Hope Guides Us...

What a year it has been here at the Henry house. To sum this year up in one word it would be hope. All we had at 12 midnight a year ago was just that. Hope that we would hear something, anything that said we could finally bring our baby home. We knew we were going to miss every single first, and we were just resolved to bring her home. Thank God that we didn't have to wait too long into 2007 to finally get that call. Then we hoped we would get to her and everything would go well. And again to get the three of us home safely. We then settled into life and hoped that we could finally slow down.

Hope played a large part in the events following that fateful 3am trip to the bathroom on Feb 19th. As I found myself praying, practically begging for this child inside of me to survive despite the odds that were being laid out for us. Just as I had prayed and practically begged for Lily to come home to us.

It is all the we had to hold onto at times and we did. We never lost sight. We lived day and night this past year hoping that Lily wouldn't hate us because we had gotten pregnant, that I wouldn't loose Charlotte, and a multitude of other things. The one thing that always remained constant was hope.

Now going forward into 2008 we continue to hope, but no longer for ourselves. We now hope for our girls, that they will be healthy and happy and will continue to grow. Chris and I look forward to the future and all that it holds. BRING ON 2008!!

My baby is a Big Girl!!

Well tonight is the night... we took the side off of Lily's crib and placed a bed guard. Lots of nervous excitement in this house tonight... and that is just from Chris and I!!! Lily handled it like a champ... so far. We have found with her that she deals best with matter of fact change. Meaning she likes the just do it and don't go back approach. We can handle that! So we went along with our normal night routine and just went for it. If she does well with this then we will be moving her into her brand new real big girl bed by the end of the month. We want do transition this a little slower b/c once she is out of the crib we are going to be putting Charley in it. We want to try to minimize the amount of jealously. We will post tomorrow to let everyone know how it went!! Keep your fingers crossed!

BIG GIRL!!!!

Making the climb

Checking it out

Charley looking stylish!

We have grown again!!

We have added a playroom!! Gotcha! Heehee please do not even think about that. It would be a medical miracle to say the least ( thank you OB!!). Anyway, yes Chris and I have been hard at work the past two days cleaning out our upstairs and have transformed it into the girl's new playroom. We decided that we would have to do this after trying to put everything away from Christmas and finding that we didn't have any room on the main floor for any of it. For being such small girls their toys are REALLY big!! So now they have a place for all of it, and MOST of it is there. We left several smaller things on the main floor and all the craft things are still down as well. See the next blog for pics of the new room and Lil's new do!! Ohh and Chris got a great shot of Charley's eyes.

Some Pics....

Lily in the new playroom!

Charley's big blue eyes!!

Lily's new do!!

What a Difference a Year Makes.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This is the post from our blog last Christmas day, I can't believe how much has changed for us in a year!!

Merry Christmas everyone. We hope that everyone is having a wonderful day. We are doing well and wanted to thank everyone for your kind words and well wishes today. It truly mean a lot to us and has made this day easier for us.
Our agency is closed for the holiday season. However, if we do receive our Pink information, we will be notified immediately despite the shutdown. Otherwise our next update will be on Lily's birthday, January 2.
Megan has made the most beautiful video for one of my Christmas presents about Lily and our journey to bring her home. So please copy and paste this link and take a look. It is truly amazing. :)
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our family to yours.
Love,
Chris, Megan, Lily, Willie, Gus, and Dusty



I hope that everyone had a great day yesterday. We sure did!! It was better then I could have ever dreamed!! There was one small hiccup on Christmas Eve but that was quickly handled. Let's just say that there will be a donation made to the Salvation Army, because someone can't can't take a hint. Anyway I have already given that more attention then it deserved... moving right along.



We took the girls to Christmas Eve service. Lily was sooooo sleepy that she fell asleep on the way to church! Now most of you already know that we live less then 5 minutes from our Church, so that says a lot! She did great through service. We took both girls up for Communion and to get Charlotte blessed. Lily as always was a little shy when it came to taking the host. But after she took it and chewed it she looked right at Chris and said "mmmmm yummy!" Priceless! So we made it through the rest of service and got the girls to the car. Oh as for Charlotte yeah... she slept again! We turn the car on and were discussing how good the girls were (now we hadn't even pulled away from the curb yet) looked in the back at Lily and she was totally knocked out!! We got her home and put her to bed. She didn't get to put her cookies out for Santa or anything. So we made sure that was all done for her. :-)



Then "Santa" went to work. We brought everything down from up stairs and Chris brought in the kitchen. He was very proud of himself once it was all put together. It does look just like the box and there were no remaining pieces!! WAY TO GO DADDY!! We got all of the rest of the presents arranged and pretty much stood there in disbelief that these presents were for our children. It was pretty amazing.



The girls gave us the best gift ever.. they slept until 7:15!!! Well Charley got up at 5 to eat but went right back down again. Santa had left an big stuffed Elmo in Lily's room waiting for her. So we got woken up to cheers of Emlo Emlo!! We brought her into our bedroom and opened the gift Santa left in their stockings. Then Daddy left to finish last minute set up. We didn't say anything but I took Lily around the kitchen to get into the living room so that Chris could get a good shot of her on the video. She walked right up to the presents and started handing them out! She then found her new Blue's Clues Chair and Dora slippers and the festivities began. As of last night we still had 3 presents that weren't opened. Mostly that has to do with her finding the kitchen. Chris and I were fed a 5 course meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner! She LOVES it.



I must say that through the day I keep waiting to wake up from a dream. Lily had so much fun, Charley...well she does what she does best at this point. Eat, sleep and poop! She is REALLY good at the last thing!! LOL My favorite part of the day happened when Lily ran over to me in the rocking chair and hugged me and said "awww Mommy." Now this happens daily, but yesterday it just felt different. I realized in that moment that I have everything I could have ever asked for. For once in my life I can think of not one thing that I want or desire. I have a wonderful husband and the two most beautiful daughters in the whole world. My cup completely runneth over.

Megan

PS I will post some pictures tomorrow from our holiday and Lily will be showing off her new do!

Lily got wacked...

by the Karma stick tonight. LOL For those of you that don't know when we went to pick up Lily last year the hotel that we stayed in had a baby room (really more like a 'thank God we don't have to stay cooped up in our room' room). Over our many, many visits to the baby room Chris and I became friendly with a few couples and our kids would play together. Cameron was one of the little boys Lily would play with. One afternoon Lily decided it would be a great idea to plant her foot in the middle of this childs chest and kick him to the floor. I about died! Funny thing is that I can still see this like it happened yesterday. Anywho so tonight Chris and I took the girls to the mall and we let Lily play in the big play area. Let me just say that Megan almost took out not one but two brats oops I mean little girls!

My little the social butterfly was running and playing like a normal kid and some other kid (thank god relatively same sized or I would have been taszered for sure... LOL) ran up out of nowhere and pushed her right in her chest on to the ground! Now Chris and I both watch her like a hawk. Normally Chris will follow at a good distance and I keep her in bounds and boot her back into play when she gets to close to running lose. I also play the role of Wa Wa Waterboy! It is a true team effort. I saw the little punk coming towards her and Lily was in mid wave then WHAM she is on the ground. Now I have to admit what happened next made my whole day... before Lily started to cry she wagged her finger at this girl and was yelling " NO NO NO!!!" Both Daddy's went to their respective daughters and the offending father apologized. So the world was right and Lily was back in the crazyness playing. Then it happened again (luckily it was a different girl). This one used the whole "let me touch your shirt" and then slapped at my girl repeatedly and pushed her. There is my girl again "NO NO NO!!!!"this time though she was slapping at her back (a true girl fight!!) This time there was no other Daddy to remove the other girl so Chris walked over and told the girl to knock it off! WAY TO GO DADDY!!! However, in this altercation a Boo boo resulted. (Dramatic music...) I really don't think that she had gotten hurt. I think that it scared her more then anything. From then on anytime a kid got to close she would tell them "NO NO NO!!!" Chris stayed near enough from then on and when he heard her say that he told her "No honey they are nice." Then she would change completely and wave and say "hi!"

Now here is why her yelling at these girls made my day. We always read to her and more often explain the story to her instead of just reading the words to her. We make it so that she can understand it. She is starting to understand when someone is mean and when they are nice.So now when she see's the evil Queen from Snow White she says " mean no no" and looks at me for approval. I used the same thing for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, when the Bumble comes out to eat the reindeer Lily got scared. I told her we tell him "No No." So now every time she see something like that she yells "NO NO!" and wags her finger. Then looks at me to approve. Well tonight she did it all by herself. She knew that the girl was mean and told her so!!

Ohh by the way if you were wondering what baby Charley was doing during all this.... yeah she was asleep in my chest!!! She had her sister's back in spirit!

Ahhh my girls!! :-)

Love to all!

Quick funny

I forgot to add this last night.
Everyday when Chris comes home from work I go through our day and Lily helps. So yesterday we were going over our trip to the doctors andthe following conversation happened...

Me: Lily tell daddy where we went today

Lily: Blank expression

Me: Did we go to the doctors?

Lily: Excitied says Doctor

Me: Did Charley get lots of Boo boos?

Lily: Excitied says Boobies!

Chris and I both said no not boobies, boo boo's. But she again said boobies. So now in Lily's mind Charley went to the doctors and got boobies!! LOL
Just wanted to share... Chris and I got a good laugh out of it!!

Charlotte's Check-up

Charley had her 2 month check-up today. She is a beautiful 11 lbs 11 oz and 22.25 inches.! She gained 2 lbs and 2 inches. She is in the 70th percentile for weight and 95th for height! Go figure that one with her stubby parents! Poor baby got a total of 4 shots and 1 oral immunizations. She is pretty sleepy tonight and we are giving her Tylenol just in case. Normally I can get through the shots pretty well. The worst time with Lily was when I had to help hold her hands and she looked me right in my eyes and was screaming Momma Momma. Today that was slightly surpassed by Charley's screams. I have never in my life heard something like that. She was already mad b/c she was hungry. I had timed her appointment right after she eat and long before she was due again. The doctor ran late and it was time again before we even got to see her. We made it through! Lily was a trooper, we were in the exam room for close to an hour. Thank God we could watch the airplanes land. I let Lily play with the percussion hammer. My little doctor in training. I sear tomorrow she is going to have bruises on her lower legs. I finally convinced her that she could make sure her shoes were healthy too, so she banged on them for a while. In the end Charley was given a clean bill of health We go back on 1/21 I was able to work it out that when we go back then we can have Lily's 2 year check-up and Charley's 4 month. Ha that will be a fun visit as they both get shots that time!

Other then that excitement we are gearing up for Christmas! T-2 weeks!! Tomorrow Lily and I are going to decorate the front door with Santa's and Snowman. Or as Lily says....(quite loudly most of the time LOL) Nanta and No-nan! Lily is super excited about Santa. I ask her if Santa is going to come to her house and she points to the door then waves and says Hi! Super cute!! Charley is going to rest, well really I am going to take her lead and see how she is feeling. She was due for her bath tonight (she gets one every other night) but Chris and I thought we would just give her the night off. She LOVES bath time, but hates getting out. She gets cold and that isn't any fun. We thought she had quite enough today and tonight.

I have been working with Lily and telling her all about her upcoming birthday. She gets excited when I tell her about her birthday. She can say Appy and then a garbled birthday. She will say she is going to be two. I showed her how to hold up two fingers. She tries but usually she looks at her hand like she knows there is a way to do it but just can't figure it out!! I can't believe she is going to be two! Then six days after her birthday we will celebrate our first annual family day. That was the day that she was placed with us forever and truly the start of our family. So these next few weeks are gonna be busy ones!

Couple happy notes.... My friend Reba and her husband will be leaving Thursday for Guatemala to finish their adoption of their son!! YEAH!!

Also we went to go visit Chris's Grandma over the first weekend of December. She lives in north, way north, can throw a rock into New York northern PA. The girls did great! We had to cut our trip short b/c of the bad weather and not only does she live way north she also lives way high on a mountain! So we left ahead of the ice on Sunday. The girls (grandma included :-) had a great time. It was nice to visit. She had never gotten to meet Lily yet b/c we got prego with Charley right behind Lily's homecoming. I wasn't allowed to travel that far b/c of being so high risk. Lily calls her Me maw. When we got home Chris and I wanted to do something nice for her with all the great pics we got with all 3 of them. So we used an online company to make a medium sized poster for her that collages all the pics together. It turned out sooo nice. She called tonight to say that she got it and loves it!! She lost Grandpa 3 years ago and they had been married for over 60 years. She just misses that man so much. I know that she would have loved to share her Great- Grandbabies with him.

Can't wait to see everyone as the holiday draws near!! Until then we love ya!!

Christmas Time!!!

After a WONDERFUL first Thanksgiving all together the holiday season has begun at the Henry house. Lily helped with the tree last night we finished while she was sleeping and this morning she had quite a surprise waiting for her. Today we were going to put the lights on the outside of the house but we wanted to get out and about a little so we went to the Festival of Trees in Timonium. It benefits Kennedy Krieger (a hospital for special needs hospital) a population near and dear to my heart. We had never been before and it was better then I could have ever expected! We left our house @ 1100 and didn't get home until 4!!! Lily didn't even make it out of the parking lot before she totally crashed out. Charlotte slept through most of the day (she is my little butterball these days!! )she only woke up to eat. Mostly the event is a HUGE craft show but in the back was SANTA LAND!! OMG!! This was Lily's wonderland! Santa is already a Rock Star in this house these days so to have an entire area devoted to Christmas in general all I can say is wow!! We rode the Merry go Round, a Pony (well it looked more like a donkey!!) and

Last Friday we went to the Columbia Mall and got to see SANTASTIC (jazz hands)! Yes I said Santastic again OMG! It was the arrival of Santa at the Mall but really it was more like Chris meeting the entire cast of Star Trek all at the the same time!! LOL those kids went CRAZY!! Lily was in Santastic overload. The great thing is that they gave out fast passes with the time you were due back to see Santa. Ours was 730 we were able to get dinner and go back without too long of a wait. Lily was able to send out both her and Charlotte's letter to Santa in a special box that actually blows cold air and snow when it opens. She pushed the Naughty or Nice button....(that was a cliff hanger!!) and of course she has been a very good girl this year! Then the moment this child has been talking about for the past week. Chris and I started working with her early so that she wouldn't be afraid of him. She did great! She told him thank you when we were leaving and blew him a kiss! I will be posting (proud new Mommy) the best Santa picture ever taken here on the blog in a couple of days. It is going out as our Christmas card so I don't want to ruin the surprise!! Charlotte was a trooper and didn't cry either..... I think that had a lot to do with her sleeping through it!!

Quick general update... Lily girl had been sick for about 8 days with some weird stomach flu. She would only toss her cookies once a day. We never knew when this was going to happen so it was like playing Deal or No Deal at meal time (deal Lily deal!! LOL)!! Well apparently the thing she needed to get better was for us to pay her co-pay at the doctor. As soon as that happened everything went back to normal. But honestly we would have done anything at the point to make her feel better. Good news everything is on the up and up... or should I say down and down!!! HA HA!!!

Charlotte is doing great! She was 9.5 lbs 20 inches, her doctor said she was perfect! I of course responded... thanks I know!! She is a little butterball as I said above and is just filling right out.

Mommy is also doing remarkably better. In fact I see my doctor next week for the final send off! I will try to update more often hopefully we will all finally get into a better schedule. Chris and I are adjusting slowly to our much reduced sleep time we both average 4 hours right now.... but to see those girls smiling and a very VERY large cup of coffee always does the trick!

PS I also wanted to say YEAH to Reba and her family! She was also with Project Oz brought her daughter home the August before Lily came home. They just found out that they were approved by PGN for their son Joshua! He should be home very soon!!!

Sorry for the delay...

in the updating. As some of you already know the last week and a half have been less then fun. Last Wednesday I had to go back to the ED because I started running a 101.5 fever and I had a hard bump on the left side of my c-section incision. I called my OB and he told me to get right over to the ED to be looked at. We got there and they took me right back his called and told them I was on my way. The doctor there told me that he wanted to open it up and let it drain out. They ended up giving me a 4 inch deep hole over my left hip to get it all out. I had to have a cat scan to make sure that the infection hadn't gotten any where else, thankfully it didn't. They were thinking about keeping me but as the tests kept coming back good they said I could go home. The next morning I got a call from my OB office and told me that they were going to try to set up home health to come out and help train Chris to change my dressing. I have to have it re-packed every other night. Long story short they weren't able to get someone out here so Chris and I had to go back to the ED over the weekend to get it changed. When I saw my OB on Monday he gave a script for the packing and I told him that I would train Chris myself how to do it b/c we weren't going back to the ED again. He also said that I could take a real shower and leave the house!! The ED had me pretty much on house arrest until I saw him. Since then Chris is thankful that I can shower again and has been doing the dressing changes and I am feeling much better. Everyone is doing much better. Chris is back to work this week. We go back to see my OB in another week to check in. Until Chris will continue to play nurse... and for those who know Chris know that the jokes just keep coming... Although there is no joking while he is doing the packing he gets all sweaty and upset. It is really sweet, not that he is upset but that he is that afraid to hurt me.

On a happy note Charlotte has gained wt! She is up to 8 lbs 3 oz!! Both girls have cleared up their colds.. thank goodness! Lily is a great big sister, there has been a little regression, she doesn't think she can walk anymore LOL!! I think on the whole though she is doing great with the new little being in the house. She loves to try to feed her and whenever she finds a diaper she try's to put it on her baby dolls. Tonight she helped me make bottles... yes I said bottles (I haven't been able to breast feed b/c of all of the meds I have been on. I am afraid that I might poison her. We are going to try again once I am sure everything is gone until then it is formula. Please know that this is a very sensitive subject for me as I REALLY wanted to breast feed. I will let it known if and when we are able to breast feed again. I just ask that no one bring it up to me.) Lily also helped with Charlotte's bath time she loves to help lotion her and putting on her diaper. She can't quite say Charlotte so she calls her CharDette!! It is so sweet to watch them together! What is even better is when they both want to snuggle with Momma... nothing better in the world!

Our Family is Complete!!

As many of you already know on Friday Oct 5, 2007 @ 3:16pm we welcomed our daughter Charlotte Mae into the world via c-section! She is 7lbs 6oz and 19.5 inches long, she has her Daddy's blonde hair and blue eyes! She is so beautiful! Everything went as planned with the c-section. We were able to come home on Monday and have spent the week healing and getting used to having the two most beautiful daughters in the world!!! Mommy is just still a little sore but other then that doing great! Daddy is having a very hard time keeping her in a chair! LOL We feel incredibly blessed that everything in the end turned out just as is should have. We have a daughter who grew in our hearts, and one that grew in my belly. We could not ask for anything more then that!

Ok update time....

Lily is adjusting well... for a toddler! Naaa she is doing very well with all the changes. We are trying to keep everything in her schedule exactly the same and that is helping. She loves her sister and doesn't like it at all when she crys. She loves to hold her on her lap, and wants to hold her bottle so bad but every time we put Charlotte on her lap while we are feeding her she will touch the bottle but she won't hold it. But you can tell she REALLY wants to! Chris and I are trying to each find time throughout the day to give her extra time with us w/out the baby. My mom is also staying with us to help transition. That has been extremely helpful!

Charlotte is doing great for 7 days old! We had to go the doctor today b/c she started with a little cough and runny nose. Her doctor doesn't think that it is too much to worry over. We have to go back to see her again on Monday for her real check-up. She has returned to her birth weight and the doc says she looks great. She is a great baby and only really gets upset when it is time to eat. We are doing ok on the breastfeeding front. I am going to pump and give it to her that way as a supplement.

Before I sign off...

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to someone who I just adore and love with all of my heart....my husband. Chris has been next to me every step of this adventure. His strength has gotten us through some pretty dark days in these past 3 years. It is hard for anyone to understand what we have been tested with and yet here we stand still strong and actually better despite the storms. He is a wonderful husband and Daddy for his girls. I am proud to be his wife. Chris thank you for putting up with my hormones, thank you for my babies, and thank you for loving me for all these years. You are my best friend. Everyday I just fall more in love with you.

Megan

Our morning at the pumpkin patch

We took Lily over to Papa John's this morning so that she could pick out her pumpkins! She LOVED it!! We went a little earlier then we probably would have b/c we don't know how the rest of the month is going to play out and I didn't want to miss her first trip for pumpkins. She picked out a little one for her and sister, 2 bigger ones, and 3 itty bitty ones. She was so cute b/c we let her ride home with one of the itty bitty ones in the car seat and she kept kissing and hugging it!! :-)

Enjoy the pictures!!!!

10/4 Good Buddy.....

That is the DATE!!!! Here is the story....

On Thursday we were suppose to have our 37 week check up, but it got canceled :-( I was rescheduled for next Wednesday 10/3 @ 11:30am. I called the office back in the evening and asked if I could change the appointment until Thursday to help Chris work with his schedule so that he could be there. I already have an ultrasound and non-stress that morning. The office asked me to call back this morning b/c she was pretty sure that my OB had written orders for me to have the Amniocentesis done on Thursday. Chris and I were very excited by this but we didn't want to tell until we knew for sure. So this morning I called the office again and sure enough I was told that they are going to schedule the Amniocentesis for Thursday morning. I would then have a non-stress test followed by the growth assessment ultrasound. If the Amniocentesis comes back and her lungs are mature then guess what?!?!?! WE WILL DELIVER THAT EVENING!!!! If for some reason they are not mature then we will have to wait one more week and deliver on the 11th. I will be delivering via c-section b/c they are expecting her to be 8 + lbs, and I have an extremely narrow pelvis. So my OB and I have decided that it is much much safer this way. We will find out on Monday the particulars for the timing of things. Be on the lookout for it.....

Ok time for a little more updates.... first off Chris and I have chosen to change a part of the baby's name. However we will not be telling until after the baby has been born. HEEHEE!!!

Next, Miss Lily is totally in love with her baby sister. Well at least for right now!!!! She trys to feed her through my belly button and will give her water from her cup. The sweetest thing she will do is when I have to give my insulin I pull up my shirt and she can see my belly, she makes the sign for beautiful to it!! It is so sweet!!! She will also point to it and say sister. Our little Lily is just a thriving soon to be 21 month old. She loves to do things all by herself, and is very proud of herself once she gets it right. Her favorite thing right now is pretending to cook. Chris and I will give her a pot and spoon and she will mix and taste while we cook dinner!

New site and baby Evey news....

Hello everyone! Chris and I decided that we were going to make a family page to include information on both girls. So here it is.... we hope you like it!! We will be posting on here the exact same way we posted on Lily's site.



So for our first update we have lots of news on the baby Evey front....



For those of you who don't already know I have not been feeling great the past few days. We talked to the doctor at the Fetal Assessment Center on Monday and he sent me for more blood work to make sure that I haven't become anemic. We are still waiting on the results from that. Because of the Gestational Diabetes I have had trouble keeping my amniotic fluids levels good. I have never dropped below the danger line but I keep dancing on it. Because of this I have been drinking upwards of a gallon plus of fluids a day. I called my OB today to ask if he thought if because of the amount of fluid I have been drinking if maybe I have flushed out my electrolytes and that is why I am feeling so bad. My blood has gotten so thin because of the fluid that it is translucent. He called me back this afternoon and agreed that yes I may have done that. But I really don't have a choice... I stop drinking, she losses her fluid. So I can deal with not feeling good as long as she is ok.

Long story short... I have an appointment scheduled next Thursday at that appointment my OB is going to schedule an Amniocentesis to check her lung development. He wants to have me deliver before 37 weeks. Just to give you an idea of when that is, I am going to be 35 weeks tomorrow!!! Yikes!!! Yes I will more then likely deliver Evey the last week of September. In the mean time I am to continue to chugging the fluids, go to the non-stress tests 2 times a week, and to call if I start to feel any worse then I do right now. On a good note though,we had our ultrasound on Monday and Evey is measureing a little big and is a very happy 6.5 pounds (much better than the 8 we were thinking she was going to be). Lily now runs up to my belly, gives it a great big hug and kiss and says "Sister". It sounds a little like turtle. It is soooo sweet. She is going to be a terrefic big sister. :) In the next few days Chris and I will be posting directions to Harbor Hospital, and their visitor policy.

Little Lily had a great fall!

Little Lily had a great fall!

July 28, 2007

Well there is no denying that this child belongs to Chris and I! Lily had another first last night... her first trip to the ED of North Arundel Hospital! Let me unfold the story for you... yesterday afternoon once Chris got home from work he and Lily were playing Russian Gymnast on our living room floor. Lily was doing her summersaults with Chris's help and her was flipping her backwards. We were having a great time. Lily got all excited and full force ran toward the TV. As she ran she lost her balance and her feet got all twisted under her. Chris and I both saw where she was going to hit and we both jumped to get her but it was too late. She hit full force, head first against the flat front edge of our entertainment center. :-( It was horrible! She was screaming, and we couldn't see anything yet because of where she hit is under her bangs. Once we finally found the spot we saw that it looked like she filleted open her forehead. We worked on getting the blood cleaned away and the actual area that is open is about the size of a thumb nail. I had to push the edges to close it, so that was our sign that she may need a few stitches. So off to the ED we go! When we got there Lily was back to normal self, she has turned into quite the monkey climbing on everything so the ED was like a huge play yard for her! When we finally got to see the doctor they took a look and told us that because it was a nice clean line that they could use Dremabond (like super glue) to close it for us. If it had ragged edges then they would have had to stitch it.She was soooo good for this. It took 4 of us to hold her, but that is only because she had to be totally still. She only cried a little because the Dermabond burns. So after we glued our kid back together we got to take her home! This morning she is completely normal. We have to keep the area on her forehead covered so that she doesn't pick at it, but other then that they said that it would flake off in a few days. The only other injury is that she has a nice red mark on her left cheek. Chris and I have been calling her Lillian Ali!! We just thought we would pass along another first for our girl!! :-)

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
We are all huddled around the laptop looking at our poor girl! I am glad she took the ED trip pretty good though. Kiss the booboo for us! xoxoxoxoxo
Posted by: MomMom on July 28, 2007 at 08:51 A.M.

VERY GOOD NEWS!!!

VERY GOOD NEWS!!!

July 28, 2007

Chris and I have been trying for many weeks to upload the newest video that we have made. Tonight we tried again and IT WORKED!!!! YEAH!!! We have put it up on her web site and you can also go to youtube.com to watch it!! Here is the address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daeSGiFSrq4
Hope you like it!!

Megan

PS Lily is doing GREAT!! Her head realy didn't seem to bother her all day. In fact she had a great afternoon at her Grandpa's birthday lunch! Happy Birthday Dad-Grandpa!!!

Lily's Baptism

8-Jul-07

July 8, 2007

Today marks 6 months since our Lily was placed in our arms forever! It is funny that in some ways we feel like she has always been with us, and in others it feels like she just got here. Lily has truly blossomed over these past months. Chris and I have loved watching her change from a scared baby on our first day together to a curious, funny, loving toddler! She just had her 18 month check up. She has gained 2 more pounds making her a hearty 22 lbs :-) and she has grown another 2 inches as well. She tops out now at 30 in! She is still only in the 15% for everything but she is just going to be a petite flower (just like her name!). She is now using a spoon or a fork to feed herself. She gets a HUGE smile on her when she gets it on there just right! We play lots of what we call "baby" to help prepare her for her new baby sister. She will get her baby and put her to sleep. It is very sweet! She is just learning sooooooo much and it seems like everyday there is something new that she is doing.

On June 24th Lily had her Baptism! It was a wonderful service. She sat very good through the whole thing and even liked the water being poured on her forehead! The funniest part is that Chris taught her a new word the week before. So for some of the time all you could here her saying was Yoda!!! But she doesn't say it the way you would think... she says yoooooDAAAA!!! It is sooooooooo cute! After the service we all went over to Lake Waterford and she had a blast. Since we never got to have her a real first birthday party we decided to have a big party for her. We chose a Blue's Clues theme because she LOVES it! Grandpa Cliff got a GREAT picture of her in her Blue Ears! She eat lots of cake and had a great time. In fact she partied so hard that she was asleep before we even got out to the main road! LOL Thanks again to everyone that came and made our Lily's day soooooo great!

On a final note some of you may already have gotten an email about Chris and I making Lily's website private. Since I know that some of you were not included on that email I will post it again below. You will need it in order to see the pictures on her site. Sorry about that inconvenience, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Love,
Megan

Password for the site: grendel
***

it is case sensitive****

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
What a beautiful and blessed family.
Posted by: MomMom on July 8, 2007 at 04:39 P.M.
My,how our flower has blossomed!! Evey is gonna be one lucky lil sis!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on July 8, 2007 at 06:09 P.M.

It's Summer Time!!

It's Summer Time!!

May 26, 2007

FINALLY some nice warm weather that we can play in. Today we did just that. We pulled out her swimming pool and we all three went swimming!! It was a blast!!!! Lily did a great job "swimming" and loved being in the pool. She splahed and kicked her feet. She even let us put her in an inter-tube and float her all over the pool. Although her favorite part was falling into the water and getting all wet!!! She would just laugh all over herself!

Lily is showing what a great big sister she is going to be as we start preparing her room to make room for Evey. Lily has been a great helper by helping Momma reorganize the same area over and over and over again!! All we can do really is laugh about it because we truly believe she thinks that she is helping!!

We went over to Target today and while we were there we picked Lily up a tiny baby of her very own. You would have thought we gave her the world! All she has done tonight is carry the baby around saying 'baby' and giving her kisses and hugs! It is really cute!

Well off to bed now... tomorrow MORE SWIMMING

Guess what we did today?!?!?!?

Guess what we did today?!?!?!?!

April 9, 2007

We put holes in our child's head!!! That's right our Lily got her ears pierced!! She did ok and only cried for a minute. By the time we were walking out of the store she was all smiles once again. She looks SOOOOO cute!! Of course there are pictures on her site! Take care everybody!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
That smiles just takes my breath way. What a beauty earrings, new hair cut and all. We love you all Mom
Posted by: MomMom on April 9, 2007 at 05:01 P.M.
AWWWW, so cute!! Love her, love you all! SHe is just so amazing, this little angel from God!
Posted by: Aunt Sissy on April 10, 2007 at 05:48 A.M.
How will you ever be able to say "NO" to that face??!! I'll bet MomMom is crushed that she wasn't invited to the ear piercing ceremony!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on April 11, 2007 at 04:23 A.M.
No Aunt Tracy I had my one and only experience of inflicting pain on infants with let me see .... Bri?Lily however does look sweet with her new bling, but MoMMOM is glad that Mommy and Daddy too care of it all by themselves!
Posted by: mommom on April 14, 2007 at 07:08 P.M.
Happy first Mother's Day! (And next year will be even better :) I hope Lily was a good girl for you today full of smiles and laughter, and I hope your day was as special as you.
Posted by: Reba on May 13, 2007 at 08:34 P.M.

Lily's first Easter Home!!!

Lily's first Easter Home!!!

April 8, 2007

Today is special for several reasons.. not only is it Lily's first Easter home but today also marks our 3 month anniversary of being together!! Lily's first Easter home was a huge success! She had a great time dying her own orange Easter eggs and even tried to eat one with the shell still on!!! Chris and I had waited a long time to play Easter Bunny and we loved every minute. As always we took a ton of pictures. We think that Lily's favorite gift from the bunny was her new Pink Peep. She was very excited over everything.

More news on the mobility front our girl is now taking independent steps between Chris and I and will walk from one toy to another. She still gets a little intimidated when things are spaced far apart but this is great progress. She is now also standing alone for long periods of time. So she is well on her way to being a walker! That is all for now I am going to turn in early, the new baby has been kicking my butt these past few days!! Enjoy the pictures!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Thank You for sharing!!! SHe looks like she loved her Easter and was beautiful in her dress/
Posted by: MomMom on April 8, 2007 at 06:33 P.M.

Lily's Trip to the doctor

Lily's Trip to the doctor

March 27, 2007

We got a great report from the doctor this morning. Lily is now a whopping 20.9 lbs (this is up from 19.8), and 29 inches (up from 28)!!! The doctor is very happy with her progress. She is only in the 15-20% for Ht and Wt but she remains proportionate. All of her blood work that we asked for all came back just fine. She had to get 2 more injections one in each leg (ouch!!) The whole time she was screaming Momma Momma. OMG needless to say it was traumatic for both of us. We don't have to back again until June for her 18 month check-up. Pretty much she told us to keep working with her on walking. Her doctor really just thinks that Lily isn't mentally ready to let go yet. Chris and I have her walk all over the house and on Friday she took a grand total of 12 steps completely all by herself by far her furthest trek yet!! Other then that we are just to keep on keepin' on until June! As always there are new photos posted on her site!! I think that some are these new pictures are the best yet!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Ya know this baby just gets more beautiful by the minute. Love to all!
Posted by: MomMom on March 27, 2007 at 06:39 P.M.
Are you sure that was spaghetti?......looks to me like she was eating SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!! It's easy to see that this one's gonna be alot a fun!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on March 28, 2007 at 06:00 A.M.
She gets more precious every day! It doesn't seem possible! The pics bring such happiness to me.I'm well enough for another visit soon! I especially love the "kicking back after dinner one! What a hoot! Such a beautiful family! Stay happy and so blessed!
Posted by: Grammy on March 28, 2007 at 08:03 A.M.

Calling all photo takers....

Calling all photo takers....

March 17, 2007

We are on the hunt for pictures from our arrival at BWI. If anyone has pics from this please send them to us. We didn't take any and we would like to have them for Lily. Thanks in advance!!!

Lily is going to be a Big SISTER!!!!

Lily is going to be a Big Sister!!!!!

March 5, 2007

We wanted to share our good news. Chris and I found out that we are pregnant two weeks ago and went to the doctor last week. My doctor was worried about my hormone levels and sent me for several tests including an ultrasound that we completed today. It was soooo awesome! We got to see and HEAR the baby's hearting! I cried through the entire test and Chris had a total look of awe! So far all the tests look ok we are going back on Thursday to see what he has to say about everything but from everything I have read once the heartbeat is seen that is a great sign! We are due the mid-end part of October. I have included the picture from our ultrasound!! We are totally in shock that this is happening to us! Thank you for letting us share!

Megan, Chris, Lily, and Baby Bean!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
What a wonderful time for all of us! So much to be thankful for. COngratulations Earth Mother (AKA P.B.) and Super Grover (AKA P.P.P.) WE love you all
Posted by: MomMom on March 5, 2007 at 05:09 P.M.

One Month home!

One month home!

February 17, 2007

We can't believe how quick the time has gone. Lily is adjusting wonderfully and Mommy and Daddy are getting into the swing of things. We had a small set back our second week home as I came down with Strep Throat (first time ever) and Chris and Lily both had cold. I can say that we are no longer quarantined and we all feeling much better.

On a happier note Lily had her first doctor visit and all is fine. She is a petite 19.8 lbs and 28.5 inches long. We are proud to report that Lily is sleeping through the night. She goes down around 730 and is sleeping until 630-700 am! We were able to get rid of that middle of the night bottle and in fact she doesn't get the bottle anymore after we rock her. It took about a week but now we rock her with a bottle before nap and bedtime and then we are able to put her in the crib and if she is still awake she will soothe herself to sleep. Normally she will sing, It is really cute! My new alarm clock is the awesome sound of her talking to herself in the morning. I just lay there and smile! She is waving hi and bye bye to everybody including people on TV! She claps her hands when we sing patty cake and if you are happy and you know it... and tonight for the first time she blew kisses. She doesn't seem too interested in walking yet. She will stand by herself for about 15 secs and then laughs and falls into us. She has the best laugh and does so very often. I think her favorite game right now is peak-a-boo!!! She squeals and laughs every time. She LOVES Blues Clues!! This was a surprise to us. From the first time it caught her eye she has loved it! When it comes on during the week she will clap her hands and dance to all of the songs. Mom Mom and Pop Pop sent her a Blue doll for Valentine's Day. She had this great look on her face when she opened the box. It was as if she couldn't believe that Blue was in her house. It was a half surprise and great big smile. It was priceless!!

Today we celebrated our one month home by going to the mall. It is too cold for anything else and after being stuck in the house for two weeks it was like Disney World!! We went to Columbia Mall. She and Chris rode on the Carousel there, we looked in the pet store and even had lunch out. We had such a good time. Well I am going to get to bed we are past our bedtime and we are feeling it!! I am posting more pictures of her. We have taken close to 500 so I think I can put a few up!

Love to everyone!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
I love it! I can't wait for our visit next month! What a beauty and I am so glad everyone is feeling better!
Posted by: MoMMom on February 17, 2007 at 08:42 P.M.
The one in the highchair tells the whole story.......she is SOooo,Megan and Christopher Henry's daughter!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on February 18, 2007 at 08:34 A.M.
What a precious angel!! I can't wait to hold her agian!!!

"We are looking for blues clues, we are looking for blues clues, we are looking for blues clues...ask Lily where they are :) "

Love you all!!
Posted by: Aunt Sissy on February 18, 2007 at 05:51 P.M.
She is so beautiful and happy, as I know you and Chris are too! She still looks like you both, as if she was yours from the start! God bless you all and our prayers for many more wonderful days ahead.
Love to all - Debbie
Posted by: Debbie on February 19, 2007 at 04:03 P.M.

Please excuse the new mommy brain!

Please excuse the new mommy brain!

January 29, 2007

I didn't even think about the after pictures until AFTER I sent out the post!! As I said in the first post we are going on Saturday to Picture People to have her pictures done. We were playing a little dress up on Sunday to figure out what she will be wearing. It just so happens that the pictures from this are BEAUTIFUL!! They also show off her new and improved bangs! These pictures will show exactly WHY Chris and I call her Angel Face!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Can you spell:
B E A U T I F U L !!!!
What a cutie pie. All the ladies at work just want to eat her up! Just Love her Love her Love her!

Posted by: Auntie Caroline on January 29, 2007 at 12:28 P.M.
Oh its beautiful I love the black and white one! Chris could print those off and not need a photographer! What a beauty!
Posted by: PopPop on January 29, 2007 at 03:26 P.M.
I agree with the PopPop.....the black and white is breathtaking! It brought tears to me eyes. Angel, indeed!!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 29, 2007 at 07:41 P.M.
Your favorite is my favorite too...it is beautiful. What a little blessing you have!
Posted by: Reba on January 29, 2007 at 07:48 P.M.
Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! She looks like an angel in them all
Posted by: Rhonda on January 30, 2007 at 08:05 A.M.
OMG, she is an angel!! I mean it, those photos of her in the black and white just take my breath away!!! I love you all, give her a kiss for me!!!!
Posted by: Aunt Sissy on January 31, 2007 at 06:13 P.M.

Lily's first haircut

Lily's first haircut
Don't worry we didn't touch the curls!! :-)

January 27, 2007

We went over to Cartoon Cuts this morning! She was looking a little too much like Mr. Donald Trump!! She had a wicked comb over thing happening! We just had her bangs done and it went better then we thought it would!! Thank goodness Miss. Bonita was great and knew how to do her job quickly! We are going to give the rest of her hair a chance to grow in. They gave us a certificate and locks of her hair! She looks so cute with her little bangs now! We then went over to Picture People and scheduled her first photo shoot for next Saturday! Every time we go out she better about being in the car and better yet car seat. In Guatemala I don't think she had ever been in a car seat and being in a car was also something rare. I think that she is getting the idea that we go out for a little bit and then we come back to the same place and although people around her may change Momma and Daaady stay with her. She is also getting into her schedule. Chris and I had discussed and decided that because Chris goes to work I would get up at night with her throughout the week Sunday-Thursday. Chris gets Friday and Saturday. So this week she got up mostly between 3-5 am and I would just rub her back or if she was wet change her. Mostly no big deal... we had one rough night. Before we went to sleep last night I gave him all of the tips that I had learned through the week. He was ready. So last night (heehee poor Daddy) she was up at 1215am-115 straight! He did great though!! I was awake the whole time and just listened as he sung and patted her. He ended up having the change her and she wetted through her undershirt. He got back in the bed like a trooper and I could feel how proud he was of himself because he had done it all by himself! Tonight we are going to bed even earlier just in case the same repeats itself!

Love,
A very sleepy Momma and Daady!!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Ohhhhh how sweet is she! But I want to see an after picture of our girl!!! Love Mom
Posted by: MomMom on January 27, 2007 at 07:22 P.M.
I'm with MomMom.........where are the "after" shots??
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 28, 2007 at 12:22 P.M.
Ok, this is vote # 3 for the after shots. I'm going thru withdrawal. :-)
Oh btw, finished her itty bitty socks. Can't wait to give them to her.
Posted by: Aunt Caroline on January 29, 2007 at 08:24 A.M.

Our first week home

January 24, 2007

Everything is going great! Right now she is asleep for her afternoon nap. This week has been a whirlwind! We had a great time visiting with family and friends over the weekend. We are totally overwhelmed by the love that we feel from everyone! We are so glad to be home with our baby! I tell Chris all the time I can't believe that she is finally here in one minute and then the very next I can't remember her not being here with us! She is adjusting wonderfully. Dusty has taken to her well and visa versa. I think it is the size (they weigh about the same!!) Gus we have nicknamed Nana from Peter Pan b/c everywhere Lily is there is Gus like a nervous Nelly. Willie well... he is mad. We are doing better he actually went into her room yesterday and again this morning. He gives us with this 'you are kidding...right' look. Yesterday they had a moment and that is a good start. Chris went back to work on Monday and everyday when he comes through the door and smiles and squeals! She is now knowingly calling him Daddy! It is more like a Daaady ! :-) She is eating and sleeping well. We are settling into a routine slowly but surely. She is going to the doctors next week and I will post about that adventure. Until then enjoy the pictures of our first week home!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
I love seeing the new pictures. She looks like such a delight! She has such beautiful big brown eyes too. I know you are enjoying it!
Reba
Posted by: Reba on January 24, 2007 at 07:43 P.M.
I can't wait to come and play again!! I love you all!!!! Happy family weekend!!

Posted by: Aunt Lizzie on January 24, 2007 at 08:53 P.M.
I've become a "junky" for this web page! I can't imagime life without it now. After spending a few hours with the three of you, it is totally obvious that Lily was meant to be your daughter!! Oh,and did I tell you...........I WANT HER!!!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 25, 2007 at 04:51 A.M.
I love my little family. What a wonderful time we had I can't wait to do it again. Love you all
Posted by: MomMom on January 27, 2007 at 01:13 P.M.
She is truly a beautiful baby. You and she are blessed. Enjoy her while she's this age. Its a lot of work but totally worth it!!
Posted by: Rosa "Bean" Neal on January 29, 2007 at 01:46 P.M.

WE HAVE OUR WALKING PAPERS!!!

WE HAVE OUR WALKING PAPERS!!!

January 16, 2007

We are all packed up and ready to go. Everything went great. Our plane leaves tomorrow morning @ 825am!! We have waited a LONG TIME to post this....

Welcome Home Lily Party!!

Where- BWI AA Terminal/security area

When- Approx 705 pm 1/17/07

Why-TO WELCOME HOME OUR BABY GIRL!!!

RSVP- NO NEED Y'all BETTER BE THERE!!! :)

Ok here is the deal. Megan and I have had the time of our lives, However lily has had her entire world changed in the course of a week. For this reason please understand that she will need to adjust to her new forever home. Everyone is welcomed to the airport, but Lily will not be taking visitors until the weekend. This will give us a chance to introduce to her new life at home and give us a minute to breathe!

As you may or may not be aware Lily had a rough beginning with us. she is doing much better, but this bond is still very fragile and will take time to become strong. To help Lily fully attach to us she needs to know that we are her primary caregivers. We aren't going to pass her around as she is VERY wary of strangers. Lily is going to be our guide.

Long story short-

Please come to the airport
Let her come to you
Megan and I have to be the ones to feed change and soothe her

Everyone is welcomed to come to our home on Saturday and Sunday 1-6. Lily is not a newborn but still new to the USA please refrain from visiting if you don't feel well. As we said before Lily is going to be our guide and we will let you all know if anything changes.

Flight
AA Flt 928 Gua to Mia 825ct-1155est
3.5 hour lay over
AA Flt 1478 Mia To Balt 435-705Est

PS No pictures today... we are gonna make you wait for the real thing!!!

See you tomorrow!!!

Chris, Megan, and Lily Henry!!!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
I SO wish I could be there too, but Arkansas is a bit far! I will be there in spirit. It brings tears to my eyes. What an exciting time...Oh, and as someone who did this not long ago, I totally agree with what you have said. Those are good guidelines. Soon, Lily will be jumping into the arms of family and friends.
Posted by: Reba on January 16, 2007 at 05:35 P.M.
Great! We are all so happy for you three!
I had planned to be at BWI to greet your return from the long journey, but unfortunately I have been sick for about a week and would not like to share ;-). I will see you all when you come to lunch with Planning one day (hopefully) next week sometime! Congrates again!
Posted by: toni on January 17, 2007 at 05:45 A.M.

We are counting down the hours..

We are counting down the hours..

January 15, 2007

until we are HOME!! We are SOOO excited to be this close. Today we celebrated our one week anniversary as a family with breakfast at the buffet. Lily enjoyed her egg and milk! Although she got more on her and the floor then in her mouth.I think that she likes the way it feels in her hand more then the taste! I can't believe we have been here a full week! Chris and I are going to use the date that she was placed in our arms as our family day 1/8. We were going to use 1/17 the day that we come home but changed our minds. We just thought about it and eventhough we aren't home yet we have been a family since that moment a week ago.

Right now she is riding the horse in the baby room as Chris sings Bonanza theme song to her! She LOVES to ride that thing! We are going to do some shopping for her today. All week we have been eyeing the things that we want to pick up for her. Tomorrow Daddy and Lily are going to come to the baby room in the morning so that I can pack us up!

We will post one more time tomorrow morning and give all the info for the airport at that time. Until then here are more pictures!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Two more sleeps!!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 15, 2007 at 10:47 A.M.
Dear Henry Family, We are so excited for you. I belong to a local quilt guild, Shorebirds Quilters, that Mary is a member of. She has been keeping us updated all along with the adoption of Lily. Congratulations on your new family!! We will all be glad to welcome Lily home!!
Posted by: Patty Woodhurst on January 15, 2007 at 03:03 P.M.
She is so beautiful! I love the picture where she looks terrified that Chris is about to EAT whatever is in his mouth. HAHA. I can't tell if she's about to laugh or cry. =P
Posted by: Maggie on January 15, 2007 at 03:18 P.M.
I can not get over how cute she is!! Jeff and I want to safe that naked baby pic. as black mail later on in life, or maybe her 16th birthday cake :)
Just kidding!! We can't wait to see you all!! Miss you and love you!!!
Posted by: Aunt Lizzie on January 15, 2007 at 04:29 P.M.
Thank you for sharing a special part of your lives. She is a beautiful little girl. You have been in my prayers and I look forward to seeing your new family member real soon.
Warmly,
Diane
Posted by: Diane on January 15, 2007 at 05:19 P.M.
She is just adorable. You just want to kiss those little cheeks! I am counting down the hours too until you are home. I remember VERY well that feeling of wanting to be home as a family. (Not to mention, share her with friends and family) I sometimes still cry when I look at Maria and wonder why we were blessed enough to have her in our family. Enjoy!
Posted by: Reba on January 15, 2007 at 06:10 P.M.
God allows all things to work together for good and now the "good" (GREAT!) has been realized! Please always remember to keep HIM first in your lives and your blessings will continue to be great as you begin this new journey! God bless you! She is absolutely beautiful! Love, Debbie T.
Posted by: Debbie on January 16, 2007 at 05:21 A.M.

A little about Lily...

A little about Lily....

January 14, 2007

I thought that since we are through with all of the stress today I would focus on what we have learned about Lily.

First off Lily LOVES to dance and be danced with. Last night before bed her and Daddy had a dance party and she laughed soooooo hard! She is one of the only people that love the way I sing. Every time I sing she sways back and forth. Daddy was singing the Star Wars theme to her yesterday and she giggled the whole time.

Lily also loves to eat. We have been brave and tried eggs and different fruits. We get comments every morning about how cute she is when she feeds herself. Don't worry we leave a GREAT tip every morning!!

Lily is also a Kung Fu master!! We were in the baby room yesterday and there was a little boy playing with something that Lily thought was hers and she "walked" over to him and with the sweetest look on her face picked up her leg and pushed him with her foot in his chest and he feel over crying!! She went onto get to the toy! LOL All I could do was say I was sorry LOL at least his parents thought it was funny!!! I told Chris that we should have named her Tank!!

Yesterday was our BEST Daddy and me day. She is even letting Daddy change her an smiles at him. I think that she is seeing him as Daddy and not just some guy that hangs out with Mommy!!

I am going to run!! I will write more tomorrow!! We love you all and we will see you in a few days!!

Megan, Chris and Lily!~~

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Oh, my loves, I've have been so excited watching the pictures and reading the journals. I've never seen a happier family! Lily is so blessed to have found such a wonderful Mommy & Daddy. Little does she know the many family members she has waiting for her!! Stay safe & well and travel safely. We're waiting with open arms (or in my case right now arm :) ) Can't wait to see you and hold my new Grandbaby Girl!!! Hugs & Kisses
Posted by: Grammy on January 14, 2007 at 11:20 A.M.
Let me get right to the point....I WANT HER!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 14, 2007 at 06:04 P.M.
The pictures are SO sweet! She looks like such a happy little thing! I am impressed that she is going for daddy...it took Maria two weeks. Two very long weeks. :) Anyway, enjoy this time learning about your new daughter. I can tell you that four months later, we are still learning...and loving every (almost every) minute of it! Oh, and enjoy the weather...it is yucky here. Or at least where we are. :)
Posted by: Reba on January 14, 2007 at 09:19 P.M

and today we play

and today we play

January 13, 2007

Today is the first day in 2 years that Chris and I can just play! We had a great afternoon yesterday. We played in the play room for 3 hours solid and then went back to the room Lily eat her first full jar of baby food and laid down for for a while she got back up around 7pm played for a full hour and went back down at 8pm and slept until 6pm this morning!!! She played sooooo hard yesterday but lovede every minute of it. And guess what we are doing today??? More play!!! Even though we can't come home orignally when we wanted to, we are definatly making the best of this vacation. Well, gotta go, Lily wants to rock on the horse in the Play Room. take a look!!!\

Chris,Megan, and Lily Henry

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
How wonderfull you all look! We are so happy for you guys. Enjoy! It's a dream come true. Love you buches. Mom
Posted by: MomMom Mary on January 13, 2007 at 12:30 P.M.
She is SO beautiful! I can't wait to play with her now. =P I love you guys, keep posting more pictures!!! :-D Love you all! ~Maggie&Jewely~
Posted by: Maggie on January 13, 2007 at 02:45 P.M.
all!!...shes presious..i can't wait too see her..and i cant wait to hol her..but gadually..i cant wait to see you all..im soo happy your ofitioly a family of 3..i love youu all soo much!!

L0ve y0u,,

Brii :D
Posted by: Brianna on January 13, 2007 at 02:54 P.M.
Oh, Megan, you all look so HAPPY! Enjoy each and every moment. I remember how much of a vacation it felt like in Guatemala...I enjoyed that time. Play away!
Posted by: Reba on January 13, 2007 at 07:48 P.M.

Lily is an AMERICAN!!!!

Lily is an AMERICAN!!!!

January 12, 2007

Hello everyone from the new and offical Henry family. We had our appointment with the Embassy today and everything went great. our visa is approved and we are ready to go. Slight change in flight plans, though. We were not able to get our paperwork today, the earliest is Tuesday afternoon. So we will be flying home and will be back in BWI at 7:00pm on Wed, 1/17/06!!!! Until then we are going to enjoy our FIRST Family Vacation!! We will continue to keep everyone updated as time permits. We are safe and having the time of our lives. Have a great weekend everyone and we will see you on Wednesday.

Chris, Megan, and Lily Henry

P.S. Here are some more pictures!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Congratulations you guys! Can't wait to smooch that face (but I will, patiently). I love you all! Looking forward to more updates. See ya all on Wed.

Hugs & Kisses
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 12, 2007 at 03:07 P.M.
Congratulations to the "three" of you!!! This sure has been a long wait for you guys I know. I am so happy for you!!! She is absolutely precious!!!!!!!!!After a while, when you get settled, I want to come down with Tracy one day to see her in person! Can't wait! Congratulations again, and have a safe trip home next week!
Posted by: Cori (Tracy's friend) on January 12, 2007 at 03:20 P.M.
Congratulations guys, I know it has been a rough road, but one well traveled!! I can't wait to meet your little girl, just looking at her pictuers I can tell she is a sweetie pie!!! Miss you all, see you Wed! Love you!!
Posted by: Aunt Lizzie on January 13, 2007 at 04:31 A.M.
Oh my gosh! What a beauty... she wears her hat just like MomMom. I cannot wait to hold her. Have a good time you guys. You deserve it. Please send more pictures. I just eat them up!
Posted by: MomMom Mary on January 13, 2007 at 07:55 A.M.

OMG WE HAVE PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!! WE HAVE PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND THE APPOINTMENT IS TOMORROW!!! O M G!!!!

January 11, 2007

I think that the title says it all!!! We have been blessed and we have been given an appointment for tomorrow!!! OMG!!!!! Ok we sooooo didnt expect that! Chris is at the doctors right now getting her final ok and they are going to get another passport photo for the medical and the appointment is tomorrow at 8am!! Now we are not in the clear yet. We have to beg the embassy tomorrow to be able to pick up the final walking papers tomorrow. If they wont we will not be able to come home until Wednesday. That is ok though we are DONE DONE DONE OUR DAUGHTER IS COMING HOME!!!! Ok I will try to write more later. WE LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU R LOVE AND SuPPORT!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Oh, Megan! I am SOOOO happy for you! I cannot wait until you are home and sharing the good news with everyone!!! What an answer to prayer!
Posted by: Reba on January 11, 2007 at 05:09 P.M.
Congrats to all 3 of the Henrys...

Have a great trip home!!!

From The Streiffs


Posted by: Adriane on January 14, 2007 at 02:47 P.M.

Look how much I've grown!!!!

Look how much I've grown!!!

January 10, 2007

Hello everyone from Guatemala. We are sorry we haven't updated our website regulary, but the baby room with the internet was closed for cleaning until today. We are working with the Embassy now and are enjoying every moment with her. Chris is going over to the Embassy tomorrow to see when our appointment is. Until then, take a look at some of these pictures and know that we are all safe and are having the time of our lives. Thank you all for your support and love. We will try to update you all tomorrow.

Chris, Megan, and Lily Henry

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
I am in love already!
Posted by: PoPPoP Maloney on January 10, 2007 at 01:16 P.M.
I AM IN LOVE ALREADY!
Posted by: PopPoP Maloney on January 10, 2007 at 01:20 P.M.
SHE IS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!! I AM SO HAPPY YOU GUYS ARE "OFFICIALLY" A FAMILY OF THREE - GOD ONLY KNOWS MEGAN'S HEART IS TOO BIG TO SHARE WITH JUST CHRIS ALONE. SHE'S MADE TO BE A MOMMY AND CHRIS IS DEFINITELY MADE TO HAVE DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL.
Posted by: Sherese on January 10, 2007 at 02:23 P.M.
Hi guys!I'm so glad you are FINALLY bringing that beautiful baby girl home!She is an absolute doll baby!! Have a safe trip home and bring her to the office soon so we can meet her!!
love,
wendi
Posted by: Wendi on January 10, 2007 at 02:30 P.M.
Megan and Chris, she is BEAUTIFUL! I hope you are on your way home very soon, but I know you are enjoying life no matter where you are with your beautiful girl with you!
Posted by: Reba on January 10, 2007 at 03:54 P.M.
That hair.....those teeth...that smile...where to start?....she's absolutely gorgeous!! Kiss those cheeks for me til I can do it myself. Have fun guys and we'll see you all soon. Love ya bunches!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 10, 2007 at 05:35 P.M.
She owned my little finger from the first time I heard her name - she definitely owns all of me now! Stay safe, protect our little Angel and come home soon.
Posted by: Grandpa Henry on January 11, 2007 at 03:46 A.M.
Congrats!!!!
She is even more adorable than the previous pictures. I hope all is well and going as scheduled. Take and be safe. We can not wait to see her.
Posted by: Toni on January 11, 2007 at 09:32 A.M.
OH MY GOSH, she is perfect!!! I love her love her love her! Can't wait to kiss her, hold her and love her even more!! Come home safe, all 3 of you!!!
Posted by: Aunt Lizzie/Sissy on January 11, 2007 at 09:54 A.M.

ONE SLEEP TILL LILY

ONE SLEEP TILL LILY

January 7, 2007

This is will be the last journal entry until we are in Guatemala!!! We will become a true family of three as of approx 6pm EST!!!!!! This has been a long road full of unseen twists and turns but I feel honored to have been chosen to walk it. Not only to walk it but to walk along side the best person in the world. Chris and I have faced things together that have tested our love in ways no one else can truly know. Only to come out better for it. I think that we both will come out of this with not only our Daughter but also a deeper love for one another. I am so proud to call him my husband and I know that he is going to take great care of his girls in the days ahead and forever.

OK enough mushy stuff onto what you really want to know....we are really to kick the tires and light the fires!!! LOL The last thing that I have left is to do vacuum. And yes Mom we are still up!! I will be happy if we can make into the bed by 8:00pm. I guess in theory that is a great idea, but we will see!!

From Chris and I we love you all more then we could ever express. Thank you for all of your well wishes and remember to think of us tomorrow around 6:00pm. I will write again as soon as I can. Hopefully tomorrow I can spread good news!!


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Just thinking about you and wondering if you are enjoying every minute! Cannot wait to read about your adventures.
Posted by: Reba on January 9, 2007 at 06:54 P.M.
You are on my mind contstantly, hope all is well. Anxiously awaiting your return. Love you guys.
Give that beauty a big kiss and squeeze from me!

XOXOXO!
Posted by: Auntie Caroline on January 10, 2007 at 10:00 A.M.

GOOD NEWS!!!

GOOD NEWS!!!

January 6, 2007

We called Continental this afternoon and we were able to move our seats around so that we can sit together on all four flights AND I have a seat of my very own for the return trip!!! YEAH!!! Oh how the little things.... On the home front I dare anyone to find a piece of dust in this house!! I think that I have cleaned so hard that I have worn out my hands!! We also went through the luggage to make sure that we have everything we could need in case we have to stay a few extra days. I think that we are pretty confident that we have enough now. We have had to up grade the baby's luggage size. She now is now packed in a bag that is the same size as the one that Chris and I are sharing!! Chris just rolled his eyes after about the fifth time of "just in case...." I think that I have 'just in cased' her entire closet!!! Ol'well.... Tomorrow Chris is going to his hair did after Church and then we are going to hang around the house trying to tie up any loose ends and just TRY to stay calm!! I am going to get cleaned up now, I am smelling awful orange- like after spraying all that cleaning solution!!

In case anyone is counting... from the time of this post we are at T-34 hours until takeoff!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
I love you both very much!
Posted by: Aunt Tracy on January 7, 2007 at 11:08 A.M.

The Journey REALLY begins!!

The Journey REALLY begins!!

January 5, 2007

We spent the day mostly in a state of shock!!! Chris went into work this morning for two hours to tie-up the last of the loose ends since he won't be there for two weeks. Once he got home we made the hour long trip to Prince Frederick (where our agency is) to have our passport copies looked over. We were told the Embassy won't accept our passports because they are claiming that they were not notarized. For Lily to come home as a US citizen she has to come home on an IR-3 Visa. In order for us to bring her home on this Visa we have to prove that we did indeed visit her. So our Agency made color copies of our entire passport book and notarized for us today.

We were informed that because we are going to arrive pretty early in Guatemala on Monday Jose ( the agency's translator) will either be at the Marriott waiting for us or we will call him as soon as we check in. He will then take us to the Embassy to get this all worked out. Hopefully we can work it out to have her Visa appointment as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. When we come back from the Embassy on Monday Lily will be placed in our arms for the last time.

Thank goodness we spent the day running errands because as it draws nearer to go our brains are mush. We walked into Target this afternoon walked about half way down the main aisle stopped, looked at each other with this blank look and asked each other "why are we in here?!?!?!" Don't worry we got ourselves together (after we took a trip through the baby clothes :-) got what we needed and thought it best that we get off of the roads!! Tomorrow we are going to spend the day cleaning and making sure that there is nothing else we need!!

We love you all!!!

Megan and Chris

WE ARE LEAVING ON A JET PLANE....

WE ARE LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.....
Hopefully we will be home next Saturday!!!

January 4, 2007

Well we are going to go a little prematurely to pick up our girl. There has been a hick up in the Embassy and they want a new copy of our passports. Why we don't know. However, we have been given the option to go to Guatemala and hand deliver them to the embassy in hopes of bringing her home a little faster. After not holding our child for pushing 8 months... lets just say it didn't take much to convince us to go!! We have made all of the needed travel arrangements and are going to be flying out on Monday and we are VERY hopeful to return home on Saturday a happy family of THREE!!!! We will be staying at the Marriott for the week and we will be able to update the web site during our stay. We are going to be EXTREMLY busy these next three days getting everything ready to roll!! We love you all and will update daily from here on out!!

Oh more news we did get an updated medical for Lily on Tuesday she is 21 lbs and 28 in long!! Everything else was as normal as can be!! We didn't write about this before now b/c we have been waiting on news of PINK all week and wanted to make the announcement all at once.

ARGH WE ARE GOING TO GET OUR BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
aw..i can't wait to see our baby!!!...dont think shes yours or anything..im just leting you hold her..lol..i cant wait to see her..i love you guys sooo much!!!!

LOve you !,,
Brii
Posted by: Brii(fav.cousin) on January 5, 2007 at 05:18 A.M.
aw..i can't wait to see our baby!!!...dont think shes yours or anything..im just leting you hold her..lol..i cant wait to see her..i love you guys sooo much!!!!

LOve you !,,
Brii
Posted by: Brii(fav.cousin) on January 5, 2007 at 05:21 A.M.
I am praying for pink to come right away so you can get your beautiful daughter home!!!
Posted by: Reba on January 5, 2007 at 02:44 P.M.
God is good! He allows things to work out for our good. Our prayers for a safe trip and enjoy the days ahead! Love Debbie
Posted by: Debbie on January 6, 2007 at 06:36 A.M.

Happy 1st Birthday Lily!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Lily!!

January 2, 2007

Dear Lily,

One year ago today we didn’t even know that you were born. But eighteen days after God gave the world you He would show us your beautiful face, a face of a child that we were destined to love. You were so small when we first saw your picture, you were barely bigger than one of our hands. That is how you got your name. We thought that you were delicate just like a Lily flower. Once we saw you, we immediately loved you with all of our hearts. It makes us smile to see how much you have grown and to see what a pretty Big girl you are becoming. It also breaks our hearts to know we have only held you in our arms and kissed your face but a handful of times. Now a full year later we sit on pins and needles waiting for the call that will change all of our lives. The call saying that we get to hold you again and never let go. The day we can bring you home forever and instead of kissing your picture each night we can kiss your sweet face. Until that day comes, we hope that you can feel the love that we send your way everyday and know that we miss you beyond any words can describe. Yet even though we have missed this year of your life, we know that we will be there with you for all the birthdays yet to come. Happy Birthday our sweet Brown Eyed Girl, and we will see you before you know it!!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy.


PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
Comments
Happy Birthday Lily! Can't wait to celebrate.....wouldn't dream of doing that without you!! We love you babydoll!

Love,
Aunt Tracy, Joe & Brianna

Posted by: "Greatest " Aunt Tracy on January 2, 2007 at 05:38 A.M.