Holiday Photos

Beware: Slightly Depressing

Well, there is a beautiful fluffy white blanket on the snow on the ground, but my girls have yet to play in it. Meagan has strep throat and an ear infection. Alina has pneumonia. Thank God for really strong antibiotics, Immediate Care centers and a nice pediatrician who treated both kids when I only made an appointment for one (free of charge). So, the last 3 days have consisted of the usual sick kid routine....mommy and daddy taking turns going to work, the washing machine running almost constantly, and 2 AM rocking, refilling humidifiers, taking temperatures, giving tepid baths, etc. But they will feel better soon. As Alina's fever reached almost 104 degrees last night and all she could do was whimper miserably, I couldn't help but think of the kids who don't have a mom and dad to hold them when they are sick. The kids who learn that crying is of no use because no one comes to the rescue. The kids whose only concept of "parent" consists of a person who comes and goes according to shifts and holidays. I'm sure that other adoptive parents agree that once you see orphaned children, it changes your perspective on most things. For example, I can't watch the movie "Annie" without crying. We have the DVD and probably watched it a hundred times before going to China. Now I can't even get past the opening song where Annie is dreaming about having parents: "Maybe now it's time, and maybe when I wake, they'll be there calling me baby. Betcha he reads, betcha she sews, maybe she's made me a closet of clothes. Maybe they're strict, as straight as a line. Don't really care, as long as they're mine." I recently heard about a little boy who is 5 years old and blind. His file has been sent to a number of different adoption agencies and returned. Now he is considered "un-adoptable". Another agency is graciously sponsoring his education at a school for the blind. But, apart from an act of God, he will grow into a young man, never having a mom and a dad. I often think about some of the kids at Alina's orphanage. I wonder if they have found families or if they are still there... about to celebrate another birthday as an orphan. I know, there will always be orphans and suffering and hunger in the world. It's true. It's also true that many people have the means to add one more child to their home. Chris and I bring in a middle income, live in a small 3 bedroom ranch, and have a staggering amount of student loan debt. The last thing I want to do is elicit more "Look at you, you're doing such a good thing!" comments. It's not that we are so special or saintly. It's just that we've seen the needs with our own eyes. If more people saw, they would feel the same way. I know that many people want to adopt from China and are discouraged by the ever increasing wait times. It doesn't seem fair that there are children who need homes, couples who desperately want a child, yet it takes nearly three years to match them! I would often say this to myself when we were going through all that we went through with adopting Alina and Mayah...God is more powerful than the Chinese government. Things can definitely change. At the same time, the wait for special needs children is still considerably less...about 7-8 months from log-in date to travel the last I heard. Most of my friends who read this blog have already adopted. And of course my family has heard this spiel before, but maybe this can inspire some ramdom person that comes across this blog. If not, I still feel a little better for putting it into words.

6 Months Home

It just occured to me that today is the 6 month anniversary of Alina's adoption day. June 11th is the first day we met, but it wasn't "official" until the 12th. Looking at her picture from that day reminds me of what a different kid she is now. Doesn't that despondent sort of look in her eyes break your heart? She didn't want to play, didn't want to eat, and didn't want us to put her down for an entire week. We didn't even know that she could really walk until a week after we got her! And look at her now...sporting 5 extra pounds and feet that are a whole size bigger (maybe the bigger size is just to accomodate the "chub", I'm not sure), holding her own in fights with her sister, learning new words and signs everyday (just yesterday I caught her looking in the mirror pointing to herself and saying "Ni Ni"), and totally eating up the love and attention from mom, dad, and a whole host of aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Oh, and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Yep, sounds like a typical almost-two-year-old to me!

Ouch!

Well, now that I am nearing 4 days-post tonsillectomy, I can honestly say that all of the rumors are true...it hurts as bad as everyone said it would. I was a little caught off guard since right after the surgery I felt pretty good. As I flipped through a magazine and nibbled popsicles in the recovery room I thought to myself, "Hmm, I must have a pretty high pain tolerance" Even after we got home from the hospital I chatted with my sister, who agreed that I handled things very well and that this recovery was going to be a piece of cake. Maybe I would use my time off to do a little Christmas shopping... Heh, heh. It wasn't until about midnight when the searing, razor-blades-in-the-back-of-my-throat pain started, that it occurred to me that my anesthesia had not fully worn off. What a nasty trick. Thank God for the liquid hydrocodone (happy juice) but it really only deadens the pain for 2 hours and is supposed to be taken every 4 hours....so here I am, like a junkie, counting down the hours until my next hit. In the meantime, here are a few pictures I am late in posting from over the holiday. I just love the one posted above of Alina blissfully absorbing all the attention being lavished upon her!

I can handle this, mom
Aunt Laura singing "Deep and Wide"
Nini said "grandma" (gama) for the first time and the entire room erupted in applause. As you can imagine, she said the word several MORE times over the course of the day and even now, will clap for herself when she says it :)
Meagan and daddy getting a little tickle time

Tonsillectomy

Well, it's final. Exactly one week from Friday, those ghastly, festering, strep-loving, worthless hunks of lymph tissue will be gone forever. In a last ditch effort to avoid the weekly infections and feeling crummy all the time, I went to the ENT practically begging him to put me on some low grade antibiotic (I learned from my at-home medical advisor (aka the internet) that this was sometimes a possibility). Well, I got a "No way, Jose" from the good doctor and was promptly scooted out of the room to schedule my tonsillectomy. At least I was able to strategically plan it so that I can enjoy eating on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I also roped Chris and my mother into taking some time off of work to wait on me hand and foot. After all, the doctor DID say that I would be out of commission for 10 days. And I'm pretty sure that includes no dishes, no diapers, no cooking, and DEFINITELY no laundry. Yep, I specifically remember him saying no laundry. Sounds like the best vacation I've had since I was single....minus the really, really bad sore throat, of course. I'm also about to order a new historical fiction book on China for my down-time. Has anyone read "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang? It looks very good, although I may have trouble keeping all of my dictators straight while doped up on liquid Vicodin. On the other hand, my altered mental state could make for an interesting review of the book. I'll let you know. So, if you want to leave a comment, please only share about the easy, nearly-pain-free adult tonsillectomy rumors you've heard, since I think I have quite a collection now of the other kind. Until then, have a happy Thanksgiving....you can bet I will be thoroughly enjoying my turkey and pecan pie!

Happy Anniversary!

1994~Sweethearts















1999~Our wedding

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits...who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle" Ps 103:1-5

Dear Chris,
It's hard to believe we have been married for 8 years...even harder to believe that we have been friends for 15 years! The goofy look on our faces only highlights the fact that we had no idea what God had in store for us. For example, who knew that we would actually stay in the full-time ministry for as long as we did. Remember us making bets on how long we would keep our jobs? Those were wild times...changing our address every couple of years, starting all over with relationships again and again. Amazing that God used us to make any kind of impact on people when we were really just trying to figure out life ourselves. As if life wasn't crazy enough, I decided to become a college student again. At the time, Meagan was 2, and my life was full of Barney and dirty diapers...I thought, what graduate school would give me the time of day? You gave me the courage to apply to the really good schools and repeatedly told me that I was smart and valuable. Your enthusiasm never waned, even when my dreams meant that the only affordable apartment had chain smokers living downstairs and was in the not-so-nice part of town. Even when you were stuck being Mr. Mom, and me on the verge of a stress-induced nervous breakdown. Even when you picked up a part time job clearing trash and cleaning toilets at Starbucks so that we would have health insurance. Now, for any ladies reading this, that is the very definition of romantic. And I certainly never imagined that our prayers for children would be answered in the way that they have been...with the unexpected birth of a daughter, the loss of a daughter, the adoption of a daughter and the years of infertility woes in between. I knew that life would throw us curve balls, I just didn't think there would be so many. Many times when I am tempted to beg, "God, why can't my life just be normal?", I stop and remember standing there, staring at you on our wedding day. I can't say that I was secretly praying for a normal life. I looked at you and you looked at me and I wanted a happy life with you by my side. What God acutally gave me was that and so much more...a full life, with unexpected delights at every turn, bursting with adventure (more adventure that what I am comfortable with) and peace. God has given me peace. I think about that Psalm quoted above. When we placed it on our wedding invitations and I had no idea that it would become the song of my life. The rest of it goes..."bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, who pardons all of your iniquities, who heals all of your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things..." In a way, you are the "good things" in human form, that God has lavished on me. Do you ever wonder how on earth have we managed to cram so much life into eight measly years? If the next eight are anything like the last, then bring it on...joys, heartaches, ups, down, ins and down-and-outs. God has a funny way of making sure that we are not bored, and you, my dear, are His very unexpected way of showing His goodness to me. I love you.

Jen

The Pigtailed Princess

Happy Halloween

Here are a few shots of our cat and ladybug. Thanks to my friend Karen for the cute bug costume. We got lots of ohhh's and ahhh's from the neighbors, which, of course, is the goal of dressing your kids up in goofy outfits. Anyway, there was a little bit of a learning curve for Nini with the whole trick or treating thing. At first she tried giving the candy back or putting it in Meagan's bucket. Once she realized that it was something sweet, all of that generosity ended. I very rarely give her anything sweet, in spite of the tremendous amount of persecution I receive from grandma and Aunt Laura. So, here is documented proof of Alina eating her first chocolate bar. At one point, we caught her sitting in the middle of her loot, repeatedly signing
"more"!

Pumpkin Madness

Yeah, we had to hose the girls down afterwards
Meagan discovers a new "pumpkin-seed exfoliation" facial treatment Ahhh, pumpkin guts

Brown County weekend

Just now posting pictures from our big weekend in Brown County. We go with my sister's family every year and it is a sacred tradition that drives our husbands crazy. It's kind of a joke that each year we say we are going to go during the "peak" of the season, when the leaves are the most colorful. Well, every year the leaves are either completely green (like this year) or have already fallen off the trees. Anyway, we always stop at the park to take family pictures (in front of the very GREEN leaves...breathtaking) and then go into Nashville for the rest of the day. This year we had one more kid making 5 between the two families and this was pushing it a bit. We decided that neither of us can have any more children because it would make the Brown County trip too challenging.

As a side note, it is very interesting being in Southern Indiana with a daughter from China as this is not a very ethnically diverse area of the state (ok, who am I kidding, it is lily white!) As we strolled past the onlookers they immediately honed in on Alina's cherubic face, then, without fail, their eyes would begin to dart around, looking for the parents that matched this child!

Afterwards, we headed back to our place to celebrate Chris' birthday by watching the Purdue game and the whole gang spent the night. Alina is like a live doll for the older kids. Their favorite game to play with her (or TO her I should say) is called "Queen Nini" (Nini is what we call Alina at home...it was her nickname at the orphanage and is still really the only name she responds to. We think it suits her) Anyway, the game consists of Alina sitting in the laundry basket, and the kids carrying the basket around the house chanting "Queen Nini!" Sometimes they make a crown for her and a little container for snacks. As you might suspect, Alina thoroughly enjoys this and will sit very still for her loyal subjects. Hope you enjoy the pictures

Sisters

The above picture gives you an idea of how my little "photo shoot" went. Alina does not stop, so most of my pictures of her a just a blur. And it seems like when she is settled down a little, she's in a bad mood. Well, this does not work in my favor when I'm trying to get a good shot of the girls for our Christmas cards (yes I start thinking about this in October. I send or give out almost 100 Christmas cards, the result of moving around a lot I guess). These just may be as good as it gets. Anyway, I NEED YOUR VOTE! Leave me a comment and let me know if you like photo 1, 2, or 3. And DON'T just say they're all cute :) By the way, I do realize that this is SO not important in the grand scheme of things, but it is an effective diversion from housework.

#1
#2
#3

A budding friendship

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile. They were taken at a play date we had last week. The two cuties in the pictures are Violet and Anara who is adopted from Kyrgystan (sp?) Their mom, Amanda, and I met last year at the health department getting travel shots I think. We got to talking and found out that we were both in the process of adopting internationally. The rest is history. It is so exciting to see the girls we prayed so hard for, finally home, safe and sound and playing together at Castleton Mall. Who could have imagined. God is so amazing.

Alina and Anara taking turns
Alina looking cute
Violet has the best smile!
Our best attempt at getting a shot of them together

Things that make you go Hmmm...

This was the expression on Alina's face when I read her the letter she got in the mail from George Bush. Apparently the president sends a congratulations letter to all brand-spankin-new-barely-English-speaking citizens of the U.S.A. A very nice touch except the letter contains phrases such as:

"grand and enduring ideals"
"unfolding promise"
"hold beliefs beyond ourselves"

Huh? I'm not trying to slam the leader of our county, just merely suggesting that they come out with an easy-to-read version of the celebratory letter. It sort of reminded me of an excerpt from the reading comprehension portion of those hateful standardized tests. This got me thinking of other things that make you go Hmmmm. For example:

Where DO fruit flies come from? I mean, are they on the fruit when I buy it at the store and I just don't notice them? Or, worse, are they lurking around my house just waiting for a piece of fruit to attach themselves to. So annoying.

Where do all of the missing household objects hide when I KNOW that they did not leave the house. For example, we have at least 5 hair brushes. So why can't I find one when I go to do my hair in the morning? Is there some mysterious Bermuda Triangle in my house? If I find the hair brushes, will I also find my Abba CD and Meagan's slipper that came up missing the day after Christmas last year?

How is it possible that I am constantly sorting, washing, drying, folding, or putting away laundry yet there are always clothes on the floor. And I don't think we are TOTAL slobs. It's like laundry oozes out of the walls. Or like that character in the fairy tale...was it in Rumplestiltskin...where the girl has to weave straw into gold and the more she weaves the bigger the piles get. I'm pretty sure I didn't get the story right, but you get the idea.

A busy few weeks

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I was trying to come up with a catchy title for this post to explain what we've been doing the past few weeks, but the only one that comes to mind is "Mom is sick, the house is trashed and the girls have taken over" but that sounded sort of negative. It's true that I have had this wicked-flu-turned-sinus-infection thing. I am sick so much more often than the girls that it is not even funny. The truth is, I get tonsillitis all the time because I need to have my tonsils out because they are...well, rotting. Sounds gross and is even more gross in real life. Sadly, too many stories of "adult tonsillectomies gone bad" are keeping me from any more trips to the ENT in the near future.

This past weekend we attended a family reunion on my dad's side of the family. My dad passed away 15 years ago and I have done a terrible job with keeping in touch, so seeing my aunts and cousins was a real treat. My cousin had some old family photos converted to DVD. Here is one of my mom and dad when they were 15 and 19!

I also got some cute shots of Meagan and Mallory on the tire swing

Ok, and this one was not even staged. Of course they were SLEEPING. They cannot be held responsible for their actions

We're saving this one to use as blackmail. I'm sure it will come in handy at some point in the future

And finally, the many faces of Alina :)

There's a fine line between getting a drink from the hose and having the hose GET you!

This is my "I'm really tired and you're getting on my nerves now" face

Hmmm....I wonder what Meagan is thinking about