Pictures that I promised...

Smoochie!

Hugs or vise grip!!
The BOYZ

Luke doing LIMBO

Emy & Luke LIMBO

Got kissed?

By Emy & Lena--look at those LIPS

Giggles

Dress up

Emy picking Luke up--he weighs a whole 8 pounds less than her!!

Father-Daughter Dance!!

Makeup

Corsage, too!

Daddy did good!

Siblings

These are the shoes Emy learned to walk in.

I am going to try to have them bronzed.

My happy boy

And my sweetie pie girl

Luke helps with laundry!

Hope you guys enjoyed looking at these as much as I did!! Have a GREAT weekend.

I have had the CRUD

and I don't like it one bit! I want to feel better. This time around, my asthma kicked in--BAD!!! I am feeling a little bit better, coughing a little less. Now, my right ear hurts really bad when I swallow, yawn, make any movement at all with my mouth---no smart remarks, please--yes, maybe I've been a "little" quieter around the house :o)

I will try to post some pics soon. Emy's final cheering day is this Saturday and she started soccer last Saturday. Luke is doing well in his therapy classes. Alot is going on, will post more soon, I promise.

Later taters.

Please pray for Abby

Little Miss Abby Riggs is in the hospital again and she is in quite a bit of pain. Please, please pray for this beautiful child. She needs our prayers to make it through this round of chemo. Please visit her blog. See button to the right of this post...she is the beautiful Guatemalan. There is an awesome video on their blog of a teenager (boy) who sent her video to make her smile. Please go and watch--it's amazing!

Fevers, coughs, and meds, oh my!!

It has been a very rough week. Luke has had pneumonia (again) and Emy has the 'crud'. They have lovingly passed this to their mama. Thanks guys!

I am coughing, Emy is coughing, Luke is coughing! It is not pretty!

But they are medicating and I am Airborne-ing. And we will make it through. Nights are so much worse than days with this and my babies need SLEEP as does their MAMA!! I would ask that y'all please pray for our quick recoveries and that Darrell doesn't get blessed by this mess.. Thanks so much.

Emy actually feels well enough to play today and has a friend over. Her name is Lena. Cristian, my nephew, is friends with Lena's brother, Jarrett. Soooooo, we have 5 kids tonight!! It has been so much fun listening to all of their laughter, fun and games! Luke is loving it. He loves to be surrounded by people, especially kids!

So, I will leave you with Emy's Bible Verse for the week:

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10

Later y'all.

Cindy

The professional pics of my cheerleader!!

MY SWEET EMY

Yay Luke!

Well, we went for a check up with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon and Luke no longer has to wear his orthopedic boots! We are ECSTATIC!!!!

Luke jumped up and down and clapped saying YAY YAY YAY no more boots!!!

I have taken him up to the alter at church about 4 times to have others pray for Luke's legs and feet and am so happy that God has chosen to improve him enough, strengthen him enough, love him enough.....we are praising God for this great news!!

And, now for the pirate patch....he is still at 2 hours a day.....will let y'all know an update after our next eye doctor visit!

Later,

Cindy

Daddy is da bomb!

I wanted to let everyone know that we just celebrated our 17th anniversary (on Feb 2nd). Whew! Time sure does fly when you're having fun! Darrell and I met at Mama's Kitchen, a seafood restaurant where I worked. He would come in on our busiest night and aggravate me to no end, asking to taste test his food before he would buy it! The NERVE! Needless to say, I dreaded seeing him walk through that door! He told me the first time he met me that he wanted to marry me--UGH! The NERVE! He asked me out over and over and over and over, well you get the picture?? So finally, I said to him "If I go out with you and don't like you, will you leave me alone forever?" He said "It's a deal". The NERVE!

Wellllllllll, hmmmmmmm, I really liked the way he was so polite and nice to me, soooooooooo, I kept going out with him; off and on really for a while ( 3 months) and then pretty serious for about (9 months). Then he popped the question or, rather "told" me that he was "claiming" me. My hillbilly boyfriend!! So we were married at Myrtle Beach Wedding Chapel (half of my family followed us down there).

And, the first year was the hardest! Just like everyone said it would be. But, my, how the years have flown!

I am so thankful for a loving husband who picks up the kids, takes them to their functions, cooks, cleans and does laundry because I don't always have the time or the energy for it. He is so good to me. I am so proud of him. He works so hard at work and at home and I couldn't ask for a better person to share the day to day with.

Now, we are the proud parents of two of the most precious children that God ever had a hand in creating and I would not change a single second, minute or day of my life! And I will add here that Darrell traveled to India (twice) by himself in order to hand deliver these most precious gifts to their Mommy (me)!!

As Emy would say,
"Daddy is da bomb".

Thumb sucker Luke and big sister Emy--my sweeties.

My babies--slouching, gettin comfy to watch "Cars" the movie.

Please pray for Abby Riggs!!

This is a note I got on facebook today. Abby is a 4 y/o girl who was adopted from Guatemala. She has leukemia. She is going through chemo right now. This is a note her dad wrote to everyone on FB.

To all:
Well, here we go, the hardest part has arrived…Abby can’t hardly walk. She is getting sores all over the soft tissues, head to toe. This is what put her in the hospital for two weeks last time and we thought she wouldn’t survive. She is stronger this time though, has some body weight and a feeding tube this time…. But it is agony for her to go to the bathroom, even just tinkle.The complications from toxicity and susceptibility to disease are the most dangerous aspect for Abby’s life. The sores are the most uncomfortable part for her. She is miserable. Last time she was on constant morphine drip just to keep her from screaming and crying constantly. She is being admitted this afternoon, and this is where it gets scary for her. We appreciate your prayers. We appreciate you letting other people know to pray.We’ll keep you updated on the

blog: www.riggsfamilyblog.com

Blessings,Brent (and Michelle)

www.brentriggs.comwww.riggsfamilyblog.com

Pictures, pictures, everywhere

Happy Gotcha Day Luke!

To celebrate, we had cake and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Emy said "Mama, do I look like a hoochie mama?". I said, yep, kinda.

Luke's hair is wild in the morning--this is his FAVE shirt.

Guess which one is playing "possum"

My pretty girl

She wrote lots of love notes to Mom--thanks Emy!

The two yay-hoos.

These birds would come and sit on Darrell's shoulders and eat out of his hands.

And Emy's too

Emy won three awards last week.

I am so proud of my girl!

She won the "Terrific Trojan" award which is the all around good student award. They give out 8 per year to each class--I was very PLEASED. She also got two awards for Perfect Attendance for both 9-week sessions.

Happy Gotcha Day #1 LUKE!!

Today is Luke's 1st Gotcha Day. Can y'all believe it's been a year already??

We are actually at Myrtle Beach, SC for the weekend to celebrate Emy's first two GREAT report cards from Kindergarten and Luke's gotcha Day!!!!

Luke is doing so well, so much better than we ever expected and that is just God's hand on him and us. Without God, this would have been a much more difficult transition for all of us. I just praise Him for making it almost easy for us. Don't get me wrong. We still have meltdowns and bad days, but who doesn't?

Luke's English is improving so rapidly. He is now getting some occupational therapy along with some educational therapy in hopes he will be ready for Kindergarten in 2 years...this boy is AMAZING and a PERFECT fit for our family. I am so impressed with this little fellow, my little man, who smiles almost all the time. I so love my Luke--to the moon and back. We are going to have his gotcha day party next weekend, so stay tuned for some good pictures. .

Later taters. . until next post.

Listening to the waves roll in,
Cindy

Facebook is my new best friend!

Y'all.

I love facebook. You know, on the internet where you can keep a list of friends and see what they are up to everyday.

It is so EASY to upload photos on facebook--much easier and faster than on the blog. I want to invite you all to become part of facebook. It is SO EASY in comparison to blogging. I will continue to update my blog weekly but daily, it will be facebook from now on...

My name on facebook is Cindy Taylor Oakley. Go to www.facebook.com, join, find me, and we are on our way.

IT'S SNOWING Y'ALL !

Emy LOVES the snow
Luke is not as sure of it. But he likes to get hit by snowballs.

Emy running from Daddy.

These are Luke's hand-me-down pink Dora boots (the only somewhat waterproof ones we have in his size) :o)

My angel, making a snow angel.

Yep, the scarf is pink too--sorry Luke.

Luke was sooooooo COLD

Sweet smiling girl

And my sweet boy too

Eskimo?

Ditto

Swinging in the snow.

And getting very wet bottoms

Mommy got in on the snowball action too!

And snow for the Sandhills of NC--THAT is a BIG DEAL!!

Luke's first snow!!

Emy's second real snow!!

We have had SO MUCH FUN!!

An adoption poem...

Every call has a beginning.
A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother’s heart.
A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him.
A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns…
Casting its first light on a chosen threshold.
A gentle knock..a closed door opens.
A sacred invitation sent by the Father..
Leads to the other side of the world.
Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows praying for someone to care..
And then one morning,
On an ordinary day an orphan’s life changes...
God sends them a second chance...
Through you.--

author unknown

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY EMY--5 YEARS AGO TODAY, YOU CAME HOME!!

Today, 5 years ago, was a turning point in my life. I became a mother..and I wouldn't take nothing for this journey.....it is the best thing that has ever happened to me..

I love you Emy--to the moon and back!!

I love Luke too but today was ALL about my Emy lou!!

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY EMY LOU!!
Wanted to share Emy's GOTCHA day with you guys. Here are three pages out of her scrap book. Her gotcha day is on January 10th and I will post some pictures from her SURPRISE party later!! We usually just have a very small party for Gotcha Day but it means alot to the kids...they feel very special on their Gotcha Days...I usually make a very big deal out of it. We usually just have a little cake and a little ice cream and a whole lot of fun!!

These pictures were taken at Raleigh Durham airport on January 10, 2004.

I was holding my sweet angel for the very first time..yep, Darrell has traveled twice (alone) to get my babies from India..thank you Darrell.

We were definitely ALL SMILES.

This picture was taken in India when she was right at 11 months old!!
When Emy came home she was almost 14 months old and right at 14 pounds--my very small baby girl...but boy was and is she ever feisty!!
Start to finish--Emy's adoption took 3 years to complete--we were very happy to see her come home!!

We had a great time tonight--we had a small party with close friends and family for Emy's Gotcha Day!!

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Have a blessed night and Sunday!!

Cindy

Please pray for Luke!

My little man has pneumonia and we are doing antibiotics, Prednisone and Albuterol breathing treatments. Please pray that he feels better soon!!

UPDATE (Wed AM)--As of 2:30 this morning (wed) Luke was only running VERY LOW GRADE fever. I hear very little wheezes (if any)now and he slept until then--YAY LUKE!!

Thanks so much for your prayers.