A recap of 2009...

Well, the day after Christmas marked our 1 month anniversary of being home as a family!! We've have been blessed beyond belief this year and it's had to believe that it's almost over. It was a year that I thought was never going to end. Pala's adoption seemed to drag on with one delay after another but I was reminded over and over again that EVERYTHING is in God's timing and IT will make for a perfect story in the end!! We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family and plan to bring in the New Year quietly together this year playing "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Rock Band". :)

2009 brought our family many many joys!

In January my brother-in-law and his wife accepted the referral of their 4th daughter "S" from India. Although at the time I was extremely jealous because as you know I was still waiting for our "call". By the way they will be leaving to bring "S" home on the 10th!! I am so glad we were able to visit her while we were in India... it's a memory that can never be erased.

March was the birth of my niece Elly, both Austin and Cooper's birthday's... and the much awaited "call" about our precious Sweet PEA. I think I was on cloud 9 for quite awhile don't you all agree?

April began our LONG dreadful 19 week NOC wait.

May brought us another niece, Lexi... born on Shad's birthday!! He kept telling his sister that she was just going to have to wait until his birthday and what do you know... Lexi listened to her Uncle Shad!! :) Treyton's OM team traveled to Iowa for OM World's Competition. We all had a blast... it was a great trip for all of us and it helped keep our minds off the adoption for a week...and we also lost our dear friend Bobby unexpectedly.

June, July were our typical camping months along with our Compassion child's birthday. So glad the Lord allowed us to visit him in India... emotions are starting to flow again...

August was Treyton's birthday. Wow how time flies!!

September we celebrated Miss P's 1st birthday without her but found out we were granted guardianship in record time!! This began our wait for her passport.

October was Tony and Meghan's wedding.

and... November... well what more can I say... November was the month that we were finally able to meet Pala in person!! An emotional trip that will never be forgotten!! :) As much as I had screamed and hollered because the day wasn't coming fast enough... it was HE who knew what was best. The Lord had it all planned out right from the start. I was meant to be be here to witness the birth of my new nephew Cameron... he was born and the very next morning I received the call from our caseworker giving us travel approval. Coincidence? I think not!! Through faith and prayers we were brought home to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family. November also began Shad's dream of being in politics... uhg, let the fun begin right?!

We end the year with December and the birth of Christ... what better way to celebrate!! (and the engagement of Bridget and Tom!!) :)

Although we experienced a few hiccups along the way the Lord blessed us many times over in 2009 and for that I am thankful. May the Lord walk with you and bless you as he has blessed our family in the New Year!!

Trying to catch up!!

Things are so different around here!! Not that I'm complaining or anything but... I find myself so tired and exhausted at the end of the day!! :) Wow!! It's a lot of work having a tot weeble wobbling around the house again!! Fun... but exhausting!! I'm out of practice. I don't remember the boys being so much work and there were 3 of them. There's only 1 Pala!! Do you think being 8 years older now could have something to do with it?! Ha!! Not to mention we came home right at the busiest time of year for us so we have been on the go go go!!

Our doctor's appointment went great! Pala is a whole 17 lbs and 28" tall. At 15 months she is only wearing 6/9 months clothes!! She is the same size as both of my nieces which are 6 and 8 months old!! A little peanut!! We had a bout of lice and because of her hair being sooooo thick it has taken forever to get the nits out. So needless to say, she does not like her hair played with anymore. :( Other than that she has some definite signs of malnutrition and a small belly button hernia. The spot on her bum that was believed to be vitiligo is nothing more than a birth mark. She is eating (at least trying) everything that we have for our meals. Fish, chicken, bananas and oatmeal seem to be her favorites. I cannot for the life of me get her to use a sippy cup... milk/formula in a bottle and juice or water in a regular cup. At first she didn't like taking a bath but now I can't get her out of there!! :) Pala is sleeping all through the night in her own crib and in her own room!! The co-sleeping didn't work for her... not that we didn't try. She was up and fussy every couple of hours when she was in our bed. I put her in her crib one night so I could get a couple of hours of good sleep and she slept through the night and has done it ever since!! I was amazed!! I'm kind of sad actually because I thought it was a big part of the bonding and attachment and I thought I was going to mess that up some how but believe me... that is going wonderfully!! Some days she is a little velcro monkey but I'm used to it now. She loves to cuddle and love on mommy!! That won't last forever so I guess the housework can wait!! (Don't tell Shad I said that please! Ha!!!) She has this little thing with crossing her fingers and pointing at you and growling... haven't figured that one out yet! Assuming it's something her brothers taught her!! Ha!! Yeah... can't wait to see what else she picks up on!! I just remember all of the mean things I used to do to my sisters growing up.... eeeks!! They are all really wonderful and helpful with her. She is a true blessing for us. The Lord truly knows what's best for us and he couldn't have given us a more perfect gift this Christmas!!

From the fullness of his grace we have received one blessing after another. ~John 1:16

We're alive... for the most part!!! :)

A Thanksgiving with a blessing!!
This picture was take Thanksgiving afternoon!
That was the morning we arrived home from India!!
What a precious little smile!!

Well last week was certainly a test of patience from the Lord but with all of the support and prayers from everyone back home we made it through!! We laugh now that it has been 23 months of "pregnancy" with 10 days of excruciating labor!! :) We are all adjusting well. I'm still a little tired but we have also been on the go since we got home it seems like. When we got off the plane in Buffalo I saw the most beautiful site in the world... my 3 boys waiting for us!! Pala saw them and started babbling! It was too cute! She wanted down so she could run to them... what a sight... she reached her arms out for Treyton just like she had been with him since birth! The way she is bonding is like we were just away for a mini vacation!! She is a true blessing!! We have our 1st post placement visit today. I don't think Anita believed me when I told her how wonderful Pala is adjusting. I know there are some rough times ahead but the way things are going right now will make them easier to get through. We will take them one day at a time.

I want to share a little bit about our trip... If you had asked me last Wednesday if I would ever go back, the answer would have been "NOT A CHANCE!!" That's how bad I was feeling about the trip. I've had time to reflect and pray about it a few days now and both Shad and I agree that WE WILL VISIT AGAIN but with no agenda!! Cooper asked us how many planes we were on during the trip so we listed them all out showing the boys our boarding passes. You are not going to believe this... in 10 days poor Shad had been on 11 different planes and I had been on 9. That is ridiculous!! It was exhausting just remembering all that. :)

Here's my two cents...

Don't try to do everything in one trip. Start out with the attitude that you WILL go back some day with your child. Make this trip about your child not about what you may or may not miss out on. You'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more and if a "hiccup" occurs you won't be devistated by it.

Our "GOTCHA DAY" was nothing like I had anticipated. I had it all played out in my mind that Pala was going to want to come right to me. All I had to do was go slow and she would warm up quick. My heart was broken when she didn't want anything to do with me!! I loved this little girl long before I had ever seen her face and I didn't even get a smile. Shad and I stayed at ISRC for 2 hours waiting for her to warm up to us. She warmed up to Shad a little but screamed blood murder if I even looked at her. I knew from reading and talking to other families that it was a possiblity but after hearing from other traveling families what a wonderful little personality she had I thought "That won't be the case for me." Things quickly changed and Pala is certainly my little angel.

My recommendations for hotels are the Kenilworth in Kolkata and the Hyatt Regency in Delhi. I found a better rate booking the Kenilworth online directly through them and requesting the "Winter Package". It included all of our taxes, airport pickup, head and foot massage, breakfast and dinner, and a few piddly other things. Do get your massage... what a treat!!! Don't get the head massage on a day that you plan on being in any pictures though!! :) Use their driver... Nayeem. He is wonderful and worth the extra that you have to pay. He speaks Bengali and helped soothe Pala while we were in the car. He really went above and beyond for us!!! He even knows a little Passport photo place that is super cheap!!! Get them in Kolkata and out of the way before going to Delhi. Nayeem's mobile number is 9830899357. Request him when you make your reservations!!
We stayed at 3 different hotels in Delhi and my favorite was the Hyatt. Quite pricey but I felt very safe and never went hungry! :) We stayed at the Intercontinental on our first stop in Delhi before visiting our Compassion child. It was a very nice hotel but we felt like every time we turned around we were getting screwed. They hated giving change... big or little! The food was OK but nothing like the Hyatt!! The third hotel experience was with the Parkland.... all I'm going to say is "Stay at your own risk!!". The room was nice but service was awful. It was loud and the food sucked!! Not to mention we had been transferred from a different Parkland because they didn't have us in the system and then after an hour when they found our reservation they didn't have a room for us.... this is being taken care of by our travel agent. Erle was very kind to us and was not happy when he was told of the problem. I don't think you'll have to worry about Erle at Azumano Travel recommending the Parkland again after it happening to both the Labonte's and us all in one week. I can't say it enough... bite the bullet and stay at the Hyatt. I'm sure you can find cheaper rates online than what we were forced to pay since we just showed up desperately requesting a room after being at the Parkland. Let's put it to you this way... we were so unhappy at the Parkland that we paid for the night that we checked out just to get out of there. The service was horrendace. We asked for a driver at 8:30am and at 10:15 he was still not there. Why? Oh, because they never called for one until 10:00 because they forgot!!! That was for our "Embassy Day". HYATT, HYATT, HYATT!!!! Our driver at the Hyatt was wonderful too!! Kishan... request him!! His mobile number is 9818736618. Tell him you want to go to the Chicken Inn for lunch!!! Yummmmmmmo!!!!! Kishan took us there when we told him we were starved and wanted to go somewhere that was airconditioned with good food!! We pulled in and he said "How's this?" Shad and I both just looked at each other and then looked at him and he said "Just trust me!" Glad we did... it was great!!!

I'm off to take Pala to her first doctor's visit with Dr. Kassas. I'm leaving you with a few photos from our travels and a couple since we've been home. I'll try to post a bit more details about our journey when Pala lays down for her afternoon nap.