Stupid comments re dwarfism

I jsut have to curse shout at the stupidity of some people.  I know online it is hard to see how big (or little) our darling little guy is, but I think these pictures may help others to understand.  Mind you the baby is 3 weeks old in the picture and little man is 5 years old and weighs 27 pounds.

Loving on my cousin!

I know he is tiny but he is super coordinated and is verbally equivilant to atleast a 6-7 year old and understands social relationships better than most 2nd graders.

As school starts so do new social situations.  This is the first year that we are seeing a significant difference in size - as in a head difference.  One thing I had forgotten is that new classes and expectations come with the magical number of 5.  Now please understand that we do not see his dwarfism any different than blue eyes or brown hair.  Our children and their friends have always know that little man has a rare form of dwarfism.  We of course tell those that ask or mention his size difference.

However, he is also my angel.  He is active and LOVES his sports.  Sooo we reenrolled him in gymnastics this year.  He is 'good' enough to be in the next level of gymnastics and oh yeah it's for 5-7 year olds.  Today was his first day and I was thrilled he was with his fabulous coach from last year and there were only 3 kids in his class.  He  LOVED it . . . as usual.

After class we were getting our shoes on and walking out.  The coach was speaking to another mom, but we expect our children to always say thanks to the coach (whether they are paid or not.)  Of course charming little man walks right up - says thanks coach and leaves.  

The other mom looks at the coach and says "I thought this class was for 5-7 year olds, are you sure he is old enough to be in this class."  I was furious and was so tempted to go back and confront her.  How can adults be so stupid.  They have his birthdate, he spoke clearly to the coach . . . grrr.

I know it seems so small, but the indignation of her voice like her precious big boy might be losing out being in a class with someone besides the stepford wives.

This little man is amazing, he is dynamic and we are all so blessed to have him share his life with us.

Being a Man

Another favorite quote from little man -

"Mom, I didn't give up . . . cuz that's being a man!!"

You gotta LOVE this kid!!

Naming our babies - Laurel

I first must tell you I am a name person.  I have always been a name person and believe that meaning and the sound of names are extremely important.

I have gone around and around about a little FeFei's name  . . and frankly the clock is ticking, we HAVE to fill out the I-800 form and include the kids names.  Although we have had her 'real' first name for months we have gone over and over about her middle name.  When our dear social worker passed, my sweet husband and I discussed changing her middle name from Hope to Laurel.  NOW as I get closer I have been second guessing myself.  SOOOO, tonight I decided to figure this out, and see what the meanings were for my list of middle names.

Then, well frankly God probably got tired of my indecisive nature and intervened.  It gives me chills jsut to type this.

I have been going through the baby name sites for a bit and was disappointed to find Laurel means Laruel tree - really I can't name my sweet angel after a tree!

I finally decided to jsut google it and found a great site.

AS I read the following words explaining the meaning of LAUREL-

"I particularly love ancient Chinese views of the laurel meaning.  In Chinese myth, the laurel plant is associated with the moon, and so shares its themes of femininity, intuitive power and immortality.  

Within the moon lives the Jade Rabbit (interestingly, Chinese symbolism of jade is very auspicious and deals with fortune, luck, wealth and status). The Jade Rabbit is a very clever herbalist and is always busy with mortar and pestle, grinding up sacred mixtures to supply the elixir of immortality to those who are worthy of it.  Laurel is said to be one of the secret ingredients used by this ancient rabbit chemist. 

This may come from Chinese legend claiming one of the eight Immortals lived in the laurel bush.  Hé Qióng, the Sacred Virgin and one of the eight Immortals picked laurel leaves and supplied them to the Jade Rabbit – this act is profound in symbolism – it speaks of tenderness, cooperation, feminine power, tradition and abiding by the infinite quality of both Time and Nature."

the news came on and who was on the T.V.?  . . . Laurel's husband!  This is not the one month anniversary, infact this is the first time I have seen him interviewed at all since the tragic accident.

OK . . . I got the message!  Our sweet babies middle name is Laurel!

Encouragement and prayers

The one definate blessing of this adoption journey is that our walk with God has been front and center.  It actually is very surreal and a true blessing.  This morning - after a long painful night for little man - I decided I need some time to jsut be in the word.  I didn't have a plan, or a thought, I jsut picked up my husband's open bible and it was open to a page description about Barnabas which was placed between Acts 13:12 & Acts 13:13.

Now let me tell you that I don't know much about Barnabas but I jsut knew that this was the page I needed to read today.  Barnabas was an encourager and brought many people to Christ through his encouragement and being a Godly man.  It said that "Barnabas was rarely in a situation where there isn't someone we can encourage.  Our tendency, however, is to criticize instead. "

Lessons learned from his life:
    Encouragement is one of the most effective ways to help
    Sooner or later, true obedience to God will involve risk
    There is always someone who needs encouragement

WOW!!

Then I opened up to a different page (ok I kind of cheated as I LOVE psalms and my fingers know where they are in the bible.)  BUT I opened up to Psalm 100 - called a psalm for giving thanks.  I think of Thanksgiving as turkeys of family.

 A Psalm for ^[a]Thanksgiving.
 ¹ Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. ² Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing. ³ Know that the LORD ^[b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and ^[c]not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
 ⁴ Enter His gates with ^[d]thanksgiving And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name. ⁵ For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

Reading this Psalm I realized that the end when I can wrap my arms around our sweet children is not the only time to be thankful.  I need to be thankful for the delays, for the heartache and for this journey.  For the amazing people I have met on this journey.  Yes, I still can't wait until the end, but even then it will only be the beginning.


Sorry this is so long!

I wondered why Barnabas was brought to me today.  Then it dawned on me that all the unrest in my heart could be easily solved by asking you to help pray for my big boy.  

This sweet boy is in the midst of tryouts for football.  He has a group of friends that all have the nicest most Godly spirits.  They are all also phenomenal athletes.  As 7th graders they must tryout and either get on the travel team or intramurals.  He so wants to play with his buddies, and I am sure a lot of my turmoil comes from my own days of not making teams and friends.  Our big boy is not as natural of an athlete as his friends, but he is finding his way.   This mothers heart also hurts knowing that because of little man's health issues, our big boy missed the first few years his friends played football together.

Did I mention that he has the best heart!  So please can you pray that either he makes the team with his friends or that I have the words of encouragement to help him through this journey.

Did I just see the stork!!

Heehee as I was driving from Staples (which closes at 7pm on a Sat night,) I looked up and what did I see

Now mind you we live in COLORADO!  I have only seen a stork one other time and that was right before I found out I was pregnant with our oldest!  

I sure hope he is bringing our LOA all the way from China!

Because they all matter - Liliana

One thing I did not expect or know about prior to entering the adoption arena is the horrific conditions and way some of these children are treated.  I feel exceptionally blessed that FeiFei is in such a phenomenal orphanage and foster care situation.  We are lucky that even though Cavanaugh's orphanage was run down and he never went outside, he was in a place that loved him and fed him.  Some orphans don't even get the very basics in life.

If you can in anyway help my friend Adeye has so eloquently expressed the need to raise all adoption funds for a little girl who is 11 years old and weighs 10 lbs!  Yes she has down syndrome, and her country does not value those with disabilities at all.  This little girl has a family I jsut have to believe it, we are raising the funds so that all that family has to worry about is the paperwork.  Won't you please go to Adeye's blog and help us raise the remaining amount.

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world, when He could do something about it...but I'm afraid He may ask me the same question."  Anonymous.


Together we can save sweet Liliana - click here

My baby is a Kindergartener!

A new outfit picked out by little man

Overjoyed little boy who is now going to school with the BIG kids!

Obligatory pictures with the princess (cuz big brother still had the day off!)

Which hand for the pledge?

Off I go (poor mom missed a pick of the kiss!)

 Going into my class and unpacking my bag!

Telling me all about his friends, the classroom, and their first project The Kissing Hand!

Only 3 hours of Kindergarten but a gigantic step from baby to boyhood!

First let me say it was kind of a strange day!  My sweet little man started Kindergarten today.  I stood in the cafetorium with about a thousand other people and watched as my little angel, the one who I have spent countless hours worrying about, traveling across the country for a diagnosis, and fretting over every bit of his well being.  BUT today he entered Kindergarten and walked off with is friends turning to blow me a sweet little kiss.  Normally I think I would have stood there with the other mothers and balled, but I also realized that although he is my baby, I have two others coming.  Soon, my baby will actually be our middle child.  So I sent him with all my love, my admiration for his incredible spirit and prayers that he wouldn't say anything so inappropriate that he got to meet the new principal before he had the chance to charm her!  Is that so weird!