Just when I thought I’d heard it all.

Date: 2014.10.26 | Category: Adoption | Response: 0

I have blogged a few times about what people have said to us on this adoption journey.   I wrote about the  Top 10 Questions.  Later, I wrote another post about the Questions we’ve been asked.   And most recently I wrote a blog about the Four Types of People we have met.

I have heard “Boy, you have your hands full.” so many times when I’m out shopping, that I have considered, whenever I am out with the kids, wearing a t-shirt that says, “If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.”

Believe it or not…

Yes, I know how it happens.

Yes, I have time to play with everyone.

Yes, they are happy.

Yes, they like each other.

Yes, they are loved.

Yes, I am blessed.

I know that I am not the only person who hears these things.  You-tube is full of funny videos about just this thing.   This Christmas video is one of my favorites.  Believe it or not we have been asked each and every one of these questions.  Although, I don’t think Cassie would approve of the very first answer.  🙂

There are many, many blogs talking about this very subject.  I know it doesn’t just happen to me.  I know most people don’t mean anything by it.  I answer politely and with grace as often as possible.  I can sometimes be blunt when I think it will make a better point to help someone remember not to judge in the future.  For example, when we were flying to Boston for her surgery, Evie asked if she could have a Coke.  I told her yes and when they were handing out drinks I asked the flight attendant for a Coke for Evie.  She asked me if I was really going to give Evie a Coke. Lots of times I just smile and let things go.  But this time she just stared at me with the most obnoxious look on her face and I thought I needed to say something.   I informed her that I was indeed going to give Evie a Coke.  I also told her that Evie was having open heart surgery on Monday and I wasn’t sure if she was going to live or not so today I was okay with her having a Coke.

I honestly do try to answer politely.  I try to keep a smile on my face.  I know most people are just trying to be funny.  I know most people don’t mean anything by it.  I have even practiced responses to lots of the usual questions so I am better prepared to answer, but sometimes I get asked a question that just throws me for a loop.

It happened on this trip.  She asked this question right after she had just asked about all of our children.  I thought she was truly interested.

“Do you think you might have done something wrong in a previous life to deserve this?”

How do you even answer that?   There aren’t any one or two sentence answers that are going to properly answer it.

No, I never think that.  I honestly often wonder how I got to be so lucky?  Why am I so blessed?  Why do I get to parent these beautiful children?  It has never crossed my mind that God might be punishing me.

It’s all about perspective I guess.

All I know is Seriously Blessed is the name of my blog for a reason.

Jasmine’s Blog – I Want an Education

Date: 2014.10.24 | Category: Jasmine's Blog | Response: 0

Evie Update

Date: 2014.10.23 | Category: Congenital Heart Defect, Evangeline Faith | Response: 0

Amazingly, two days after having open heart surgery, Evie was discharged to the cardiac floor.

Today, post-op day 3, she no longer needs extra oxygen.  She has started eating again and is acting more like her sweet, little self.

Yesterday and today have been healing days.

We have blown bubbles to help us clear our lungs.

We’ve dressed up in our pretty jewelry that daddy bought so we can pretend to be a princess.

And we’ve taken lots of naps surrounded by our soft, cuddly friends.

As Dan and I sat there today looking at her sweet face, we were reminiscing about what she looked like when we first met her on that day in May of 2013.  She was a 26 month old, bald, very blue little girl with oxygen sats in the 50’s, weighing 13 pounds, unable to even sit up by herself,  and able to fit in a 6 month pair of pajamas.

Even then, as sick as she was, you could see her big personality shining through.

Dan and I are feeling very blessed this evening.  What an amazing journey this has been.

Today is the Day

Date: 2014.10.20 | Category: Congenital Heart Defect, Evangeline Faith | Response: 0

Today is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Today Evie has her Fontan surgery.  Today Evie gets a chance at a longer life.  Today is a beautiful day!

For some reason getting ready for Evie’s surgery has been extra difficult.  Ben and Eli both had great results, better than normal results even, but this time there has been a small voice whispering “You’ve had too much good luck!”.

I know this isn’t the truth.  It’s not luck.  I have nothing to do with it. It’s not based on rewarding or punishing me.   Evie’s life has been forever known to God.  God did not set out to harm Evie. God did not leave Evie on the side of the road.  Man did that.  I won’t get into debates about whether God made Evie this way or why her parents had to leave her.   I can not even begin to fathom the whys of the world.

If you know Evie, you know she oozes joy. She is a beautiful soul.  She is full of laughter and light.  She makes friends wherever she goes.  Evie’s plan is most assuredly John 9:1-3.  If you have never heard this verse, here it is…

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  John 9:1-3

I see that with Evie.  I see the works of God displayed in her.  How many of us can say that about our lives?

As I was flying to Boston I had lots of time to just look at my girl.  I watched as the flight attendants and people around us interacted with her.  When we landed, the gentlemen in our row told me that he flies all the time and has never, ever seen a child behave so well.   If you had seen us earlier when we arrived at the airport, you’d know what a miracle this was.  We arrived at the airport and Evie refused to get out of the car.  She cried and yelled, “I don’t want to go.”  She knew exactly where we were going.

As we headed to security, I went over the plans.  We would fly to Boston.  We would have a good night and go to our doctor’s appointment.  The doctor’s appointment would have no big owies.  We would have two days just to hang out and have fun together.  I told her we had three days until surgery.  I told her if she was sad and worried leading up to surgery, she wouldn’t have fun the next three days.  I asked her if she trusted mommy and she said, “YES!”   From that moment on she has done really well.  Whenever we went to radiology, labs, echo, she was nervous, would cry a bit, and I would say,  “Do you trust me?” and she would yell, “YES!” and smile.  I can not even begin to explain what that did to my heart.

It was then that I understood why I was so nervous.  Evie was trusting us to do what was best for her.   We are trying to make the best decisions we can with the information we have.  Dr. delNido is skipping the second stage and going straight to the third stage.  This is wonderful because it will save her having another big open heart surgery but it makes it a little more complicated.  We are trusting the doctor’s decisions.  They know so much more than we do and are the best that there is in cardiology.  But the risks are still there…complications, strokes, and death are possible.  Every time you head in for open heart surgery you take a chance.  You are hoping to extend their lives, to give them a better quality of life and a longer life, but the truth is it doesn’t always work that way.

I was feeling a little nervous and then I read this devotional.  I have mentioned many times how I love that God brings the words to me that I need to hear when I need to hear them.

“The truth is that all things belong to God, including our time and our children. Every heartbeat is His gift. This perspective encourages us to make our offerings as true worship because we realize we have no claim on the things of this earth. It is only because of grace that we are able to have fellowship with Him and offer those gifts in the first place.”  – Parenting by Design

Every heartbeat is a gift.  I truly believe that.  It is only by grace that I have been granted the opportunity to be Evie’s mama.  I am worshiping a God who has graciously granted us 525 days with Evie.  525 of the most beautiful days that you could ever hope to have.  Today I praise a God of possibilities.  I praise a God of second chances.  I praise a God that knows every hair on Evie’s head.   He has always known her and will hold her in His hand.  He loves my girl even more than I do.

We arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m.  They took her to the O.R. at 7:30.  They are expecting it to take at least six hours and I will update how it goes in the comment section.

Please continue to pray for Evie.  Pray for the doctors and for everyone who will come in contact with her.  May they see God’s love and hope in everything that we do.  May Evie’s life continue to be a beacon of light showing all of God’s good works.

Traveling with Evie

Date: 2014.10.17 | Category: Adoption, Evangeline Faith, Faith | Response: 0

There’s an amazing thing that happens when we are traveling and in the hospital.  We are presented time and time again with the opportunity to share our adoption story, this is especially true when you travel with Evie.  We like to joke that Evie may have half a heart but God gave her double the personality.  She is social.  She is a greeter.  She says “Hi!” to everyone she meets.  She is just a beautiful soul.   She notices everyone from the lady sitting by herself on the bench to the little girl in the hot pink wheelchair in the gift shop who everyone else just walked by.  Evie saw her.  Evie said hello to her and blew her a kiss.  The grandmother even mentioned how most little kids are afraid of this little girl, but not Evie.

Today we had the pre-op appointment getting ready for her Fontan surgery bright and early Monday morning.  All day long she has been practicing saying “How are you?”.  It just cracks me up.  She told the x-ray tech that she was sorry she cried.  She even thanked the phlebotomist for her owie.

The adoption talk starts when people say how cute she is, how social she is, and then they ask if she has any brothers or sisters.  When I say that she has 13 siblings, there are a variety of ways people respond.  You can usually tell within one or two questions which group they will fall into.

“The Skeptic” – these people believe we must have some ulterior motive – want money, glory, to get a book deal or to be on reality TV, etc.

“The Confused” – Why would you put yourself through this? Why China and not the U.S.?  Are you crazy?

“The Appreciative” – You are so kind, thank you, your kids are so lucky.

“The Curious” – I’ve always thought about adoption or I’d love a large family…

The skeptics hurt my heart.  I wonder how they could think those things.   Adoption is hard.  How could anyone think you did it for any of those reason?  How many people really get a reality show?  I most certainly don’t want one.  Our house is too loud to be a t.v. show.  I often refer to our house as controlled chaos.  I love children running and laughing out loud.  I love loud, off key singing and dancing.  Plus, it is way too much work to try and be famous.

Answering the questions of the confused are much harder because I am constantly on defense.  Trying to justify why one child deserves to be adopted is impossible.  The truth is trying to adopt when you are older is tricky.  There were many factors in why we chose to adopt from China.  After we traveled the first time, there were even more reasons why we went back.  None of this can be explained in just a couple of sentences nor will any of it make sense to someone who doesn’t understand what a child living in institutional care goes through.  (Jasmine’s Blog)

Then there are those who go on and on about what we are doing.  They are the appreciative.  It’s embarrassing.  Honestly anyone who spends a moment with these guys would have to be blind and unfeeling to not understand why we do it.  They are beautiful souls full of life and love.  Their joy is contagious.   I am not special or extra kind or wonderful.  I am blessed, truly blessed to be their mama.

My favorite moments are with the curious.  I love when people truly, honestly want to know why.  What would lead us to do this?  Why would we open our hearts to pain?  Why would we invest this much time in children that have health issues?   Why would we adopt nine?

I love how often God puts those in our path that have been thinking about adopting.  It happens time and time again.  It is inspiring to talk with those that are in the process of adopting, have adopted, or have gone on mission trips and cared for special needs children.  It’s fun to share notes, encourage others, and learn about new organizations that are helping those in need.

I enjoy being able to share how God lead us to each of the children.  God has amazingly opened up doors time and time again.  I love to share about the children’s stories because it is not about me or Dan or our family.  It’s all about God.  It is an honor to be able to share their stories, to talk about how far they have come, and what it means to step out in fear, but with trust that God’s plan is perfect!

It’s hard to contain your joy when you have been allowed to be part of such amazing stories.  I mean really who wouldn’t want to be a part of this girl’s life?

Just a reminder:

If you are on Facebook, you can follow along at Seriously Blessed by Adoption.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and He helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.  Psalm 28:7  NIV

Jasmine’s Blog – Coming to America

Date: 2014.10.17 | Category: Jasmine's Blog | Response: 0

来到美国

当我来到美国的时候我坐了14个小时的飞机，我坐在飞机上我睡着觉了，我从来都没有坐过飞机一开始的时候我很害怕特别是飞机降下来的时候我就会很害怕。

然后我们来到了美国，然后有好多好多的人来接我们

有好多人我都不知道都是美国人他们都说英语我根本就不知道他们在说什么．

我来到美国的时候真的很害怕很害怕，因为我根本不会说英语

我不懂他们在说什么，那时候我什么都不慬。

但是爸爸妈妈都很好爱我，他们真的好善良，他们好有爱心

在美国的人是很善良的，也有爱心！

他们很爱我，我也爱他们，我爱我的家庭

我爱我的家人。

我们现在要收养两个小孩了一个男生5岁一个女生9岁他们很快就会来到美国的，我希望他们不要害怕因为这里的人会很爱你们的。

我希望被收养的孩子千万不要也不用担心你的英语你可以慢慢学的你不要害怕。

你的爸爸妈妈会很爱你的！

Coming to America

When I came to America, I was on the plane for 14 hours. I fell asleep
sitting on the plane. I’d never been on a plane before, at first I was
very scared, especially when the plane was descending.
Then I arrived in America, there were lots and lots of people who came
to meet us.
There were lots of people I didn’t know, they were all American and
spoke English. I had no idea what they were saying.
When I came to America I was so very scared, because I didn’t know how
to speak English at all.
I didn’t understand what they were saying. Back then I couldn’t
understand anything.
But baba and mama love me so much, they are so kind, so full of love.
People in America are very kind and loving!
They really love me, and I love them too. I love my family and my
family members.
Now we are going to adopt two more kids, a 5 year old boy and a 9
year old girl. They’ll come to America very soon. I hope they won’t be
afraid because the people here will really love you.
I hope children who are adopted don’t worry at all about your English,
you can learn it bit by bit, don’t be scared.
Your baba and mama will love you a lot!”

Jasmine’s Blog – I Want to Have a Family

Date: 2014.10.08 | Category: Jasmine's Blog | Response: 0

我想要一个家庭

曾经我许愿说我只有一个愿望我说我只想要一个家庭我真的真的只想要一个家庭．

   然后我又许愿说我伤心的说我真的真的只要一个愿望就是一个自己的家庭。有人关心我，有人爱我，有人喜欢我就可以了·

我也知道我自己不能去上厕所，我也知道我不能自己去上床睡觉，我知道有好多事情我不能做，我不喜欢别人打我骂我，别人在骂我的时候讲我的时候我觉得好伤心好伤心，有的人说我不能走路很没用听到别人这么说觉得好难受。

有的时候看到别的孩子被收养我觉得很高兴我真的替他们高兴有时候我会很伤心很伤心，想到自己不可能被收养觉得好难受好难受’

不过有时候想一想有好心人收养孤儿是非常好的一件事情！

我真的好害怕自己的年龄到了14岁的时候就没机会了．只怕有人想收养我的时候已经晚了·

我也不知道会有人收养我这个我真的不知道？

其实有时候我会尿床，我一尿床就会有人打我的，我太害怕别人打我了。

我不知道会不会有人要我。

我也希望有好多孩子被收养不要在这里受苦，有的孩子很害怕，有好多孩子都想被收养，有时候我会说这里根本不是我的家，我想有一个自己的家庭。我不喜欢当孤儿我想有爸爸妈妈他们会爱我关心我就好！

“I Want to Have a Family

I once made a wish saying “there’s only one thing I want, I just want
a family, I really really only want to have a family.” Then I made
another wish, sadly saying “I really really just want one wish, to
have a family of my own. Just to have people who care about me, people
who love me, people who like me.”
I knew I couldn’t go to the restroom by myself. I also knew I couldn’t
get into bed and go to sleep by myself. I knew there were many things
I could not do. I didn’t like it when people hit me or yell at me, I
felt so very sad when people were yelling at me and scolding me. Some
people said that I was useless since I couldn’t walk. Hearing someone
say that made me so sad.
Sometimes I was really happy when I saw other kids being adopted, I
was truly happy for them. Sometimes, I would be very very sad thinking
that I would likely never be adopted. I would feel very very bad.
But sometimes I would think, it’s a very good thing that there are
kindhearted people who adopt orphans!
I was really scared that I would not have a chance anymore once I was
14 years old. I was afraid that when someone wanted to adopt me it
would already be too late.
I didn’t know someone would adopt me, this I really didn’t know?
Actually sometimes I would wet the bed. Whenever I wet the bed I would
get hit, I was so scared of being hit.  (I will say more about this at the end. – Jasmine’s mom)
I didn’t know if there would be anyone who wanted me.
I also hoped lots of kids would be adopted and would not have to keep
suffering here. Some kids were so afraid, many kids wanted to be
adopted. Sometimes I would say, “this is not my home, I want to have a
family of my own.” I didn’t like being an orphan, I just wanted to
have a baba and mama who would love me and care about me!”

(Jasmine’s mom’s words)

At the beginning of her stay in the orphanage, when she was eight years old, Jasmine said the doctors said she should be able to walk.  When she wasn’t able to get out of her wheelchair, the orphanage would leave her food just out of reach thinking she would give up her little charade and walk to the food.  She says she fell out of her chair many times trying to get the food and they would just let her lie there with the same thought in mind – she would have to quit pretending and get up sooner or later.

They gave her very little to drink throughout the day so she would only use the restroom in the morning and at night.  When there were occasions that the orphanage couldn’t get to her right away, she would wet herself.  This was very embarrassing to her.  As her punishment, the orphanage workers would allow the other children to hit and kick her.  Jasmine said this made her very sad and she began to believe that she was indeed worthless.

She says she went to school for a year but then they moved the school to a different floor and she was no longer able to go because she couldn’t climb the stairs and there was no elevator.  She says she dreamed of being able to go to school.  She was left in her chair in front of the t.v. for years with nothing to do but dream of having a family.  Six long years of dreaming…

And then she received a letter written by her daddy telling her how much he loved her and how beautiful he thought she was.  Jasmine says  this was the first glimpse she had that someone could love her.  Dan prayed over and over again for God to let Jasmine know that we loved her and to give her peace while she waited.

Somehow Jasmine held on to her sweet, loving personality through everything she went through.  We are blessed to be her forever family.

The Flower That Blooms

Date: 2014.10.05 | Category: Adoption, Jasmine (Shuang Shuang) | Response: 0

I just wanted to let everyone know that our daughter, Jasmine, has decided to start a blog too.   She wants to share what it was like to be in an orphanage for six years, almost age out, join a family, and come to America.  She hopes to help other older children who may be afraid by letting them know family is a wonderful thing.

http://www.flowerthatblooms.com/

Her first blog is entitled Adoption Day.

She was such a brave girl. She knew very little English.  She couldn’t run away from us if she had wanted to because of her muscular dystrophy.  Yet, she put a smile on her face and chose to be brave and happy about all that her life could be.  It is truly a blessing to be her mother and I am honored to share her words with you.

Jasmine’s Blog – Adoption Day

Date: 2014.10.04 | Category: Adoption, Jasmine's Blog | Response: 0

The following post was written by Jasmine in Chinese.  I used Google Translate to translate it.   I have left it as it was translated as much as possible.  I have clarified certain sentences and have italicized them and used paragraphs to set my words apart from Jasmine’s words.  Jasmine has decided to write a blog to let others know what it is like to be adopted and come to America to start a new life.

收养日

有一天我去贵阳我去见我的新妈妈新爸爸。

是美国的爸爸妈妈收养了我，我也很高兴我也很害怕因为我从来没有见过美国人我很害怕我不会说英语，但是我也非常的害怕因为我怕我不会走路爸爸妈妈会不要我？我知道不可以自己去上厕所有人对我说如果我去了美国以后还是不能走路的话也许我会再次回到孤儿院让我很害怕真的真的很害怕。

但是我见到爸爸妈妈姐姐奶奶她们对我笑我也笑妈妈爸爸亲亲我，爸爸妈妈送我一个礼物这个礼物是项链上面写了是家庭，

我好高兴有爸爸妈妈爷爷奶奶哥哥姐姐妹妹，

我和爸爸妈妈拍照。

然后回到酒店然后爸爸妈妈问我想吃什么我说我想吃肯德基

爸爸妈妈就去卖了然后姐姐给我擦指甲油，指甲油有三种颜色然后我就选择粉色我喜欢粉色然后姐姐就帮我擦了！

然后爸爸妈妈回来了卖回来了肯德基我喜欢吃肯德基。

妈妈和姐姐想给我洗澡但是我不知道妈妈和姐姐在说什么

她们就翻译我就明白了妈妈帮助我洗澡的时候我非常的害怕因为怕我下降我就哭了我真很害怕。姐姐抱着我我就不害怕了觉得自己真的好幸福好！

我害怕我不会说英语但是我会说的是不，

但是妈妈爸爸对我真的真的真的好好好！

我觉得自己是个幸福的孩子。妈妈她说我很美她说的是中文

她还会我爱你她还会说我是你的妈妈还说他是你的爸爸。

我很幸福！

但是我还担心妈妈和爸爸会不要我这事情让很害怕我不想让这种事情再次发生。

我只希望爸爸妈妈对我好就好了不会不要我我就心满一足了。

我就会很幸福了！：）

Adoption Day

One day I went to Guiyang I went to see my new mom new dad.

American parents adopted me, and I’m glad I’m scared because I had never seen Americans I’m afraid I can not speak English, but I am also very scared because I’m afraid I will not walk Mom and Dad Do not I? (She is afraid if she doesn’t walk we will not want her.) I know not myself go to the bathroom (I can’t even get to the bathroom myself.) Someone said to me that if I went to the United States later still can not walk, then maybe I will once again return to the orphanage so I am very scared really, really scared.

But my mom and dad to see their sister, grandmother smiled at me and I kiss my mom and dad laugh, Mom and Dad gave me this gift is a gift of necklace inscribed with the words family,

I’m so glad to have mom and dad brother (big) sister (little) sister, grandparents,

My mom and dad take pictures.

Then back to the hotel and then mom and dad asked me want to eat what I say I want to eat KFC  (I remember being surprised that she asked for KFC and a coke.  She had seen commercials on t.v. in the orphanage.)

Mom and Dad go to buy KFC then my sister gave me nail polish, nail polish comes in three colors and then I would choose pink I love pink and my sister to help me rub!

Then Mom and Dad came back Buy (from KFC) back I like to eat KFC KFC.

Mother and sister wanted to give me a bath, but I do not know what to say mom and sister

They would translate my mom helped me to understand a bath when I was very scared because I was afraid I would fall, I started to cry and I am really scared. Sister holding me I do not feel afraid of is really good happy good!   (We had to place her on a stool in a shower because they didn’t have a bath tub. She had no clue what was going on. She was allowed one bath a week at the orphanage where they gave her a bucket and sat her on the floor so the shower felt really, really good.)

I’m afraid I can not speak English, but I Speak it is not,   (She was afraid her English was not very good.)

But Mom and Dad told me really really really good good!

I feel I am a happy child. Mom said I am beautiful. She said that she is Chinese (I told her those four BOLD phrases in Chinese.)

She also said she would, I love you, I’m your mom said he is your father.

I am very happy!

But I also worry that my mom and dad will not let this matter was afraid I do not want this to happen again.   (She was afraid we would decide we didn’t want her and would send her back to the orphanage.)

(We asked her time and time again if she had any questions. We wanted her to be able to ask the translator/guide anything that she had questions about before we left China. Every day she said she didn’t have any questions. We kept saying there has to be something you are curious about in America. But over and over again she said no. On the very last day she said she had a question. She spoke her words to the translator and tears started running down the translator’s face. Jasmine’s only question, after being with us for almost three weeks in China, was “Will we give her away when we get to America?” She was worried we wouldn’t let her be part of the family.)

I just hope my mom and dad would not do me good like I heart filled an enough. (She hoped we would think she was good and her heart would be happy enough.)

I will be very happy! 🙂

After I posted this blog, Yolanda from Love Without Boundaries sent me a corrected version of this blog post.  I am posting it because it shows just how hard it is to translate from Chinese to English, as much is lost in the translation.  This version breaks my heart just a little bit more.  Jasmine was such a brave girl.

Here is the properly translated version:

“Adoption Day

One day I went to Guiyang to meet my new Mama and Baba.

The Baba and Mama who adopted me are American. I was happy and I was
scared because I’d never seen an American. I was very scared of not
knowing how to speak English, but I was also very scared that Baba and
Mama wouldn’t want me because I don’t know how to walk? I know I can’t
use the restroom by myself, someone told me that if I still couldn’t
walk after going to America, I might have to go back to the orphanage.
I was very scared, really so very scared.

But I met baba, mama, big sister and grandma, they smiled at me and I
smiled too. Baba and mama kissed me and gave me a present – a necklace
with “Family” written on it.

I was so happy to have baba, mama, grandpa, grandma, big brother, big
sister and little sister.

I took photos with baba and mama.

Then we went back to the hotel, baba and mama asked me what I wanted
to eat and I said I wanted to eat KFC.

Baba and mama went and bought it and then big sister painted my nails.
There were three colours of nail polish, I picked pink because I like
pink, then big sister helped my put it on!

Then baba and mama came back with the KFC they bought, I like eating KFC.

Mama and big sister wanted to give me a shower but I didn’t know what
they were saying. So they translated and then I understood. When mama
was helping me shower I was very scared because I was afraid of
falling, so I cried. I was so scared. Then big sister held me and I
wasn’t scared anymore. I felt really very blessed!

I was afraid I didn’t know how to speak English but I knew how to say
“no”. But mama and baba are really so very good to me!

I think I am a blessed kid. Mama told me I was very beautiful, she
said it in Chinese. She also knew how to say “I love you”, “I’m your
mama” and “he’s your baba”.

I’m so happy!

But I’m still worried mama and baba will not want me, this really
scares me and I don’t want this kind of thing to happen again.

I only want baba and mama to be good to me, and won’t not want me
anymore. Then I’ll be perfectly satisfied.

Then I’ll be very happy!”

We’re Home!!!!

Date: 2014.09.27 | Category: Elijah | Response: 0

This was on the elevator door in the children’s hospital.  I think it sums up our little guy pretty well.

For those of you who haven’t been following along, Eli had a 13 hour surgery on Wednesday, the 17th.  Spent 4 days in the ICU and 4 days on the general floor recuperating.  Everyone who walked into his room from the very first moment he came out of surgery, commented on how kids who have the unifocalization procedure usually have lots of lung issues and his lungs sounded perfectly clear.  Time and time again we heard, “You know this isn’t the norm, right?”   Yes, we know.  We were feeling unbelievably blessed.

Elijah did amazingly well and was discharged from the hospital on Thursday.   We weren’t sure what time we would be discharged so we spent one more night at the Ronald McDonald House and headed out to the airport on Friday morning.

We were so happy to finally get home at 6:30 Friday night.   The kids jumped up and down with joy when they saw him.  Evie was so happy to see her buddy.

We knew that Ben and Maisey understood much more this trip and their relief at having Eli home was very visible.   Within five minutes, they were all cuddled up together on the couch with their suckers.

They spent most of the night sitting together on the couch watching videos and laughing.  It was a wonderful evening and such a blessing!

We are getting ourselves psyched up for round two on October 20th with Evie in Boston, but for the next couple of weeks we will be lying low and letting Little Guy heal.

I thought I’d share a few memories of our trip to Stanford.

Here are the sculpture outside the front of the hospital.  I would love to do these in our yard.

We would Facetime daily so that Eli could see the kids.  For the first day or two after surgery he would just look at the kids.  He wouldn’t say a word, but the kids loved knowing he was okay.

We were lucky enough to get into the Ronald McDonald House this time.  They are expanding because their waiting list is often close to 50 families.  There was a shuttle and it was only a beautiful, tree-lined, 10 minute walk from the hospital.

The shuttle made us laugh every time we saw the catch phrase.  We never did find “Hope” there.  🙂

If you ever get the chance to support your local Ronald McDonald House, please do so.

Across from the Ronald McDonald House there is a mall with a wonderful fresh food market.  We walked and got watermelon and apples quite a few times.  There is also a McDonalds.   Ha!  Imagine that.  It was where Eli wanted to eat the two times we had time to eat out.  There were many cute shops and restaurants.  There was a P. F. Changs and a Flemings Steakhouse.  I tried my hardest to talk him into noodles but he wanted nothing to do with it so we were off to McDonalds again for a happy meal.

When your daddy makes fun nugget animals all the time, where else would you want to eat?

The two words used to describe Eli on the trip were cute and charming.  He really is a pretty mellow guy most of the time.  On both of our long flights we had people comment about how he is the best little traveler they had ever seen.  The gentlemen in front of me went on and on about how he tries to encourage mothers who are doing a good job.  He commented on Eli being so good and I told him I could not take credit for Eli’s mellowness.  He is just an easy going guy.  The gentlemen who was very nice just keep gushing on.  I just couldn’t do it, mainly because to take credit for Eli being a good traveler meant I would have to take the blame for Evie when she travels and gets tired of the whole deal, which usually happens about hour two in the air.  Evie is a beautiful soul with a over the top personality.  She just gets a little cranky about hour two in the air.  🙂

One of the sweetest memories came after one of the most traumatic for Eli.  They were getting ready to take out his three chest tubes.  There were six nurses standing around his bed to be able to pull them at the same time.  They had to cut the strings first and get everything ready.  After you pull the chest tube, you pull the strings really tight and suture shut the openings.   He was afraid of everyone around his bed and was crying.  The nurses pulled the tubes, Eli looks up at them, and in the sweetest little voice Eli says, “Thank you!”

He really is the sweetest little guy.  What a blessing it is to have more time with him.   Thank you prayer warriors for your prayers.  We appreciate them more than we could ever put into words.