We GOTCHA Mary Alan!!!!

One month ago, Mary Alan was placed in our arms to begin her life as a little Colbert. I am sure she had no idea what in the world she had gotten into. Bless her heart!!

My...how time changes things. Now she is starting to really enjoy her new life and she seems to love being a little Colbert. She is handling her new role just fine!! 

Her finest accomplishment so far is becoming a new member of the Houston Academy Varsity Cheerleaders. The best part is......

she didn't even have to try-out. 

I have described Mary Alan as a little light in our home and she seems to bring a certain brightness into the lives of everyone she comes in contact with. That is what we are called to do.....to be a light in a dark world. She already has it figured out.

  

  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:14and15

Have a Great Day!!
Love in Him,

Home...Where We Belong

I can't believe how fast time is passing already. We have already been home for two weeks and it has been amazing to put it lightly. Our first week seems slightly dreamlike in that we were so unbelievably jet-lagged and also sick. I think our immune systems were on total overload and had a total "meltdown" after all we had put them through. Mary Alan adjusted very quickly and only had about 3 nights of waking up around 1am and then falling back asleep. She actually handled it a lot better than we did. Several people brought meals to us, which was a total God-send and we were able to mend pretty quickly. We have also had a lot of "Show-and-Tell" times for the kids at school and needless to say, they are all very excited about their new baby sister. She has been a real "hit" with all of their friends and is fitting right in. She will be a little teenager before we know it. She already has a cheerleading uniform to match her big sisters and Ivy has been working on her heel stretches. She is VERY flexible and we all can't wait to see if she ends up dancing, cheering or doing gymnastics. She may just do nothing and be fine with that. Who knows? She also loves the piano and the guitar and is very fascinated with all forms of music. Maybe she will be a pianist. I would love that. She also went to church for the very first time last Sunday. Everyone was so excited and welcoming as we walked in. I felt like I was finally home with my spiritual family and so happy to take her to a place she will call her "family of faith" for much of her life. 

We are all amazed how quickly she has adjusted to her American way of life and her new family. She has come to her new home with all 5 dogs and 5 cats and 2 brothers and 2 sisters and acted like she has always been here. She pretty much owns the place now and seems right in her element. All I can say is how wonderful I think her foster mother was and how well she must have prepared her. I am just blown away by the whole thing. Mary Alan is so funny and keeps us laughing all of the time. Her personality is just precious, especially when she is comfortable around people. She is very happy most of the time and is a joy to be around.

I was telling a friend the other day how I was so afraid before we left for China that I would not be able to do this. I am almost 41 years old and I have been very worried if I would have the energy to keep up with a toddler again. There have been so many times I questioned myself and what I was doing. I discussed it with Kelly a few times and told him my worries. He always reassured me that God had this. He wasn't going to call us to do this and leave us hanging. We would be fine. Well, I am here to tell you that I have never had more energy than this and God has equipped me for this. I am amazed myself. I dreaded the fact that I was going to have to get up earlier every morning and fix breakfast right away for a toddler....again after several years of sleeping a little later. I wake up now, excited to face the day and see what all it has in store. I chase after Mary Alan constantly and am still on major danger patrol. I am loving every minute of it. It has been so much fun. I truly can't wait for her to wake up from her naps so we can play some more. I know this may sound crazy to some, but I am having a ball. I also highly recommend having a baby when you have teenagers. It is ten times easier now than it was when I had 3 babies who were 3 years old and younger. I don't know how I did that. With MA, I pretty much play with her until the kids get home from school and then I don't see her for a while. They highjack her right when they come in and she is MIA. It is great. For any of you who think this may be something you have thought about, but you are just "too old". Please get rid of that thought. God will make a way where there seems to be no way. I truly am blown away by Him and His blessings and how amazing this experience keeps on being. It just keeps on and on and on amazing me. INCREDIBLE!! 

Today in church we sang a song called "Our God Is Greater" by Chris Tomlin. As many of you already know, I am an extremely outwardly emotional person and slightly sappy. As we sang this song, my heart just melted and of course...I sobbed as we sang:

"Our God is Greater, Our God is Stronger, God You are higher than any other, Our God is Healer, awesome and power, Our God, Our God.....And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, And if our God is with us, then who could stand against?"

He truly is greater than any other and if HE is for us, then by golly, WHO can stop us? And if HE is with us, then WHO can go against us? Just amazing!! Dear GOD.....I am so in Awe of YOU!! 

Have a great day!! Love in Him, 

FINALLY!!!

It's FINALLY FINALLY here!! WooHoo!! Annabeth has been fingerprinted and the prints have cleared!! Hallelujah!!! We will be leaving for China on January 4th.....VERY early in the morning. Whew!! I am not a very good morning person either. That's okay since I will be extremely excited. I may not even go to bed. We will leave out around 5:30am and arrive in China at 10:30pm on January 5th. If you figure this up, we will arrive in Beijing at 9:30am (Dothan time) on January 5. That means no bath for over a day. If you know me very well, I like my baths. I get it very honestly from my mother and we come from a long line of bathers. God has such a sense of humor. I am going to take every type of wipe possible and travel toothbrushes. I think it's the nurse in me. This is what we do for our children and I am very glad to!! I am so thankful to finally be on our way to get our little one. We are also so thankful to all of our family and friends who will be helping with our children and with our dogs. We would not be able to do this without you and are so thankful for all of your prayers and support through this. We are so excited to see what all God has planned in this and know he has some really neat people for us to meet and great things for us to experience. I feel like I am about to unwrap a very cool present. Please follow us on our Shutterfly (marymakesseven.shutterfly.com). The password is "seven."

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:8

 Love in Him,

Changing Directions

We have been told by several different friends online that China does not allow Blogger. Since that is the case, we are going to change directions for a few weeks and post everything on Shutterfly. We will be able to easily(hopefully) post pictures and videos and everyone can keep up with our trip in China. You can also sign our guestbook and encourage us along the way (hint hint)! 

Visit us at marymakesseven.shutterfly.com. 

Have a VERY blessed New Year!

Love in Him,       

Getting Closer!!

Just to give a quick update: We have finally been given a tentative time to travel of January 2012. We are still waiting for Immigration to issue an appointment for Annabeth to be fingerprinted in Birmingham. Once she is fingerprinted, we can GO!! We have also run into the issue of many things being closed in China around New Years. If we traveled during that time, we may be delayed. Our best bet is to leave after the new year, so we won't run into any obstacles along the way. We are sooo excited and getting our house all ready for our new little family member. What a huge blessing we are in for. Have a great day!! Love in Him,

Our Flower Girl

Oh, we are so counting our blessings this Thanksgiving. 

It is such a blessing to see how happy our little one is.

It seems our little Mary Alan has quite a love for flowers. She shares a common love of them with her Foster Mother and her new Mother. It looks like I am going to have a little gardening helper in the Spring. We are going to have a really good time taking our time, smelling the flowers and taking in all of God's creation. We are going to have so much fun!!

She and her little friend Melissa are talking over the situation.

 

We are going to have to work on the eating part though. Not a good idea. 

 

How about this pink cheetah-print jacket. She is already quite a little girly girl. She has no idea what she is in for when she comes to the Colbert house. Pink, pink, and some more pink!!! I love the way she seems to perfectly match all of the flowers in each picture too. 

They also say she is very attached to her Foster Mother, Joan, which I am so thankful for. It is such a blessing she is getting so much love and attention. Because of her attachment to her Foster Mother, she will probably go through a time of grieving which we are totally expecting. This is a good thing though, in the long run, because it shows she was very loved and formed a bond with her caregiver. This is very important.

I am so grateful to New Day Foster Home for providing such an incredible life for our little girl. They have given her such a loving and sweet environment and it is only by God's grace she is there. This place is truly a God-send and a blessing to so many children. Where else would you find a precious little one smelling flowers at her orphanage? Wow!!

If you have any question where you may want to give this Christmas, please go to New Day's website and see how you can help. I have a link to it on the side of my blog. They have many different ways to help and the money is greatly appreciated.

Have a Very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hop On Baby, It's Gonna Be a Bumpy Ride!

We have been on quite a roller coaster ride for the past few weeks. I absolutely LOVE roller coasters, but I am not sure about this one. I think it equals the Ninja at Six Flags. My neck hurts and I think I may throw up now. Oh, just kidding!! I have to find humor in every situation. If I don't, I will totally go stark raving crazy. I slightly am anyway, I think. Well, the ride began a few weeks ago on October 31st, when we broke the news to our oldest daughter, Annabeth, that we wanted her to go to China with us. She was so excited and couldn't believe we were asking her to go. I worked it out with her school principal who was so sweet to give us her blessing on this. We know this will be a trip of a lifetime for Annabeth and something she will NEVER forget. On that Monday, November 1st, we received an email informing us that our Article 5 had been issued. I am not sure exactly what that means, honestly. I just know it is the final step before we receive our Travel Approval. It is a BIG deal. From that point, we should have 2-3 weeks before we receive the call about our Travel Approval. It was a VERY exciting day, UNTIL......
    The very same day, I started thinking about the fact that our precious firstborn, Annabeth, would be turning 18 on November 3rd. She would now be considered an adult in China. It is hard for me to even conceive of the fact of her being an adult. I am too young to have a child that "grown up"(haha), so I don't even want to think about it. So...., I called our agency and asked if we needed to do anything extra since she was now 18. GOOD THING!! To my unbelievable dismay, they told me we would need to have her fingerprinted in our city, then have her Child Abuse and Neglect clearances done as well as having her fingerprints cleared through the FBI and Immigration. We would also have to add an Addendum to our Home Study. OH baby!! Literally, all I could think about was OUR baby, in China. As it is at this point, we were probably traveling the first few weeks of December, returning right before Christmas. Our little one would be able to spend her very first Christmas with her new family...with her real forever Mommy and Daddy and brothers and sisters. Well, that may not happen, but maybe it will. I have seriously become (through all of this) a "get-it-done" kind of person. By Nov. 2nd, I had Annabeth's fingerprints done and sent off to our agency along with forms for clearances. These were supposed to take up to 3 months to be cleared. We have bathed this in prayer, and to our excitement, we received word yesterday that they have already cleared. We have a few more obstacles to go, but there is a possibility that we may stay on course to go before Christmas. I am trying to hang on to the fact that GOD knows best. Goodness knows I don't. Maybe, I will eventually know the reasons why He wants us to wait longer. I sure wish I could ask Him. I know there are just some things in life we will never know the answers to. We just have to trust that HE is sovereign and has a much bigger plan. It's still tough though! I do know I am still building some serious patience and some real character through this. He is preparing us for something big! Have a great week. Love in Him!