The Fanning Four

Do you mind if I tell you some funny things Bethany does or says? Ok, good...... She says "mores" instead "more"- it always makes me think of S'mores. Yummy! She still calls me "daddy". You can even say, "Where's mommy?" and she will point to me and say "Daddy!" She waves to ants, says "hi" to them. Then she says, "ouch" and tries to kill them. Last week I painted her toenails pink. She now says hi to her toes and gives them kisses. After she gives you a kiss, she says "Bye, bye". She can weed as good as any adult I know. Seriously, she will sit in the yard, pull weeds, and put them in a nice neat pile. Thanks for indulging me. Have a great day!

Where are we at in the adoption process? Here....doing paperwork and online Hague training . Paper Pregnant!

Some days are like this: And some days are like this: But everyday, I love her!

Wow, what news we got today! I am a member of our adoption agency's online forum for parents waiting for special needs children from China. The agency's China Team also posts on that board to get news out for the agency. Anyways....... Their post today said they are desperately seeking families willing to adopt special needs boys from China. They would probably be matched immediately!!!! That's us!!!!!!! So, that means that once I turn 30 and submit our paper work we should recieve a match quickly. So we may have a new son by the end of 2011 if all continues on the same path. Of course there are MANY steps between here and there and many places for snags in the process. But I am very hopeful that the wait won't be as long as we first thought. Celebrate with us today for good news in a sometimes very tedious process! : )

I have started this post several times and it just seems like one of those posts where words can't do justice to the story. The story of our second child will be so different and complex, and simplifying to a blog post is difficult. When all is said and done, the plan is to adopt a boy from China who has medically correctible or minor special needs. That sentence sounds so simple, but arriving at that sentence is far from simple. This post may get long but I hope you'll stick with it. It's my heart and I'm sharing it with you. For those of you that are close to me, it will come as no surprise that we have decided to adopt an Asian child. One my friends recently said to me, "Anyone who talks to you for more than five minutes knows you want an Asian baby." And the truth is, this has been my heart's desire for a very long time. Before I knew Tom, before I had Bethany, I wished for this. I had even read books about adoption from China before I was married....

I decided to make this blog private and only let those of you who actually know us in some way into my blog thoughts. The world is still free to access my Panama City Playground Blog , although that also has been made more private (more anonymous pics, less specific detalis, etc,). I started noticing that many people from around the world were visiting my blogs and that's a bit scary. So, I wanted to scale down and know eaxctly who was reading this one. Tomorrow is the big meeting with our adoption agent. I am very excited and have already made a welcome to our house and lives strawberry cake (Bethany and I picked the strawberries fresh today). It's just an informational meeting, but for me it feels like saying "Okay, let's be parents" all over again. There's a person from an adoption agency coming to our house. She comes bearing answers and paperwork that will help us add another child to our family forever. That's HUGE! Thrilling and scary. I think it...

There are days where children scream, and hit, and won't eat, and are very difficult to handle. But that was last Wednesday. This Wednesday was full of laughter, tickles, requests to "eat", calling mommy's oboe a "bobo", sliding, swinging, bubbles, smiles, and those days are joyful!! Can I just freeze time and stay here a bit longer? Can I keep smelling those blonde curls, kissing those tiny toes, tickling that buddah belly? "You're going to miss this You're going to want this back You're going to wish these days Hadn't gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you're going to miss this"

I hope you all had as wonderful of an Easter as we did. We had a great time worshiping at WUMC in the morning and then a great time with family in the afternoon. I continue to bask in the joy of the risen Lord as we enjoy the outdoors and spring! : ) We spend much of our days outside, saying "hi" to roly polies, blowing bubbles, using sidewalk chalk, sliding, splashing, listening to birds, pointing at planes, laughing, and enjoying life. What a wonderful life it is! Next Saturday is our appointment with our adoption worker! To say I am excited would be an understatement! I need her to answer a few questions and then I think we'll be ready to dive in. I've read ALOT so I am hoping there will be no surprises in what she has to say. I am hoping for confirmation of what I already know. I am hoping that next weekend, we can fully share our hearts and our path with you. There's a lot of hope going on isn't there? We continue to search for a house. We are looki...

Today is actually good Friday and we're reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus gave for us and anticipating the celebration of our risen Lord! We're excited to host Tom's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and our twin nieces on Sunday (complete with Easter egg hunt). And of course, we'll skype or talk to my family down in Lakeland. I had a stomach bug yesterday- I lost about four pounds. Not quite the weight loss boost I was looking for. Bethany turned 20 months Wednesday. Here's the latest bear picture: I was saying "aaah-choo" to try and get her to smile so this is her saying "choo" in response. She's still working on lots of teeth. Not so fun for her or us. And she has the sniffles. But she's on antibiotics so that should ward off an ear infection. Why is she on antibiotics? Well, she got an ant bite that got infected and it resulted in a trip to the doctor and this: She's also showing lots of interest in potty training. I need to...