Introducing Mia Grace Rui

We are thrilled to finally be able to introduce our sweet Mia! Her Chinese name is Dang Rui(pronounced Dong Ray) and she is from Nanyang City, Henan. She was born on February 13, 2008 and just turned 15 months old. She was born with a congenital heart defect and will have surgery soon after coming home.

From her reports at 11 months old she is crawling, knocking two blocks together, and pronounces a letter consciously. She is also described as quiet and having a ready smile. Boy is she going to be in for a change when she comes home because our boys are anything but quiet! She is currently in foster care which we consider a true blessing.

It is hard to believe after all these months of waiting and praying we finally have a daughter. She is truly an answer to many prayers and WE are the lucky ones!

BTW we only received three pictures of her and I lovingly refer to her look as the "bundled baby" look. Doesn't she look thrilled? If you look closely under the hat it does look like she has a head full of hair perfect for hairbows!

For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Happy Mother's Day!

Today I am so thankful for the three almost four children who have blessed me with the incredible gift of motherhood. Even with all its ups and downs the joys far exceed the challenges. As I am blogging my boys are upstairs making me breakfast! Strawberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, my Starbucks coffee(yes they went to Starbucks for me this morning!), and toast. Hold on~Dan just came down and asked my if "tsp"means tablespoon or teaspoon~lol!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms whether you are waiting for you first child, busy raising your children, or your children are grown and have children of their own. Enjoy YOUR day!

The AMAZING news we have been waiting for......

After 18 1/2 months of waiting we are thrilled to announce that we have been matched with our daughter!!!!! I cannot share many details until we receive our PA but she is beautiful and we are so very blessed! Oh and in case you are wondering she is, in fact, a "Mia."

Names on my mind

Since first starting the adoption process we have had our future little girl's name firmly chosen . We chose "Mia" because Dan always liked the name "Maria" and when I quickly vetoed it "Mia" seemed like the perfect compromise. Mia also means "mine" in Latin. Silly as it sounds, it starts with an"M" and ends with a "a" like my name. Perfect choice! Or is it?

Three years is a long time to have a name and still be waiting to use it. Lately my mind has been wondering to all the different girl's names that I like. There are so many and unlike the "n" trend we unintentionally used with the boys, most of my girl's names follow the "a" trend. So why would I want to change names at this point? Am I bored with the name "Mia?" Do I need something "new" and "fresh"? Truth be told, this is my one and only chance to choose a name for my daughter and I want to make sure we choose something that we will always love. I don't want to regret her name choice.

On the other hand, the boys refer to her as "Mia", we refer to her as "Mia". Our blog is "Mia makes 6" not "Emma"! I have countless baby items waiting to be used with "her" name on them. I have Christmas ornaments with "her" name on them. What would I do with all this stuff? Would I regret not using our first name choice and end up mourning the name "Mia"?

I can hear a few select people yelling at the computer screen now shouting "are you kidding me, you can't change her name!" Most likely she will remain "Mia" but if I have to wait too much longer my mind could wonder again and "Mia" could end up "Emma".

Patience

Haven't I been patient long enough? I am not a very patient person by nature in regards to waiting. Before I had kids I would say I wasn't a very patient person period. In fact my lack of patience was one of my less endearing qualities. However 3 kids later and an adoption that feels like it has taken an eternity I have certainly had to put patience into practice. Now I just wait for that patience to pay off and I know it will in a big way but oh how I hope it comes soon!

5th grade farewell~a quick look back(in no particular order)

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and preparations are being made for the "5th grade farewell." Every year a special "farewell" party is planned for the 5th graders. This year the kids are going to a local rec center that offers indoor sports and swimming. The school is also making a DVD for the 5th graders of any school activites of the kids and each child will receive a copy. I have been looking through my pictures(most of them are sadly still on the computer) and have found a few to send in. Unfortunately I won't post them here because other kids are in the pictures with Ethan.

It is amazing to me that "six" years(including kindergarten) have passed so quickly and here we are at the end of his elementary school years. As I collected pictures for the DVD I found myself in one of those moments of "where did the time go?" It seems like only yesterday that I was putting him on the school bus (tissues in hand and tears in my eyes) to send him to "real school." That seemed like such a huge step. How did this shy little kindergartener that I felt such a need to nurture and protect from the big 5th graders at school now turn into one?

I will say at the begining of the school year I was in no way prepared to even think of Ethan going to middle school. Is homeschooling an option(not for us)? Tears would well up in my eyes every time I thought about it. I would watch previous 5th graders at their end of the year awards ceremony and I would start to tear up thinking about Ethan one day being at that point. Of course then it seemed so far away and I was just glad it was somebody else's child and not mine moving on to middle school. Well here we are. In what seemed like a blink of an eye. It is OUR turn. OUR turn to prepare and move on to the next stage in life. I am ready(at least most of me is). We are ready(I know Ethan is). Though I am sure when the last day is finally here not only will the tears well up but they will be flowing because this is MY kid.

Easter egg hunt

Does this ever happen to anyone else? Every year my mom counts the eggs, hides the eggs, and even writes down where she hid the eggs~all 43 of them and yet there are always a few that remain "lost." We eventually find them but it takes 4 adults and 3 kids to find the "missing" eggs. Leaving the eggs unfound is not an option because these Easter eggs do not contain candy. Nope these eggs contain money! After an hour or two(just kidding~it only seems like it) every egg is accounted for and every last quarter is counted.

Before Easter service

This look never lasts very long (see previous post) but they did look nice for Easter service.

Coloring eggs

Last night we went to my parent's house to color eggs with the boys. Before coloring eggs we went to church. As we were getting ready for church I had told the boys that since it was Easter service that they were going to have to dress a little nicer for church. Logan said "okay I will wear my jeans and a nice shirt." In his mind this is "dressing nicer" since he wears t-shirts and wind pants EVERY DAY. I told him he had a wear a nice pair of khaki pants and a casual shirt. This was my compromise with him and I thought it was very reasonable. It wasn't like I was asking him to wear a dress shirt and tie! I also told him he would only have to wear his outfit for church and he could change as soon as we got to my parent's house. Honestly you would have thought I was putting him in a dress because of the fit he threw! I have mentioned before that my boys are totally casual and it is quite a feat to get them to ever dress up! In the end Logan wore his "dressier" outfit complaining all the way. As soon as he hit my parent's door he went straight to the bathroom and changed into his "comfy clothes". All was right in his world and mine too!

*Notice the family photo with my boys in their casual wear.

18 months

and still no word. Unbelieveable! Over on the yahoo boards there have been some matches this week and there is also some confirmation from our agency that things are moving at a steady pace. I know we are so very close and that is what is making this process and wait that much more difficult. Not that it has ever really been "easy." My hopes are set for a referral by June but of course sooner would be a welcome surprise. My sanity is at stake here~lol!

Baby news!

The happy couple and the cousin that may be sharing his birthday with the new baby!

No not "our" baby news but definitely as equally exciting! My brother and sister in law are expecting their first baby! My sister in law is due Nov 7 which just happens to be Christian's birthday~another "holiday" baby! When I told Christian his new cousin was due on his birthday he said "does this mean I will still get my birthday card and money from Uncle Chris and Aunt Dana?"

I talked to my brother earlier this morning and we talked about all things baby! Strollers, car seats, the Boppy pillow(remember Chris this is a must), baby poop and even breast pads! I told him I felt strange talking to him about "breast pads" and "leaky breasts" and maybe this is a conversation I should be having with my SIL but he just replied "why?". I figured I might as well give him the low down because he will discover this soon enough!

The parents to be do plan on finding out the gender of the baby at their ultrasound. My brother is insisting that the baby is a boy and I am hoping for a girl. Out of my two siblings I am the only one with children and we all know that my family is full of testosterone for now. We need some PINK in this family! Congratulations to Chris and Dana! I am blowing some PINK baby dust from Ohio to California! Did you catch it?

Spring soccer at its best

Need I say more? It rained all day Friday and the soccer fields on Saturday were a complete muddy mess! We started the morning early with Christian's last indoor game at 7:00am, followed by Logan's first outdoor game at 9:00am, and finally Christian's first outdoor game at 11:00am. What a long and muddy morning! Not to mention that the wind blew nonstop! Where oh where is spring?

Goodbye March!

It has been awhile since I have posted and in a moment you will understand why. March started out great with our annual weekend trip to Kalahari an indoor waterpark. The boys really love Kalahari and so do the adults! It really is a fun mini getaway and the boys always look forward to it. The Monday morning after our Kalahari weekend was typical of any other Monday morning. Dan left for work and the boys left for school. I was pulling out of the driveway to get to the gym after my overindulgence over the weekend and my cell phone rang. Dan was calling and told me "I have some really bad news. I just got laid off." This is never news that you want to hear and it was particulary devastating considering how "close" we are in this adoption among other things. Anyway I won't go into all the boring details because March does end on a high note but it was a very difficult month for us. I called our agency and we went on hold until he could find another job. Remember that high note? He did find another job and he started today! We are back on track with the adoption! Also when I talked to Sarah at our agency she said there are "fewer than 10 families ahead of us!" Great news!

We could not have gotten through any of this without God and the love and support of our families and friends. I know that being out of work for a month is not a long time given how things are in the economy but it was a very stressful time for us. Dan and I as a family feel renewed in our faith. We know it was Him who really carried us through and opened doors of opportunity for Dan to get a new job. It wasn't that we didn't have faith in Him but the way things were orchestrated it could only be Him. Praise God!

You might be adopting from China if......

I found this on an adoption forum and had to laugh about how very true these statements are. Anyone adopting from China can surely relate.

You Might Be Adopting From China If...

~You know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways...

~You've been expecting a baby for over 3 years...

~You understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world...

~You've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S...

~You know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes...

~Your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4)...

~You never know how many days next month will have...

~You know that babies come in batches...

~You've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime...

~You automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl...

~You own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don'tknow when or how big)...

~You look twice when you see a lady bug...

~You're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009...

~You know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months...

~Your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years...

~You know who the Rumor Queen is ... AND ... you don't know who she is...

~You know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather...

~You've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed...

~Trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles...

~When you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals...

And finally...You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart!

Weekend plans

for this kid will hopefully consist of alot of this. We went to the doctors today after a week of what we thought was a cold and she put him on antibiotics for walking pneumonia. So R&R are his only weekend plans.

Much to his dismay this will NOT be part of his weekend plans. He asked the doctor if he could try and play on Saturday. I think you know her answer but it was not the answer he wanted to hear despite feeling miserable!

We are the champions!

That's right! Logan had is championship basketball game last night and they won 33 to 21! The basketball season has officially come to an end! At the end of the game they all got trophies and had their pictures taken to be placed in the gym. Did I have my camera? Nope. Being a first time basketball mom I had no idea that they would get trophies. Also at last weeks game the lighting was horrible and my pictures came out really dark. I either need a better camera or the gym needs better lighting! Actually I think both scenarios are true! One of Logan's friends moms came to the game better equipped than myself (meaning she had a camera) and she graciously agreed to make copies for us.

*This is not a picture from the championship game but after some editing it is decent.

My Valentines

No exciting plans for Valentine's Day for us unless you consider an indoor soccer game followed by a casual dinner exciting. I don't mind at all. Dan wants to choose another charm for my latest obsession~my Pandora bracelet! Now that sounds kind of exciting to me! Happy Valentine's Day!

The neglected blog

Update:Here is the one and only basketball picture. As for Thursday's game we were in a rush to get to the game and I thought I put the camera on the front seat only to realize when we got to the game that I had indeed forgotten it~AGAIN! I do have indoor soccer pictures from Christian's game this morning but his school name is on his shirt and I am not computer savvy enough to figure out how to hide it. I will also post Ethan's game pictures on facebook too because as a parent I would hate to post pictures of another person's child without their permission on a public site. If you are a friend on facebook you can find them there.

Welcome to the "neglected blog"! I seem to have these spurts that I post often and other times that a couple weeks will past before I post. Let me just confess right off the bat that not only have I neglected the blog but I also realized that I have neglected to take pictures of the boys in quite awhile. It is totally pathetic considering Ethan and Christian are both playing soccer and Logan has been playing basketball for a couple of months and yet I have no pictures to share! I did take the camera to Logan's basketball game on Thursday night and as I went to take my first picture the camera battery died! I think I might have got the shot but I don't know how good it was! If it came out I will post it later. Speaking of the game it was a great game! They won 21 to 22! I promise to take the camera to the game this Thursday and to the soccer games on Saturday! Stay tuned for pictures!

Last week the boys all had their yearly doctor's appointments. Ethan weighs 73 lbs, Logan weighs 59 lbs, and Christian weighs 56 lbs! It is funny that Logan and Christian are almost 2 years apart in age yet almost weight the same! Christian has hit a growth spurt recently. All my boys have usually stayed in about the 70-75th percentile (with Christian being a little higher) when it comes to their weight. All is well with Ethan and Logan but Christian will be going to see and ENT for his tonsils. His tonsils have always been larger than average but his left tonsil is so big it is almost goes to the center of his month. He also snores alot so their pediatrician thought with both those issues combined his tonsils may need to come out.

So there is a brief update until I can get some pictures up! This week will be another busy week with practices, church, Valentine's day parties, and volunteering at the school book fair. The boys all have practice tonight. Same time but in three different locations. Not to mention Dan works until 8:00pm tonight. Thank God for my parents who offered to help me shuttle the boys to their various events!