Good news? Not good news?

Well, I'm really trying to be happy about this. We got an email from our agency today with really wonderful news-- really. Our social worker announced that she is 6 months pregnant with her first child. Isn't that wonderful?? Yes, I thought so. Until I realized that new baby = maternity leave. Now, I really have no right to worry about this, because truly, it is all GOD'S timing. But of course I am worried. What if we don't find our little one before she goes on leave in April? How is the replacement SW going to be? Will she be as diligent? What if she decides to take more than two months off when she realizes her baby is sweeter than she imagined?? So many unknowns, I'm really trying not to let my head spin. Dear Lord, help me be patient.

Adoption update

Sorry. Not much to report. Here's a bit of encouragement, though! According to the small sampling of folks logged in to USCIS on the Rumor Queen website, it would seem that wait times for approval are decreasing!! While I'm not expecting to have approval for a few more weeks yet, we are quite hopeful that we at least will not exceed the 90 day maximum window that USCIS strives for. Our approval should come at the end of January. At that time, we can get all of our documents authenticated and SENT OFF TO CHINA!! We are kind of cutting it close on this one, but our medical exams reach their 1 year point on March 6th, so we're REALLY hoping to not have to redo them. Steve's doctor, as some may recall, was a little bit of an idiot when it came to this. That's all for now, we'll keep you updated!
p.s. we'll start looking at files once we get documents off to China-- on the other hand, we're so close... maybe we'll start looking the next time files come out to the shared list! Please continue to pray for us.

Merry Christmas

To all our family and friends near and far that mean the world to us, Merry Christmas! May you be blessed with the HOPE and JOY that the infant Savior brought to a needy world. Our prayer for you is that you are safe, warm, well-fed, and surrounded by love today and always.
WE LOVE YOU!!

Bring it ON!!!

Okay, yes, I am one of those people that just adores the snow. I am a homebody and generally don't have any pressing places to go, so this week has been great for me! The cold weather has lasted all week long and it has been so beautiful. It snowed again on Wednesday, but both of our snows were so piddly and unimpressive...until tonight! There is supposed to be some major storm moving in with winds and ice and scary and all, blah, blah, blah, but for now, we're basically having a blizzard. My dad and I went for a nice little walk where we had to keep our faces down, lest our eyes get stabbed by the shooting dart flakes. My dad had basically discovered a frozen pond in the road of the neighborhood across the street from their house. And what do you know? I still had my ice skates at their house from some 15 years ago! So of COURSE we had to go try it out. I think we were only out for about 30 minutes, but it was the coldest 30 minutes I have ever experienced at home in Western Washington (I've lived here all my life). We had a blast, though, complete with about 5 rounds back and forth on this little pond-- that was all I could stand! Dad said this snow reminded him of the midwest snows of his childhood. Crazy!

Here's a picture of our freezing venture, so much fun!

Samuel making his first snow angel.

Samuel and Uncle trying out the sled together earlier this week.

Uncle and Timothy enjoying the beautiful winter wonderland.

I'm totally bummed that it is supposed to start raining. Oh well, it has been a great way to slow down and enjoy our time before Christmas. It's way too easy to forget that. Be blessed!

Let it Snow!

We, here, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest have apparently been picked up and moved to an area of the world that gets actual cold weather. Don't get me wrong, we do have years when we get the occasional snow storm that the news jumps on and hypes up with the idiot reporter standing in the middle of-- well, usually just some empty field that WILL be covered with snow sometime early this week... but here in Washington, the snow generally lasts for a few hours to a day and then leaves us for rain, rain and more rain. It doesn't really freeze along with the snow. Well, on Saturday, we actually saw it freeze FIRST and then snow! Where we live, we only got about 3 inches, but it is THE REAL THING!! The kind where you can see individual ice crystals and blow it off your gloves before it melts. Powder, baby. And the amazing thing is, it is still so cold that the forecast believes we won't see above freezing temps for a week or more yet!! WHERE ARE WE, AGAIN??? So, Samuel and Timothy were excited to wake up to a world of white outside (okay, I was too) and of course going outside was the first thing they wanted to do that day. Samuel was quite disappointed that he could not make a snowball or a snowman-- and really, who can blame him? We did have a blast with our sled, though. We have an awesome sledding hill in our front yard. Unfortunately it ends right in our not-so-friendly neighbor's yard. We may have to track down some hay bales to remedy that. Anyway, here are some fun pictures of our adventures! Enjoy and stay warm!!


By the way, I know I look like a dork in this picture-- I am wearing a size 2T hat.

This is our winter view, isn't it pretty? In the summer all the trees have leaves, so we can't see the lake, but now we love to take advantage of the view!

A Little Math

Yesterday, Samuel was contemplating the bit of imbalance we have in this household, gender-wise. He noted that we have 3 boys in our house, but just the one girl. And he figured that when we come back from China, we will have two girls, but still more boys which apparently is not okay. So, he came up with a solution that I really feel is a good one: we come back from China with TWO little girls! Way to go, Samuel, that's my boy!! I wonder if I'll be able to talk DH into that one...? (What do you think Noelle? Pretty good solution, eh?!)

Fingerprints? CHECK!

Not very exciting, but we just went in for our biometrics appointment at the local USCIS office this morning. We are just one step closer, trying to keep our chins up with the increasing wait times even for SN. Keep the prayers coming, it's so hard to wait.

Tag-- I'm IT!

Well, I was doing a little catching up on my blog reading this evening when lo and behold! There I was tagged in Jenn B's blog. I'm not entirely sure what the rules are, so I'll make them up. I'm supposed to list 6 random things about me, so here we go! Should be fun...

1.) I am the youngest grandchild on my dad's side of the family. I do rather like being the baby :)

2.) Someday, I aspire to be a lactation consultant and help out all those new nursing mamas of the world.

3.) I can fold my outer ear inside of my ear. It's a great conversation starter.

4.) I desperately desire to sing in the church's worship band, but nerves (among other things) unfortunately keep me from it.

5.) I met Mike Myers and Dana Carvey at the filming of Wayne's World Two in the summer before my 9th grade year. Mike Myers is very funny and nice-- I got to make sure no one ate his sandwich. Dana Carvey, not so much.

6.) I met my husband at Boy Scout Camp and that is where he proposed to me as well!

So, Jenn tagged two people and I think that seems reasonable! I tag Kathy Wathy and Carala. Have fun!

Confessions of a Food Snob

Hello. My name is Courtney and I am a food snob. I come by it honestly, surrounded by a mom, aunties and a grandma who all love to cook-- and eat. And now that the next generation has grown to the ripe age of contribution, I also have 9 cousins and a brother and sister who can cook and enjoy good food. It's a great life, when the food is good, fresh and ALWAYS homemade (you should have heard the gasp and the looks of disgust on my relatives faces when my mom presented a piece of leftover pie that a friend had made with-- dare I say it???-- canned already spiced pumpkin!! In my mom's defense, she was just trying to get rid of it!). Thanksgiving dinner is no exception and it is SO LOVELY when you can delegate a huge meal like that amongst the masses and come knowing that every dish is going to be mouth-wateringly delicious and stunningly unique! That is a Newman family gathering-- every time, I kid you not. In addition, every Tuesday evening (formerly known as "craft night," but cleverly changed to "Tuesday nignt dinners" when no crafting was being done), we have a smaller scale gathering where we rotate who brings the main dish and the sides. It is, without fail, everyone's favorite meal of the week. I'm getting hungry... but I digress! It is simply the best. My only goal in life is to raise two boys and a girl to love good food. Okay, I'm sure I have more goals than that, but it's a good one, wouldn't you say?

So, tell me about your favorite home grown dish! Are we the only family like this? Was there something just unbearable at your Thanksgiving feast this year or in the past? I wanna know!

So SO thankful for...

*These two little boys that all at once love on each other and scream in each other's faces.
*A little girl who waits for us half way across the world-- someone we love already, but don't even know yet.
*My husband who has a heart for protecting and loving others in his job and his family.
*A warm house that is a precious home.
*Income during a very hard financial time.
*Extended family that lacks a lot of drama :)
*Certainly not least of all is this: I asked Timothy this morning what he was thankful for and without a moments hesitation he said, "Jesus!" Me too, my little man, more than you or I even know...

Happy Thanksgiving and be blessed, everybody!!

Barnes and Noble

Here is your opportunity to help out by doing something that you were already going to do just by mentioning this with your purchase!!



On Sunday, December 7, Families with Children from China - N. Calif.
is having a fundraiser at ALL Barnes and Noble bookstores ALL OVER THE
COUNTRY and you can participate. Orphan relief programs in China will
benefit so this is a nationwide effort. Please forward this message
widely.

1) Do some holiday shopping at Barnes & Noble Bookstores on December
7! When you go to the counter, mention

***code 428490 ***

or hand them a voucher
> and
about 10% of your purchase price will be donated to FCC. N. California!

2) This program is nationwide, so tell your friends and family members
to use this code when making purchases at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore,
or order by phone from a retail store on Sunday, December 7.
(Unfortunately, it is not valid for Internet orders.)

These funds will go to help orphans in China who need surgeries,
nutrition, education, and other basics. Please circulate this notice
widely!
Sincerely,
Peggy Scott for Families with Children from China - N. Calif.

Fingerprints

We got our fingerprint ("biometrics") appointment for USCIS!! It will be December 3rd, so not as soon as I would hope, but one step closer...

Wonderful Weekend

**Man! I've been trying to get this post out for a week now, I guess we've been busy...

What a great weekend we had! It started on Thursday with dh surprising me and whisking me off to exotic Bellevue (ha ha). He got a great deal on a very nice hotel room and my dad was able to come stay with the boys, so off we went! We did a little early Christmas shopping and just enjoyed an evening of us time-- something we desperately need these days. We came home in the morning on Friday and got ready for our big night of Halloween festivities. We went to our church's celebration and it was crazy!! Poor little Timothy was so overwhelmed by it all that he hardly said two words-- not to mention that he refused to wear his adorable giraffe costume. Oh well, not a battle worth fighting with a two year old. Samuel looked very sweet in his "doggy costume" for the second year in a row and he was so cute running back and forth to the mirror to examine his makeup.

Then Saturday, we all woke up early and headed east over the mountains to our annual Newman Family Cider Weekend. We've done this on an annual basis now for at least 35 years, so I can't quite imagine life without it! My family has a functioning apple farm up in the Naches Heights area of Yakima, WA (my great-grandfather purchased the land quite a long time ago) and we are spoiled with the beauty of it at this time of year. Unfortunately, we had to move the weekend back by one week and the rain came! It worked out just fine, though, cider can still be made in the rain. This year we made over 100 gallons, quite a feat in our history. But I have say that ever since we voted three years ago, pooled our money and bought the electric cider press, I've felt like we're cheating (frankly, I voted no, but I lost. I prefer the crank and grind of the antique cider press that they used to drag out every year. It was made by my aforementioned late great-grandfather). Samuel and Timothy both had a grand ole time helping out. They were as much a part of the process as anyone else in the family-- that makes me so proud! So, without further ado (and sorry to keep you waiting), here are a few glances at the fun.

Caught in the Act!

I love to sing. And I had a song stuck in my head. It's a song that is on our computer, so I thought I'd turn it on while I'm reading email and sing along. IT'S A VERY PRETTY SONG. So, there I was checking email and humming along, not really paying attention until my husband walks into the room very slowly. As I finally noticed his presence, I turned around to see the very funny look on his face and to hear him say, "Uh, you're singing RAFFI?!" I don't KNOW any popular songs right now, OKAY? Raffi is as good as it gets around here.

Playing for Change

All my dad wanted for his birthday this year, bless his heart, was for myself and the rest of his family to watch a short Bill Moyers interview with a man named Mark Johnson. Mark is a producer who decided to spend 10 years creating a project where he invited over 100 street musicians from all over the world to play music together by recording and mixing their talents. This absolutely beautiful version of "Stand By Me" is one example. If you would like to see the whole interview, visit http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10242008/watch.html and select 'Playing for Change' in the 'Choose video' pane. Enjoy!

Let's try that again

Whew! What a week. Well, I never thought I'd say this, but I am so impressed with the speed at which two particular government agencies worked. I must have misplaced our copies of our birth certs and I wanted to re-order them (for this and just to have), so I hopped onto the computer and ordered them online on Wednesday. We didn't feel the need to have them expedited, so paid for them to be shipped regular mail. I kid you not, they were in our mailbox on Thursday!! That was an awesome surprise. Then, our other documents that we had needed to include a copy of in our USCIS application, arrived this afternoon. I grabbed the mail, opened it, stuck it right into the envelope with ALL our other USCIS docs (yes, the check was in there-- I checked ten times) and drove off to the post office. We have lift off (again), people! And this time I MEAN IT!! So, that little mistake cost me, what, three days? What am I so worried about?? Now, I can breathe again.

Just keep swimming...

Thank you to everybody who commented on my last post. I was really in a bad place when I wrote that, but today, at least I can laugh about it. Our SW, Marci, who is AWESOME, by the way, helped talk me down all afternoon and in the end reminded me that there is a reason for this mistake-- maybe even that our little girl just wasn't quite ready yet. My dad said it well when he reminded me that we are on God's time, not ours. So true, so true. So, just to bring you up to speed, we figured we wouldn't wait on USCIS to send our stuff back and we are just going to fill out the papers again and send them off. We had to get another copy of one document, but it should arrive any day and we should have things (hopefully) off by early next week. I guess when you're talking about a 6 month wait for processing, what's another week?

Anyway, I just realized that I have been terrible about posting pictures lately! Next time STOP me if I do that... so, now I leave you with our fun little outing to the pumpkin patch last weekend. Enjoy!

QUICK somebody pick me up...

Oh my gosh! I am such an idiot. So, I was all excited that I had sent off my I-800A yesterday. Well, I was just checking my adoption file folder for something else and guess what I found?! You can't imagine, can you? Why, I found a CHECK written out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the amount needed to process said I-800A and fingerprints. I could just SCREAM right now. I need a day off. Or a few prayers.

WOO HOO!

Okay, FINALLY! Major hurdle jumped, our home study is complete!! Apparently, though, our home study SW sent all notarized copies to our agency, so we wait... and wait... HOPEFULLY we will be able to send our USCIS docs on Monday.

This is the home study that never ends...

I've been quiet for a while now, thinking that at ANY MOMENT I'll be able to post the best news that our home study update is complete. Well, I still can't do that. We had news that the draft was done last Friday, so I've been bracing myself ever since. Because China is a Hague country, there are a LOT more requirements than there were with Taiwan. And since our next stop with the paperwork, including home study, is USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), everything has to be just right. Not to mention that there is a huge "return to sender and fix" rate with USCIS right now as the new Hague requirements were only put into place in April and everybody is still trying to figure out how exactly these Hague requirements work. What a pain! In addition to all this, starting Sept. 25th, we are supposed to send our USCIS paperwork to one central office (before that, you sent it to a local branch), so I imagine with this added learning curve, there will be additional wait times involved. We were hoping to be dossier to China (DTC) by Christmas... not gonna happen. Oh well. This is so not in our hands. God's timing. Breathe. Be patient. Repeat.

Anonymous in Seattle

Okay, how many of us in the adoption world have daydreamed about this? You go to check the mail, you thumb through the pile of bills and useless junk, until suddenly, lo and behold! There is it! An anonymous check sent to you for the express purpose of covering adoption expenses!

You just can't tell me you've never thought this would be SO COOL. Well guess what?! Just this very fine day, that very thing happened to Steve and I. We were FLOORED. I mean, what do you say?? What do you do?? Well, I guess you praise God from whom all blessings flow!! The only clue that we have about who sent it is that it was post-marked from Seattle-- which is not much help for us, since our small world revolves around Seattle. The letter that accompanied it said:

Dear Steve and Courtney,
The enclosed check is to help with adoption expenses. Please allow us the fun and joy of being anonymous. God is great!
Love, Us

Wow.

Dear Anonymous in Seattle,
We are humbly filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for this generous gift that you have given us and our little girl. We have no idea who you are, but we rest well in knowing that God has seen this great act of kindness and will repay you better than we ever could. You couldn't have said it better-- God is SO great. Thank you, Lord.

Be blessed and thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Courtney and Steve

I'd like to thank my hairdresser and my garbage man...

WOW! I got an award? Really?? The only other award I can think of that I have ever received is "Typing Student of the Quarter" in ninth grade. Well, that might be stretching the truth just a little. Anyway, thank you Sara/Sofa! I feel so loved, albeit a little undeserving (at least today after an ENTIRE gallon of dark blue latex paint was spilled on Beano's floor, but that's another story for another day. Nevermind, see characteristic #3...)

Here are the Smile Award rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the award's creator.
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude (not necessarily at all times--we are all human).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

So, now it is my turn to pick my worthy recipients!

My old buddy, Kathy Wathy. Oh man, if you ever have a chance to read this gal's blog, you will bust a gut laughing by the end. Kathy is one of my best friends who always manages to make me smile.

Pam, who is currently in Taiwan, getting her little miracle, Anna Li Grace. Pam is such a woman of faith and hope that she is pure encouragement to read about and chat with on email.

Jeri, who is a FOUNTAIN of knowledge about this whole adoption business. She (and her husband) was one of the really influential folks who talked us into going the SN route-- and I'm so glad she did. She has her hands full, but she has such a great sense of humor about it all.

Miss Carala! Okay, now this girl has some FAITH. She and her family have had a tough road with adoption, but even in her down times, you can feel her JOY! What a presence she has.

Noelle, my local friend in the adoption world! If you have never heard me tell our story of how we came to adopt, then you wouldn't realize what a huge influence Noelle and her family have had on me. She told me her family was going to adopt from Ethiopia 1-1/2 years ago and it was at that instant that I knew, we were called to adopt in China. I'm so glad we can share our journeys together! Your family is beautiful!

That's all for now, folks. I know I missed so many others out there, but this award is spreading fast amongst the blogs I read regularly. Be blessed!

Beano's First Day of Preschool

Little Bean finally started preschool yesterday. He had a great time after sticking near me for the first half hour or so. And I had to be a "working parent" that day, so lucky for him, I was still around. I know he'll do just fine without me, but he's been a little nervous about the whole thing, asking frequently, "Are you going to stay with me?" He's such a friendly little thing, though, that he really should have no problemo making friends. Wow, this is going by so quickly...

Brother in Underwear!!

Okay, I'm sure someday they'll be so mortified that I published this to the world, but I'm so excited! Timothy has started wearing underwear! We began potty training on a whim almost a week ago and he just got it. I guess it helps having a big brother pave the way and they do say that even boys train earlier with cloth dipes (Samuel was about the same age when he potty trained too), but this has been so FAST-- he just turned TWO!! Now, I'm not stupid enough to believe that he won't regress or have accidents or anything else, but for right now, it's a great start. Way to go, Tin-Tim!!

The End of Summer...

Well, we almost made it until the true end of summer this year! It was so beautiful last week that I actually had quite a little bounty of tomatoes from my garden. On one of the last beautiful days we had, we decided to head on up to the zoo. Here are some fun pictures to say good-bye to summer...








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Just wanted to add this one because it makes me smile. Only a happy kid could draw something so joyful. Artist: Samuel Johnson, summer 2008

Jesus is My Friend

A very sweet, very godly, very wonderful gal friend of mine from college just sent me the FUNNIEST video. She told me this is the worship song her church was going to finish with this week. It speaks for itself.

Are You Offended?

This will be Samuel's first year of preschool and we are SO excited. It really took me some time of stressing (when does it not, though?) over which preschool to send him to, which we could afford, which had a good philosophy, etc. I really wanted to send him to a co-op because I personally wanted to be involved in what he was learning. On the other hand, I was hoping to send him to a Christian preschool to add that critical God element. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one all wrapped into one... so, we chose what we thought we could swing money-wise and the rest is history. He will be going to Benson Hill Cooperative Preschool, which, oddly enough, is my Alma mater-- some 26 years ago.

Being that it is not a Christian school, however, it is described as "non-discriminatory" or some other big word like that. I have no problem with that, in fact, I think it makes for an interesting crowd. We had a meeting the other night to talk about the curriculum, though, and they mentioned this specifically in terms of holiday celebrations. As in, there will be NONE. I understand the whole not wanting to offend anyone business, but I actually am more offended by the LACK of acknowledgment than anything else. I would PREFER to talk about the Sikh holidays and the Jewish holidays and any other groups of folks represented in the class-- let's learn a few things about our world. We don't have to AGREE on this stuff, but for goodness sake, let's not IGNORE it! Isn't school about learning?

Anyway, I just felt the need to say something about this... what do you think? (By the way, I am not easily offended, so tell me what you really think!)

Happy Birthday, Monkey Man!!

This post is a few days late because we were out of town when Timothy's birthday actually happened. My sweet little Tim-Tim turned 2 years old on Saturday, Sept. 6th. Poor little dude was sick with a cold and I believe that was the worst day of it because he was pretty grumpy all day long! Good thing they don't really "get" the whole birthday thing yet. He sang along with us when we sang happy birthday, it was pretty sweet. I apologize that I don't have any pictures to show for it yet. We have them and will post as soon as they are off the camera, but for now...

Dear Timothy,
I am so proud of you! You are the sweetest little thing with that one dimple in your cheek that just makes me melt. You are growing up, little man and I just pray for strength and courage, love and honor and truth to flow from your little heart as you grow into the person God wants you to be. I want you to know that I love you so much. Be blessed, my little man.
Love, Mama



Timothy LOVED getting boots just like his big brother. Only problem is, they are a little too big, so I need to go back and get the smaller size SOON so he can wear them!!

Waiting For a Home

In the midst of all this adoption work for myself, I find a huge pull to advocate for the orphans of this world. So many that don't have families or homes. Right now, our agency, Associated Services for International Adoption (ASIA), has a huge list of beautiful children that are waiting for homes. If you have considered a special needs adoption, please take a look at this list. If you should happen to be interested in any of them, feel free to contact our social worker, Marci Siegel-Kitrell and you can request more information. Her email address is marcisk@asiadopt.org. Enjoy looking!

Wesley--the little boy with moles
Paige--the 9 year old girl with a heart condition
Grace-- the 3 1/2 year old girl with Cerebral Hypoplasia
Peter--the 1.5 year old boy with optic atrophy
Landen--the 11 year old who is deaf
Jacinda--the 4.5 year old girl with lumbar curvature and myelatrophy
Joli--the 4 year old girl with a vision disorder
Jayne--the 10 year old girl with Thalessemia and possible hep b
Tate--the 4 year old boy with CHD, developmental delays and anemia
Jaylen--the 6 year old boy with dwarfism
Sarah--the 6 year old girl with pedo-cerebral palsy

Be blessed!

Feeling Real

So, we got an email on Friday saying that the CCAA (China's governmental office dealing with adoption) had listed 160 new children on its shared list. There was a brief description of each child including DOB, gender and SN (special need). So, of course, I went through to feel out what a potential child might hold for us. Let me tell you, it is SO HARD choosing between SN's. How do you choose this one over that one? If I had my own biological child with any of these "issues," it's not like I would EVER say no, I can't deal with that. Any of you adoptive families of SN kiddos, did you deal with this? How?
But I digress... I wrote down about 5 that were all girls about a year old and requested the files. Our SW at ASIA further clarified their SN's and it was clear that only one *might* fit our requests. So, we got that file, saw the most beautiful little girl and then decided she was probably not for us. Disappointing? Maybe. But how cool is it that we are looking at real live possibilities??! Any one of these little girls could be OUR LITTLE GIRL!! It is beginning to feel so real! Admittedly, we need to pray some more and keep working on getting our ducks in a row. That way, when it becomes clear that a particular little girl is the one for us, we will be ready.

HUGE congratulations!!!!!

Please go on over and say a very big congratulations to the Mac family, who have been waiting for almost an entire YEAR to go get their little Taiwan Lucy. Obstacle after obstacle was placed in their way, but with love and faith and perseverance, they made it!! They will travel in the beginning of September and Lucy will be theirs forever! Congratulations and be blessed!!

Diaper From Heaven

So, from start to finish, we had a very strange outing last night. What possessed us to do this? I have no idea. Blame it on the rain. Blame it on my stir crazy children or their stir crazy parents. Our local mall just recently had a grand opening for their brand new mega wing, effectively making it the largest mall in NW or something impressive like that. Included in the remodel is a children's play area that sounded pretty cool. So, we thought we'd go check it out. We all hop in the car and start on our way until, two seconds later, we find ourselves trapped in the ditch that runs alongside our driveway. Luckily, after some smooth maneuvers a handful of times in and out of the car, a few hamster-is-turning-the-wheel-in-my-brain looks, and Officer hubby fixed the problem and we were on our way. Finally, we arrive at our destination and it is clear that EVERYBODY else in the Pacific NW has also. There was no parking. We drove and drove around and around and around until we were dizzy. As luck would have it, though, some nice folks decided to leave the crazy place and gave up their spot which we promptly backed up and stole. Turns out, parking here is on the complete opposite side of the this new MEGA mall from where we want to be. Oh well. We walk and walk and walk some more. Poor little Timothy is holding onto my hand for dear life, all the while trying to keep up, dodging through all the people coming at us.
We arrive at the packed play area and DH and I sit down for a moment of peace. However, not only is the play area totally LAME and packed, but five minutes after we arrive, DH says, "Timothy smells funny." So, I check him and sure enough, his diaper is FULL. Tell me, do you think I brought a diaper with me?? No! Why would I do that? He only hasn't pooped all day and we were ONLY going to be there for a little while... dumb. You'd think I'd know better by now.
Well, obviously we know we need to get out of there, so we start walking. Timothy at this point is melting down, of course, completely uncomfortable. The mall is so packed with people that we have to regroup by stopping in various out of the way locations, when suddenly, the ray from heaven shines down and all is still and quiet as angels sing. There it is in all it's glorious splendor-- manna from heaven, sweet nectar of life!!--well, sort of. A diaper for the desperate! A single, unused, size 4 Luvs diaper-- a diaper from heaven right there on the floor. Okay, now Steve thought it was really gross that I reached down and nabbed it before anyone else in a desperate situation like ours did, but we were DESPERATE, I tell you!! Don't you understand??!! It was OBVIOUSLY unused... I even had wipes in my purse. There was EVEN a bag provided in the bathroom to take our cloth diaper home in. So I changed him. And the rest is history. We made it to the car whole, happy and clean people. We will never be the same again. So, tell me, what would you have done in my shoes??

Interview with Steven Curtis Chapman and family

This is one of the first interviews that Steven Curtis Chapman and his family have given since the tragic death of their daughter Maria in May. The Chapmans are a family with the most beautiful hearts for adoption. I heard an interview with SCC on Focus on the Family in November 2006. It was THE most pivotal thing that God used to change my heart toward adoption. I am forever grateful to this amazing family of faith.

This is NOT a line at the grocery store.

So, apparently this week the #1 family on our agency's Taiwan list accepted a referral of an older child. This is wonderful news! A referral of ANY child is a wonderful thing, it's like the birth of a child. But when I heard that, I had to fight the temptation to start thinking, "well, if we were still in the Taiwan program, we would be #4 now and with one more referral our papers would be sent to Taiwan and we would be SO MUCH closer..." The fact of the matter is, this news doesn't change anything. God is NOT trying to torture us. He is not in the business of torture, He is in the business of mercy, grace and love. He hurts when we do. I have to remember that being one step closer doesn't change my uncomfortable feeling about Chung Yi. This was still not an infant referral and they still don't foresee referrals picking up anytime soon.

I'm not a very patient person-- at least, I don't think so. When I am in a hurry, I tend to be one of those annoying people who changes lines in the grocery store, just because it looks like that person has less to buy than that one. I'm not rude about it, but I do tend to be a line switcher. This adoption business is so NOT the same thing!! I am saying this here and now-- CHINA SN IS WHERE GOD HAS CALLED US TO BE. There will be no more switching lines! There. I feel better now. And I will be thrilled to hear of any infant referrals in Taiwan because it will mean I was wrong about the CY program. But we will stay right here to find our little girl in God's timing. I am so grateful!

30th Birthday Eve

So, I've been reflecting a lot about this "big" birthday coming up. I have so much to be thankful for in my 30 years of existence and I'm not going to let the fact that I feel like my body is falling apart take me down!! We had such a crazy past two weeks that we're all getting a little run down... I even had to cancel and reschedule my party. I guess learning that I can't do it all is a good lesson, it's just hard on my stressed out neck!!

I have to say, though, there is one HUGE reason I am more than happy to be turning 30. This week, we spoke with our agency to tell them we were done with the Taiwan program. And while this makes me sad, in retrospect, I feel like we weren't REALLY listening to where God was calling us. I personally (and now Steve!) have always felt a little pull toward China Special Needs, but I think we got distracted by the Taiwan program. Adoption is scary and any program that makes things seem a little less scary can be attractive. Taiwan held promise of adopting a little younger and (in the beginning) a little sooner than China. Now that we see there are truly no guarantees in international adoption, we really need to go where we have always felt the pull-- China. Now, that's not to say that we are not freaked out, but knowing that God is telling us to do this is reassuring and peace-giving. We are also very excited about the fact that this could happen a lot sooner than we have been calculating with Taiwan (really it just depends on when we identify a child). And back to my original point, turning 30 means we finally qualify to adopt from China!!

So, there you have it. We actually feel a little relieved about this new prospect. We just need to keep the prayers coming-- prayers for discernment of which SN's we can take on, prayers for our little girl and her heart's preparation for coming home, prayers for our current family and keeping strong and cohesive. We'd appreciate you all joining in!!

Be blessed!

I Will Follow Him

My dad sent this to me in an email and I just thought it was so cute that I wanted to share...

We can all relate

brothers

Our computer contracted a virus so we've been unplugged for a bit. I think we have it licked but, I plan to install some new anti-virus software soon. Listen closely to the dialogue between the boys. This is Samuel and Timothy at their finest!

We're out.

Well, it sounds fairly certain that Chung Yi will be implementing a new rule about family size-- no more than 1 child already in the family-- that will officially kick us out of our program, since we have Samuel and Timothy. Since we still haven't heard from our agency on it yet, we don't know how this will affect any kind of refund, so we're still a bit in limbo about leaving the agency. We're just tired of CY pulling us this way and that, making hope rise and then fall. We just want to adopt. Period. But we're desparately trying to do God's will. More and more, we are looking toward China special needs and we were told by our agency that all fees collected would transfer right over. As for how long it would take? It could be a year, it could be sooner. Those of you who know us, though, also know that we would like to have four kids. So, in order to let the water settle a little and give us a better focus, we may go ahead and *attempt* for a third biological child. This seems to be the direction that we have the most peace about, but we need your prayers!! Please help us over the next weeks and months to pray about this and find the right path so we can stand firm in His marvelous light.

New Rumors...

Well, another rash of rumors comes out about Chung Yi, the orphanage from which our agency adopts. This time, it would seem that CY will soon only be adopting out Special Needs and older children to most U.S. agencies (I'm assuming Canada would also be included in that, but maybe not). Upon confronting our agency about such rumors, we were told that the director of ASIA is flying to Taiwan next week and will be meeting face to face with the director of CY. They are hopeful that because they haven't heard from CY directly about any of this that they will be one of the few agencies that CY will continue to work with for Non Special Needs children. I'm not holding my breath. It will, however, be interesting to see what comes out of that meeting. Maybe a little honesty for a change? What a concept.

Adoption Feels A Lot Like This...

Timothy's New Face

Timothy has a new face. Daddy's really proud cause it looks like a boxing injury :) On Tuesday afternoon, we were headed out the door to our weekly craft night with my family (no crafting actually gets done, but that's a whole 'nother post...), when my beautiful and slightly clumsy baby boy tripped on his shoe and WHACKED his head onto the hearth of the fireplace. Needless to say, he was NOT happy. I decided to take him to the ER and sure enough, they gave him four little stitches above his left eye. HOOO-boy!! was he ever not happy with that decision. As a mom, it's hard enough to see your child get hurt, but when the hurt also involves some voluntary hurt like stitches, it just about tears you apart!

Without further ado, here is my little fighter man...

Summer's here! Just in Time for... Summer!

Our beautiful, though sporadic, weather seems to have finally arrived, just in time for summer! We're looking forward to a nice weekend for our first Splash and Play at the Henry Moses Aquatic Center... here's hoping all of our Sundays at the pool will be nice!!

We're Not Alone

Well, I'm trying to keep my chin up these crazy adoption days. I've had so many encouraging conversations with folks from the adoption boards that it's not a hard thing to do... but nevertheless, we are having to face some difficult truths about our adoption. It also seems that more and more people are realizing that the orphanage situation is not what we all signed up for (ie. no referrals). We will have a few big and very hard decisions to make in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to find out where God is leading us!

Will it EVER happen???

Well, I finally asked THE question to our agency and finally got somewhat of a more "firm" reply. For some time now, I have been wondering if maybe I missed an email or some sort of communication from our adoption agency that stated they had received 5 referrals and it was really going to be a banner year (though of course I knew in my gut that couldn't be true). In the world of adoption, your mind tends to hold onto those last threads of hope. Those threads are pretty thin right now. The question I asked was, did I miss something or is it really true that the last (and ONLY, I might add) referral was in December? The answer...

"We were hoping to have another one by six months, but I just communicated with Taiwan. You are right, we haven’t had any infant referral since December. We may not have it for a while. I talked to Taiwan last week, and they don’t have any infant available at this point. Originally we were told 6 months now we are expecting longer referral time. In your case, it could be more than 3 years."

Ouch. So, what do we do?? Do we switch agencies? No other agencies seem to be taking applications at this point. Do we switch countries? Sticking with our agency, China is our only other option (it's a small agency). In my mind, I knew that the wait could be three years, but to hear that it could EXCEED three is beyond comprehension. We WANT to do this. We feel like GOD is telling us to do this. WHY is it so hard???

Remember when...?

Remember the days when you could sleep anywhere (or doing anything)? Neither do I.

To Work or Not to Work... that is the question

Well, I have once again come to a crossroads with the working or not working situation. There has been a position listed at a local hospital that would be a residency for the Birth Center. I have always wanted to try out working in this area of nursing. For as long as I can remember, this is what I have wanted to do. But I've always been hung up on the fact that when you're learning a whole new position, it's a lot harder to get a rhythm when you're only working part-time. This particular position would only be 60% night shift(which works out to be about 24 hours a week, split into 12 or 8 hour shifts... so, 2-3 days per week). It has been almost 2 years (in July) since I worked last on 7SE and that was only one day a week. It has been 3 1/2 years since I worked (mostly) full time. This lapse of time is beginning to make me feel a little rusty in my skills, which makes me think this would be a great opportunity, but also scares the beegeebers out of me since I don't know what I am doing any more! Also, when I did work the full time stuff, I didn't have two little boys to think about and I DO love staying at home with them all the time. I JUST DON'T KNOW!! Such a conundrum. In the meantime, I have started to get my resume and cover letter ready for take off. I'll let you know what I decide.

Happy Anniversary To US!

Well, actually, it was yesterday, but who's counting? This was number 7 for us and never stronger. Steve is my best friend and my encourager. He is a lover of Christ. He always reminds me to have faith, especially in the adoption realm. I love him more today than when I met him 10 years ago at Boy Scout camp (yes, I said BOY SCOUT camp).

To celebrate we got a babysitter, hopped in the car and drove... to COSTCO! And HOME DEPOT! And OLD NAVY! And TACO DEL MAR! I admit, not very romantic, but it was lots of fun, just getting to spend time with each other, such a rarity with the craziness of kids and family time. I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

So, Happy Anniversary with many many more to come. I just pray that God would continue to bless our family and hold us safe in His loving care. He has already done amazing things here.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had such a wonderful Memorial Day. We invited all our family over for a little bbq and not only could most folks come (with the exception of Steve's brother/family and my bro), but the weather was even downright lovely!! This is the first little function we've had that gave us the opportunity to really use our new backyard and I have to say, it I don't regret moving one bit!


Little Timothy was so desperate to be in a big chair that he fought off his fears of falling out (which he did earlier) and conquered the chair. It kinda looks like it's going to eat him, but if he feels safe, well...


Samuel ADORES his cousins. Everyday, he decides which one he will be for the day and if I don't call him by the right name, he gets quite offended. Here he is talking to cousins Monica and Marla, Auntie Cathe, and Bana.

Never a dull moment...

We had SO MUCH fun on our trip to So Cal!! We laughed, we cried (well, I did, anyway, when my beloved group talked me into going on California Screamin'-- I was hyperventilating getting onto the ride and during the ride, things got VERY DARK, twice.) and we all survived, including our two boys. They couldn't really understand why we would want to leave them. Anyway, it was a blast, but it's nice to be home in the rain and 60 degree weather again. *SIGH*

HUGE thank you to my mom and dad (Bana and Papa) and Steve's mom and dad (Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Dave) for watching the boys and my siser, Kari, for watching Moses while we rested. We are so lucky and blessed to have family so willing to help us out. We love you!!

Okay, I know the hat is dorky, but it was in the 90's!!


My good friend Kathy Wathy and I (this one is just for you, Sarah K!)!


Goofy was a little jealous of Steve... he wouldn't let me go.


And finally, the best part...