Two Cuties in Purple

Li'l Miss has a buddy visiting this week.

She's loving it.

And so is her mama.  What's not to love about those blond curls?

And those big blue eyes?

We wish Miss R was staying with us just for fun, but she's here because her daddy's in the hospital fighting viral meningitis.  He's going to be okay, but he's had a very rough couple of days. Please pray for Miss R, her mommy (Jen), and her daddy (Ben).

They need lots of prayer (and kisses!).

Li'l Miss's New Look

Li'l Miss is trying out a new style.

It's called Tomboy-Meets-Princess (or Mama-Must-Do-Laundry-Soon).

Shhhh...don't tell the boys their sister has been wearing their clothes.

And, yes, my child's feet are 100% disgusting.  I have to confess: I LOVE it.  

Summer is just around the corner!

Another Birthday Boy

Today Li'l Man turned two.  

It's been almost five months since we saw this picture...

...and said, "YES!!!"

There are so many things I don't know about my sweet two year old boy.

But I do know that he is loved. A. LOT.

I have a pretty amazing story about Li'l Man that I haven't shared yet.  I've mentioned the fact that I met a friend online who adopted a little boy from Li'l Man's orphanage.  Her name is Deb, and her son's name is Benjamin.  Benjamin came home last month, and he now lives about three-and-a-half hours from our house.

While Deb was in China, she got the opportunity to visit Benjamin's orphanage.  When she and her husband walked into the room where their son slept, the first face she saw was our Li'l Man.

(That's Deb holding Benjamin and talking to Li'l Man.  And, yes, it kills me to know that my little boy sleeps in a room filled with rows and rows of cribs.)

Deb, a fellow adoptive mama who lives just hours from me, got to give my son the hugs and kisses I can't give him myself.  She got to hold him and whisper to him that his family is coming.  I know he couldn't understand her words, but I'm beyond grateful that for a few moments I can know for sure that Li'l Man felt a mama's love.

The story gets better.  Deb said that when she entered the room, Li'l Man's crib was in the first row.  Benjamin's crib was in the same row.  Between them was a crib for another little boy who was adopted in February and now lives about three hours from our house.

My Li'l Man, who lives across the world right now, spent the first 22 months of his life sleeping next to two little boys who live close enough to visit for the weekend.  

How amazing is that?

God has worked in many incredible, wild, and beyond-my-comprehension ways to bring this little boy into our family.  

I can't wait to see the view from the end of this journey.

I can't wait to tell my birthday boy that he's loved. 

Chosen. 

Ours.

  

Happy birthday, beautiful boy!  It's your last one away from your daddy, mommy, big sister, and little brother.

(Maybe we could give our Li'l Man a real name for his birthday.  Here are some we're tossing around: Hudson Gabriel, Gabriel Matthew, Isaiah Something.  Opinions?)

A Little Math Problem...

1 energetic puppy + 1 innocent squirrel + 1 1930's plate-glass window = 1 gigantic disaster

(Yes, this joke most definitely went through my mind.)

 

In case you can't tell, those scary-looking shards of glass are what used to be my kitchen window.  And that's the tree where Mr. Squirrel was hanging out.

Lovely.

(Don't worry, Brinley lovers, Li'l Pup is fine. The glass didn't kill her...and I didn't either. :)

I'm so thankful I have an awesome husband who dropped everything and came home to help me clean the glass explosion, control our crazy dog, and calm two slightly-hysterical girls (Li'l Miss and her buddy, Miss H).  He even offered to take both slightly-hysterical girls to McDonald's and Home Depot tonight so he can order a new window while Miss H's mommy and I work on a project in our church nursery.   

 

He's absolutely my knight in shining armor.

I'm also thankful for the $500 in the "Home Remodel" section of our budget.  Yes, this mama was kinda'-sorta' hoping to use that money for a privacy fence (or a swing set), but it's there when we need it nevertheless.  (Kudos to Dave R. :)

On a brighter note, Jeremy and I took a little road trip yesterday.  To - you guessed it - our lovely state capital.  We brought along my trusty purple accordion folder, stuffed to exploding with every last paper China needs from us.  Thanks to one very sweet lady at our Secretary of State's office, we got all the certifications (and all the free copies) we needed.  Our "paper baby" is now well on it's way to Washington, D.C. for quick visits to the U.S. Dep*rtment of State and The Chinese Emb*ssy before it heads to our agency and then across the ocean.

Unfortunately, after our eight-hour paperwork marathon, we came home to discover that Li'l Pup had emptied the contents of our very full kitchen trash can all over our downstairs.  

A certain dog is not on my good list today.  

After a very intense scrubbing and a super-detailed sweeping/vacuuming, my kitchen floor is the cleanest you will ever see it. If you can handle crazy puppies, come on over. :)

NO. WAY.

I just got off the phone with U.S. Immigration.  And, while they haven't always been my favorite government office in the past, they sure are right now.  

After just sixteen (yup, one-six) days of waiting...

WE WERE APPROVED THIS MORNING!

And that's pretty much the best news anyone could have given me today.  

Watch out China, one gigantic stack of paperwork is headed your way soon.  (Well, headed your way after quick visits to our state capital, our national capital, and our agency's U.S. office.)  This mama is one gigantic step closer to holding two adorable little boys.  Can't. Wait.

Happy Easter!

I have to confess to being a little bit of a Grinch when it comes to Easter.  It makes my heart sad to see our culture take something so incredibly meaningful - the death and resurrection of Jesus - and allow it to get lost in a giant explosion of bunnies and eggs and chocolate.  (Plus, I'm a little bit of a Grinch about anything that involves my three-year-old eating copious amounts of candy.  Why must every holiday involve T.O.N.S. of sugar?)

Okay, Grinchiness aside, we did have a wonderful weekend with friends and family.  I totally forgot to get pics of Li'l Miss in her dress - like these from last year - but I did get a couple of her with her handsome cousins.  

Here they are with their sugar super cute lunch boxes from grandma.  (Li'l Pup was really hoping there was something for her in that big pile.)

 Li'l Miss has some pretty stinkin' adorable cousins.  

(And this pic is minus our also-very-handsome youngest nephew who was really ready for naptime at about this moment.)

 

This is me messing around with iPhoto.  (There's something about our peeling paint porch that just looks good in black-and-white.)

We enjoyed a wonderful Seder service with our church family on Friday night.  It was a poignant reminder of God's faithfulness to His people, both in the distant past and today.  A friend asked me to share about our adoption journey, specifically focusing on the ways we have clung to God's promises even we can't see where He is leading. 

 

I am so grateful that she gave me the opportunity to look at our current circumstances from this perspective.  To think that the God who freed the Israelites from slavery, the God who brought his people back from exile, the God who sent His very own Son to extend grace and mercy to humanity is the very same God who walks this broken road called life with me.  Wow.

When we were having our darkest moments facing infertility, my incredible husband continually reminded me that God is faithful.  The things life throws our way cannot change that - no matter how much they hurt, confuse us, or just plain suck.  For Christmas in 2010, I was given Mary Beth Chapman's book, Choosing to See, and Steven Curtis's latest album, "Beauty Will Rise".  As I began listening to the album, which was recorded after the Chapmans lost their five-year-old daughter in a tragic accident, the song "Faithful" immediately spoke to my heart.  I'll leave you today with the lyrics (or you can listen here).

I am broken, 

I am bleeding, 

I'm scared and I'm confused, 

but You are faithful.  

Yes, You are faithful. 

I am weary, unbelieving.  

God please help my unbelief!  

Cuz You are faithful.  

Yes, You are faithful.

  
I will proclaim it to the world.  

I will declare it to my heart  

And sing it when the sun is shining.  

I will scream it in the dark.
You are faithful!  

You are faithful!  

When you give and when You take away,  

even then still Your name is faithful!  

You are faithful!  

And with everything inside of me,  

I am choosing to believe  

You are faithful.

 
I am waiting for the rescue that I know is sure to come,  

cuz You are faithful. 

Yes, You are faithful.  

I've dropped anchor in Your promises, 

and I am holding on,  

cuz You are faithful.  

God, You are faithful.

Though I cannot have the answer that I'm wanting to demand,  

I'll remember You are God and everything is in Your hand.  

In Your hands you hold the sun, the moon, the stars up in the sky,  

for the sake of Love, You hung Your own Son on the cross...to die...

 
You are faithful... 

Yes, You are faithful...  

When you give and when You take away, even then, great is Your faithfulness!  

Great is Your faithfulness!

 

(Copied from MetroLyrics.com)

The Doctor Is in

I meant to post this on Monday...or Tuesday...or yesterday, but it's been one of those weeks.  Let's just say that if you had visited my house yesterday afternoon, you would have found my child watching a full-length movie in the middle of day while I sat on the couch ordering everything that sounded remotely yummy from pizz*hut.com and stuffing my face with Dove chocolate.  Cuz that's how I roll when the dog rips open a bag of hot chocolate in the middle of the kitchen, and my nap-skipping child has a total meltdown on the living room floor (her nineteenth of the day) because I have to divert my attention from her for 47 seconds while I attempt to get chocolate powder out of my rug.

Try not to be jealous of my mad parenting skills.

Don't worry; this post gets happier.  A lot happier, actually.  Monday afternoon, Jeremy and I had an appointment with a pediatric hematologist to discuss Li'l Dude's health needs.  (If you're new to my blog, we are in the process of adopting two little boys from China.  Our younger son has a blood disorder called thalassemia.)  We scheduled this meeting to get a feel for this hematologist and to prepare our potential doctor (and us) for Li'l Dude's arrival in the fall.

I honestly didn't know what to expect going into this meeting.  I've gotten to "know" several moms of children with thalassemia online (because the internet is an amazing place).  Several of them have expressed concern over their doctor's familiarity with thalassemia and its treatment, as it's not very common here in the U.S.  (It occurs much more frequently in people of Asian or Mediterranean decent.)  I have to confess that I figured Podunk, Midwest was not the most promising place to find a doctor who was super comfortable with thalassemia.  I was totally wrong.

Dr. O was wonderful.  His office was welcoming and incredibly kid-friendly.  The nurse who brought us into the office pointed out a huge pile of toys, stopped to chat with a young patient on an IV, and brought us drinks.  Dr. O told us that, due to a large Burmese population, he sees a new thalassemia consult about every two weeks.  Wow.

Li'l Dude's file seems to indicate that he has a less serious type of thalassemia (called thal minor or thal trait).  His lab tests looked pretty good (although they clearly seemed to indicate that he does have thalassemia).  Also, he is growing well: chugging right along at the 3rd percentile on the U.S. growth charts.  (Just FYI...Chinese kiddos have their own charts, and he'd rank a little higher on one of those.) 

If it is truly the case that Li'l Dude has thal minor/trait, he will meet with Dr. O once.  You read that right: once.  Other than his initial check-up, his thalassemia shouldn't affect his life at all.  (At least not until he considers having children, at which time there will be some genetic issues to consider.)

While we're excited to hear that Li'l Dude's medical records look good, we're definitely taking this information in stride.  We're well aware that his medical records could be incomplete or inaccurate.  There's a chance that he has thalassemia major and is receiving blood transfusions.  If this is the case, his lab tests might look good just because they were done after a transfusion.  Which leads us to more good news.

Dr. O's office is set up to handle pretty much everything Li'l Dude might possibly need.  If he needs transfusions, they'll do it there.  (In fact, there was a young lady with thalassemia receiving her transfusion while we were in the office.)  Dr. O is familiar with thalassemia and seemed up-to-speed on the current standards of care.  There's also a hematologist from a big name children's hospital who specializes in thalassemia who visits the office every six months to offer a comprehensive clinic.

In other words, Li'l Dude appears to be doing well.  And, if he ends up having thalassemia major, it looks like he's in good hands.

We <3 Dr. O. 

Oh, and did I mention that he saw us for free?