Well, we've always felt that this journey to our daughter was in the hands of the Lord. Only he knows our true destiny. This week he has opened our eyes and confirmed that Pala is our daughter. How, you ask?! In the simplest way! Her name... "Pala". Our sweet little ones name means "shining" in Hindu. I know that there are many meanings depending on the part of India, religion, etc. but this was the first that we had found and never thought twice about it. Pala ironically was born on Shad's grandmother Ellen's birthday, who is now deceased. Do you know what Ellen means?! You got it... "shining" or "shining light". Coincidence? I think not.
So, we feel that our daughter's middle name should be ELLEN. We will most likely still some how incorporate her birth mother's name with it but we won't know what that is until we have our guardianship papers.
PALA ELLEN ALSWORTH
For now... she is our lil' sweet PEA. (Thanks Gidget for that one!!! lol It sounded much cuter with your Kentucky draw!)
Jyoti and Pala
Pala in early April
Jyoti telling her how much her mommy and daddy miss her and can't wait to hug her!! (Notice her smiling back at Jyoti!)
New pictures of our little angel!!! Looks like she's losing a little of the chub in her face. I still want to pinch her juicy cheeks though!! She is 7 months old now and got some lovin' by Jyoti and Parrish this week when they traveled to pick up their little girl. Thanks a bunch for giving her hugs and kisses from her mommy, daddy and big brothers.
Yep, you got it.... Treyton and his team placed 1st at the New York State Odyssey of the Mindcompetition this past Saturday!!! They are off to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa May 27th for "WORLDS"!! There were 18 teams competing in Division I- The Lost Labor of Hercules. I am so proud of them!!! They did awesome!!!! The other team from Wellsville Elementary was Division I- Superstition. Both of the Elementary teams placed 1st !!! Great job guys!!!!
Many, many THANKS to my "blogger buddies" for sending pictures for Austin's Social Studies project. It was a big success!!
Here's our version of Shah Jahan in 2009!! :)
He was very embarrassed about having to dress up but the idea was to NOT spend money and to use what we had around the house. OK, so he doesn't look exactly like Shah Jahan but... I think he did a good job for what he had to work with. They were graded on a report, timeline, display board and costume. Alot was factored in so I think he did very well!!! After all this is 2009 NOT the 1600's, right?!
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...
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.)
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!
"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!!
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".
Jyoti and Pala
Pala in early April
Jyoti telling her how much her mommy and daddy miss her and can't wait to hug her!!
