Seeds

I thought I might fill you in on how we got started on this adoption adventure. It seems that it has been so long since I have talked about our "story" that I thought I might get back to the whole reason I started this blog. . . .

In the 80's I had seen a news program or documentary on the population control measure known as the "One Child Policy" in China. The program had emphasized that since the enforcement of the policy that a lot of baby girls were being abandoned. It was very sad and confusing for me to hear that girls were not as valued in the Chinese culture as boys were. I was the oldest of three girls, and even though my sisters and I didn't always get along, I couldn't imagine life without one of them. Boys carry on the family name and help to take care of their parents in their old age in China. And with the financial struggles that existed in the country at that time it was very important for a family to have a son. If their first born child was a girl they might abandon that baby girl somewhere and try again for a boy. That just baffled me and my heart was spoken to. I was about 13 when that seed was planted.
I can remember when Lyndal and I were dating I would say that I wanted a little Asian baby. We would laugh a little about it, but I would continue to bring that up every once in a while. We went on to have two children born to us. When our youngest was about 4 we decided to have more children. We decided to have another biological child and then start the application process for our fourth baby - a girl. Ethan was about 6 months old when we began the paperchase for our fourth child.
While we were in the process of dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't' we were matched with a "buddy family." A "buddy family" is a family who has been there and done that and can be there for emotional support and answer questions. We had requested a family that had a son about the same age as Conner. Conner was a little skeptical about the whole thing and not too sure about adding another sibling, besides, "Chinese people eat dogs" he said. He also had told us that he didn't like to stand out and he knew that if we had a daughter who might not look too much like us that our family might be "looked at." So, we were matched with a WONDERFUL family who had 3 children born to them, and one adopted daughter (they now have three adopted children and are in the process of adopting thier fourth - YAY)! Their second son is a year older than Conner. We planned to meet at the zoo with several other adoptive families one day so we could all get to know each other. Our family was like a sponge. We were just soaking up every ounce of "adoptiveness" we could get that day. One of the families we met has two adoptive daughters and are waiting, now, on their third. This family has really touched my heart and I have never felt that God has put two families together as he did our two that day. They were just such special people and their daughters were such a joy to be around. That day was also huge for Conner. He really observed how our "buddy family" treated each other and handled the glances from bystanders at being a conspicuous family. As we were parting ways, Conner said, "I think I am going to be OK with this whole adoption thing. I think it's going to be cool."

This was us when we first started our adoption process . . .

Stay tuned for more . . .

So, Who Are You?

I'm so excited! My little blog has reached over 600 on the counter thing on the bottom of the page! But, I am just curious . . . who are you that reads my blog? What do you like about it? What brings you here? Leave a comment so I can "see" you!

I Cook Therefore I Stink

Here we go. Now, this wasn't too bad in my opinion. It turned out to be kind of a "clean out the freezer night" but I hadn't intended it to be. So, I had some Schwan's beef tips and gravy, no mashed potatoes (which is what I was planning to use), so I used bread, and I knew I needed some color so I cooked some green beans. Meat. Starch. Vegetable. What more do I need? The kids picked at it a little bit asking questions like "what is this?" "have we had this before?" "how many bites do I have to eat?" You know, that sort of thing, or the usual dinner time questions at our house. (At normal people's houses the questions and statements are more along the lines of: What did you do today dear? This is delicious mother, did you make it from scratch? Will you teach me how to make this? I made a 100 on all my school work today mother and father! Will you make this every night?! What no leftovers?! I was going to take this to my teacher tomorrow!)
Anyway . . . . Ethan, our darling 3 year old, takes his plate, puts it in the sink, comes back to us, and says, and I quote, "I don't eat poop." I was not offended, I understood.

Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da New Trumpet Player, Little Brother, and Little Sister

I'm having a full circle moment . . . Conner has started playing the trumpet this year. Yes, I am excited! (I was a major band geek in high school. "This one time at band camp . . . ") However, I am NOT pressuring him at all. I want his taste for this art to develop on it's own. He has a great sound. So, after school it gets pretty noisy with Conner playing the two, now three notes he knows, Ethan singing whatever words pop into his head, and Carlie screaming at the top of her lungs. But it is oh, so much fun!
The way they teach band has changed since 1981-82, or maybe it was because I went to a smaller school. Conner is in a class with nothing but trumpet players. I'm just curious to know how this will all work out when they play their concerts, I'm not worried! It is, after all the great Renigade Regiment of the Union Public Schools that he plays for! I KNOW they know what they are doing. Have you EVER seen Renigade Regiment?! They rock the house! Bring it on!!
Does anyone else notice that he only has on one sock? Hm. Me, too. Not sure what to think about that.

Please Pray for Susannah

Click on the title of the blog entry.

This sweet baby girl needs our prayers right now!  She is very, very sick and needs to be given legal custody to her adoptive parents so they can bring her to the US for medical care.  My heart just breaks for this family!  But I know that God can move mountains and that prayer changes things.  Please say a prayer for Susannah and her parents.  

Update - Hurricane

Thank you to everyone who said a prayer. My sister's family and their house made it through with flying colors! They were only without power for about 22 hours. My brother-in-law's cousin made it through as well - he was stuck in Galveston. The cousin and his family lost everything. There was water up to the ceiling in their houses. They are feeling very lost right now, but we are very thankful that everyone is safe!

Hurricane

If you are reading this please say a prayer for my sister, brother-in-law, their family, and my brother-in-law's cousin's family. Most of them are in Katy, Texas, but Garrick, my brother-in-law's cousin could not get out of Galveston. He is in the 2nd story of the bank where he works. Please pray that they are all safe, that they do not lose communication for very long if at all, for peace in the house in Katy (there are four kiddos, and four adults riding this out), and that they will all be reunited very soon.

Hope

. . . . and then Nicci found a ladybug on Monday.

No More Questions

This past Sunday was a day that doubts and questions reared their ugly head in my head. It started in our Community Groups when we were talking about desires and how God wants to give us the desires of our hearts if our hearts are in line with God. For instance, if I desired to be a drug addict would God give me that? Of course not! He loves me, he sees the big picture, he has my best interest at heart. So, it just made me think that what if our desire to adopt this baby from China, an orphan, isn't God's desire? I know it sounds a little crazy, but with the long wait and everything it just makes me think that maybe this isn't what we are supposed to be doing. Even though we are already very aware of the 'miracle of adoption' through our own process and watching others, sometimes I doubt. So, my head is swimming with these thoughts, and I am just a little beside myself that maybe we are supposed to jump ship. Then we get to the sanctuary and Praise and Worship starts (I love the praise music in our church) and the third song we sing is "He Knows My Name." It's been on here before, but I don't get tired of hearing it or singing it. That is THE song that fits our situation, the words are for Avery and for us and all the doubt washes away.

The Wait

So, how do we cope with the VERY long wait for our baby girl from China? When we started this process it was taking about 6 months from LID to referral. Now, it is taking about 30 months! WOW! That is a HUGE jump in wait times. Fortunately, we are very blessed in that we have biological children of our own and they keep us very busy. However, we are still waiting for our family to be complete, and that leaves sort of an Avery shaped hole. We are happy to get to know other Dillon families, other adoptive families, and are having fun researching our daughter's birth country. The Olympics were so eye opening and beautiful and magnificent. I will have to admit that when I heard the amount they spent on the Opening Ceremonies I couldn't help but wonder how many orphanages could have benefited from that $$, but that's another post for another time. At any rate, the Olympics very much helped us in our wait, renewed our excitement.

My husband and I used to have Chinese Fridays. We would order Chinese food and watch this show on CCTV about travel in China. We need to pick that back up. Our two older kids haven't found any Chinese food they like, so that's why we did Chinese Fridays while they were in school.

Our current bedroom situation has our two sons, ages 11 1/2 and 3, in one room together, and our two daughters, ages 8 1/2 and 11 mos., in one room together. Those are pretty big age gaps, right?! So, we are in the process of reorganizing rooms in our house so the two older ones have their own room and the two younger ones will be in a room together. Our formal dining room, which we never used (who really needs one, right?), will now become our home office (which we use A LOT!). Our old office, which is upstairs, will now be our oldest son's room. Then we will move our youngest daughter in with our youngest son. Ethan and Carlie are two years a part. This will then give Nicole her own room. Nicole has lots of Barbie pieces, Polly Pocket pieces, lip glosses, markers, and other small chokeable hazards in her room, not too suitable for Miss Carlie! So, even though we will have a little boy and a little girl in one room together, we think it will work out pretty good to have the two older ones in their own room. Now, Miss Avery will probably stay in our room for a little while, then we will just have to see where she will like to sleep. I'm guessing she may like the hub-bub of her younger brother and sister's room!

My heart longs for her when I read of other families getting their adopted children, when I see something on TV about China, or just trying to think about the future. She is VERY much a part of our family even though we've never met her.

And this is basically how we are coping with the wait!

Guess Where We Went?

The Tulsa Zoo! YAY! It was a little hot, a tad crowded, and at times we got a little grouchy (before lunch), but we had fun! The Tulsa Zoo is perfect. The walkways are wide, you have air-conditioned buildings, it's clean (for a zoo), the zookeepers are very friendly and have lots of information, and it's not too big. Their big attraction this year are the poison dart frogs. This is what Ethan wanted to see the most. He loves them! The Amazon Rainforest building is always my favorite. There are animals up in trees right over your head, birds walking around freely, and lots of really cool exhibits. There's a gift shop right outside the Amazon building that is nice to go in because it is air conditioned. We went in, but told the kids we weren't buying anything. Ethan latched on to a "fishin' poe" despite our statement of no toys. I finally talked him out of it and as we left the store he screamed, "I want a fishin' poe for Uncle Aunt Mary's house!" He screamed and cried from the gift shop to the van. We just laughed and kept moving!