Happy Valentines Day

"Happy Valentimes Day!!!" - straight from MK's little mouth. I love the "times" part :) Granted she can say it correctly but it is one of those words that are just better off left alone for the sake of cuteness!

The children were more than thrilled to awaken to a house full of cards and special surcies in honor of the big day. Pryce declared it a school holiday???!!!
Because my children love surprises, we decided to surprise those in our lives that may not have that special someone. Balloons were delivered, donuts were given, letters were sent....the boys love what they call a "good deeds day." One of my favorite moments of the day came early when the boys went in to buy balloons at a local store. They went in, got three HUGE balloons and walked right out of the store with them - they were so excited! Curious at how much said HUGE balloons cost, I asked, "So, how much were those?" Colin looked at Pryce, Pryce looked at Colin, they briefly glanced at me and then they screeched in unison, "Oh no! We forgot to pay for them!"
In my attempt to get a group photo of 4 out of my 5 favorite Valentines, I said, "Hey, lets do a silly photo." Not sure what C heard. P and MK are posed accordingly. Maddox, well, lets just say that she is a very good listener when she is told to do something silly :)
I couldn't resist. C has a thing for strawberry flavored milk. When he was in school, he drank it everyday for lunch. I am not sure that he has had it since he walked out of the school building three years ago until a few weeks ago....the week of Chinese New Year, the boys and I visited my niece's school to talk to the first grade students about the Chinese culture. After our presentations, we dined with Emma and her classmates. Colin was in heaven when he saw the pink carton in the lunchroom - his beloved strawberry milk. EWWWW, makes me cringe to think of it as I am a chocolate kind of girl. However, he drank every single bit and then had another....so, for Valentines Day, the best gift of all for C was breakfast with strawberry milk!
As the day wore on and the treats were exchanged, we moved on into our next round of events....soccer practice and a basketball game, all P! (Yes, on Valentines Day!)
P wants to give it all a try. This season has been basketball and he has risen to the occasion.

His epic moment came when he scored the winning basket in the last few seconds of the game! I love this little guy's zest for life and his enthusiasm when learning new sports!

Eleven months home and today was BIG in her world. Church day. The day that, six months ago, I dreaded. Why? Because our girl would cling to me as we entered the building, accumulate huge crocodile tears in her big round eyes, and scream. We would leave her. Check on her. Still screaming. We would pick her up after thirty minutes and just hold her and hug her tight. Heartbreaking. Today, and might I add that it was the coldest day of our year yet, Maddox Ren decided to overcome all fears. We parked our car, and, as usual I went to get her out of her seat. She quickly let it be known that she wanted down to walk - this is where the coldest day of the year comes in, and windy, oh it was more than cold. Despite the negative temps, I let her walk. She held my hand. Walked through the double doors, into MK's class to drop her off, gave MK a kiss and a hug, walked down another hall and right into her classroom. Maddox then proceeded to take off her jacket, hang it up, kiss me, hug me and wave goodbye. No tears. Not one. Eleven months later and she is secure when we leave her, she is confident we are hers forever, she knows we will be back.
In other news, Maddox is all about play doh and coloring, two things she does on a daily basis. However, as one can tell from the pic above, she is not all about sitting in her booster seat to do said activities. She is Houdini I tell you. For sure. She managed to scramble herself out of her booster seat and then craftily climbed atop the tray for better seating????
Boys will be boys. What mother lets their child "paint" themselves with marker????
This crew is one of a kind, the best of friends, all of them.
Speaking of friends, my dear friend Sandi came into town over the weekend. Sandi was one of my very best friends growing up. When we graduated from high school, I remember being so sad because not only did she choose to go to a college out of state, her parents moved away that same year. I knew that seeing her would be a challenge. Of course, we have always kept in touch and visited sporadically through the years, the last visit being just one week before we received Maddox's referral. Recently, Sandi's brother-in-law and sister-in-law moved to a neighborhood less than five minutes from ours.....great news for us! Full circle.

Hatcher Family of 7

There has been a lot of excitement in the air for the past two weeks all due to the arrival of this little one.....Miss LuluThe children have spent time this week making very special welcome home posters.....
and writing letters.....
and every morning and/or evening, their favorite thing to do has been to Facetime the Hatchers.....
tonight it all came to an exciting welcome home gathering at the airport.....I am pretty sure that this expression on Lulu's big brother's face sums it all up.....he was so precious, he looked at his mommy and said, "I am so glad you got her. I was afraid they weren't going to let you bring her home."
And we are glad they got her too! One less orphan.....one less baby girl going to bed tonight without the kisses and hugs from her forever family.....
Lulu comfortably took us in while she sat safely in the arms of her mother.....
And one more friend for Maddox....one very special friend. Can't wait to see these two together as they grow up!
Welcome home Hatcher family of SEVEN! We are so blessed to know each of you!

My greatest accomplishment is my family. My husband, my boys, and my girls. Growing up, I dreamed of my family. I planned for my family. My children. Early on, like in 6th grade, I decided four children would be good - two boys, two girls, respectively. And they would be spaced accordingly - two boys, two years apart, wait a few years and have two girls, two years apart. A really good plan.

Only, it was my plan, not necessarily His plan.

During our adoption of Maddox, I truly felt as though the child bearing stage in my life was over. Our last child. Our last adoption.

I will never forget standing in front of our hotel room as we were leaving. We took a picture and I had this sad feeling of saying goodbye. I knew we would not be back. At least not to adopt.

Adoption is exhausting. The decisions. The paperwork. The money. Or lack of. The referral. The waiting. The lack of control. There is nothing smooth about it until it is over and, even that, sometimes is not smooth.

And when Maddox came home, I felt full. Content.

Fast forward several months. I was innocently looking at pictures of children waiting for their families. A little girl MK's age popped up. Her expression was so sad. No life, no smile. Her hair was shaved. Her dark eyes looked hopeless. She tugged at my heart. I said to Ryan, "You have to come look at this little girl. She is beautiful!" He came over, looked at her photo and said, "If we only had the money." This statement took me by complete surprise. It shook me. My thoughts were not on adopting this little one, I was just looking at the faces of the hopeless, wondering what would be next for me, for our family, ie, mission work, etc. The beginning of the "unsettling" began on this day.....

Recently I have been trying to decipher my plan vs. His plan. How do you know the difference? Quite unsettling. We do not have the resources for another adoption yet we do have the heart for to care for the unwanted. Realistically, we know that we cannot save them all. But could we make the difference in just one more? When is "just one more" enough? I always thought I would just know; I always thought that four was the final count; I really thought moving forward with our four children was the plan from here on out - after all, one six years away from college, one close to braces, one facing surgery in the next year and one facing surgery in the next two years, that sounds like enough, right? Yep! Yet, the unsettled feeling creeps in and the wonder sets in.....

And the "what ifs" creep up....

We are simply praying through our feelings of what lies ahead for our family. You have all been wonderful to us, supported us and loved all four of our children like no one else can. We continue to grow with Him and should we feel led to adopt again, should the doors open, yes, we will answer. However, at this time, we will be still and listen.

My Guys

Colin finished up his first season of middle school basketball this weekend. Though their team lost this particular game, their team was quite impressive throughout the season. Ryan and I have loved watching Colin grow this year in a team sport. Where he used to be a bit turned off by the aggression seen in competitive sports, this season made quite the change in this particular trait. Now, he is a little aggressive. And he isn't as scared to get in the middle of the game. And he knows what it is like to win. And he likes that winning feeling.

In other Colin news, he had the opportunity to participate in a mock government day at our state house. The day was fun for all and everyone, even the "oldie" parents, learned a lot. To prepare for this day, Colin had to memorize scripture, read a book on US citizenship and write his own Bill to be presented to the student government. Oh, and the best part, was the purchasing of a sports coat. HILARIOUS. One has never seen a child so excited! I took the boys shopping for said coat and I was doubled over in laughter as they walked from mirror to mirror admiring themselves. And when the ties came in, the evening got even better. Lets just say someone really, really liked the bright red metallic tie - and it wasn't me!
And then there is Pryce. WOW. Pryce is in the middle of his basketball season and hasn't quite decided whether he is in love with the sport or not. However, he plays with gusto and he loves being on a winning team. Soccer comes into the mix next week. I love that he is wanting to give all of the above a try.

In between his sports activities, Pryce found time this weekend to attend the Pinewood Derby for boy scouts. Earlier this week, G-Dad found some time in his schedule to carve a car for Pryce; Ryan painted the car Friday night and Saturday morning Pryce took his turn on the ramp. We were all pleased when he placed SECOND in his division. So proud of P!
And then there is our furry little guy, Finley. I think his hair speaks for itself. We are driving him crazy!

MK

*Last night we were watching Pryce play basketball. There was an Asian boy playing on the other team. MK shouted, "Hey, look, that boy is CHINESE!" We acknowledged her excited statement and continued to cheer for Pryce. A bit later she looked at Ryan and said, "Dad, I know where that Chinese boy came from!" Ryan asked, "Where?" and MK stood up and pointed to this Asian man behind us and said, "He came from him, that guy! That is his daddy!"

*The other night as I was putting MK to bed she said, "Mommy, don't tell daddy, but something very scary happened to me at school today." I said, "What?" She said, "I got chased by a BOY!" (Giggle, giggle, giggle) I said, "Was that scary?" She said, "Well, that is my favorite game ever! I think Daddy will think it is a scary game though."

MK went for her annual cleft team appointment today. It was another one of those "lets just wait another year and see" kind of appointments. So glad for their annual assessments and their diligence in tracking her progress. Of course, I left a bit weary of what is to come, ie, the headgear, the facemask, the possible speech therapies because of said headgear and facemasks, the breaking of the jaw possibilities, not to mention her next surgery in two years.....yikes! For today, we live in the "now" and she is happy, healthy and loved by many!

Chinese New Year - Take Two!

The girls are going through a "posing" stage. Either they see the camera and immediately strike a pose OR they run from the camera (Maddox more than MK!) leaving me to photograph their backs. Sigh. Girls will be girls :) Nevertheless, CNY would not be CNY without a party and Chinese silks.

So, we invited a few of our favorite friends, who brought some delicious Chinese food for us all to indulge in, which led to some after dinner conversation for the adults while the kiddos played and played. A party, food, play, play, food and cookies/cupcakes for dessert! Yummm!
The added bonus....Facetime with the Hatcher family! Our dear friends, the Hatchers, are in China NOW hugging their precious new baby girl! Welcome Louisa! Can't wait to meet you!

Meanwhile, back at home, Amy's parents and and two of the Hatcher children were in attendance for our CNY celebration. Grandparent visitors are always a welcome addition to our gatherings! Thankfully, they made themselves at home and joined in the evening fun!
The red couch photo attempt.....looks very similar to the ones taken at the White Swan, right? A few are looking into the camera, a few are tired, some are smiling, some not so much.....
but, wow, look at these guys! Ten precious little ones.....nine adopted, one touched by adoption, all changed forever, all loved. My heart is heavy tonight. What if these guys had not been "chosen?".....what if there is another one waiting???? what if????? Colin asked me, "So exactly how much does adoption cost?" I said, "Well, around $35,000." He sighed and said, "So you are telling me we could adopt two more children instead of purchasing a Suburban?" Laughing, I said, "Yes. You can invest in a car or invest in the life of a child." Proudly he said, "I think I will take investing in the life of a child."

(Our boys are into cars. And they think we need a Suburban. We don't. Our van is good.)