Sad.

I'm not sure how to go on.



Sniff.
Sob.
Sniffle.
Snot bugger.
Snot bugger.

 

Excuse me now as I mourn the death of my nearest friend through poetry.

Ode to my Vacuum

Dear friend,
I won't pretend
that I know how to clean without you. 

You've always been there for me
blue, black and sucky you see.

That dirt was no match for you
you cleaned up well after this crew. 
And now I don't know what to do
Oh boo. 
Hoo. 
Boo-Hoo. 


So it is with a full heart
and a dirty living room
that I bid you adieu. 

Oh
and to add insult to vacuumal injury
I'm having a really bad hair day.

....but I don't have a poem about that.

Hair oh hair
why you gotta be so unfair....

errrr...no.
No poem. 

Lots Of You Asked For It, So Here You Go

Ok....like 5 people asked for it.
But since I am a stay at home mom and interact with exactly no one most days during the day
5 people is like a lot. 

So here you go
my thoughts on older child adoption.

The question of how we "do" older child adoption
how the intricacies of that play out in our home
how their adjustment is
quite honestly sets me back a bit.
When asked about "Older child adoption" I have to wait for that "older child/hard to place" label that used to define them rise up from the recesses of my brain and come back into my frontal lobe....errr...cerebral cortex?.....I dunno....so that I can remember
because I truly don't look at them as "older children". 

They just fit.
They fit perfectly into our family.

I don't know that it is harder.
I don't know that it is easier than adopting younger kids & cute squishy lil babies.

It's just
well
different. 

In the beginning in China it was fabulous.
They were old enough to somewhat have a grasp on what was happening.
All 3 came right to us.

(other than Joshua apparently thinking he was going to live in Italy....sorry buddy)

There were
No tantrums.
No tears.
Just pure
adrenaline induced
excitement.
For them
for us
we were one big group of really, really excited people.

Yet, ironically, if anything illustrates the udder brokenness of these orphans
it is that moment
because really,

children should not be that excited to be handed to
and walk off
with perfect strangers. 

But they somehow know.

They know that what is to come

love
life
hope
a future
food
a bed
warmth

simply must be better than what they have now.
Because when I try to picture my biological children being handed over to strangers at the age of 7
and the definite opposite reaction that they would have
it illustrates just how big a void these kids sitting in those orphanages have.

There is nothing like a family.

There is
no
thing
like a family.

Practically, older kids just aren't as needy in the physical sense and since we were far beyond diapers and nap times this worked well for us.
They could walk, go to the bathroom, understand that it was time for bed, shower, dinner.
(Man I am SO good at charades now. If anyone ever wants to play, let me know. I'll kick your butt.)

This I knew was a key to our families successful transition.
These kids were in the same phase of life that we were already in so the adjustment on our part was minimal. (Not to trivialize adoption itself but in this specific context(as it pertains to age) it was a minimal impact.)
I think had we chosen to go back down baby lane it would have been much more difficult (for us).
We just weren't there.
Our hearts weren't there.
Our sports filled evenings and weekends weren't there.
Our older kids weren't there.

I knew how to do 7 year's old.
Our youngest 5 are all within a 21 month block of time.
The twins are 6 minutes apart.
Push em out, push em out, waaaaaayyy out!
Sorry, that was a throwback to my brief cheer-leading days in high school.
But I digress...

Jacob is 14 months younger than the twins.
Joshua is 3 months younger than Jacob.
Joey is 4 months younger than Joshua. 
If we could do anything,
we could do the 6-8 year old age range.
I knew what their maturity level was, what would appeal to them, how to speak to them.
We were there.

Granted, some of it may have been lost in translation but I think the message is this...
Kids are kids.
Red, yellow, black and white they, at their core, are kids.

Obviously

Experiences will color that,
Trauma will cover that,
Abandonment will change that,
Institutionalization will harm that

but somehow I could see right through all of that muck and mire
and  I could see that underneath it all
there was a little boys heart.
I didn't know how long it would take to unearth.
I didn't know the hardships would come along
I didn't know how much pain was in the process
but the heart
the heart is there
it's just waiting. 

It's the uncovering of all of the "stuff" that comes along with adopting older kids that is where the challenge can rise up
and
smack
you
in
the
face.

So though I don't change diapers
or warm bottles
or wake up for 3am feedings
and I don't hurry home for nap time
I fight a battle that is larger than myself.
A battle that will consume them
if it weren't for love.

So yes.
It's hard.
I do sleep all night
They do go to school all day
but I  have to be ever mindful that though their neediness doesn't lie in the physical sense
there are still 3 little hearts under my roof that are still in a state of mending.
Because not only do I have my own parenting wisdom, tips, techniques and training to impart on them,
I am simultaneously un-parenting all of the bad habits, harsh words, and lack of love that they endured when I wasn't there.

Have you ever tried un-parenting and parenting at the same time?
It's ummmm......fun?
Nope.
Pretty sure that's not the word I am looking for.

It's not just "Hey buddy, this is how we do this."
It's "Hey buddy, I know that was how things were done before and I'm sorry that happened, ~ hug ~ hug~ but here's why that's not ok. Now let me show you what we do. ~ teach. train. model. ~ hug ~
Then it's "Good job! I knew you could do it!" ~ hug~
All whilst speaking Chinglish and having about 50% of what you are telling them get lost in translation.

Repeat.
8,000 times a day. 

They will be 14 years old before we ever even break even.
They will be 14 before their time in our family becomes longer than their days spent in an orphanage.

This is a marathon.

I am not who I used to be.
My patience is bigger
My heart is heavier
My joy is tempered.
Just like a normal marathon
it's exhausting. 

It takes an inordinate amount of energy
of patience
of love
of patience
of patience
of teaching
of training
of patience
of love
to bring these kids out of the darkness.

And if I'm being honest....

it.
empties.
me.

And if I'm being more honester. (yep I know, not a word)
it's the reason I haven't been blogging.
It takes SO much to be continually pouring love, encouragement, discipline, and training into these kids that I often find myself

empty.

And most days
when the sun has set
when 7 sleepy heads are happily snoring on their pillows

I have nothing left to give.

Are we happy?
Yep.
Would we do it again?
No doubt, yes.
Is it the hardest thing I have ever done?

A
b
s
l
u
t
e
l
y

Are there moments when I think to myself,
"Am I being punked?"
7 boys? Seriously?
Totally.

I vastly underestimated the amount of life training that they would need at their age.
Things like

A stove is hot.
You knock on the door before you walk into people's houses, you can't just walk in.
Seatbelts.
Walk on the sidewalk, not in the street.
Kindly do not remove the food from your plate that you don't care for and place a big blob of it directly on the table.
Don't walk down the hallway from your room to the bathroom stark neked. You're 8.  

Small things of course.
But when each and every moment,
each and every action
each and every transition
requires explanation it takes awhile to get the hang of that.
Rather...
it took me awhile to get the hang of that.

But last I checked my goal isn't to take up residence on Easy Street,
I think that is a crowded, overpopulated neighborhood. 

go.
serve
love. 
be more like HIM
It's what I want to do.
It's where I want to live. 

So is older child adoption really more difficult?
I don't know.
It's just
different. 

Deep....errrrr....Shallow Thoughts by Sonia.

Ok I know I said a post about Paul....
who, incidentally is one of my new favorite people selling some of my new favorite products...
but I just have some random things on the brain that simply must come out first.

Things like
I need a new blog redesign.
It's time.
It's been two years....it's time.
Like time-time seeing as how most of my kids look downright infantile in their pictures compared to what they look like now.
Thank you puberty for stealing my babies away.
Wait.
Did I just use the word puberty on my blog?
Oh my.
My street cred just went way down. 
And then there's the fact that their ages are outdated since they are currently
15,14,9,9,8,8,7
And then there is the fact that I don't know that I actually had any street cred to begin with
nor am I entirely sure what that is. 

And other things
like the fact that I have a neighbor who blows a whistle 3 times consecutively to call her children in from playing.

This intrigues me.

I can't decide if my shrill lovely voice nicely screaming talking at a loud volume calling my kids in is better
or worse
than a whistle.
Course then that got me thinking that it would actually be kinda fun and entertaining to train my kids to the same call as her kids....
but then of course her kid would show up at my house
and mine at hers
and before you know it the neighborhood would be one jumbled mess of kids coming and going and whistles every which way.
Which
though highly entertaining I'm sure
might give me a headache. 

Speaking of the neighborhood I should give you a tour of our new abode.
After spending the summer at our new base in an apartment the size of a shoebox with 6 kids waiting for a house it was such a welcome relief to get out of the hospital and walk into our new house that is
thankfully
quite larger than a shoebox.
2,400 sq feet with 9 people feels downright palatial. 

We love it.
We love it here.
We would love to stay here for a
long
long
looong
time.
AF you hear that?
A loonnnnggg time.
Thankyousomuch.

Our last 3 assignments we have been on a bit of a tropical tour.
Water.
Warmth.
Palm trees.
Ahhhhhh
it has just about thawed me out from our 3 years spent in North Dakota....
*shivers*
but not quite....
I think my appendix and spleen are still frozen.

In other news of the random variety
my walls are filthy.
7 boys makes walls filthy.
Doors.
Door handles.
Banisters.
Filthy.
Filthy.
Filthy.
I just thought you should know.
Yesterday I even found a booger on the wall
I didn't think you needed to know that one....
but I figured in the spirit of full disclosure I should tell you everything.
So I did.
You're welcome.

I loathe making lunches in the mornings.
I loathe handling lunch meat as I simultaneously chug my morning cuppa joe.
Those two things were not meant to go together
nor am I meant to handle lunch meat before sunrise.
It's just wrong.
Two things I know will be in Heaven:
Jesus
and the absence of the necessity to prepare lunchboxes.
The teenagers school charges $5.00 for a hot lunch.

Hold on.

Let me say that again just in case you missed it.
$5.00 for LUNCH. 

What the?
So until that prices comes down to somewhere around .99,
I will continue to inhale the smell of smoked turkey and mustard and coconut creme coffee creamer all at the same time.
Mmmmmm tasty. Blech.

The hubs and the teens were at DNOW this weekend
which means two things:

1. I missed them.
2. I didn't have cook ginormous dinners whilst they are gone since they are the three top food consumers in this house.

So I have been making super fan-say things like
mac and cheese
grilled cheese
pancakes
and soup....
from a can.
And man alive....have you ever closely inspected the chicken pieces in a can of chix and rice soup?
I don't recommend it.
Nope.
Don't do it. 
Ok fine.
I know your gonna do it....just don't yell at me when you see the nastiness that awaits you.
In fact don't yell at me at all....
it makes me cry....
and then my makeup runs...
and my eyes get all puffy
and snot comes out of my nose...
oh never mind.
Forget I said anything about the chicken. 

As I mentioned on the book of face I am taking a break from my beloved Jesus calling devotional and switching gears into marriage.
I just finished watching the first session and have just began the book but if you too want a little marriage kick in the bootay and a in-yo-face reminder about how we should act in the sanctity of a marriage head right here.

I have some posts swimming around in my head now that I have
*gasp*
blogged two whole days in a row.
Posts about how I wish I were braver.
I wish I were braver when we began our adoption journey.
Joshua's experience has forever changed me
and if it taught me one over riding lesson as it pertains to adoption it is this:
Dying kids need families too. 

I want to share in a post or 2 or 12 or 20 about few heart kiddos
deemed inoperable
just like Joshua
that are still waiting for their miracle.
So standby.
Cute faces and broken hearts headed to a computer screen near you soon.

This concludes today's episode of Random Thoughts by Sonia.
I have walls to clean.
~sigh~

Breaking the Silence

....but I have NO idea where to begin.

Happy 8th birthday Joshua?
Merry 1st Christmas to Jacob, Joey and Joshua?
Happy New Year?
Happy 1st Gotcha day Jacob and Joey?
Happy Valentines Day?
Happy your heart scar has turned into a keloid scar and it's ginormous day?

Yep.
No idea.

No idea where to start.

I'm thinking I'll just pretend that I have not committed the wretched sin of not blogging for 2 months 
and that you are just all caught up on the goings on of us.

Because really
to try and explain all that has transpired in the last few months to make this sweet child
go from this

to this

is waaay beyond my abilities.

So let's just pretend that we are old friends who chat on the phone everyday mkay?

Mkay.

Super, so I'll talk to you tomorrow about our weekend with Paul Newman's legacy, the Hole in the Wall Camp.
Wow.
That's all I gotta say.

Wanna Be His Momma?

He's 1 1/2.

1 & 1/2 and he doesn't have a family to call his own.

His special need?

Tetrology of Fallot. (heart defect)
One of Joshua's special needs.

Make a difference.
Save a life. 

He needs you.

Wanna know more about TofF?
Call me.
Text me.
Email me.
Skype me.

Seriously.

Let's get this baby a family.

For more information on little Quinn contact Lifeline Adoptions (205) 967-0811 or go here:
http://lifelineadoption.org/adoption/international/china/waiting-children/photos/

How It's Really Going.

Incredibly.

No.
Really.
Incredibly.

8 months.
3 adoptions.
Jacob and Joey home on January 29th, 2011.
Joshua home on September 24th, 2011.

The realization of that escapes me
often. 

I think at some point when we are out of this season I will look back and wonder
how.
on.
earth.

We.
Be.
Kah-razy.

But for now?
It just feels like us.
It feels just like our family.
It just feels like I cook for 9 people every morning and every night.
And wipe an inordiante amount of pee off of the toilet seat.
And if you are thinking to yourself, "Wow. She sure talks about pee a lot."
Ummm.
I do. 
It's my reality.
My pee-pee reality.

I'd say our biggest hiccup has been Jacob
our leader
our ridiculously smart and talented kiddo
feeling very responsible for Joshua.
As if he feels the need to take care of him
and to keep it real
boss him around periodically
in Chinese. 

And in case you didn't know....
I don't speak Chinese
but I want them to.
So I have learned to compensate for my Chinglishignorance by being tuned in to tones, facial expressions, body language....
all cues that someone is being a tad bit....ahem....bossy.

All 3 are once again fluent.

They speak English during the day at school
but the moment that bell rings and they are reunited once again it is Chinese
straight up.

They amaze me how they can be talking to each other in Chinese and then turn to me
flip that switch
and speak to me in English.
I wan 2 bee dat smart win i groww up.

Medically Joshua is doing amazingly well.
You would never
ever
ever
evah
look at him and  know what he has been through.
He has been cleared by his cardiologist until after the new year which will be our longest period of time without a checkup...nearly 5 weeks.
His brand spu-anking new pulmonary valve will last anywhere from 1 to 3 to 7 years or anywhere in between.
Every valve wears out at different rates for every person.
Impossible to predict.
So we watch.
And wait.
And live.
And love.
And
just.
be.

Adopting Joshua has been such a different experience than it was with Jacob and Joey.
They came to us hurting.
Traumatized.
Victimized.
Having been through more than any child should
their scars were evident
and real
and raw.
This made for some challenging days when they first came home.
And to see them now
nearly 1 year later
the healing is remarkable.
The wounds are there
but they are slowly being covered and buried by love.

Joshua came from such a different place.
One day I will sit and write out my thoughts on adopting from a foster home vs an orphanage.
The difference in our case has been incredible.
3 boys.
All the same age.
But from 2 different situations.
It's a whole new ball game.

Joshua is much more innocent.
Much more unaware.
And in a lot of ways
ironically....
healthier. 

I'm not sure if that's what has made this transition go seamlessly
or if it's what he went through that first month in America
that caused him very quickly to rely on us and gave us a big opportunity to care for him in very real ways
or if it's my off the hook parenting skillz
bahahahahahahaha
that was sarcasm. 
Just so ya know.
Or if it's just his happy go lucky personality,
I just don't know what it is.
But regardless,
homeslice is happy to be here.
He loves,
he laughs,
he wrestles,
he eats,
and eats,
and eats
and he pees on the toilet seat.


So that's the scoop on wassup with us.
3 new stockings hanging by the tree
3 boys that have never experienced Christmas
and one special kiddo with an 8th birthday coming up on December 17th.

 


I.
Can't.
Wait.

Just a Thought..

as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior:

The Hardest Part About Adopting

from China...

The cleaning of the chopsticks.

True story.

They either fall through the cracks of the dishwasher and get seared/partially catch fire on the heating element
or
they fall partially through the cracks and then snap in two when I ever so impatiently ram the dishwasher door closed.

The end.

Oh, If I may interject. I beg of you not to suggest that I hand wash them.

Beg.
Of.
You.

I don't hand wash nuthin.
Or dry clean
or iron
or
or well
never mind.
I better not let out too many of my housekeeping secrets.

Thankful thoughts from a friend...

This is a special weekend in the Martin home!  They have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!  Only a year ago, their Thanksgiving table looked completely different than it will look this Thursday.  How could they have known how much life was about to change for each and every one of them?  But with all those changes, they would have the opportunity to discover God to be so much more than they’d ever known Him to be before!  Knowing Him in this way would mean taking incredible risks… not just with their pocket books (don’t you have one of those John?), but with their hearts!  Even after bringing home Jacob and Joey, God continued to stretch their faith in ways they had likely not imagined.  Another child needed a home… no one else seemed willing to take the chance on a little boy who hadn’t been given a chance at life himself.  And though they wondered how much they had left to give, they knew that they could not say “no” the way so many others had before them.  The thought of a precious little boy dying in an orphanage alone was unacceptable!  So they said “YES!”…to the cost of a third adoption in less than 9 months; …to the possibility of incredible loss; …to another little boy around the dinner table;  …to John traveling alone to deliver him home in time; …to weeks inside the four walls of a hospital room; ...to weeks at home alone without Mommy; …to hours and hours on the road to Gainesville for follow up appointments;  …and to a posse’ of folks that pray and then beg for updates when you’re too tired to think, much less write intelligibly!  But most importantly they said “Yes!” to discovering that God had incredible plans for their family of nine and would prove Himself fully sufficient through it all!!!! 

This Thanksgiving, as the nine of them bow their heads around their dinner table, I imagine that they will thank God for giving them the courage they needed to say “Yes!” and for the bountiful blessings that answer has unveiled in all of their hearts!  There will be three little boys around that table that can utter thanks for the gift of family this year for the very first time!  And Joshua… He can’t begin to understand all that God has done in the past year… wrapping him in His love and making the impossible POSSIBLE in his heart!  But for now, we’ll all gladly stand around this table overflowing with miracles and say “Thank you, Lord!” on Joshua’s behalf!  The Martin harvest has been bountiful this year!  For this we join them and give great THANKS!  

Blessings and Happy, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here in “blog land” to the Martin Family! 

Your friend and “ghost writer”,    Lori

  

One of the incredible “fringe benefits” of the Martin’s “Yes!” was an unexpected friendship along the way with another Mom possibly as crazy as Sonia herself with whom to share the journey.  (That Mom would be ME!)  Only God would have orchestrated such a friendship with someone walking the same road… (only doing it with three China Princesses instead!)  What a gift to have one another to share a meal, to share our struggles, to share our joys, to encourage, and to brighten the journey through the gift of gut-wrenching laughter!!!!   When I bow my head around my family’s table this year, I will be giving thanks to the Lord for the gift of YOU, Sonia Martin!   

Sonia and I have "plans" for these two!  Part of that plan includes joint follow up appointments in Gainesville!  By "joint", we mean TOGETHER! - same time! - same examination room! - side by side EKG's!  You get the idea!  You're not going to believe this, but they actually AGREED to this insane idea last week!  That clinic will never be the same!  It will likely not happen again,... but it sure was fun while it lasted!  :-)  We were having so much fun, we didn't even notice that Dr Fricker had arrived to talk about Joshua and Rachel's hearts!  Oh... THAT's why we are here!  Has he not heard?  "Laughter does the heart good!" 

Hospitals Shhmospitals.

Thank you Lori for updating the masses.....or the 5 people that perhaps still read this blog since I have been so neglectful of it....whicheva the case may be.

We are home.

Ahhhh.

Home.

Home of the brave
and land of the free from IV beeping at unheard hours of the night.

Joshua is doing great.
I know.
I know
I know
I keep saying that.
I think I need a word other than great.
I need a thesauraus.
Standby.

Ok here we go.
Joshua is doing
astonishing
awe-inspiring
stunning
breathtaking
wondorous
formidable....oooo I like that one
"How is Joshua doing?"
"Formidable! Thanks for asking!"

We had quite the day last Tuesday....errr... Monday?.....err Wednesday?.....I dunno.
Time escapes me.
As Lori so eloquently told the story, we almost had two kids in two hospitals two hours apart.
Alrighty then.
It takes a lot to rattle me....but I'll tell ya. That about did it.
But alas, Jordan did not have appendicitis and has since bounced back from whatever it was he did have.

Joshua's infection is ever so slowly beginning to clear up.
Massive amounts of IV antibiotics and a silver patch seem to be working.

I had no idea that silver was an antimicrobial.
But indeed
tis true.
He has a little patch on the outside of the infected area that is taking care of the infection from the exterior whilst the antibiotics work their magic from the inside.
It looked pretty yucky early last week but now is beginning to heal.

Wait.
Did you want to see that?
Is that gross?
My bad.

We are still having a hard time getting skin to grow over his now open wound but that will come at some point.

He's really not feeling well
see

Bahahahahahahaha
ok.
I lie.
He feels amazing!....errr....formidable!

He still continues to fit into our family beautifully.
The jump from 6 to 7 kids hasn't really phased us.
It's an extra plate at the table
It's more hugs to give
It's one more carseat.
But man oh man I can't help but think about had we missed out on the privilege to parent him and get him the medical care he needed...
whew
I shudder to think.

The only real issue we have run into thus far is that he has to pee a few times a night and instead of getting up out of his bed to go he prefers to lay there and fake cry/scream to wake me up to go with him.

I may or may not have taken to bribing him with a piece of candy the following day if he gets up by himself.

Yep.
Parenting at it's finest. 

I.
Am.
An.
Awesome.
Formidable.
Mother.

But I can neither confirm nor deny the aforementioned candy incident(s).

And don't look now.
But I feel my blogging bug coming back.
More updates a comin.

In other news,
you simply must head over here. 
And enter to win yoself a brand new video camera.
The proceeds from this raffle will help 3 people that are pretty special to me and have a huge heart for the orphan.
A new video camera
And helping the orphans of this world.
Win.
Win.

Move over Sonia... I've got this!

Dear fellow "His Hands, His Feet" addicts and posse' members:  
Let me be clear as I begin....
I.
am.
not.
Sonia.
(I know that little typing trick might have thrown you off... but it's true... definitely NOT Sonia, or you would NOT be reading a post on this blog right now!!!  Sorry Sonia... I know the truth must hurt!)


I am, instead, one of you!..  and so beyond discouraged and disgusted by the lack of any notable blogging efforts on Sonia's part... that I have hijacked her login info and decided to do it MYSELF!  People say that my writing skills are better under the influence of Ambien, so Sonya's only request was that I be sure to take a double dose before writing this post.  I agreed, as I will have no remembrance of anything I have written here "under the influence" of Ambien and can not be held personally responsible for any of it! It must be working, because at the moment, I honestly don't remember if I already took tonight's dose or not!  :-)   


So "addicts"... here's your "fix" for the night!  Enjoy!


Apparently, today started out like most other days in the Martin household... I've never been there and I can't really imagine it either, but I'll try...


Plan A: Get hubby and six boys out the door to work and school and then head with child #7 (aka:Joshua) directly to Gainesville for another glorious evening of chair/bed non-sleeping in all-too-familiar hospital to finally get that chest wound that is leaking nastiness taken care of.  


Plan B:  Child #2 (aka:Jordan) decides that today might be a good day to have a suspected appendicitis attack, so that Mom can make a pit-stop at a local hospital for a CT scan and possible appendectomy BEFORE driving to all-too-familiar hospital for child #7 wound care...


Plan C:  Since "flat Sonia" is unavailable today to be in two places at one time... the decision is made that should Child #2 need to be admitted to local hospital, Child #7 would share a room with him and receive drugs for nasty incision there instead!  


Plan D:  After MANY hours of diagnostic treatment, Child #2 is cleared to go home... while Child #7 has a post-open-heart surgery incision that is getting more nasty by the hour and needs immediate attention.  After taking a quick look around local hospital... Sonia decides that it is much more luxurious than the all-too-familiar hospital that was expecting her arrival earlier today!  A phone call or two later... and Child #7 was admitted at that most luxurious, now "undisclosed" location, that is reported to have full-sized couches that pull out into comfy beds, a personal sized television for parent's viewing pleasure, a flat screen TV mounted to the wall for Prince Joshua, a beautiful bathroom complete with a full sized tub and shower, and a bay window overlooking Tampa Bay...  No, it's not the Ritz Carlton... but Sonia's got the whole night there alone with ONE child and her own personal TV screen, while the other six (I mean seven) boys slug it out at home!  Rumor has it that John is already inquiring when she might return home tomorrow...  I'd tell him to not hold his breath...  Sonia might ask Child #7's cardiologist if they can stay a few more nights!!!


Sonya has asked that in lieu of cards and flowers, you send bath salts and scented candles, or simply dial up room service (aka: nurses station) and send up something yummy!


Attached are a few photos to prove that this insanely crazy day DID indeed occur and that though my somewhat witty presentation of the facts might make things sound extremely light-hearted and fun...  Sonia could really use our prayers for a quick return to "normal" at home once again!  :-)


~You're an incredible mom, Sonia and a very brave friend to entrust your blog to me tonight!  Know that you are loved and have so many standing in the gap on your behalf!  


Hugs from your "ghost-writer", 
Lori

Sweet dreams, Joshua!  We pray you'll be home again soon!

Suh-Lacker.

I have a disease.
A computer aversion disease.

Has anyone else ever suffered through this?
Am I alone?
After 3 adoptions in 9 months
hours of compulsive email checking
blog surfing
20 days in the hospital with a laptop as my only source of contact with the outside world
and yet even more email checking
I can't bare it.

I can't bring myself to spend time in front of this.

But you?
I like you.
And you have harassed me enough with text messages, voicemails and FB threats to come beat down my door that I know
I know I owe you an update.

So it is my love and thankfulness of all of you that brings me to my recliner
with a hot cuppa coffee
and this computer to ignore the rest of the unpacking for just a bit to give you an update.

He's great.

No really.

He's SO great.

It's been awhile
like 14 years
since we have grown our family by only one child.

I forgot how easy one is.

I'm not at all pro or anti dual adoptions.
I am Switzerland when it comes to the issue.

But I will say this.
1 is SO much easier than 2.

And even with the relatively smooth transition we had with Jacob and Joey
this is even easier.

He fits right in
He talks up a storm in Mandarin with the boys
He runs
He plays
He goes to Chinese school on Sundays
And as of last week he goes to regular school each day with his brothers
Here's a picture of his first day



Ummmm.
Yeah.
Ok so maybe I don't have it all together quite yet.
I forgot to take a picture.

I'm tellin ya.
Homeslice is amazing.
He's stubborn don't get me wrong....
but he's amazing nonetheless.

7 Boys.
God cracks me up.