Growing like a weed!

This boy is growing like a weed!  I can't believe how he has gone from a baby to a toddler so fast.

Xander has gained 9 lbs.  9!  In 6 months.  That puts him in the 90th percentile for weight on the Chinese charts..

He has grown 4 1/4 inches, which puts him in the 3rd percentile on the Chinese charts....

His Uncle Ben likes to tell him he is as wide as he is tall.  We like to call him, "perfect."

Sweet, sweet kisses.

When I traveled to pick up Xander I chose not to get a crib for our hotel room.  I instead got a large bed so I could snuggle with him at night.  After all, it is good for bonding.  If you remember, Xander did not grieve at all for his caregivers.  They handed him to me and he never looked back.  The following day when I asked my guide to hold him so I could take money from my bad, he sobbed.   He only wanted me.  I was pleased with that!  But at night, when I tried to cuddle with him he pushed away.  He didn't want me to hold him when he went to sleep either.  He just wanted to lay there without anyone, including me, touching him.

When we came home, he was easy to lay down in his bed for his naps.  He would babble a bit, then go to sleep.  He still didn't like for me to rock him.  I started to rock him whenever he would allow me and soon he grew to "prefer" rocking with Momma. 

 Last night, when laying with him, he rolled as close to me as he could and put his head on me,  leaned closer to me and gave me a kiss on the lips.  He did this 3 times, complete with the smooching sound effect. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep.  I had tears in my eyes when I realized how far this child has come, from a baby who was just happy to be carried around, fed and changed.  To a little boy who glows when he sees  his Mom, Dad or siblings.  I can tell you, there is nothing sweeter than kisses from  this amazing boy!

Move over Justin!

I may not know much English, but I've got you figured out!

I

Valentine's day post #2

It's all fun and games

until you tip over in the snow,

and your hands are wet, and cold.

Love AND snow stinks!

Happy Valentines Day!

Dental issues=special need???

Oh my!  Did you know  in Chin@,  dental issue's could be considered  a special need?  You could sit and wait for a family because of your teeth?  This little boy knows all about it.   Soon to 7 years old, and  because his baby teeth are in poor condition he waits for a family.  There is a large Promise  Child Grant for  him through WACAP and he  is completely ADORABLE!

WACAP-our agency

Because I lost our first blog I wanted to post a bit about our agency that we used to bring Alexander home.  WACAP has been absolutely amazing to us  and is still answering my questions!   I would highly recommend them.  They were fast with the paperwork and were cautious not to do  anything that would jeapordize our process.  I am currently going to help  advocate for the children on WACAP's  list.   Here is a bit of what the director had to say about advocating for the waiting children of China:

WACAP (www.wacap.org<http://www.wacap.org>) is looking for families for over 60 new children age 2-12 from China. They are part of the special focus program and WACAP is the only agency seeking families for these children.  Orphanage donation reductions are given on a case by case basis by the orphanage to specific children.  Some orphanages don’t reduce the donation at all.  For kids at WACAP, the grants are for either $2,200 or $4,200. 

Think you don't qualify to adopt?  The good news is now adoptive parent requirements for
"Special Focus" children are more lenient. If you do not meet the usual
requirements to adopt from China, you may now be eligible for a waiver. If
you adopted in the last 12 months check to see if you can reuse your old dossier
to bring one of these children home from Asia!

Concerned about how you can afford to adopt one of these children? There is no
application fee. For qualifying famiies fees may be reduced up to $9000 (including grants, fee reductions, and orphanage donations). Also ask about over $13,000 in Adoption Tax Credit. There is no fee or commitment
involved to receive more information on these children or a password to see their photo.

WACAP has taken lots of video and extra photographs of these kids and they are happy
to share the information without any fee. Contact Ckids@wacap.org<mailto:Ckids@wacap.org> orFamilyFinders@wacap.org<mailto:FamilyFinders@wacap.org> for a password to see these children's photos.I will start to add files of children that touch my heart and advocate for them.  Please contact me or the family finders team and we can point you in the right direction.

Sandy

HappyValentine's Day!

Happy Valentines day for that sweet little boy in China that has been tugging at my heart.  After several requests for information from families, the last one who contacted me replied that his file had been removed from  the shared list!   Hooray for a lucky family :)

Hopefully he doesn't re-appear  in the next few days!

If  his family is out there, please  let me know that he has a family.  I would love to know that he will be taken care of!

Sandy

The waiting child...

The Waiting Child

I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with him
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby yet inside
I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with him before you met
And as I watched you take him out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost five!
And there are infants here you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.

I'm still waiting :(

Totally adorable boy who is 4 years old and WAITING for his family.  I can't say enough about little boys :)  This little guy had a kidney removed and his paperwork said he is now healthy and rarely gets ill.  He is on the shared list.  If you would like info please contact me, I will be happy to help him find a home.

Look at that grin, he looks like a happy boy.  I've read he likes to climb and loves sports.  Please help me spread the word about this sweetheart!

Surgery post...

It's a bit late but I didn't have a blog there for a little while.  I want to post about his surgery so Xander can read about it when he's older.  Hopefully my memory is good :)

We had to be to MQT General for surgery at 6:00 am on Jan. 11th for surgery prep.  I'm amazed at the 2 times we've hauled this boy out EARLY in the morning with no milk or food he's done so well.  After all, he likes to eat :)

Grandma came to the house at 4:15 so we could be on our way.  We got to the hospital right on time and they were prompt because he was the first in line.  They prepped him and had us take him down to the OR where we waited for anesthesiology to take him from us.  They came at 7:30 for him, he cried and our hearts broke.  Daddy and I keep wondering WHY we are doing this to our perfect child.  We know that for him it's the best thing to do, but for him, right now, it STINKS!

We went to the waiting room to wait, knowing tubes were going to be first we figured it wouldn't be long until our first update.  A little after 8:00 Dr. Heickel came to let us know everything went good :)  YEAH!

The next wait seemed SOOOO long to us.  We got a update at 10:00 that he was out of surgery and on to the recovery room.  Dr. Geissler came in shortly after 10:00 to tell us the surgery went good and that he would be in the hospital for a few nights.  He said he would be in recovery for a hour and then we could be with him.  A hour passed and no word.  We asked the receptionist to check on him so she called and the nurse said he was sleeping great, they were waiting for him to wake.  We were happy he was comfortable so we waited until we got the call at 12:00 that he was going to his room.  We made it to his room before he got there.  His nurse was waiting and said that he was a busy boy in the recovery room, she said that he pulled his breathing tube out of his nose.  She didn't tell us that the surgeon stitched it in his nose so it would stay!

They rolled him in the room in a crib, propped up on pillows.  He looked upset but when he saw Daddy  standing closest to the door he got really upset and started to cry hard!  Daddy took him and held him in the rocking chair.  He had a stitch through his tongue, taped to his cheek so he couldn't feel around the top of his mouth.  He was bleeding from his nose and mouth.  He looked pretty sad :(

Daddy couldn't stay the night because he had to work in the morning so I stayed with Xander.  Let me tell you it was a long night!  He didn't like the arm restraints so I held him all night so he wouldn't stick his hands in his mouth or pull the stitch from his face.  It was miserable, I felt so bad for putting him through this.

The next morning they took his stitch out of his tongue and things improved.  Daddy came back after work and later that eve I went home to shower.  All I could smell was blood, even though I brought clean clothes.  Yuck!

Daddy said the next night was not fun either, but by the next morning he was doing a little better and Daddy got to give him a little breakfast.

We thought we could go home after 2 nights but the surgeon decided one more.  3 nights in a small hospital room with a active 2 year old is tough!  By night 3 he wanted to get down and play, but kept tangling himself up with the IV that was in his foot.  That night the IV started to go bad and it was like heaven being released from our restraints!  We did a few laps on our floor just to get out of our room.  He wanted to go home, and so did I!

The next morning we got to leave and were home before the kids who had a 1/2 day of school.  They were happy to see him and he was just as thrilled to be home.  His sleep has been screwed up since surgery and he's only slept through the night a few times in the last 3 weeks.  I can't complain because he is truly a dream child!

He has healed well and doesn't appear to have any fistulas (splits in the repair).  I asked the surgeon when we had our 2 week check up when he was due for the next and he told us that it all depends on his speech.  If he can talk without sounding nasaly then he didn't need anymore palate repairs!  If he does there is some kind of flap the do in the back of the throat to correct it.  As for his gumline, when he is a teen they will do a bone graft.  For his nose and lip, we can do some plastic surgery when he is older as well.  I'm perfectly fine with his looks, all I see is the most beautiful little Chinese boy in the entire world (sorry folks with your own little Chinese boys), after all, I am his Mother!

Did you know???

That crying was contagious?  It is in our house :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the year of the Rabbit!  I dressed our boy up for a bit of a photo shoot, even though we will not celebrate until Sunday. 

I'm amazed he sits so well for pictures, considering he is 2!

He even posed with Sophie for a couple!

Then, that was it.  Get me out of these silky clothes.  He doesn't like anything but t-shirts, already....

6 month anniversary.......

For Alexander and I!  6 months ago today we received the best gift, a amazing and precious little boy!  I'm pretty sure that birds were chirping and music was playing.  It was love at first site.  Unfortunately  it's not like that for every adoption,  but for us it was perfect.

We are amazed by him every day and all he has learned in six months.  I love the way he calls for me when he can't see me.  I love the way he poses when we pull out our cameras.  I love the way his eyes squint when he smiles and his dimples appear.  I love his chubby hands and wrist creases.  I love when he runs around in his underwear and his chunky belly sticks out.  I love to pick him up and he's soft and squishy.  I am head-over-heels in LOVE with him.  Daddy too.  Today Daddy was a bit jealous when Xander wanted me, not him.  That doesn't happen very often.  He wanted to know what kind of things I've been telling him while he's at work :) 

I'm so glad we didn't let the fear of the unknown stop us from adopting.  There were so many things to consider when starting the process, like money, a large family, what will people think, money, what if the child doesn't like us, money, what will people think....

I want to thank God for giving me the heart for adoption.  I really had to work on my husband to get him to agree that this would be a good thing and boy I am glad I did.  Chad is such a great Daddy to Xander and I don't think he can get home from work FAST enough to see his boy.  He tells him over and over again, "you are so darn cute."  "Daddy loves you."  It makes me want to cry every time I hear those words come from his mouth....it is so heartwarming.

If you have thought about adoption, go for it.  Research, learn all you can.  It is honestly our best decision as a family.  Our house is busy.  Crazy at times.  In such a short time they will be gone.  Ryan is  a SENIOR already.  Maddie has four short years left at home.  They will all be on there own and Chad and I will have lots of time together-probably driving each other crazy :)

If you have any questions about adoption I would be happy to point you in the right direction.  Just ask....I may talk your ear off though :)

Sandy