Winter 2010

November and December have been kind of wild months for us.  On Nov. 12th we flew to St. Pete Beach, FL to meet up with 2 of the other families in our China travel group.  We had a great long weekend at the beach with the Corless and Roebuck families.  We were really glad Jill went with us!  It was so great to see how well the girls were all doing - we laughed about how the girls are still so much like they were when we first met them.  Thea is still the leader of the pack, ready to boldly go anywhere and to oversee whatever activity may be happening; Emma is the artsy, sensitive girl who also has a wild side (she's the only one brave enough to actually sit in a pirates lap!) and Charis just loves to be with people and is pretty easy going as long as things go her way!  And they all three fit so perfectly in their own families!  What beautiful girls we are blessed with - or as my friend Jackie likes to say "we won the baby lottery!". 

After we left St. Pete Beach, Jill, Charis and I went on to St. Augustine to spend a week at Jill's in-laws Florida home.  We had a great time - Charis especially loved the turtles.  She had her first carousel ride and loved looking for shells at the beach.  But while we were there I had an incident with my eye which I later found out resulted in a detached retina.  The rest of November and most of December I ended up being off work and mostly bed ridden trying to recover from the detached retina.  Finally on Dec. 17th, I was allowed up out of bed and finally back to driving on Dec. 23rd.  Don't know what I would have done without my very supportive family - Jill and Jane and their families took care of both Charis and I for several weeks. But I'm back to work now and hopefully on the mend permanently.  Charis thought it was great fun to live with Aunt Jill and Aunt Jane for a while and I became a big fan of "House Hunters International".

Our second Christmas together was wonderful despite not being able to participate in very few pre-Christmas festivities or shopping.  We did get to have our annual get together with her friends Anna and Sasha.  Charis was a little leary of the Santa, but was very interested in the whole idea of reindeer.  She mostly just loved being with her family and of course loved the presents. 

As the beginning of the new year approaches my mind once again turns to Charis's birth mother.  Two years ago she was 8 months pregnant with my daughter.  I imagine she wonders about her and I hope she somehow knows that Charis is in a family who loves and cares for her very much. 

Ramblings On Adoption

"Adoption is a miracle. I don't mean just that it's amazing, terrific, and a wonderful thing to do. I mean that it is, as the dictionary says, "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of divine agency."  From Scott Simon's "Baby We Were Meant For Each Other"  Just finished this book and am in the process of reading "Silent Tears" by Kay Bratt.  What two different perspectives on being the mother of this beautiful daughter.  Simon's book celebrates the wonder and joy of adopting a child; Bratt's is giving me a peek into what Charis's life might have been had she not become my daughter.  Both are helpful; both bring out incredibly strong emotions.  And I think of all the other adoptive families who are part of my life - when I started thinking of each of them I was amazed how many I know.  And I wonder so much about where Charis, Anna, Hannah S., Abby, Hannah H., Annie, Keziah, Issac, Justice, Chloe, Sydney, Allison, Olivia, Riley and all the other beautiful children I haven't named would be if they had not been adopted.  And of all their parents - and extended families and friends - who love them so desperately - how much we all would have missed out on if these children were not part of our lives.  And thinking of these children and their families, I wonder again - and count my blessings - about how it is that adoption came to be so commonplace in our culture.  Charis recently went to Bible class while visiting my sister in a small rural Appalachian town.  In her Bible class were two other adopted children - all three born on different continents and all three loved and cherished not only by their parents, but by large extended families.  And again a wonder to me - both of the other children are part of families I have known for many years if not all my life.  God is so good.

Pictures from fall 2010

Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make your one...
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
The first gave you life and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.
One gave you a seed of talent, the other gave you an aim.
One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.
One gave you up ... that's all she could do.
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.
And now you ask me, through your fears,
the age old question unanswered throughout the years...
Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?
Neither, my darling, neither.
Just two different kinds of love.

19 months old!

Charis is no longer a baby - she's a full fledged toddler these days.  Running, climbing, sliding, swinging - you name it!  And talking up a storm - I can't believe all the words she knows.  Tonight we read "I Love You Crazy Cakes" and at the end of the book where the mom and baby are snuggling with their eyes closed she said "sad!".  I tried to tell her they were not sad but sleepy but she kept insisting on sad!  It was the first time she really sat and listened to that book - makes me wonder if she has any memory of our Crazy Cakes story.  It really is hard to imagine my life without this perfect and wonderful little girl.  Not only does she light up my life, she brings so much joy to my Mom, my sisters and the rest of my family and friends.  What a blessing she is!!!

Mother's Day

What can I say - after waiting all my life, I finally celebrated Mother's Day as a mother. What an amazing feeling to spend the day with my Mother, my daughter and the rest of my family.

Zoo picture

What can I say - my daughter is cool!

All children come from God. For some the journey home just takes a little longer.

Charis and her Grandma

I just love that my two favorite people in all the world adore each other.  When we go to Mom's house, Charis runs through the house saying "ma-ma" (her word for Grandma).  And she loves to kiss on Mom and cuddle with her.  And Mom loves it too - Charis can get a smile out of her when no one else can. 

Spring is here!

Well, I've been told that the winter pictures no longer cut it and I need to post spring pictures so here they are!!!  Charis is 14 months old now and getting so grown up!  Yesterday as I was leaving her at day care she said "bye ma"!  My baby made a sentence!  We've enjoyed the zoo and park with our friends, had Easter with Aunt Jill, Alex, Dan and another friend and celebrated Sasha's 1st birtday with her.  We also spent some time at a friend's farm in Ross County taking pictures with her spring flowers.

Not a Snow Bunny!

We had a foot of snow over the weekend, so Mommy dressed Charis up in her snowsuit and thought we'd go make a snowman!  She didn't seem to mind be bundled up in the snowsuit or putting on her ladybug boots over the snowsuit.  And it was fine to have Mommy carry you around in the snow.  However, she did NOT want to be put down in the snow!  She was in the snow only long enough for Mommy to snap the picture and recovered almost immediately once Mommy picked her back up!

Charis's 1st Birthday!!!

Charis had two first birthday parties!!!  One at Grandma's and one with her friends.  Both were a blast!!!!

How Love Really Works

Our children are not ours because they share our genes...
they are ours because we have had the audacity to envision them.
That, at the end of the day...or long sleepless night, is how love really works.

--- Unknown

Christmas Pictures

We had Miss Kathy take some photos of Charis for her first Christmas. Just now getting around to posting some!  I'm also including some candid shots from Christmas time.

A Year Ago

As the 6 month anniversary of our Gotcha Day and Charis's first birthday are quickly approaching, I have been thinking so much of Charis's birth mother. Wondering what she was thinking this time last year and wondering how she is feeling now; praying that she somehow might know how loved, safe and happy her little Yong Xiao Shun is now. I know Charis will surely wonder these things too some day. Please Lord, give the the wisdom and the words to say the right things to her when that time comes.

Charis learning to walk

Pictures from Sprint: View Message