Footprints of Adoption

The fastest year...

2011-06-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

This coming week we will be celebrating Micah's one year gotcha day. It is hard to believe that year has already gone by, we have loved every second and are so thankful for each moment we share as a family of five. The three kids are bonded so tight.
Micah is so sweet. He is very affectionate, giving kisses to me ALL DAY, which I must say I do love. He has the cutest smile that melts hearts of all old ladies! He does not say many understandable words, but can sure yell! Ana and Andy taught him a game of who can yell the loudest. They all end up laughing hysterically, all but me. Music and books are a must before bed or really any time of day. He can dance with a cute little bounce.
Micah is 18 months old! Looking back over the pictures from one year ago, I see his sweetness is so much a part of how God made him. I am so thankful that God matched us with my baby. I see his tan little face and Micah Tai Walls.

Our actual Gotcha Day is June 20, but I am not sure when I will posting again, so I wanted to share the great news of a great year.

Moving Up

2011-03-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Micah has officially been moved up to the walkers. He is fourteen months and moving like a pro. Because he is walking, he was moved out of the baby room at church. I went to his new room and put him down to sign in. Without a thought, Micah walked into the room and started to play! He usually cries when I leave him. I called to him to say good-bye, he looked back, waved and continued to play. He was so proud of himself to be back with old friends who had already moved on a few weeks ago.

Belated Birthday

2011-02-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

My Valentine Baby turned three this year! Remembering back...Elliana was 17 months old and having the worst night of sleep in her life. I finally got her down and walked to my bed at midnight. I sat on the bed and immediately my contractions started. I figured I had all night so I thought I would try to get some sleep before waking Chris. Andy had different ideas. He only has a go and stop button and his go button was pushed. Contractions started at 3 minutes apart so I went down stairs to call my mom who was going to drive 4 hours to come watch Elliana. I think it was about 12:30 now. I decided I better wake up Chris. He rolled over and said, "Now? You'ver got to be kidding?" And fell back a sleep before he finished talking. I woke him again and then called my doctor. I also called my neighbor to come over and stay with Ana until my mom arrived. It was 1:00 now. I was moving pretty slow with all contractions still 1 to 3 minutes apart. Chris was finally up and my neighbor had arrived. We left for the hospital about 1:30, the dr said he thought it was fine if I wanted to come now! What! I was coming whether he thought it was fine or not! Since it was the middle of the night, we had to use the ER enterence. No big deal except for the mile and half walk through the entire hospital to get the right wing! I stopped every few feet for the contractions to pass. When we finally made it up there the nurse sent me to triage. She said I was ready to go and got me a room. It was about 2:30 am. The doctor came in a few times, but the nursed did a great job of keeping him away since I wanted to go natural and he likes to not. He came in just in time to pull on a glove and catch Andy at 3:00 am on Feburary 14, 2008!
Andy is so sweet and loving, not just because he is a Valentine boy, but because he is my amazing Andy! He can go and go. He has serious skills with a ball, any ball. Speech is still difficult for him, but he is trying and learning new words every day. When he is scared he asks us to pray with him and hold his hands. He loves his siblings and loves to be a big brother. Wrestling with his Daddy is a must every day! I am so proud that boy!

Andy asked to go to Entrainment Juction for his birthday, with Grandma Melissa and Papa.

Chinese New Year and Readoption Court

2011-02-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Our friends are so wonderful. I realize I have said this before, but it is so true. We celebrated the Chinese New Year, the Year of the rabbit with the Duhs (Yup, I am using names, just to give credit where credit it due. Funny, that is how you say Duh- due!). They did all the work and just let us join in! We had hot pot and ate all night. MMMMM... Here are a few pictures of the night.

Today was a big day for us too. We went to court to have Micah readopted. It does not change a lot since his adoption was finalized in Taiwan and he is already a US citizen. It will allow us to get a US birth certificate and correct his majorly messed up social security card. I forgot to get a picture with our attorney, but plenty with the judge. We were early for our appointment so this is us waiting until 10:00 rolled around. Elliana run into Micah's room this morning and told him, "This is a special day, Micah. It's readoption day!" I was so sweet of her. She also made me a special bracelet, or something like it, at school on Monday, just for the occasion. Keeping with her excitement, she did her own her, just like Fancy Nancy since today was fancy!

Andy is not actually mad, he was just being weird! The judge was very nice. He asked the kids if they wanted to come up and sit in his chair. Pictures below. He asked us questions about why adoption and why Taiwan. He had one previous case for Taiwan, but only one. He asked Elliana about her brother and she gladly shared how much she loves both of them! Andy mostly made faces, but stayed quiet, which made the judge laugh even more. He said that he wrote a book on adoptions in his court and thinks that he needs to write another and include us in it.

Sip and See

2011-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

A wonderful friend has a Sip and See once a year. A sip and see is like a baby shower after the baby has arrived. She honors all the babies born, adopted, or fostered during the past year. This year was Micah's year to be celebrated. Micah loved all the attention and gave sweet smiles.

Great friends!

All the babies being celebrated! (Micah is the biggest, but not the oldest.)

Mommies and babies

ONE year old

2011-01-10T12:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, well all weekend, we celebrated Micah's first birthday. We went out to eat and had cake all weekend. Saturday night was by far his favorite! Spaghetti is one of Micah's favorites so being in Cincinnati, Skyline was top on the list! It is actually chili, but eaten like spaghetti. Micah ate the whole thing and then ate the popsicle that kids get as treat. Then we came home and had cupcakes and sang happy birthday with Chris' parents. Micah is the youngest, by far, that I have allowed to have such sweets! I am shocked at myself, but he sure did enjoy it! I did not take my camera to dinner, but I wished I had so you could see how much he LOVED his dinner.

On his actually birthday we had a small group over for dinner and cake again. It was great fun to spend some time together and celebrate the year the Micah has had.

Micah is very easy going and so sweet. He is still bear crawling, but standing more and bouncing. Today it looked like he jumped and landed on his feet, but no actual steps. He loves music and claps and dances right along. ABCs is a favorite to bring a smile and show off his four teeth. He still teething and have more ready to pop out anytime. He can say ball, mama, dada, dog, Nanan (Elliana). Micah gives the best little hugs with his arms squeezing all around you, so sweet.

Happy First Birthday, Micah. We are so glad you were born!!!

Micah was so excited to see Papa Joe, he about jumped out of my arms!!

One More Day

2010-12-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Last week I sat down with the calendar because I knew this day was approaching. December 8 would mark the day that Micah lived in Hannah's Hope the same number of day that he has lived with his Mom and Dad. So today, December 9 he has been with me one more day than he has not! That is a big day for the little guy, maybe more for me than him. It also marks his 11 month birthday. Yes, that means that Micah will be one in one month. Micah is so close to walking, well more taking his first steps. He climbs stairs so fast and has the best little laugh. I think he will weighs 25 pounds, but is growing taller. I cut his hair yesterday and he looks like a little sweet boy more than a baby. But he still wants to be rocked like my little baby. He gives hugs and kisses, very wet kisses. I am so thankful for him!

6 month post placement

2010-11-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 6 month post placement. Micah has only been home 5 months, but it takes a month to write up and submit. After our social worker left, Micah and I both got pretty sick with some stomach bug. He is the first of the three kids to get sick like this. Elliana and Andy have never really thrown up or continued to do so all afternoon. Poor boy, but he does love extra cuddles.

Here are some of the photos we had to turn in. We give 10-15 photos of Micah.

Nine and a half months

2010-10-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

I apparently never updated from Micah's nine month appointment so I will try to get on that. He weighed 24 pounds, but now I think he must be up to 25 pounds! He was 90th percentile for weight and 75th for length. I don't actually remember his length, but it is written down somewhere. He played with the blocks and did all that he needed to do to show how awesome and smart he is! Of course the nurses love to comment on how cute and fun he is and he loves the attention. He smiles and waves to anything that moves. Micah can say mamama, dada, babab, and such sounds. Micah's favorite game is to chase around a big ball and wrestle with Dad. Mainly, I think he likes to do whatever Andy does and that is Andy favorite things too.

I need to download pictures from the past month and then I will post a few. Andy has a speech assessment today to see if he will quality for the local school district once he our grows out early intervention-it only goes until age 3. He has gotten much better the past few months so I am not sure he will qualify. At times it can be difficult to determine if Micah or Andy is talking so maybe he will! Elliana is loving preschool and with her teachers recommendation she will not move on to kindergarten in the fall, unless I homeschool her for one year and then send her again to kindergarten. I change my mind weekly on the issue.

I often wondered about comments adoptive families receive. Well, I mostly get smiles and good stuff. I have run into a few adoptive families while I am on outings and it if fun to talk with them and hear their stories. The past week was the first time a received a comment that I was not sure how to respond to. The elderly man did not mean anything mean by it, but just not informed or have a heart to the orphans. He said he did NOT NEED to adopt because he had five boys. I was not really offended but more thrown back that he thinks you should only adopt if you can not have bio kids. It should be no surprise then that there are so many orphans in the world. Imagine if God said that He had Israel and therefore there would be no need to offer adoption the Gentiles! Please!

Okay, that is my rambles for this day. Now off to make my house presentable for the speech assessors.

Early September

2010-09-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

Time flies, so they say.

The first few weeks of September have been potty training time in our home. I had been warning Andy all of August that after Elliana's birthday we were going to begin going on the potty. He would let me know that he had different ideas so I knew I was going to be in for a time! Well, my plan was to let him go without a diaper until he got sick of going on himself. The first day we had three accidents and no success. The second day we had the same. The three day we were out most of the day so it was also a loss. On the fourth day, Andy actually went on the toilet! WooHoo! Then more accidents. Oh well. On the fifth day I was ready to say maybe we would try again later when out of the blue, he did not have any accidents all day! Now, he does not wear a pull out when we go out and he has not had any accidents while out, well one that I may share. Andy's only hold up is that while he does go, he can only tell that he needs to go if he is free. So no undies for this little man, not yet. I will push for them when he is better at knowing when he has to go.
Okay, the story. Andy has not pooped on the potty yet. The first few days, he went outside (still in his clothes, just trying to get away from Mom). Well, we went to this park that is a fort, pretty cool. I got lost and took 45 minutes to get there when it is only 10 minutes away. Then within minutes, Andy says he needs to poop. What! He has never told me so I want to take advantage of this. The only bathroom there is outhouses with NO running water. Gross. So Andy tries. Then goes to play for three more minutes and repeats. We did this about four time. Of course, we did not actually make it when he went. So home we went for a smelly boy to get a bath.

Anyways, I am very proud of Andy for learning and taking charge of himself:).

Elliana began preschool today. She loves it. Her friend from dance class is in her class and she sang her good morning sang with her friend's name in it all day. She was so pumped that she did not even slow down for a nap, which I had thought would for sure happen on school days. She did eat better than I had seen her eat in a while and went to bed very early.

Micah is doing great. He is growing so fast. His legs bend now when he is in the ergo. He smiles at me anytime I smile at him. It is a fun game to play while I am feeding him, mostly for my enjoyment. He climbs and crawls on everything. It is hard to believe that he has not even been home for three months, he is such a perfect Walls:).

I wanted to add some pictures, but I am running out of time so I will not label them.

AGCI Picnic and Birthdays

2010-08-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our agency's picnic in Grand Rapid, Michigan. Elliana and Andy wanted to stay and Grandma and Papa's house to go swimming. Micah and I drove up early to go meet one of Micah first roomies while in Taiwan, Leyton. It was so sweet to see the boys' first reactions. Leyton gently touched Micah's head and Micah looked a little shocked. It only took a few seconds for him to start relaxing and start playing together, well, side by side. We headed to the picnic to meet up with another roomie and our case manager, Kate. I have been so excited waiting to finally get to meet these ladies in person! I have emailed with these other moms since the beginning of our journey and spent many hours talking with Kate. Kate also spent lots of time in Taiwan with Micah and giving in lots of hugs and kisses while he was waiting for us to come get him. After the picnic, we went back to Leyton's home to let the three boys have more fun together. Micah laughed harder than he had in a few weeks! He loved, loved seeing and being with his friend:). He fell asleep the second we left. I am so glad he has such a great time, I know I did! We will definitely be getting these boys and adding a few girls to the mix next year!

Micah and Leyton

Micah, Matthew, and Leyton

Kate and Micah

On Sunday, my sweet little girl turned FOUR. Since she was just a baby, she has been tenderhearted and compassionate. She is the protective big sister to her two brothers. I love to watch her giggle with joy when she is playing house with daddy. Elliana loves to swim and play with her dolls. She is looking forward to going to preschool in the fall and being a big girl:). She asked to go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Chris and I took her on Thursday before he left for Brazil. She also really wanted a pool, Buz party. She had a great day and loved having family around her for her big day.

Elliana in her Buz outfit.

Mom and the birthday girl

A week and a half

2010-08-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

Chris's sister, Ursula, and my sister, Amber, both flew into Michigan to meet Micah. Aunt Urs lives in Colorado and Aunt Ber lives in LA, Cali. I drove up with the kids on Tuesday and stayed until the following Thursday. We got to spend time with more than just those two Aunts. Micah got to meet the rest of his cousins and enjoy to cuddle time with Grandmas. Elliana and Andy loved to swim every chance they got at Chris' parents house and Aunt Ursula was always willing to go in the water with them. Elliana liked to climb down the ladder and sit on the pool floor. Andy enjoyed jumping in, whether anyone was ready to not. Neither one can swim so two adults are needed to watching them! Micah also loves the water, but he doesn't do anything dangerous yet.

Chris came up on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. We planned a Tigers game for Bill's birthday. Micah was the only kid allowed and of course he was sweet and slept through the game and fireworks. On Saturday we went to a lake out by Tina's, my step-sister, house. The kids loved the beach and could not get enough of playing in the sand and water.

The week and a half was action packed and lots of fun. We will be headed back to Michigan again on Friday! I am really looking forward to going to Grand Rapids for our agency's picnic and meeting one of Micah's roomies!! Chris leaves for Brazil on Saturday and will be there for a week for work. Once he is back we jump into September and craziness all over again!

Above: Shannon, me and Amber at Greenfield Village.
Below: Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bill at Greenfield Village.

Dates

2010-08-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy, not sure with what, but I know I am exhausted from it all. I am sure there are some cute stories from the week, but I will stick to just sharing about the weekend. This weekend was my MOPS Steering Retreat weekend to plan the upcoming year. My role is leader of the Discussion Group Leaders. So I just help the ladies, but do not actually have to lead a table this year. I have been looking forward to the retreat for some time. I was not going to be staying the night with the ladies because I would be bringing Micah with me all day on Saturday. Well, on Friday at 6:16 Chris was finally able to get a hold of the Dentist that had replaced a filling earlier in the day. This was the sixth or so time that he had been in for the filling. It was very soft to the touch and hurt very much so he needed to get it fixed before the weekend really got started. However, that would leave me with three kids and only 15 minutes to find someplace to take them all. Elliana, I took to VBS (she was a little late, but still made it). Andy, I called a neighbor and begged her to take him- he was screaming the whole time on the phone so I am sure she was really looking forward to it. He turned out to be very well and did not cause any problems.

Micah cannot stay with anyone beside Chris or me so he came with me. The ladies, of course, loved that and it was the first time most of them had seen him. These ladies are so awesome! I cannot tell you how excited I am to work with them all year and see what God is going to be doing in our lives through the MOPS ministry. Well, Micah was not going to make it as long as I planned on staying so we headed home to put him and I to bed. We got an early start on Saturday to make it back to the retreat for breakfast and are first meeting of the day. Micah was so great all day!!!

Chris took Elliana and Andy to the zoo and enjoyed their time together. We also had a couples baby shower to attend on Saturday afternoon. I had lined up a babysitter to take over for Chris. Apparently, it was the best baby shower ever! I am sure it is the only one Chris and been too, but he is still sure - the best! They played minute to win it games and had a good time. The babysitter had few problems with Andy so we ended up texting while still in meetings to work out his dinner. I made it back home just in time to give baths and get everyone to bed.

Chris and I had a lot of cleaning to get started on since our social worker was coming right after church for our three month post placement.    Notice it is Saturday night and I have not stop to breath, goodness, I am tried.

Our social worker came out and asked lots of questions and watched all the kids interact. At one point in talking about the readoption process, our sw said something about Micah moving away (as an adult) and Elliana stopped me and very nerviously asked "Micah gets to stay forever because thats what adoption is?!" She was getting really sad and I immediately explained that she could not take Micah away and that is not what she was saying. I don't think the sw heard Elliana and Elliana was comforted in my answer. Everything was great for the first hour. After that it all fell to pieces. Elliana had not napped and was losing it. Crying, needed me to hold her and stop talking to this stranger in her home. Andy through a couple of nice fits to show how he started to deal with all the changes in his life. Micah was just as sweet as ever:). Really, Andy had been doing pretty good until last week. He now has a meltdown every day and needs Mom more than ever.

Okay, so that was the weekend. It was fun, but I do not like to go, go, go like I thought I did. We are headed to Michigan so Micah can meet the rest of his aunts. We will be gone for a week and a half. Chris is really hoping it will be restful for me. I am really hoping too, but I think I know reality:).

I have been wanted to share some neat date stuff for some time:
May 6- our first hearing                                 AND our birthmom's birthday
May 26 - Ruling for final decree                    AND Chris' mom's birthday and the day my grandpa passed
June 7 - Final decree                                     AND Chris' birthday
June 21 - issued final decree and GOTCHA day AND Father's Day

God's timing in always perfect:).

The crazy life

2010-07-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Micah can now sit without any help from his front arms or support from me. He can move around on the floor just about anywhere. He can also hold himself up on all four for quite a long while. He has started rocking and even jump forward. The jump is pretty funny, his arms don't move forward, only his legs. He lands in a face plant, but seems to laugh it off and try again.

To start the day, I took the kids to Entertrainment Juction to play and burn off some energy. They had a field trip there and it was the busiest I have ever seen it. We played for about two hours. The kids were able to ride the Thomas train, but only after waiting in line. They were very patient and had a good time. We did not actually look at too much of the train display, but we have seen it many times.

We attempted to take all five out to eat for the first time. Today is my birthday so I did not want to cook or think about what to eat. Everyone did great! Sometimes it is not a good idea to take a two year old out where he will have to wait to get his food, but Andy controlled himself and didn't cause any problems. Micah sat in a high chair for the first (not at home). In Taiwan, every restaurant ask if he could sit in one, he would only last 30 seconds. But tonight he made it through all of the eating time! After dinner, we all went to the library. I had stuff to return and Chris apparently had never been! We showed him the videos and computer area. Elliana and Andy are very into Signing Time videos. They are actually pretty helpful with Andy's speech too. He is very hard to understand and mumbles horribly. If he knows the sign, it really helps. His favorite sign is the color "orange".

The number one question I get is "what is the hardest part so far?" Really, it depends on the day. Overall, I would say the mental exhaustion. There is hardly any down time to think or process. I used to be able to check email and respond any time of day. Now I am good if I read an entire email, but don't count on a reply to fast. If I have slept, my mental state is much better. Strangely, it was difficult getting used to not nursing. I will leave that at that. When I go the the grocery store with all three, I get some pretty good looks. Lots of comments, but mostly crazy looks! The comments are mostly from moms thinking back to when they were in my shoes and how fast time has gone for them.

I love have three kids! I can't imagine what life was like before each of them. We have enjoyed each other much more. Instead of getting together with others, we have really focused on spending time laughing and play with each other. What a joy family is!

One Month Gotcha Day

2010-07-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Micah's one month gotcha day! I told him the story of the day we got him, I cried, he just looked at me. He is, of course, our son and God has planned him to be before he was even a thought in our mind. It is amazing to look at him and know that he is finally here and forever part of our family. On Sunday, Elliana asked if Micah could stay and always be her brother. I said, "Yup, that is what adoption is."

We already have our three month post placement set, our social worker will come and ask us a bunch more questions. We will need 10-15 pictures, I am sure I could give 50-60! It is set for the end of July. I think they are going from the May 26 date that I think may be the first final decree date. I think are actual final decree date is June 21, but I am really confused as to when it is.

Micah is six months old. He is working on sitting up without front arm support, he can do it if I clap for him. He can do his dadada, but not mamama, despite my best effort to teach him. He pushes up on all fours, but not rocking. I am not sure I am ready for a crawler yet! He gives the biggest smiles when Chris comes home from work and says hi to him. It is so sweet to watch. I am with him ALWAYS so no chance for me to get that reaction:).

Okay, just one family picture.

Pictures

2010-07-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

People often ask to see inside the truck, to see what three carseats looks like. Elliana was not buckled yet, she is still in a five-point harness too.

One of Micah's first baths at home.

Just a little cuddle time with Ana.

July 4th celebration. We did not stay for fireworks, but had fun for a short time.

Three Weeks

2010-07-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Micah has been in our arms for three weeks! We have been home for two. We know we have a God who hears our prayers and loves us with His EVERLASTING LOVE. All three kids are doing so much better than I thought. Micah still sleeps through the night. He occasional wakes up for a pat on the back or a pacifier, but not for a bottle. Elliana gets up around midnight to sleep on our floor instead of her bed. Andy does not care what is happening at night as long as he doesn't know. Elliana is still a big helper, but now feeds her babies and changes their diapers. Andy seems to have adjusted without any fuss and loves having a baby brother to "play" and hold for a few seconds at a time.
Micah went to church for the first time. He did great. He did not give his great big smiles, but he still looked super cute! Our church family is wonderful, they did not overwhelm him or crowd him at all. Most admired from afar if someone else was talking to me. I love that he got to see some many people who have been praying for him for so long!
No pictures for a few weeks. Our computer is broken so updates are less frequent too. I will update when I get to someone else's computer with lots of time on my hands:) No computer has been a huge blessing in giving me time the kids, reading my bible, and working just being home.
Oh, Micah is ready for his bottle:) More later.

Pictures

2010-06-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

Micah was actually born in the year of the ox, he missed the year of the tiger by a few short weeks. Notice the bubble tea:)

The long plane ride home.

Elliana so excited to have Micah home!

Andy actually asked to hold Micah before Elliana!

This is what EVERY bottle has pretty much looked liked!

Gotta end with a good one!

Home

2010-06-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

We made it home!! Micah did great on the flights. He cry only for a short time, with only 2 hours left! I would say that is not so bad since we got him up at 5:30am and it was 12:00 am to him. He slept off and on most of the way. My mom and Bill picked us up from the airport and we met everyone back at Chris' parents house. Elliana and Andy were so excited to see Micah! Andy was actually the first to ask to hold him. He was very gentle and sweet. Micah cried most of the introductions, little crazy with the kids:) Elliana has helped with every bottle!! She has been an excellent helper and cannot stop her self from loving him too much. After swimming and eating with family, we headed back to my parents home for the night.
On Sunday, we stopped to see Chris' grandmother who was put in the hospital while we were in Taiwan and just moved to a nursing home for short while. She loved meeting her newest great-grandson and she seemed to be doing pretty well.
We finally pulled into our driveway around 8:30pm. We all gave Micah a tour of his new home and settled in to relax and get ready for bed. Today, we took it easy and stayed in, just hanging out together. The kids are relearning their routines and adjusting to being one of three:).
Chris went into work for a short time and will go back all day tomorrow. I do not see much on my plate for tomorrow either. Micah is liking the slower pace! I am still not complete recovered from traveling time zones and traveling in general, hopefully a good nights sleep will help. I will post pictures, hopefully tomorrow.

Taipei Zoo, Taipei 101, and National Palace

2010-06-25T02:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we started our day by taking the subway. It was very easy to figure out and not a far walk from the hotel. We went to the zoo first to beat the rain. We, however, did not beat the heat. The Taipei Zoo is home to two pandas! It was the first time for me to see them. They have a nice indoor exhibit and one bear actually woke up and walked around for a minute. The koala bears, kangaroos, and hippos are at the zoo too, all animals that the Cincinnati Zoo does not have (the hippos will be there by the end of the summer). They did not wake up for us. The zoo lay out was great and we had a great time. Chris took 140 pictures!!! I thought it was a little excessive, but he still has to weed out the blurry ones, so he says. He took lots of butterflies and giraffes. We highly recommend the zoo, even though the travel books did not!

After the zoo we went to Taipei 101. It is the second tallest building in the world, it was number one until this year. It is home to tons of business and the most expensive mall in the world (that is my estimation). It has Prada and all the red carpet designer names that I can not spell or pronounce. We had a snack in the basement food court before heading up to the top. Chris was more impressed as the engineer, but very pretty views from all directions.

We ate dinner back at our hotel. Micah has been getting fussy around dinner time so we were not sure if it would work out. He did pretty good and there was another baby, just as big and the same age so not a big deal if he made some noise. Micah has been a real trooper going all over the city from morning to night so it is very understandable that he not want to be out anymore in the evening.

He has been only having five bottles instead of the six he was drinking at Hannah's Hope. It is too difficult to wake him when he is sleeping and he doesn't want to eat when he wants to sleep. However, dropping a bottle means that he is hungry very three hours instead of hour.

Today we went to the National Palace Museum first thing because the guest relations person said we would need a lot of time and that we should do the English tour, which is at 10:00 or 1:00. We opted for the 10:00 tour. The guide was very funny! If you should go, go on Friday since it is the only day he volunteers. He was very knowledgeable. It is supposed to be only an hour, but he generously went one and half to get more in. One of the famous displays is a jadeite cabbage. Yes, cabbage with two grasshoppers on it! Interesting story about two princesses too, but I will let you come and hear it for yourself.

We did not make it more than three hours before we began to fade from hunger and needing a break. We headed back to the cafe by AIT for lunch:)

Once energized we went to the Handicaft Market. It is one of the few places to buy Taiwanese items. We ended up getting a set of tea, water, juice cups. We thought about heading to the night market but we think Micah may have had enough for one day. We will try to leave the hotel by 5:30am to head back to the States!!

In a little bit

2010-06-24T17:35:00.001-07:00

Okay, I know I have not bloged about the last couple of days, but I hope to have the time tonight. :)

AIT

2010-06-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning we headed over to MorningLight, the unwed mother's home and office of Deana and her staff. We recieved all of our documents for AIT and Micah's passport. His little picture is so cute! After that we picked up some rice box lunch and headed to airport to wait for our flight back to Taipei. While we were eating, of course everyone was watching us. Women love babies!!! These three women came up and gave us some more food, but it was homemade and very good. It was rice with pork and mushrooms wraped in leaves. So fun to try homemade food!

Micah slept the whole plane ride back and with lots of tuberlance that was a good thing. After arriving back in Taipei we relaxed and checked out the area around the Westin, our hotel. We are in the banking area so mostly banks are all you can see. Michelle, you will be gland to know that we have had no problems getting food or around. (She was worried about us.)

Micah slept from 8pm to 7 am, when I woke him to feed him. Deana said that some babies handle stress by sleeping, I am thinking Micah may be one of those. Chris is also that way! He is bonding very well though. He loves to hold our hands while falling asleep and loves to be touched. He seems to love to play with Chris and be comforted my me, just like Elliana and Andy!

This morning we headed to AIT for our appointment at 9:00. After changing their minds of what size visa picture they wanted we had to go print another size. Otherwise we had no issues, very easy. Micah's birthmom was required to come too. It was good to see her again. She was able to hold Micah one more time before being interviewed. It was very short too, only 20 minute. Some have taken 3 hours! There were two other families adopting at the same time. We exchanged information with one of them since they only live 15 minutes from my parents! What fun!

The temperature was already around 95 degrees when we left. We walked around Daan Park and melted in the heat. It is a pretty park and the only green area in Taipei. We found a fun little coffee shop and had lunch. Maybe my favorite food here in Taipei!

Micah is napping now, but his visa will be ready in 30 minutes. We will head back to AIT to get it and then off to the Woodpecker Baby Store. Others before us recommended it, and asked up to pick up a few things to bring back for them:)

This is Alexi (Deana's assistant), Michelle, and us at the MorningLight Home.

Taitung

2010-06-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night we went to the night market in Taitung. We were the only Americans most saw, so we stood out and everyone really enjoyed staring at us:) Michelle helped us get food and tell us what everything was. We tried stinky tofu. I can say it is very stinky! I am glad I tried it, Michelle likes it. I finally got to try bubble tea too! It was good and fun to drink. It is tea with little tapioca balls in the bottom! The night market has tons of games for kids. Elliana and Andy would have loved it!
When we got back to the room, we skyped with the kids and introduced them to Micah. It was very cute! Elliana does not understand why it takes so long to come home since we obviously have Micah already. Next we talked with our friends in Bolivia! And finally, we saw that our community class (Sunday School) at church was on, doing a test run for talking to the Wardens (in Bolivia) next week. So we called them too! It was so exciting for us to introduce him to family and friends who have been praying for him and us for so long! They both, the Wardens and community, prayed for us again. So precious, thank you guys.

On Monday Michelle came with a new driver, her landlord. She is so sweet, it was difficult for her to find another driver, she called all her friends. Jake, her landlord, is very nice and runs a Chinese Medicine store so he said he had a flexible schedule. Deana had a change of plans, really our paperwork from the court was not ready. We did not know this at the time so we were not worried or stressed about the change. It worked out good. We went shopping on the streets to see all the fruit stands and shops. Michelle took us where she shops, the grocery store:) She is afraid of the fruit stands because once the fruit had ants all over it and they speak Taiwanese instead of Chinese. Too funny, also she does not cook so she doesn't know what do do with all the stuff in the little shops. At the grocery store we got some fruit and dried mango for a snack.
Jack came back and took us to the beach. We thought we would eat our snack there, but with the heat index at least 114 degrees it was too hot!! Michelle works at a place called Hookies, named after VT Hookies. So we went there and ate. Chris had his only Mountain Dew of the trip! It is the only place in Taitung that has it. Next we met Deana for lunch and ate some more yummy food!
It was almost 2:00 so we headed over to Hannah's hope to meet the other babies and special mothers. Deana went to go pick up our birthmom from the train station and go get some papers signed at court. The babies were so great! I will send pictures to all you waiting mom's and dad's, hopefully today! Without Deana there to tell us all the English names, we did not get pictures of all the new referrals. The special mothers are so loving and truly care for each little one! We got to see the ones that cared for Micah. It was very difficult for them all to say good bye to him, so sad. At about 3:00 Deana called so say they would be there soon. As soon as they walked in, she got a call that she had to get to court right away. Michelle would have to translate for us. She did a great job, I am sure she was very nervous, was were we! But she was wonderful. We learned lots of stuff to share with Micah as he grows and we were able to video the whole time. One thing she made she sewed "Good Man" on it, which is what Micah means. That was pretty neat, since she would not have know that! Micah took a much needed nap as we talked, but she had to be at an appointment at 4:00 so she was rushed away and we had time to decompress and relax for a few minutes. I went back to say goodbye to the babies and give the clothes that a few families had sent.
Chris asked about going to the House of Registry that we were supposed to do that morning. Well, after a little confusion, our paperwork was still at court, but we, Michelle, Wuli (social worker) and us headed over anyways. They said we were missing a document and we had to wait. Deana came running in after finishing a families first hearing and tracking down our missing paperwork which had just been completed moments before. Stressful day for Deana! We were totally exhausted and came back to our hotel at 5:30. After eating dinner we headed down to look at the shops. We saw the traditional tribal show going on and stayed to watch it for a bit. It was pretty cute to see.
After a long busy day, Micah was very glad to go to sleep! He had his bottle at 8:30 before we went down for the show and only woke up at 5:45 to eat again. That is the time that the special mothers always feed him, so he was right on:) Yesterday was very difficult to him too, so he is soaking up all the sleep he can get!
Today we have to go sign the rest of our paperwork and fly back to Taipei! It will be sad to leave Taitung. It is such a warming, not to mention super hot, and sweet place. Michelle has been a huge blessing and help. I cannot wait for the other families to meet her too! She taught us so much about the young culture of Taiwan!

Gotcha Day!

2010-06-20T02:13:00.000-07:00

I will try to start at the beginning and please excuse any mistakes in typing!!! We got up at 5 to leave our hotel at 5:30. It did not take long to get to the domestic airport. Surprisingly, there were many people out at that time of the morning. The sun had been up for awhile too:). When we got the airport, and figured out what line to stand in, the guys told us our reservation for for a 12:05 flight! We found the other airline and waited for them to open. They had the next first flight on Sunday mornings at 8:20! It was fully booked so we found the standby list and were the first ones. They said come back 20 minute before leaving to see if we made it. While we waited a really nice group gave us part of their breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's. Chris and I were getting pretty hungry since nothing was open when we left the hotel so we were very thankful! At 8:00, a man gave a us a look and said that we could go buy our tickets. We made it! I praised God for His timing, I am not sure I would have made it to 12:05!

Once in Taitung, we found Michelle, a student from Taitung University. She will be taking us around while we are in Taitung. She took a picture for us at the welcome fountain at the airport. She is a lot of fun to talk with and has been very helpful.
Our first stop, of course, was Hannah's Hope. Deana met us there. She brought Micah down right away. He is perfect! I am not sure I have words to describe it! We will go back on Monday to visit the special mothers (nannies) and the other babies. So don't worry, all of you waiting for pictures of you little dears, I send them as soon as I can. We did not even see them yet. We then headed to Deana and Luke's church. It was fun to hear the hymns I grew up singing sung in Chinese. Deana translated the youth pastors sermon and told us what was going on.
Luke, who had been preaching at another church came at the end to pray a blessing for us. We recorded it, but did not get pictures of that.
Okay, next we went to get our stuff and get checked into our hotel. It is a great place and everyone is so very nice. With hunger setting in again, our driver picked up her kids and we went to lunch with Michelle and our drivers family. It was great to go to a restaurant and not have to order a thing, since there were no pictures and we would have been totally lost. Micah had his first bottle there and my arm was breaking by the end. Deana had told me that Micah had to be moved to another room in the home because some of the special mothers could not hold him for very long, I completely understand! Wait until you see these legs! He is five months and wearing a 24 month shirt:). The picture below is our driver holding Micah while we were eating. Apparently I must have looked like I was struggling trying to eat with my chopsticks and holding him LOL.
We are now back at our room for a nap and rest time with Micah. He is doing great! He loves to "talk" and does a great big belly laugh with Chris. We will be headed to the night market here in Taitung. It is only on Sunday nights here. There is lots of food and shopping and all around fun to be had, so we heard.
Tomorrow is a busy day again. We will change Micah's permanent address, meeting with his birthmom, and visit Hannah's Hope.
Here are a few pictures from today:

Arrived

2010-06-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

We have finally arrived in Taipei. Yah!! After 22 hours of travling, we are at our hotel for about 6 hours. We will leave for the airport again at 5:30 to go Taitung. Tomorrow is GOTCHA DAY!

The first picture of the trip is Chris in Japan.

This is the Taipei International Airpot.

Airport

2010-06-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

This morning we were so thankful to be able to participate in my Pop's funeral. We were not able to go the military salute, but know that it was meaningful and we are blessed to be part of his family!
We have now returned say good-bye to the kids, change clothes and throw our bags in the car to get to the airport. Next time we write, it will be from Taiwan!!!

Prep Week

2010-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

We are on the count down with only four days before we travel. I made Chinese food, well cashew chicken, for dinner in my excitement. I realize that we will only be eating Chinese food on our trip, but it is so good and I am so excited:)
We have the packing list mostly done and the plans mostly done too. Chris booked our hotel tonight. We do not have a way to call internationally so I suggested Skye. He said it was awesome and worked better than if he was on a real phone! Free too, that's what I like. However, while he was talking to the hotel people, my mom called to share bad news. My step-dad's dad, Pop, passed away today. This is only two and a half weeks after my mom's dad, Grandpa, passed away. Thankfully, we will be able to make it to his funeral before we leave on Friday. I guess God knew why were needed to fly out of Detroit more that we did.

Travel Dates!!!!

2010-06-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

We will leave Michigan (we will be dropping Elliana and Andy off at the grandparents) on Friday, June 18! We will eventually arrive in Taitung sometime on Saturday evening/night. Hopefully we will get Micah that night, if not, then on Sunday. We really want to go to church there and see where Micah has been going the past 5 months:) I think that Luke, the pastor, may still be in China, but I cannot remember what dates he will be traveling.
To make is easier to follow:

Friday: leave the USA
Saturday: arrive in Taipei and fly to Taitung
Sunday: church, if possible
Monday: go to house of registry and finish adoption paperwork
Tuesday: travel back to Taipei
Wednesday: AIT visa appointment, and meet with birthmom
Thursday: free day
Friday: free day and pick of visa if ready
Saturday: leave Taipei and return to Detroit
Sunday: return to Cincinnati

It has been a pretty crazy day figuring it all and booking the tickets. We still have to decided on hotels tonight:) But Chris is still getting cleaned up from playing beach volleyball. He just started on a league. I took the kids to watch and watch a friend's kids while they all played. While there, I noticed a family that looked familiar to me. I asked the mom where she was from and if she had a blog. I have been reading her blog for almost a year now! They adopted from Taiwan last year. How neat it was to see her and see their precious little girl!! It was just the energy booster I needed since I was ready to fall asleep putting Elliana to bed. Well, we better get to figuring out where to stay in just a week and a half.

What a week!

2010-06-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Monday was Memorial Day. I usually call my grandfather on Memorial day and thank him for serving his country, but he passed away on May 26. After the funeral, which I was not able to attend since it was in Nebraska, my grandma rode with my aunt and uncle back to Ohio. They dropped her off at my home to spend the week with me. This was the first time that she has been able to come to my house. It has been so wonderful share stories and memories of my grandparents and hear stories about my grandpa that I never knew before. Elliana took right to her and enjoyed the time together. Andy was a little funny to watch as he would not get too close, but just keep a watchful eye on Grandma. He eventually warmed up to her:) We even made it to the zoo for an afternoon.

Also this week we were told to email AIT with a request for a date after June 18. We did that the first second we were allowed! This morning we received a message that said they would give us an appointment for two to three weeks from now. That is great news! The difficult part is that we can not buy plane tickets or anything like that because we do not know the exact date. Hopefully, next week will be more informative. We are so happy to have this news and now I am stop telling Elliana that is have no idea when Micah will be here. Now I can say, "At the end of JUNE!" It has not slowed down how many times a day she asks, but I do not think anything but having Micah home will.

First Decree

2010-05-26T10:22:00.001-07:00

Great News!!!

Chris and I decided to check our email one last time before bed and we had a wonderful message waiting for us. Kate, our case manager, said that our first decree happened and we have already waited the 10 day wait period. The 10 days is for "speak now or forever hold your peace." Our social worker, not the one that we were waiting on, was on her way to court to file something for our final decree. It should take 5-8 days. After we get that we will email the AIT, Embassy in Taiwan, for Micah visa appointment. That date determines when we travel. It looks like the courts never notified anyone on our side of the first decree, so I do not know when it happened, but it could have been two-three weeks ago. We are so thankful for the huge step that we were waiting for. Micah should be home before the end of JUNE! I will let you know when I hear when we can travel.

Thank you for your prayers!

Back at the baby home

2010-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Micah has been released from the hospital and is back in the baby home. We are so thankful for the care and love that he is getting from the nannies and our case manager. We received a picture of him sleeping while sucking his thumb. He is looking so sweet and big. I wish I could post a picture!

Today our community class from church came over to our home to celebrate the Festival of Weeks. It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement. It is amazing to see how our group is growing with so many babies!

Go Seek Love

2010-05-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Another family from our church in waiting for a referral from Ethiopia. They are working on raising some funds to help with the cost. The Kirk's are selling shirts that say Go Seek Love with a picture of Africa. They are very cute.

If you want to support them, click on the link:

http://goseeklove.com/

This link takes you to the site to buy the shirts, not the Kirk's blog.

Hospital Visit

2010-05-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

We have just received word that Micah was admitted to the hospital again. His still is running a slight fever and will most like be there until Monday. Please pray for his recovery.

Tomorrow will mark the four month mark since we received our referral. This also means that out of the four families from our pilot program, we will have the longest wait to travel. Or the most time to prepare for Micah's homecoming- Just trying to stay positive.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all the Mammas and Moms-to-Be. Elliana and Andy gave me cards that they has made with Chris. At church they each made a painted pot and planted a flower in it. Elliana has said, "Happy Mother's Day" over and over to me.

Mother's Day has new meaning to me this year while thinking of Micah's birthmom. This special woman will always hold a place of honor in our hearts and we will continue to pray for her.

Often times when you hear someone say they are beginning the adoption process, you hear someone else say that Satan often attacks throughout this process. Someone recently asked us if we felt attacked and we said no with thankful hearts. Of course, I let down my guard. This week has been a little harder as it is going on four weeks of waiting for the social worker to complete Micah's report and turn it into the judge. I am trying to be patient, but it is getting more and more frustrating that I have no control. We also found out this morning that there may be a snag in a grant in which we applied.

In our small group we have been studying Romans, so we decided to take a spiritual gift assessments. Faith was my highest. So it was no surprise that I immediate thought that it is okay that our finances are not set, God just wants us to see His glory and power in real ways!

One last comment: Micah is four months old today!!

Musical Beds

2010-04-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Elliana and Andy have only been sharing a room for a few weeks and Andy has decided that he is ready for more. He no longer will sleep in his crib. It is more than not just wanted his crib, it is he wants Elliana's bed. Really he wants to do whatever she does and that is why he wants her bed. Andy sleeps at the foot of the bed and Ana the head. We looked at bunk beds but Andy is to crafty to leave alone with that at night so we will be bringing in another twin bed. So after moving his crib into her room, we have moved it out. It would not be so big of a job except that we have completely take the crib apart to fit it through the door frames. We moved in back into what had become the play room and the future room for the boys. Micah will have it to himself for awhile. Maybe.

We have had a friend's little 13 month old staying with us while she is delivering her four child. It has been such fun to have another little one around. She is the easiest, sweetest little thing! Elliana loves, loves helping her. It is good timing for her to adjust her big sister role for Micah. Andy cracks me up. He copies whatever Ana does, but does not want this little girl to touch his toys! He needs lots of work in his big brother role, but I have all confidence that he will be a quick learner.

Family Meeting

2010-04-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today we had a family meeting to talk about the kids whining. (This is not the first meeting for whining.) We talked about going to the "happy mat" and trying again, with respect. I should mention that this meeting took place in the car because that is where the kids have spent the afternoon playing. Elliana buckles her babies in and Andy takes his trains out for a ride too. Chris and I were thinking our meeting was about finished so we asked the kids if they had anything to share. Elliana said yes, she wanted to "share" at the park and take turns pushing her babies. I think we better explain what we mean by sharing next time. However, she finished her sharing time by thanking God for His love (said like she was praying). Very confusing, but sweet. Andy shared that he wanted us out of the car so they could continue to play.

Really the meeting was to motivate us parents to stick to the happy mat and stop them from whining so much! We will see how we do in the coming weeks.

Micah is out of the hospital and doing great! We received a video on Friday. This is our first video and we have watched it over and over. We cannot wait to hold him in our arms!

Social Worker and Hospital

2010-04-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Kate, my case manager, just called to say that the social worker has set up a time to go see Micah and begin her assessment/review. She will be visiting on the 13th, that is the middle of the night tonight! It may take her about two weeks to complete it and get it to the judge. Once the judge has it, he will set the first degree.

The bad news, Micah caught the cold that is going around and needed to be in the hospital for a few days. I am not sure if he is still there or if he is back in the home.

The good news, one of the families should be returning this week and can give me an update over the phone and maybe a video!

Down on the farm

2010-04-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday around 2:00 my sister arrived for a fun week with the kids. At 5:00 my mom called to say that my grandfather was out of surgery and the news was not good. He has colon cancer and it has spread to his liver, kidneys, spine and part of his legs. Shannon and I talked about our options, called our husbands at work and talked with them. Chris' parents would watch our kids, Brian would take off work for two days and watch Eila and Josiah. Thaddeaus would come with us. So at 9:00pm, we loaded up two vehicles up and drove to Michigan. We arrived at Shannon's around 2:00am and Elliana was still awake! We needed to leave for the airport at 6 so Shannon and I had a short night. Chris' parents were able to pick up Elliana and Andy in the morning from Brian.

My mom, Shannon (and Thadd), and I made it on the flight (we flew standby) and met up with my aunt in Omaha. Amber, my younger sister, was going to be flying in a few hours, but a security breech at LAX did not allow that. Through an act of God, Amber was able to be rerouted to Kearney, where my grandparents live. So we drove the three hours to Kearney and were able to pick her up a few miles from the hospital.

My grandfather was happy and surprised to see us. We spent the next couple of days with him. We talked about memories of the farm and his favorite things. We shared our favorite verses and he tried to remember his. He is a quiet man so we did a lot of just sitting together. Shannon, Amber, and I have said many times how thankful we were that we were able to come. My grandma was so thankful too. She is handling everything so well, she is an amazing women!

Getting home was going to be a challenge. Brian could not take off more work and they did not have anyone available to help. We needed to be home before Monday morning. Bill, my step dad, said there were two open seats on a flight Saturday morning. It would make our trip short, but Amber had to fly out then and needed to get to Omaha anyways. However, by Friday night, the flights were all oversold and the next opening would be Monday night. So we looked at driving but the cost for one way rental was very expensive. My mom checked about flying into Cincinnati instead of Detroit. The Cincinnati flight left an hour after Amber's and had 37 open seats! Chris picked up us and drove us to Detroit. It was a little weird being so close to home and not stopping. After dropping off Shannon and Thaddeus, we made it to Chris' parents around 11:00pm. Elliana was still awake, again. She was excited to see us. After a night of rest, we all drove back to Ohio and here will will stay, for a few weeks aways.

There is oblivious more to the story, but that is long enough. My grandpa was given up to 6 months or just a few days. We were able to take some pictures which is a huge deal because my grandpa hates pictures! I will try to post them, but they are on Shannon's camera so it may take a few days. My mom has to leave on Tuesday and my aunt on Thursday. Pray for my grandma as she will be caring for him without her daughters.

Pictures

2010-03-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids...

Court

2010-03-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Deana, our representative, went to court in the middle of the night. As a side note, it is only a twelve hour time change, I guess they do not have day light savings time. She said all went great. That is good news. The judge, who is new the the bench, did request an extra document, but it was able to be produce and turned into the judge right after the case. Deana was also able to give our letter and family book with the birth family.

The bad news: the social worker has not even started Micah's report. We are on hold until she does it. She first needs to set up a time to meet Micah, which she has not done either.

Since is the judge is new, we do not have past time lines to go by. Either way, I think I will have to adjust my travel thinking to June or July.

Also, We did not get any new pictures, but are hoping for some when the nannies finish writing updates on all the babies:)

Tomorrow

2010-03-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Micah's first court date. Please join me in praying for a miracle, that the social worker would have her report on Micah to the judge! The case is set to start at 2:45 p.m. Taiwan time, that is 1:45 a.m. for me. It can last as short as 15 minutes. I will not hear anything from my case manager until the afternoon on Wednesday because of all the different time zones we are working with. I, of course, will update right away.

First Court Date

2010-03-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

We received our first court date! It has been set for March 24 at 2:45, but that is 1:45 am Ohio time. We are very excited to get this after only one week and a day. We are praying that the social worker can pick up her speed and get Micah's report done by then. She has not had the last two done by the first court date and therefore delayed the first court decree. The estimation for the first decree is late April. I am still praying for sooner, but rejoicing that it is going to happen!

The adoption process is an amazing look at God's love and I am so thankful that we can follow God's call. If Micah's birthmom decided to keep Micah he would still have a loving mother, but he would still be fatherless. I am so thankful for Chris' love to his children and that Micah has Chris as his dad!

Two Months and a day

2010-03-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Micah is two months old, plus a day. We are so thankful for two more pictures we received last Wednesday. On Wednesday, our paperwork was submitted to the judge. Now we pray and wait and pray and wait for any word from him. I have found this part to be more difficult that the other waiting. Each day that passes with no word feels like I will have to wait another month to bring Micah home. With my complaining, I do see blessings in the wait too. The family behind us, is only one week behind us, so it could work out that we might travel together. It was be nice to have someone to connect with and meet, for real. I have been able to draw deeper dependence in prayer, even at 1:00 am when I can not sleep. Also, the kids are able to work on being less clingy and I feel more confident in leaving them for the week while we are in Taiwan. Also, the weather has been great so we have been able to go to the park, zoo, and meet up with friends that help me focus on enjoying the time I have now.

Gardening

2010-03-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

This week at our local MOPS my friend, Sarah, and I talked on gardening and cleaning. Spring is just around the corning and it is the prefect time to build some motivation. Since I have not talked in front of large groups for sometime, I was quite out of practice. So practice is what Sarah and I did for two days straight.

We have had great feedback and lots of moms are ready to "dig in" and grow a few green plants or try a homemade cleaner or two! I am sure some were bored to tears, but we have not heard from any of them:)

This is our eighth year doing a garden. We each have an area in our backyard for veggies and use our flower beds for lettuce and strawberries. I will start my tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers indoors this weekend. I know that the almanac says I can plant outdoors the first week in May, but I will wait until after Mother's Day. First, I hope that we will be in Taiwan the first week or before:) and I do not like to go cover my plants when there is a chance of frost.

Last year we added corn, I believe that we will continue that and will add a few new veggies to the list. Here is the list so far:

Tomatoes
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Green Beans
Peas
Onions
Potatoes
Green peppers
Pumpkins
Corn
Lettuce

This is a picture of my garden about 4 years ago. We were in control of the weeds at that point. I am hoping Ana will be the one controlling the weeds this year:)

That's My Boy

2010-03-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

This past week Chris grandmother passed away. We headed up to the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan for the funeral. It was actually a pretty good drive. We rode with Chris' parents and his sister. It was great to all ride together and have the time to talk.

The UP is like a whole separate country, socially. I can not really explain what I mean, but I am sure if you have been you understand. The kids were playing with the pastor's son at the funeral home. I could easily tell, within a few moments, that he was not developmentally on target. He was very sweet and friendly and played great with the kids. His mom shared that he was adopted locally, and his birthmom was drinking and doing drugs throughout the pregnancy. People in the church told them not to adopt him and did not seem very supportive. Thankfully they did not listen to them and now he has a very loving mom and dad! Anyways, the people in the church were constantly yelling at the boy to stay away and not touch this or that. When we first met him he said, "You miss Anna (Chris' grandmother) too. She called me her boy. When she saw me she say, 'That's my boy!'" It was said with such love. I love that she, Grandma, loved him and he knew it!

One Month

2010-02-12T11:55:00.001-08:00

Micah turned one month on February 9! We received new pictures and update! He is looking super sweet and so big! Kate, our case manager, described him a tiny, little boy, but he just looks so big to me. I am sure he is tiny next two the other two boys sharing his home! We were just so excited to get pictures! What a joy!

This weekend we will be celebrating Andy's second birthday. He was born February 14, Valentine's Day, at 3:19 in the morning. He is still so sweet and loves to sit on Daddy's lap and read bedtime books. He gives the best little hugs. He is full of energy and wrestles anything that moves and doesn't, like him Pooh Bear. He is quite good at kicking and throwing balls. He stops every so often for a sweet cuddle and suck of his thumb, then it is back to playing. Andy, we love and are very proud of the little man you are becoming.

Another Step Complete

2010-02-08T17:37:00.001-08:00

Today after Elliana's story time at our local library we headed to Columbus to get 12 documents State certified. We stopped at the outlet malls on the way to see if we could find snow pants that would fit Elliana. She had been wearing Andy for the last couple of snow falls and it was time for her to get her own. The kids did pretty good, Andy slept from the time from the library to the outlets.

After that we headed the rest of the way to Columbus. We did not have any issues at the Secretary of State and it did not take more that 20 minutes. Since we were in Columbus, I stopped to see my aunt and uncle. We stayed for afternoon and dinner. The kids did not do so well there. Elliana had not napped all day and was crying and whining because her blanket had been left in the car. We can not drive all the way up to my aunt's house, but are picked up in a vehicle that can handle a large hill, dirt roads, and 10 inches of snow. So she was upset about not being able to go get it and could not rest without it. Andy was running and having a grand time, never stopping. Once my cousins arrived, Andy loved playing with Lauren. She is a teacher and great with the kids! She helped distract them until dinner. When we finally left, both the kids fell asleep within three minutes and slept the two hours home!

On the quiet ride, I thought three kids, three and under- Am I crazy to think that I can do this? But God gave me such a peace and understanding that Micah is from Him and He will be glorified through this adoption and how I raise all three of my kids. That does not mean that we will not struggle with balancing time with all three or that sometimes it will be crazy, but I am not afraid!

Explaining adoption to a three year old

2010-02-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

Elliana has been part of our discussion on adoption from the beginning. We have openly talked about it since Andy was born. So he too has heard it, but he is yet to communicate his understanding of what it means.

The day after we accepted Micah's referral Elliana started playing adoption. She held two baby dolls and said this one is from my belly, but not this one. I say, "Oh, yeah." She responded, "Yeah, he in my daddy's belly." So in her three year old world, that is where Micah came from, her daddy's belly. Well, after couple more days of talking about Micah, non-stop, she had a different idea. We have a picture of Micah's birthmom. She would ask to see his birthmom and think of tons of questions that I know I will need to find better answers to. "Why does he have two mommy's? You his mommy, me his sister. Me love him."
This week her questions have been fewer. She still can not pass a picture of him without commenting "He Micah, me baby brother." (sounds like baby broller.)

Trying a video

2010-01-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

I thought I would try to post a video. Since it is a test, it is just one that I already had recorded. The kids play "mini-van" all the time, although this is the first time with steering wheels. We do not have a minivan, but Elliana asks to ride in one every change she gets.

Before I knew you...

2010-01-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

On Sundays, our community class just started studying Jeremiah. Such amazing little nuggets of wisdom God has spoken through our teacher in just two weeks! This week, along with the fact that it was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, we looked at some pretty great verses:

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Psalms 139:13-16
You make all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! you workmanship is marvelous- and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. every day of my life was recorded in your book. every moment was laid out before a single day passed.

Isaiah 49:1,5
Listen to me, all of you in far-off lands! The LORD called me before my birth; form within the womb he called me by name... and Now the LORD speaks- he who formed me in my mother's womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring his people of Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength.

John 15:16,19
You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name...If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves it own. But I have chosen you out of the world, so you don't belong to it.

Galatians 1:15
But God had a special plans for me and set me apart for his work even before I was born.

I cannot help but praise God that He knew Micah before his birthmom knew of him and has called him to be part of me!

We have finished our acceptance paperwork and sent it off to our agency. From there it will head to Taiwan and hopefully get a fast court date. You can pray for one of Micah's roommate, his first court date is tomorrow morning (tonight in our time zone.)

THE BEST NEWS-baby boy

2010-01-16T18:09:00.001-08:00

We are happy to introduce Micah, born January 9! Of course you want the story, so here it is. On Thursday at 5:00, the phone rang and I saw the area code. I knew it was Kate which made me a little nervous and excited. She shared that she had a referral for us and was emailing us his information. Chris was not home from work yet, but I could not wait so I opened the email just to take a peek:) Once Chris got home we rushed through the information and had to leave for Bible Study. Chris is the leader so we could not easily skip. I texted my parents on the way, so they would be the first to know of their 16th grandchild. Then we shared with our group that we were going to be parents to a newborn boy.

Friday, Kate called to hear what we had decided. We had no name picked out so we asked her to wait before emailing out to our pilot group. (Sorry group, she will email on Monday and send a picture.) We wanted to wait to tell everyone until we had a name, but I could not contain myself and told everyone we saw. I had planned a playdate on Friday so anyone who came heard.

Back to his name, we still had not had time to talk much about it. Well, Saturday morning we both said Micah it will be. Meanings of names are very important to Chris. Micah means "he who is like God".

Elliana and I went shopping and she picked out some pajamas for Micah. She loves jammies and usually wears them all day, every day. She was convinced that he had to have them. Everyone we passed on the way to checkout she told them that the pjs were for Micah. I can not wait for her to tell people tomorrow at church. She said that she was a baby brother, Micah, but he is far away. Andy has been extra clingy to me so I think he knows something is going on.

I will not be able to post a picture so if you would like, just send me an email and I will send you a peak too. Funny thing is, I have been mistake as Chinese (more than once). I don't know if you noticed, but I do not look Chinese. Several people have commented that he looks like Chris, who is not Chinese either.

First meeting AGCI

2010-01-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will mark the one year date to our first meeting with All God's Children International. We went to an informational meeting in our area. Deb, the area coordinator, had just started working with the agency. She was very sweet and we were able to meet a family that had previous adopted and hear their story.

It was also at this meeting that we learned that AGCI was going to be doing a pilot program with Taiwan. We knew we would not be considered for the program at that time, but we still left feeling excited and that God was definitely leading our journey. I have already shared how we ended up being able to join the pilot program so I will not bore you with it again.

It is hard to believe a a year has already past. God has been faithful and drawn me closer to Him as I learn how great His love is for His children. I do hope that we do not have a wait another year, but if we do, God will still be faithful!

Still a little girl

2010-01-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

We moved Elliana to a big bed when she had just turned two. That was the end of her great sleeping skills. She would get up several times a night and no longer go to sleep by herself. Well, now she is three and half and I was ready to break the habit of having to lie down with her until she fell asleep each night. We talked it up how she was going to turn into a big girl on Dec 27 and she would go to sleep by herself. We made up a bedtime list and hung it on her door to practice. She liked the list and but for the couple of weeks leading up to the big night, she would say, I am a little girl, please lay down with me.
When the night finally came, she said, all day, "Me little girl, not big girl." I told her she could stay a little girl, but she would still have to follow the new rules and I was not going to lay down with her. The first three nights, she only got up once before falling asleep. Then it was about three times. She is only getting up once in the middle of the night, but going right back to sleep when I return her to her bed.
Today after reading her stories for her nap, I thought I would take a five minute nap with her. She asked me to say a prayer with her and when we were done, she looked at me and said, "Me can't sleep with you in here, please leave." So I guess that is the end of that. I am a little sad to see it go, but happy she is sleeping better.
Andy, who has sleep through the night since 8 weeks, as started to wake during the night now. He usually goes back to sleep himself. He is still in the crib and hopefully stay there a long time! My guess is he still has his ear infection.

Christmas and Taiwan lesson

2009-12-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

We are back home after a very busy Christmas. Elliana and Andy stayed healthy for the first time! Well, I think Andy still has an ear infection, but that is normal for him. Here are a two picture:
This is my sister and me with a few of our nieces and nephew:

Grandpa Bill with is grandsons:

Last night we had dinner with some good friends from bible study. Melvin's family is from Taiwan so his mother showed us how to cook some yummy food and shared about the culture. We made egg drop soup, pot-stickers, dumplings, and green onion and oil pancakes. we did not actually do all the cooking, we got a little carried away in her stories and forgot to cook. But we loved it all. We had a great time and learned a lot too. We can not wait to do it again!

Family

2009-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

I love to be with family. I know that some family decide not to travel once they have kids so that way the kids get to spend Christmas Eve in their own bed and wake up Christmas day in their own home. Well, I love to see our families so we most likely always travel during the holidays. Despite the high stress of dividing time equally and trying to see everyone, I look forward to the parties and festivities.

The kids make the 4 hour drive pretty good and love to see their grandmas and papas. Elliana talks about it for the entire week and tries to pack repeatedly. This year I was able to hold off on her packing and then I forgot to pack more than one pjs. She usually only packs pajamas so she was greatly disappointed at first, but of course Grandmas was prepared and had extra for her. She is yet to take them off. She even wore them the Great-Grandma's birthday. Andy has loves to play with Papa and have him cuddle with him.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Step-dads

2009-12-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

My parents divorced when I was very young. I have no memory of living with my birthfather. God, in His great lovingkindness, provided a godly man for my mom to marry. On June 13, 2987, Bill and my mom married. We, my full sisters and I, have always called Bill, Bill. There were several reasons for this, we still saw my dad occasionally, that is how we were introduced, and other simple things like that. But Bill is who raised me and taught me to be who I am today. He walked me down the aisle, as he did with all four of his married daughters. Bill was never given the opportunity to adopt us officially, but I see him as my dad and love him so much. Thank you, Bill, for all you do for me.

For those interested here is a run down on siblings:
Kelly- step (Bill)-five girls, one adopted from Zambia two years ago.
Tina- step (Bill)-four girls, one boy
Shannon- full-one girl, two boys
Amber- full
Erica- half (dad)
Steven- half (dad)
Sam- Step (dad)
Garrett- step (dad)

Since this computer is not that old, I do not have a good picture of everyone, I will take one over Christmas:)

blogs

2009-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know what we are allowed and not allowed to say while blogging? I have wondered why some can post pictures of their babies and other have said they can not. I realize that some depends on the country, but I have seen both with Taiwan.
During our Adoption group's Christmas party someone mentioned that certain countries are very strick that nothing be published about the adoption until it is finalized or the country will close the adoption down and they will have to start over.

Agencies

2009-12-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

There are so many agencies out there, how does one pick? Well, here is how we picked ACGI. When we first started looking, we were thinking our child was in China. We had attended a meeting with All God's Children, which we loved the meeting and the information was very helpful. Well, after a few weeks of looking at China, we decided Taiwan was a better fit. At the meeting, we were told there was a pilot program for Taiwan but it would not be open to us for a while. I found three agencies that work in Taiwan, currently. One was not accepting anyone new and the other two were just not helpful to us. I would ask questions and they either would never call back or acted like I was bothering them, very rude like. Since we would have to find someone else to do the homestudy, we contacted ACGI again to see if they could work with one of the agencies. With that, God opened up the door to be part of the pilot program with ACGI. I believe God was at work here, because it does not seem other people had the issues I had with the other agencies.

Sisters Weekend

2009-11-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

This weekend two of my sisters and I are meeting up in LA for a sisters weekend. I am very excited, since we have never done this before. I will not have any kids with me, but Shannon will have Thaddeus. One reason we planned the trip was to support my younger sister whom had a pretty rough past couple of months. So I am hoping to show her lots of love and have a good time too.

Today was the last day of our Esther, Beth Moore study. I was facilitating, which it has been a long time since I led a bible study. It was great to be challenged and exciting to see the women grow. I was one of the youngest, feeling a little like Esther. Most of the group was around my grandmother's age. I loved their input and advice. I will miss see them each week.

A Mother's Prayer

2009-11-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a Sip N' See, a time for sipping drinks and seeing the new babes, and a prayer was said for the liitle ones. It was so sweet and precious to see all the little ones that God blessed friends with this year. Here is the video of the prayer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5EIUIXbhc

Sharing the baby

2009-10-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Elliana and Andy have started to play together a lot more lately. Mostly what Elliana wants, but also Andy's favorites, trains and balls. I got a picture of them sharing and playing baby doll, Elliana's favorite. She asked Andy if he wanted to hold her baby sister and tells him it is "me brother". Yes, she is a little confused, but she will get it down one day. Right after Andy holds the baby, she tells him the baby wants "mommy- me mommy, she sick." If you notice all the band-aids on the dolls head, she said she fell, a lot. This baby has many names too, Thaddeus, Lisa, Four, Cale- just to name a few. I am not sure we will ask her her input when we think about names for our newest one.

Sarah and Hagar

2009-10-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

I was talking with my mother the other day and she shared what she was learning. God had promised a child to Abraham and Sarah and in earthly wisdom, they decided the timing for the promise to be fulfilled. God had His own timing. Because of their failure to trust God's timing, Hagar and Ishmael were hurt in the process. Yes, God worked it all out for His glory, but how much more of a blessing was missed by Abraham and Sarah. As we wait for God's timing in this adoption, I am convicted not to try to make it complete in my timing.

From the beginning

2009-10-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

The first question people ask when they hear we are adopting is, "why". So I will start to share bits and pieces throughout the blog. God worked on our hearts separately before we even knew each other. I worked with orphans in the Ukraine for two summers and knew from the first time I saw a certain little boy that I would one day adopt a child. I will let Chris share his early desires of adoption later. Once we started dating and talked of family, we both said that we wanted to adopt. After we had Elliana we mentioned it again, but knew it wasn't the right time yet. After Andy was born, we both just started to move forward with talking to others about their journey and how to begin.
I have heard others say they could not love a child not biological as much. As horrible, but honest, as that is, I know WITHOUT A DOUBT, I have enough unconditional love for my adopted child and biological child. So has we wait to know our furture child, we pray.

Immigration

2009-10-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

We just received our I-171H, meaning the US government has approved us to bring home an orphan from a foreign country. It is only good for 15 months so hopefully we will be home by then.

Test

2009-10-14T10:11:00.001-07:00

This is a test. Hopefully I will actually blog soon.