The Fanning Four

Can I just say something? Um.......it is HOT!!! Like 100 degrees hot in FL right now!!! I am not one of those that complains about the cold in the winter and the hot in the summer. I appreciate the cold. LOVE it- bring it on! But the summer heat- ugh!! I almost moved to Alaska after seminary- no really, I did consider it. Then I thought about moving to NY. Cold, I can handle. But hot is too hot for me. So..... summer with a toddler who LOVES to be outside is not always the picture of bliss! : ) Ok, it still is bliss, but bliss with a lot of sweat! I am not sure if you've heard or not but there's been an oil spill.....Oh, you've heard? Well, I'll spare you the details then. But, it's headed this way, and unless God decides to stop it before it gets to PCB, well, it will be here eventually. So, all us PCBers are trying to soak up the beach while we can. At this point I will refer you back to paragraph one for a reread. So, I decided to take Bethany to the beach to...

 22 Months old! Can you believe we're just 2 months from Bethany turning 2 years old?!?! CRAZY! What a delight she is! She is such a funny, strong, adorable, loving child. This month, she FINALLY started calling me momma. Praise Jesus! I think what helpes was that she would ask me to write "daddy" and I would always write "mommy" as well so she could see the difference in the letters and see that they were different words. And out of the blue one day, she said "momma" and she's been calling me that ever since. Occasionally she forgets and says "daddy" but that's ok. She says "What's that?" about 4,567 1/2 times a day She LOVES cats and talks about "kikky's" all the time. She says, "Kikky, here, sit" and pats on her lap. She always looks for cats when we go someplace she thinks she may see one. She naps from 11:30-1:30 every day. She goes to bed at 6:30 pm and wakes up by 6:30 am She loves ...

For the longest time, Bethany has been calling me "daddy". She calls both Tom and I "daddy". It's funny, annoying, cute, quirky. But yesterday and today I've been hearing my sweet little one call me "momma". Has she finally figured it out? I hope so- I love hearing "momma"!!

Tonight, China will release a new list of adoptable children and our adoption agency will pray about and match children with families. New families will be formed tonight! Not us quite yet but we still pray for the discernment of the adoption team that is making those decisions and the parents that have to make the decision to accept the referral. Prayers to them tonight!

I feel like I'm pregnant....... Except I have no heartburn, no trouble sleeping, no swollen feet, no waddle in my walk. What I'm feeling isn't physical but I feel the same emotionally as I did with Bethany. I remember thinking how weird it was to love someone I hadn't even met. How could I already love her so much? How could I care about her already? Well, I feel that way about my son. Based on our timeline calculations (which I fully realize could be totally wrong), there's a VERY strong possiblity that our son is already alive and living his life in China. Like the Bible says, I try not to boast about tomorrow, thinking I know where I will go or what will happen. But let's just pretend it all works out..... Then our son exists. And do you know that I feel fiercely protective of him even though I have no control over what happens to him right now? If I could, I would jump on a plane right now and scoop him up and bring him home with me. Cause right now he...

The next three months, phewwweeee, they exhaust me just to think about them. But it's a good exhaustion. A fun exhaustion! Here's what's going on: It's a busy busy time for Tom at work- but we're still running together in the mornings, training for a faster 5k! We're still waiting to hear about a house. If it goes our way, we'll be moving in two months! We are in the midst of major Nicaragua trip planning. Tom will be going in late July, early August as the team leader. I am the administrative planner for the trip. I am working a Chrysalis retreat next weekend. I have a few seminary friends coming to visit in a few weeks! Yahooo!!! We will be making a trip to Lakeland to see friends and family in early July and will attend a wedding while there. Some of my former youth which I now call friends will be visiting us in July. We have tons of birthdays and holidays to celebrate! Bethany will turn 2! 2, can you believe it?!?! We will finish up our adopt...

I definitely think I love my mom even more now that I'm a mom. Thanks mom for everything you've done for me!!! You're the best!! Thanks Bethany for 21 months of laughter, hugs, kisses, and fun! Thanks to my son for persevering in a tough situation. Even though we don't know each other yet, I love you and care about you. I wish we could be together today but we will be one day soon! Thanks to my husband for helping me be the best mom I can be. And to Jean who raised a wonderful man and is a wonderful Nana to Bethy.