Gotcha Day

This is a video our adoption agency just put out and it shows a part of the adoption process called "Gotcha Day" (when families and their adopted children meet for the first time).  This  video is very special to us because it was shot in the exact same places that we went to adopt Matthew and even with most of the same guides that we had while we were in Zhengzhou.  Grab some tissues....




CCAI presents - "Gotcha Day" from CCAI Family on Vimeo.

The Graduate

It's official (for like a month now, but I am a little slow to post things ) that we have another graduate in family.  Senior year definitely flew by just like everyone said it would.  So proud of our girl!

Robbie and his friend Devon - these guys "met" when their older sisters were in the same kindergarten class.  At the time, they were both in infant car seats and probably less than a month old.  

First day of school

Last day of school

               

Adoption Update - no cute little face yet....

 Thankfully the home study portion of our newest adoption is DONE and is now off to Immigration/homeland security. A lot of people have been asking if we were able to reuse any of our paperwork from Matthew and unfortunately we had to get all new documents.  Our last homestudy agency closed last year due to lack of funding, so we even had to start over with a new agency.  Once we get the next round of paperwork approved at every level of government (literally), our dossier can go to China.  Based on our last timeline,  I am thinking that it will be around the end of September before it even gets to China though.

We have been gradually preparing Matthew for the idea of having another sibling.  I know he can't even begin to fathom what that means, but it's good to give this little seed time to grow.  Last week as I got him ready for bed he asked me  "tell me about adopting baby sister".  This was the first time he ever used the word "adopt", so that was neat.  It is kind of a hard concept to share with a preschooler, but my thought is to use the word in everyday conversation and for him to know that it is a wonderful word not something negative.  We have begun to talk how his new sibling will look like him and will also come from China like he did.  We have also talked about how he might get to go back to China with us on a big airplane.

Our hope is to be able to take the whole family back to China with us, but we will just have to wait to see how schedules and finances work out.  Jeff and I both feel strongly about our big kids seeing China.  Matt (and our newest little one) will probably be too young to remember this visit, but at least his older siblings can be one more person that they can talk about China with.  Seeing China in person, is so different than just seeing pictures. Visiting an orphanage is unforgettable. Let alone, meeting their new sibling for the first time will be pretty amazing.  We feel a lot more comfortable bringing everyone along this time, I think I would have been too nervous last time, but boy did we ever miss them..   Ideally this time around we would also get the chance to maybe visit the birth cities of both littles, but that is just a hope at this time.  

If you caught it in one of the above paragraphs, I used the word "sister".  This time around we asked to be matched to a little girl around Matt's age. Quite frankly, we would be ecstatic if our next child is a boy or a girl and we are approved to adopt either gender, so we will see what God's plans are.  So the next couple months will be moving slowly along in our eyes, but we are excited to proceed to the next step.

Prom

The last days of Shelby being a senior are trickling by fast.  Her prom was this past weekend and she had a really good time.    It was exciting to see all the kids dressed up.  The kids all stayed up till 4am for their after prom party and Shelby is just about caught up with her lack of sleep.  

Shelby and her date John, they have known each other since 1st grade and both play trombone in the marching band.  He even brought me flowers, very sweet!

Wasn't she just 8 years old though??????

Lindsey, Shelby and Maggie - these guys have been friends since early elementary school. The best part is that I call their moms my closest and dearest friends, too!

Robbie and Katie - he is always popular with the ladies...

                                       

Clarise, Lindsey, Shelby, Maggie, Laura and Katie  - Photo bomb by Max

Selfie in the van

the whole prom group

Shelby and Anna

Adopting Again

Jeff and I are excited to announce we are starting the process to adopt and God willing hopefully add another little one from China to our family!  Jeff first mentioned the idea to adopt again when we were packing our suitcases to leave China to bring Matthew home.  All I could think of at the time was please just get us home!! But to keep thinking of all those  little faces we saw left behind... we just cannot shake that memory.  Looking back on this past year to see the difference having a family has made for Matthew, takes my breath away. However the biggest and best thing is the difference he has made in our entire family - it feels like our hearts have doubled in size.   And while there have been some difficult days, we have still thought everyday about adopting again and the kids mention it all the time.  

We have been trying to wait for the right time to start the process again.  There is never a right time.  We aren't getting any younger or richer.  However, there is one extra seat at our dining room table and there is one extra bed in our house and even in our camper! I now even have a car that can fit an extra car seat.   Why wait? 

As we have told people, some have been happy and some not so much.  That's ok. We understand, we get it.  It doesn't sound like a great idea. Hey spend a bunch of money, add another little one, one with a medical need, we have a college freshman in the fall and hey you already have three other kids... 

We don't know what the future will hold and sometimes it makes me gasp a little bit.   But God has always promised to never leave us and to never forsake us.  We are confident that His heart and hands rest firmly with orphans and for them to be orphans no more.  We trust that our needs will be taken care of.  If He can make the Heavens and the Earth, I believe He can handle this, too.  

Quite frankly, this is not the future I ever imagined.  I am over joyed that God decided His plans for our future were much better than the ones we could ever think of.  So as we wade through an ocean of paperwork, we are giddy, thrilled, scared and trying to be patient to see who God has for our family.  

       Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Visit with Ben

Last year when we returned from China, I posted a picture of Matthew's cribmate  on one of the facebook adoption groups I belong to.  This little boy stole our hearts when we visited the orphanage, he is such a sweetie!  I often thought of him after we were home and then a few months later his mom saw my picture and contacted me.  She gave us the wonderful news that she and her husband had recently adopted little Ben and brought him home to the United States.  The very cool thing was that this family actually lived in the same county as us a few years ago!!

We got the awesome opportunity to meet in person in April.  I had been telling Matthew for a few weeks that Ben and his family were coming for a visit.  I could tell he was a little worried when I mentioned a "China friend" was coming, but he did just fine.    It was so nice to catch up with Ben's sweet family and for the boys to play together. Robbie stayed home the day they visited and got to play with Ben's older brothers. What a fun day!

I know this sounds weird since we also have experienced adoption first hand and Matthew used to be an orphan too, but I just was overwhelmed at getting to see Ben in person here in our home.  The last time we saw him, he didn't have a mommy and a daddy and he called an orphanage home. Here we were 14 months  and 7000 miles later....  I kept tearing up the rest of the day, the joy of adoption gets me every time.

It's so awesome that our boys will have always have this connection, what a blessing technology is!

                                         

Easter Camping

Since the big kids had a long weekend for Easter and we have a nice heater in our camper, we decided to take out the camper for her first trip of the season. We visited Lebanon, Ohio so we could be in between Cincinnati and Dayton to visit some tourist spots and just plain relax.  We had Easter lunch at Red Robin and finished our evening walking through the cemetery adjacent to our campground.  Reading all those tombstones really reminded us what the day is all about and why it's so important...

Dayton Air Force Museum

Glenn Miller's trombone

time to take lots of couple shots for dossier to China- did I  mention we are adopting again?? If you actually read all the little details on my posts you will get to see the news first! 

Cruising in style backwards so he doesn't have to be directly looking at the sun

not real! Matthew is scared of lady bugs, let alone a real snake!

Shelby at the Hall of Justice... aka Cincinnati Museum Center

in the limestone cave

again not a real dog,  remember he's scared of lady bugs