Preparing for the BIG #1

(POSTED BY JASON)
Well, tomorrow is the big day. I have not anticipated a birthday like this since I turned 16. I remember daydreaming about all the freedom being 16 would give, all of the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead of me, yet to be discovered. In a sense, tomorrow has the same feeling, obviously for Halle-Grace and not for myself, but the anticipation is the same. Tomorrow will be the first of, what I pray, to be many, Many, MANY more birthdays to come. What will her interests be? What will be her profession? Who will her husband be? (That is an easy one, NO ONE, because she will not ever be allowed to date!!!)

I just looked back through last year’s planner to see what I was doing this time last year. Nothing is on my calendar, and what is not said, speaks volumes. I was doing absolutely NOTHING. Well, I am sure I was not just sitting on the couch staring at a wall, but relatively speaking, whatever it was that I was doing meant nothing. Everything pales in comparison. I look at life in two stages now. PRE-Halle-Grace and WITH-Halle-Grace. There were a lot of things I thought were important during the PRE years. HA! I used to even think that Birthday parties were a little over the top and not really worth making a big deal over. Let’s just say I have rethought that point.

It is amazing we all have been home now for almost two months. This time has FLOWN by. 99.9% of me wants time to crawl by and have her stay this age forever. She is so much fun. But all the new things she does only happen because she is growing and developing brain cells. Not to wish her, or my life away, but .1% of me will be happy when she outgrows Blues Clues. But then again, if that purple dinosaur comes back in style, I will put up with an overly chipper dude who is infatuated with green striped shirts…if you know what I am talking about, Lord bless you!!!

Jason


More from Mama...
We are excited to watch her tear into a cake! We promise photos!!!

She received a card in the mail from Nanny today. Nanny sends her cards for every occasion...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday....so SWEET! She loves her nanny (all kids love nanny) and we appreciate all of her help with the up-coming birthday bash!

Cake-face photos coming soon!

Speaking of photos...the 1st OFFICIAL Professional Photographer for Princess Halle-Grace(for both her birthday bash and the Devine Christmas photos) is Angela Shea. Her work in amazing!!! Check out her masterpieces at www.angelasheaphotography.com
We are super excited to be working with Angela and I know Halle-Grace will give her more than enough entertainment to work with!
Get ready Angela...she's a ham!

Congratulations Hunter and Hannah

Halle-Grace's cousins, Hunter and Hannah are on a roll!!! On Saturday, Hannah won her 1st Cheerleading competition at Gardner Webb University! The West Lincoln Pee Wee team took home TOP honors. On Sunday, Suzie, Mike, Hannah & Hunter went to the Panthers game...another great victory....Hunter got a deer and this morning he & Suzie attended the "BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS" at West Lincoln Middle School. Hunter made the HONOR ROLL! I am so proud of them both! When I get a photo from the breakfast of champions, I'll post it.

WE LOVE YOU BOTH AND ARE PROUD OF YOU!

The world was preparing for a tiny miracle...one year ago (posted by Jason)

(Photo taken on Adoption Day, September 1, 2008 in TQ)

Actual Warning on Hair Dryer: “Warning – Do not use this product while still in the shower.”

Well, DDUUUUHHHH, as Halle-Grace would say. But the fact of the matter is that the warning is on there because someone somewhere tried to use the thing while in the shower. Sometimes the obvious still needs to be said, which is the reason for my blog entry this time.

Just as obvious as not using a hair dryer in the shower, this message may seem as obvious, but then again, based on some things I have heard in the past 48 hours I am not so sure.

Within the past two days we have been asked by different people, “What are you going to tell Halle-Grace about her adoption? Do you think she will have any identity issues with being adopted and wondering if you could love her like your own?” Aside from lovingly smacking people like this, (obviously not the appropriate response), I want to shake them and try and make them hear how ludicrous this actually sounds.

Even though people say she favors me somewhat…looking at Shannon will tell her she is clearly adopted (remember the lady in Vietnam who took photos of Shannon because she stuck out like a sore thumb). Telling her she is such will be as easy as her looking at her mom.

Now for the second part, will she wonder if we could love her as much as our own? I simply say SHE IS OUR OWN. We may not be compatible as organ donors for Halle-Grace, but she is our child. Quite frankly we are simply the stewards of God’s child, the same as our parents are to us. She is HIS and he has blessed us with an ultimate child to love and care for. I am however grateful that he entrusted us to care for and love her during my time on earth.

Halle-Grace will face many issues in life, as we all do. She will have her heart broken by someone sometime (I’m gonna kill him!), she will know the frustration of being outside of the group sometime, she will experience being laughed at for some reason, she will be called some name by someone (I’ll kill that jerk too). These are things that we all experience at one time or another in our lives. But there is one thing she will NEVER experience. She will NOT KNOW what it feels like to doubt the love of all of her parents; her birth parents for loving her enough to consciously leave her at a conspicuous place to be found and cared for at the orphanage, ultimately to be given to us. And she will NEVER doubt our love for her! Shannon and I both simply will not allow that to happen. Quite the opposite, I fear her trouble will be embarrassment from the frequent, repeated, open showers of affection from us that she is doomed to endure forever!!!

So as we near one-year anniversary of this world being a better place I reflect on the greatest worldly gift I have ever received. God blessed us with an ultimate gift and responsibility. We near her first birthday and I hope and pray I get to experience and celebrate MANY, MANY, MANY more with her before I am called on. I hope to see you all at the celebration one week from today!

The most BLESSED dad on earth!

Jason

Thoughts for the day....

* Lala, we are thinking about you! I am so sorry for your loss, this has been the most painful two months for our babies (angels in fur) I know Gabby Girl took her under her wing and they are running and playing! We love you! We miss Gabby so much. I have my daily cry then tell myself...I WILL see her again! If heaven is a perfect place, and I know it is...Gabby and your baby are there waiting!

* Happy 8th Birthday Lizzy! We are so proud of you!

* Halle-Grace went to the doctor and hasn't gained a bit of weight. Our tiny miracle who will be a year old in 6 days weighs in at a whopping 16 pounds. She looks and acts healthy, so it's no biggie!

Halle-Grace is telling you how old she is "1"

* You gotta see Lulu jump!!! It is really a hoot. www.bringhomelulu.com

* I am back to work so bullet points may become the new way of blogging. LOL

* Busy busy busy planning a party

* We are blessed

Halle-Grace LOVES shoes...her newest addition...zebra/hot pink boots!!!

"Personalized books"

WOW! They make it all these days! UPS delivered a package this afternoon addressed to Halle-Grace Devine...inside we found two personalized books for Halle-Grace thanks to the Asheville District AstraZeneca Family! They are perfect! What a neat and memorable gift! THANKS!!!

Once again...it's the attitude face!

Early Birthday Surprises and our wish

Halle-Grace is receiving early birthday wishes even though her birthday is not until next Wednesday (November 19th). It is hard to believe our tiny miracle is going to celebrate her 1st birthday!
In the last few days she has received cards and gifts from various friends to include the ASU Alumni Association. She will wear her ASU gear with PRIDE! If they make it to the Championship Game for the 4th time, we will for sure take her to see them win #4 in a row! Chancellor Peacock and staff, along with the AWESOME alumni association have been there for support since the beginning of our journey to Halle-Grace...in 2006!

Last night Halle-Grace had a VERY special guest!!! She LOVES LOVES LOVES Heather! She was trying her best to pull EVERY trick out of her bag to impress Heather. She did her touchdown, told her how old she will be next week (by showing her #1), growled, spit (just a little), showed her the "attitude" face and head shake (that is new), and of course said DDDUUUUHHHH and much more. She continued to go through her tricks in hopes of entertaining Heather! She is just TOO FUNNY!

TOUCHDOWN!!!


Nanny visited and presented Halle-Grace with a BEAUTIFUL personalized castle. It is gorgeous, I have never seen anything like it! Nanny, we LOVE it!!! We must find a way to SAFELY display it at the Birthday Bash! And, Papaw Ronnie...thanks for all of your help. You and Jason did so much yesterday! As soon as the 13' tree is up and decorated we will return the ladder! ANYONE can come help with that task!!! LOL

Now for the wish...Jason and I have been thinking a LOT about Halle-Grace and this time last year! One year ago, someone made the most beautiful, unselfish decision...to place Halle-Grace in the care of the nannies at the orphanage. God knew she would be placed in our care in His time. As we reflect on what this time means for Halle-Grace...excitement, fun, ripping into presents, hearing "Happy Birthday to you..." and of course eating CAKE, we can't help but think and pray that someone out there will be blessed beyond belief! There is simply no way to ever repay her birth parents for the gift they gave!!! I hope wherever they are and whatever they are doing...God will in His special way let them know and even give them a glimpse of what life it like for her now! We love her more than we ever thought possible and she is for sure, the most amazing miracle we have witnessed! God Bless Halle-Grace on her 1st birthday and please bless her birth parents!

What is Halle-Grace up to??

...being too cute...

...and of course, up to NO good!

This kid is so funny and way too lovable! She now says DUH (and really draws it out...DDUUUHHHHH), mama, da da, bye bye, a lot of things I don't understand as well. When you ask her how old she is going to be she puts her tiny finger up to show us "1". Our TV stays on Noggin or Sports Center...so when you say "touchdown" she throws both hands straight up in the air! She is really hilarious!!! She dances when she hears ANY music and she nods her head YES all the time when you ask her questions! She is still growling, spitting (but not as much as she once was...thank goodness) and she LOVES shoes
...my kind of girl! She is the friendliest little thing! She thinks that everyone who comes over is "her company", well, I guess she is right about that!
On Thursday night the YADA YADA sisters came over (Granny and her prayer group). Halle-Grace had them all on the floor playing and she LOVED entertaining them! She is ONE MORE HAM! We didn't get a photo so the YADA YADA group has to come back so they can be featured on the blog!

This morning Jason took Halle-Grace to Maa Maa's house. Halle-Grace's new best buddy... Maa Maa..aka.."Miss Peggy" is going to keep Halle-Grace a few days each week. I am going back to work next week. I am blessed to have a career that I love to return to, however, I am sad because HOW MUCH FUN would it be to just stay home with my princess and play dress-up and dance to "Go Gabba Gabba", sing with Moose A. Moose and Zee on Noggin...but there's this annoying thing called adulthood, responsibilities and bills! SO, I thank God for Maa Maa who is an answered prayer. Today she LOVED Maa Maa and Pap Pap! I think they are pretty smitten with her as well. Her little suitcase was all packed and ready. Maa Maa told us to bring one of everything to her house to include bottles and food, etc. so we would not have to pack a diaper bag when she stays. She told us to just bring her in her PJs and she would take it from there! Aunt Krista is VERY excited about this arrangement! I think I want to stay at Maa Maa's house too!

"This is my dad's favorite outfit so far! Thanks Ellis & Evan!"

Looking for Colby Cat

Headed back to maa maa & pap pap's house!

I love this kid!

And they wonder why you act so wild?!?

The "sweet as pie" face...that's Halle-Grace


Today was one of those "story book" days with Halle-Grace! We had so much fun playing dress up in her room (I think I had more fun than she did). She is such a fun-loving, hilarious child! She will allow you to do just about anything (as you can see from the photos). I just can't get enough of her and that magical personality!


SO...earlier today, Jason was yelling from our master bathroom for help! I ran to see what was going on and I immediately saw water shooting as high as the 13' ceilings (scalding hot water)! He was in the process of changing the facet covers when something obviously went "not as planned"! He told me to hold a towel over the "FOUNTAIN" and he would crawl under the house to cut the water off. I put Halle-Grace in her pack and play and she LAUGHED out loud at her mom getting soaked with scalding hot water! I would yell "ouch, ouch, ouch...HURRY JASON" and she would just yell with laughter! Luckily, an EMERGENCY plummer was at the house in less than 20 minutes (NO hot water left) but the problem was fixed! Just the Devine way of "MAKING MEMORIES".

While Jason cleaned the mess, we played more and had a "bow show"! I am telling you, Halle-Grace totally cracks me up! We played "I am your agent" and made commercials/ photo shoots for various products (Carters Diaper Bags, J&J safety Q-tips and more silly/made up things)...she would nod her head like, "yeah mom I am with ya on this one, let's make some college money for this shot". The photos tell the rest of the story!

"Yes, you can fit your baby inside the Carter's diaper bag"
Carter's Bags are incredibly durable! Buy yours today!


I LOVE THIS KID!!! ENJOY the BOW show!

On a more serious note:
Simply Angelic!

Halle-Grace woke up with a happy face this morning after a rough night of MEAN teething!
I was on "duty" which means for me, I have to stay awake, otherwise, Jason will not wake me up to help out and trust me, I can sleep through a tornado! So, to stay awake, I watched the election coverage. As I was watching the acceptance speech from our newly elected President, I found myself covered in goose bumps with tears rolling down my cheeks! I felt a sense of pride for the FIRST time since enduring so much RED TAPE during our journey to our tiny miracle. To know Halle-Grace, who lived in an orphanage from her birth on Nov. 19, 2007 until she was placed in our arms on September 1, 2008, NOW lives AND is a citizen of the best nation in the world...has the opportunities and freedom to do and become whatever her little heart desires JUST did it for me! The emotions, I could not hold back! I reflected on all that Jason & I and our entire family endured during our fight for our daughter and ALL of the TQ families who went through the same feelings, disappointments, sleepless nights, hitting "check mail" 1000 times to see if maybe, just maybe HCM Adoptions had responded, pleading/begging with our representatives to help...and NOW, FINALLY, the end result that is SO story book perfect! Angels from a Northern Province in Vietnam are being placed/or have already been placed in the arms and care of their FOREVER FAMILIES! I had a renewed sense of "I can do it too". If nothing else, it gives me, a new parent, hope for tomorrow and hope for raising Halle-Grace to know that nothing will hold her back...unless she allows fear to rear its ugly head... and from what I can already tell, this little one has the will, determination, personality, and charm to be the first asian, female President if she wants to be!! Seriously, if we don't have hope, we have nothing and I choose to press forward! Who cares about "party lines" especially when you have lived through the "journey of adoption"...it's a miracle and nothing less! The TQ families know what I mean!

Jason and I are incredibly blessed to call this beautiful, tiny miracle...OUR DAUGHTER!!!

Halle-Grace already making HEADLINES!

Visit the link below if you would like to read "our feature story". November is National Adoption Month, let's celebrate!

www.besteveryou.com/feature3.htm

Congratulations to ALL of the TQ families. I have NO idea how we would have made it without you. We all fought with the #1 goal in mind, OUR CHILDREN! Hey HOT HENS, we made it into the article!!! Now it's time to help HENS everywhere!

Kris Ann, I am praying for you! I am so sorry to hear about Quincy. I know he & Gabby Girl are living the "high life" in heaven and we will see them again!

Adoption is an amazing blessing...nothing SHORT of a miracle!

Shannon
(the luckiest mom on the earth)

We support Congressman McHenry!

I will be the first to say I AM SICK of the political commercials and especially the phone calls! I will be very happy when the polls close tomorrow night. HOWEVER, we support Congressman Patrick McHenry!

When no one else would listen or help (those individuals will NOT get my vote tomorrow)...Congressman McHenry never failed us! He & his staff followed our adoption application, helped us through our RFE nightmare and made sure the US Embassy in HCM had our response even while Halle-Grace and I were in Vietnam! AND NO, I am not being asked by Congressman McHenry or anyone from his staff to write this message!

I think when we are personally in need and someone responds in the way he did, we then realize what true representation means!

Halle-Grace says PLEASE vote tomorrow and exercise the right that she NOW has (well when she is 18) and vote MCHENRY FOR CONGRESS!

Shannon

I am ready to go vote! Thanks Congressman McHenry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LULU....WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!