It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

Valentine's Day!

Photo Card

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Just finished Hannah's school valentines. Amazing how different she looks now, compared to last year's valentine:

They change and grow so fast! I can't believe she's going to be SIX soon! Where did my baby go?



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Katie's Chinese New Year Care Package and Photos

This is the Chinese New Year package that Ann of Red Thread put together for Katie for us. The stuffed animal is Pleasant Goat, a very popular children's cartoon character in China.   It is traditional for children to get a new outfit for Lunar New Year.  The package on the bottom left looks to be candies, and the little purse is adorable!  There's also a flash drive, so if we're lucky, they'll download baby pictures of her onto it and return it to us when we meet her.

Times are changing!  When we adopted Hannah, it was popular to include a disposable camera in the care package, to be returned at Gotcha Day.  Now we have the flash drive option.  Ann has been doing this a long time, and has a pretty good idea which orphanages are able to use flash drives and which would be better with the camera.  For Katie's orphanage, she recommends the flash drive.  When we adopted Hannah, we did get back the two cameras we'd sent, but the pictures were not great.  All of the baby pictures we have of Hannah have come from internet searches and other families who've adopted from her orphanage sharing their photos with a yahoo group for parents with children from there.  There's a yahoo group for Katie's orphanage families, too, but I haven't been approved to join the two times I've tried.

I ordered the package on Thursday, and got the return pictures Sunday night.  Really fast!

You know what I love about this?  Someone took the time to edit these photos.  I noticed it first because the one on the right was stretched out, but after looking at it some more, I realized the bottom left picture was flipped to make the collage flow better.  Somebody loves her and wants her pictures to look good.

And she has HAIR!  I hope they let her keep it.  It's traditional to get a hair cut for Lunar New Year.  But I've seen other little ones from her facility come home with hair, so I'm crossing my fingers that they won't shave her head right before we get her, like Hannah's orphanage did.

In addition to this collage of 3 pictures, we received 3 other single photos, which I will share in upcoming weeks.  We also got updated measurements.  I'm surprised at how big she is!  Her last height and weight put her well below the 50th percentile on the charts, and her updated height and weight put her above it.  She actually already weighs more than I was anticipating her weighing when we travel.  --That could be due to the fact that it's winter, and the nannies weigh the kids fully clothed, and it's typical for kids to wear several layers, of course, BUT she's sprung up in height, too.  I'm concerned the clothes I'm gathering and making might end up being too small for her!  For right now, it looks like she's solidly in a size 2T.  But we still have roughly 4 months to go.

I just keep smiling at her pictures.  She's beautiful.  I can't wait to get my hands on her!  I love that she's looking at a book.  Hannah came to us not knowing her colors in Mandarin, and seeing this book makes me wonder if Katie will have some exposure to that concept.

My sweet girl!  Oh, I'm so excited to meet her!




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No Weekly Wrap Up This Week

Sparkle and Fluffy were here again this week, so I decided to postpone starting India.  We had a light duty school week (think minimum days at a "real" school).  The kids all did math and spelling, and Jack and Eli did handwriting, and Jack did reading (which I'm feeling better about), etc, but we didn't even attempt to do our regular country studies.  I finally decided just to roll with the chaos and work with the kids one on one while the other kids played with the little ones, and it actually worked out really well.  Consequently, I don't have any fun school related pictures to share.

Eli built the Nanoblock Taj Mahal this week.   

Samuel had his football banquet this week.

And the kids got to hold Annaliese's turtle for the first time since Christmas.

He's totally adorable.

And he's grown quite a bit and gotten heavier.  

Yes, my "handicapped" 5 year old is pulling her 8 year old brother in the wagon, LOL.

It was so nice out, we got to go to the park.  

Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of 3 kids on a moving tire swing and NOT SHOW 2 of their faces??  It's pretty difficult.  

Can anybody guess why his pseudonym is Fluffy?  Anyone?   

Josiah and his new switchblade comb.  A formidable combination.  

In other news, Hannah goes back to school tomorrow!  She's been off since before CHRISTMAS.  She's looking forward to going back.  I think the house will be awfully quiet without her.  It's been nice not having to deal with insane school traffic every afternoon.  Actually, I got so used to having her home that I schedule her next Shriners visit during school hours, whoops.  So she's going to miss school on Thursday, but she's getting a new leg out of the deal, so I don't think she'll mind too much. 

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Free Shopping & More Sewing

I've been a member of MyPoints for years and years. When the kids were little, I used to cash in my points for restaurant gift cards so Paul and I could go out to dinner while the children were at AWANA.

I had a lot of points sitting in my account, so I decided to cash some out for a $50 Old Navy card. I had fun looking at all the cute toddler girl options, but decided to be practical. Yesterday, my package came. Katie now has an entire rainbow of leggings.

Coupled with the 3 pairs of pants she already had, I'm pretty sure she won't need any more pants until she hits the next size.

And yes, I *could* have made a batch of solid leggings myself.  But at $5/pair and not having to actually pay for them out of household funds, it was worth it to me to buy the boring leggings, and then be able to make cute tops and dresses to go with them.  

Originally, I made the lime top to go with the plaid bloomers that I bought on clearance.  But it seemed kind of loud to me.  So I made a white top to go with the bloomers, and then I made some equally loud & obnoxious bloomers to go with the lime top.

These are some pajamas I made for Katie.

And this is a little romper I made her.  I made dozens of these for Eli and Jack when they were babies/toddlers.  This one, I decided to change a few things on to make it a little more girlie.  It's got ruffles on the butt, elastic gathered sleeves and legs, and lettuce edges.

I also indulged in a little retail therapy at Target on my last trip. I had 2 $5 gift cards from previous purchases, so I picked up some tiny play doh tubs from the $1 spot (for entertaining Katie on the flight home) as well as some travel size diaper wipes, and these cool little spoons that screw onto the squeeze pouch baby foods. Not something that I'd normally use at home, but looks like they'll be handy for traveling.

God continues to provide for us and for Katie. A friend from church brought over a beautiful ladybug themed crib set that they were finished with. The crib set is lovely, and I think it's so cool that it's ladybugs (a sort of mascot of the China adoption world), but I was also really blessed to discover 2 crib sheets and 3 changing pad covers. --Both items that were on my To Sew Or Buy Before Travel list. Feels good to cross those off. Baby steps. Each day is one day closer to Katie.

Finally, I was browsing Chinese New Year books on Amazon, and came across this gem: Emma's American Chinese New Year.  I couldn't resist.  Fortunately, I have an Amazon Visa that earns points, so I checked my balance, and I had $23 in point money to spend.  I can't wait to read this to Hannah, and get some ideas for our own CNY celebration.

Free shopping is the very best kind!



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Adoption

Sometimes, I forget for a little while.

 I'll get caught up in what I'm doing, and be focused on the kids' schoolwork or a project. This time, I was reading a book. Not an adoption book. Not something I'm supposed to be reading. Just a mildly trashy fiction book. A fluff read. I'm laying in bed, getting caught up in the story line, laughing at the dialogue, and I look up and see Katie's picture on the wall. (Walgreens ran a special for a free 11X14/10x13, and I had one of the "camp" shots blown up.) I see her face, and smile, and realize that just for a little while, the near constant ache of the uncertainty of the adoption process left me.

I liken it to having half your heart on the other side of the world. It's an incredible distraction. I don't think I can do this again. It's not fair to the kids for me to be so preoccupied all the time. Making lists, counting days, pouring over forums and yahoo groups, exchanging emails with our agency.

Looking forward to the day when weekends are something to celebrate, not despair over the two days of dead time when nothing can move forward.



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Noteworthy Links

Love Without Boundaries is doing a fascinating series on the changing face of Chinese adoptions.
The Changing Face of China's Orphans is the first part
followed by Changing Attitudes
The Adoption of Boys
Domestic Adoption on the Rise
and Birth Defects
I appreciate the chance to learn from people who are in China's orphanages what the realities are, as opposed to what they used to be.  Many people think of adoption from China as healthy baby girls, but it's time to update that idea a bit.

Do you know someone besides me who is adopting?  Please read this blog post on how to support an adoptive family.  I loved it.  I found myself nodding in agreement as I read.  My only minor issue with it is that she refers to the newly adopted child as a baby, and that's not always the case.  Still, her tips are awesome for families adopting any age child.

Adoption Magazine has a piece Age In Adoption that is a reminder I could have used one recent morning!  Instead of berating Hannah for not getting her coat on when I told the kids to get their coats on, I should have acknowledged that her Family Age is only a little over 2 years.  2 year old mess up sometimes.  It's okay.  I need to stop expecting her to be "almost 6" in every way.  They also have a post up with a variety of links for people interested in reading more about adoption and foster care.

The Bergey Bunch is doing a long series on Grace Based Parenting.  Wow.  I started my parenting career as The Law Based Parent, and have devolved into The Lazy Permissive parent over the years.  But grace is not a concept I normally associate with parenting.  This has been a good read for me, and I'm going to encourage my husband to read some of them, too.

This article was very validating for me.  Whatever the opposite of Helicopter Mom is, that's me.  It's not that I'm lazy or that I don't care, it's that I've made the decision to let my kids be kids.  Especially Hannah.  I have to really remind myself not to hover (too much) with her.  Because I don't want to give her the impression that I think she can't do it.  I'm pretty sure she can do anything she sets her mind to.  I'm sorry not everyone sees what I see in her.

My kids are pretty good about understanding that life isn't always "fair" but I found this blog really spoke to ME on a day where I was feeling like the adoption world wasn't fair because I saw another family go zooming past us in pursuit of their child, when we started at the same time.

I've noticed that my blog reading seems to be heavy on adoption and foster care.  I'd love some links for parenting teenagers, if anyone has some to pass on!


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Adoption News & Katie pic

Waiting is hard.  Tiny little pieces of information take on the greatest significance.  Which is why I was so incredibly THRILLED to discover this video in a search.

Taken Christmas 2010.  Katie was 3 months old then, so I thought there was a small chance she would be in the video, but at least I could see more of her facility.

Guess who is on the right side of the tree in orange at 42 seconds?  My baby!  To be honest, it's the nanny that I recognized, lol.

So if you look at this week's Katie picture, you'll recognize the nanny, too.

This picture was taken in May 2012.

Your prayers last week have been heard, thank you!  We learned that we are now OOT (out of translation) which means we should be getting our LOA (letter of approval) in about a month.  Unless Chinese New Year slows things down, which is understandable, since the offices in China close down from Feb. 9-17.  Hopefully, the workers will want to clear their desks and get a big batch done before the holiday, and then they'll come back to work rested and refreshed and ours should be near the top of the stack when they return!  

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Guess what Hannah got measured for this morning?

She picked PINK tubing, of course.  It should be ready in 2.5 months.  We started the process the beginning of November.  After we requested one, they sent a form to Shriners to have her surgeon sign off on it.  They called me a couple of weeks ago to schedule the fitting/measurement appointment (the chair guys aren't at the local therapy site all the time).  November to April is kind of a long time to me, but given that her surgery isn't scheduled yet, and she doesn't even SEE her surgeon until March, I'm sure we'll have the chair in plenty of time before her surgery.

It will also be nice to have for those times when she just can't keep up with the other kids all day, like trips to Six Flags and the fair.

Hannah Photo Shoot

I love playing with Paul's camera.

I'm not very good at it, but I wanted to get a picture of Hannah in her silks to use for her Valentines before she goes back to school.  

 My Chinese American sweetheart.  

I was inspired by the beautiful golden light at the end of the day, but by the time I got Hannah changed and we got outside, I'd missed the light, and the breeze started kicking up a little.

Still, she's such a good sport.

And she's so very photogenic,

that we got some fun shots anyway.

(Thank you, neighbors, for having a nice front yard, lol.)

I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a Valentine out of one of these.

If you want to take better pictures of your children, please consider signing up for a workshop.  Use our Family ID Code, blessed and our family receives a donation toward our adoption fees.

If you're pretty comfortable behind your lens, maybe you'd consider passing the info along to a friend who is just getting started?  I'd appreciate it!  

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Homeschool Weekly Wrap Up Saudi Arabia week 2

Annaliese got out a cookie decorating kit this week and let the kids "have at it." 

Even though Christmas was a month ago, we're still feeling very festive.

And silly.

Jack, spelling his spelling words with letter tiles.  

Eli finished his 3rd Nanoblock creation, the Space Shuttle he got for Christmas.  

He's now looking forward to starting India next week, when he gets to build the Taj Mahal.  

Brianna helps Jack read a book about penguins.

Eli doing math.

The space shuttle randomly soars through our classroom from time to time.  

Eli and Brianna started a new subject this week: Choosing Good Health.

They regaled me with all sorts of fascinating facts on safety in every imaginable scenario from snakes and poisonous plants to water safety.  I think they like it.  They've both finished the entire first chapter already.  There's only 7 chapters.  

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the school year tunnel.

We've finished more countries than what we have left to go.  

Brianna and Eli are 2/3 of the way through their spelling books.

This week seemed abbreviated, not only due to the holiday Monday, but also because Hannah and I spent half of Thursday at Shriners, and then I had a dental appointment Friday.

I'm actually really impressed with how much we got done, all things considered.  

I have Paul to thank for much of that.  He did school while Hannah and I were gone. 

I really am Greatly Blessed.

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