About Me

My name is Tracy and I am married to an amazing man, his name is Thomas! We are a busy family that is always on the go between church, school, work and sports.... we are not a sitting around kind of family. We have 4 amazing children and are working on bringing home Elias to make 5. My hubby is Deaf and I am a sign language interpreter,we are very involved in the Deaf community and are excited to be adding another Deaf member to our family. Our kids, Aaron-19, Luke-11, Tommy-10 and Paige-5 are anxious for their new brother to be home. This is our second adoption and we are learning more everyday to lean on God, this journey is already strengthening our faith! We are working on learning how to turn everything over to God and know that He has a perfect plan and all will happen in His time! Good things come to those who wait.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!

 We are so so so so so blessed! The last few days have been completely amazing! The days just get better and better, which is pretty mind blowing since they have been amazing since day 1!  Luke has been doing wonderful and is such a joy to be around. We have spent much of this week running to meetings to try and figure out what to do for school for Luke and as of right now I have no clue so I am praying as hard as I can on this one for some wisdom from my Heavenly Father as I just don't know what to do, we don't have many options and I am not liking the options we have, so what does a mother do?..... pray


Friday night we took the kids bowling with a few friends of ours and we had such an amazing time that I totally didn't even take one picture. I was having such a good time just having a good time that I didn't even think to take a picture. Not sure what that says about me but I got home and was like.. whoa I didn't even take one picture.  Tommy and Paige were so excited to show Luke how to bowl and get a chance to show him their own skills. Paige bowled so good for a 30 lb 4 year old that it is sort scary. Tommy should be in a league and I am thinking I see father-son league in the future.  Luke LOVED it! He had such fun and actually loved watching Tommy and Paige bowl too! Our friends 2 children bowled too and it was so cute to see all the kids having a great time.  We even hit Mc'D's after bowling and sat there for well over an hour just chit chatting with our friends.  We are so lucky to have such good friends and wish we all didnt work so much so we could see them more often. Love you guys!


Yesterday Luke went to Tommy's wrestling match and although it was a LONG day he loved watching Tommy wrestle and daddy coach! He hung in for the 5 hours we were there and even ate his first hot dog while there.. he was desperate for food and they didn't have much else haha, but he loved it! Paigey is always a dream at Tommy's wrestling she just plays and sits and watches and plays. Aunt Amy and mom-mom and Katelyn  were there and we got to spend some more time with them too.


Today we took Luke to church for the first time, I wasn't sure what he would think of church or how he would react to all of those people. HE LOVED IT! He seemed so at home and just wanting to check everything out. He remembered meeting Pastor when they came to the house to see me after my surgery and he had met Pastor Maria 2 times and a few other people from church and that seemed to help relax him and he just loved being there. The minute we went down to take our seats he stood up and started signing the songs for worship, he copy-signed Nancy so beautifully that the boy is natural!  Seems only fitting with the name sign he picked for himself.  "L" signed like Lord or King.  He picked it 3 days ago and doesn't even know what it means. I think it is an amazing choice, since he is such a gift from the Lord. Luke certainly seemed at home and church and told me he really liked it when we got home. He didn't understand much of what was signed as it is in lightening speed for him but he kept asking Ms. Julie what was being said and she would so patiently try and re-explain at a slower speed and more in words he might get. Not sure exactly what he got out of today but he knows it is a place with a lot of people and a lot of love and a place we love to come to!


After church we came home and Luke got to meet my parents. His Nanny and Poppy and his cousin Lyla. He has been waiting and waiting. Luke and Nan and Pop and Lyla hit it off great! He cant believe that his nanny has 14 yes 14, yes 14 oh did I say 14 cats!!!! (not hey don't all live in the house, just 1 spoiled queen does heheh, but there are still 13 others outside). Nanny gave the kids a little bag with some Valentines gifts in them and a card and Luke was so excited and over joyed, he officially got his first card ever! He loved his bag with goodies so much that he is sleeping with it in his bedspread (his new bedspread has a pocket on the front) and he showed me the bag in there and said "My Nanny gave this to me and she said she loved me" then he did his Victory dance and squealed with delight. Tommy says "wow mom that bag sure did make him happy, don't get me wrong I love my bag but it is cool to see Luke get stuff!"   


We are truly in love with our new addition and I cant say again how we could not have MADE a better match for our family if we tried! We cannot Thank the Lord enough for the joy that Luke has brought us and I cant believe that we haven't even known him 1 month yet.  We have had a little less then one month of pure joy and blessings! Luke's signing is increasing in leaps and bounds but we have hit the point where he is asking me questions that require answers that he doesn't have the language or knowledge for me to give him answers to yet. But tonight he let me open the CD that the orphanage gave me of him while he was there and there were 96 pictures on there of him.(he threw the CD in the trash in China and got upset anytime I took it out so I put it away until tonight) He sat on my lap and we looked at them together.  He didn't seem to like to many of the kids in the orphanage for when I ask him if someone was a friend he says "no they were mean and bad" A few of the kids he said "yes that is my friend and they were nice" but not too many.  He was shocked to know that the cake and gifts for his birthday this past September were from me and his daddy. He said he had no idea who there were from. Of course he didn't as not one soul in the orphanage could communicate with him after 10 years of him being there (yes I am bitter and I am trying not to successfully to deal with it). He was so happy to show me to pictures of him looking at the pictures of me and Tom and me and the kids. I asked him if he knew why he got those pictures, did he know he was coming to America to a family and he said no, I had no idea why I had pictures of you.  We have some pictures of him in this really fancy room with all these toys and decorations and I didn't see anything like that in the orphanage and I asked him where that was and he said "we take the elevator to another place and they take pictures and then we leave" I asked if they actually played there and he said no, he looked sad that they didn't.  He also saw the picture of the package we sent him at Christmas and he said I took pictures with the camera (we sent him a little camera) and gave it to the lady when I was done (we got the camera back with a note attached saying it broke and he couldn't take pictures) he also saw the remote control car in the picture and said " I did see that.... they gave it to me and I played for 5 min and then I gave it back and it was gone forever".  That kind of stuff gets my gut  and I am happy that he is out of there but it breaks my heart for the hundreds of children that are still in there just hoping and praying for a momma and daddy to save them!


Ok on a positive note.. Thank you Lord more then I could possible say for this joy in our lives that we call Luke Worrell! This week is sure to bring more blessings and the kids have a short week due to Presidents weekend. I am hoping we get to make some good fun plans for the weekend. I cant wait for the weather to warm up as Luke is asking to see the beach (I showed him pictures of it and after getting over the fact that he had to believe mom that we are not swimming in dirt and dirty water) he has decided that he cannot wait to see the beach (this warms my heart for if you know me even a little you know I am a complete beach bum along with my hubby and 3 kids!).. Yahooo many more amazing memories to come!


                                     Luke and his Big Brother, Aaron
                  Luke couldnt wait to give Aaron the anime he bought for him in China
                                       Ahhh Can you say Pocky???
                                    Checking out Aarons new instrument!
                 Coach Worrell chatting with future assistant coach Worrell heheh
                      Luke taking in all the wrestling, he actually loved watching it
 Ok so not good of Tommy but good for mom-mom, me and Amy and Katelyn was sleeping heheh
             Luke took this of me and my sweetheart and best-est friend, my Paige
                            Luke taking some photos of Tommy wrestling
                                                      Go Tommy go!
                                         Tommy wrestling his 2nd match of the day
                                                      Luke with Lyla and Paige
                                                   Lyla, Paige, Luke an Tommy
                                                         Luke and Lyla
                                                     Luke and his Nanny
                                                            Luke and his Poppy
                                                       Luke with both his Nan and Pop

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Superbowl and A LOT of bonding in this house!


I am healing up nicely since the surgery and we have been doing a ton since I got home. Not exactly what I call good for healing but I am praying that the Good Lord will allow me to heal on the run! Not exactly wisdom  to live by but what is necessary right now.  We were supposed to have a nice sized Super Bowl party on Sunday and with me getting home from the hospital on Saturday that put a damper on the party. Tom cancelled the party and we had our own little celebration.  Aaron was brought home to see Luke by one of our angels from our Victory Assembly of God church family and was able to meet his new brother. I would like to say that they hit it off beautifully! Luke is quite a tech kind of guy. So him and Aaron hit it off well! He looked up to his much older and crazy taller brother! The guys all donned their Steelers gear and mom donned her Pj's (only thing that didnt hurt my stomach) and we got our food ready (Football essentials such as wings, pizza, chips, dips and such). Toms mom, sis and his niece came over for the festivities!  We were ready for the first game and Luke couldnt wait to see what all the hub bub was about. To say Luke LOVED watching football was an understatement. He was right there with his dad and brothers watching the game, yelling at the TV, waving his Terrible Towel and having a blast like no other! Tom  was not thrilled with the Steelers playing but watching Luke and Tommy, and Aaron have fun made it worth watching the Steelers not play well. Over all it was a very male bonding kind of night!

Since then we have been running to different schools to try and figure out where we will place Luke for school. This is not going to be an easy decision as the closest school for the deaf is 40 minutes and we wont put him that far away from us.  So we arent left with too many options here in good ol NJ.  Dont know if I mentioned in my blog before or not (probably not as it wasnt something we wanted to advertise too much) is that Luke had no language when we met him. We were told he knew Chinese sign language and that he could read and write Chinese. None of those are true and Luke came to us with nothing. He is picking up sign language at a rate that is ASTOUNDING!!!! We are having amazing conversations with him and he is understanding more then should be possible at this moment.  To say that his not being taught anything in China upsets me is an understatement as it is obvious to everyone that meets Luke that he is very very bright and extremely teachable and wanting to learn.  I am thrilled he is picking up ASL at an amazingly fast rate (we really just sign to him and have since the 1st week we got him) and he doesnt have any Chinese sign in his head to confuse him so he is picking up ASL fast, but that being said he has not been educated at all so school is going to be extremely difficult. We dont know where to place him or what to do right now but I am praying that the good Lord will show me the way and help me to know what is right.

Our house has been forever changed by Luke being here and the change has been amazingly huge. Luke's joy and happiness is truly contagious, you cant be in a bad mood around him as isnt possible. Everyone that meets Luke is immediately taken by him and falls in love with him like we have. Luke has blended into our family with ease (actually so much so that it is a little scary). Watching Luke wait with joy for 2:30 when Paige comes home and then 3:30 when Tommy comes home is a riot, the boy just cant wait to see them again and then the playing begins.  Him and Tommy have become good wrestle partners and it is funny to watch them wrestle each other.  Paige and Luke get along so well and he is such a helper with her. He even helps me read stories to her at night before she goes to bed. 

We have been truly blessed and are grateful as a family could be for our blessings.  This weekend Luke should meet my parents if all works out well and I am excited for them to meet him as he is gonna love them and them him.  This weekend we will also take Luke to church for the first time and I am excited to see how he handles that and what he thinks of our church and our church family. I think he is going to be in for a good weekend. This Saturday we are also taking Luke to Tommy's wrestling match, (were supposed to do that last Thursday when I got rushed to the ER.) and I know he is going to love watching the wrestling match! I will write more soon, but so far so good. We are loving life! Thank you to our Heavenly Father that watched over our little blessing for 10 years and kept him safe and his heart ready for a family and prepared his heart for his new life and new family here in America! 






                                                 Getting ready for his 1st Superbowl
                                               Brothers getting ready for the big game!
                                                                 They truly are pals!
                                       Tommy and Aaron getting ready for the Steelers!
             The Worrell Family men! Man I am so lucky to have such a handsome group of men around me!
                                                              Gooo Steelers!
                                                       Let the games begin!
                       Luke was just a tad excited for the game (can you tell? heheh)
                 Aaron, Aarons friend, Nick and Luke chowing on some good Superbowl food!
                                                        These wings ROCK!
                                   Aaron showing Luke how to play some games on his Laptop
                                         Luke with his older brother, Aaron
             Dont know if the Terrible towel doubles as a skirt or not but Tommy thinks it does
     A little ballet action from the Princess amidst the football guy, testosterone filled night
                                                   The boys checking out some games
                                              Baby Katelyn loves the Steelers too!
                                                   DO you see the resemblance?
                                           We love each other and Love Football too! 
                                                Yeahhhh Steelers.. Wave that Terrible towel!!
                                                          Loving the game!!!!!
                                                              Go Steelers! GO GO GO
                   Luke learning the art of "yelling at the TV to make the team play better!"
                                                          A great time was had by all!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Emergency surgery...hmm my timing is never the best!

Hey guys,


Well we have been home since last Sunday night and my in-laws that stayed here for almost 3 weeks to take amazing care of my children have left to go back to Texas and hopefully never see snow again as far as they are concerned! My children were taken such great care of that Tom and I felt we could just relax and do what we needed to do while we were in China. That is a very nice feeling!  Our first few days home were sort of a blurr for me as we were exhausted from 3 days of travel and not sleeping on any of our flights plus trying to change over from China time to New Jersey time. We spent the 1st few days with my in laws and just trying to chill out and let Luke investigate his new surroundings.  Luke hit it off with Tommy and Paige right away and even spent quite awhile the first few days playing dolls with Paige (which made Luke even more of a great brother as far as she is concerned he is the cats meow now!)  Tommy and Luke get along really well but Luke seems hesitant to try and do too much with Tommy the first few days.  Wednesday night I tool Luke and Paige to Tommy's wrestling practice while Tom coached the kids and Tommy wrestled Luke sat on the bleachers with me and Paige and he LOVED it! He laughed and laughed and loved watching Tommy wrestle. When we got home him and Tom wrestled a little and I have never heard him laugh that hard (trust me he laughs a lot so this was huge) and then he wanted to wrestle Tommy and we laughed even harder. He loved it and it surely was a bonding moment for the boys.


Thursday we had a great day just hanging around the house and getting to know each other more. Thursday night Tommy had a wrestling match and I promised Luke I would bring him so he could watch the match. My mother in law was coming over to watch Paige as she had been in bed 2 nights in a row and could not make it a 3rd.  I was starting dinner at 5pm while the kids were playing and Tom was finishing making Super-bowl party plans.  All of a sudden  I had a terrible sharp pain in my right side that took my breath away. I tried hard to just ignore it but it was crazy strong. I went upstairs to take a Pepto-Bismal and then never came back down. The pain intensified quickly and I was then unable to stand up straight. Tom said he thought I should go to the ER but I said I would be laughed at for going in for gas..... Little did I know.  Luke kept coming in checking on me asking me if I was ok and he would bring in Tommy and Paige and say "Mommy is crying her belly hurts" and boy he wasn't kidding I was pretty sure I was in big trouble by this point.. then I started vomiting.. that was the straw that broke the camels back as once that started the pain intensified a TON!!! Tom saw me and immediately called his sister saying he had to take me to the ER as he knew something was very wrong.  Toms mom and sister came over and his sister drove me to the ER as we were not sure how Luke would handle both mom and dad leaving as so far he would get upset if we just left the room. It was a long night in the ER and I was put in a room about midnight or so.  They told me I had Appendicitis and would have to have surgery. I wasn't worried too much about the surgery but at first upset over the timing, I mean REALLY? I just got home with my new son.. I was trying hard to bring my whole family together and watch them try to bond as a new family. Aaron was coming on Friday to meet Luke for the first time from College.. WHY NOW? then I started thinking.. hmm what if this happened while I was in China? What if this happened while I was on one of the 3 airplanes we took home?  Oh Lord the possibilities of frightening choices were many.. So I guess I had to let go of the REALLY and just accept it.  Tom came the morning of my surgery and made it to my bedside about 2 minutes before they really drugged me up to send me off to sleep, I was surprised that they let him back there but I had just told them of our story of traveling to China and coming home Sunday with our new son and that Tom didnt come to the ER with me last night so that Luke would feel comfortable at home and not be too scared. I told them Tom was on his way but wasnt sure if he made it to the waiting room so I sent them looking for a "cute, short Deaf guy wearing Pittsburgh clothing" well I will be darned they found him pretty quick and brought him to me!! Thank you Doctors for doing that as it let me go into my surgery in peace!!!!  My surgery went well and I am now home. I want to Thank everyone that prayed and thought about me and my family during this time as the prayers and thoughts were surely felt. Luke did great while mom was in the hospital and did great when Daddy left to come see me and the kids stayed home.  It was nice to see that Luke is even stronger then we thought (which is sort of crazy as I already think he is a very strong boy).... 


I came home yesterday afternoon to a house full of food ...thank you to my church family for bringing over meals and Thank you Pastor Maria for spoiling us so much your cooking is amazing and how many people would go food shopping for someone else. I cant Thank you enough as it was nice to not have to worry about food and have everything we need here for the kids.  We have been showered in love and food and that is a great thing!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yesterday I sat and played Uno with Tom, Aaron, Luke and Tommy and we had such a good time and laughed alot!  I won which is not the norm as one of my card sharks normally beats me, guessing someone felt sorry for me.  Tommy and Tom showed Luke how to do sommersaults and kartwheels last night and guess what he did pretty darn good for trying something he had no clue how to do! Tommy and him were dressed as "twins" when I came home yesterday in their matching undershirts and black swhishy pants ahahah.  My kids sure are bonding well and that is great to see. I crashed early last night with my Paigey girl in bed and heard Tommy tell me this morning this story.. "Hey mom guess what Luke did? When we were in bed he laid there for a little bit then jumped up and came over and hugged me hard and then signed I love you... I love having another brother mom! Thanks"  Well that sure made my morning. Right now Tommy is wrestling and we didnt get to go as I am too sore. Today we were supposed to bring Luke to church for the first time and that didnt happend either as I am too sure and we were supposed to have a fairly large Super-bowl party and that isnt happening either (Toms idea to cancel the party, not mine) and we are still going to sit together as a family and watch the game and have some Pizza and wings and Luke is beyond excited to be watching the Football game and Steelers tonight.. he doesnt know it is the Super-bowl but it is going to be a special night for sure! We are loving the way our family is bonding and shaping and thanking the Lord for the amazing match that HE made! Thank you! I will keep you updated as more happens!
In love with my family!
Tracy



                    Luke and Tommy (twins they say heheh) they surely are getting along great!
                                                               Pals forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 Daddy with most of his kiddos on his back! Good thing Aaron wasnt home yet, daddy would have collapsed!
                                        Tommy and Luke playing in the snow in the backyard
                                   Luke and Paige on our trampoline!
                 Luke, Tommy and our neighbor Derek on the trampoline!
                                            Luke with his Welcome home cake!
                                                         Making a HUGE wish!
                                                     Blowing out his candles!
                                                                Luke and his cake!
                    Being daddys helper, he is pretty darn good at shoveling considering it was ice and not snow!
                                             Trying out some wrestling with daddy!
 Daddy putting the move on Luke, if Luke could stop laughing he might have been able to do one back haha
                                                   Luke and Tommy working on wrestling
                  Daddy helping show Luke how to pin down Tommy (so stinking cute!)
                Luke in the very first outfit he picked out all by himself! (he likes to dress spiffy heheh)

Our little boy!

Our little boy!
Opening up my care package from my family!

Curious what he is thinking!

Curious what he is thinking!
Checking out my Family for the 1st time ever! (this pic is of my new Brothers and Sister!)

His first reaction after seeing us

His first reaction after seeing us
This is my Forever Family!

Some goodies from the care package

Some goodies from the care package
Some of my new books

This picture makes me cry every time I see it!

This picture makes me cry every time I see it!
My 1st picture of my mommy and daddy! They say I love to look at my pictures again and again!

Studying our faces....

Studying our faces....
Checking out my new family again!

Look at that face!

Look at that face!
Checking out my new books

Aaron's Graduation

Aaron's Graduation
We are so Proud!

Xin Hai's name in Chinese!

福新

Fu XinHai

Xin Hai

Xin Hai
Isnt he the cutest ever?

Aaron's Senior Prom

Aaron's Senior Prom
My handsome Son, Aaron

Aarons prom

Aarons prom
Paige, Aaron and Tommy

My Family

My Family
The Worrell Family

Our Precious one

Our Precious one
Xin Hai in 2008 - so precious! Love that smile!

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