Trading Tea for Elephants

When we began to pursue Eliana, Kevin and I both could not shake the idea that somehow this little girl was going to be a part of Faith's healing and Faith would do the same for her.  Not something that would happen instantaneous but over their lifetime together being sisters.  It is a crazy idea, really, to take a little girl from Ethiopia and then another little girl from  China and make them sisters in an American family.  And then to have them come all mixed up and backwards. The youngest child arrived first to stake her claim on her family and then the older sister arrived two years later.  We knew upsetting birth order could be difficult. Our agency required us to read and read and read about how terribly awful this could all turn out for our family.  But we truly didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal.  Faith would still be the baby and the boys would still be the oldest.  We would just be inserting someone in the hole between Tyler and Faith.   If anyone

I like having my kids home.  Not because they are perfect or that our house is peaceful with everyone here, because it is not.  Especially not these past few weeks.  But I don't like spending time with my kids because they are easy.  I like spending time with them because they are my kids.  And they are each, individually incredibly amazing little people.  I don't like missing out on moments of their life.  But that is all about me.  My two oldest boys needed to go to school today for what is all about them. I will not lie... I cried like a baby when I came home from back to school night on Thursday.  Full out on the floor sobbing.  I held it together until the moment I came inside my house and looked in my husband's eyes.  One of the things I love about my husband is that he is safe and I can be very real when I am with him.  For the past few months or maybe even longer, I have been living in the hour not really able to think or process what would come next.  This has

It didn't take long to notice that Elie's teeth were crying for a dentist.  Her first big laugh revealed noticeable cavities in her molars.  One so bad that the boys have nicknamed it "The Black Spot".  I had the thought that we should try to find a dentist who speaks Mandarin.  The thought went as far as saying it out loud to Kevin but made no progress beyond that point.  In the end I decided to just make an appointment for her with our pediatric dentist. This spring we switched the kids to a new practice.  After our visit in the fall to our old dentist we knew it just wasn't the right fit for our family.  They seemed incredibly anxious to order expensive procedures for our kids and the environment left them more wired than Chuck-E-Cheese.  It was all just way over the top for all of us.  My friend, Julie, recommended another pediatric dentist to our family.  They had great success with him and felt he was more conservative in his practice.  We tried it.  

One month ago today I spotted my daughter in a crowded room.  I knew who she was from the photographs we had received, but I did not know her.  I didn't know she could run really fast.  I didn't know she could walk all the way to the park. I didn't know she could sing and that when she sings her whole body lights up.  I didn't know that she rolled her sheet around her hand and sucked her thumb to go to sleep.  I didn't know how much she would crave routines.  I didn't know that she would recognize us and each of her siblings.  I didn't know that her desire to do everything that her siblings do would allow her to conquer many of her fears.  I didn't know that she could out eat everyone else in the family.  I didn't know that she loved to write and to color.  I didn't know that she had a birthmark or cavities throughout all her back molars or that her hip was not in the right place.  I didn't know how strong willed she was, that she would want

We arrived in Wuhan, where we would meet our daughter, in the afternoon and went straight to our hotel.  When I pulled back the curtains I saw a photograph that I had been looking at every day for months.  A family who had traveled to Wuhan before sent me some pictures so I could have an idea of what the city looked like.  One of the photographs I posted on facebook with the title, somewhere in this city is my daughter.  It took my breath away to be standing in front of the real thing.  An exact replica of the photograph.  Kevin and I were experiencing every emotion under the sun and trying to fill the hours until we would meet our daughter the next afternoon.  I was so much more nervous this time around.  And we were all alone. When we went to Ethiopia we were with a large group of families all adopting, all staying together, all sharing each moment together.  Baby Camp is what Kevin and I called it.  I appreciated the support at the time, but have an entirely new level of appre

While we were in China, Kevin and I enjoyed making sense of the signs and Tshirts with English writing.  I'm sure we do the same thing with  Chinese writing here in America.  We took the humor as a gift during some hard days.  We made of list of some of our favorites and wanted to share them with you.  What do you think these Tshirts were trying to say? Sports event in this crappy club is biker chich crcos (on a pair of knock off crocs) Taul Frank (picture of monkey) Cowboys don't give a sh** satisfied dress (written across the chest) Galvin Klein I'm good girl with bad Levi's ladys (on a man's tshirt) cook to skelet shout bwoys fire soprit knowledge is like pants they are invisible but necessary didh't nothing gneww ysiwyg love is warm puppy house is love and this one kept us giggling for a long time... the plot thickens (written on the pocket of a man's pair of jeans)

In the race of life our family has the best pit crew.  I cannot even begin to imagine the journey God has taken us on without our support team.  I love this picture that was taken the morning Kevin and I left for China.  There are three incredible women in this photograph who inspire me daily.  All the way on the left is my dear friend Leah (and the 2 extra kids in the picture belong to her).  She called me this winter to let me know they wanted to help.  She would come and stay with my children while we were in China.  She would make it work anytime we needed her.  Her next statement showered me with love, "You know we would love to be there when Elie gets off the plane, but this is not about us.  It is about what you guys need."  Wow.  She has been this type of friend to me since the day we met 16 years ago.  It was my first night at college and true to my personality, after leaping I was wondering why I had jumped in the first place.  I was a puddle of tears when she f

Have you ever seen the movie "The Back Up Plan", the one where JLo is pregnant?  Yes, I enjoy watching those type of silly romantic comedies.  Anyway, there is a scene where a father is explaining to a soon-to-be dad what parenthood is like.  "It is just awful, really, really awful and then something beautiful happens and then it is just awful, awful, awful and then something beautiful happens."  This is the roller coaster we have been riding lately.  However I would like to report that all members of our household survived Daddy's first day back at work.  Although I don't know if it really counts because for the first part of the day K,T, and F were at a friend's house while I took E to the doctor. The doctor.  So today was Eliana's appointment with the Neurologist.  We have decided to mostly stick with  the team of specialist associated with D. C. Children's Hospital and the doctor we saw today is part of that group.  You never know about tra

Before we left for China I wrote a post with prayer requests - t hose are in black.  God's answers are in red.  He is so Faithful!!! *  Safety for all the flights and train rides to and from and in China Everything went great.  We had a change in our flight from Guangzhou to Beijing, but there were no problems.  All our luggage always arrived where it was supposed to and we were all able to have rest on the flights.  Our flight home was long and there were a few tantrums, but really overall it went very well.  Our seats were not together but a nice man offered to switch so we could sit together.  The "nice man" ended up being another adoptive Father who runs an orphanage in China.   *  Opportunities to be a light and share love We were able to share our faith with all of our guides and I hope we were able to encourage others while we were there.   *  Kevin's blood sugars would remain in good control and all his medication will function properly Kevin's bl