Fabulous Friday!

Say cheeeeeessssssssseeeeeee!! Hope you all have a wonderful LONG weekend. I get to hang out with the cutest cheesiest smiling babies in the world :)

Being Her Voice

I just read a very good post about another little one that is cleft affected. Go here to read the post. I can very much relate to her post. No one ever really told me what an emotional need cleft lip and palate really is. Not to say that I regret doing it, or would change anything about my Shelby, just saying that for some reason the emotional side of cleft lip and palate are hardly ever talked about. Just glad someone else is helping to educate others about this particular special need.

Oh and I really wish I would have thought more about what I named Shelby. So to others out there adopting a cleft child, please oh please do not name them anything almost impossible for a cleft child to pronounce! Don't use SH, or CK, or Ts, or Ds, or Bs, or G sound please :) Give them a name that hopefully starts with a M or N sound and has lots of vowels sounds in it. A child's name is one of the very first most IMPORTANT words your child will need to say to their new friends, please think about that before you give them their new name!!

When Someone Else "Gets It"

I receive a lot of different random comments all the time about my family. Some are questions, others are just random thoughts, and mostly a lot of staring, and then the wispering among themselves as my crew goes by. But sometimes....sometimes, people GET IT! And I just love it when they do.

Tonight CJ and I took the kids out to for dinner at a very loud and noisy Mexican restaurant. So our crew really fit in neatly there and everyone was behaving. Good thing or this lady may not have felt the same way ;) Anyhow, a stranger walks up to me as she is leaving, stops and stoops down so she can make sure I can hear her and tells me...

"You have such a beautiful family! I dream of a family just like yours. I have twin 10 month old boys, and I hope to one day add to my family through adoption. My husband isn't quite on board yet, so would you please pray for him."

She smiled so big and I could see she was truly inspired about her dream for her family. So was I, and I told her that anything is possible and for her to not give up her dream. I thanked her for her kind words as she left the restaurant. Needless to say, I just love it when someone else actually GETS IT!

School Year Ended

Today is the last day of school for my kiddos! They are all very excited about that, well except Shelby. I know who would have thought. I still remember those pitiful crying days in carpool line having the teachers literally drag her out of the car, tears streaming down her face.















Well now Shelby has officially ended her school days at Noonday and now she is very sad about that!! Turns out she loves school now and adores her Noonday family. She will move up to Pre-K next year, big girl school. I am not sure if Faith will get to go back to Noonday next year or not since I she is being tested to see if she qualifies for full time developmental preschool in the county school system. I will keep you all posted on how that goes for us.

Anyhow, I did go watch the girls perform their big end of the year singing productions. I just love that part of school days. I am SO very proud of my little girls who have come so far in their short little lives. I caught myself getting a little teary eyed watching them on the big stage singing about Jesus. We are so very lucky to have them with us. I just love being their mommy!

Change YOUR life T-shirt

I saw this shirt the other day on a friend, and I just fell in love with the message...

Change Your Life....Adopt!

I just love love love that. It is not about just changing a child's life, adoption changes YOUR life too :) About to go order me one or two or maybe just a whole family full of em now, you do the same and help spread the message.

She Did It

Okay okay, I know you look at the pictures and think, Did what? She is only eating a biscuit!! If you aren't around Miss Faith much, then that might not be such a big deal, but trust me it is. You see this is Faith's very FIRST time she has ever eaten bread for me!! I mean she normally won't even touch anything that looks like bread. No cake, soft cookies, rolls, bread, pizza dough, pita bread, tortillas, english muffin, did I mention no loaf bread at all. So as you can see she won't eat what most of us Americans eat at all...no sandwiches, no pizza, no tacos, no birthday cake, no cookies, no BREAD!

Needless to say this has been quite frustrating for me to feed the kid ;) So yes, we are still struggling with her eating issues even after being home for almost 18 months. But the other day, she ate a biscuit. And no she didn't just start out by tasting it or taking a small bite of it, she ate the whole biscuit! Now of course she hasn't touched a piece of bread since...smile...but I do know she can do it now. Who knew one little biscuit could make a mommy so proud!

PS: And just in case you think I am just pushing some unhealthy carbs on my kiddo, she is just as opposed to eating vegetables too. In fact, the kid has NEVER eaten a vegetable that I can recall. Well unless you count french fries as a vegetable ;)

Memory Lane

I was just sitting here watching the automated screen saver slide show on my home computer. It has all of the China trip photos on it. So needless to say I was just strolling down memory lane and dreaming of China tonight. Thought I would share some photos from our trips...

Here Ducky Ducky

We have a nearby park that the kids had a good time feeding the ducks at. Oh and of course the boys were more interested in feeding the fish...

Gone Too Soon

I just read on Rumor Queen about another little one who has died before her new family could get there to get her. Here is a link to the post I wrote about our little one who died in China before we could get to her. It is SO sad to read that yet another little one is gone way too soon. I have read through all six pages of others' comments offering condolences to the waiting mother. The very sad thing about this is that it is not an uncommon event for an orphan to DIE in an orphanage :(

Children are dying every single day in institutional care all over the world EVERY SINGLE DAY! If you care to do something to change that and want more information about how you can help, please drop me a comment or an email, and I will be happy to help you figure out a way to do that...to SAVE a life!!

ADOPTING A CHILD WON'T CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT FOR THAT CHILD, THE WORLD WILL CHANGE!

More of Us

Faith has officially lived with us longer than anywhere else in her little life. We brought Faith home 17 months ago, when she was 16 months old. So that means she has had more of us now than anyone else. It makes me smile just knowing that :)

She was such a "baby" when we met her, and now this morning she was very clear about telling me "NO, I don't want to!" when I asked her to brush her teeth. Faith is SO much like me it is scary. She is so full of attitude and knows just what she wants, and when she wants it ;) I have a feeling she is going to give me a run for my money as I try so desperately to parent her to her best abilities. But oh what a JOY she can be when she wants to be. She has a smile that lights up a room, cheeks that are to die for, and of course an infectious laughter that makes you crack up with her. I love this little girl so much and have really enjoyed watching her grow into toddlerhood. I can't wait to see what the rest of her life brings...

Looking for Some Blue

Lots of little boys just listed with AAC. Go here to check them out! There is a myth that only little girls are available to adopt from China. This is SO not true. China's waiting children now are mostly boys- not girls. Boys are great and definitely know how to keep this mommy on her toes. Always an adventure when you have boys in your house ;) Go check em out, dare ya!

Greatest Gift on Earth...

Being a MOM and being loved by a MOM!!

I am so very blessed to get to be a mommy to all 4 of my special treasures. It literally makes my heart sing :)

I also get the priviledge of being loved by my mom everyday and truly LOVE seeing her be the best Nana in the world!

Hope you all have a very Happy Mother's Day today. I plan to have a great one spending it with my loved ones, hope you get to do the same!

Happy Birth Mother's Day

Wanted to share an email I received from a friend who happens to be adopted and also has adopted a child herself...

Mother's Day is such a special day for mom's and their families. As a child, I don't recall thinking about my birth mother on Mother's Day, because my adoptive mom is my mom. However, I'm quite sure I would have been open discussing her on this holiday weekend.

This Saturday, May 8th, is Birth Mother's Day. For the last 5 years, Amy and I have done something to honor our first mothers. We have planted perennials several times. We enjoyed them through the summer and eagerly anticipated their return in the spring. We know exactly which ones they are. Last year, Amy wrote her birth mom a letter and we attached it to a lot of helium balloons and released them in a park with plenty of tree clearance. No matter what you may decide to do with your child, it is a great opportunity to honor the woman who gave birth to your child. When you honor your child's birth family you honor your child.

Here is some more information about Mother's Day and Birth Mother's Day....

Mother's Day, celebrated since the days of Ancient Greece, is observed on the second Sunday of May. And ever since 1990 when it was first celebrated in Seattle, Birth Mother's Day (or First Mother's Day) has been observed on the Saturday before Mother's Day.

Birthmother's Day ....Mary Jean Wolch-Marsh first conceived the idea as a result of her own adoption experience. She knew she was a mother, but didn't feel recognized as such, either by those around her or by her daughter's parents. Remembering the feelings she'd experienced at her daughter's birth - feelings of triumph and euphoria - she used them to help in her own healing.

May Birth Mother's Day bring acknowledgement and recognition to every birth mother who ever loved a child lost to adoption. May it honor and celebrate every mother who became childless after birthing a child, and was forgotten on Mother's Day. - Mary Jean Wolch-Marsh

So today I plan to talk to the girls about their first mother. I am not sure how I plan to honor their first mothers every year, but we will definitely do something special for them :)

Reasons to Smile

Here are some of the goodies my children have given me today:

Another Round

Unfortunately my company had yet another round of layoffs yesterday. Fortunately I was not one of them! Only a couple of us left now but praying hard that we keep things going until this crazy economy improves. I am SO thankful to have my job right now!!

Thought for the Day

• Just in time for Mother's Day...
  
  
  If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.
  
  If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not godliness.
  
  If I scream at my children for every infraction, and fault them for every mess they make, but have not love, my children become people-pleasers - not obedient children.
  
  Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh. Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
• Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk. Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
  
  Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present “mommy,” the taxi-driver to every childhood event, the counselor when my children fail or are hurt.
  
  Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
  
  Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection. Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child. All the projections I had for my house and my children have faded away into insignificance, And what remain are the memories of my kids.
  
  Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture, dishes with missing place settings, and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings, But the greatest of all is the Love that permeates my relationships with my children.
  
  (Adapted from an anonymous source by Jim Fowler)

Third Times A Charm

My o my, my little Travis! We spent Friday afternoon getting Travis' THIRD set of stitches in his lifetime. He is something else I tell you ;) Apparently there was some "rock throwing" on the school playground according to the school nurse. Travis never really disputed that and he had guilty written all over his forehead when I arrived at the school. We went to the Urgent Care facility hoping to get away with a $45 copay, but noooooooooo, they sent us to the ER at Scottish Rite for the professionals to stitch him up for the $200 co-pay!! (Just money right?!?)

Anyway I spent a lovely afternoon with my baby boy, who never even flinched during the procedure. Oh and do notice the shirt he just happened to be wearing that day for the "stunt". Oh my does this boy keep me hopping or what!!

AO Meeting was Great

We all had a wonderful time hanging out with our adoption friends this weekend. It was great to SEE everyone in person for a change and not just on their blog ;) I think all the kids had a good time as well. We pulled out Papa's redneck train and of course it was a big hit! I just love seeing how adoption has changed everyone's lives including our circle of friends. If you missed this one, be sure to come out next time around. You know who you are, we missed you!!