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Today Ana Kate and I got ready and went shopping.  We had her parent/child dedication at church tonight and I needed to get a sweater to go with her dress.  Well, we found a sweater....and a new dress...and a couple of new hairbows too!  She had fun and was a good girl for most of our shopping.  Towards naptime she got a little cranky, so we headed home and she was asleep by the time we got there.

The dedication at church was wonderful!  Our pastor gave us some great advice and prayed for our baby girl, it was a such special moment!  I was worried about how Ana Kate would do, but she did amazing!  She took the microphone and told everyone 'Hi!', then she said the 'Amen' for our prayer and danced around.  Then at the end she took a bow!  I have never seen her do this before...so not quite sure where she learned it.  She was super cute and charmed everyone.  It was a special night and I was so proud of how well she did.  They showed a few slides of Ana Kate and played a voice over that I had done earlier in the week.  This is what I said:

The journey to our youngest daughter wasn’t easy. Ana Kate was born in

Vietnam and after many months of paperwork, anxiety, and prayers we finally

held her in our arms! She was 9 months old on our forever family day and has

been home now for almost 2 years. The year that we spent waiting for her was

one of the most difficult times in our lives, but every minute was more than worth

it. Oh, how we prayed for this child… She has been one of the biggest blessings

in our lives! Ana Kate is an amazing girl with a captivating spirit and we praise

God every day for leading us to her!

I also included the following verse:

“I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”   1 Samuel 1:27-28

They gave us some wonderful books, a framed picture of Ana Kate with the above verse, and flowers for Mother's Day.

I didn't take any pictures of Ana Kate until after church...she was very uncooperative and the lighting was horrible.  But...I posted the best one I could get.  Our friends Deric and Amanda came for the dedication and Ana Kate was so excited.  They attend our church, but typically go on Sunday morning....thanks guys for being there!   Amanda took some pictures of the dedication and she said she would post them, but warned they might be blurry due to the lighting.  When she shares them I will post them as well.  I'll have to get some better pictures of Ana Kate in her dress later in the week.