1 Year in Pictures

Gotcha Day was 

ONE YEAR AGO 

TODAY.

ONE YEAR!

Where did the last year go?  Seriously, people.  

I'm out of words today.  My thoughts are a little all over the place.  I'll just post my favorite pictures from the last year and maybe words will come later.

May 28, 2012 - Gotcha Day - Xi'an, Shaanxi China with a director from the orphanage.
One of the only clear photos I have from that day because L hated the camera.

June 2012 - Home in the USA.  Living at Grandma Collins' condo in Horseshoe Bay, TX.
Learning how to blow bubbles.

July 22, 2012 - Her 2nd birthday.
She looks like such a little baby here.

August 2012 - Playing dress up.  Look that than tan!

September 2012 - Just starting to try barrettes to clip her hair back.
The bangs seemed to grow overnight!

October 2012 - She loves that zebra shirt.

November 2012 - In the new house in San Antonio with no furniture for a couple weeks.
She's sitting on a diaper box!

December 2012 - Christmas Eve all dressed up for church.

January 2013 - In her room on the zebra chair.
Starting to look less like a baby and more like a little girl.

February 2013 - Chinese New Year
Wearing the dress that "Aunt" Hilary found in Minnesota.

March 2013 - Goofy girl playing a game of chase mommy.
She still rarely looks at the camera, so this shot is a treasure!

April 2013 - Happy girl despite not having a nap after church.

Today - May 28, 2013 - enjoying a celebratory Gotcha Day cupcake!

Happy Gotcha Day to my daughter!

Love,

Mommy

Homeschool Follies

We officially finished school today!  So exciting!  What a great year!  We will continue to do reading and math through the summer, but it will be nice to take a break from the bulk of the curriculum.

We have had some funny moments in homeschool, mostly at my own expense.  So, enjoy a couple of tales because they are too good to keep to myself.

Did Moses Really Say That?

When we first started school we were living at my mother-in-law's condo in Horseshoe Bay, TX.  And we were starting time-outs with our new daughter L.  I was reading to Super E from his children's Bible at the kitchen table while L was in time-out on the step.  In the midst of the Bible story, unbeknownst to me, L had decided to remove herself from the naughty step and joined us in the kitchen.  My words, as I read the story and was surprised to see L next to me were, ""And Moses said in a very angry voice,.... [absolutely NO hesitation when I saw L walk into the room] "Go to the step!""  My boys roared and roared and roared in laughter.  C nearly fell off his chair.  "And Moses said in a very angry voice, "Go to the step!""

What Do You Lean On?
When my mom and stepdad visited our new home for Easter we were so close to wrapping up The Wizard of Oz book so that we could watch the movie with Grammie and Rand visiting.  Before we put on the movie for Family Movie Night, we sprawled out on the living room floor and I read the last 2 chapters and I had a nice little mis-speak, a slip of the tongue that sent my 9 year old literally rolling on the floor in laughter.  The words from my mouth as I read were, ""The Tin Woodman leaned on his a@s.""  Ooops!  I mean AXE.  He leaned on his AXE!!!  Not his a@s!!!  Super C could hardly control himself.  I thought he'd wet his pants.  My mom and stepdad got a good laugh as well.  Me and my potty mouth.

Starting homeschool in the fall at Grandma's condo.

Still at Grandma's.  Ethan has fantastic printing even from the start!  

In our new home in San Antonio.
Doing kindergarten math on the whiteboard in the kitchen.

We were heavy into the arts and crafts before Chinese New Year.
We made snakes of all kinds and paper lanterns to celebrate
the Year of the Snake.

E often enjoys listening to C's science lessons
and vice versa.

A field trip while Grammie and Rand visited over Easter.
The San Antonio Riverwalk.
We took the boat cruise and C listened to the tour guide very well
and came out learning many facts about our new city.

Home schooling at it's best.  After C finished up learning about Lewis & Clark,
he and E came up with the idea of building a log cabin like the explorers built when they reached the
West Coast.  Of course, our Lincoln Log set is incomplete but they improvised very well!
I think it's still set up in their room.

Great job this year, boys!  

I'm so very proud of you 

and all you learned and accomplished this year!

Today with their Certificates of Completion from Sonlight.

The plan is to home school again next year.  It's a lot of work, but the boys really enjoyed it this year as did I.  I have located the Sonlight Core E on Craig's List in Austin.  The gal is shipping it to me and it is en route to my home.  I'll only have to figure out science and then choose a math curriculum again for Super C.   My awesome friend Amy is lending me her 1st grade Sonlight core for Super E to use next year, which is such a gift!  Thanks, Amy!!!!!

Happy Summer Break, everyone!

PS...  The Comments Section is open.  Please share your homeschooling follies!  Surely I can't be the only one with a funny story or two!

Post Placement #3

Today we had our 3rd of 6 post placement visits with our local social worker.  We're half way done with all our visits!  YAY!!!!!  Thankfully the remaining 3 come at 1-year intervals:  on L's 2-year anniversary, 3-year anniversary and 5-year anniversary of her adoption.  Then we'll be DONE!!!

Our last post placement visit 6 months ago didn't go so well, unfortunately.  Our visit was scheduled on time and I had all my reporting and photos completed on time but my social worker did not do her job after our visit.  My adoption agency did not receive the completed report until 2 months AFTER it's due date.  My social worker did not return my calls or emails to get it done.  Only once I complained to the agency that contracts the social workers, did the social worker write and complete her report.  Then once completed, I learned that she lost some of the paperwork I had filled out and gave to her to send in with her complete report, per my agency's instructions.  Frustrated hardly describes how I felt by such treatment when I have to shell out hundreds of dollars for her report!

This time we had the same social worker, unfortunately.  I was not happy about that since I was told they'd hire a new social worker for our area by now.  I begged and pleaded with the agency that hires the social workers to do something to make up for the last post-placement debacle.  They refused.  I was livid that I had to pay hundreds of dollars and the social worker seemingly got away with not doing her job.  What has the world come to?

Since there was no use in fighting the matter further, I tried to be pleasant with our social worker.  She tried to be pleasant with me.

I was quick to tell her of Lauren's dental appointment and what the dentist said about her teeth.  See this post if you don't recall the dental education I received.  It would be my hope that China will read the report and take small steps to improve the care of the children living in institutions.  It's a long shot, I know, but I can hope and pray for it for sure!  The children deserve our prayers that the very basic needs are provided.

I told her how much L enjoyed visiting Sea World and how she shouted, "More whale!  More whale!" at the Shamu show.  I told her how I marveled at how big L's world has become; life outside the orphanage.

I told her how L loves her Grandpa Rand and how that pleased me so much since I didn't know how she'd take to a strange man in our house.  I told her how she followed him around the house and always asked for him even weeks after Grammie and Rand returned to Chicago.

I told her I am excited for summer and a more relaxed schedule with no homeschool.  I told her how we're ready for a fun summer in the pool, at Sea World, the Duck Pond, and all the other places that we need to explore in San Antonio.

As usual, I had to provide 15 pictures of our Quiet Tiger:  5 of her alone, 5 of her with me and/or Jay and 5 of her with siblings, extended family and friends.  Sometimes it's hard to figure out which photos to send.  We can always send more, but to keep things cheap I always include the bare minimum.  Here are our post placement photos that I submitted with this report.

Feb. 10, '13
Outside our house.  Celebrating Chinese New Year.
Welcome Year of the Snake!

Mar. 8, '13
Sitting down for a morning snack.
She loves fruit!

Ap. 2, '13
Happy, silly girl playing with mommy.

Ap. 6, '13
Pretty girl!
All dressed up and attending her first American wedding.

May 14, '13
Playing at the park while her brothers are at PE Homeschool Co-op.

Feb. 10, '13
With mommy before church on Chinese New Year.

Feb. 10, '13
Leaving church with Daddy on Chinese New Year.

Feb. 10, '13
After church we went to a local Asian food market where they were
celebrating the New Year with traditional lion dance.
We took many photos and have some great video too!

Feb. 10, '13
After eating a dinner of homemade jiaoza, cashew beef with noodles, fried rice and oranges,
we ended our Chinese New Year celebration
at home with Red Envelopes filled with chocolate coins.

Mar. 29, '13
Our family at the Mexican Market in downtown San Antonio.

Mar. 27, '13
Brooke's stepdad Rand meets L for the first time.
She loved him instantly and always asked, "Where's Rand?" and followed him everywhere.
Rand loves his granddaughter tremendously!

Mar. 28, '13
First ride in the toy Jeep.
L loved it and thought it was the best thing ever!

Mar. 30, '13
L with her big brothers all dressed up before Easter church service.

Mar. 30, '13
Brooke's mom (Grammie) and L at church on Easter.
Grammie loves her granddaughter!

Apr. 6, '13
With Brooke's former boss and his wife at the wedding
of their daughter.
Sunset on Lake Travis in Austin, TX.

Friends, I'd REALLY appreciate prayer that this report will be completed and sent to my agency along with the paperwork and odds and ends I completed on time, per instructions!  She has until June 7 to have the final draft to my agency in PA.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Wishing all the moms out there 

a blessed Mother's Day!

For most, this day brings great joy but for some it brings pain.  For those missing a mom today, for those who don't have a great relationship with a mom, or for those women desperately longing to be a mom, you have my love and prayers.  I'm taking today to honor my mom publicly because she is simply extraordinary and this year I have seen her heart grow in ways I'm sure she can't even fathom.

You see, when I told my mom back in the Spring of 2009 that we were growing our family by adoption, she was positive about the idea but the hesitation in her voice over the phone (or was it the webcam?) was unspoken but clearly audible.  I remember saying, "Mom, we're adopting!" with high excitement in my voice.  Her words were a quiet, drawn out, "You are?"  Again, she was not being negative in the slightest, but her response was much more reserved than thrilled.

Throughout our adoption journey she supported us in prayer, she helped out financially in ways I just don't deserve.  She was there when we got the call that Nepal was closed and we lost the dream of a Nepali daughter in our family.  She cried with me when Jay lost 2 jobs.  She drove 8 hours from Chicago to Nebraska when my gall bladder decided it wanted out when Jay was working in California and I was all alone with the boys.  She drove out again for a whirlwind weekend when the house sold and we had to pack it all up.  She'll always be there for one of her kids, no question.

She's the best!

On August 30, 2011 when we received our referral and first photos of our daughter, I couldn't hold back and keep the photos from my mom, my best friend.  Her words on the phone after opening the email were,

"That baby is beautiful."  

Not "Your baby," or "Your daughter" is beautiful.   Just "That baby."  

Please, don't be quick to think badly about her reaction.  

This was her first, close-hand experience with adoption and it was all new to her.  And she had already seen us lose our first adoption from Nepal, so there was good reason for her hesitation.  We were hesitant too, for gosh sakes!  Again, she was always positive, yet always reserved.  I knew without a doubt that once she met my daughter in person she'd melt and love would just pour forth from her heart.

Later that fall my friend Julie told me to read Choosing to See by MaryBeth Chapman.  In her book, Mary Beth wrote about her experiences with international adoption and I knew even in the first few chapters that I had to send the book to my mom for a Christmas gift.  Once I finished, I was quick to order one on Amazon and have it shipped to her.  I knew it would arrive long before Christmas but I told her not to wait for the holiday and asked her to read it immediately.

I wish I could have been there in the room when she read the passage early in the book that I knew would grab her and not let her go.  Mary Beth wrote of meeting her first adopted daughter for the first time:

"In that moment, time stopped.  It was like God was speaking to me directly.  "Mary Beth, you thickheaded woman, do you not understand now that this is the very way I see you?   You are this orphan!  I adopted you and you are Mine!  I bought you for a price!  Do you see how you love this baby?  That's just a faint reflection of how much I love you!  You didn't have a name, and I gave you a name.  You did nothing to deserve my love, and I love you anyway.  You had no hope, no future, and now you are a daughter of the King!""

Once my mom finished the book, she knew without a doubt that we were really doing what God called us to do.  She was no longer hesitant in the slightest, even despite losing Nepal, even despite losing Jay's job in Nebraska, even despite not being able to sell that Nebraska house for over a year, even despite surgical bills, even despite losing a car in a wreck in California and even losing the new job just one year later.  God used Mary Beth's book to break her heart for the orphan.

At the end of May 2012, I Skyped with my mom while I was in China, even though I only had audio on my original iPad and no video.  I know my mom hardly slept those 10 days I was overseas and she was checking the computer over and over again for email updates, Facebook posts and blog updates and photos, more photos!  When I landed in Texas and we had settled into my mother-in-law's condo just minutes after setting foot on solid ground, we were there on Skype as she watched us eat McDonald's (sad, I know but it was late) at the kitchen table, L enjoying food in her high chair and seeing her Grammie for the very first time.

She has visited us twice here in Texas, once for L's birthday last July and again this past Easter.  Watching my mom with her granddaughter made my heart so happy.  My daughter's unique DNA and differences from our family didn't matter one bit.  Grammie was smitten!  You would never know that she was once hesitant (yet positive, I assure you) about international adoption.  I knew my mom's heart would grow by leaps and bounds and having a front row seat to that transformation was simply a joy for me.

She has a new love and passion inside her heart that it exciting to see.  She wants her church (the one I grew up in) to start an orphan ministry and she wants to play a role.  She has been a prayer warrior for so many of my friends adopting and for others home with their kids who endured surgeries once home.

My mom is the best mom around!

My mom is a fantastic Grammie to all my kids.

She's my best friend!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  

I love you!

My mom meeting L for the first time at the airport in July 2012.

I think the look on my mom's face says it all in this photo:
LOVE

Grammie and her granddaughter on her 2nd birthday.

Walking outside in Horseshoe Bay.

Me, my mom, and all my kids.
July 2012 in Horseshoe Bay.

My mom and stepdad visit our new
San Antonio home for Easter this year.

Grammie and L on Easter at our church.
March 2013.

Terrible of me and Miss L certainly wasn't cooperating,
but it was the best shot we had of the 3 of us girls
during their visit.