Snapshots of 2012

January

We celebrated eight years of marriage, grieved the loss of a domestic adoption, visited with special friends, and soaked up some very un-Januaryish weather.

February

We got a snowstorm for Valentine's Day and said "YES!" to Li'l Dude's file on the 29th.  (Yup, he's our Leap Year baby.) 

March

Our Ch*na home study was FINALLY completed, Emma got a new look (short hair!), we had a great visit with my family in Southern California, and Li'l Pup joined our family.

April

We celebrated Easter Sunday with family, welcomed Miss R and her mama to hang out with us for a while, and sent our dossier off to our agency.

May

We enjoyed a gorgeous Mother's Day, a super fun visit with Tia (my sis), and a memorable Memorial Day with dear friends.

June

We welcomed summer with a family vacation in Northern Michigan and then were blessed with a visit from two handsome boys.

July

Our little princess turned four (yikes!), we hung out at the County Fair, Jeremy and I snuck away for a few days together at a conference in Palm Desert, and we got LOA!!!

August

We were part of what could arguably be the best family reunion ever in the California mountains.

September

We went to the fair - yes, again, we're all Midwestern like that - had fun camping with friends, and got Travel Approval to bring our boys home!

October

Apparently we did nothing but make hotel reservations and pack in October, because the only pictures I took were of Li'l Miss dressed up for a birthday party.  Oops!

November

We went to my brother's in California and then kept right on flying to bring our boys home from Ch*na.

December

It's been a fun, crazy, trying, joyful, memory-filled month.  And we're all still alive. :)

I really enjoyed putting this post together.  I was surprised how many of the small moments, represented by these photos, I had forgotten: splashing in puddles, playing in the snow, getting dressed up.  In some ways, I feel as though I spent 2012 consumed with adoption; this year brought us to the end of a very journey to our boys.  But that end is also the beginning of our new adventure together as a family.  In 2013, Li'l Man and Li'l Dude will share 365 days worth of small moments with our family.  May those moments be filled with love, peace, and contentment; and may I make the time to treasure each and every one of them.

Christmas Thoughts from Li'l Dude

Hey there!  Not up there...down here.  It's me, Li'l Dude.

(I know.  Totally not my best picture ever.  My mom thinks anytime is a good time for a photo shoot.  She seriously snatched me out of bed, plopped me on the toilet seat, and started snapping pictures.  So not cool.)

My mom asked me to blog for her today.  (Don't tell her I said so, but I think this whole going-from-one-kid-to-three thing is stressing her out a tiny bit.)  She said today's post would be best coming from me because I've only been home for 36 days.  Even though it feels like I've been part of this family forever, just 37 days ago I woke up in an orphanage.

Thirty-seven days ago my world was a completely different place.  There were a lot less hugs.  A lot less stories.  A lot less bedtime kisses.  A lot less of this crazy-delicious stuff my mom calls pizza.

Thirty-seven days ago I was alone.  Sure, there were forty-nine other kids and some nannies in my orphanage, but none of them were mine.  I'm talking mine like these two are mine.

Yes, they're both seriously bossy, but they're 100% mine.  Like beat-up-the-kid-who-called-me-names mine.  Forever and always mine.

Thirty-seven days ago I woke up in a place without a lot of hope.  A place where I'd spent so much time laying in my crib that the back of my head got flat and a whole strip of my hair got rubbed off.  A place where I'd learned to soothe myself to sleep by banging my head against my crib mattress.  A place where my caretakers weren't 24/7 mommies and daddies, but people who clocked out at the end of each day and went home to their real lives.

Thirty-seven days ago I was an orphan: one of 15,000,000 children living without parents.

If you're honest with yourself, thirty-seven days ago it wasn't difficult to imagine that I was just a picture. A statistic.  A little person far, far, far removed from the comfortable life many of you are living in this amazing land full of resources.

It was easy to reduce me to a tiny prick to your conscience or a $45/month donation.  Easy to confine my story to a hidden corner of your heart...or to not let it in at all.  Easy to allow Christmas shopping or swimming lessons or dinner plans erase me from your mind altogether.

My mom has been there.  She tells me that a few short years ago, she did these things.  She wants to believe she was ignorant, but perhaps she just chose to ignore the reality that all 15,000,000 of these children are just as real as I am.

All of them have personalities.

And potential.

(I know you might not have met me yet, but I'm very real.  My dimples, my teeny-tiny voice, and my mischievous streak are real.)

How can 15,000,000 very real children waiting for families not rip your heart to shreds?  How can tiny boys like me spending Christmas alone in their cribs not bring tears to your eyes?  How can knowing that I celebrated Christmas with my family this year not make you want that for one more child next year?

I hope I get to meet you someday.  And when you hug me, I hope the illusion that you can keep our world's orphan crisis tucked away in a neat corner of your consciousness is totally shattered.  Gone forever.

This Christmas, imagine the gift that you could give to one of these children.  Imagine one of them knowing that they will never be alone again.  Imagine one of them opening presents under your tree next year. 

Before I say good night, I want you to meet one very special little girl.  Her "name" is Eve Noelle.

Three years ago, on Christmas Day, she was found abandoned in Ch*na.  She's spent four Christmases alone.  I want this one to be the last.  Next year, I want this sweet girl to have what I've had today: love, joy, family.

You can chat with my mom (whatitmeans2beheld @ gmail . com) about Eve Noelle or about adoption in general.  (Look out, she gets a little passionate and might talk your ear off.)

This morning my daddy read me a story about a little baby named Jesus who was born long ago in a manger.  That baby grew up to be a man who called people to follow him, not to an easy life but to sacrifice and servanthood.  He grew up to be a man who cared about those the world considered worthless - those who were the least worthy, the least fortunate, the least valuable in the eyes of humanity.  

These children are some of the least.

What are you going to do about it?

A Definite Bargain!

A roll of toilet paper: 46 cents

(How cute is Li'l Man's Mom-we-so-did-not-do-this face?)

A quiet relaxing warm shower for Mommy: Priceless

I <3 you, Ch*rmin.

Big Sis

Becoming a big sister hasn't been an easy thing for Li'l Miss.  She was an only child for the first 52 months of her life; so when her toys and her space and her mommy and daddy suddenly became ours, she struggled.  In all honesty, Li'l Miss's adjustment has probably been the biggest unexpected challenge we've faced since bringing the boys into our family.  It wasn't that we didn't anticipate that it would be difficult, we just had no way of knowing how much this big sister thing would rock her world.  Call us naive...or way too optimistic.

On a positive note, Li'l Miss has come a long way in the two weeks we've been home.  I couldn't resist sharing a few of the things she's been learning about being a big sister.

She's learning to find all her brothers' super-duper ticklish spots.

...learning to share her toys, even her oh-so-special Loving F*amily Dollhouse.

She shares even though her brothers are prone to using the talking silver minivan as a luge and drinking out of the teeny-tiny toilets.

...learning that it's kinda' fun to have buddies when she plays dress up.

(Why is it that they all decide to smile and look in the general direction of the camera only when the boys are dressed as Minnie M*use and R*setta?)

...learning that sharing traditions multiplies the fun instead of dividing it.

 

 ...learning that princesses have way more fun dancing when there's a prince involved.

The other day, Li'l Miss started a sentence with, "When we go back to China to adopt a little girl..."

I guess this big sister thing might be growing on her after all.

First Snow

We woke up to our first dusting of snow today.  It was the perfect morning for me to torture my kids with endless attempts at getting a Christmas-card-worthy picture the kids to play outside and experience our Midwest winter weather.  Li'l Man has probably never played in the snow.  (It does occasionally snow in Shanghai, but I'm guessing they wouldn't let him near the door if it was anywhere close to 32 degrees.  Considering the fact that they gave him to us in three layers of clothing when it was 60 degrees out, he'd probably have to be shrink wrapped in insulation to go outside in the snow.)  Li'l Dude, our Southern Ch*na kiddo, has definitely never seen snow.

Here's a little peek at mommy's photo shoot our adventures.

This one is pretty cute.  If you look closely, you can tell that Big Sister is keeping Little Brother in line by holding the back of his hood.

I think Li'l Miss was about done at this point.  I love that she literally jumps out of the next picture.

And here's my attempt at getting cute way too late in the game.  I was even bribing with Cheerios at this point, but they were so over the camera thing.

Since it's December 11 and I have yet to order Christmas cards, it's probably one of my OCD delusions to think that I'm actually sending any this year.  I promise to post lots of cute Christmas-y pictures of my kiddos instead.

Yay for snow and Merry Christmas!

Two Little Monkeys

...jumping in their beds.

After eight days, the boys figured out that they sleep in the same room.

We could be in trouble.