happy birthday sweet Annie Rice...

I can't believe how fast this year has gone...My Annie Rice is 2 today! As an adoptive mom, even though I didn't physically give birth to her, her birthday is still just as important to me as someone who did give birth to their child. I will never be able to give her details of what happened on her birthday, but I will be able to share with her that her birth mom and dad loved her and that the Lord brought her into this world for a very special reason, and that He has big plans for her life. She is growing into such a sweet, caring, little girl. We tell her that all time...She is so thoughtful and caring. We have told her that so much, now when she blows someone a kiss, etc she will say to herself, "So sweet". I can't imagine life without this little girl, and I'm so thankful that the Lord called us to adopt so that I could be apart of this little girl's life. She is a true blessing and something that I will never take[at least try not to take] for granted. We love you so much, Annie Rice. You are a true JOY and BLESSING in our life. 

1 year ago....

 Today....

a special day...

Yesterday was Annie Rice's special day, so we celebrated all day! She decided to sleep in until 9, no complaint on my end:) When she woke up, I made cake batter pancakes with sprinkles for breakfast, and we watched the movie Cars. She had therapy and then went down for a nap. When she woke up, Kaz was home and boy did she show off! For dinner, we cooked spaghetti, her favorite! And then, we had to end the night with a chocolate cupcake! If she didn't make a good enough mess with the spaghetti, she certainly did with the cupcake! We had such a fun day with this sweet little girl! She is growing up way too fast! I took a lot of pictures from the day[with my good camera instead of just my phone:)]. Below are a few of my favorite! Trust me, these are just a few! I had to narrow down 215 pictures! I'm a little obsessed with pictures:)

 this is her "what the shark does" face

 Just for Annie...We all made duck faces. Her favorite face to make!

happy gotcha day, Annie Rice....

Words can't describe the excitement I have been feeling the last 2 weeks just knowing this day would be here soon. This time of year is such a happy and joyous time for us, because today a year ago on June 25, 2011, we met our beautiful little girl. We had no idea what we were going into, but we knew 1 thing...the Lord hand picked this little girl for our family and we could get through any situation with Him. I remember this day last year like it was yesterday...

Kaz and I both went for a run that morning...We had lunch at Qdoba with my parents and then made the drive to Myrtle Beach. Kaz was a nervous wreck because he just wanted to know the adoption papers had been signed by the birth mom...surprisingly I was very calm. We got to Myrtle Beach a little early so we went to Market Commons and ate a sweet treat at the Chocolate store. We got a text from our worker that the papers had been signed and we could make our way to the office. We went into a little room in Bethany's office that has a large supply of clothes, toys, etc for birth moms. We met a little girl, whose name started with a K. Her birth mom and birth dad came in and gave us this little girl. The moment was harder than I ever imagined. All I wanted to do was hug and kiss this little girl as much as I could, but I had to control my emotions until after her birthparents left. They said there goodbyes and we hugged for a long time. I thanked them over and over for giving us this precious gift. I felt at the time and still do so underserving of such a beautiful blessing. Finally, the 3 of us along with our worker, was the only people left in the room. We signed our papers and named our daughter Annie Rice. We started the drive home and I just couldn't put my camera phone down. I took so many pictures of Annie Rice's smile, feet, hands, hair, and her sleeping. We got back to our house and were welcomed by my parents and Liz and Todd. Boy, did this little girl show off. She clapped and smiled so much. We fed her and she made faces and giggled the whole time. We gave her a bath and she splashed all in the water! We gave her a bottle and put her to bed...and we slept in her room that night! It seems like yesterday. I remember almost every detail. Today is a celebration of not only Annie Rice, BUT the Lord's continued faithfulness in our lives. We struggled for a long time, we cried a lot of tears, and we prayed many prayers for a family and I couldn't imagine anything better than what the Lord has blessed me with today. The Lord has used all of Annie Rice's delays for His glory. Today, on the very day we got her a year ago, she made 2 milestones at physical therapy. She's continuing to become stronger everyday and she's growing into the most beautiful little girl. She does things and says things that I can't help but laugh at. I love her with all my heart and I'm so thankful for her. Adoption is such a beautiful thing, and I'm so thankful the Lord called us on this wonderful journey. 

Thank you Lord for Annie Rice Prikazsky. 

a year ago....

 Today....

I had to include this last picture. This is Annie Rice's physical therapist. She did so much today at PT and made us laugh pretty much the whole time, including putting this shirt on her head just like this, and wearing it around for 30 minutes! She's a silly little girl!

a year ago today, was a very hard day....

I remember the day like it was yesterday...I woke up-It was Monday, June 13th 2011. I wasn’t completely all there...You see, today a year ago was a very hard day...If I only knew what the next day would bring... June 12 2011, we found out that the birth mom we had been matched with for so long, had her baby boy. We were told 3 months before that she was 50% sure she was going to parent him, but she just wasn’t sure. Our “status” hadn’t changed...we had been back on the waiting list since February 12th, but our hearts had been through a huge emotional roller coaster. We were secretly hoping she would still give this baby boy up for adoption...We had planned for so long to have a baby around last June, but it didn’t seem like at the time, that would happen. I got up on that Monday morning, June 13th, sad and knowing God had a plan, but not really applying that to my life. I got up, went for a run, and prayed that we would hear from our worker that day...BUT I didn’t really believe it. 

It’s amazing for me to look back on that day. It seemed like the days that I believed and trusted in the Lord the most, we heard nothing...and the one day that I didn’t believe 1 truth at all, we got a phone call about the sweetest little girl. We really shouldn’t have gotten that phone call. On all of our paperwork, we put down we were only okay with a newborn-6 month old. The phone call we got was about an 11 month old...It didn’t take long for me to realize that 11 month old was our daughter. And this was the very first picture that we saw of her....

What an AWESOME God we serve....

little moments....

I love my sweet baby girl. She has such the personality and makes me laugh every day! These are moments I never want to forget...

The other day we were playing with a box of pasta, making pasta necklaces. Annie Rice and Miley knocked over the box of pasta, and Annie Rice looked at Miley and said, "uh oh Miley". It was priceless. If only I could have had it on video tape!

She constantly says, Thank You to anyone who gives her anything or does something for her. The cute part is she most of the time says "Thank You Mommy" to everyone. In the last few days she's started saying "Thank You Daddy, and Thank You Miley." I love hearing her say Thank You Mommy...it's the sweetest voice ever. 

She loves wearing my shoes or really any of my clothes! Even if they are dirty, she struts around proudly. 

She's a cookie-holic. She ask for cookies all day long! A cookie can be cheerios, animal crackers, really anything that can go in her snack trap! This morning for breakfast she had an egg and nutragrain bar. When I gave her the nutragrain bar, she held it up, giggled and said COOKIE! Yesterday, she was having a cookie nightmare. She talked in her sleep for 20 minutes about cookies and kept saying, "No cookie". 

She shows everyone her shoes! If she's not wearing shoes, you know it! When we meet random strangers at the grocery store she will say, "Hi" point to her feet and say, "SHOES".  

She loves Miley, but has started saying, "No Miley, and Stay Miley." She's putting Miley in her place at an early age:) She will somedays bless Miley out for walking by her toy...On those days, I make her tell Miley she's sorry. It's pretty funny but very sweet.

I just love my sweet baby girl...To think that this time last year, we hadn't even met her and now I can't remember what life was like without her. I am so blessed. 

Thank you Lord for the trials we went through in order for you to bless us with this sweet little girl.

 showing off her fingernails...