Deep Thoughts by Sonia Part Duh.

Ha.
Part Duh. Instead of Deux. I crack myself up.
And it's late
and waaaayyy past my 8:30pm bedtime
so I may be getting punchy.
Don't judge me.
Yes I have the sleeping schedule of a 2 year old.
I said don't judge me.
Sheesh.

• I met a lovely lady at the hotel yesterday in line for breakfast that recognized me from the blog. This was a first for me. She's a fellow AF wife. She's sweet. They too are headed to their next assignment. I almost sat down with them to eat tonight. But then I decided that would be intrusive. And then she would think I was weird. And then she wouldn't read it anymore and she'd be sorry she recognized me. So I didn't. And I ate with my smelly posse of boys instead. Hi nice hotel lady! 
• My 13 year old was standing next to me when this happened. He thought this was ridiculously cool and I even made his face-book status today when he told his friends. 
• That's right. I'm cool in the 13-14 year old age division.
• We are in the middle of what is the easiest & smoothest move we have had in 13 years. 
• Granted not easy on the emotions but easy on the process nonetheless.
• Jacob didn't ask to call his China Baba today. Or his China Babbage as my friend Jean said. Ha. China Babbage. Crackin me up. I love that.
• I still have my friend Emily's tea that I picked up for her from Don & Susan in Guangzhou. I haven't mailed it yet. Is nearly 5 months still within the appropriate grace period for mailing tea?
• You should know I have post office issues. 
• Emily, obviously, was unaware of this. 
• I heart our adoption agency. I feel so confident that they will rally behind us in getting this kiddo home quickly. If you need a great agency let me know, I've got a name for ya.
• Whilst packing up some plastic fork and spoonware for our transition time I also remembered to throw a couple of pairs of chopsticks in the bag. I think this small act cemented my Mother of Asian Americans status. Or maybe it didn't. I dunno.
• We are at a bit of a standstill with #7's name. Had I known 14 years ago that there were going to be 7 of them running around.....well.....let's just say this J issue would not have taken flight. 
• This experience has left me wondering....is it too late to change all of my children's names? 
• My husband finished his program today. This.Is.A.Big.Day. We took what was going to be a challenging year and amped it up a notch or 12,000 with all that has transpired with our family in the last 12 months.
• I am considering making a tee-shirt to wear around our new base that says something like, "Hello. I am Sonia. I'm a nice person. I'm new here and I don't know anyone. Will you please talk to me?" 
• Does that sound desperate?
• Pathetic? 
• I dunno.
• Did I mention I dislike the getting to know everyone phase of moving? 
• No?
• Ok.
• I dislike the getting to know everyone phase of moving.  
• I can't wait to show you little man's picture. 
• Gracious how you can love some one from so far away that you haven't met continually amazes me. 

It's a new day.
Sonia out.

Deep Thoughts by Sonia.

• We are in the midst of our moving transition
• Jacob is not handling it so well. 
• He asked to call his "China Baba" last night. 
• This is the first time that has happened......ever. 
• I walked back into our home that is now filled with boxes this morning and cried. 
• I'm going to miss it here. 
• We have made some powerful friendships, most of them driven by our journey to the boys. Never in my life have I ever experienced such un-ending support and encouragement.
• I accidentally donated a bunch of clothes to the thrift shop that a dear friend lent to me when we first arrived home with Joey and Jacob. In my jet lag fog I managed to miss the word lend. I feel like an idiot.
• Jacob asked to call his China Baba last night. 
• My husband is finishing his final exam today for the school that kept us here for another year. 
• After 11 months I may actually see his face out from behind a book. 
• I have forgotten what he looks like. 
• I've decided to break with tradition and wear a simple back and white sundress to the graduation ball next week instead of a formal gown. 
• The gowns are packed. 
• I used to like moving so often way more than I like it now. 
• Now it tends to make me more sad than excited. 
• Jacob asked to call his China Baba last night.
• The twins are at sleep away summer church camp until Friday. 
• I miss them so much it hurts.
• My dear friend Kim is coming into town this weekend and I can't wait to see her. 
• My dear friend Lanette is leaving town shortly after us and I don't want to say goodbye to her. 
• This Sunday is our last at our church. 
• The thought of that makes me want to ugly cry. I'm going to miss my church & Bible study posse.  Those women amaze me.
• Jacob asked to call his China Baba last night.

Sonia out. 

Orphan Behavior

I keep forgetting.

It daily slips my mind.
When I look at them
I don't see it.

I keep forgetting.
where.
they.
came.
from.

I'm thinkin that's good.
I don't watch them bound down the stairs each morning and think to myself,
"Look! My two little former orphans! How cute!"

Nope.
Nevah.
The fact escapes me
often.

If I hadn't picked them up myself I wouldn't believe that they have only been here for four months.
Nope.
Not at'all.

So yes,
I keep forgetting.

Until things like this happen.



We are moving to wherever the AF sends us.
Soon.
Like soon-soon.

I asked them to pack up their legos so that we could take them to the hotel
and they instead managed to unearth all sorts of treasures that they had hidden away.

Yep.
Orphan behaviors.
Front and center.

They hoard.
They don't steal.
They don't hide food
but the things they manage to pillage
amaze me. 
It fascinates me really.
what they deem important or worthy of keeping.
Course it wasn't until this afternoon that I realized
it's all important apparently.


Take this for instance

that's a "baseball".
A baseball made of one sheet of crumpled up printer paper covered in packing tape.
That was their "China baseball."
Furthermore, it's wrapped in a clear cellophane wrapper they pillaged from somewhere in the house.
This is special to them.

Then there's the random strands of Easter grass.
Special.

Broken bouncy ball.
Special.



Sheet of paper that they practiced their multiplication tables on 2 months ago.
Special.



Broken pencil.
Special.

All of it.
Special.



Go ahead.
Let your heart break.
I'll wait.

So when I sat down with them and gently told them that we should take a look and see if anything in there could be trash here was the result



Yep.
It's all still there.
NONE of this is trash to them.
Not the remaining plastic part of a ring pop
not the 3 month old happy meal toy
not the broken plastic mini frisbee
nope
nuthin.
No.Thing. is trash.

Then there's this.
This is what it looks like under their pillows.

 ~sigh~

So here we are
very close to a move
and my very typically organized self
is taking a deep breath.
The baseball wrapped in trash will move with us
as will the plastic ring pop piece
all of it.
It will come.

But more importantly
so
will
they.

And though for now they view their trinkets as special
soon enough
they truly and fully will grasp how very special they are.
Can't.Wait.For.That.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven. Matthew 6:19-20.

Paper Cuts.

Ouch.

You know how they say labor is painful and that as soon as you have that
grimy
sweet
placenta-covered
newborn in your arms
you forget all about it?
I guess that's true.

But let me tell you....I'm in labor now
with a 7 year old
and my uterus is in China.
Ha.
That was funny.
Or gross.
I'm not sure which.

Regardless,
there's no epidural....and I am a big, big, big believer in epidurals.
{cuz I'm weak like that}
and all those memories are coming back.
Someone give me the happy juice ~ stat.

Our home study is written and ready for submission to NBC.
Just had to be re-fingerprinted.
No bigs.
No bigs only there seems to be a disconnect between the law and the process. 
Our state and FBI prints that our state requires, are valid for two years.

We are well within the two year time frame.
But.
But our home study agency is required to re-print all potential adoptive families as part of their vetting process.
Super.
Except "the system" does not allow you to do so.

So we have spent the last two weeks on the phone and on email with our local DHR office, the company in VA that runs these prints, their IT people(not kidding) and a couple hundred other people in between them.
It's been big fun.

We essentially have to be kicked out of their system in order to re-register for this adoption.
They didn't so much want to do this as they kept insisting that we were cleared and our prints are still valid.
Well yesterday that was finally figured out.
And then not two hours later I got a call that our forms were out-dated so we got a rejection notice.
What.
The.
Heck.

Could anyone have noticed this a week or two ago?
Anyone?
Bueller?
I told you I need an epidural. 

Will someone puh-lease ring the anesthesiologist
and bring me better hospital food
these paper cuts are going to be intense.

The Plan

Wow.
You guys amaze me with your un-ending support.
You have no idea how uplifted and encouragement we feel by all of you.
Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing. 
1 Thessalonians 5:11
It's so Thessalonica-ish of you! {Ha, I just made up a word}
Or is it Paul-ish of you since he wrote the book of Thessalonians?
I dunno.

Anyhoo,
The plan is that John and Jordan and maybe Jason-who isn't sure he wants to do that plane ride again and I can't say I blame him- will go and pick up our little Mr.
{who really needs a name by the way}.
John and I will high five and tag team in the airport when he lands with him
at which point
John will go home and sleep off the jet lag
and I will go directly from the airport to the hospital with little man.

It's in that moment
on that day 
that we will know.

He will either be a candidate for surgery after they run their tests
or
he won't.

We have had his file reviewed by the heads of cardiology at a few different hospitals including Boston Childrens,
which
if you have a kiddo with a sick heart
Boston Children's is where you need to be.
We kept getting the same answer.
There is no way to know.
They need certain tests done,
they need more information.
Too many unknowns for them to tell us how this will go.

Somehow
someway
we have tremendous peace about that.

We are either going to be bringing home a child that can be helped by modern medicine
or
we are going to be bringing home a child that we will love, laugh and have life with for as long as we are blessed to have him.

Days?
Months?
Years?
No idea.

But peace nonetheless.

I'm not gonna lie.
This is a lot. 
A lot
a lot.
There is a tremendous amount of things going on right now in our family.
We have some big adjustments ahead
but really
really?
None of our reasons would ever be reason enough to leave this little boy to die alone.
None.

So we press on toward the goal that God has called us to and we do so no matter the trials knowing He is right there with us.
He has gone ahead of us in this.
We are doing what He has asked of us.
He knows precisely how all of this will play out.
And that,
THAT is what I cling to.
{and chocolate. I cling to chocolate. But not near as much as I cling to Jesus}
Just FYI.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

The Deets.

It is with great love and a humble heart that we introduce you to our seventh son.

He's 7.
He's sweet.
And he's dying of a complicated un-repaired heart defect.

My friend Jean had been advocating for him
and one look at that precious little blue face had me doing the same.

But God. 

God is funny like that.
When you think it's someone else......
it
could
be
you.

It could be you that has a dossier already in place & available to re-use.
It could be you with the available medical care & coverage to try and treat him.
It could be you with still-current fingerprints.
It could be you that can get to him rather quickly.
It could be you HE is asking no matter how insanely busy you are at the moment.
It could be you.
Or it could be me.
This time....
it's me.

So here we are.
Racing against the clock and {hopefully} very quickly about to bring home our precious boy. 
Updated home study almost complete, and we should be submitting to USCIS* sometime in the next two weeks.
After that, we hope for some lightning fast approvals.

More soon.
But in the meantime we covet your prayers for him that his life will be sustained until
we
can
get
him
home
and get him the medical care he urgently needs.
 
This child has waited for so long for someone to love him and we hope to have the honor and privilege of doing so no matter how many
days
months
or years
he has left on this earth.

There's one less orphan in the world tonight.
One.
Less.

Soli De Gloria.

7.

Yes.

Social Worker Visit

for our first post-placement report for the boys yesterday.

As I was straightening the house
and yes...it was just a mild re-straightening.

It was not the spit shining the silver and washing down the lawnmower epic clean of 2010 I compulsively launched for our first visits last year when we began this process.
Did you know social workers don't care if your lawnmower is dirty or if the inside of your washing machine has been cleaned of any built up liquid fabric softener? 
No?
Ok. 
Well, now consider yourself informed.

Anyhoo, in prep for her visit I was doing just a mild pick up.
Ya know, underwear off of the floor and emptying an entire can of air freshner in the teenagers room type straightening.

It was all good.

Well.
It was all good.
Until I bent down to straighten the rug and saw this


no?
You don't see it?
Here.
Let me zoom in for you.

Still no?
Hang on.....we'll get closer.


Ahhhh yes,
Nowyousee.


  
Yep.
Yep that's a fork. 
A
very
very
nasty
crusty
dried on food
at least a few months old because I remember when we had that cake
fork.

Seriously?
What the heck?
Am I being punked?



A fork
In my couch.
A fork in my couch?!

I don't quite know what to say to that....

Other than to hit my knees in prayer for their future wives....and pre-emptively write said wives an apology letter.

Dear daughter in law
....I tried.....I really did.
Ever sorry, 
me.

Big GIGANTIC Important Question For You

Alrighty peoples.
I need your wisdom.

First off I will ask that you not take this lightly as your response will forever govern the future of my mothering abilities
or lack thereof. 

I do try to keep this blog as fun and uplifting as possible.....it's how I roll.
But in this I am going to need your utmost serious consideration before you respond.


Ready?

Ok.
Here.
We.
Go.

Question: If your child is swimming in a chlorinated pool everyday after school how many days can we realistically skip the shower?

1?
2?
5?
All summer long?

Fellow mutha's. I need your feedback.
I do believe this warrants a poll.
So vote! Vote today!
Your country, our very nation and our county health department is counting on you.

What If

I love this.

Developed the Disposable Camera Today

that we sent them in the care packages.
{Finally}
And gracious the cuteness that was awaiting me.

Check it.


Wait.


Hold on a second.


What.On.Earth.


What is that my sweet asian babies are inhaling?
He can't even seem to remove it from his precious little face long enough for a photo op.

Wait.
That's better.


Ack.


Never mind.

Pepsi.
Argh.

That is one brave nanny to highly caffeinate all of those children.
Whew.
Gracious.