Thank You Readers!

 Getting a decent family picture these days is mission impossible.  Dan's not ready for the picture, my leg looks goofy because I am trying to pose, Kai is exhausted tired and Bei is bored with it all.  

This is the best family picture we got from Kai's baptism in early April.

I wanted to take the time to thank all the people that have taken the time to read the blog over the years. I don’t take it for granted that you are reading my blog, especially when there are so many well written blogs. My first post to this blog was 3 years ago in April of 2008. It has been such a fun outlet for me. My intent was to tell both warm and interesting stories that people could relate to regardless if they adopted or not. I appreciate the fact that you have indulged me in allowing me to share my foibles and struggles of parenting and you have even let me brag about my little guys. You have all been the best audience and I have received such positive feedback from so many of you. I really thought it was time that I gave you the same and said thank you from the bottom of my heart. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

  

I thought it would be interesting to you to read some of the statistics from the blog;

My blog has been viewed 6,921 times in the past 3 years.

The blog has been viewed in the following countries

• USA

• Netherlands

• United Kingdom

• Russia

• Germany

• Spain

• Japan

• China

• South Korea

• Moldova

 Don’t you wonder how a person in Moldova found my blog? I do! But more importantly don’t you wonder where the heck is Moldova? Okay, I will save you the trouble and share with you what I found on-line, it is an Eastern European Country between Romania and the Ukraine.

Official Followers 

I have 3 official followers that have signed up on blogger to receive emails when I update the blog; 2 people that I know – Thank you Pamela and Tanya, one that I have no idea who it is – Thank you anonymous person. I’m not even sure how to sign up to be a follower on a blog.

There are multiple traffic sources to the blog;

http://www.jonwoldtriplets.blogspot.com/ – This is one of the biggest sources of our traffic! This blog is a friend of mine who has three beautiful triplet girls. Perhaps you remember a picture or two of Bei with the girls. Well on her site, she has my blog listed as one of her frequently read sites. We receive many of our blog hits through her site! So thank you Alison. And thank you to all the Jonwold readers who have checked out our site as well. We appreciate you and hope that you have enjoyed the blog!

http://www.sharinglifeandlove.blogspot.com/ – This is another blog that we are listed as a favorite or frequently read. The author of this blog is a huge advocate for the children in China still waiting for their families. She was an advocate for Kai.  Thank you Erin!

Google .com and then typing in our blog name are other ways people locate our blog. The people that type in my blog name are most likely family and friends.

The most frequently read blog articles that I have written in the past three years are;

1. Ear Surgery Results, posted on January 29, 2011,
2. My Wee Wee Hurts  posted March 13, 2010
3. A blog that had no title on it but was posted on May 6, 2010 - It was our last day in China.

Once again thank you for reading my blog and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!

Love Grows

We are coming up to a year of our anniversary of picking up Kai in China. Even though this has probably been the most physically strenuous year for me, it has also been one of the best years of my life. If I could put a title to these past 12 months it would be simply "Love Grows". Not just for Kai, but for Bei, Dan, my family, and most importantly, my Lord and Savior.

Each time you adopt, it is like opening up a box of chocolates...you just don't know what you are going to get. When we adopted Bei, I was a first time parent. I was expecting that I would love Bei and do all the emotional heavy lifting. He was 2.5 years old, and had gone through many changes in his life already. I imagined I was going to be dealing with a somewhat scarred child. And boy, was I wrong! That little boy SMOTHERED us in unconditional love from day one. The amount of kissing, and physical hugs were unbelievable. His love for us was so unexpected that it blew me away and still does to this day. He must tell me at least 10 times a day that he loves me. He won't be able to comprehend that it doesn't even compare to the amount of love that I have for him, until he has a child of his own. That little boy was made to be mine. I totally "get him" and understand who is and he is just perfect in my eyes.

You all have witnessed us opening our second box of chocolates, when we adopted Kai. There were a few surprises along the way, developmental delay and seizure disorder. From an emotional standpoint, he was a happy child, but he didn’t bond with us immediately. He could have easily left with any person that visited us. Many times while being held by others, he didn’t want to come back to me. What Kai didn’t know was that I had secret weapons in my pocket, called faith and unconditional love. We had been taught the power of unconditional love through God, our parents, and most recently Bei. My faith allowed me to know that there was a purpose and to remain faithful to what God expected of me as Kai’s mother. There were turning points along the way where I saw Kai’s walls break down slowly. One of them was the when he cried real tears instead of his thrashing and arching of the back. Another was when I dropped Kai off to my friend’s house because I had an appointment and he cried and reached out for me. I was so excited I” whoo hoo’d “and it was very hard to leave him that day because I didn’t want him to regress. My friend, Maria, understood because Kai always preferred her over me and she understood the importance of bonding. Slowly but surely, I saw the Kai’s love for us grow, I became his security and he has become a mama’s boy…just how I like my boys! I am crazy in love with that little boy and I am still falling deeper and deeper in love with him. He makes my heart sing and my eyes well up in tears because he is so incredibly special. God knew what he was doing because Kai was so meant to be my son.

This is a picture of Kai that I took last night.  Doesn't he look like a big boy?

One of the first days with our Kai Kai Sweetie Pie!

Fighting the Green Monster...

The picture speaks for itself!

This is a picture from one of our Saturday Night Dance Parties!  

I really owe a blog on what a wonderful dad Dan is!   These are two very lucky little boys to have a dad like him.  He is really one of the best!



I usually do not have an envious bone in my body.  If people have a bigger and nicer home than me, great, I am happy for them.   If they drive a nicer car, more power to them.   I just don't really care about material things very much.  However, I have to confess to being a little envious of the adoption mom's that I see going back for their 4th, 6th or 12th child.  Many of these parents also adopted in 2010 and I follow their blogs.   I would LOVE to have a third and possibly fourth child, but believe me we are not going back to China any time in the near future...just ask Dan.   One of the things that you read/hear alot in the adoption world is "we thought our family was complete, but God had other plans for us and we are just following His calling" or "God told me that child X was mine and so we went to China and picked her up."    I am not only jealous that these parents are getting more kids, but I am jealous that they have a direct phone line to God.   It would make my life alot easier if God would just tell me "Liz, a child is waiting for you in China, go and get her".   All I would have to do is go to Dan and tell him, "Hey, you don't want to mess with the Big Guy upstairs, we are called to follow when He leads, we are headed to China, buddy!"   It would make all of Dan's arguments of finances and adoption moot.  I would just hold up my hand and say "talk to the Big Guy upstairs."   Anyway, I got to thinking the other night, maybe I am missing what God wants me to do because I wasn't praying correctly and "listening" to God.   I decided I was going to do it "right" this time, and actually get down on my knee's, bow my head to pray and talk to God.   I had just cleaned the wax out of my ears so if God spoke to me directly, I was surely going to hear it.    Just as I said, I knelt at my bed, bowed my head and spoke to God; "Thank you for the two wonderful children that you have given me.   I love them with all my heart and soul.   But God, are there other children that you want me to parent?   And then I heard it, it was a very distinct but kind of loud "NO!"   "But why God? I want to have another child"   And then I heard Him again say very distinctly  "Think of our finances Liz...uh...I mean think of your finances"   Hmmm...God's voice sounds somewhat familiar, I have heard it before.   "But God, I think we will be able to afford it, I really want another child"   "We need to retire at some point"   "Me and you God, retire?"   The voice comes back and it says, "you know I mean,... you and Dan".  This voice not only sounds familiar but disguised, I am starting to have doubts about the authenticity of God's voice and I lift my head up and I see barefeet sticking out behind a curtain...."Is that you Dan? "   Obviously, I am kidding, but you get my picture...God's not talking to me and Dan is keeping his eye on our financial future...imagine that from a guy who works in the Financial Services industry.  

Truth be told, if Dan wanted to go back right now and get another child, I would force him to see a psychiatrist!    But, I do have to admit that when I saw more and more of the adoption mom's that I follow going back for more children I did get that twinge of envy.  I am envious that they have the energy, and the resource to add more children to their lives.   I don't feel like my energy and resources are depleted, instead I feel that my energy needs to be focused on the children that God has already given to me.   I have come to terms with the fact that we may be done (or maybe done for right now) building our family through adoption and can be truly happy for the children being adopted and the families adopting them.  

  

Enjoy the Pictures!

Bei was a seal at his pre-school circus.   His Aunt Jeannine, Cousin Elizabeth and Grandma Sandy were all there to cheer him on.

Bei thought making the snow look like hot lava was fun!

Kai is eating up all the attention from his cousin Elizabeth and Aunt Jeannine

 

Here are some pictures of the kids with their cousin Elizabeth.   She showed us a fun website to jazz up our pictures.   We enjoyed playing with the functions and we even let Bei create his own picture.   Hope you enjoy! 

Blogs that I Read cont'd

 

I am ready to finish sharing with you the blogs that I go to most often.   I check a whole bunch but these are the ones that keep me coming back.

 

 

www.bakerssweets.blogspot.com

 

The above blog is probably the most honestly written blog that I have read.   Nicole writes about the good, the bad and the ugly.   When you are willing to write about the bad and the ugly you have to be open to people making comments and judgements.    They just adopted Ava in 2010 and they are going back for another child this year.  Nicole also writes about controversial things like "Adoption Revolution" which I am not sure I fully understand, except that these people are committed to adopting a ton of kids.   The blog is interesting and I don't agree with everything Nicole writes but I appreciate her willingness to be so honest on her blog.   You don't find that very often. 

 

 

www.somewhereinvirginia.blogspot.com

 

 

I came across Cheri's blog on a China Forum called Rumour Queen.   She was quite upfront that she and her husband went to China in 2008 (?) to adopt, but terminated (called Disruption in the adoption community) the adoption while in China.   She was the first person that I had ever heard openly admit to disruption.   I was amazed at how courageously she answered people's questions and how open she was about it.   Disruption is a bad word in the adoption community.   They requested another child in 2009 and thought that the Chinese Government would turn them down, but instead they said yes.   So they went and got Ivy.   Okay, I am not one of those types that falls in love with children through a picture, but I have to say the minute that I saw Ivy's picture I wanted to make sure that she had a loving momma and family.   So I watched Cheri's blog as she went and got Ivy and knew that they were going to be a great family for her.   Cheri homeschools her kids, and appears to have a great relationship with her husband.   I enjoy her blog and hope you do too. 

 

 

www.talesof2princesses.blogspot.com 

 

www.johnpamelablock.blogspot.com

 

 

Beth and Pamela both adopted in 2008 with us.  You may remember Lily from my blog because she was the one that we were so concerned about her health.   Pam and John went back again in 2010 and adopted another little girl from the same orphanage as Lily.   Her name is Anna and she was being passed over because of her serious medical condition.  I don't remember the name of it, but it is when your bladder is on the outside of your body.   Anna had already lived 4 years like that and desparately needed surgery along with a loving family.   I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Pam and John saved that little girls life.   One infection that would have gone systemic could have killed that little girl.   Anna underwent 15 hours of surgery.    Believe me when I tell you that Pam is a mountain mover.  She got Anna within 4 months of receiving her referral.   It is unheard of and only Pam could pull it off! 

 

Beth also adopted in 2008 and the little girls name is Chloe.  She is from the same orphanage as Bei and is about 9 months younger than him.   Beth and Matt also went in 2010 and got a beautiful little girl from Korea who is the same age as Kai.    I consider Beth my "adoption BFF".   When I was looking for our second little one, it wasn't Dan I was calling to read the medicals and check out the child, it was Beth!   The odd thing was that she was always one step ahead of me.  I would say there is a little boy on X's website and his name is Adam.   Then Beth would ramble off all his statistics, DOB, orphanage, when he was abandon, special need etc.   I would say to Beth, are you guys adopting too?  Nope, they definitely weren't Matt said no...ha!    A year later, they now have their beautiful Minah.   Adoption has a way of creeping up on you if you don't watch out!  Anyway, thanks Beth for being my "Adoption BFF".   I was glad I had someone to share the fun and excitement with.   Now Beth is my "go to" when I need to hear another adults voice during my child-centered days.   I just give her a call and what do we talk about, but the kids.

 

 

 

www.sharinglifeandlove.blogspot.com

 

Lastly, I wanted to give you one of my favorite advocacy blogs.  Erin's blog is known by many and she does a great job advocating for children that are being passed over.   She advocated for Pam's Anna and for our Kai.    We had to ask her to stop advocating for him because we had already put in for Kai but China was punishing us for not signing our papers that we would take Kai.   We thought we had more time then we did to review his medicals and we were waiting for information from the orphanage before we committed to him.   In turn, China said that they would release Kai back onto the open list and if he was still their in 15 days we could then lock his file.   I left it to God and obviously Kai was meant to be ours.   I digressed, but I appreciate all the hard work that Erin puts into her blog to advocate for these kids.   She also has the most adorable family that she shares pictures on her blog.    

 

 

 

CODE RED! CODE RED!

Here is a quick funny story about Dan.   Last Saturday I went to visit my dad who lives several hours away and Dan graciously stepped in to take care of the kids.  Throughout the day I would call and check in on Dan and the kids and they were doing great!  He had taken them bowling and invited his sister along with her two daughters and also included a friend of his, Cliff.   Okay, so the man is not stupid...he has to take care of the kids and surrounds himself with an army of caretakers.  As I am driving back to our house, I call Dan when I am about 10 minutes away and mention that I need to pick up Kai's medication.  Are things okay on the homefront?  Can I go run this errand now that I am back in the vicinity and the answer is "absolutely, everything is going great"   Mind you, Dan is now home alone with the kids.    So I run the errand, make a quick phone call to my mom and as I walk through the door of our house, Dan shouts "CODE RED! CODE RED!  GET OFF THE PHONE!  CODE RED!"  What?  What the heck is going on?   Dan shouts "KAI POOPED! AND IT IS ALL OVER EVERYTHING!"  Dan runs Kai over to me and throws him in my arms.  Ummmmm....he has not wiped this kid down...I now am a part of "everything" that has poop on it.    I wipe Kai down, take him upstairs and give him a bath.   When I come down Dan explains to me how the CODE RED transpired.   Dan had just gotten done feeding Kai.  Took him out of his high chair and thought he had food in his diaper...which by the way he does often.  He took his clothes off of him and when he took the diaper off it was full of POOP!   Dan was not prepared with any wet wipes or anything to wipe him down.  So he took paper towels and wiped him down...unsuccessfully I might add.   He said he turned away for a minute from Kai to turn back to see poop foot prints all over the kitchen floor.  Dan found Kai still walking around with a big chunk of poop stuck to the bottom of his foot!   CODE RED!  CODE RED!   Dan later said to me "Liz, you were like an Angel walking through that door." 

In the future I will have to implement the CODE RED and see who my angel is.   But I have to admit, it is nice to be needed, even if it is to wipe butts! 

The picture above is An exhausted Daddy and Kai after a CODE RED!

Fw: Whose Blog Are You Reading?

 

 

 

Most people who know me know that I love to read.  I love to know what other people are currently reading or what they have read in the past.   I love talking about books!   Well, it is kind of that way with blogs now.  I notice when I talk with people in the adoption community I love to know whose blog they are reading.   So, I have been thinking that I would share with you some of the blogs that I enjoy reading and what I enjoy about them.    

 

www.1diamond1ruby1pearl.blogspot.com

 

 

 

I was really surprised when I came across this family's blog because they adopted a child that I thought about asking for her file before we accepted Kai's file and they are from Minnesota.   So it was fun for me to see where she landed and how she is doing.   The blog has absolutely beautiful pictures because her mom is a photographer.  The pictures alone keep bringing me back to the blog.   I really think Diana, the mom, is extremely eloquent and really speaks from her heart in a very thoughtful and thought provoking way.   There have been so many times that I wanted to link her blog to mine and just write "yeah...what she said"  And then tell people to insert Bei and Kai's name where appropriate.   But I figure people would not only think that was very lazy on my part but insincere.  Oh well...read her blog anyway and insert Bei and Kai's name in where she talks about how blessed and rewarded she is etc. etc.   

 

 

www.4ourkiddos.blogspot.com

 

www.nihaoyall.com

 

 

There are 3 reasons why I enjoy reading these two blogs.  The first reason is that I love how youthful both these mom's look.  They look like they are one of the kids rather than the mom...I think I am envious.   Being the "old mom" is never fun, but looking like the "old mom" is even worse!   ISo these two young looking lady's are not that much younger than me, but you wouldn't know it.   Secondly, I am awed and amazed at how many kids they have and...how young they look!   Bei aged me at least 5 years and Kai...oh my gosh...I don't even look in the mirror anymore when I put on my make-up.  The funny thing is that Amy from 4 our kiddos just got back with her 6th child and Stephanie I think is going on number 10 or 11.  A friend once told me that you are only as happy as your most miserable kid!  Yikes, with 10 kids what does that mean?   I have two kids and I feel like I am chewed up and spit out at the end of the day.  I have had a 1 year old give me an arse whooping for the past 12 months, so I think these women are amazing!   The 3rd reason is that their blogs are usually happy and upbeat and both take beautiful pictures.

 

 

www.memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com

 

www.thepioneerwoman.com

 

 

Both of these are non-adoption blogs that I enjoy.   If the Clover Lane woman wrote books I would buy every single one of them.   She has this practical sense about her that you just can't find anymore. At times I feel that she is speaking to me directly and so much of what she writes about parenting resonants with me.   One of my favorite lines that she said is that when  people think you are crying about the apples, they don't know it is really the oranges that have gotten to you.   I just love that saying because I have always felt that when I have cried I am really crying about things that have been bottled up for a long time and now I finally have a reason to cry and so I am going to let it all out.  Silly...I know!      Anyway, I enjoy her blog very much.

 

You all may have heard of the Pioneer Woman because she has been on the Food Network and has several cookbooks.   Most of you know that I love to cook and most recently I decided I would follow Ree's recipe's just to change things up a little bit.    I made the Shrimp Quesdilla's, which were to die for!  And then made the meatballs with pineapple and green peppers.  The meatballs were delicious but the sauce wasn't as good.   So I would make the meatballs again and use them in another dish.  

 

To be continued...