and the list grows

I have been starting to agonize over what we will be able to / need to take to China for our 3 week adoption trip. There are several on-line lists out there from other adoptive families, and many of them list the same things, but every once in a while I find something new. One common thing to take has been a copy of the dossier that was sent to China. Wow, this is a huge stack of papers, and considering the stict weight limits of luggage for in China travel (even more restrictive than USA flights), that's a lot of extra weight. Contacting my adoption agency, this is no longer required to bring, thank goodness. Since some of these lists I've looked at are 10 years old, I guess I will need to wait for the list from my adoption agency. I just want to try to get stuff bought a little at a time as we are waiting. Some things seem so obvious after someone else mentioned it - I knew I should bring bottles and Cheerios, didn't think to put the Cheerios INSIDE the bottles in the suitcase to save space - duh, seems like a no brainer now.

Molly's nursery is 95% done, just need a door put up and the trim around the doors. Zach gets more excited by the day asking me when we are going to go to China and bring home the baby. I hate the waiting, and the uncertainty of not knowing even the month we will travel for sure!!!!

The Moose

For Valentines day we got Zach a pillow pet moose. He loves stuffed animals and this one seemed to be a good dual purpose gift. When we go to China, on the plane it's a good pillow and he still gets to take a good size stuffed animal with him for comfort. Zach came upstairs this weekend talking about his "reindeer", I finally put 2 and 2 together and realized he was talking about his moose. I didn't pay too much attention, just to the fact that he had been playing with it in the fort he made in the basement. Yeah, ok, whatever. This morning I was trying to navigate through Zach and Pete's room to get them up for school and started tossing Zach's stuffed animals out of my path and onto his bed as I went. HHMMMM, that pillow pet felt heavy and landed with a thump...... Zach had found a piece of yarn and tied the "reindeer" to the metal santa sleigh he saved from the trash bin after Christmas. Guess he hitched up the reindeer and was delivering gifts around the fort. I think I better pay more attention when he comes up to tell me what he's doing. And to all a good night

My Children

This morining I am feeling very thankful for my children. Since they have the day off from school, I figured I better write this now, before the fighting begins and I wonder who these children are.


Introducing Molly, our baby girl waiting for us to bring her home from China. Molly is now 1 year old (as of March 3) and a very tiny girl. It was determined that she was a premie, although how premie, we have no idea. At 11 months old, she was 11 pounds and 24 inches. By checking size charts, that puts her into 3-6 month size clothes, and only for her length. Molly's had a rough road so far. She has bladder exstrophy like Zach and Steven. Funny for such a rare birth defect, now half of our family has it, and 3/4 of our children. She was hospitalized at about 1 month old with pnemonia, and problems with blood sugars and electolites as complications from the pnemonia. Then, while she was in there, she also developed a blood infection and could have died. She was in the hospital almost 3 months because of all that. She's definately a fighter. Her Chinese name means strength and vitality, and is a boys name because the nannies at the orphanage thought she needed the extra protection this name would give her to fight her health challenges. It must be working. We can't wait to bring her home. Her province -Henan- is by Bejing. When we do go to China, we will go pick her up first and then down by the Vietnam border to Zach's province, then over to the American Embasy to finalize both adoptions.

Notice Zach and Steven holding hands! They are so cute!! Zach, my little love bug is such a joy. He has been blossoming since he has lived with us. His teacher tells me it's a good sign that he sometimes gets in trouble at school (????) because it means he's comfortable in the class and with his life with us. He's a little helper and his favorite job is to run the vaccuum.

Peter is growing up so fast. He will be 13 in May, and wants to be grown up, although he can act like a little boy so often. This transition age is so full of inconsistancy. Like watching little kid cartoons with Zach, but wanting to act like they are beneath him - his not being able to resist watching gives him away though. He is learning to cook simple meals, although he loses intrest fast. He's too smart for his own good and gets lazy in his school work. He's the one most like me, in looks and temperment.

Steven is such a grown up already, but you all already know that. At 14 he is too cool to play with Pete, but likes to do things with Zach like read to him. He's still my people pleaser, although every once in a while we have to knock him down a peg or two. He's quirky, and introspective. A self described band geek, who right now wants to be an English Professor at a college someday. He's very sensitive, both in his own life and the way he empathizes with other's problems. His biggest goal right now? To be a mentor to both Zach and Molly.

I love them all - but don't ask me at the end of the 3 day weekend if I still do......

purple

My darling husband has been working very hard, to get Molly's room ready for me to decorate. He got up an hour early this morning to make sure the drywall mud was completely sanded and ready to paint - eat your heart out, Mom, that job is Mike's. Today I painted Molly's walls a nice shade of lilac purple. Mike likes the color, the big boys tell me "it's too purple, my eyes are burning!" Zach thinks Molly will like it. Mike is finishing up sanding in the hallway outside Molly's room now, so I can paint the hallway side of the new wall tomorrow. After the sanding is done tonight, and the dust is cleaned up, I will begin moving things into Molly's room. Hope I can remember how to put the crib together.....

Contentment

Sorry, everyone, today's blog is not about the funny things my family said or did today. It's not touching on the absurdities of my life. I was just thinking today that last March, I was perfectly happy with my family. I had 2 sons, and a great husband. 2 cats and a dog. I was turning 40, and knew that Mike and I would not have any more children. Life was good. We didn't even know that Zach or Molly existed. Funny how God has other plans for us. Anyone who has seen Zach interact with the family comments on how well he fits in here, he acts just like the rest of us. Everytime I see pictures of Molly, my heart melts. I just can't believe this was anything other than a Divine Plan for us. I must say I was nervous when Zach joined our family, lots of prayer and family meetings convinced us to take a chance and open our home to this little boy. I wasn't sure how our family would react as the news came out, with almost no warning that our family was growing and Zach would be here in a few days. Soon after we decided to look for our girl to complete us. I was beginning to despair, thinking a girl was not in the plan when Molly came into the picture, just at the right time to be included in our dossier. This week, after our big Port-A-Pit, I am feeling a peace that I haven't felt in a while. It can only be described as contentment. I love Steven and Peter with all my heart, but as teenagers, they just don't seem to need me so much anymore. Zach is my love bug, replacing the cuddeling that Peter used to do with me. And now my girl is waiting for us to bring her home. This just feels so right.

And Off He Goes

Last fall, when it was about time to put away the bikes, Zach broke one of his training wheels off his bike. We told him this spring we would take off the other one and he could learn to ride without training wheels. Tonight the boys were begging for bike tires to be aired up and Zach wanted to ride his bike (his favorite outside activity). Mike decided that since he is trying to finish Molly's room, he would just put Zach's training wheel back on. Well, apparently it was broken and the next thing I knew I was called to watch Zach ride his bike - WITHOUT his training wheels. Mike said it just took a couple of trips down the driveway to help him steady himself, and he just took off. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff now!!! My clever little man (Zach, not Mike).

Molly's Room

Well, it's Saturday evening and Molly now has a new wall, dry walled and mudded on both sides. A new light switch, with the one from the hall that used to control her light disconnected so no one accidentially turns on her light as they walk by. A new light has been installed in the hall so we don't lose the light that Molly's room used to cast on the stairs. Mike says I should be able to have the room for painting by Tuesday night!!! I can't wait to start putting together the baby's room!!!