My Cup Overfloweth

Shirt clearance...don't miss out!

2012-01-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

We are so close to the fees we need for the lawyer...we are about a month away from finalizing our sweet girl's adoption and we will have to delay the court hearing if we can't pay the final lawyer fees....obviously not something we want to do.

I'm clearancing out our stock of Defender/Warrior t-shirts...click HERE to see what we have left...

ALL shirts are now reduced to $15 SHIPPED :)

Hurry before they are all gone!!

This is LOVE!

2012-01-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

My oldest babe holding my youngest babe...man, I love this kid...he is so tender and so loving with his siblings! (most of the time ;)

Seriously?

2012-01-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

Do you ever just sit back and watch your babes and think, "Seriously Lord, You've entrusted these amazing babes to me?" What an incredibly overwhelming responsibility...fabulously, perfectly His plan...so glorious the honor and privilege!

I had the honor of speaking at a seminar at our agency last weekend and as I shared about our kiddos, I became very emotional. I was emotional at the realization that I could have missed this...had I gotten what I thought I wanted...what I thought the Lord should do...I would have missed the most amazing, miraculous treasures of my life. As I spoke to these sweet families and I looked into each of their eyes, I just knew they were at place that we were at over 11 years ago...families longing for a babe to hold...desperate for a child to call their own...not understanding why the Lord gave them the desire for child yet they were barren...all of those emotions hit me as I showed them a picture of our family and all I could say was, "The thought that we could have missed this had we gotten what we thought we wanted...."It took me a minute to pull it together...I didn't need to say anymore...the tears in their eyes told me they understood....they understood that God's plans are greater...His ways are higher! Praying for each of them as they decide what they will do next!!

Father, thank you for pursuing us...for giving us what YOU had planned for us! Thank you for being so gentle and patient with us!

Labor pains...

2012-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

It's so easy for me to get caught up in the sadness of this world...often times broken...broken for so many that are hurting. Families longing to bring their children home but red tape is prohibiting that...children longing for a forever families but no one is stepping forward...families struggling with medical issues...friends losing loved ones...losing houses...

Times are heavy...times are difficult...can you feel the labor pains? Our Lord is coming and He is coming soon!! Are you ready...are you watching?

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. ¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. ~Matthew 25:1-16

Be diligent in the Lord's work...be watching...He is coming...

lift your eyes to our God...

...not in brokenness but in pure, beautiful HOPE and ASSURANCE...

whatever trial you are having to endure...

HE IS IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Iron Man...aka Solomon :)

2012-01-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

This kid cracks me up!!

BLESSED!

2011-12-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

Blessed beyond comprehension!

Merry Christmas my sweet friends!

(missing each of you & missing updating my blog...I will shortly :)

Christmas CLEARANCE sale....

2011-12-08T12:45:00.001-08:00

Don't miss out on our Christmas clearance sale. If you purchase them during the next couple of days you should have them by Christmas. I will ship as soon as you order!!

Leave me a comment with your email address and what shirt you want...I'll confirm I have it and let you know asap.

We have a few shirts left in our inventory...see below.

ALL shirts are $20 SHIPPED!

Women's FITTED Defender
2 Large

Women's UNISEX Defender

~~1 Small~~ SOLD

~~2 Medium~~ SOLD

Women's FITTED Warrior

1 Medium

1 Large

1 XL

Women's UNISEX Warrior

1 Small

Men's Warrior

1 Medium

~~2 Large~~ SOLD

Shirt Update...

2011-12-07T16:08:00.001-08:00

There was a delay at the printers but the shirts are finally here!!! I will ship them all out tomorrow (Thurs.)

Thank you for being so patient!!!!

VOTE for our family...PLEASE

2011-12-05T22:10:00.001-08:00

Okay guys, Kohl's is doing this cool giveaway I need your help!!

The thought of how we could use the winnings to help adoptive families and orphans is very, very exciting!!!

Check it out HERE! And VOTE FOR OUR FAMILY...pretty please :)

Contest rules...you can vote once EVERY day...so keep those votes coming :)

Baltic Amber necklace for teething

2011-11-30T18:15:00.001-08:00

Soooo, I'm a tad bit skeptical about the effectiveness of using a baltic amber necklace for Jubilee to help reduce teething pain. I still don't completely understand how it's suppose to work but so many mama's swear by them. So, I ordered one for little miss.

Amber is a natural analgesic and all the articles I read about why it works makes sense. You can read more about 'why' this works here.

If anything, she looks so stinkin' cute wearing it :)

Oh and little miss just discovered her little tootsies...she is pretty fascinated by them...

I am too...they are sooo cute!

Jubilee's dedication

2011-11-29T13:51:00.001-08:00

We had the incredible privilege of having our little Miss Jubilee dedicated earlier this month....on...Orphan Sunday...how cool is that!!! Nothing brings us greater joy then publicly dedicating our babes to the Lord. It is only by His incredible blessings that we have been entrusted with these treasures. We are so blessed to be part of a body that loves us, supports us, and holds us accountable in raising our babes in the ways of the Lord.

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, our Sarah girl found it appropriate to stick her tongue out the ENTIRE time at her uncle who was taking pictures. Mind you...our sanctuary has TEN HUGE TV's...aacckk!!!

Cana girl thought it was the best time to tickle Jubilee's feet while Solomon thought it was the perfect time to make a mad dash on to the stage....

Life is quite the adventure with 7 kiddos...three of them being 5!!!

Just some fun cuteness of our girl who is ALREADY 5 months old...crazy!!!!

BOYS!!!!

2011-11-29T12:02:00.001-08:00

Precious, beautiful boys! Do you see little boys as beautiful??? Oh, they are wonderfully beautiful!

Being a mama to both boys and girls has been quite the adventure. Adventure you say?? Yep, adventure...you see I have all sisters so when our first born was a boy, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with him. 14 years later, I have realized that it's the girls I don't know what to do with...me-oh-my! The boys are the 'easy' one's :)

I get the whole "sugar and spice and everything nice" but come on...who doesn't love having a mama's boy??

There are sooo many precious boys waiting for families...desperate for a forever family but they are getting passed by simply because they are boys.

The thought that he...

could still be confined behind institution walls is an unbearable thought! Our Solomon has brought us so much joy...to think we could have missed this...it's unimaginable!

The reality that he....

and he....

and he are waiting...

clinging to hope that they will have a family to love them...to care for them when they are scared or hungry or lonely.

Come read about these boys and others like them...pray for them...help me advocate for them...

www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com

CHRISTMAS FRENZY

2011-11-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas Frenzy is for EVERYONE!!!

You will fit in one of two categories....

1. Fundraising family

2. Supporting family :)

Okay...here's how it works. All of us LOVE to give Christmas gifts EVEN when times are financially tough. Having just finished the fundraising journey, I keep thinking how can we help other families?!?! Soooo, here's my idea.

FUNDRAISING FAMILIES:

~You must be in the process of adopting or recently home. You must be using the funds from your items to directly fund your adoption costs.!
~You are selling an item to help raise funds to bring your child home. (no raffles, please...it's okay if you are currently running a raffle BUT you MUST be selling fundraising items too, like shirts, etc...that is what you need to be linking to)

~If someone is giving your family part of the proceeds for items, like Scentsy, jewelry, THAT WORKS, TOO :)

~You need to post on your blog and/or facebook about our Christmas Frenzy and link back to my blog. This is CRUCIAL...the more awareness we raise the more supporting families we will have.

~Please make sure you create a NEW blog post regarding the Christmas Frenzy...don't link to an old post. BUT don't forget to highlight what YOU are SELLING in that post :)
~I would love for you to become a follower of my blog...just cause I wanna know who my friends are :)
~Add your blog LINK to the BELOW Linky tool (at the bottom of this post)
~Fun idea for fundraising families...you guys can swap items and then have some fabulous items to do a raffle.

SUPPORTING FAMILIES:

~Make your Christmas list and try to support as many families as you can by purchasing their fundraising items as gift. (click on the below links to see the families)
~Please help spread the word for these families!!! Blog, facebook, tweet, and link back to my blog!!!

Fundraising for Jubilee and Christmas Frenzy

2011-11-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Frenzy time!!!!

We are only a couple months away from finalizing our adoption of our surprise girl, Jubilee. Her surprise story is HERE! Because she was a complete surprise, we are needing to fundraise her adoption fees. A daunting task since we had just finished fundraising to bring our son, Solomon, home from China. But as daunting as it is, it's all worth it!!!

We recently launched our T-Shirts for Jubilee. You have got to read the amazing God story behind them...here!

We are also continuing to make our Solomon Beads and the new purpose is for our Jubilee girl. We will be listing new items weekly and are currently taking custom orders.

To order you Defender and Warrior shirts...

To order your Solomon Beads....

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE!

Bad Dream!!!

2011-11-13T08:52:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting here crying....my "S" just woke up...

S: Mom, I had a really bad dream in my head and now I feel like I'm going to throw up!
Mom: I'm so sorry baby, what was your dream?
S: That I didn't have family.

SERIOUSLY...my sweet girl...she is only 5, adopted at birth. I can't even put adequate words to how this makes me feel. Oh, I tell you...our kids so get this...they so completely understand the ache of the children without a family! Deep breath mama...she has rocked my world this morning with those words...they are echoing in my head over and over!

Beautiful girl, God is going to use you mightily to help the orphan!!!

Adoption news...Nightlight Christian Adoptions and A Helping Hand Adoption...

2011-11-10T22:39:00.001-08:00

I am beyond excited about the recent news that our incredible agency, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, is joining forces with another incredible agency, A Helping Hand Adoptions. AHH is now an affiliate of NCA. I have been very blessed to already be in contact with the China staff and let me say....I AM SUPER, CRAZY EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE LORD IS GOING TO DO!!!! The Lord has also brought another neat opportunity in our path...I will be sharing about this one soon ...let's just say that God is opening up many doors for our family to be able to help raise awareness for more waiting babes and prayerfully that will allow us to find more families for them!

You can read the announcement for the agencies HERE.

My favorite part:
"The consolidation will provide clients of Nightlight and A Helping Hand with opportunities for domestic adoption, embryo adoption through Nightlight's Snowflakes program, and international adoptions from countries including China, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, Uganda, and Ukraine."

GIVEAWAY update....adoption shirts

2011-11-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Giveaway winners are....
Daleea
and
Dawn C.
(we used random.org to generate the winners)
HUGE thank you to all who ordered shirts. We will be ordering a few extra so I'll keep you posted ;)

Here is the update on our shirts...we are only $1500 away from our goal. This is what we NEED asap to pay the lawyer fees for Jubilee's finalization hearing!!! Soooo, we need to sell 100 more shirts!!! That's it...100 shirts.

Wanna win a shirt for FREE??

We are giving away 2...YES... TWO shirts...1 womens and 1 mens!

How do you win....
1. Blog about our shirts = 1 entry
2. Facebook about our shirts = 1 entry
3. Order a shirt = 2 entries per shirt ordered
4. Refer a friend that orders a shirt = 2 entries
Don't forget to leave me a comment with how many entries you've earned.

~ORDER YOUR SHIRTS HERE~

Order from the right column of the blog

*Giveaway drawing will be held 11/7
*All pre-sale orders will go in 11/9

Don't forget the incredible message behind our shirts. We are called to be both a Defender and Warrior for the orphan...help spread the message...be challenged to share about the orphan crisis.

China Waiting Children...waiting NOW!

2011-11-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

Just listed some precious treasures on our advocacy blog...just look at these beauties...

Seriously folks...I wanna bring them all home! Please help me spread the word about these sweet one's waiting for their forever families!!!

To learn more about these miracles, go HERE!

Are you a Defender or Warrior for the orphan?

2011-10-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

This thought came to me one day while I was vacuuming. I felt the Lord pressing on my heart the direction for our fundraising t-shirts for Jubilee's adoption fees. Our passion to advocate for the orphan is so deep...so fierce that it sometimes feels like we are in a battle for these precious children that have no voice. The drive to defend them, fight for them can be so overwhelming and extremely URGENT!

As I prayed through the thoughts of defender vs. warrior for the orphan, it became very clear what our roles as advocates and parents are....the daddy is clearly the Warrior for the orphan...fighting to make sure the orphan doesn't become a victim in this fallen world...fighting for the simple justice that we take for granted. The mama is clearly the Defender...the one who swoops in, scoops up the hurting child to protect them at all costs and to help healing begin.

But then I thought...I can see times where our roles have switched a bit and the mama has to be a warrior, too. I think of our own little Cana and the fight we had to bring her home. Same goes for the defender...the daddy is the first to jump in the line of fire for these precious babes...to protect them at all costs.

I am excited to share with you our newest shirts. Warrior for the Orphan AND Defender of the Orphan. The proceeds from the sales will go directly to fund our surprise girl's adoption. We have $12,000 in agency fees due and we have an immediate need of $2,000 for the attorney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warrior for the Orphan will be offered for both men and women ('cause I LOVE the design ;)

Defender of the Orphan will only be offered in the women's cut ('cause I don't think the boys will dig the frill ;)

Here are some pics...head on over to our SolomonBeads site to order yours! We are offering these as a PRE-SALE...the order will go to the printer on Nov. 9 and will be shipped to you by the end of the month. I do have a few in stock so if you order quick, I may have your size :)

Women's

Men's

Men's also has "Warrior" on the back..it will be a little bit larger.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

We Are Grafted In...

2011-10-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had the most incredible honor of having our post on SPD featured on We Are Grafted In website. We were truly blessed to be asked to share our Cana girl's story. Our greatest prayer is that it will help other families struggling with SPD.

I had meant to blog about this the day it was up but was in the hospital with hubby. He had his gallbladder removed...there were some minor complications but after 3 days in the hospital was allowed to come. He continued to have a few complications after surgery but I am praising our Lord that he is finally doing much better.

Sooo, check out our family on We Are Grafted In ;)

65 families wait.....

2011-10-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

3 years ago our precious friends, the Kahler's, traveled to Kyrgyzstan to meet their precious son, Asa, for the first time. As they were preparing to make their 2nd trip to bring him home, ALL international adoptions in Kyrgyzstan came to a screeching halt. 65 families were in process of bringing their babes home and the hope of their children coming home was beginning to look impossible. These 65 families continued to wait for glimpse of news...any news...some families received the terrible news that their sweet babes had passed away due to illness...while the others waited and prayed that the officials could come to an agreement and allow their adoptions to proceed. Fast forward 3 very LONG years, these families still wait but God is moving MIGHTILY!!!!!!!!

One of the waiting families, the Bilyeus, lost their daughter due to complications of hydrocephalus in August 2010. They have chosen, with God's strength, to turn their deep grieving into hope and help for the remaining families. They have partnered with Lifesong for Orphans and Altynai's Legacy Adoption Fund was born. The mission of Altynai's Legacy Adoption fund is to provide financial assistance for the remaining families adoptions.

I am in tears as I write this post...I can't even being to imagine the pain of losing a child that had they been allowed to come home would still be alive. I have watched several of my friends walk this journey and it shakes me to the core. I am asking you...my sweet, precious friends to please consider a donation to Altynai's fund...help her orphanage "brothers" and "sisters" home to their families. Altynai is safe in the arms of her Father...can you please help the other children home to the safety of their forever families?

Please go to the Bilyeus's blog to see how you can help. Read the families stories...be blessed, be moved to act! Our friends, the Kahler's, story is here. I had the privilege of getting to know this sweet family as we waited to bring Solomon home. They were in process to bring their son, Ezra, home from China. Our greatest hopes were to travel together but the Lord had other plans and we missed each other by 2 weeks. Their hearts are to serve the Lord and I have been amazed and blessed at how they have endured their journey to Asa...a journey that we pray daily will lead them back to Kyrgyzstan SOON to bring him home.

The Kahler's with Asa on their first visit! Sweet baby boy, we are praying you home soon!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N Lake Tahoe!!

2011-10-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

A very generous family, the "D" family, blessed us with (like GAVE us!!!)an incredible vacation to Lake Tahoe. A vacation that we so desperately needed. A vacation that came during a week, that unbeknownst to us, was going to be a week of attack back at home. The Lord knew it was coming and removed us from it so that we could be refreshed as a family to deal with the yuck we were to come home to.

Once again, I'm amazed at His love and protection for us.

~Our precious time away~

We were extremely blessed to end our vacation with a weekend visit of our very precious friends..the "K" family. The Lord called them to move up north 5 long years ago. We typically get to visit once a year...not enough, that's for sure...oh, how we miss and love them so much! We grew up together, watched the Lord call us to marry our sweeties, and then were blessed to be a part of each of our kiddos births and homecomings. To our sweet friends...thank you for making the long trek up to see us...what beautiful, precious time we had together. We love you so much and miss you desperately!! God has blessed our families with such a gift...a gift that distance can't destroy. It was so beautiful watching our kids pick up right where they left off. We loved watching our new babes play like they have known each other forever...so beautiful! KISSES to each of you and can't wait to see you soon!

The beauty of all God has created in our two families...simply amazing!!!

SQUEAKY SHOES!!!!!!!!!!

2011-10-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember this post...the post where my husband hi-jacked my blog and divulged a very serious addiction I have....

Well, it seems my very precious friend, Annette (Kaden's mama), is willingly aiding in my addiction...LOOK...JUST LOOK at what she brought home from China for Jubilee :)

For the China adoptive family, there is something very, very precious about squeaky shoes. I dreamed about our sweet C running around in them. So, when she was finally home...those precious squeaks actually brought me to tears...our little miracle girl finally squeaking around our house. And NOW, another one of our miracle girls will be squeaking before we know it...I have no doubt it will bring back wonderful memories of those first years our baby C was home (of course baby S had some too...just imagine TWO squeaking girls...GORGEOUS music to my ears...memories forever burned in my mind and heart)

Ummm and YAY...I DID just do an entire post on shoes...LOL!!!

"Brothers" reunited at last!

2011-09-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Although they are not biological brothers, for the first 4 years of their lives they lived as brothers...orphanage brothers...crib mates...

(pics. from their life in the orphanage together)

Their lives FOREVER changed 1 year ago on September 5, 2010 when one of the "brothers" was adopted and the other was left behind. As we rejoiced because our son, Solomon, was finally in our arms, precious Kaden grieved the loss of his "brother" with no hope of every seeing him again....

or so he thought...

(saying goodbye)

or so we all thought...

BUT our God is greater...our God is mighty...our God is a miracle making, mountain moving God! He heard the cries of Kaden's heart...He heard the cries of our heart for Kaden to have a forever family...but not just any family, a christian family...a family that lived close to us so the boys could grow up together...

Many of you have followed their journey from the beginning...many of you are new to their journey...join us as we marvel at all the Lord has done to bring the boys back together.

Exactly one year after we landed in the United States with our son, the "brothers" were finally reunited!!!! Our precious friends, the Cox family, are now home with sweet Kaden and it was finally time for the boys to meet. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story :)

WE STAND IN AWE!

"He's here...he's here!!!!"
Solomon kept yelling, "I'm right here JianZhu...I'm right here" as he ran to him.

I still sit here in absolute amazement that Kaden is home & that the boys will grow up together. The precious boy that we had been advocating for since March 2010...the precious boy whom we realized was our son's very, very best friend...the precious boy whom we felt the Lord telling us that his family was someone we already knew...the precious boy that called me 'mama' the day we had to say good-bye...the precious boy who stood there with tears rolling down his face as we left him...the precious boy that our son grieved & longed deeply for...the sweet, precious boy that we have loved so deeply but was not to be ours....

He is HOME...He is with his forever mama and daddy...He is LOVED...He is cherished...and we are honored to be a part of his life...ecstatic to see him with his family, our wonderful friends...honored and blessed that the Lord answered all of our prayers for the boys to be together in some way...what an incredible gift!!!

Sweet, beautiful Kaden, the Lord knew you long before He formed you...He loves you so much and has amazing plans for your life. What a treasure you are to your family!!! We love you so much and are so happy you are home to stay!!!!!

WE STAND IN AWE OF OUR KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!

11 weeks old...

2011-09-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Jubilee had a well baby check up the other day and she is in the 90% for height and 50% for weight...our little string bean :) measuring 11lbs. 9ozs. and 24.5". The ped. said in all his years of practice, he's never seen a 2 month old so strong. She did not want to be messed with and she made that very clear. Whenever he'd come near her with his stethoscope, she'd actually push it away! She did show off by holding her head up like an old pro and scooting forward on her tummy.

Little miss Jubilee continues to amazes us everyday. I could just sit and stare at her all day long. I just love our sweet girlie soooo much!!! How my heart wishes more families would not let fear keep them from experiencing this amazing beauty...the beauty of adoption...the beauty of a miracle child....so many are not seeing the amazing treasures that the Lord has right before them...treasures that they are missing. The thought that we almost missed THIS...our beautiful babes...brings me to tears. I am so thankful the Lord kept pursuing our hearts...kept showing us that what He had for us was far more amazing than we could have ever imagined.

Happy Gotcha Day...1 YEAR ALREADY!

2011-09-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

September 5th is an extra special day to celebrate in our family. Today is our precious "S's" birthday AND our sweet Solomon's Gotcha Day!

Honestly...how can it already be 1 year since our precious Solomon was placed in our arms. I will NEVER forget the HUGE smile he had as he came barreling into the conference room...he was dragging the nanny as fast as he could. He ran straight up to us...huge smiles...then the reality of what was about to happen started to sink in and the smile turned in to..."I don't think so!"

We often talk about the incredible journey to him...how so many of YOU helped bring him home...how the Lord radically changed our lives in ways we never knew possible...

Our darling Solomon...you have no idea the depth of our love for you. We are so blessed by you...so thankful you are ours forever. You are a living example that our God is a miracle performing, mountain moving God. It has been absolutely beautiful watching you discover the love of a family. You have taught us to never take anything for granted. You have shown incredible bravery and strength as you left everything you've ever known. You are attaching and bonding so deeply...truly a precious gift from the Lord! We love you baby boy...Happy 1 year home!!!

Happy Birthday to our princess..

2011-09-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yep..another birthday at our household...5 of the kiddos have bday's in a 6 week span and daddy finishes it off next week :)

To our precious princess...we love you so much and are still in awe of how the Lord brought you to our family. Your story is absolutely incredible and has God's hand prints all over it! Your beautiful smile and sense of humor bring us so much joy. You have the most gentle, compassionate heart...your spunk is contagious...We love seeing the world through your eyes. Happy Birthday to our miracle girl!!!!

Blanket WINNER

2011-09-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

How I wish I could have given each of you one of these incredible blankie's! Many times I was in tears as I read who you'd give the blanket to. I encourage you to check out DreamCatcher's website and purchase a blanket for the sweet one each of you mentioned....even if you start out with a lap blanket (That's what our sweet girl has and it's a pretty big size for a smaller child).

I used random.org to generate the winner............After praying over each of your families...after praying over who the Lord wanted to win the blanket...I clicked 'generate'..........

and the winner is....................

Julia

Your posts have been wonderful to read. My daughter has SPD. She has always slept with about seven different baby blankets piled on her at night at her insistence. She wears a weighted vest sometimes at school and during OT/PT. I wonder if the blanket would give her peaceful sleep?
Thanks again for posting about SPD. I wish my agency would have educated us on the subject before we brought her home!

Julia, I pray your sweet daughter enjoys her new blanket and that it will bring her peace at night when she sleeps. I know for our sweet girl, it has helped immensely at night. Congratulations! If you could pls. leave me your email address in the comment section of this post, I will let ya know how to order your blanket.

Thank you, again, to DreamCatcher's and their amazing generosity!!

GIVEAWAY...DreamCatcher weighted blanket

2011-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

A weighted blanket for a child with Sensory Processing Disorder can be a HUGE tool in helping them feel more grounded and secure. Often times these kiddos feel like they are floating in space...they don't feel grounded. For our sweet girl, her weighted blanket has been a necessity. She craves deep pressure for comfort. Often times we will find her on our bed with daddy's heavy buckwheat pillow on top of her.

I was contacted by the amazingly generous Eileen at DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets. She had read my Part 1 SPD post and offered to make our sweet girl a blanket. Oh my...when sweet girl's beautiful blanket arrived, she kept saying, "This is my happy blanket!!" I think that sums up what she thinks about her new blanket...it makes her happy and secure. I was very impressed with the fabric choice and durability of this blanket. I've already washed it several times and it looks awesome! The weighted beads are distributed through the blanket evenly...no lopsided pockets of beads...it's perfect. I highly, highly recommed DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets for anyone who loves deep pressure and weight.

Here's the awesome part...

a FREE GIVEAWAY...

DreamCatcher's has offered one FREE custom blanket valued up to $200 for one of my readers...that's one of you :)

Can you believe it?? I am so blessed by their precious hearts to help those who are hurting...it's incredible!!

So, how do you enter to win?

1. Tell me who would use the blanket

2. Tell me how you found my blog :)

3. Go check out DreamCatcher's website!

We will randomly choose a winner in 1 week :)

4 years living with Sensory Processing Disorder

2011-08-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read PART 1 of our sweet girl's story, would you please do so. Reading it will help you to better understand part 2 ;)

I have shared all of this detail because I have talked to somany families that are currently struggling with very similar situations withtheir babes. Our greatest prayer insharing all of this is that our sweet girl’s life will help other families findthe help they need for their children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When did we realize it was more than just being newlyhome…more than attachment, bonding, grieving? I would have to say looking back;our first glimpse was in Chinawhen we were leaving her province in Kunming. We were in the airport…a loud, very crowded,smoky, dark airport. I tried to give her a little Benadryl for the flight (yes,I’m one of ‘those’ mom’s) and she spiraled into a massive screaming meltdown. Ameltdown that lasted for 1 hour…a meltdown that caused a huge crowd of peopleto surround us…Chinese women trying to take her from me…Chinese men shakingtheir heads scolding us, scolding her, blowing cigarette smoke…it was unreal.We were texting home “pray…please pray…we don’t know what’s wrong but it’sbad.” Thankfully she fell asleep as we boarded the plane and slept the wholeway to Guangzhou. We saw this same type of meltdown right afterwe came home. It was our son’s birthday and we took him to the bowling alley tocelebrate. Massive meltdown #2!

Going to Costco or Target would cause HUGE meltdowns…as soonas we would leave a party or play date, we were guaranteed a meltdown…Home 3months…we knew something wasn’t right. We sought help from a localInternational Adoption Doctor who said he felt confident she was bonding andattaching in a healthy way. He noted that she had pretty significant hypotonia(lack of muscle tone) and SPD but he felt it would get better with time sooooo,we tried waiting it out. I did dailyexercises with her to try and help her gain strength and muscle tone. Home 6months, no better…Home 9 months…she was not getting better, she was gettingworse! We were guaranteed middle of the night screaming for a minimum of 45minutes and afternoon meltdowns, too. We were at a loss. I kept thinking, ‘Thisis not my first baby. She is our 5^th for goodness sake…why can’t Ihelp her…what am I doing wrong…why is this still so hard…is it always going tobe like this…how can we help her’.

In the darkest time, I would cry out to the Lord as my babygirl thrashed in my arms. “Lord, I love this sweet one so much…please show ushow to help her…please help me not to detach…please help her not to detach fromus.” The constant rejection for this very, very sleep deprived mama was sohard…everything about me was weary. Thankfully joy comes in the morning and when the sun would rise, wewould start afresh.

We trekked back to the IA doctor at 1 year home. He gave usthe same diagnosis but this time he encouraged us to have her evaluated by aphysical and occupational therapist. Wedid this immediately! Both the ot and ptagreed…hypotonia, spd, & major safety awareness issues…there was alsoconcern that something deeper neurologically was going on but only time intherapy would uncover that. So, we immediately began therapy 2 times a week. Iwas on the heels of the therapists every session…asking questions, begging themto show me what to do at home. All thewhile, our hopes of finally having found help for our girl were being dashed.She was getting worse not better. Therapy two times a week was just enough toshake up her neurological system. During all of this, we took her to see aneurologist whose evaluation was a joke! He told me to have her walk to him…hewatched her walked, checked her reflexes, and said there was nothing wrong; shewas perfectly healthy. I still wonder ifhe saw the steam coming out of my ears!!

We were going backwards…farther from where we started. I was constantly searching foranswers…everything came back as SPD and treatment was OT and PT…but that wasn’tworking!!!!

Then the Lord showed us His plan for help…it was through aChristian neurodevelopmentalist. Yeah, I had never heard of one before eitherJ. After talking with the ND, Marilee, we tookher in for an extensive assessment. Wechose not to tell Marilee all of sweet girl’s quirks because we wanted to seewhat the ND would see. As we watchedMarilee work with our girl, it was all this mama could do not to burst intotears…she could see our girl…she could see her difficulties…and the Lord wasgoing to use her to help us help our girl. She confirmed the previous hypotonia and spd diagnosis we hadreceived. Marilee developed a ‘program’for us to do at home with her. The program consisted of many types of exercisesthat would help retrain sweet girl’s brain and neurological system tocommunicate properly.

We immediately began her daily ‘program’ and watched as herlittle body fought this daily work. Thefirst 2 weeks were really difficult…her little system was definitely fightingthe work we were trying to do but then….after the 2 week mark some amazingthings started to happen…her meltdowns were not lasting as long…we werelearning to help teach her to regulate out of of her meltdowns…she was startingto sleep a little better. ‘Could thisreally be happening…after almost 2 years, could she actually be getting better?’We continued with her program for a year…she continued to improve greatly. Somedays she liked doing her therapy and other days she didn’t but all we knew isthat the Lord was healing her through these exercises.

Fast forward…she continued to improve so we wereultimately able to take her off of program. Her meltdowns had become a thing of the past…shewas sleeping well (still waking up once to climb into our bed but no crying). We’ve had times of regression but never backto the extreme that those first 2 years were. We’ve learned to understand hertriggers…she’s learned to self regulate and communicate better.

We have recently experienced a huge regression with her and weare beginning her program back up with the hopes that it will help. This last year has brought some huge changesto our household and I think her little system is a tad overwhelmed with hervery loud, very busy new brother and the attention that her new baby sisterrequires.

We are confident that God placed our miracle girl perfectlyin our family. We are confident that He alone has equipped us to raise thisprecious girl. We will continue to trustHis perfect plan and guidance in raising our sweet treasure. Many days are very hard and we aren’t surewhat to do to help her but the Lord promises us that HIS strength is OURstrength so we will continue to be filled with His strength to help our girlie.

To our sweet girl,

Baby...we love you so much and have no doubt that you were created to be ours. We have no doubt that the Lord perfectly placed you in our family to be our precious daughter. You are wonderfully and fearfully made by the Creator of the Universe...you are beautifully made in His image. He is using your life in mighty, mighty ways and we are so honored to be your mommy and daddy. You are the joy of our lives. The journey to bring you home was incredible and it changed our lives so deeply. You have taught us to enjoy and cherish every single moment. You have taught us to fight like crazy...you are so strong. God has HUGE, MIGHTY plans for your life. We love you sweet babe!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few tools:

If you feel you may have a child with SPD tendencies, here are a few resources...

~Our neurodevelopmentalist: Help with Learning and ICAN

~DreamCatcher Weighted Blankets (be watching my blog for an incredible GIVEAWAY from DreamCatcher's)

~The Out of Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz (an absolute MUST READ if you have ANY inkling that your sweet child might have some sensory issues...what an eye opener this book is...I honestly feel this should be a must read for ALL adoptive families!!)

~Karin Purvis' website and her book The Connected Child

Our oldest...

2011-08-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

is now 14 and starting high school...how and when did our baby boy grow up into this amazing young man that is 6' tall? Seriously...it is crazy weird! I remember day dreaming about what he's look like, what his personality would be like, what he'd sound like, and here we are...it's unbelievable!

Sweet son, your daddy and I love you so much. You are growing into the most incredible young man. Your heart to please the Lord is precious. Your love for your brothers and sisters is amazing. God has given you a gentle and compassionate heart and we can't wait to see all that the Lord has planned for your life. Stay the course...focus on all the the Lord is calling you to do...He is shaping and molding you to do great this for His kingdom. We are very proud of you and beyond blessed and honored to be your parents!!

Happy Birthday!

IN China!!!!

2011-08-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

Kaden's family landed safe and sound!!! They are about 18 hours away from him being placed in their arms. What a ton of emotions......we are ecstatic....Solomon can't stop talking about it, "Mama...Jianzhu is coming today?? When is he coming home?? I want to see MY Jianzhu!"

I sit back and look at all the Lord has done and I'm speechless...it's absolutely incredible!!! Soon I will post about our deep love for this sweet one and all the amazing miraculous things the Lord did to bring him home to a beautiful christian family that happens to be friends of ours that happen to live only 15 minutes away.

Sweet, precious Kaden, this is your last night sleeping without your family...this is the LAST night you will be an orphan! We love you so much and can't wait to hug and kiss you!!

I can not wait for our boys to be reunited! We will wait a couple weeks so Kaden can build his bond with his new family but we can't wait...it is going to be amazing. Solomon...our sweet son who has been preparing for Kaden to come home for a year...Kaden, our son's orphanage 'brother' who has had to grieve Solomon as if he has died, not knowing he would ever see him again.........ohhhh, just look at what the Lord has done......he has brought the boys back together..........

Birthday Girl...

2011-08-06T05:50:00.000-07:00

DOUBLE DIGITS folks...our girl has hit the BIG 10!!! Sweet Tr., you are an amazing young lady...your excitement for life is contagious. You have taught me to enjoy every moment...to scream with excitement...to love fiercely. You are an incredible big sister and amazing helper to me. You are one of the most thoughtful, compassionate people I know...you make me a better person. Daddy & I love you so much and are incredibly blessed that you are our daughter!

We will never forget the day you placed in our arms...what a dream come true! Your Aunt R. loves you so much...I see so much of her beautiful heart in you!

Our beautiful babe...you are growing up so fast!

My girls...

2011-08-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from my heavy post on spd to share some fun pictures of my girls (okay, well a lot of our newest little miss :). SPD part 2 will be up in a few days...I may bump Part 1 so they stay together ;)

Our little mama!

Just look at those gorgeous lips...LOVE THEM!!

She's even cute when she cries...just had to show ya ;)

Going to Jubilee's first princess party :)

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) & meltdowns

2011-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a commonly un-diagnosed neurological disorder. A lot of children that have been institutionalized suffer from some form of SPD BUT it can affect biological children, too. It took us TWO years of major daily meltdowns until we figured out what was going on with our sweet girl (adopted from China at 14 months old).

She has been regressing and we are full swing into daily meltdowns again...below are my thoughts from her latest meltdown...thoughts that I felt very strongly the Lord wanted me to journal because there is someone who reads my blog and their child...their family is in the dark days of SPD meltdowns but don't know what it is....please be sensitive to our family's privacy and not gossip about our girl (sad I have to say this but it's happened)...I am sharing this because I have no doubt the Lord wants to use this to help other child and their families. SPD can be a very difficult, scary, painful, dark place to live. We are very thankful for EVERY part of our miracle girl...including her SPD...the Lord is already using her little life mightily!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She starts crying…lots of stiff, foot stomping crying…crying‘mommy, mommy, hold me’…it’s the beginning of a meltdown. Of course, I immediately bend down and scoop up my precious crying babe…but what’s different about this cry? Thecause? It’s sensory processing disorder…it’s a cry and pain that can not becomforted…a cry that can’t be stopped…a cry that the more you try to comfortand soothe, the more intense and raging it becomes… a cry that is actuallymore like a blood curdling scream…a continual scream that will only stop whenher body has fully let it all out…spd is holding her hostage in her own body…

I pick up my crying babe just for her to start screaming‘don’t touch me, put me down’…I put her down…she changes her screams of ‘put medown’ to ‘I want to hold you…hold me, hold me’ and this goes on for at least 40minutes sometimes much longer. We sit ina chair as she screams and kicks…fighting me, fighting herself the entire time…herbody is extremely tight, rigid, stiff…she clings to me for dear life and pushesme away at the same time. We try walking around but it's extremely difficult to carry her because of the intense kicking. The love that a mama normal pours out for her hurt child…thesinging, the caressing, the holding, the kissing, the whispers, the beautifulloving actually causes my girl to spiral even deeper.

She kicks violently, she slaps my legs until they are red,she frantically rubs her feet together until they are raw and almost bleeding…Itry to protect her, I try to hold her feet…separate her feet…anything to keepher from rubbing them together…but her adrenaline is raging...the child thathas hypotonia is just about stronger than her mama…the more I try to stop her,the more persistent and focused she becomes in rubbing her feet…the more Iask her to stop kicking and flopping her legs all over, the more she flails…themore she screams ‘don’t touch me, hold me, put me down, I want you’…

This will only end when her body…her brain and neurological system will let her rest…when her disorganized little body cancalm long enough to get her grounded…

The screaming, kicking, feet rubbing, stomping, pushing,slapping is starting to fade…her body is exhausted and will finally let herrest…she collapses on my shoulder and her spd cry turns into an exhaustedweep…it’s over…the meltdown is done. Shewill weep for a few moments, sit up, and carry on like nothing ever happened. Ican still see the exhaustion in her eyes

but for now, her body is at peace and communicating properly…she hums and skips around as if all is well.

But this mama doesn’t forget…this mamagrieves for the deep, internal wounds my baby girl carries...for herdisorganized little insides…this mama grieves that no matter how much I try tocomfort her during these times, the more pain it causes her...

Lord, continue to heal our miracle girl…the precious babeyou fashioned and created to be our girl…the precious babe you had us fight for…the sweetgirl that we are still fighting for. Equip us to help her heal…show us everything she needs and how we canhelp her. ~amen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sensoryprocessing disorder or SPD is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with takingin, processing and responding tosensory information about the environment and from within the own body

*my next post will discuss the medical aspect of SPD and how we help our sweet girl heal! See PART 2 HERE*

Does adoption really save a child's life?

2011-07-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

I dare you to tell me that adoption doesn't save lives...I dare you to tell me that you aren't called by God to help care for the orphan in some capacity...

Read this family's story...the story of a precious boy who's birth country said he couldn't be adopted WHILE his new family was in-country petitioning to adopt him...that he didn't deserve a family...the judge stated "The basis given was that Kirill was “not socially adaptable” due to his “medical condition” and he was better off in an institution than in a home with a family. " Here is a story of an Almighty God that said 'he is Mine & he is coming home!'

See what 3 weeks home has done for this little one and tell me it doesn't matter...ONLY 3 weeks...he went from dying to completely living and thriving!! Children are dying without a family...it has to stop...we have to STEP UP & obey God's clear command to care for the fatherless.

How many Kirill's won't get a chance at life simply because we were too afraid to step into God's comfort zone???

Isaac's birthday...

2011-07-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

How can it be that the sweet babe we brought home at 11 weeks old is 8 years old today?? I will never forget the first time I saw him nestled in his precious birthmama's arms...we were driving down the street to her house to meet him for the first time and bring him home forever. She was spending some precious time with him outside..soaking in the beautiful hilly view...soaking in her last moments holding him before she gave him to us...it was an absolutely breath taking moment...a moment where an amazing woman made the most difficult, painful decision...a moment where our lives were forever changed by the beautiful gift of our son...a moment that we will never forget...

Our precious son...you are a miraculous gift! We love you so much and we are so proud of you. You are an incredible big brother with such a gentle heart. Your name could not suit you any better....you are the happiest one around and your giggles instantly bring joy! God has amazing, BIG plans for you and we can't wait to watch them unfold. What an honor it is to be your mommy and daddy...we love you!!!

Solomon's FIRST birthday...

2011-07-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

well...his first birthday home :) Our sweet boy has been waiting and waiting for it to be his turn. He tried to wait patiently as everyone else celebrated this crazy day where they got lots of presents. FINALLY, it was his turn and boy, was he EXCITED!!!

Sweet, precious son...you are absolutely amazing! We had no idea the day that the day we first saw your face would change our lives so drastically!! Your love of life...absolute joy...has forever impacted us and everyone that knows you! So, we celebrate your precious life...we celebrate that you are home...we celebrate YOU!!! We love you!!

Jubilee...1 month...

2011-07-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

1 month and SMILING :)

I tell ya, nothing melts my heart more than to hear her beautiful coo's as she gazes into my eyes and smiles...ohhhh how I love this sweet girl!!!

Ooooohhhhh precious Jubilee....what a celebration you are....we LOVE you so much...we still can't believe you are ours!!!!

Amazed...

2011-07-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

I sit here weeping at the miracle of our sweet Jubilee! Feeling so undeserving to be her mama...so overwhelmed with God's precious favor...so in awe of the surprise and miracle of our girl...ohhh, I can not imagine loving her any deeper...she IS joy, love, innocence, miraculous, perfect, an absolute dream...

Billboard sign....

2011-07-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

I posted this on FB & realized I didn't here:

This billboard sign was on the side of the road....the road that led us to our sweet girl ;)
Don't you just LOVE how the Lord speaks...we saw this AFTER we named her!!!

Orphaned no more!

2011-07-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

How can it possibly be...4 years ago today, our precious Cana girl was placed in our arms forever. I will NEVER forget the moment she was placed in my arms...it just about leveled me! We had such a fight to get her home and the emotions overwhelmed me as I held our sweet girl that almost didn't get to come home. She came to us screaming hysterically (she had been crying for at least 30 mins. before we got there)...she was so stiff but then as we whispered to her, her body relaxed, she melted into me, and calmed down...all within the first minute. Our Lord had prepared her for her mama and baba...it was so beautiful.

My sweet love, God has some incredible plans for your precious life. We had to fight like crazy to get you home and you've had to fight like crazy through your SPD. You are resilient precious one...you are strong...your joy spills overflowing...your love is fierce...your compassion is beautiful....we love you so much and praise the Lord for the intense trial to bring you home. Happy 4 years of being home forever!!

Our twin girls ;)

2011-07-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

LOL...THE TWINS!!! I told ya they were twins in every way possible...stuck like glue!

2011-07-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

~Spreading the LOVE~

Grammy (my mom) holding her babe for the first time!

Papa (my daddy) holding his grandbaby for the first time.

My sister loving on her niece for the first time!

My other sissy holding Jubilee for the first time!

One of my besties loving on our girl for the first time :)

~4th of July~

Such a precious celebration with family and friends. Not only was it Jubilee's first 4th but it was Solomon's first 4th of July! His first 4th of July HOME and FREE! As we were watching the firework show, I was flooded with emotions as he sat in my lap and the song "Proud to be an American" played. Sweet, precious son...you are now free...you are now home forever...we love you!

~Misc. Fun~

SOOO BLESSED!

Oh, how I LOVE this girl!!

smiling in her sleep :)

Hospital Pictures

2011-07-07T21:32:00.001-07:00

Help for friends....

2011-07-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have got to introduce you to one of the most precious families I know....the Willette family!

They are very, very dear friends of ours. God has moved crazy, miraculously to bring them their next treasure from China. The details are so incredible yet so intimate...how I'd love to share them with you but can't at this time. I will tell you that they are walking by complete faith but confident faith that the Lord will bring their precious Lily home! Their story is so similar to our story with Solomon's journey. A CLEAR CALLING from the Lord that THIS is their child but at a time when financially it doesn't make sense. God has called the Willette family to LEAP outside of their comfort zone straight into God's comfort zone in trusting Him completely with the financial provision for sweet Lily's adoption.

This is where I am asking and praying for YOUR help....they have just kicked off an IPAD2 and giveaway event...would you be willing to stop by and purchase a ticket? Would you be willing to help spread the word?? My sweet friends, you have been so incredibly faithful to obey the Lord's calling to help care for the orphan, would you continue to do so by praying, donating, or spreading the word for the Willette family?

They are in need of IMMEDIATE funds to be able to complete their homestudy and dossier...immediate in the truest form...like they can only proceed with paperwork, etc. if funds come in...they obviously don't want to delay and keep their beauty waiting.

Thank you for praying for sweet, beautiful Lily and her family!

Jubilee's first bath ;)

2011-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

She loved the water ... hehehe! We are having so much fun with our little love...she is such a good baby!!

LOVE....

2011-06-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

think he could love her any more??

He just sits and stares at her all day long and tells me how much he loves her...

absolutely priceless...

such beautiful love...

Our new sissy!!

2011-06-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Meeting their baby sister for the first time yesterday :)

(the 3 little's have a cough and we aren't taking any chance ;)

SHE'S HERE!!

2011-06-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Jubilee is home, safe and sound :) She was born on Monday night at 9:35pm....she weighed 7lbs. 13ozs. and 19". We got home today and are exhausted...2 nights of sleeping in a hospital chair is slightly uncomfortable...LOL!!! I will post more about her and how everything went later...we are exhausted! (it all went wonderful, btw)

Here she is:

No update...

2011-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Still no baby Jubilee...I'm starting to think she's a stubborn one :)

L told me yesterday that she wished "your" baby girl would hurry up and come out...LOL!

Please keep praying for God's perfect time...there are a lot of reasons this sweet one needs to come sooner than later but God know exactly when she should come. Be praying for her safety...for her precious bmom who is very ready to be done and move on...patience for us...we are all besides ourselves every time the phone rings...LOL!!

Prayerfully my next post will be pictures of our girl ;)

3cm........

2011-06-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the awesome privilege of spending all day with Jubilee's bmom, "L". We started with breakfast and ended up at the hospital :)

An extremely LLOONNGG story short..."L" is at 3cm...they could feel baby girl's head...they ordered a ton of blood tests and did an ultrasound. Everything looks fantastic...baby is officially due in F-I-V-E DAYS although we are hoping she won't wait that long :) Jubilee is measuring 8lbs. already!!!!! Because "L" hasn't seen the same dr. for her prenatal care, no one will induce her...they don't want the liability...booooo!

It was a very long day but I got to sit for hours and hours just listening to our sweet girl's heartbeat and ooohhhh, to see her gorgeous face...it was priceless. She has a little petite nose and beautiful angel lips. I wish they would have given me a copy of the ultrasound but alas, I'm just the adoptive mom...they actually didn't even give one to "L"...if they had, I have no doubt she would have given it to me.

I am so thankful to have the entire day with "L"...it was truly a gift!!! I'll keep you all posted...keep praying...ohhh, we are only $600 away from our first need...God is sooo good!!! His faithfulness to provide leaves me in awe!!!

Friends helping...

2011-06-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Look at what my sneaky friend, Erica, is up to. I didn't even know she was going to do this for us....check it out HERE!!!

They recently came home with their sweet princess, Zahra, and now look at her...hitting the floor running to help other adoptive families get their babes home...I love you friend!!!!

Stop on by and see how they are helping our sweet Jubilee home!

Love it!!!

2011-06-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

You guys are so amazing...through you, God has provided a little over $600 for our Jubilee girl...we are in need of $1400 more and it's due today...eecckk...prayer for God's continued financial provision would be a wonderful blessing. Thank you!!!

I woke up imagining her in our arms...longing to see her sweet face. My heart is heavy for her bmom, "L". She is about to make one of the most difficult decisions she will ever have to make. The decision she is making for her baby is one of great love & complete sacrifice. A sacrifice that will forever changer L and a sacrifice that will hurt for a very long time. Thank you guys for praying for her and our baby girl!!!!

The year of Jubilee

2011-06-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

We have decided on our sweet girl's name. One of the things that drew "L" to our family was 'how happy we looked'. She kept saying, "They look so happy...just look at the kids...they are so happy." There is so much more to share but that will come later. We immediately knew that our girl's named needed to reflect joy and happiness.

Websters definition of our girl's name is: A time of great rejoicing. A season of great public joy and festivity.

The old testament describes her 'name' as a time of joyful celebration...of the trumpets being sounded!!

Our sweet girl will be named...

JUBILEE

and we will use her birthmother's name as her middle name.

Our precious Jubilee, we are eagerly awaiting your arrival and are celebrating that you will soon be in our arms. You are an amazing gift and we can't wait until you are here. The trumpets are sounding...there is great public joy & we are celebrating you. We love you sweet one!

IN SHOCK!!!!!!!!

2011-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

There are really no other words to completely describe what our family is feeling....we are in absolute shock and excited beyond words!!!

God has decided to bless us with a precious baby girl...YES...we are going to have a new daughter. We received a phone call from our agency a few days ago regarding a domestic situation that they felt we'd be a good match for...at this time I won't go into any of the detail but baby girl is due in 13 days. We just got home from meeting the precious birthmother and she has chosen our family...she told us to hurry up and pick a name :) I even got the amazing privilege of feeling our girl move several times!! Our meeting was so wonderful and so comfortable. We are so thankful for the time we had with her today!!!

We asking for your prayers...that the Lord would be preparing us for our new girl...a newborn...I still can't believe it!!! That the Lord would continue to comfort this precious bmama as she prepares to make the most difficult choice ever!

Prayers for financial provision would be a blessing, too! The costs for the adoption will be around $14,500 with $2,500 being an IMMEDIATE need. Our agency has discounted it as much as possible but we will still have to pay the fees asap. I am putting a chip-in on the right hand side of the our blog if you feel led to donate. Wow...I can't believe this...I will be honest...the thought of trying to fundraise again is very daunting but I know the amazing blessing of the journey, too. Funny thing is we need $14,500 in less than 2 weeks..ahhh!!!

We have a baby girl on the way...I can't believe it!!!! Thank you, Lord for this amazing surprise!!!

Dedication and Promotion

2011-06-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful day of celebration.

Dedication...
Celebration of our sweet miracle boy...the sweet boy the Lord perfectly chose for our family...the sweet boy that God miraculous provided for...our precious Solomon! Even though we dedicated you to the Lord long before you came home to us, today we stood before our family and friends...before our Maker and publicly dedicated your life to the Lord. Our promise is to raise you in the ways of the Lord...to help you grow in your knowledge of Him. Our greatest hopes and dreams for you are that you come to know the Lord personally at a young age and that you will choose to live your life fully and solely for Him. God has great, glorious plans for you sweet one! We love you so much!

Solomon was absolutely hysterical today...we all walked up to the front of the church and he was smiling HUGE as if to say, "Look at me...are you all here for me...that's right...it's all about me!" The entire church was laughing...he was soooo precious!

We wanted so badly for daddy to hold him during the dedication but with the chaos of getting our brood up on the stage, somehow I ended up with him.

Promotion...

Today was also another day of celebration but for our big boy! {tears} Our big, baby boy has officially promoted OUT of elementary school and INTO high school...{WWAAHH} How in the world is this possible? Our precious boy is becoming a young man!

Timothy, we are so incredibly proud of you...proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Your compassionate heart for your siblings is amazing and we are certain the Lord is going to use your loving heart mightily. These next 4 years are a huge part of what shapes you into the man you will become. Continue to keep your eyes focused on the Lord. Seek Him in ALL you do and He WILL guide your every footstep. We love you so much and are very proud that you are our son!

Daddy reading his beautiful thoughts, encouragement, prayers, and hopes to our son.

Proud Papa and Grammy (my parents with Timothy) so bummed missed getting pictures with everyone else...

Baby Heather is recovering!

2011-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

Do you guys remember sweet baby Heather? Sweet baby Heather that you guys helped sponsor her surgery...sweet baby Heather that motivated me to train and run my first marathon in March??

I just received word from Love Without Boundaries ... baby Heather has had her surgery and she is recovering well! This is ALL because of YOU and your love for her! Thank you guys soooo much. I am soooo excited for this sweet one!!!

She is perfect...

2011-05-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

absolutely perfectly created by OUR LORD!!! No mistake made...she was known by our Maker long before He fashioned her in her mother's womb. But you know what...most people don't see her that way...they see a little girl who is not complete...I ASSURE you, she is complete...wonderfully and fearfully made!!! PLEASE help spread the word about this precious one!!!

This is beautiful, amazing A Lian. I have been advocating for this sweet one for a while and still she does not have her forever family. I have this tiny video of her and it brings me to tears...tears of joy because there is NO doubt she is a bundle of beautiful joy...tears of longing...longing for her to have a forever family to love her!

Sweet A Lian is almost 3 years old and was born with Down's Syndrome. Here's a little bit of info. on this little miracle: A Lian is a completely adorable child. She loves to cuddle and give kisses, and though sometimes solemn, her whole face scrunches up in a ready smile and laugh when interacting. She can dance with the music, and cooperates when the caretakers dress her. She eats with a good appetite, can peel the skin off of fruit by herself, and can drink with a straw. Any family would be blessed to have this sweetheart. A Lian is physically healthy. No heart or thyroid issues have been detected. A Lian - Just learned to walk. She seemed to enjoy walking around with the walker that was present. Wide base of support when walking with arms up in a high guard position (typical for newly acquired walking ability). Wide base of support while sitting. Is able to get on both knees and reach and play in that position. Can go into a 1/2 kneeling position, which is an age appropriate transition movement. Will climb up to get a toy. She is curious and likes to explore. Loved lying in the fresh, warm, clean pile of diapers on the floor. Will scribble circles when given a pen/pencil. Loves to interact with the adults and enjoys just being carried around and played with on your lap.

Will you help me find my mommy and daddy? Please email stacy at lovingthefatherless@gmail.com

My middle kids on adoption and babies...

2011-05-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Tr: Mommy...when I get married I don't think I"m going to have any babies from my tummy. I want to adopt all of them.
Mom: No matter how your babes come to you, they are an amazing blessing. I can't wait to see how the Lord brings you your children. Why do you want to adopt all of your kids?
Tr: I don't know, I just think adoption is so cool. I hope my husband is adopted, too then we would be a totally adoptive family.

I LOVE IT!!!!!

"I" had to chime in and here's what he's thinking about:

I: Mom, when are you going to get a baby in your tummy?
Mom: I don't think I will but it's up to the Lord to decide that.
I: Why not...
Tr: Mom won't get a baby in her tummy because daddy won't let her.

Ohhhh, these kids are too much!!!!!!

He LOVES me!!!!

2011-05-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

One thing we quickly became aware of when Cana first came home was how long true bonding and attachment takes when adopting a new child whether they are an infant or older child. It's not something that happens right away...it's one of those things that you take day by day and it can take years for a deep, true bond and attachment.

One of the greatest joys is to see little sparks of attachment in your child. It may be something they say or something they do but there is nothing more beautiful when you can see the fruit of attachment and bonding.

I noticed our first bonding moment with Solomon about 45 minutes after we met him. We were back in our hotel room getting to know each other and playing the sticker game. You know, the one where you stick stickers on your face and your child's face to promote eye contact. He looked soooo deeply into my eyes and I knew he knew we were his! The next moment was when he was playing catch with his daddy that same day...he wanted to play for hours and hours...he'd lock eye with Paul every time he threw the ball or caught the ball...it was so amazing.

We have since been blessed with little 'sparks' of his healthy bonding & attachment but something very special happened today...

TODAY...8 months after Solomon became ours, he told me, "I lub you for making me noodles mama." Has he told me that he's loved me before? Sure after I have said it to him first but NEVER has he told me all on his own. He then wanted to hold my hand as we shared our cup-o-noodles together. Now, I didn't make a big deal of it in front of him because it truly caught me off guard but I was dancing on the inside when I realized it was his first time telling me he loved me. I got up to get something and he was right behind me hugging my leg. He then wanted my attention (which he usually tries to get by saying 'mom' over and over) but instead he kissed my arm and said, 'mom'. It's hilarious...he's almost googly eyed at me...he keeps walking in the office and giving me huge smiles and staring at me. It's a smile and stare I've never seen before...FINALLY...finally my boy is in-love with me! Finally my sweet boy knows what it truly means to be in-love with his mama and to have a mama that loves him back! Oh, precious one, you finally know this is your home...you finally know that you are forever ours and we are forever yours! Oh Lord, thank you for the gift of our son! How undeserving we are!

CREATED FOR A PLACE I'VE NEVER KNOWN...

THIS IS HOME...

NOW I'M FINALLY WHERE I BELONG...

Why we homeschool!!!!!!!

2011-05-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

For moments like this...this is WHY we homeschool!!!

Could it get any more beautiful? Lord, thank you for this amazing privilege!

Our miracle girl & the fight to bring her home!

2011-05-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today will always be a day in our family history that catches my breath. A day that we will never forget...

5 years ago it was the day we were DTC (docs to China)..waiting to be matched with our girl AND 4 years ago when received a phone call from our agency stating that the CCAA had told us we had to return our daughter's file and we could no longer adopt her....Some of you have read our miracle girl's story and some of you have not.

May 1, 2007
we received the referral of our beautiful Cana...

May 12
while we were preparing to travel, she turned 1...we celebrated...

May 15
the day our lives were forever changed
the fight of our lives began...directed by God!
read her story HERE
God continues to use our miracle girl's story in ways we could have never imagined.

She's 5 Today...

2011-05-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

How can it be? How can she...

Be FIVE today?

Oh, our beautiful, miracle girl. You are a gift that we could have never dreamed possible! There are no words to describe how much we love you...just know baby girl, you are a part of who daddy and I are...you make us better...we love you sweet one!

Finally...

2011-05-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, I don't even know where to start...it's been far too long and I miss you guys terribly!

We are all doing fantastic! The kiddos are all doing great. Solomon continues to amaze me with how ready he was for a forever family. God moved mightily to prepare him for our family. He is doing WONDERFUL and we are so in awe of this little miracle.

We were blessed to take our annual family vacation. My parents, sisters & their families were all there...talk about a much NEEDED time to get away & just focus on our family!!! There were so many fabulous firsts for Solomon. As he ran freely on the beach, I was blown away with the thoughts of what his life was like before he was home. Watching him was so precious and honestly, it was really hard for me to process...seeing him experience the sheer joy of freedom to run...freedom to play...freedom to scream with glee...freedom to get dirty ...simple freedom's we take for granted every day...freedom's he has NEVER experienced until that glorious day he became ours. Oh, what a wonderful new beginning!!

First steps in the sand!

My sweet nephews

My Bella girl...my neice

And they are off!!!

My sweet nephew

My sissy taking the girls sea shell hunting

Doing the beach Grammy style

Papa and Grammy and ALL the grand kids!! Does it get more beautiful than that?

MY GIRLS!!!!!

MY BOYS!!

My cup overfloweth!!!
(even if it's virtually impossible to get a picture with everyone looking, smiling, and eyes open :)

Such a daddy's boy...everything he does, he says "just like my daddy!"

Freedom to play and get dirty

Dirty face and all ;)

Freedom to live, to be loved, to have joy!

He LOOOVVEESSS his silly goggles...like, he wouldn't sleep without them!

Thank you for this life, Lord!!!

Caption needed & Giveaway!

2011-04-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

WINNER UPDATE: Oh, you guys make me laugh!!!!

We LOVED every single one...a few got us extra giggly...

Oh and uh Amy...HOW I WISH!!!!!

THE WINNER IS......

2kidmommy (Courtney) with iSleep...

you had us laughing every time we read that!

Congratulations and thank you all for playing along...we are going to have to do this more often :)

Okay...so I am wwwaaayyyy behind on posting and even more way behind on reading my sweet friends blogs. I am soooo sorry! These little 'triplets' are not allowing me to have a whole lot of computer time these days. I miss you guys so much!

Just had to post a quick picture because it's hilarious and because it desperately needs a caption AND because I wanna give away a Solomon Beads bracelet. So, caption away!!!

Remember precious Meadow??

2011-04-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

Do you guys remember this precious bugga-boo??

Sweet Meadow's family is paperchasing like crazy to bring her home but our baby girl is sick...very sick and needs to have surgery ASAP!!!!!!! I received this update from her foster mama:

Meadow went to the doctor again this week (I think we're going to have to start paying rent at the hospital). They were able to do the GI test that we've been waiting for, and discovered a blockage where her stomach and intestine meet. They want to do surgery to fix the problem, and will “schedule” it (I use that term loosely) sometime the week of May 9th. We're looking at a 10 day hospital stay. It's first come, first serve, so we'll have to check her into the hospital then they'll put her on a waiting list for the surgery, which could take up to 3 days. Once our name is called, she'll have surgery, then stay for another 7 days or so. This will be a difficult time for us as a family, since hospitals here are very different from hospitals in the States. The families of the patient are responsible for everything. We will have to provide: food/formula for Meadow, diapers and wipes, bathing accessories (tub, washcloth and soap), etc. Pretty much, anything she needs, we will have to provide (not to mention, our own needs: meals, water, toilet paper, etc). One of us will be required to be with her at all times. There aren't any bathrooms in the rooms, so it makes leaving to go to the bathroom difficult. (We are not allowed to leave her side). Although we are anticipating a difficult season, we're beyond thrilled that our little Meadow is finally getting the help she needs. The estimated cost for her surgery is 20,000rmb (approx. $3,000.00US), plus various other expenses (IV's, tests, blood work, special soy formula, etc) . As you can see, this is a very large expense for us, and we are trusting the Lord to provide for Meadow's medical care. In order to receive care at the hospital, we have to pay upfront (it's not a “treatment now, pay later” system). Would you pray and see if the Lord wants to use you to help cover some of her expenses? Please commit to pray for her before and during her operation. Also pray for extra grace for our children, since one of us will be gone from home for at least 10 days. We have lots of friends here who are going to pitch in and help us. We're so blessed to be surrounded by such a generous community of believers.

*If you would like to donate to help cover the cost of Meadow's medical care, you can click on “send gift” on the homepage of our website: peterjennifer.chproject.net IF YOU NEED A TAX RECEIPT, your donation can be sent to our organization. Make checks payable to Youth With A Mission. Make sure our name is NOT anywhere on the check. Include a separate note that states the money is for Peter and Jennifer Peissner (Meadow). Mail to:
Peter and Jennifer Peissner
c/o Youth With A Mission
PO BOX 790237
Paia, HI 96779

Meadow's foster mama said that several people have already contacted her about fundraising so the greatest need is to pray for this precious girl. If you do feel led to give, please do but Jennifer's biggest request is for prayer!

Spring Frenzy

2011-04-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's TIME...time to spread some Spring Frenzy...

Spring Frenzy is for EVERYONE!!!

You will fit in one of two categories....

1. Fundraising family

2. Supporting family :)

Okay...here's how it works. All of us LOVE to give gifts EVEN when times are financially tough. Having just finished the fundraising journey, I keep thinking how can we help other families?!?! Soooo, here's my idea.

FUNDRAISING FAMILIES:

~You must be in the process of adopting a child that is NOT already home...you don't have to be matched yet, though. You must be using the funds from your items to directly fund your adoption costs.
~You are selling an item to help raise funds to bring your child home. (no raffles, please...it's okay if you are currently running a raffle BUT you MUST be selling fundraising items too, like shirts, etc...that is what you need to be linking to)~If someone is giving your family part of the proceeds for items, like Scentsy, jewelry, THAT WORKS, TOO :)

~You need to post on your blog and/or facebook about our Spring Frenzy and link back to my blog. This is CRUCIAL...the more awareness we raise the more supporting families we will have.

~Please make sure you create a NEW blog post regarding the Spring Frenzy...don't link to an old post. BUT don't forget to highlight what YOU are SELLING in that post :)
~I would love for you to become a follower of my blog...just cause I wanna know who my friends are :)
~Add your blog LINK to the BELOW Linky tool (at the bottom of this post)
~Fun idea for fundraising families...you guys can swap items and then have some fabulous items to do a raffle.

SUPPORTING FAMILIES:

~Make your gift lists and try to support as many families as you can by purchasing their fundraising items as gift. (click on the below links to see the families)

~Please help spread the word for these families!!! Blog, facebook, tweet, and link back to my blog!!!

~We are talking MOTHER'S DAY...FATHER'S DAY...BIRTHDAYS...JUST BECAUSE...

For questions, you can email me at wearechinabound@gmail.com

Fundraising families and Supporting families unite to help bring orphans home! I LOVE IT!!! All for the glory of our Lord!

Feel free to grab the Spring Frenzy button on my sidebar and help spread the word!

Please pray...

2011-03-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Pray for this family ... go read their story ... pray for their baby boy ... the baby boy they were suppose to bring home but because of one judge, they've been denied his adoption ... read their story ... pray for God's perfect will ... this sweet boy will not survive if he stays institutionalized, they can't possibly meet his needs ... he needs to be with his forever family!

I DID IT...26.2 miles...

2011-03-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

After months of training, months of raising financial support for sweet baby Heather, I can now say that I am a 'marathoner'...sounds so cool...LOL!!! What an experience!!!! The race started wonderful...the rain was looming but was only a light drizzle...the winds were like ice, though. I was feeling the strongest I had ever felt and knew it was going to be a great race UNTIL mile 4 when my stomach went haywire. As I was standing in line to the porta potty for over 20 mins. the rain began to POUR down! The rest of the race was drenching rain, freezing cold winds, a bout of hail, floods, & mud. Woohoo...fasten your seat belts because this here ride is gonna to be the wildest ride in the west ;P

Paul and my family met me at mile 17...what a wonderful sight they were...it was all I could do to not bawl my eyes out. Not so much of what I was having to endure but I was just so excited that I was actually running my first marathon...I was just overwhelmed with so much emotion.

At that point, I literally could not feel my fingers and I was starting to see white spots. My mom gave me a rain poncho which help to warm me up a bit but helped my hands immensely. I was back on the road again...minus my tummy issues and the cold, I truly was having an awesome time! I just wished I had felt better...I ultimately had to have Paul meet me at mile 21 with some tummy medicine and all was great after that.

All in all it was a very crazy situation but I can't wait for next year. The course is GREAT!!!

But here is the COOLEST PART EVER...the part that made it ALL WORTH IT...I was on an amazing team...together, the 7 of us raised over $16,000 for the orphan babes in China...Team Love Without Boundaries...YOU ROCK!!!

MY TEAM!

We were sooo blessed to have a hospitality suite in the DODGER STADIUM before the race. Did you hear me??? DODGER STADIUM...I was beside myself...LOVE the Dodgers...dates all the way back to when I was a little girl...that's what my daddy and I shared...our Dodgers!!

Thanking God for His amazing strength and protection! It's only by His strength that we succeeded!

Here are some crazy news clips:

Thousands of runners at the Los Angeles Marathon have been evaluated for hypothermia and 25 have been transported to local hospitals, according to Santa Monica fire Capt. Judah Mitchell.

The runners battled torrential rains and shin-deep puddles.

By noon, MTA buses with police escorts were stationed near the finish line to pick up runners and drive them to parking areas or medical facilities. "They've brought in a dozen blue Santa Monica city buses with heaters for runners to sit in and get dry," race press officer Rich Perelman said.

A 21-year-old man went into cardiac arrest around mile 18 and was taken unconscious to UCLA Medical Center in Westwood. An update on his condition was not immediately available. (I talked with this guy right before he went down .. so sad!)

About 1 p.m. at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, hundreds of runners sat in the hallways wrapped in towels, shivering.

Reports from other cities have indicated that buses have been picking up runners along the marathon route, to help them get warm.

"First, I want to thank God," Korir said. "I crossed the finish line and thought it was the end of my life. It's the roughest race I've ever run in the rain. I was dying out there, I was really struggling, but people were telling me, 'I love you. I love you.' At mile 21, my legs just gave out."

INCREDIBLE!

2011-03-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

I saw this video years ago and my sister just found it again. You have to watch this...it's absolutely incredible...BE BLESSED and SHARE it with your non-believing friends!! (pause my site music)

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9C2E1MNU

CCAA Announcement

2011-03-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

CCAA has just made an official announcement stating that single women CAN now adopt a child on the Special Focus Program! This means more babes will have forever homes...this means more babes will know the love of a family!

Notice

March 11, 20ll

Government departments and adoption agencies in receiving countries, In order to promote special needs child adoption and guarantee the basic interests of the orphaned and disabled children, CCAA decides to accept the adoption applications from female single applicants to adopt according to the requirements listed in this notice, starting f rom March 15, 2011

I. Female single applicants are allowed to adopt special focus children listed on the special Needs System of ccAA. One applicant can only adopt one special focus child at a time, with an interval of at least one year between two adoptions. n. The applicant shall have reached the age of 30 years and are under 50. For applicants over 50, the age difference between the child to be adopted and the applicant shall be no more than 45 years. III. The applicant shall provide her civil status certificate. Unmarried applicants shall provide certification for being single and non-homosexual; divorced applicants shall provide the divorce certificate of the last marriage; and widowed applicants shall provide the death certificate of their ex-spouse.

IV. Applicants shall be healthy both physically and mentally according to the requirements by CCAA for prospective adoptive couples. Applicants shall be law abiding with no criminal records, and have good moral quality and conduct.

V. The family annual income shall reach $10,000 per family member, including the prospective adoptee and the family net assets value should reach $100,000. The applicant shall have good medical insurance which can cover the medical expense of the adopted child.

VI. Applicants shall be experienced in child caring or be occupied in child-related fields, such as doctor, nurse, teacher, child psychological counselor, etc. It's best that the applicants have already had successful experience in caring for special needs children.

VII. The number of children in the applicant's family under the age of

18 years shall be no more than two, and the youngest one should have reached the age of 6 years old.

Vru. Applicants shall be fully prepared for adopting a special focus child. Social workers shall provide the following information fully and timely in the home study reports besides family visit interviews: 1. Adoption motive. The decision to adopt a special focus child shall be well-considered. Applicants shall be capable of caring for a special need child and be responsible for the well-being of the child.

2. The reason of being single and attitude towards marriage. Applicants shall have clear indication of willingness to appoint male figures as role models for the adopted child, and welcome male friends to join family gatherings. 3. Applicants shall have received inter-country adoption training and training specifically for special needs child adoption so as to understand fully the physical and psychological needs of special needs children.

4. Detailed nurturing and rehabilitation plan. Applicants shall be qualified personally and socially for caring special needs children and have wide social and family supporting network which can provide assistance any time. 5. other advantages for caring special needs children.

IX. Guardians appointed by the applicants shall provide written

Statement as consent to act as the guardian of the adopted child. X. If the applicant has a stable relationship and lives with a male partner, t he requirements of couple applicants shall be applied.

China Center of Adoption Affairs

Surgery FUNDED!!!!!!

2011-03-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

Baby Heather's surgery is FUNDED!!!!!!!!

We just reached the $2500 goal....a goal I was so nervous about reaching and once again our Lord has gently and oh-so-beautifully shown me how my faith still needs to grow.

You guys simply amaze me...thank you for answering the call to care for the fatherless. I am soooo blessed by you!!

Oh beautiful baby girl, you are sooooo LOVED by many...you will get your surgery...sooooo overwhelmed...I can't believe it!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

Since we are funded, it's time to announce the winner of the
Pure Religion Bag.....

The Winner is.....

JENNIFER STRANE

Congratulations...your bag will be in the mail shortly!!

Thank you everyone for helping sweet Heather!

Reckless Faith

2011-03-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

I've shared Beth with you all before here. But she's has a new video...no words needed...just watch and be MOVED!! How can I...how can YOU capture the heart of an orphan? The bottom video is still by far my most favorite one of her....pause my site music and be blessed and empowered to change the world one orphan at a time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Use me Lord...please use me!

Adoption Crisis in Ethiopia

2011-03-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

I am asking and pleading that you lift the international adoption program in Ethiopia up to our Lord.

Last week the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children's, and Youth Affairs announced their intention to reduce intercountry adoptions by 90% beginning March 10, 2011.

The Ministry’s plan for a dramatic reduction is apparently based on two primary issues;

1) the assumption that corruption in intercountry adoption is systemic and rampant and;
2) the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom intercountry adoption is not an option.

This new ruling will greatly impact families that are already matched with children but it will also be a devastating impact for ALL orphaned children in ET. Please pray for the Lord's perfect will to prevail...pray for wisdom for the Ethiopian law makers...pray for the babes who's lives will literally be changed forever by this new ruling....pray for any corruption with Ethiopian adoptions to subside so more children can be protected!

The Joint Counsel for Emergency Campaign for Ethiopia Children has created a petition...please read it and SIGN THE PETITION HERE!

One more UPDATE before...

2011-03-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

3/11 UPDATE: We are ONLY $85 AWAY!!!!!!!!

I hit the ground racing for baby Heather! I AM ONLY $365 away from reaching my goal for her surgery!!!!

4 months ago, I began training for a full marathon...26.2 (and DON'T forget the .2 either!!) Many people asked me why in the world would I want to do something like that...wwweeelllll....it's all for HER........

Ohhhh, just look at her beautiful smile! Sweet baby Heather needs to have surgery for her cleft lip and palate. Because she also has Hep B, special care needs to be taken when & where she can have her surgery which is why I am raising funds for her. Babies that are cleft affected often have a hard time receiving proper nutrition because they can't drink from a normal bottle. Because of this, the nannies have to spoon feed them their formula and it's very time consuming!

Sooo, to help raise the remaining funds, I am doing a Love Offering Raffle!!! For every $5 donated, you have a chance to win one of our

NEW PURE RELIGION Bags

...they are sooooo cooool :)
Don't forget ALL donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!

Click here to donate and I'll enter you in the drawing to win one of these...

Hurry on over and love on this sweet baby girl who's basic need is something we would never deny our own child. We are talking Pure Religion folks...caring for the fatherless...James 1:27

Love you guys!

Side note: It has been brought to my attention that when a sponsor receives a thank you note, it states that their donation went into the general account. This is for tax purposes only. Please rest assured that your donations are going to directly Baby Heather's surgery.

2 weeks away...

2011-03-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

WOW...I can't believe it....I am only 2 weeks away from my running my first marathon! What a crazy feeling...I'm excited, nervous, ready, doubting, sad, super crazy excited, in disbelief...hehehehe...what a ride!

But you know what's been soooo awesome??? All of you!!!! All of your prayers...all of your financial support...it's blessed me so much! Honestly, it's what has kept me going through this intense training! I am sooo close to my financial goal which means sweet baby Heather is close to being funded for her surgery!! Thank you my amazing, loving friends!

I am doing all of this for this beautiful treasure...this sweet one who needs surgery and Love Without Boundaries has blessed me with the honor of running for her and raising funds for her medical care...what a gift!

So precious baby Heather...I'm running my heart out for you & when I get tired & feel I can't press on, I WILL because you are LOVED & you are a beautiful gift...God's perfect treasure!

For any last minute sponsorships for this wonderful treasure, click HERE.

So overwhelmed...

2011-02-25T06:33:00.000-08:00

As I look at my sidebar and gaze at the faces of my beautiful babes, I am overwhelmed with the amazing, miraculous treasure that each of them are. Each of their stories are extraordinary and I have a hard time accepting the beautiful gifts that the Lord has given me.

What have I done to deserve this love?

Just look at all those little one's piled up...I could have never dreamed this big!! They make me laugh, they make me cry...they fill me with indescribable joy, they make me want to pull my hair out...they make me feel young and old at the same time...they are my everything!! To think that I could have missed all of this takes my breath away...Thank you Lord for being so clear...Thank you for petitioning our hearts until we obeyed and heard You! Thank you for filling my cup to overflowing...an overflowing that I didn't even know was possible.

2 more babes...

2011-02-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

added to our advocacy blog and 2 babes who's forever families have found them...YAY GOD!!!!

Spread the news about these precious waiting treasures!

www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com

A plea for help!

2011-02-25T03:05:00.000-08:00

Our very precious friends are adopting the sweetest little guy from a country I can't mention ;) This sweet family has had their share devastation, hope, & joy on this journey. When they committed to adopt sweet Zion, they also committed to adopting his baby brother. Tragically the baby died a few months ago...they have grieved their sweet baby and press on to get their other son, Zion, HOME.

Mama Kim just returned home from the un-named country and sweet Zion is VERY ill and needs to get home immediately. Would you please pray for protection over Zion, a speedy approval, the remaining urgent financial needs....See her email below:

Hi Friends,
We want to thank all of you who have encouraged us, supported us, and prayed for us with our current adoption of Zion from xxxx. I just returned last week from xxxx, and was able to meet Zion for the first time and spend three days with him. It was love at first site. This little boy is nothing short of amazing. He has such a sweet, sweet spirit, and a kind and tender heart. My friend Erin traveled with me, and she is in the process of adopting Zion’s sister Freedom and his brother Ezekiel. We had a great time with them, and it was soooo hard to leave!

When I was in xxxx, I had the feeling that something was not right with Zion’s health. He has come from a remote village that is extremely poor, and before he came to the orphanage 3 months ago, he didn’t have access to much food at all and his water supply was cloudy and dirty. He was taken in to the orphanage along with his brother and sister, and they have been able to eat much more regularly. His stomach is still very distended and hard, and he gets fatigued pretty easily. Also, his right leg and right arm are much longer than the left, and he walks with a painful limp. I couldn’t shake that there might be something going on with his health more than just malnutrition. I took some pictures of him without clothes, hoping to show them to the international adoption doctor here when I got home. On the plane ride home, we spent some time talking to a missionary doctor, who looked at Zion’s picture and felt that there was some sort of nuero-muscular disorder going on, and felt too that it was more than just malnutrition.

When I got home, I consulted with xxxx, a respected doctor in xxxx who deals with international adoption medical issues. He feels that Zion definitely has a condition called Hemihypertrophy, which is a condition where one side of the body grows at a much more rapid pace than the other side. He said that the problem that can occur with this condition, besides being uncomfortable to walk, etc. is that the internal organs on the right side of the body can grow at an unnatural rate, and become enlarged, and with this condition comes a higher risk for childhood cancer. Ideally, children with this condition should be screened for cancer every 3 months from the time they are infants until they are 7 years old. Zion is almost 6 years old, and obviously, has never been screened. In addition, his medical check up in xxxx noted that his spleen is enlarged and palpable, and this is of concern to the doctor here. xxxx is making an appeal to the US Visa office, to get Zion home immediately, in order to get the medical attention he needs.

Right now we are in the process of getting Zion an expedited passport, and making appeals to the Visa office to get him home on a medical visa. Time is of the essence, to get him the treatment he very much needs. In a normal scenario, the adoption would be completed sometime in April or May, but we are hoping to be able to get him home in March, due to his medical needs.

In order to bring him home, we need to raise an additional $3,000 by March. The needs are $404 for a visa, $300 for court decree in xxxx, $870 for the UCSIS process, and $1500 for travel to get him. We have been doing fundraisers like crazy, and doing everything we can to bring this little guy home. If you are interested in helping us reach our goal, please visit our website www.bridgetozion.com and you can donate via the chip in button on the site. If you are in need of a tax deduction, you can make out your check to Project Global Hope, and mail it to us at 15710 Streamview Court, Riverside, CA 92504 and we will forward your check to them. If you know anyone who might be interested in giving, please feel free to forward this email to them.

Please know that we covet your prayers, and are so thankful for your love and support!

Sincerely,
The Phillips Family
www.bridgetozion.com

More beautiful news!!

2011-02-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'm in tears as I type this...we just got back from the urologist. Solomon's kidneys, bladder, and urinary tract are all in great condition and functioning beautifully....meaning when he's ready, he will be able to potty train just fine!! This is so unheard of with these sweet treasures...I still can't believe it. We will continue to watch his kidneys closely but all looks great!

Just so humbled that the Lord continues to bless and protect our family in ways I could never imagine.

Cincy week 2

2011-02-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

We are beginning our second week in Cincinnati and all is going well. We have begin our round of urology testing and are anxious to hear test results later this week. We are still in awe of the news we received last week...it's truly only something our Lord could have done!!!

We have been blessed with some AMAZING visits with some incredible friends!!!
-Thursday we were blessed to visit with the precious family we met while in China...the one's that adopted two 3 year old boys at once...they also have another 3 yr. old son. So needless to say Solomon had a BLAST playing with his buddies and mama absolutely loved seeing Todd and Jane again!!!

-Friday through Sunday...this will have to be a post all by itself once I get home. I am still reeling with emotions. I was given one of the most beautiful gifts...I was united with my very best friend Lisa. We haven't seen each other in 19 years!!! Oh how I've missed her. More to come for sure!!!!

-Sunday afternoon...We had an awesome visit with Teddy's family. They are almost DTC. Teddy and Solomon were buddies in the orphanage!! What a precious, precious family...LOVE them to pieces!!!! We were also able to meet with another Jinjiang mama & daughter. Adelie has been home for 3 years. Her mama brought pictures of Adelie in the old orphanage and guess who I saw in the crib with Adelie??? DALTON!!!! Sweet beautiful little Dalton!!! That means that all the boys where crib and room mates with her...it was such a surreal feeling to see him running around with an orphanage buddy...sooo cool!!!

We are missing our family very much and can't wait to be home..daddy is doing an amazing job!!!

Only our Divine Healer!!!

2011-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Solomon, big brother, & I have been in Cincinnati since Tuesday. We hit the floor running early Wed. morning for testing...in fact the entire trip will contain LOTS of testing and bowel management week. For those of you new to my blog here is where we first shared about Solomon's medical needs. Many have asked why Cincinnati and all I can say is that they are the ONLY Pediatric Colorectal team in the world. They are the absolute BEST and have by far the most experience and knowledge in this field. We wanted to give Solomon the best care and best chance at successful bowel management as possible. The Lord clearly paved the way for this trip and we are excited to be here.

The purpose of this trip was to get a clear understanding of what was done in China surgically and what the prognosis was for the future. There are many complications that can come with a child born with imperforate anus including a tethered spinal cord, kidney issues, incontinence, etc.

Today we received the most amazing, MIRACULOUS news...news that left the dr. and staff in shock and pure happiness. You see...our precious boy is only the FOURTH child in ALL of the children they've seen adopted from China that does NOT need a corrective redo surgery!!! A precious little boy that has been held in the palm of the Lord's hand from the very beginning...a little miracle that WILL be able to obtain continence...a little boy that from a medical perspective was not going to be able to have normal functioning bowels...TODAY we have been told otherwise.

What a journey this has been...absolutely in continual awe of all that the Lord continues to do for our little man!!!! We will be continuing with more testing next week with the urology team and we are hopeful for more good news! Thank you so much for covering our family in prayer!!!,

My best friends

2011-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

The blessing of my precious sisters and amazing mama is something that is hard to put into words. They are a gift that is unbelievably priceless. I love you girls so much & can't imagine my life without you.

Happy Birthday Rene! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us this year! LOVE YOU!!

Chinese New Year pics

2011-02-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

My babes...Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Waiting Treasures and our NEW advocacy blog...

2011-01-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

You all know my heart for the orphan and my passion for advocating...well...all these beautiful babes below are waiting for their forever families....could it be you...could you be who they are dreaming of???

Click on the pictures and you'll be directed to our NEW advocacy blog :) www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com

The time has come...

2011-01-26T19:54:00.000-08:00

The time has come for all of my bloggy friends that were praying for precious Dalton to swing by their blog...give them some bloggy lovin', and check out their puzzle fundraiser!! You don't want to miss being a part of this.

So many of you became very attached to this sweet one...so many of you invested hours of prayer and advocacy for him...NOW you can FOREVER be a part of his journey home by purchasing a puzzle piece or 2 :) Just think...once Dalton is home, he will look at the puzzle...he will see the beautiful pictures on the front but then mama & baba will turn it over and he will see name after name on the back...he will ask his mama, "who's names are those?" And mama will be able to tell him about every single person who prayed for him...who advocated for him....who LOVED HIM long before he ever came home!!

Sweet, beautiful Dalton...you are LOVED by many!!! You have touched sooo many lives! Did you know that because of you, other children from your orphanage now have forever families coming to get them too!! All because of those names on the back of your puzzles, you were prayed for and will be loved forever. We love you sweet one and can't wait to see you in your family's arms!!!

Okay guys...I better stop now or I won't be able to see my screen through my tears...this boy has my heart! Hop on over...we are talking only $5 a piece to forever change sweet Dalton's life...And I'm talking changing it on soooo many different levels...please help this baby boy home!!

(Dalton & Solomon)

Beautiful brotherhood...a brotherhood perfectly created by our Lord!

Beautiful Meadow...

2011-01-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: WE HAVE A COMMITTED FAMILY!!!! To God be all the glory!!! Please pray for this precious family...pray that all the details are worked out quickly as they begin the paperchase to this beautiful treasure!!

I just have to share with you one of the most beautiful little girls waiting in China. She is 1 and desperately needs her family. Sweet Meadow is being cared for by an amazing foster family...a family that I have been blessed to chat with several times via email. They are american & are caring for 2 sweet treasures.

Here is what they have shared with me:
DOB: Nov. 26 2009
Meadow has had no serious illness'. She has no heart conditions or thyroid issues. She is a very happy, healthy, well-adjusted child. She has been fostered by an American family since shortly after her birth (so only spoken to in English). She cannot sit up or crawl yet. She can hold her own bottle, hold herself up in a 'push up' position, do an 'army crawl', roll around, and LOVES to babble. She plays well independently and also enjoys being with others. She is entranced with lights and loves to rock, sway and bounce to music. She has such a sweet and joyful spirit. She's a good eater. She has no teeth and is eating pureed food. Lots of fruits and vegetables, chicken, beef, eggs, pasta, etc. She drinks soy formula. She's had trouble with frequent spit up, but I found that the soy formula has helped, as well as making her food/drink thicker with rice cereal. We love this little girl, and it's our hearts desire to see her placed in a Godly, loving family. She will be a blessing to anyone who brings her into their home. She has greatly enriched our lives!

Meadow has Downs Syndrome. She is not on the shared list, yet. From the foster family: The orphanage gave us permission to advocate for her (as well as the other Downs kids at the orphanage). She will be put on the adoption list with a committed adoptive family.

The orphanage staff loves this little girl very much and desperately wants her to have a forever family.

WILL YOU PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD about Meadow? For anyone wanting more information, please have them email me at wearechinabound@gmail.com

1 Year ago today...

2011-01-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

we received an email...an email that forever changed our lives...

...an email with a picture of a beautiful little boy...a little boy that was meant for us to help advocate for...but the second I saw his precious face...I KNEW...I JUST KNEW HE WAS MEANT TO BE OUR SON...then daddy saw his sweet face and he KNEW...he knew he was ours...

Sweet, sweet boy...it's been a year since the Lord placed you in our hearts...hard to believe you've been home for 4 months now!! We love you so much!

**I was asked a fabulous question since posting my original post. I was asked, "How did I KNOW he was ours?" Often time people will say 'I just knew' and I never understood it but now, now I do :) Hmmmm, where to start....Dh & I knew we wanted to adopt again but we were hit extremely hard with the sinking economy. We weren't sure how we could afford to adopt anytime soon. Oddly enough, we had just spent the weekend talking about adopting again & realizing we just couldn't afford it. We committed to praying about it but knew we'd have to wait a while. That Monday, I felt a very heavy burden to pray for dh's work (he's self employed)...I even prayed boldly that if the Lord wanted us to adopt sooner than later that he would greatly bless his dh's business that week (he had no idea I was praying this :). Hubby instant messaged me that day & said keep praying...the meeting is going amazing!! You see, he was a meeting about to land a good size account and I HAD NO IDEA!!! As he was instant messaging, I told him what I had been praying that day and he laughed...THEN...I clicked over to my email and there was an email from our agency. They know how much I love to advocate for kiddos so they were asking me to help find a family for this little boy. As I opened the email, my breath was literally taken away...I couldn't speak...I was overwhelmed with emotions & couldn't stop shaking...my heart...my God told me loud and clear....this is YOUR son...I called hubby & he couldn't wait to get home and see him (so not like daddy...he's a planner, a practical one..remember, we had just determined that WE couldn't afford it...as our Lord giggled ;). As soon as dh saw his sweet face, he said "When do we start the paperwork?" Seeing my hubby's heart was HUGE confirmation to me on so many levels. Now...I will say that I have looked at thousands of beautiful waiting children...I've helped advocate for many, but NEVER have I been so taken at first site.

Soooo, in the shortest way possible...that's how I knew ;)

80 degrees...

2011-01-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

Yes folks...I'm talking about our good 'ole Southern California weather...it's January and my kids are playing in the sprinklers!!! Another 'first' for our boy :)

And since we are breaking all of the January rules...how about building gingerbread houses AFTER Christmas :) Hey...they were only $1.99 at Micheal's and she bought it with her own money...LOL!

So what crazy, out-of-the-ordinary things are you doing in January??

Solomonbeads.com

2011-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

Woohooo....new items have been added! Just so blessed by God's continual provision for our sweet Solomon. Can't wait to post pics. of our Pure Religion BAG!!!! They will be here any day!!!!

Think VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Solomonbeads.com

A family in need...

2011-01-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have heard about precious Davids & the urgent need for a family since his first family backed out...leaving his without a forever family 2 weeks before he ages out!! Beautiful news...HE HAS A FOREVER FAMILY!

Will you please stop by this blog and keep up to date on how you can pray for his new family. The Lord is going to have to MOVE the mountains to allow all of this to happen so quickly!! Spread the word...surround this family and sweet boy in prayer.

Urgent Prayer Request!!

2011-01-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

I just received an email from sweet friends that are in Cincinnati right now for testing with their 4yr. old son "S". He has the same medical needs as Solomon...they came home with him just as we were leaving for China.

We are calling all prayer warriors...they have just discovered that their precious son actually only has 1 kidney and that kidney is "in the last stages before complete renal failure. There is a number we are following-30. This is where he is now. Renal failure and dialysis start at 30. Healthy people are between 90-120. Of course I asked about transplants and the answer is no. He is not healing enough to get one, and his body will soon reject. If his numbers can be maintained perhaps in a few years..."

This beautiful families loves the Lord and is pleading with our God to heal their sweet babe.

I would be lying if I said this news didn't upset me...in fact, it made me ill & worry for their sweet "S" and our precious Solomon. We knew this could be a possibility for Solomon...we've seen this with several other kiddos with this same birth defect. We have prayed and hoped for the best diagnosis for Solomon but he is completely in the Lord's hands. But my mama's heart is worried...plain & simply worried...worried for our son and worried for our friends son. But don't let my worry fool you ;P In my worry, I do COMPLETELY TRUST my God...the Creator of all things...the Creator of my baby boy!

There are several complications that come with this special medical need...tethered spinal cord, kidney issues, etc. All needs that we have prayed the Lord would protect Solomon from. The testing we will go through in the Cincinnati in early February will help answer a lot of questions.

Would you please join us in praying for God's complete healing for "S" and guidance for his family...for peace as they wait to see all that the Lord has planned for their son?? Thank you so much!!!!

Can it be....

2011-01-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Is it even possible to be more amazed after my post yesterday?????

Okay...so I should be schooling the kiddos right now but I can't...I can't stop singing praises to my Lord...I just got off the phone with the insurance dept. regarding our trip to Cincy for Solomon. I wanted to figure out how much we would need while we were there so we could pray very specifically. But our God is amazing....we will not need ANYTHING while we are there. They will first bill our insurance and then bill us once we are home. So, we will have most likely have some steep bills BUT I won't need those funds to be able to get Solomon the care he needs. The bills will come later.

Ahhhh, all of the beautiful pieces the Lord has bought together...
~His promise to provide every penny for our adoption costs
...we knew it would be a long journey of total faith...we knew He would provide what we needed exactly when we needed it...not ahead of time and nothing extra...we knew He would be providing all the way up until we boarded the plane and He did....we were literally receiving funds while we were flying to China...our money for the plane tickets came in 24 hours before we were suppose to board the plane

~His promise to provide insurance for our son with 'pre-exisiting' conditions
...our travel to bring him home was delayed and we were so sad BUT THAT DELAY allowed us to land home on Sept. 17th...on Sept. 23rd the new policies re: pre-exsisting conditions in children changed and our baby boy was approved for health insurance...health insurance that made Cincinnati IN-NETWORK!!! Health insurance that we could afford!

~His promise to provide for our travel and medical expenses
...He provided enough frequent flyer miles through a friend that our tickets didn't cost us anything!! He's allowing our insurance to be billed first for Solomon's 2 week trip at Cincinnati hospital...no money needed up front!!
...He continues to allow our beads to be sold as a way to provide for those extra costs

Please be encouraged...if God has called you to bring your child home, He will provide...REST and TRUST in His perfect plan....rest & trust the He will provide in HIS way and in HIS timing. Allow yourself to be molded & shaped for His glory. It might be a little painful & scary but what better hands could you be in??

Stand Amazed...

2011-01-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

When Solomon found us, God impressed very deeply in our hearts that He would provide ALL the funds needed for his adoption. He also very clearly told us that He would also provide for his medical needs but that we needed to take one day at a time and trust Him.

We all watched in absolute amazement as He miraculously provided (through many of you) the funds needed to bring our boy home. I honestly still can't find adequate words to describe that journey! I have resolved that there truly aren't words to describe all that the Lord did in me...did in my family...to bring my boy home.

So, here we are...Cincinnati itinerary in hand...plane tickets needing to be bought...thousands of dollars needed for our sweet son to see the world's best & only pediatric colorectal team in the world....Solomon & I are 4 weeks away from traveling to Cincinnati and I ~~worry~~ ~~wonder~~ okay...worry...there, I said it...worry about how will we buy the plane tickets....how will we pay the medical bills. I tell ya...God must shake His head at me & think "Yea of little faith...look at all I have just done & you still worry???" Yes, we have insurance but it's a PPO which means we have a $1000 deductible...which means they will only cover part of the expenses...how much will they actually need in 4 weeks...I don't know...how will we buy the plane tickets we need just to get there...I don't know...can hear it...hear God gently, lovingly but firmly telling me "It's not for you to know but I know and that all you need to know!!"

THEN just as my Lord does...TODAY...He provided our plane tickets...both mine and Solomon's...paid...reserved...DONE!!! Friends from church heard of our need and gave us their frequent flyer miles...I stand amazed!!

So what now...we still need the money to pay the hospital bills but once again, God has given me His perfect peace He will provide for our baby boy because He is our provider...He is our Jehovah-Jireh! He alone!!!

Announcing....

2011-01-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Our new Solomon Beads store!!!

(thanks to hubby :)

Hop on over and check out all of our products...new one's will be added weekly! Proceeds from sales will go towards Solomon's high medical expenses.

Also...check out our new SOLOMON BAG!!!

We'd be honored and blessed if you'd share our site with your family and friends. Also, I'd love to hear what you think...what you love...what we should change...what you'd like to see...