The Longest Day EVER!!!!!

On Thursday my family and I got up extra early (3 AM) and headed off to the airport.  Traveling to get to Tianjin was what I thought was going to be my hardest part. That was easy compared to leaving my wonderful husband and what I think are the greatest kids in the world. The airline allowed Steve and the kids to go back and wait with me. Having to say good bye was so hard. I have a new respect for parents and spruces that have to travel.

I could see the kids from my seat. 

The flight form Columbus to Chicago was hard. I cried.  I have never left my husband or kids for more than two and a half days. Two weeks is going to be hard, but as Elias pointed out: I will be with family as soon as I get Brea.

Since we upgraded my flight over to Ch*na I got to stay in the lounge in Chicago. As Steve put it, from a picture I sent, swanky. 

It was a long flight to Shanghai after that. Over 14 hours. I slept a couple of time for about 40 mins each. That is the longest I ever slept on a plane. Every once in awhile I would crack open the window to look at the beautiful view. Wow!!!! Bodies such an awesome creator. 

I was in Shanghai for over 6 hours. Everyone was coming home after Ch*nese New Years.  There was probably twice as many people than there were seats.  It was also cold and my coat was packed neatly in my luggage that was already checked. It took everything I had to stay awake. 

The plane ride from Shanghai to Tianjin was nice and fast. After about a hour car ride, I made it to the hotel. I was froze to the bone. At both airports in Ch*na I was taxied to and from the plane in a bus (not heated and no coat). Coming to the hotel I finally had a coat but no heat I the van and it was -4. I could not feel my fingers or toes. Thankfully I was kinda use to it from living in Ohio. 

At the hotel I got to talk with Steve, take a hot shower and sleep on a bed that is just a piece of ply board with batting on it.  The bed never felt better. 

I want to say thanks for all the prayers. I know that God is traveling with me. He was my straight over that ver long 30 some hours. He has also put some extra love in my heart for these people and this country. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tomorrow I leave for China to pick up our beautiful daughter Brea.  We have been doing paperwork for over a year and now it is finally time to meet and bring her home.  Early in our process Steve and I decided that I would travel to China.  I was not planning on going by myself but I am.  Steve and I truly believe that this was God’s plan and we have learned not to question him. 

Over the past couple of weeks things have started falling into place.  We have gotten unexpected discounts and provisions.   I have no doubt that this is God going before and preparing things for me.  This has given me a wonderful peace in my heart.

Tomorrow morning I start my 30 some hour journey to China.  I go straight to Tianjin.  I am looking forward to a couple days rest before I meet Brea.  I might even take a trip to the Harley Davidson store and get some presents for my parents. 

I am spending time with my family today.  Have a wonderful day!!!!! 

News again

I can not believe that I am writing this. A couple of weeks ago God started moving in Steve a I's life again. Unexpectedly we were led to an eight year girl. We have started the paperwork but the best news is that we already have Pre-approval from China. We are starting at the very beginning with our homestudy, so no I do not know when she will be home, but we do know that it will all happen in God's time.

We are so excited to be adding to our family.

Our Adoption Testimony

This is some of what God has done in our family in the past few years.  The journey we took through adoption has been a series of open and closed doors. 

When we got married we knew we wanted children, but we also knew that I might not be able to have them.  Whenever we talked about kids, Steve always made sure that I knew that adoption was an option we had.

               

I had always wanted to have children.  I have had surgeries, taken medication and have prayed for healing.  But that was not God’s plan.  After trying for a couple of years and even trying fertility pills we decided to just wait for God’s time.  It was not long after that I was healed.  During communion one Sunday I had a peace in my heart.  God had answered my prayers, by closing that door, and opening my heart to adoption.  I looked at Steve and told him I was ready to get a hysterectomy and start the adoption process.

                    After much talking and praying we chose to pursue international adoption. We found an agency and started the process to get a baby from Vietnam.  After nearly completing the paperwork, we learned the regular program from Vietnam was in jeopardy.  Believing that this was what we ought to be doing, we pressed on anyway.  When the borders (and that door) actually did close, we were devastated.  There was no way we could get a healthy baby so we started looking for other options, which led us to their special needs program.  The door was open again.  But no sooner had we spread the word about our adoption of a 4 year old special needs boy, that all adoptions were halted from Vietnam.

          We were hurt, confused and even angry.  We did not understand why God had opened these doors just to shut them.  Until then we’d done what we felt led to do, but we thought it was time for us take a break.  In the middle of our break (and before we thought we were ready) we got a call from Cheryl, our Vietnam agent, saying she found a boy from Taiwan and thought of us.  It was hard because Taiwan wasn’t part of our plan.

                   But it was in God’s plan.  Just as fast as the last door shut this door flew open. Everything about Elias’ adoption was fast. We worked with a new agency but still had help from Dick and Cheryl.  God was always one step in front of us preparing the way.

                   Within months we were in Taiwan.  Our plan was simple: to get in, get Elias, and get home.  That is what we did. However we also knew that going from no children to a 7 year old was going to be hard.  We were not as prepared as we thought.  We have learned a lot since then, and cannot express the amount of love we have for him.  We have also looked at our relationship with Jesus differently.  We are adopted children of God through Jesus.  We come as we are and He helps us grow.      

                   We have always thought it would be important to read Bible stories to our kids.  While reading the Bible to Elias, we began to see the stories in a new light.  Aspects of adoption, even international adoption could be found in the stories of Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Esther and so many others--individuals who left their land, their people or their family to go to a completely new and different place.  Elias was able to relate to many of these stories, but for a long time, Joseph and his life in Egypt was his favorite.

                   We knew that one kid was not enough, so we started the search for a little girl.  We found Jade who was from Ch*na and had mild intelligence delays.  We really doubted our ability to parent a child with physical or major special needs, but we felt that we could handle her needs.  Most mild mental delays exist because the child has had a hard life. With time, patience and the security of a stable- loving home, these can be overcome.

                   Here God had opened the door for us, but the paperwork was a struggle to get through.  Nothing seemed to be going right.  We could not give up, but we were tired of all the hang-ups.  Then we came across a little boy that just spoke to us.  I made some calls and found out that we could add him to Jade’s adoption but if we had been any further along this door would have been closed.  For some reason, the decision to adopt Abram was an easy one.  We had a peace about him and we knew he was from God. After that, paperwork got easier.

                   For us, the idea of going to Ch*na for three weeks was our Mt. Everest.  We left and went to get Jade first.  Even with the high elevation, cold weather and the smell of burning coal everywhere, I had none of the breathing problems we feared she would. We knew God was watching over us.

                   When we first met Jade, she was in survival mode.  She smiled but did not really interact with us.  We tried to let her walk, but she was too overwhelmed.  So we carried her until we got back to the hotel.  Steve thought he noticed something wasn’t quite right.

                   Steve and Elias left the hotel shortly after we got back.  I was left alone with Jade.  It did not take long to see that there was indeed something wrong.  She had trouble walking, keeping her balance and even coloring or using her hands.  This is not what we had signed up for.  There was something physically wrong with our child and I was scared.   

          I had to get up and walk around. I had tears in my eyes. I gave her a snack and I cried.  Not very openly, but I was bawling on the inside. This was not the girl we expected.  I was scared and alone.

          When they got back, I told Steve that something was not right with Jade. She was not responding to much of anything. She was not walking right, frequently falling down, and having trouble with her fine motor skills.  We were prepared for mental special needs, not physical.

          That night after the kids went to bed, Steve and I went into the bathroom and talked, cried, got angry and finally prayed.  Why did her paperwork not mention this? What other things were they keeping from us? We did not know why we were not told about this and why they did not send us the video that they had taken of her which would have prepared us for this.  We were scared and still had another kid that we were suppose to pick up in a week. We were alone.

                   Jade was our daughter and we were going to keep her no matter what… Early the next morning, we went and signed the paperwork. According to Ch*na she was now ours.  But what about Abram? What could have they kept from us about him? What was the truth about him?

          After many talks in the bathroom or off to the side away from the kids, Steve and I decided that we needed to call our agency.  From what we knew we expected Abram was going to have some behavioral problems and emotional things to work through. We knew that if we met Abram we would not be able to give him up. Now everything we thought had been turned upside down. Jade could not even take 10 steps without falling. How could we take care of another kid? What good could we do if we could not handle it?

          We called and asked what we needed to do to stop Abram’s adoption. This was the hardest call I have ever had to make in my life.  That night was a very, very hard night.  We could not sleep. We were alone in the middle of Ch*na. Satan was at work.

                    About 11:30 that night we got a phone call. It was our main coordinator in Ch*na.  He had called Abram’s orphanage and then called us back to tell us he was told that Abram was a sweet, healthy kid.  He gave us 24 hours to make our decision.

          The next morning God started talking.  I think He was talking the whole time, but we were not ready to listen.  We were not alone.  God had shown us that he had the perfect plan, and we needed to stay out of His way.  I reminded Steve “Abram is a God thing. He has always been a God thing.  God’s plan is for Abram to be part of our family and that is what we need to do. He will provide and take care of us.” 

                    We took a leap of faith and continued on as planned.  After that things got easier for us. We had a peace in our hearts.  We were still stressed and overwhelmed but through it all, we knew that everything would work out.

                    We went to Abram’s province and he was brought to our hotel room.  Then we sat around for hours watching and playing with all three of our kids.  It felt right.  There was a sense of completeness with our family that both Steve and I felt.  Abram, as it turned out, was a sweet, healthy little boy.

                    Jade was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy shortly after we came home.  She also has no sign of intelligence delay. In fact she is very smart.  We are so proud of the progress she has made.  She is a strong and determined girl.

          It has been so amazing to see how God works.  He had the perfect plan for our family the whole time.  He made these kids to be a part of our family.  It was hard at the time, but all the closed doors were put in place to change our hearts or lead us down a different path.  Maybe even to humble us a little more.  We now praise God for both the open and closed doors.  Our children are a blessing and we thank God for them every day. 

Update

On November 5th Steve and I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary.  I am so blessed to be married to my best friend.  He is a wonderful husband and also a wonderful father.  I can not believe how much have changed in that time.  The most wonderful change is the adoption of our 3 wonderful kids.  I am amazed how they fit into our family so perfectly.  God is good.

I now have a mini van.  I fought for so many years not to have one and now I love it.

Jade has made so much progress these past 8 months.  Last month Jade we officially diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.    We were told that she had intelligence delay but she was greatly misdiagnosed.  She is so smart and very determined.  Every week she has Speech, OT and PT.  She is also going to be getting a brace for her right leg in the next couple of week.  She has doctor appointments and test going on a lot.  Next week she will be going for a MRI.  

All of Jade's therapist are amazed by her progress week to week.  She wants to do everything by herself.  She is not going to let anything stand in her way.  I do not think that we would have chosen a child with CP, but we are so blessed by her everyday.  I can not imagine life without her.  She bring so much joy into our home. She steals everyone's heart in just seconds.  Every morning she climbs into our bed and cuddles with her Daddy and Mommy is the only person who can rock her at night.  We love her so much.  (She has Grandpa completely wrapped around her finger.)

Abram is our little big boy.  He is still smaller than Jade.  He has gone and seen an endocrinologist and everything is fine, he is just little.  We have done some test to try and get a more accurate age and we think that China was off by a year.  We are looking into officially changing his age to 6.

We have started school with him and he is doing great.  He is also learning so many words.  He loves to talk and even has some silliness in him.  He and Elias get along great and love playing together.  Abram loves being in this family and is my little cuddler.  I love everything about that boy.

Abram loves life.  He is a ball of energy and loves to have fun.

Elias is Elias.  He is so smart.  Homeschooling him is fun and easy.  He loves to read and he is starting to enjoy learning, even though he will never admit it.  When we got the van he asked if we were going to adopt 2 more kids since we had 2 extra seats in the van.  He loves to run and play and has started gym and swim at the Y.  Soon he will start his 3rd year of soccer

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Here are just some fun pictures.

A very late update

I know that it has been awhile since my last post.  Well what did you expect, I am now the mother of 3 kids and I homeschool :).  I love being a mom. It is the best and hardest job I have ever had.  God has blessed this family so much and even on the worst of days i am thankful that God choose me to be the mother of these three special and wonderful kids.

Elias is great. He will officially be done with 3rd grade next week. I can not believe how hard her has worked the past couple of years to catch up with school work.  As with all kids we have some issues to work on but I could not have asked for a better kid.  He is a bright shining light.  He loves to help people and make people happy.  He is a wonderful big brother.  Both Abram and Jade adore him.

Abram is so very smart but soooooo very stubborn.   Today he said all of his ABC's by himself.  He is asking so many questions and is just wanting to know more English (except with school work where most of the time he fights me tooth and nail).  He is so proud of himself because he is able to do so many things for himself.  I am not sure that he has ever been treated his age because of his size before us.  He can brush his own teeth and take a shower by himself.  I know that this sounds odd that a 7 year old could not do it before but it is hard to do things you never been taught before.  His laugh is addicting and him smile could warm anyone's heart.  He is into cars and all things that move.  Abram has also became Grandpa's little buddy.  My Dad called us and asked if Abram could spend the night.  He did very well over there without Mommy   :(.

I think that the hardest thing about adopting older kids is that instead of 5 or 6 years before they stop needing a lot of help and taking care of it is only 4 or 5 months.  I love adopting older kids.  I love that Elias can tell me story's of Taiwan.  Or that walking through Wal-Mart Jade can show me a snack that her China Mama use to give her.  But I do not like that I have missed so much. When I get to heaven I am going to ask God if I can watch my kids' life before I was their Mama.

Jade is the strongest person I have ever met.  She works so hard to do the littlest thing.  But she does it whit such happiness.  Jade has two moods, happy or screaming.  Most of the time she is happy.  Jade has made so many leaps since she has been home.  She can climb steps by herself and a few times she has even taken steps without holding onto anything.  Not very often but that is still huge.  She "runs" (walks fast), jumps, and dances all while cracking up laughing.  She can sing most of  "You are my Sunshine" and has started learning her ABC's.  She is such a good helper also.  She helps with laundry, dishes, putting things away, and cooking.

I will try to post on here more often.  This month has been crazy and it is only the 13th.  We had a storm where we lost power and while that was happening I sprained my ankle.  Steve has been working crazy hours because someone at his work broke his ankle.  We are doing pretty good in spite all that. Things will get back to normal someday.

Our Crazy Life

I can not believed that three months ago we were on our way to China.  It seems like a lifetime ago. I can not believe how much the kids have changed and attached in this little amount of time.  Steve and I got to go out on a fast mini date last week.  My parents came over and spoiled the kids while we went to the movies.  I think the kids handled it better than we did.  But it was nice to get out and spend some quality time together.

Elias is back into school work completely.  I read to him a lot for school work and he enjoyed that extra time he gets with me. He is also in his 3rd year of soccer and it is so amazing how far he has come.  He is getting use to having a brother and a sister.  He is still nervous around Jade because when she gets excited she still falls and it scares him and make him feel bad.

Abram is such a sweet boy.  He is learning some English but he wants to learn more. He gets frustrated sometimes when he knows he needs to do something but doesn't know what.  It breaks my heart when that happens.  He is also such a little trooper.  A couple weeks ago he had two of his teeth pulled and did not even flinch.   A few weeks ago someone at church, who speaks Chinese, told Abram that we were his family forever.  Ever since then his personality is starting to show more and more.  He is a fun, silly and sweet boy.

Jade is paying me back for anything I ever did to my parents.  She a a great girl but she is ALL girl.  She loves to laugh and dress up.  She gets so excited to go to church because she gets to wear a dress.  She is such a strong little girl.  She has to try so hard in everything she does, but she wants to do everything by herself.  We have met with her PT and are excited to start working with her.  We are still waiting to hear from her OT.  She has started jumping.  She has to hold onto something but both feet are off the ground.  It took her awhile to teach herself how to do it but she wanted to do it so she did.

She made the bracelet.

This week we decided to change the kids room.  It worked out better than we could have ever imaged.  The boys have more room to play and the bunk beds are gone and they have their own bed.  They both love having their own bed and space.  We like Jades new room because we can use the closet for storage and keep her out.  She has enjoyed getting a new room just because it is different.  The kids worked hard changing the rooms but they also had fun playing together.