tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43810743932546103482024-03-13T12:41:37.721-07:00A Happy RoadThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-90810721470851797922015-09-05T07:19:00.000-07:002015-09-05T07:21:05.440-07:00Making StridesEarlier this week, Daniel, Little A and I loaded up and headed into
Chicago to meet with Dr. Gaebler-Spira at the Rehabilitation Institute
of Chicago. We really did not know what to expect but we were going
into this appointment hoping to gain a better understanding of what
Cerebral Palsy means for our precious girl. We still don't fully
understand and I am not sure we ever will The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-90378332086578475712015-08-29T10:15:00.000-07:002015-08-31T09:56:22.193-07:00Stretch Marks
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margin-bottom:.The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-51714101100134523422015-08-29T09:15:00.000-07:002015-08-29T09:15:15.302-07:00OvercomeI wish I could share a picture with this post but I can't. At least not a visual picture. My words will not do the scene justice, but I must try.
Good Friday. The cross. Candles. The Lord's Supper beautifully arranged around the foot of the cross. Lights dimmed. Music being played. Voices raised. And then.....
I hear my precious A "singing" with her loudest voice. I glance to my The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-45253747933637304772015-03-02T04:52:00.000-08:002015-03-16T17:47:17.942-07:00A Precious GiftThis afternoon we headed to the cardiologist in hopes of some further answers regarding our sweet girl's medical condition. We did not receive any definitive answers but we did receive two things. First, we received the great news that her heart is in perfect condition. Second, we received a precious gift from God. A heartbeat. Little A's heartbeat.
Every expectant mother anxiously awaitsThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-80831926202967144282015-03-01T04:37:00.000-08:002015-03-03T04:41:48.879-08:006 Months and Almost 4 Years
6 months. Half a year. 184 days. The calendar pages quickly turning marking the time since Little A arrived home. What a whirlwind the past 6 months have been. Full of blessing, hard days, tears, triumphs, questions, growth, unknowns, new experiences, doctors, therapies, likes, dislikes, uncertainties, and GRACE...lots of grace!
6 months of discovering this little person that God has The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-54424981071054777632014-12-31T08:41:00.000-08:002015-01-01T08:42:00.501-08:00New Year, New Story“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.”
― Brad Paisley
I saw this quote this morning as I was perusing social media and it got me thinking about the story God has written in our lives over the past 365 days. 2014 was an amazing year in so many ways. Most especially brining our Litte A home from China.
In the grand scheme of life 365 days is not The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-65094979856431965712014-12-29T10:13:00.000-08:002014-12-30T10:49:48.386-08:00Long Days, Short NightsToday marks 4 months since Little A's homecoming. Four months! So very much has happened over these past 4 months that at times it seems as though she has been home much longer.
Little A is making strides in her language and physical development. Each week we find ourselves being caught by surprise at something she says or attempts to do. Just last night I caught her "running" The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-78552560903841816332014-11-27T12:58:00.000-08:002014-11-28T13:03:22.374-08:00A Thanksgiving Like No OtherHow thankful we are to have our girl home for Thanksgiving this year! As we look back and remember our prayers from 2 years ago we were praying for our daughter who was awaiting us in China. At that time we had only just begun the adoption process and had no idea how long it would be until she was in our arms forever. But still we prayed. We prayed for her to know the loveThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-57276245863770749722014-11-06T11:40:00.000-08:002014-11-06T11:40:05.975-08:00What's Up and Where We AreIt is time for a much overdo update on this here blog. Life has kind of resembled a three ring circus since coming home with Little A. We keep thinking we will hit our stride with a new normal but just when we think we have hit that new normal something else comes our way.
We have been home just a little over 2 months now and it is so very hard to imagine that there was a time The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-78262673925413401602014-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:002014-09-10T16:50:08.225-07:00Special Needs and LabelsMany people have asked us about Little A's medical condition or special needs. We are not offended by this question because it is common knowledge that most children currently being adopted from China have minor to moderate medical conditions. We have also been very open since the beginning of this process that we were adopting through our agency's Child of Promise program which meantThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-18312933717804031572014-09-03T13:44:00.000-07:002014-09-03T13:44:08.626-07:00Baby StepsBaby steps...baby steps....baby steps! We are making baby steps!
Jet lag is still hanging around the Cooley household but I think we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel and a glimpse of the new normal or at least the temporary new normal, as I am sure things will be in a constant state of flux for a little while.
Daniel returned to work today, the girls and I wereThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-33696568895276327002014-08-27T21:35:00.001-07:002014-08-27T21:35:24.658-07:00Preparation for Coming Home
As we prepare to come home Daniel & I feel that we need to work on attachment and bonding. It is extremely important that Annalise learns who her family is.
Daniel and I need to establish our roles as Mama and Baba. We
are making good progress and feel like she is bonding with us but there
are also times when she will seek help from someone else rather than
allowing us to The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-5497065972608197012014-08-22T19:43:00.000-07:002014-08-26T19:54:40.057-07:00Saying GoodbyeToday was the day we boarded a plane and took our daughter away from the place she has known as home for the last 3.5 years. The place full of familiar sights, smells and sounds. The place where she was most likely born.
It was a tough day for us. Tough for many reasons. Our sweet girl is grieving. Her grief is real and it is hard. We have no idea what The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-84801649679710890422014-08-18T19:58:00.000-07:002014-08-26T19:58:33.781-07:00Gotcha!Words cannot express the events of this morning. Two worlds collided as we met our daughter for the first time. It was a whirlwind of action and excitement and nothing at all like I expected it to be.
Daniel and I were filling out paperwork with the rest of our group when we heard some noise from behind. As we turned around our daughter was being carried into the room. The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-87376703886693212922014-08-17T07:36:00.000-07:002014-08-17T07:40:59.181-07:00TomorrowToday as we landed in Wuhan I was suddenly overcome with emotion. We were finally in the same province as our daughter. As we drove the one hour from the airport to our hotel my eyes were fixed upon our surroundings. I wanted to take it all in. To remember. To embed the sights in my mind. This is a piece of her. As we crossed the Yangtze River on the The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-90780848203565191702014-08-13T08:44:00.002-07:002014-08-13T08:44:32.220-07:00On Our WayToday as we board a plane to the other side of the ocean we will begin the journey to the culmination of this almost 2 year adoption process. Words cannot begin to express the emotions we each are feeling. I am not the same person I was on September 18, 2012 when we sent our first application to Holt International. God has stretched me and changed me, buffed away some rough The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-23560016735663505922014-04-04T07:45:00.000-07:002014-04-04T07:45:15.584-07:00SilenceThere has been a long silence on our blog. Days, weeks, even months have passed since our last post. I have several posts swirling around in my head including our referral day post and Little A's 3rd birthday post but to be honest it is hard for me to sit and write about our precious Little A while we continue to wait.
We have had to wait almost 2 months for a specific clearance formThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-30121128811974371922014-01-01T13:07:00.000-08:002014-03-01T10:48:08.236-08:00Trust
"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
At the beginning of October, Daniel's mom asked us if there were certain scriptures we had been praying for our adoption or Little A. At the time there was not a specific verse or verses but it caused us to pause and toThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-67107344990902808282013-12-25T12:44:00.000-08:002014-03-01T10:46:12.272-08:00Our Christmas Wish for Little ALittle A,
Our wish for you this Christmas is that you would know that you are loved and you are wanted. The baby who came and was placed in the manger over 2000 years ago came for you. He came that you might have a relationship with your Heavenly Father, God. Little A, you have a Heavenly Father who loves you much more than any of us can ever comprehend. He formed you in The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-59507652268105970022013-11-28T08:16:00.000-08:002013-11-28T08:16:25.631-08:00A Letter to Little A on Thanksgiving DayLittle A,
Last year at this time we had just begun the adoption process and the journey that would lead us to you. This year, we had hoped we would have our referral and had seen your face by today but that was not the plan. We continue to await our referral. We continue to await the introduction to our little ladybug. Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving and giving The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-23628993572270446272013-09-27T07:07:00.001-07:002013-09-27T07:20:00.823-07:00Tiny WhispersA year ago this month Daniel and I stepped out in faith and sent an application to Holt International in anticipation of adopting a little girl from China. A year ago yesterday we were accepted to Holt's China program. One year! Reaching the one year mark of our journey has been a little hard but in recent days God has provided tiny, gentle whispers to my soul as we continue to The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-37044070340314034022013-08-31T07:50:00.000-07:002013-08-31T07:50:32.488-07:00If I Had A DollarI am sure many of my fellow adoptive mama friends can relate to this post and so I write. As a disclaimer - I am not writing this because I have been offended or hurt. I just wanted to share some things that have been on my mind. If as you read this post you think, "is she talking about me?," chances are the answer is NO.
One of the frequently spouted off comments to The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-43494308130383037212013-07-31T19:30:00.001-07:002013-07-31T19:30:58.967-07:00Becoming Color AwareAs you may already know, there is a lot of training and reading involved in the adoption process. Daniel and I had to complete many hours of online training, read articles and even do homework as part of our home study assessment. One of our take-aways from the training was the idea of being color aware instead of color blind. When we become color aware we acknowledge that thereThe Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-27023206803156380492013-07-26T05:38:00.004-07:002013-07-26T05:38:54.893-07:00EncouragedOne of the most wonderful parts about the adoption journey has been the support and encouragement of friends and family and even people who were strangers to us when the journey began who are now in our cheering section. Daniel and I both know that we could not walk this road alone. It is a long road and the journey that led us to this place was even longer (not just time wise but The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4381074393254610348.post-27275024876175248312013-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:002013-07-23T12:23:00.708-07:00The LatestI wish I had lots of exciting news to share today but we are still in the waiting stage. We have now been on the waiting family list a little over 3 months. This is possibly the halfway point of our wait on this list, possibly not. There are so many unknowns in the adoption journey but we have such peace as we wait and encounter glimpses of God's hand all along the way.
We The Cooleyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00401742601754742311noreply@blogger.com0