So Blessed!

Okay so I don't really know how to form this post so I 'll just start typing and see where this goes! These pictures are of our oldest son Nathan. For those of you who don't know us that well...Nathan just turned 11 and was diagnosed a birth with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) He has had several surgeries in his 11yrs, more doctors appointments and hospital visits than I can count, and broken more bones than we were willing to keep track of. That being said when Nathan was born we were told by his doctors that Nathan would never situp, walk, or run. Our boy has proved them wrong with the intercession of prayer, and the IV medication he has been on since he was 3 months of age, Nathan is capable of doing all of these things! (he was in his wheelchair for safety this day) At birth we were told that Nathan broke nearly every bone in his body some in multiple places and he had healed fractures from inutero. Our boy has suffered with more physical pain than most people ever will in their lives. However he still rises above this and has a zest for life! And a passion for people.
Nathan's aid at school nominated Nathan for the Tri-City Tournament in our city. This is a fundraiser hockey tournament for children with disabilities in the public and catholic school districts. This fundraiser helps families who need to travel alot for medical intervention, or for something special for that child. This year we haven't needed to travel for surgeries etc. So Nathan gets pick something special out.
Yesterday the sponsors and organizers came to Nathan's school for a cheque/gift presentation during an assembly. And Nathan I am sure felt like he won the lottery:0) The sponsors were Future Shop, Costco, Ernies Sport Experts and Alliance Pipeline. Nathan received a brand new Flip video camera and $300 gift card from Costco, and $1000 cheque!!!



All Ican say is our family is humbled and amazed! Nathan was deliriously happy! I haven't seen a smile like that on his face in a long time! We are so very thankful to the organizer, sponsors and volunteers of this charity. Many families with kids with disabilities have expenses above and beyond what would be considered "normal" Which we never could have imagined or planned for. For our family it may not so much be the financial (although sometimes it is!) Its more the watching our brave strong boy suffer in pain daily (we should have stocks in Tylenol & Advil) and the emotional pain he suffers when he can't join in and play with friends because it would be too unsafe.The smile and excitement on his face when he received this huge blessing was almost more than this Mama could bear:0) I was feeling a little like we shouldn't need this "our life isn't bad" is what I kept saying to myself. Then I thought this is showing Nathan the love of God through other peoples hands! And what an amazing lesson that is! God loves our boy so much that He wanted to bless him with these gifts and so much more:0) I hope Howard and I can instill that in Nathan. That he can see that every good gift comes from above, it is not an accident; and when things are hard and Nate is in pain; that God has not forsaken him and is right there holding him in the palm of his hand!

I am not sure if I really got out in this post what I was hoping to, but it will be suffice. Our family is so thankful for this gift for Nathan. Thankful doesn't really even touch how we feel.The people involved in this charity have made one of my precious children's week alot brighter and for that I am very thankful. But, I do have to say if there is one more video made of my butt!!!! I may flush that video camera down the toilet!lol! Just kidding! Sheesh 11 yr old boy humor! Ha ha ha Mom has a butt! Finally we are so proud of Nathan.... he said to me last night "Mom, its not just me affected by my brittle bones is it?" I said "no not really Nate." He then decided that whatever he will get with his money it will be something both him and his siblings can enjoy!!! Sniff.... I am one proud Mama right now. I am amazed that he sees that his condition does affect his brother and sister! He is leaning toward a new computer with a touch screen as our families computer in really really old, or a flat screen T.V. for movie nights. We have a crappy old 32" t.v. and it still works but I guess when you are a boy big tv's are important! I will have to update once he decides on his big purchase!

Happy 5th Birthday Miss Riley-roo!

My first girl! I was so smitten with Riley when she was born! She was the easiest labour & delivery ever!!! And Miss Roo was the snuggliest baby ever! She would love to just sit back and watch all the action take place:0) I would have to say she still is very much like that!


I love this little picture look at the rolls on her ankles! and those little lips!

I had to add a couple pictures of Riley and her soother (soosie) This child would not go anywhere without her dearly beloved soosie:0) I started to worry we would never get rid of it;) Now looking back at this picture it makes me wonder why I sweat the small stuff?

This is our girl now... she has decided pictures are not so great and I have no sense of fashion and on top of that I have no clue how to do hair!!!! Therefore I am not "allowed" to dress her or do her hair, needless to say we have been seeing some rather interesting outfits and hair:0) She has become a very loving, shy, stubborn, sensitive always willing to give a hand little girl. Some days I say that once she's a teenager only one of us may survive. As she is already giving me a real run for my money, however I hope she keeps some of these traits maybe she will be less likely to cave to peer pressure as a teenager? I guess only time will tell:0)

All I know is when the day is over and she is sound asleep in her bed I sure love her! All the parts! she brings such joy to our home and I am thankful to God that He allowed Howard and I to parent her for a little while! Happy 5th Birthday my precious girl Riley.

Friday Finds!

O.k. I have a few finds/things I love right now:0) First is the book "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. This book I have read last year as a book study, it changed my life.....I could write a whole blog post on this book. However I won't bore you all:0) So I'll just say its a book you have to read when you have silence around you! No interruptions! No kiddies! No husbands! If you plan on reading find a quiet place and I suggest reading one chapter every few days so you can really reflect on each subject. I was planning on redoing this study starting last week but the ladies that were coming all felt we have alot going on and other studies we are attending. This Fall we plan on reading it though and I am very excited!

Soooo this next book comes out next Tuesday May 4th, and my sister Krista and I are so excited! Yes I will be there when the bookstore opens!!! Just kidding:0) It's totally cheesy and (gasp) about vampires and is total drivel, but it is such a funny series and I love it! So I guess I am a cheesy drivel loving nerd! And I am totally ok with that.

Yum-0 I just picked up a couple packages of Starbucks yummy instant coffee for our trip to China. Now they even have travel mugs that will hold up to 6 individual packages of the coffee! I may have to invest in 2 of those as well;) My only concern is I like a little cream in my coffee and that doesn't pack so well. We will have to get creative and figure something out.

I just picked up this CD from our Christian bookstore. Usually I just buy singles on iTunes, but this whole CD is awesome! I would say they are an alternative christian band. I have been listening to them all week on repeat, and still love the whole album:0)

O.k. are these not the cutest swimsuits ever?I think Addison and Riley may need matching ones!

These are Kate Mack's ballerina tutu swimsuit and I have noticed they have tonnes on ebay! I can just picture the girls in these matching swimsuits playing at the beach!

And finally Matilda Jane clothing. Sigh I so love their summer line called Hammond Bay. I have ordered this outfit and one more for Addison and was hoping to order the matching one for Riley but they are sold out of Miss Riley-roo's size:( I was hoping to have pictures of the girls done once we are home for a bit. However by the end of August or September all the Fall stuff will be out so I'll be sure to order early!

Anyways these are some of the things I have fallen in love with lately.

Application Status Change

We just found out our application for Addison's adoption has had a status change at the CCAA.....our application has been approved. This is really just a pre-approval, the CCAA still has to comb through our dossier before we get our LOA (letter of approval) But this pre-approval came alot quicker than I expected! So we will celebrate this baby step in the right direction:0)

What We Know About Addison.....So Far

Right now Addison is living in Wuhan city in the Province of Hubei. She is living in foster care and has been in this foster home since she was 3 months old. We were very excited to hear she is in foster care, but realize our first few days could be extremely hard as little Miss will be doing some major grieving. Addie loves the outdoors and her favourite toys are cars:0)

Addison has been described as shy, loving, talkative and a sound sleeper (yahoo!) She loves her foster Mom, and knows where and points to her eyes, ears, mouth and nose. She knows the word "no" She is said to get along well with others and is said to be fairly introverted.

At the time of her medical exam she was 19lbs and 82cm tall. She also has 16 teeth. Apparently she eats well and lots of variety. It says she loves to go to the supermarket to shop with her foster mom! Well with a family our size it seems like we go daily!!! So she have no shortage of supermarket outings:0) It also says the family loves her very much, I am so happy about that info. I am glad on one hand that she has been in a loving home, yet on the other hand I am sad that we will be taking her faraway from that loving home.....if the family had a choice would they keep her? Do they have a choice? Of course we want her....but is it "right" to take her away from a loving family? I know others whom have adopted struggle with that knowledge, I guess we just pray and trust that we are the right family for her and love her to bits. I can't wait to meet Miss Addison I am so curious to see how much of the info we have received is true:0) I have found some uber cute stuff on the Matilda Jane website and I think I will be making an order this week! Riley says she NEEDS some hair pretties! So I will leave her in charge of that;) I am just now trying to get together some family pictures for a photo album we will send out. Also a friend suggested that Howard and I use a digital voice recorder and read her some books so she can hear our voices. I really like that idea! I am trying to decide if I need some new shoes as I will want to break them in before we go, Howard was in need of new runners so we picked those up yesterday. Come on LOA! We are hoping to travel in August!?!

First Weekend After Referral

My Mom and Dad! It's so nice to have them living close enough (right now) so they can visit! We hope they will be up in our neck of the woods for the rest of the year!


My parents brought the cake....really? We need a cake this size for 7 people!?! Lol!

We had this picture made last year when we were visiting Disneyland, the kids wanted Addison to know we were thinking of her.

Some of little Miss Addison's room. We will get to painting it one day!

Wow! What a whirlwind these past few days have been! We had the pleasure of having my parents come up to our house for an overnighter. We received Addison's referral the day before my Dad's birthday! So they came up to celebrate both events with us! We had a great time! My parents left on Saturday afternoon, and Howard and I went out with some dear friends of ours to celebrate our referral! We went to an amazing Chinese food/Martini bar. Our friends brought there daughter home from China 18 months ago, so they totally get how excited we are:0) The food was amazing and Trina and Vince said it was very comparable to their favourite dinning experience in China. I think it was one of the best meals out I have ever had. Sunday we had a Bbq after church and I recruited our guests help in rearranging Addison's bedroom and hanging pictures etc. in there. We have decided to leave the queen size bed set up in her room as well as the crib, they both fit comfortably. I chose not to paint Addison's room for many reasons 1. We have only been in the house for 2 years and it didn't need painting 2. The other kids would have been miffed if I painted her room a special colour and theirs was left in the builders spec colour. 3. I could paint one room, but to do all four of my kids rooms in the next 4 months sounded like more work then I was willing to commit to! So Addison's room will remain the same tan colour as the rest of our house, until I get ambitious and want to paint and pick out themes for 4 rooms:0)

I still think it looks cute with the wall hangings and bedding we chose. Today was spent running around getting photocopies of stuff for Addison's citizenship application, picking up things I want to bring to China, choosing a care package to send her and writing a letter to be added to the care package. Oh yeah and the Canadian $ is at par with the US so we are debating whether to cash in our orphanage donation now or wait and see what happens in the next few months! Its funny I have a million little things flying through my head, some are seriously ridiculous and others need to be dealt with soon. I believe I have lists within lists! I am so far liking this part of the process because I have things I can be doing! While my parents were here we went shopping for a camera! Yay! I have lived without for long enough! I was wanting a DSLR, but was a little nervous I wouldn't have the time to learn how to take great pictures with it. So I decided to buy a ultra zoom digital camera instead. Its a step down from the DSLR but I am very happy with my decision, and when my kids get older and I have more time for a hobby I think then I will get a DSLR to play with:0) I am so excited to not have to "borrow" my kids point and shoot cameras anymore! Well I should get dinner started....in the next day or two I want to do a post about Addison and the info we have thus far. So until then have a great day!

Finally....Here She Is!

Here she is..... our newest little Mervyn!

Guoying Wu ( Addison Hope Guoying)

Born April 9,2008

Wuhan, Hubei

We just sent out our LOI (letter of intention to adopt) So now we wait for a letter of approval (LOA) from China and then TA (travel approval) and then we fly to China a get our girl:0)

I have this silly song in my head from Nihao Kailan "were going to China, were going to China...I feel so happy..." Hahaha Riley loves it when I sing the song to her:0)

What a crazy day we had yesterday... I was already overbooked:0) ( Isn't that how it always works!) We had heard the new list was coming out on the 21st (China time) so I figured if we were to get a call it would be first thing in the morning.....boy was I wrong! I had a day full of running around like a chicken with my head chopped off:0) When I ran home to drop off a few things before I picked the boys up from school I almost didn't answer the phone, I really did consider it, thinking I would be late..... well I was late because it was our referral! I was so shocked....it may have been one of the few times I was actually speechless!lol! So I ran to get the kids, and then phoned Howard from home and then finally was able to open my email which contained, all of our sweet little ones info a pictures:0) Oh did I mention we had to leave a few minutes later as I was serving at the church!!! I can not remember one conversation I had that evening as all I could thing about was getting home and seeing that sweet little face again! So I apologize to anyone who thought I was off on Wednesday night....I was off! I am writing this and I know the story sounds silly an meaningless but I want to remember that day, I want to read this later and laugh at how crazy, wonderful, blessed and scary that day was:0) I now have a million and one things to do before we go. Anyone have a great packing list!?!

The kids are excited, but are more concerned with who will be hanging with them when Howard and I go to China! Each one has there own idea on who would be best:0) Riley is concerned that Addison has "boy clothes" on!!!! And should we send them a note to let them know that Addie is a girl!!! I almost peed myself laughing when she said that! Josh likes that she has a birthmark like the one he had when he was a baby! And Nathan well he thinks its "cool"! (11 yr old indifference!)

As much as I am excited I feel like I am in shock a little. I am sure that will pass soon. We spoke to Dr Baxter (international adoption specialist) this evening and everything seems to look positive with Addison. I was concerned with keeping the name Addison....but Howard was adamant about it. Since he is rarely opinionated about things, I agreed with him. He felt that our little girl that came home from China was always meant to be Addison. I feel utterly and truly blessed that God would entrust this amazing wonderful little girl to our care! And trusted Him even when we thought things had all fallen apart a couple months ago, we trusted that He would place the child that was always meant to be in our home.

Many, O Lord my God,

are the wonders you have done.

The things you have planned for us

no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare. ~Psalm 40:5~

I read this verse this morning and that is exactly how I feel. I can't put into words all the amazing and wonderful things God has blessed my family with. All I can feel is humbled, amazed and last but not least THANKFUL!