Fall sports

Since July our schedules have been consumed by either football or soccer. This past weekend the football season came to an end. Logan's flag football team had a great season and played HARD in the championship game last weekend! Unfortunately a win was not meant to be and they lost 20 to 13 in overtime. It was a great game and the boys played hard! I am sure Logan will play flag football again next fall but he is a completely different kid on the football field versus the soccer field. Football is much more intense than soccer and he dealt with alot of "nervous energy" as I called it before the games. Chewing nonstop on his mouthpiece during the games, getting up very early in the morning before the game, and being somewhat withheld on the field. I know he felt pressure at times and I am not sure I want him to be experiencing that at the age of seven. I found myself nervous for him at the games just because I could sense how nervous he was. As I have told others "football is a whole different world." We will have to wait to see what next fall brings.

On a lighter side, Logan found this "Under Armour Skull Cap" that he wore to football but continues to wear nonstop with the exception of school. As soon as he gets home or on weekends you will find him with his "skull cap" on. Luckily I have managed to get it off of him a few times to be washed!

Ethan and Christian's soccer season will end in a couple weeks. This was the first season that Christian was old enough to play and though I love watching Ethan and Logan,watching Christian is totally different! When Ethan and Logan first started playing sports they were naturally more intimidated and reserved~this is not Christian! He is aggressive and anywhere the ball goes you will find Christian not too far behind! I love hearing him yell to his teammates, "pass it to me, I'm open!"

The boys have had a great season! I look forward to the spring when all three of them will be playing soccer. It should be a much more relaxed and laid back season compared to the season we just came out of. As I finish this post I hear Logan playing football on the PS2. At least we have a year before the fall football season is here again!

In honor of our 1 year LID~ a new look and a new name!

To celebrate our 1 year LID anniversary I decided it was time for our blog to have a new look and a new name. While we are still "waiting for Mia" we decided that "And Mia makes 6" would be a perfect new name because when Mia joins our family we will be a family of 6 and she will complete our family. I had Sara "bling my blog." I think she did a great job and I love our new look! Thank you Sara!

1 year LID anniversary

It has now been one year since our "official" wait for Mia began. I have one word for today BITTERSWEET. It feels bittersweet because last year I imagined us being in a totally different place than we are today. I thought we would be a few months away from getting Mia not a possible two more years. Still I hold on to my faith and pray that there will be a speed up. This is what gets me through my more difficult days. On a positive note we are one year down.

My first attempt at digital scrapbooking

I have always been interested in digital scrapbooking but like many busy moms had a difficult time finding the time to start. I noticed a post from a fellow adoptive parent on one of my adoption boards and decided to give it a try. It was so easy to do! Now I need to just try to organize my pictures!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Christian's first day of school

All went well with Christian's first day of school and I managed to survive to! I must admit it is a weird feeling to have three whole hours to myself but I am adjusting just fine~no worries here! He is making alot of new friends and loves riding the bus to school with the other kids. I think we are both adjusting nicely!

New family member!

We added a new family member to our house this past week~and IT'S A GIRL! We got a 14 week old shih poo puppy! She is a really good puppy and the boys absolutely adore her! She loves to be around people and is very friendly! The boys chose to name her Maggie. One of the best things about her is because she is a mix between a shitzu and a poodle so she is hypoallergenic and does not shed! She is partially housebroken and we have really been working on fully getting her housebroken. She is doing pretty well despite being in a new environment. Isn't she cute?

Kindergarten blues

We are experiencing the "kindergarten blues" in our household. Christian is so excited to start school tommorow but I have a case of the kindergarten blues. I have been crying on and off the past couple of days thinking about his big day tommorow. I have experienced the kindergarten blues with Ethan and Logan but this time it is different. For now Christian is the baby and it seems harder for me to "let him go" even if it is just for half a day. It feels harder this time because when the older boys went off to school there was always a younger child to tend to and now it will just be me. Don't get me wrong I am sure I will get use to and even enjoy my "me" time but on the eve of him starting school it is hard to think about how different it will be. Also for the past couple of years when the older two went to school it was just Christian and me and I have really enjoyed our one on one time together. He will have the same teacher Logan had and she is wonderful but I feel sad and maybe even a tiny bit jealous that she will be spending "our" time with him. With as busy as our lives seem to be it is going to be harder and harder to find and I know I will miss it. Of course as I said he is only going to be going half day and we will still have our mornings together so that is my bright side. I know that kindergarten is the first step to "real school" and I do not look forward to having my entire day free from my kids. Am I crazy or what? Let's just focus on tommorow. We will cross that bridge next year.

I am just sad to leave this stage of our lives behind for now. On days like this you truly realize how quickly they grow up and long for them to be little and all yours once again.

First day of school

It has been one B-U-S-Y week since school began which is why it has taken me almost a week to update! Unfortunately my camera was acting up that day and while I took pictures I am having trouble uploading them. The boys first day went very well except for the extreme heat. On their first day of school it was 95 degrees with high humidity. It is worth mentioning that their school does not have air conditioning! I am sure for them the heat made it miserable but they both came home smiling and ready for the next day!

The new song on my blog makes me think of my boys while they are away at school. I am always anxious to hear about their day when they come home!

The results of 4 straight days of rain and football practice

Last night Logan had flag football practice despite 4 days of nothing but rain. I should know better from soccer that unless there is lightening there IS practice. The boys had a blast practicing in the mud. There was a lot of slipping and sliding! At the end of the practice the coaches had them do push ups in the mud. I think this was just to ensure that they were extra muddy before they went home~and it worked! Next time I will come better prepared as I had totally forgotten to bring a towel to wipe him off after practice. *Note*~the missing teeth. We are hoping the permanent teeth come in before school pictures.

Tae Kwon Do testing

On Saturday the boys had their Tae Kwon Do testing. Christian tested for his orange belt and Ethan and Logan tested for their first white tip after getting their black belt. Who knew that Tae Kwon Do continues on after you reach your black belt? They all did really well but I could tell the nerves set in when it was time for breaking. Luckily they were able to keep their anxiety under control and break their boards. I am very proud of my boys!

Why God made Moms

My friend Kimberly e-mailed me this and I thought it was amusing and had to share.

WHY GOD MADE MOMS
Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom ?

1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook ? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than Dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time. [This kid is a genius!!!]
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.


What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of Plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

Ripley's Aquarium pictures

Beach pictures

I realized I took 175 pictures in Myrtle Beach so I will share some of our favorites over the next couple days.

Vacation to Myrtle Beach

We went on vacation this year to Myrtle Beach with my sister in law and her family. My niece is 10 and my nephew is 7 and all five kids got along great! The weather was really nice except in the evening it was chilly enough for a light jacket. Must have been the ocean breeze! The kids really enjoyed the beach but loved the pool! Most of our time was spent either by the pool or eating! We visited Broadway at the Beach, Ripley's aquarium, and Barefoot Landing. There is a lot to do in Myrtle Beach but I think next year we will go somewhere else. All in all it was a great vacation!

Summer update

We have been enjoying lazy summer days yet the summer has remained quite busy! I thought for sure that once the boys were out of school our schedule would slow down a bit~WRONG! The boys have been to vacation bible school, swimming lessons, soccer, soccer camp, Tae Kwon Do, and we went on vacation.

I had decided during the summer that I was going to try to focus less on the adoption and more on my family and spending time with them. I still occasionally visit my adoption boards and check out the latest news in the China adoption community but I have really limited my time to maintain some sanity. It looks like at this point that we could still be waiting another 2 years before we receive Mia's referral and to me that is just depressing! I can't believe a year ago when we were at the end of our paperchase we thought we would be traveling in a year or 18 months at the most! It is amazing to me all that has changed in one years time. I will admit there are days I just want to give up and be grateful for the family that I have. I know however if I don't remain strong and on the path that God has put us on there will always be an empty place in my heart that only Mia can fill. This week I was reading adoption stories and I found inspiration in a quote a mother had written about the wait.

"I am doing this not for myself but for my child. This little one is worth waiting for. That child is an orphan, dispossesed and forgotten in a fast moving society, but here, where time seems to stand still, I wait. I have not forgotten about this child. This child is that important to me."

This statement meant so much to me. So often I think about "our" wait and not the fact that Mia will be waiting too. The bond between us has already been formed. As we wait we have prayed for her, loved her, dreamt about her, and planned for her. Our parenting her has already begun. We will continue to wait for her as long as it takes because she is that important and worth waiting for.

Updates and the 7 month mark

Easter pictures

It has been a while since I have updated our blog. I must admit I have been in a bit of an "adoption funk." Last month brought only 2 days of referrals which was very disappointing. I needed to step back from the process for a while and try to focus on other things. Of course my boys have helped tremendously with keeping me busy. Ethan and Logan are both playing soccer. Ethan is playing on two different teams this season. Ethan and Logan are also getting ready to test for their black belt in Tae Kwon Do in LESS than two weeks so there has been alot of extra training involved in preparing for that. Christian is loving his Tae Kwon Do class! More big news~I registered Christian for kindergarten last week~sniff, sniff. It is so hard to believe that my baby is ready to go to school with the big kids! It is also hard to believe that there are less than 4 weeks left of school before summer break! We are so ready for summer!

Our ladybug is back!

I just noticed our little ladybug in our timeline is back. She had "disappeared" for a couple weeks but it seems she found her way back!

We made it to the 6 month mark!

Another month down and we have officially been LID for 6 months! There is something very different about this particular milestone. I am not sure what it is but ever since we were first LID I have looked forward to the six month mark. Maybe because it is halfway to a year and a year really feels like a milestone at this point. Maybe it is because when we first started this process the wait for a referral was about a year. At that time I imagined if I could just make it to the 6 month mark we would only have to wait 6 more months to bring Mia home and that seemed completely doable. Unfortunately, though while I am happy to celebrate this milestone, I wonder how many more "6 month milestones" we will "celebrate" until Mia is home.

As I have reflect back on our journey so far and especially now I am reminded that God is in control and He has the perfect child chosen for our family. In His timing she will join our family and we will know the exact reason why we had to wait. I am confident that when that moment finally does arrive it will all make sense and the wait will be just a distant memory.

Update on Mia's quilt

Good news! No GREAT news! I found someone to create Mia's quilt! One of my best friends Bev is going to do us the honor of making Mia's quilt! It makes Mia's quilt that much more special to us to have such a wonderful friend create this treasure for us and Mia.

Thank you so much Bev for being part of this keepsake for Mia!

NewSong-China Rescue