Such a Proud Day

Being a mother today has brought me great joy as it does most every day. Don't get me wrong; I have my moments with my children but by and large there is nothing that I have found as gratifying as being a mother.

I find myself really enjoying this full spectrum of motherhood that I am experiencing at the present. Being the mom to an adult son and toddler daughter keeps me very aware of where I am going and also from where I have been. Now, on this eve of receiving our Letter of Acceptance for Ethan I am savoring this last couple of months as a mother to two before I am in the midst of parenting three with two being the exact same age.

Today was a special day for me and for my first born as he entered into Law School. During his orientation last week one of his professors told this classroom full of "dear in the headlights" first year law students that their "childhood was officially over" and that his job was to "train them as professionals that would not F*** up anyone else's lives". You gotta love a person who tells it like it is. I have never seen Justin look quite as excited as he does right now and he has suddenly taken on a new air of maturity that I have not seen in the past. He knows that he is finally studying the material that will train him for his life's work and he is taking it VERY seriously. I am so proud.

I find it quite amusing that as I am watching one child move off into his own world that I am also in the midst of helping my sweet baby girl navigate all of the firsts in her life. It is all so amazing that I have been given a chance to parent such a wide range of experience. Of course you can add to this the fact that I am an expectant mom of another two year old that has no idea how his life is about to change and how much love his forever family is just chomping at the bit to give to him. As I ponder all of this on a daily basis I find myself giving thanks for this family that Marc and I are building together. We have many stresses in our lives but every night as I reflect on my day I am truly thankful for the gift of being a mother to Justin, Katie Starr and soon to our son in China, Ethan Frederick Zhiqing.

This is the Mother and Child Statue in Yellow River Park in Gansu Province
where Katie Starr was born. The Mother represents the river and the
baby represents China. They say that the river nourishes China like a mother
nourishes her baby. I loved this statue so much when I saw it.

and speaking of shoes....

I just found out about the Robeez Heart & Sole Caring about first steps Program. The Robeez Corporation will donate batches of their wonderful soft leather shoes to disadvantaged children around the world and international adoption is one of the areas that they support! Since the inception of the program, Robeez has donated over 135,000 pairs of adorable shoes and booties. That’s a lot of little shoes; so many in fact that if all those shoes were stacked up heel to toe, those donations would represent a height over four times as tall as Mount Everest!

I have applied for a batch and if approved the minimum that we will receive is 20 pairs. The only thing that we will have to do is pay the shipping and carry them over. We will be bringing them to Ethan's orphanage when we go to adopt him. Since there are only about 24 children in that orphanage presently I am hoping that I can bring all of them a pair of shoes :)

If you are a waiting adoptive parent and would like take part in this program please visit this link:

http://robeez.com/en-us/heartandsoul.htm?PriceCat=2&Lang=EN-US

You gotta love a girl with an opinion

The other day Marc, Katie Starr and I went shopping at the mall and while Marc went to buy something that we needed for the house Katie and I went to a shoe store to look for some closed toe shoes for Fall/Winter. Well, Miss Katie is very attached to the shoes pictured here ~ her pink crocs that her Nana bought for her. She wants to wear them everywhere and even has to have them close by in the house. I did not even realize the extent of her affection for these shoes until I tried to try on another pair of shoes. She adamantly told me "No Mommy!! Katie no like and shoes no fit!! Every time I would get them on she would take them off. Of course, this made me giggle uncontrollably as well as some other ladies in the store. Believe me, it was no easy task to determine if these shoes would fit even though Katie told me they did not but Mommy eventually got her way and bought the new shoes. Katie came home and told her dad that "she no like the shoes" ROFL!!!

This is how Katie watches Sesame Street and her fav guy Elmo in the morning. Notice her crocs right next to her. Does this look comfortable? I don't think so but Katie loves it.

Thank you Sherri!

My friend Sherri is in China adopting her daughter Cami right now. Her daughter and Ethan were in the same orphanage. We have become quite close since we met on our Orphanage Yahoo group. We have lots in common including sharing a wicked sense of humor. Heck, we were even born on the same day. Well anyway, this wonderful woman took the time to ask the orphanage director about Ethan on Cami's Adoption Day. How amazing is that!! Here is what she reported back to me this evening. Thank you again Sherri!

"I wanted to tell you again about my conversation with Mr. Xiao. He is really delightful. When I thanked him for taking such good care of Cami, he said, "That is what we should do". He is serious only in his pictures. In real life, he is always smiling. When he saw us yesterday at the official meeting, he started talking to Cami from across the room and she whipped her head around. She really KNEW him. He is much more than distant director to the children.Also, I asked him about Ethan. He smiled and spoke animatedly for a long while. He chuckled and described him to our guide. She said that Mr Xiao likes the boy alot and he is doing very well and is happy and healthy. He was excited to hear that you would be coming for him soon."

Oh that day cannot come soon enough!!

This is delicious!

This is the phrase that Katie Starr blurted out yesterday morning at breakfast over her toast and yogurt. It totally made us giggle as we love her sweet little voice and we get to enjoy it quite frequently now as she is talking up a storm these days. She is now voicing her opinion over anything and everything and even uses her language now to tease us.

We have always had a bedtime ritual that ends with kisses and her telling us "Love" after we told her that we loved her. That was how she would say "I love you" before she could put sentences together. Of course that became I love Mommy and I Love Daddy as her language has developed. Now, here comes the teasing....she now will recite a long list of I love........(Insert all of the people that she has close relationships with such as Justin, Nana and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa and well as some close family friends). She teasingly will not utter the words I love Mommy and Daddy. She does this while stretching the words out as far as she can and giggling as she knows that we want her to tell us that she loves us. It ends with us saying goodnight and totally cracking up while she finally bursts out in hysterics and says; I love Mommy! I love Daddy! Then, when we leave the room she goes through her entire list again; laughing the whole time and omitting us all over again...what a stinker!! This little girl was the perfect match for our family as we love to tease each other. It is the way we show our love and have fun.

Updated Picture of our baby boy!

This is one of four pictures that we received today of Ethan. Again, a smile eludes us. Today Letters of Acceptance were received and we think that we may be in the next batch that should come in 2-3 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed......

A Photo Shoot at the Beach with our FCC Beauties

We drove to the beach early yesterday morning to attempt a photo shoot with several members of our FCC Group. It was so much fun ~ not entirely successful photo wise ~ but truly a blast. Our photographer was an FCC dad who has a great natural talent and a real love for all of our children but many of his subjects were....well; let's just say a little unwilling :) Nevertheless, it was a wonderful morning full of laughing, crying, more laughing and more crying and after all of that was done just enjoying the ocean breezes, water and each other. Here are 2 videos from the shoot. Then I have loaded just a few photos from the hundreds that were taken.

My FCC Group is awesome and I treasure all of their friendship and support immensely.

The crying begins.........

The next 4 minutes of video after I reloaded batteries...oops!! Note that one of the moms keeps giving little snacks to the kiddos that are crying..too cute!

And then came a few smiles...

A Little Business and a Lotta Pleasure!

Just over a week ago we attended the Florida State Convention for my company and Marc also entertained at the event as he always does. It is held in Marco Island, Florida at a beautiful resort. We have the same event every year and we try to extend it and make it a quasi vacation. This year was no different. We invited my sister and her family, Justin's girlfriend Judy and her sister Joyce and of course my dad and mom were with us as well. My nephew Sam stayed with us for the next few days following our trip as well. It was all great fun and the following are pictures that will tell the tale. Unfortunately, I do not think I got into even one of them. I am usually the picture taker.

Katie chose that weekend to begin putting real sentences together and is really talking up a storm now. Her favorite phrase last week was I love Sammmmm!! She stretches out the "M" for true emphasis. She loved her cousin and looked forward to seeing him each morning and he was so wonderful with her. Katie is fixated on airplanes ever since we took Sam to the airport and we explained to her that he was going on an airplane to go home to his mom and dad. She looks for them incessantly and tells me that Sam is in AIRPLANE!!!

The weekend was full of laughing, eating, swimming, dancing and more eating :) Katie even tried to take a french fry from a total stranger at the pool (see photo below) what a laugh that one was. Thankfully the victim of her crime was very sweet and generous.

We made some wonderful family memories....

From L-R Justin's girlfriend Judy, Justin, Uncle Steve, Sam and my sis Jane

Jane and Justin chillin

A sweet moment
From L-R Justin, Judy, her sister Joyce and Sam

A Funny Video

Here is a video of my friend Elaine with Katie at dinner one evening. Elaine and Katie had a little game going where they would make a silly face, wave their hands and do a little shrill scream when they saw each other during the convention. Well, Katie thought it would be hilarious to take it one step further and do all of that with Chocolate Mouse in her mouth for the best effect possible. As silly and gross as it sounds it made us all laugh until we were almost in tears.

Convention ~ Vacation Photos

Fun in the Pool with Marc and Katie Starr

From L-R My mom, Marc with Katie on Soulders, my sis Jane, nephew Sam, BIL Steve, and my dad.
Katie filching a french fry from a total stranger

Sam and Katie

My nephew Sam and Katie Starr

The Three Cousins ~ Justin, Katie and Sam

Aaaaaargh!!! I was blocked by Blogger!!!

I am back folks; I was taken out of commission for a few days due to some spammer detection software that Blogger employs. It identified me as a potential spammer; what?!*@!?? Lil ol' me and my adoption and family ramblings are a potential threat to the blogging public at large....gimme a break!! Anyhoo; they blocked me from posting until I could prove otherwise. Now, I am seriously thinking of changing to typepad.

I will post later with an update of how life has been lately with Three and a Highchair soon to be Two Highchairs :)

~UPDATE~

Thanks To The Generosity Of All Of The Donors, Fu Yang's Adoption Has Been Fully Funded! There Will Be Updates To The Blog As Pat Travels To China To Adopt Fu Yang.

What an amazing community of people we are a part of :0)

An Urgent Plea for a Child in China ~ Please Read ~

This plea for help has been published on many listservs by a prominet member of the adoption community. Please read the following, look into your heart and give what you can. Here is the Urgent Plea....

Occasionally one comes across a story that gives you renewed hope in happy endings and the power of hope...and makes you grateful that there are families in this world that will risk so much to bring hope to a child. Hundreds of thousands of children live as orphans in China...and as they get older, their hope for finding a family dims and then goes out at the age of 14. If they are lucky enough to have their file sent to the CCAA, they might be adopted, but if that dreaded 14th birthday rolls around before their family finds them, they are doomed to a life that most of us can't even imagine. With little education and no one to turn to, their life most likely includes begging on the streets. For girls, the chances of adoption are better...for boys, not so much. For a 13 year old boy with a visible special need, the chance is slim indeed. Right now there is a boy in Henan – a beautiful boy with a smile whose dimples melt the heart. He's been looking for his family for a long time...waiting and waiting and waiting and going to bed at night with the hope of a home on his heart. His orphanage saw his spirit...how wonderful he is with the younger children...his artistic abilities...and sent his file to the CCAA to try to find him a home. The SWI had the faith that a family would see this boy and realize his potential and a family did! They began the paperwork...but then were unable to continue. What now? Time was running out…this child would be unadoptable in a few short months. I remember the pleas that IAAP put out into the adoption world to find this boy's true family...and the commitment they made to help a family get it done. A family stepped forward and under amazing circumstances was able to prepare a dossier and get it to China in June. Can you even imagine? They got their dossier together in less than a month!! But they'd been home only half a year with their little daughter from China...and would need some time to get the money together. The willingness to step into this young man's life, to take the risk and do what it takes to bring him home is stunning in it's faith. Who could believe that it could be done? The Kubicek's believed and because of their amazing capacity to hope and trust that it would workout Fu Yang is coming home. Imagine their shock when they found out on the 4th of July that they would have to be in China just a few weeks after their dossier was sent. He desperately needs his family to sign his adoption papers by July 15 – just one week from today. He turns 14 in ONE WEEK!!! Where would the money come from? They need $5,000 more to bring this child home...how can this possible happen? I know how this can happen...I've SEEN it happen. Six months ago I set up a website to try to replace a grant for Django...a child whose grant was removed by the donor after they discovered the sensitive nature of Django's special need. In just over a month the Chinese adoption community came together and raised just under $5,000. IT CAN BE DONE!!!! At times a situation comes up in our community where we need to pull together and MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the life of a child. This is one of those situations...and the TIME IS SHORT!!!! This isn't about a family raising money to bring home a child...it's about a COMMUNITY coming together to give this child the gift of a family. Please, can you give $5, $10, $50 to Fu Yang??? THIS CHILD HAS ONE WEEK LEFT BEFORE HE WILL NEVER EVER HAVE A HOME. It is very easy to contribute, as they have a ChipIn set up...all it takes is a few clicks: http://helpbringfuyanghome.blogspot.com/ I salute the Kubicek family for their willingness to believe in miracles...let's make one happen for them!

Ethan is Two Today!!

Ethan turned two years old today in China. We celebrated his birthday here and sent him a care package of goodies for him and his friends in the orphanage. No child should ever have to be without their family on their birthday. Ethan and Katie will never know another birthday without the love of our family.

I have begun a new website to document our journey to bring Ethan home. We would love for you to check it out at www.Ethansjourneyhome.com . Please leave a comment in the guestbook so that he can read how much he was thought about during the wait for his arrival home.

LOG IN DATE!!!

Our agency notified us that our dossier was logged into the Chinese Center of Adoptive Affairs on June 4, 2007 (our 7th wedding anniversary :) That means we are about 30 days into an approximate 75 day wait for our Letter of Acceptance. Once we sign and return that document we can expect to receive travel approval about 3 weeks later. We are cautiously optimistic that we may travel by early October to adopt Ethan and bring him home forever!!