In China news it appears at least up to Feb 9 is matched making it a 9 day match cycle this time. Congrats to all who made it!
I am not even going to start wrapping my brain around how long until May 19 comes up. In December we will look at it, see how it fits with ensuring we keep a year between adoptions (if we aren't matched in the US before then), and then go from there.
I have joked(starting years ago) that I hope I am a father before I am 40... well only 365 days to get that taken care of, can we move this along a little please?!
Not doing much of anything for my Bday this year, just taking it easy. I painted our bedroom over the weekend, got some outdoor stuff done before the snow falls, repotted a few of my bonsai and ordered some magic from Bday cash.
Dealing with some gaps and changes in Fall church stuff and trying to get things going for the Fall. Been feeling pretty relaxed about it until middle of last week, time I thought I had got gobbled up with unexpected stuff, and people I thought I had in place, had stuff chance for a few which opens up more work for me to do, again, no fault of theirs, just life stuff.
39 and feeling fine...
Wife making me stirfry in which to dine.
Bought a fish tank and a fish named Buckwheat...
He's swimming and darting and is kinda neat.
I know this poem sucks, but you don't have to whine!
sigh... it has come down to this...LOL...if i can't start reporting about baby stuff soon no knowing what will end up on this blog next!
:)
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Thoughts on our US adoption
First off, I want to be VERY clear, I will be delighted with whatever gender of child we get from the US.
Since I was like 16 or 17 I always desired to be a parent and a dad, but it was always a dad of a daughter, I never really gave thought to being the dad of a little boy, but the last few months that is where my head has been. I still entertain thoughts of a little black girl curling up on my lap, looking into my eyes and saying "daddy", but I have started entertaining thoughts of a little boy, and that has been fun. The toys I can buy for myself...err for him ;)...no seriously, the thought of having a boy around, someone to eventually be able to buddy around with, have to help with doing things in the house and yard together, being able to model(or at least trying) to model how to be a godly man for him to learn from, seeing him grow strong, having someone to wrestle around with, laugh when he does typical boy stuff that will make his mom's eyes roll and freak her out are thoughts that are keeping my mind occupied(when I am not neck deep in camp stuff-still one week to go)!
One of the roller coaster things about this journey is that there is no guarantee we will get matched, now we obviously think we will, but it is one of those x factors that make planning life so hard...with Julia, we will have time to plan travel, plan to get ready, make transitions in home and job etc. whereas for little bean it will be a wait followed by an intense volley of info and talking, a decision and bang, flying into a new adventure...
Ahh the joys of adoption journey...life has been so full with camp ministry...that there isn't a lot of brain space for adoption stuff, which isn't so bad since it makes the wait go faster :)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Summer brings camp
Summer = minimal blog posts. I am neck deep(and loving it) with camp ministry so that is keeping me outdoors and away from the computer. China just finished 5 days of files, taking them to January 25 2006. We have our Us coordinator looking for agencies that work more with us than just the birth mom. We were not too impressed with the demands of the one agency we were getting info from. They would send a 5 line description of a situation and ask if we wanted our profile shown to the mom. If the mom picked us, we would be legally bound to pay half at that point. i was like "WHOA" I don't think so, We still need to have some say in this. So we are no longer connected with that agency.
We know that our profile is being shown at times, so now we just wait for a phone call to start step 2.
Cara has actually made up a packing list(when she actually gets to list making, it is serious stuff in our house...she is hardcore ready for something to happen :) ).
We have had quite hot weather...my lawn is taking a few hits, me sad :( .
We got word that our good friends Tim and Kristy are starting their long process of adopting from Ethiopia. We are sooooo jazzed about that!
It is too hot to do anything, so I am off to try to make a slurpee from this "bullet" thing that Cara bought from Costco. It has worked well to make smoothies, but has been hit and miss working with ice...Grab a stack of comics and hopefully end up falling asleep:).
I still have 1 week to finish off the last bits of teachings for my elementary camps, can't wait to be at camp 24/7.
We know that our profile is being shown at times, so now we just wait for a phone call to start step 2.
Cara has actually made up a packing list(when she actually gets to list making, it is serious stuff in our house...she is hardcore ready for something to happen :) ).
We have had quite hot weather...my lawn is taking a few hits, me sad :( .
We got word that our good friends Tim and Kristy are starting their long process of adopting from Ethiopia. We are sooooo jazzed about that!
It is too hot to do anything, so I am off to try to make a slurpee from this "bullet" thing that Cara bought from Costco. It has worked well to make smoothies, but has been hit and miss working with ice...Grab a stack of comics and hopefully end up falling asleep:).
I still have 1 week to finish off the last bits of teachings for my elementary camps, can't wait to be at camp 24/7.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Long awaited baby room pictures
On the May long weekend I took a couple days off work to get this project completed
This will end up over the closet door, it is the only thing incomplete, but it looks cool against the window also.
Really enjoy painting, it was a refreshing project, although painting the closet and door white was TIME CONSUMING...
Corner of the bed, very cute flower!
Doesn't go with the room ,but we are keeping a bed in there, this way if baby is unsettled there is the chance for Cara to feed them and sleep and still allow me to have a decent night sleep(I am planning on helping with evening stuff, but Cara will be shouldering more of that time).
This bed will go when baby 2(we assume Julia) comes into our family and we will replace it with another crib.
We are going with a bug theme and the clouds, sun, flowers and dragonflies are a start,we have some butterfly mobiles to put up and some wall stickers of bugs, once the kids get older.
Storage is going to be tight, but we will make it work!
Sun light on the ceiling. It looks cool, but really washes the green out of the room and makes it more yellowy. :)
We are really happy about how it turned out and can't wait for it to be complete...just add one baby!
This will end up over the closet door, it is the only thing incomplete, but it looks cool against the window also.
Really enjoy painting, it was a refreshing project, although painting the closet and door white was TIME CONSUMING...
Corner of the bed, very cute flower!
Doesn't go with the room ,but we are keeping a bed in there, this way if baby is unsettled there is the chance for Cara to feed them and sleep and still allow me to have a decent night sleep(I am planning on helping with evening stuff, but Cara will be shouldering more of that time).
This bed will go when baby 2(we assume Julia) comes into our family and we will replace it with another crib.
We are going with a bug theme and the clouds, sun, flowers and dragonflies are a start,we have some butterfly mobiles to put up and some wall stickers of bugs, once the kids get older.
Storage is going to be tight, but we will make it work!
Sun light on the ceiling. It looks cool, but really washes the green out of the room and makes it more yellowy. :)
We are really happy about how it turned out and can't wait for it to be complete...just add one baby!
Garage sale fun
We went garage saling last Saturday, and got some great deals. Above is a couple of outfits and 3 dvd's that are mint condition.
More fun stuff, this whole stash we got for under $30!!!
Cara has a deep desire to put every child in tights, and has finally been given some room to pick some up for our own.
We got a bottle sterilizer, a baby mat mobile thing, 10 or so receiving blankets(not pictured)...
We got a couple small buckets of little peoples stuff and the farm set. We got animals for the Noah ark set, but now are hunting for the boat...very stoked about these toys!
I am not big on garage sales, but this has warmed me up to it, clean stuff, great price, it was fun!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
We are out there
Got a call last night about some potential matching situations in the US.There were 5 birth moms looking to match and our adviser there called us to see if she could show them our profile.
What this means is that in the next few days these moms will be looking at our "storybook"(our profile of who we are, where we live, why we want to adopt etc.)and deciding whether to pursue an interview with us to see if a match could happen.
It is exciting to be in the potential category, makes this seem more "real". I have been anticipating the reality of having a little African American baby to call my child, but it just hasn't seemed real until now. Now we are out there and we could be matched...that is unreal...it is a real test in trust. Once you do your paper work, you can't do anything else to control the outcome...that is a challenge for someone like me who likes to be hands on during any process and help get the results I want.
So we wait, but with a bit of a butterfly in our stomachs anticipating some hopeful news :).
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
What I did on Monday
Monday was a good day,so I thought, "HEY, let's post about it!"
Had a good night of sleep, woke up without an alarm and in time for some morning cuddles with Cara, then it was off to work.
Staff meeting included our 2 Assistant directors of camp, who are awesome folks, and fun to be around. I appreciate, with the interim pastor, his focus on prayer. We actually spend time praying for needs in our church, and seeing answers.Brief time of comparing notes from Sunday and what is ahead this week, then I was off to work on camp messages...time is closing fast and much needs to get done...
Detour(welcome to my world), end up cleaning up classrooms and the gym so they are usable, so it is around 11:00 before I get out of office. Hung out at Wendy's for lunch and got a BUNCH of ideas, 3 out of 4 messages now have a theme. I am STOKED!
Going to follow and Indiana Jones type idea and have puzzles and challenges to open the message and the conclusion of those points to a key word and teaching point in the message which will direct us to the Bible to discover what truth the kids can apply to their lives.I found a hat that is close, but need to find the whip...not sure that advertising in the church bulletin would be a good thing..."wanted for kids camp 1 bullwhip." :) :)
Back to the office to do phone calls and interview a camp staff person. Seems like another gooder, so our staffing is coming along good.
Cara calls me and tells me she has mowed the lawn, man was that a blessing! Figured I would have to do it at 9 at night when I got home as there wouldn't be time this week for it. I really feel loved when she does stuff like that. Acts of service is definitely my love language(if you don't know what I mean you need to read Gary Chapman's book The 5 love languages, a great read to help you know how to best love ANYone you are in a relationship with.)
Then it was off to Kung Fu. In a couple weeks I test for my first sash, which will be good, but I am hitting a wall in that there is some stuff I have done and know, but tweaking it to be just right is making my brain block so I am stalling on stuff. Stalling is deadly, you don't go with the flow of it, you end up getting socked in the head or ribs or something when you do the technique with a partner. Fortunately we don't do that much partner stuff at this level, it is just annoying as I want it to be smooth come the testing. Otherwise it is still really enjoyable and a good way to start the week off.
After that a quick shower and then watching a show I am currently addicted to-Jon and Kate plus 8
It is the daily adventures of a family who, through fertility treatments, ended up with twins, and then later sextuplets. The kids are soooooo cute, and they are quite entertaining. He is laid back, calm, faithful dad. She is,at times a high strung, ultra organized, sometimes controlling-but hey wouldn't you need to be with 8 kids- personality. Not sure if it is the cute kids, the fact it is reassuring to see another family deal with daily chaos to make my world feel better, or what, but what a fun show!
Went to bed waaaay too late but it was a fun, productive, positive day, a day worth making note of!
Had a good night of sleep, woke up without an alarm and in time for some morning cuddles with Cara, then it was off to work.
Staff meeting included our 2 Assistant directors of camp, who are awesome folks, and fun to be around. I appreciate, with the interim pastor, his focus on prayer. We actually spend time praying for needs in our church, and seeing answers.Brief time of comparing notes from Sunday and what is ahead this week, then I was off to work on camp messages...time is closing fast and much needs to get done...
Detour(welcome to my world), end up cleaning up classrooms and the gym so they are usable, so it is around 11:00 before I get out of office. Hung out at Wendy's for lunch and got a BUNCH of ideas, 3 out of 4 messages now have a theme. I am STOKED!
Going to follow and Indiana Jones type idea and have puzzles and challenges to open the message and the conclusion of those points to a key word and teaching point in the message which will direct us to the Bible to discover what truth the kids can apply to their lives.I found a hat that is close, but need to find the whip...not sure that advertising in the church bulletin would be a good thing..."wanted for kids camp 1 bullwhip." :) :)
Back to the office to do phone calls and interview a camp staff person. Seems like another gooder, so our staffing is coming along good.
Cara calls me and tells me she has mowed the lawn, man was that a blessing! Figured I would have to do it at 9 at night when I got home as there wouldn't be time this week for it. I really feel loved when she does stuff like that. Acts of service is definitely my love language(if you don't know what I mean you need to read Gary Chapman's book The 5 love languages, a great read to help you know how to best love ANYone you are in a relationship with.)
Then it was off to Kung Fu. In a couple weeks I test for my first sash, which will be good, but I am hitting a wall in that there is some stuff I have done and know, but tweaking it to be just right is making my brain block so I am stalling on stuff. Stalling is deadly, you don't go with the flow of it, you end up getting socked in the head or ribs or something when you do the technique with a partner. Fortunately we don't do that much partner stuff at this level, it is just annoying as I want it to be smooth come the testing. Otherwise it is still really enjoyable and a good way to start the week off.
After that a quick shower and then watching a show I am currently addicted to-Jon and Kate plus 8
It is the daily adventures of a family who, through fertility treatments, ended up with twins, and then later sextuplets. The kids are soooooo cute, and they are quite entertaining. He is laid back, calm, faithful dad. She is,at times a high strung, ultra organized, sometimes controlling-but hey wouldn't you need to be with 8 kids- personality. Not sure if it is the cute kids, the fact it is reassuring to see another family deal with daily chaos to make my world feel better, or what, but what a fun show!
Went to bed waaaay too late but it was a fun, productive, positive day, a day worth making note of!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Steven Curtis Chapman loss
Heard such sad news of an accidental death of one of their daughters, adopted from China...
West Michigan Christian music fans are expressing their sympathy for Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman after the death of his 5-year-old daughter in an accident Wednesday in the family's driveway.
"We opened up the phone lines and people called in and wanted to pray right over the air," said Troy West, morning show co-host on contemporary Christian music radio station WJQK-FM (99).
Maria Sue Chapman was struck by a car driven by one of her teenage brothers, according to authorities in Franklin, Tenn., who added they believe no charges will result from what they termed "a tragic accident."
The child died 10 days after her fifth birthday. Chapman's manager, Jim Houser, also noted in a Web site posting the family had been hours away from hosting a high school graduation party for their son Caleb when the accident occurred.
Maria was the youngest of three Chinese girls the family had adopted, two of them through the the Nashville, Tenn., office of Bethany Christian Services. Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, also have three biological children -- two teenage sons and a 21-year-old daughter.
"They are loving and wonderful parents and a great family -- they must be devastated," said Brian De Vos, manager of Michigan operations for Bethany Christian Services. "He's been such an advocate for adoption -- I know their commitment to kids."
DeVos has known the Chapmans for eight years and worked with them on Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation the couple named for one of their adopted daughters and established to help families through the often expensive adoption process.
During Chapman's most recent concert tour -- which included a stop at Sunshine Community Church last September -- the singer raised $340,000 for the foundation. While here, he awarded a grant of about $3,000 to a local family for adoption expenses.
He also has raised funds for construction of an orphanage in China for special-needs children who likely will never be adopted.
Chapman, 45, has sold more than 10 million albums, has had dozens of No. 1 Christian radio hits, and has won more than 50 Dove Awards -- exceeding any other individual artist.
Yet he would much rather talk about his family or his work with adoptions and orphans.
"I have sung a lot of his songs," said local Christian singer Marty Miller, of Belmont, posting comments on an area Christian musicians' Web site. "Please be in prayer for the family."
Chapman's current hit song on Christian radio is "Cinderella," a ballad about precious times spent together by father and daughter. It was inspired by a real family moment.
Video from his current album...
West Michigan Christian music fans are expressing their sympathy for Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman after the death of his 5-year-old daughter in an accident Wednesday in the family's driveway.
"We opened up the phone lines and people called in and wanted to pray right over the air," said Troy West, morning show co-host on contemporary Christian music radio station WJQK-FM (99).
Maria Sue Chapman was struck by a car driven by one of her teenage brothers, according to authorities in Franklin, Tenn., who added they believe no charges will result from what they termed "a tragic accident."
The child died 10 days after her fifth birthday. Chapman's manager, Jim Houser, also noted in a Web site posting the family had been hours away from hosting a high school graduation party for their son Caleb when the accident occurred.
Maria was the youngest of three Chinese girls the family had adopted, two of them through the the Nashville, Tenn., office of Bethany Christian Services. Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, also have three biological children -- two teenage sons and a 21-year-old daughter.
"They are loving and wonderful parents and a great family -- they must be devastated," said Brian De Vos, manager of Michigan operations for Bethany Christian Services. "He's been such an advocate for adoption -- I know their commitment to kids."
DeVos has known the Chapmans for eight years and worked with them on Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation the couple named for one of their adopted daughters and established to help families through the often expensive adoption process.
During Chapman's most recent concert tour -- which included a stop at Sunshine Community Church last September -- the singer raised $340,000 for the foundation. While here, he awarded a grant of about $3,000 to a local family for adoption expenses.
He also has raised funds for construction of an orphanage in China for special-needs children who likely will never be adopted.
Chapman, 45, has sold more than 10 million albums, has had dozens of No. 1 Christian radio hits, and has won more than 50 Dove Awards -- exceeding any other individual artist.
Yet he would much rather talk about his family or his work with adoptions and orphans.
"I have sung a lot of his songs," said local Christian singer Marty Miller, of Belmont, posting comments on an area Christian musicians' Web site. "Please be in prayer for the family."
Chapman's current hit song on Christian radio is "Cinderella," a ballad about precious times spent together by father and daughter. It was inspired by a real family moment.
Video from his current album...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Room update
The room is painted and 99% decorated...pics forthcoming. Cara bought a new digital camera but it didn't load onto our computer,so this post is being done on a laptop we purchased. Once I get all the necessary things going on it, we will get pictures up. We are really pleased with how the room turned out.
The earthquakes in China are major, and we have no idea what that could mean to the time lines etc. I know most, if not all the orphanges in the area were okay, but the school disasters were major, so a lot of loss of young life.
No new news on the US adoption front, we continue to wait and pray a birth mom will pick us so that we can run with that connection...
Cara's sister and baby boy are visiting for a few days so that is fun...
Well, my windows update is done... time to reboot...I sure hope Windows Vista isn't as bad as what the Mac ads say!
The earthquakes in China are major, and we have no idea what that could mean to the time lines etc. I know most, if not all the orphanges in the area were okay, but the school disasters were major, so a lot of loss of young life.
No new news on the US adoption front, we continue to wait and pray a birth mom will pick us so that we can run with that connection...
Cara's sister and baby boy are visiting for a few days so that is fun...
Well, my windows update is done... time to reboot...I sure hope Windows Vista isn't as bad as what the Mac ads say!
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