It can happen to anyone at any time....

Would you ever think this sweet face could be the face of cancer?

It can happen any one of us...at any time...and this is why Team in Training needs donations NOW to help fund research and help support these families throught the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Nory, age 3, was diagnosed (this past February) with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, a type of leukemia that rarely affects children. It does not have an actual treatment plan for pediatric patients. However a quote from her mother "The medication that took her from very sick to practically healthy is called Gleevec and was funded in part by LLS via TNT!" Praise GOD!!!! Unfortunately, she will still need a bone marrow transplant to cure her completely, but until then this drug is working wonders for her!.

Here is her website: http://princessesgetcancertoo.com/

If you feel it on your heart to donate click the link to the right or on the link below.... No donation is too small!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntx/mpcsdlsm12/mcrocker 

First week home!!

James is doing so great!! He's adjusting, attaching, and bonding far better than I could have imagined!! He's eating, sleeping, and doing his business just fine ;)
He loves LOVES food! He's definitely shown us why he's 40-50% for his weight...we're sure he was the loudest in his baby home, thus fed first and most :) I mean you do NOT put him in his highchair UNLESS you have food ready to give!
He loves splashing in the water play station, but still working on bath time in which you get blood curdling screams from him.
He loves his mama and dada! His attachment is going great! It take awhile for him to warm up to everyone else, and even then he stays close. :)
He says dada, ball, bye (I think)
This past week he's had two doctor appointment, lots of blood drawn, shots, and his first bloody nose playing with his big sis. I hate seeing him getting 'booboo's', but at the same time, he is living life!! Living life outside of the over-protective orphanage. He now gets to 'run free' and learn his limits, trial and error, playing with big sis, he gets to see his legs! LOL poor little guy just sweats the second we walk outside in this heat. Thank goodness for the cooler air!
Yesterday we gave him his first taste of Joe T Garcia's ;) Y'all who know us, knows this is not shocking at all. The whole Crocker fam went and had a great time on the patio. It's beautiful outside! I even ran into another adoptive mommy blogger a couple tables down. Sweet family! They recently came home with their son from Ethiopia.
So James is doing great and we are all adjusting well! If I ever get on my laptop I'll add pics from the trip and since we've been home, but here are a few off my phone. :)

Trip 3: Day 7 Saturday (September 1st, 2012) Home!!

Ok I now have time to sit and process my thoughts about our trip home.
That day started early for Caleb and I. We woke around 4 :( We managed to occupy time until 530 then got up and packed the rest of our loot. At 6 we woke James and headed to eat breakfast in the lounge one last time. The girls that work it are just the sweetest and they loved James. It was hard to say goodbye!
After breakfast we FaceTime'd, got James dressed and headed out at 7. We arrived at the airport a bit early, but that was ok. We loved our driver and walking away from him solidified that we were leaving Russia. He was too sweet to go get a cart or us, which was necessary with all our luggage. We said our goodbyes, then we were off!
We checked in and headed to the gate and waited.... Finally wheels were up at 10:40! Overall the flight was okay. I mean what 14 month old wants to sit in the same place for 12 hours??? He cried...first time since we got him on Monday...played...fussed...ate...played...etc. Yup slept very very little. Oh well. We made it.
Our plane arrived early and I was sure we had enough time to make our connection. We had barely any line at passport control, presented our sacred yellow packet, and I was ushered to another room with James, without Caleb... I was in there for just over 30 minutes. It was only after James had enough and started screaming that the agent decided to pick up our packet to process it.
Finally left to get our luggage, got through customs, hopped on the train to go to the connecting terminal. We stood in line at Americ*n Airl*nes FOREVER, knowing we will most likely miss our flight. We were about 5 people back, but they were only taking the first class line. :( I have NO sympathy for that company and have no doubt that it's their own fault for going bankrupt. They single handedly caused us to miss our flight. AND they couldn't guarantee us a seat on the next flight. Ok now I LOST IT. 'Devastated' doesn't even explain how upset I was. I was extremely sleep deprived, exhausted, emotional that my baby is now a US citizen, and also knowing that our family, friends, photographer, and videographer were going to be at the airport waiting on us. We missed out on James' important 'airport moment'. :(
I couldn't even talk when I called my mom. Caleb stepped up, of course, since he wasn't an emotional train wreck like me, and decided to get a rental car. So we booked it to the bus to the rental center. Hertz won our business since it had no line, then we were on the road. It's just about a 3-31/3 hour drive home. We stopped at sonic to get my diet cherry vanilla coke (!) And food and then had to stop at a gas station so I could get sick :(. But then James and I slept and I woke up in a much, much better place. James woke up mad, but we were almost home.
So our incredible family and friends moved the airport party to our house. And we were able to get our amazing photographer to join!! We pulled up to a driveway full of love and cheers. Banners and American flags everywhere!! THIS was so much better than the airport, seriously!!! We immediately learned that James actually really liked us and didn't want anyone else. :D Warmed and melted my heart to have seen that our attachment has formed in such a little time! (btw, it's only getting stronger :)). There was a ton of food, balloons, loved ones, it was just wonderful. We are so grateful to everyone!!! My SIL video'd the arrival and party and it's the sweetest thing! Hannah was so good with James and, although she fights over toys, will ask where he's at if he's not around. Shes a great big sis! We all FOUR of us crashed at about 10.
I think that sums up that day, it was long and exhausting, but ended better than I could have imagined! God is so amazing and we are so blessed to have James in our lives!!! He is also always reminding me to let go of my control and let Him do it. Always a struggle for me. His hands were all over this and I just know we were not meant to make that flight. We praise God everyday for leading us to our son!!

I can't wait share pics. I'll add some later.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Introducing....

James Matthew!! We are almost home and so glad. It's been a wild day and I'll blog about it later. God is so good and that enough to say for now :)