My birthday is always close to Mother's Day--this year it was the day before. That works out really well for getting a whole weekend of pampering! For my birthday Heath and the boys bought me two apple trees to plant at our new land. It was actually Ethan's idea! It was a perfect gift, that I'll enjoy for many years to come! So they presented the trees to me in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went over to the land and planted them. Well, Heath planted, the boys "helped", and I watched. They took me out to dinner, and then we came home for birthday cake they had all made for me. It was a very special day, and I felt well-loved.

Today Ethan woke up at 6:45, and hurried Heath to the kitchen so they could make me breakfast. (Jesse actually slept late today, because he had been up half the night with a cough, which is why I'm home with him instead of at church.) Heath told me this next part of the story later. . . Ethan went outside to pick me some flowers. He was taking awhile, so Heath went out to check on him. He couldn't find him anywhere! As he walked across the driveway Ethan heard his footsteps and popped his head out of his hiding place behind Granddad's tractor (which is temporarily parked here). He quietly pointed up the hill where two big Canadian geese were standing. He had seen them, and he knew geese have a reputation for being nasty, so he quickly hid himself behind the tractor. And to think, he was out there braving the big, bad geese all for me! So, anyway, they brought me my bouquet and breakfast in bed. Ethan had also made me a beautiful card. He's really been so excited about everything this weekend. He's such a sweet and giving person. Jesse makes me feel loved too, although in a slightly different manner. His contribution was to keep waking me (and Heath) up from 3:30 on this morning, to remind me about the 24-hour nature of motherhood. He did sit on my lap and snuggle for a long time this morning though, which is quite a special occasion with such an active boy.

So, I had a very nice birthday and Mother's Day. Thank you so much to all of you who sent cards, emails, and facebook messages to wish me a happy birthday! And Happy Mother's Day to all you fellow moms!

Our Weekend

We had a very special weekend! Our friends, Josh & Liz, and their kids Adam & Ella, came to visit. We spent Saturday in DC. It turned out to be a perfect day--cool but not cold, sprinkles but no real rain. Ethan and I had been praying for good weather, and it was neat to see God answer that prayer, especially since we had nearly constant rain Friday, Sunday, and Monday! We saw a few monuments, a few museums, and the kids loved the Metro. We also had a delicious dinner in China Town. The rest of the weekend we just hung out at home. We also got to see another mutual college friend, Jeremy Whaley and his wife Kenya, who just moved here recently. It was a full weekend. The four kids had a wonderful time together and got along very well. And the adults had a pretty good time too. =) Not a lot of sleep, but lots of talking and laughing. Can't wait to do it again!

Updates on Tabitha!

We just received some updated information about our little Tabitha! We got recent pictures, updated medical info, and answers to some of our questions about her daily life! It's very exciting!

There are some changes in what we were expecting medically. She has had surgery to correct the imperforate anus, and it has healed, so she can use the toilet normally. We were very excited to hear that! However (perhaps because of the surgery), she now has a bladder problem for which she has a catheter and urine bag. They have said this is "not correctable," but we're not sure who said that, so perhaps her doctor here will have more encouraging news on that. Our next step is to take all this medical information and consult with a specialist. The orphange workers also said that her extra finger is right next to her thumb, and it doesn't affect her hand function at all.

According to the orphanage workers, she can walk, jump, and even dance. =) She says many simple words like "MaMa" (so we're assuming she has a certain primary caretaker that she's closest to), AYi (aunt, nanny), HeHe (drink), Bu (no)etc.

She's about 34 inches tall, and weighs 22 pounds. The biggest shock is seeing her "big girl" pictures! I mean, we knew she wasn't the little baby in the pictures we got before, but somehow in my mind I didn't expect her to have grown up so much. It makes me kind of sad to think of all we've missed. But soon she'll be here with us, and we'll have the rest of our lives to get to know her.

The same organization that got this info for us (Ladybugs-n-Love) will deliver care packages, birthday cakes, and other things. So, we're going to send her some things for her birthday next month, along with pictures of our family.

As far as travel time, we're still waiting for our LOA, which should probably come mid-July, putting travel in late August or September. And Heath's cousin Amy is now planning to come with us too. So that'll be 4 adults to 2 or 3 kids--not a bad ratio!

Quote of the Day

I think sometimes people get wrapped up in having "enough" faith. I liked this analogy I read in "The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus" by John Cross.

Some people add a spiritual aura to faith. It becomes quantified. You either have a lot of faith or just a little. But that thinking confuses the issue. Putting faith in what Jesus did on the cross for us is similar to a drowning man nodding vigorously to his rescuer when the lifesaver says, "Will you trust me to save you?" The size of the nod is immaterial. The point is not the nod at all. The point is that the drowning man is acknowledging and trusting in the lifeguard to rescue him. For the drowning man to later claim that his big nod saved his life would be ludicrous. So it is with us. We are to trust in Jesus to save us from our sin, but the size of our trust is not what saves us; it is what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.

Woo hoo!

This is me trying to re-create the excited look I had when UPS delivered a package to me on Monday. =) For years, I've been wanting to buy the Rosetta Stone software for learning Chinese. Finally we could afford it, and I took the plunge and ordered it! I love learning languages, and this is one I'll actually use! I got the homeschool version, so it has lesson plans and tracking for each student. It'll definitely be a required course in our homeschool! I'm very excited to learn as much as I can before we go to get our daughter--hopefully we'll at least be able to communicate some basics with her. Ethan and Jesse have even tried it out already, and I'm sure it will benefit our whole family. It may seem like a silly thing to be so excited about a computer program, but I'm thrilled and very thankful for such a special treat!

China said "Yes!"

We have just received our Application Approval Letter (or Pre-Approval or "PA")! Even though our agency already told us it was a sure thing, it feels great to have something in writing from China! Now our dossier will be reviewed and processed by the China Centre of Adoption Affairs. Then they will officially approve us and give us permission to come and adopt our little girl! This next step usually takes about 3 months. Then it should be another 6-7 weeks from that point until we travel.

Our next step here is going to be to try to get some more updated and detailed information about Tabitha. We're going to use "Ladybugs-n-Love", who will try to contact our daughter's orphanage and see if they can get information for us. Please pray that the right people can be contacted and are cooperative. Then we're planning to have her medical information reviewed by an adoption specialist, so we can start finding doctors and services that she may need. So, I guess we do have some things to keep us busy while we wait!

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thought #1--My birthday is May 9th. Tabitha's is May 10th. China is 12 hours later than our time zone here. So, if she was born in the morning of May 10th, she was actually born on my birthday! There's a 50% chance we actually have the same birthday!! Cool, huh? And, it would've been on my 29th birthday, which wasn't one of my better ones. I remember feeling sorry for myself that night . . . maybe even at the exact time that my precious daughter was being born. If I had only known what was happening on the other side of the world. What an awesome birthday present . . . even if I didn't realize it at the time.

Deep Thought #2--I've been thinking about how adoption is similar to pregnancy. For one thing, I've been quite scatter-brained lately. (This has actually been happening ever since I was expecting Ethan, but I'll go ahead and blame it on this "pregnancy.")

Here's how my analogy works:

The last 15 months of preparation were like hoping to conceive. Now that we have a little girl in our hearts, we've gotten the "+" on the pregnancy test. But we're still waiting for our "application approval"--that first doctor visit that confirms the pregnancy. Then of course there's the waiting for more information . . . in pregnancy that's finding out the gender with an ultrasound; for us, we already know her gender but are eagerly awaiting those precious updated photos. Then, of course, there's that nagging worry that something will go wrong. Mostly we're at peace that everything will go as planned, but every now and then I have a flash of anxiety that this little girl will never be in our arms. When we receive the LOA in a few months--the OFFICIAL "YES"--it'll be like that 38-week check-up when the doctor says, "Everything's ready; you can go into labor at any time now." And of course, Heath will say that the labor pains are the torturous flight half way around the world. Well, at least this time, he'll be taking most of the labor pains, since I don't hate flying as much as he does! Then there will be that first moment of seeing our baby . . . probably lots of crying, just like in birth, but soon that sweet, amazing feeling of a new life in the family, of realizing what a miracle this is, and the assurance that it's been worth it all.

I can't wait for that awesome day!

Now. If I can just keep off that "baby weight" . . .