that the hardest wait is after the referral but I really hadn't felt that until now. When we accepted Pala's referral it was like a huge weight had been lifted from our hearts. We had waited so long for the call! We finally have a face to stare at. We now have a little girl to get ready for. Every night as we are getting ready for bed we say a little prayer for Pala and imagine what she is feeling as she is just waking up to start her day (about 6 am in Kolkata) and we are going to bed. Shad laughs and says "she probably is fussy and wants her mom because she is ready for a diaper change." (Typical dad comment!) Then we talk about what it's going to be like having a baby in the house again. With all of the birthdays and birth of my new little niece it has finally hit me that I have a daughter waiting for me on the other side of the world and I can't be there to watch as she changes and hits milestones in her development. I was doing sooo good until I started typing this and then all of a sudden I became flooded with all of these emotions!!! Ugh...