Camping out at the Rogers

Well, since summer is almost done....(which I can't get over), and we never made it out to Alum Creek or Hocking Hills yet to offically camp, we decided to do it in our own backyard!
Caden and Maylie got to stay over night for a sleepover and we did it out back in our tent!
It ended up being a perfect night to sleep outdoors, the weather was beautiful and we all(or I should say, the kids)slept like rocks! Unfortunately, due to our yard being on a slop, Jeff and I did not have the most comfortable conditions for sleeping! Oh well, it was worth it to see how much fun Charlie, Caden and Maylie had!
As we approach the end of August, the rumors about the next batch of babies arriving next month are starting. So far I am hearing China may have only matched 3 days worth.....PLEASE, PLEASE pray with us that that is not the case. I know what will be, will be, but it will be hard to accept if they do that b/c it just lengthens the wait for us.......
Time will only tell, but we want our sweet daughter to be, our Sophie Ruth, to know that no matter how much longer it takes to get to you, we will wait patiently and stay strong for you!
It is only time now, and it can't get any worse...only more close to you!
One more thing I wanted to share, is how sweet and ready your big brother to be is for you. On almost a nightly basis, he prays for you, his sister to be, at dinner time prayers and again at bedtime prayers.
Then, the other night while filming him and daddy playing baseball in the backyard, he took it upon himself to candidly leave you a message on the video camera, wait till you see it. It was so precious it brought tears to my eyes. He said, "hi sophie, I can't wait for you to come home and I can teach you to play baseball with me. I am always going to protect you and care for you and feed you your bottles, I love you so much"
How sweet is that? I have learned so much patience through Charlie alone during this process. He has never complained, only questioned, why this wait is so long, and he has never given up hope or a positive spirit in waiting for his sister! And he finally helped us pick her name: Sophia Ruth Rogers!!!!
We love you Sophie Ruth
Love, Mommy

Summer fun at Cedar Point August 07

Daddy's summer family event with work this year was at Cedar Point! We had soooo much fun, and hadn't been there in 10 years or more. It was especially fun b/c daddy and I grew up going here every summer when we were small, so it was great reliving all the fun through Charlie. And boy was Charlie a dare devil! He rode any ride that he could, and LOVED the roller coasters(He is Poppies boy)! I could barely handle the choo-choo roller coaster pictured above, and while on it, it went soooo fast I thought for sure Charlie would freak out, but no, just me freaking out, he LOVED it!!!! I was shaking when we got off!(I know, I've become a wimp in my old age, but it really was FAST!) If the line was not so long he would have rode it again and again.

Gramma Jean, Auntie Kim, Uncle John, Ashley, Austin, Scott, Aunt Emily and her friend Natalie all joined us for a day of fun in the sun, thanks guys for coming along, it wouldn't have been as fun without you all!

My Sophie girl I can't wait for you to experience Cedar Point with us to some day. We saw so many different families with children from China there, most through adoption, and some not, and I could not help thinking it was not a coincidence, but a sign from God that you will be with us some day soon, and hopefully next year at Cedar Point when we go again.

I love you so much already Sophia Ruth Rogers.....Charlie and daddy too.

Summer fun at the Columbus Clippers game

Two weeks ago we took Charlie to his first baseball game, The Columbus Clippers! I wasn't sure if Charlie would get bored or not, but much to my surprise he LOVED it! He sat through the entire game and was so interested in each play....maybe we have a future baseball player in the family!

August baby matches in!

Well, it's that time of the month again, the next set of matches have been made and are being delivered to families as I speak......Once again, as happy as I am for all those families, the Chinese Gov. did not do cover that many days again, only 7 days.....they are STILL on November of 2005, and only got to people logged into the adoption program up to Nov. 21st 2005. So since there are only 30 days in the month of November, that means in order for them to finally finish that month up, they need to match 9 days worth of families on September 1st....PLEASE PRAY with us that that happens. I just can't imagine them going into October of this year, still matching families in that NOV of 2005

I know, this is soooo confusing for most reading this, hopefully those of you close enough to me understand all this! And if you don't, just keep in mind we are logged into the program March 15 2006......only four months later from where they are now!

Okay, and one more thing, CONGRATS, CONGRATS to our dear friends Tressa and Alan, who will be seeing their precious babys face today if not Monday!!! Their log in date was November 16th 2005!!! This is their first child and they have been waiting two years or more since the day they started this journey. Their little girls name is Mattie! Please say a pray for them and sweet Mattie girl as well, I am sure they are out of their minds right now with a flood of diff. emotions!!! We are soo happy for them and can't wait to see Matties picture!!!!!

I love you so much already my Sophie girl(still her name, hee-hee)....I can't tell you enough how real you are to me already, and each day that I feel down about having to wait so long for you to join us, I just close my eyes and see what I imagine your face to be and I am filled with such love and peace and I know without a doubt you will be ours some day soon!!!!

Love, Mommy!

Mommy having fun with her brothers/summer 2007

Well, Aunt Krista and I took Grandy up on her offer to stay home with the kiddos one night, so we could go hang with the guys! We had so much fun going out with "the bachelors" (dougie and corey), and all of Dougies friends from home!
And lastly, a family photo shot before we all had to head back home! And what a great photo it turned out to be!
I thank God everynight for this family he has blessed me with!
And our sweet Sophie Ruth, I can see you standing there with us already!!! It won't be long!
Love, Mommy

Charlie and his cousins in Ky

We had a long get away weekend in Ky with all my family! Uncle Chris/Aunt Krista, Charlie's cousins, Emi/Abi/Owen, Uncle Corey and Uncle Dougie, all met at Poppie and Grandys! as always, Charlie had so much fun with them! We did lots of swimming in their pool and also went to the Louisville Slugger museum and learned all about baseball bats!
Oh Sophie girl, I can't wait for you to be tagging along with the whole gang next year! I just know you are going to fit right in! Love, Mommy

Vacation Bible School 2007

Well, I can't believe another year of VBS is here and gone! Last night was Charlie's recital for Vacation Bible School and boy was he ever a star! Both, Jeff, Grandy and I sat there and watched him take the stage, and sing and dance his heart out, no fear whatsoever, such a little ham! And then the three of us said, "hmmm who does Charlie take after getting up on that stage and being such a little show off????" And we all had one answer: UNCLE CHRIS!!!!! And now most of you will know why that is so funny!! He's all you Uncle Chris, hee-hee!!!!!!
And once again I have to post, you better be here with us watching your big brother next year at VBS my sweet baby girl.....oh, and I think we have finally found a name that all three of us absolutely agree on.......Sophia Ruth Rogers....and Charlie said he wants to call her baby Sophie.....
We'll see, as you all know me, nothing's set in stone yet!

Adoption poem for our daughter to be

I found another poem, and again no author known, but loved it and wanted to journal it for our little girl! Also, the pic posted is from a wedding we attended last weekend, July 14th 2007. So here's the poem:

Once there were two women, who never knew each other.

One you do not remember

the other you call mother.

Two different lives, shaped to make yours one.

One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first gave you life, the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.

One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile, the other will dry your tears.

One gave you up......

It was all she could do.

The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears, the age old question through the years-

Heredity or Environment...which are you a product of?

Neither my darling daugther, just two different kinds of love!

We love you so much our baby girl to be!!! Love, Mommy

The July Stork has arrived

Congrats to all the precious waiting families that are seeing their babies faces for the first time this week! The November families that were logged into China through November 14th 2005 have been matched! Although I am a bit sad that they are STILL on Nov 05....at least they are still moving along and matching families. So all those families have waited 20 months....I feel for each and every one of them, we've been waiting 16 months since we were logged into the Chinese Gov. Match Dept.(and actually 20 months since the day we applied to adopt)

So right now, the "rumor" is that this wait will probably reach two or more years...meaning we are not expecting anything until late winter/early spring. Unless, there is a miracle and China starts matching the months quicker(which is not out of the question, it CAN happen so please pray with us), then maybe we will hear something sooner than winter.....

So for now Gods blessings to all those families that can say they are FINALLY done waiting and can now start their journey home with their new babies!!!

And to our sweet girl, we know that stork will be carrying you home to us one day very, very soon....we will wait patiently with open arms, and we know without a doubt this wait is going to be worth every second just to get to you! We love you! Mommy, Daddy and Charlie

Fair on the fourth of July and fireworks with the Ruldolph family!

Charlie went on his very first fair ride at the Orange County fair on the 4th. Of course mommy had to go with him, and boy has my stomach changed over the years, I could barely keep my eyes open from the dizziness!!! Charlie loved it!
We then had dinner with our dear friends, the Rudolph family, and went to see fireworks afterwords! We are so very thankful for the friends and family in our lives and for this wonderful country we were so blessed to be born into! Happy Birthday America 2007!!

Pre-Fourth of July celebrations and Parade!

The night before the fourth we went to a friends for dinner and kicked off the holiday with sparkler fun! Then on the fourth in the morning we went to our town parade and had a blast! Charlie caught so much candy he said it was like halloween! Oh baby girl, you better be here with us next fourth of July celebrating! We love you already more and more each day!
More festive pic's to come!

Happy Birthday Daddy 2007

happy birthday daddy! We love you sooooo very much and hope you have a very special day today to celebrate you! We are so proud to have you in our lives and love you more than you can ever imagine! Love Amy and Charlie!

New tree planted for our baby to be

Okay, so the old weeping cherry tree we originally planted for our baby girl had to go.....we jumped the gun planting it way to early and it didnt make that April frost we had!

But not to worry, we have a new one for her, not a cherry tree, but a crabapple tree. Which still will produce baby pink flowers in the spring(which is all I cared about), and is still a fruit tree(which is all Jeff and Charlie cared about)!

Sorry this pic is sideways, but you know me, I can't figure out how to turn it, so you'll just have to tilt your heads!

No news yet on the July baby matches....I will post as soon as we know. Please pray for us that they have either finished matching the November families, or are almost finished so they can move onto December.....and then move along to us in March!!!!

We love you baby girl(notice we still are not set on a name......maybe Miah, maybe Chloe, maybe Sadie.......too many cute girl names out there!!!)

Blessings to all!

Happy Fathers Day 2007

What a super lucky boy Charlie is to have such an awesome daddy! We had so much fun for fathers day weekend, poolside at poppie and grandys! It was hot, hot, hot, so we were glad to cool off! We pray next year daddy will have two little ones to hold and love for fathers day!
What a lucky little girl she will be to have him!

Hanging out with Grandy!

Well, another new month is here, and China has not matched up very many people with babies again. They are still working on matching people logged into their system, November of 05....(remember we are 4 months later, March of 06). But, they only matched through the 6th of November. We were praying they would finish November and then in July be on to December....but didn't work that way.

So, we are still waiting, and still praying and missing you our baby girl every day.

Maybe next month will be better, but no matter what, it WILL bring us a bit closer to you!

Thanks Grandy for coming to visit with Gramma Ruth! Charlie always has so much fun with you!

A poem for our sweet waiting daughter

This picture is from this past December 06 at a candle lighting ceremony for all the waiting families adopting from China.
This poem I am going to write I found awhile back, author unknown, and I love it, and dedicate it to our soon to be baby girl!
Kisses in the Wind
We hold you in our hearts, and touch you in our dreams
You are here each day with us, at least thats how it seems.
We know you wonder where we are, and what's taking us so long,
But remember child we love you so and God will keep you strong.
Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin, b/c tonight, just as always, we are blowing you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in his hands until we can be with you.
We promise you, our darling girl, we're doing all we can do.
Very soon you'll have a family for real, not just for pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, we're blowing you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in his arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that we send to you each and every night!

We love you so very much already sweet baby Rogers, and are counting down each day...b/c each day we are getting closer to you!!!!
Love, Mommy!

Weekend at the track for Kentucky Derby 07

We had soooooo much fun at Grandy and Poppies this last week with Auntie Kim, Uncle John, Ashley and Austin. We traveled there for the Derby. Auntie Kim, Poppie and I won a couple different races, it was so exciting. Uncle Dougie also flew in for the festivities, and Auntie Kim and I had so much fun with him and his friends. Grandy is such a fun Gramma and spent lots of time playing with Charlie, Ashley and Austin. Can't wait for next years Derby and hopefully you'll be there with us my sweet baby girl