At last....

Here's a picture of the kids from Jaelyn's foster care. The woman on the far left is the foster care director from the orphanage. The lady in the back was Jaelyn's foster mom. The other two ladies are her daughters, and both are also foster moms. The one holding the boy in the pink pants lives with her mom and is taking care of the two boys in the middle, and both have cerebral palsy. The sister on the right does not live with them, but lives nearby and visits frequently. She is holding LiHao, who is thought to be Jaelyn's biological brother. See any resemblance??? I'm not sure who the girl in front is. I have made contact with Li Hao's waiting mother, and we will be staying in contact. They hope to be traveling to bring him home in July, which is when I will be traveling to China on a missions trip!

Amazing Story!

Okay friends and family, I am thrilled to share some unexpected news with you.
It's a bit lengthy, so bare with me.

After trying to get information for some time on a young boy in Jaelyn's foster care pictures, we found, through another adoptive families' inquiry, that he has not been made adoptable due to his Cerebral Palsy. My heart really ached for him. Yongmei, who was a fellow adoptive parent when we adopted Kaia in 2004, generously offered to make a trip to the orphanage when she went to visit her family in Changchun (where Jaelyn is from), to see what she could learn. I sent over a picture album and thank-you notes that she interpreted, to both the swi and foster care, and I tried to encourage them to make the foster brother available for adoption. I honestly did not think they would give Yongmei any information, especially since they did not allow us to visit. Who was I to doubt God and Yongmei?! She got to visit the swi and then the foster care director took her to the foster home the following day! But here's where it gets really interesting....yes, she got to see the boy in the picture, but she also got to meet whom the orphanage thinks is Jaelyn's BIOLOGICAL brother! She sent pictures and he looks just like Jaelyn, only he is 5. He is also missing his forearm, only his right instead of left. It gets better....he is being adopted by an American family soon and the director said he would give Yongmei the information, if we wanted. IF we wanted???? Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would be how it would work out. Mike even said if this boy wasn't already being adopted we would be starting our paperwork right now (and that's a lot for Mike to say at this busy point in our lives). I am anxious to see how this all works out and thrilled to have a piece of Jaelyn's history.


I will keep you all abreast of the situation as I learn more. I am having difficulty posting the picture right now, so will try again later. You can judge for yourself whether or not Jaelyn looks like this boy.

Forever Family Day

Well today is the one year celebration of Jaelyn joining our forever family! Unfortunately she is not in the mood for celebrating. Last night she was complaining of a sore tongue, and today the doctor said she thought it was the coxsackie virus. Her mouth is full of sores today. Since it is a virus we pretty much just have to let it run its course, which can be anywhere from 4-9 days. In the meantime she's understandably grumpy, and not wanting to eat a thing. Her fever seems to come and go. We will just have to go out for our celabratory Chinese dinner at a later time.

Kellen was inducted into the National Honor Society tonight. We are very proud of him (now if I can just get him to get a haircut)!

Happy Birthday Mommy Mother's Day!

That's what Kaia wished me today! I had a wonderful day spent with my kids, under the direction of Dad. It started with being served breakfast in bed, which by the way, is challenging to keep crumbs off the sheets with two 3 yr. olds fighting over who gets to be next to you! We then headed off the island to do some hiking around Padilla Bay. The sky could've had a few less clouds, but the scenery was beautiful, including the bald eagles flying around and the vivid yellow goldfinches (we had binoculars and a bird book!). We threw a few rocks in the bay then headed off for a late lunch in La Conner. Needless to say the girls were exhausted and fell asleep without a fight tonight.

To both our moms, we hope you had a special day, as you are special people (you know, you both raised wonderful children who happened to find one another). We so appreciate all you have done for us, and the support and love that you have given all our children, no matter how they joined our family!

One precious moment this past week was when Mike, the girls and I went out to eat Friday night (we can only afford to go out when the boys are gone!). Mike was showing me a sliver on his thumb when Jaelyn asked to see it too. She then put her hands on his thumb and said "Dear Jesus, help Daddy's thumb feel better," then a bunch of words we couldn't understand, and lastly a firm "amen!" It was so sweet to witness. The girl is the most compassionate 3 yr. old I have ever met.

Hypothyroidism

Today I was told by my doctor that I now have hypothyroidism. He told me that 20% of Type I Diabetics get it. Yippee, skippee! Because of this statistic I have been having routine yearly thyroid checks, and my doctor has been watching my numbers drop a bit each year. This year they fell below the acceptable number, so that means I will now take a daily pill. No cure, but very controllable. Like Type I diabetes, this is an autoimmune disease. I laughed when my doctor told me we caught it early, so I didn't show the symptoms of constant cold and fatigue....anyone who knows me knows I'm constantly cold. As for the fatigue, due to two 3 yr. olds, I don't think that's going away with a little pill! I'm sure I'll be scouring the Internet the next few days to find out as much as I can.