Tulah's Story: The Very Beginning

I don’t know why it happened. I don’t know why one day in late March I got the most longing, heartsick feeling in my stomach. Before this day, I had total satisfaction with the completeness of my family. We had one beautiful, smart and talented daughter, and one totally handsome, mischievous, awesome little boy. THE PERFECT FAMILY. Life was EASY. Life was COMFORTABLE. Life was GOOD. So, why all the sudden did I have a dire longing to add to our family through adoption? Why couldn’t I just be satisfied with what I had? These are all questions that ran through my head for the days and weeks to come. Surely, if I try my best to ignore it, it will go away. Right? Surely, if I focus all my energy on work, and school, and my perfectly lovely family, it will go away. Right? Surely, this is just a phase, it will go away. Right? I could not have been any more WRONG. Isn’t it funny that we, as imperfect as we know we are, always think we know the best plan for our life? What makes us think for one silly little second that we can control our world? More and more everyday God reminds me that I am not the one in control.

And I am SO glad!!!!

" For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

Jeremiah 29:11

Oh our sweet Tulah, we are absolutely over the moon in love with you already! We cannot wait for you to join our family, and we thank God everyday that you will be a part of our future.... FOREVER.

First Day of School!!!!!

Well..... it finally happened. Summer is officially over and School is officially back in session! My little Zoee is now a 2nd grader. I cannot believe how time has flown by. It seems like JUST yesterday I had a little Kindergartner.

August 20, 2009
First Day of Kindergarten

August 19, 2010

First Day of 1st grade

August 24, 2011
First Day of 2nd Grade

Zoee.... you are such a smart, beautiful, artistic and talented young lady, and Daddy and I couldn't be more proud of you!!! We love you so much and wish you a fabulous year in 2nd grade!!!

Top 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions!!!!

We have truly been overwhelmed by the joyous responses we have recieved since we announced our big news! It is SO exciting to finally be able to tell everyone about our "LuLu" and to have that beautiful little face to show them:) Along with those congratulatory hugs comes plenty of questions and so I thought I would devote this blog post to answer some of those questions!

1. By FAR, the most popular question is "When will you get her?" And, unfortunatley, I really do not know. This is our first adoption and while I am trying to learn everything that I can, the one thing I have figured out is that the timeline to adoption varies greatly. There are charts and timelines out there that one could obsess over, which I am trying desperately NOT to do. The one thing I do know is that God will bring her home to us at exactly the perfect time! But..... based on those timelines that I try really hard not to look at, I am thinking we are looking at least the end of April to early May.


2. Another hot topic is "What made you decide to adopt"? Many families adopt for many different reasons, but for us, there really is only one answer. God placed it on our hearts. Plain and simple. I have close friends that have adopted, and I have always thought that it was such a selfless and wonderful thing to do, but honestly, I never believed it was a journey that my family would take. God placed this adoption on my heart months ago, and from the very first minute, He has shown this family that this was truly His plan for us. Over the next few posts, I will share some of Tulah's story and how God showed us that she would be a part of our family...forever.


3. Ahhh.... most popular question number 3.... "You're naming her what"? Ok, this one is simple! Her name will be Tulah Liu Rhea Hatley. Yes, it is a long name. Yes, it is a different name. And yes, I love it! Her Chinese given name is Liu Ya Run. In China, the last name, or sur name, is first. Her last name is Liu, which is given to every child in her orphange because this represents where she is from, Liuzhou City. Every girl in her orphange is given the first name Ya. And, according to her records, the name Run was assigned to her with no special meaning. So, you better bet that her new forever name was going to be pretty special!!! Both Zoee and Grayden have family names, and so I was determined that she would have a family name as well. Tulah was the name of my great-great grandmother. We will keep the name Liu for her to represent part of her Chinese heritage. And, Rhea is Michael's mother's middle name. So, there you go! A very special, unique and family name for our girl! ( I have to give props to my mom and my sister for helping me find this special name for her) And, as far as a nickname, we have been affectionately calling her our little "LuLu".


4. Many people also want to know "What do your kids think"? Well, for the most part, they are really excited! Zoee is thrilled to be gaining a sister, although she did say she really wanted a "China twin sister" that would be her same age! But after a few minutes, that quickly changed and she can't wait until her little sister is here. She has been really great about the whole experience. Before she knew anything about the adoption, she had been talking for months about getting a "big girl" room. She wanted to paint, get a new comforter, things like that. So, when this news came, we offered to make her a new room upstairs. But, suprisingly, she wants nothing to do with that! She wants to share her room, just like it is now, with her new little sister. She is very excited to have a roomate!! Grayden, isn't quite as joyous about a new sister. He REALLY wanted a brother. But, he says "it will be really cool to be a big brother. I'll get to look out for her". SO SWEET!!!!!


5. And last but not least, "Does she have special needs"? Why, yes she does. Our little LuLu has club feet and hip dysplasia. This will mean some surgeries for her in the future. I can tell you that this did cause some anxiety for us, as any medical issue would, but God has given us a peace about this child, and we are confident that she will get to be just as active as any other child.

So, there you have it! Answers to your most frequently asked questions! Please keep our sweet girl in your prayers. We already love her as much as if she had been here from the day she was born. It just breaks my heart that she doesn't know that yet. Pray that God would be preparing her heart, even though months away, for her forever family. And before I sign off, here is another picture of our girl. Isn't she just perfect?!?

Announcement!!!!!

The Hatley family would like to introduce you all to the (soon-to-be) newest member of our family.....

And we can't wait to tell you all about it! We would love for you to follow along on our journey to our new daughter!

Field Trip!!!

As I write this, my summer vacation is rapidly coming to a close and, I have to admit, that my heart is heavy with that thought. Oh how I have loved every single minute of sleeping late, sitting on my back porch in the morning before the kids get up, spending time at the beach, lying by the pool, and my most favorite summer activity of all....... sitting in the driveway late at night listening to the crickets and talking with my BFF! Yes, it's true, come Monday morning I am back to work.

With that in mind, I realized that my friend and I have promised our kids a field trip all summer long and that if we were going to keep our promise, that field trip was gonna have to be this week! So, with the 100* temps, we searched for an indoor field trip and settled on Discovery Place, a museum not too far from where we live. All the kids loved it and had a ball! (Sorry for the poor quality pics... I forgot my camera and had to use my phone)


We checked out a rain forest.....


Hung out with a few bears....


Practiced being really scientific....







Saw what it was like to "see" like a dragonfly....




Walked through a pretty cool aquarium....



Took a ride on an air chair.....



And even laid on a bed of nails!!






Yes, a great time was had by all on the field trip!

Family Pictures!

We are so fortunate to get to go to the beach together as a family every year. My ENTIRE family.... mom, dad, sisters, brother-in-laws, niece, nephew.... the whole crew! We always have such a great time together. My dad always takes all of us out to eat one night while we are there and this year we managed to get some pretty good pictures while we were all dressed up! (I honestly believe this is the only time I did my hair or put any makeup on the whole time!!)

Enjoy the pictures:)

The whole gang

Michael & I

Me & My Daddy

Me & My Beautiful Mom
My Dad and His Girls


My Mom & Her Girls ( .... plus my girl!)

My mom, dad, and my sisters

Happy 4th of July..... (a few days late)!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!! My ENTIRE family has been on vacation this week and we are having a blast. Our 4th of July started with a great parade, followed by a long day on the beach, hamburgers and hotdogs, and of course, FIREWORKS!! I found this year to be a great time to explain to my children exactly what this day means. Sure, it most always is a fun-filled vacation day full of good eats, sand castles and ocean waves, and a spectacular lights show, but I really wanted them to realize that we can only celebrate like this because all across the world there are men and women fighting for our freedom and that, we should never forget or take for granted. For the first time, they really seemed to get it.... well, as much as a pre-schooler and soon to be 2nd grader can get it. I do hope that you and your family had a great time celebrating our freedom and country as well!

On another note, if you read a few posts back, you probably saw Zoee's beloved 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Pridgen. We received an email this week that she was hit by a car and suffered multiple abrasions and a concussion. She also had several staples placed in her head. Please send your prayers up for Mrs. Pridgen that she would recover quickly.