The countdown begins ...

Really who am I fooling like I have not already begun counting down the months till we meet our little guy. But now we are literally down to the last few weeks till he is home. Home for good. As hard as this wait has been on me I received pictures last night that tells me that this wait as been harder on our little guy.

Caden has such soulful blue eyes that just tell a story with no words needed.

Despite the fact that his beautiful golden locks have been shaved off he is still breathtaking :)

In just a few short weeks our baby boy will be an orphan no more. Any sadness replaced with happiness, tears replaced with infectious giggles and loneliness replaced with love. Hang tight little man it will not be much longer now!
 

LOA !!!!

Day 67 !!!!
And I was totally not exspecting this to arrive. So as you imagine I had no paperwork ready.
 None.
But I was home to recieve the LOA delivery.
But I was only home because I was recovering from a concussion after my big black lab knocked me out cold the day before !

Here is a picture of the culprit. Do not let those pink fairy wings fool you he is big , clumsy and will mow you down :)

So I scrambled to fill out all of the paperwork in my altered state. This has been one of the greatest lessons in procrastination  :)
I have to be honest my mind was focused on an email that I woke up to earlier that day. One of the mom's from our SWI traveled to Caden's orphanage the day before. So I awoke to some new pictures of our little guy who is clearly not so little sporting a double chin :)

Caden looks huge ! I was so glad to hear that he is walking and running very well. She also said that he is inquisitive as he kept getting into their backpack :)
But there is a sadness in those blue eyes. As we have spent our days complaining about the wait and all of the hoops we have had to jump through this little guy spends everyday doing the same thing.

Waiting.

Wondering.

Existing.

I am so thankful that he is so well fed and has been so well taken care of . But I have to say that it saddens me that he has grown up so much without us there. For us, Caden has gone from a baby to a toddler overnight. But for him, I bet it feels like an eternity.

Hang tight little man! Mommy will be there soon.

And I am going to hold you and carry you around even if it breaks my back !!!!!!


 

Video of my man :)

Well it appears that I can post Caden's video thanks to a dear friend :)
Here is one of Caden's videos.
 As you will see my little man is not lacking in the energy department !

So anyone who ever wonders about my new found  obsession  devotion with the gym .... wonder no more :) Caden is fast and as you mamas know we must be faster :)
And the faster he goes the more he giggles :)
Man, am I in trouble or what !

 

I800A approval and yes, you guessed it ...new pictures :)

You guessed it I have been blessed by yet another traveling mommy and she shot a few pictures of our little guy :)
 Xuzhou SWI rocks!
The orphange director is very open to visitors and to show off the work that they do there with her kids. Caden is blessed beyond measure to be there. I have to say out of all of my adoptive children I have worried about him the least. It has been wonderful to have a break on something in the process :)

These little glimpses into Cadens life have been such a God send.

Each little picture gives a glimpse as to what his days are like.

 And for a  waiting parent that is a huge blessing.

I love this picture the best :)
Our little guy likes to be tickled and giggle :)

So this week ends up being great after all ... 1800 A approval notice is in my hand and my  precious baby boys day in pictures!
We should be DTC (dossier to China) in 2 weeks!!!
Have a great weekend!


 

Waiting

Have any of you ever heard that by adopting you took the easy road?

Well, I have and clearly these people ,who really do mean well, never have adopted.
There is nothing easy about this road in fact it can be filled with many unexpected road blocks  and detours. I have to just remind myself that I am just the passenger . I do not get to choose the speed or the direction but just go along for the ride.
 While this is my third adoption, I am still getting a grand lesson in patience . Sigh.

But when I wake up and see this sweetness

sleeping so peacefully, I wonder if he knows that he too is just waiting.That he had to travel down the same broken roads that I have to get where he is going.
 Or does he think this is all life has to offer.

 But when I look at this picture, I have to laugh and think wow he seems just content and relaxed in his waiting :)

But the momma in me wants to be there right NOW! Scoop up this sweetness and whisper in his ear that you are loved ,  treasured and waiting on something wonderful.
 Days filled with kisses ,hugs and giggles.
 Nights wrap up tight and safe in  my arms as you drift off to sleep.

Never alone,

Never waiting ,

 Never wondering is this all life has to offer.
Because you are worthy of so much more .

Sweet dreams my little man.



 

My little rebel with a cause

Okay, I am officially one spoiled momma :)

And can I just say ...  I love it !!!!!!

I requested some updated measurements of Caden before the bridge of love deadline of March 1. As I am seeing all of these new pictures from traveling families this child looks big! So I had to put a halt to the shopping till I got some updated measurement.
And yes there is great shopping for boys :)
Caden does not know it yet but his momma has already picked out an edgy ,tough boy look for this little
 guy :)
Spiky hair ,camo pants , hats to match ever outfit and of course cool shades too! The girls at the sand box are going to say" Wow... who is this new guy" !  Hee,hee!

So to go with that tough boy look you got to have that rebel without a cause kind of attitude :)
With these measurements came 8 new pictures!!!!!! Oh my!!!!

Well take a look for yourself at the new pictures of our little James Dean and you be the judge.
I am just going to call him my little rebel with a cause because his cause is escaping the confines of that walker :)

 But the orphanage just calls him naughty !!!!!

"What did you say... stay here?"

"But I really have to be somewhere ..."

   This explains the bruise on his forehead in every picture :)

"Wow being a rebel is hard work!"

"Now I will just flash this beautiful smile and maybe nobody will care I just escaped "

Oh yeah this one is going to fit in here just fine !


BTW, the cutie that is laughing and watching Caden is available for adoption. He is currently on the shared list and waiting ! Please contact me via this post  for further info on this precious boy :) 

 

Another little surprise :)

I awoke this morning to another surprise in my email. For those of you who were lucky enough to be on my email contact list :) it is not the surprise from yesterday. You all know I was not really stranded in Spain with no money but that my email had been hacked.

So the surprise this morning was so much better than my trip to Spain :)

This surprise was from someone who was traveling through Xuzhou SWI and took a short video of a little wheel lovin', blond headed cutie just chillin' while he is waiting on his momma .

Sigh.

I do believe I am going to have a permanent neck injury  from looking at this over the next few months :)

Now that is a good kind of pain... don't ya think !

 

I spy with my little eye

... my beautiful little guy !!!!!!!!

We have been so blessed to be part of a wonderful orphanage group! As each family travels to pick up there little ones , they go in and take pictures of our beautiful waiting babies.

And man is this just the fuel to get me movin right along!

 So to be surprised with not one but TWO sets of pictures over the past week ... sigh.

 Each one of these photos just makes this mommas mind just wonder and dream about what this little guys personality is like.

I imagine that Cade will be quiet and observant.
 Shy but sweet,
Like to eat , just look at those cheeks,
And be quite the explorer!


maybe that wheel did not taste so good after all : )



All I know for sure is that this momma can not wait to get there and finally meet this precious baby of ours! 



 

Breathtaking

Have you ever had a moment where you were rendered breathless?

Last night while cleaning up the kitchen I went over and hit the refresh button. For all of you AP's out there, you certainly know the refresh button .It is a love hate relationship that you develop during the wait between you, the computer and the refresh button .
SIGH!
I hit it and something stopped me dead in my tracks ...an email with photos attached. You see I knew last week was Caden's birthday and I hoped and prayed that I would get something , anything.
So, when I opened the email and saw this

 he literally took my breath away

As I studied each and ever detail of these photos, I am amazed how much he has changed. He has gone from a baby to a little man in a blink of an eye.That little baby has been replaced by a chubby cheeked, beautiful, little boy.

Caden is totally taken with that cookie

 Do not get me wrong, I am so excited to see these pictures! But I am reminded today how much I am missing : (

"Give me the cookie already people!!!!!!!!!"

So for just a moment, I got a glimpse of my little guy in all of his birthday glory.Seeing just a small blink of  his first birthday refuels this waiting mommy's heart.
 
 I hope and pray that when he closes his eyes tonight his dreams are filled with memories of an extra special day shared with precious friends and lots of sweet sugar cookies!

I know my dreams will be of a precious little boy that I have never held in my arms or even kissed but love with every bit of my heart and soul.

And that my friends is the beauty of adoption.


Happy birthday sweet baby boy !
We love you beyond words

 

Our Little Emperor

We are just your average family of six. We have bills ,cars, a house,pets and kids ,four to be exact. I really used to think that four children was a lot but now that I am the mother of 4 it is merely a number.What makes us unique is how we came to build our family. We chose a road that is often less travelled and I have to say that road has lead us to unmeasurable blessings, the blessing of adoption.

People often think that it is for the super rich, trust me it is not.

People often think that it is never been the right time for them but it is not about our timing but His.

 People often say we thought about it but our lives are just to crazy, I can not help but think I really need to invite them over for dinner one night :)

Bret and I knew that we would adopt again ,that was a given.  We had decided that Peyton would be the baby ,always. We also had decided that the next child would be an older girl. I pictured her with dark almond shaped eyes and raven hair. We had already had it all planned out.
So now what ?
 Well we will wait for our plan to be put into action when the time is right ...for us.

On November 6th we attended  an amazing Orphan Sunday service at our church. As we sat holding our two beautiful adopted daughters, we listened to many families stories of how there lives had been changed. But one speaker got up there and gave his testimony of their journey to adopt their son and daughter from Africa. As Jay described his home it mirrored ours. The "chaos" that centers around bath time and the dinner hour I could swear that  he had been to my house before! But beyond that, he described a loving family whose  lives had been forever changed.As he spoke I thought of our dinner table. When I purchased this nine foot table I imagined that it would be perfect for our family. But there are many empty seats at this table.Even more than the room at our table or extra space in our home, I am reminded that there is always room in our hearts for another child to love.
We left there with our hearts full of hope for the many children that are waiting around the world to be loved ,cherished and treasured.
I received an email two days later that caught me completely off guard. An email about a little boy in China that needs a family.I had placed this baby boy on my prayer site just last week. I am looking at his photo  saying he is one of the most beautiful baby boys I have ever seen but he is completely opposite of who I pictured . This light eyed ,light haired beautiful child will never be excepted in his society. He would be an outcast based on the image that he was created in. I find that hard to wrap my head around in this day and time but it is reality.

I had a  quick interruption that reminded me of what the date was. Today was November 8th. This was the same day exactly two years ago that we listened to Pastor Gregg speak of how true journey's of faith often have limited sight. On this same day two years ago, we first laid eyes on our daughter ,Pei.

I have to admit this got my attention.

As I read about how this giggling baby has learned to tightly grab on to the nannies shirts when they go to place him back into his crib at the orphanage. For him, this ensures that he could be held a little longer. I went to bed that night with the image of that etched in my head.The image of this 9 month old baby desperately longing for the touch of another human being.

God spoke straight to my heart with that simple image.

It was as if that baby boy had taken those same tiny fingers and wrapped them around mine. As I looked at his picture I saw a beautiful baby with Ava's eye and hair color, Pei's beautiful almond shaped eyes and Chinese heritage and all of the blessings that each of my son's have brought to our lives.


So over the course of the next couple of days we let go of what our image was and realized that God's image was much better. .

 Caden Ryker Han Le Wen
Xuzhou,China

God has blessed us with a child that is a combination of the best qualities of each and every one of my children. He has showed us yet again that everything good comes in his plans for us not ours and always on his time.
We can not wait to get our beautiful son home and hold him in our arms.
Forever.