Can You Believe It!

Jake went skiing twice with his Ababa. He loves it! I can't wait to go with them again, maybe this weekend. Jim said he was able to turn himself mostly in one direction. I think he is fabulous and adorable in his equipment. At 3 1/2, he is getting an early start. He will soon be one of those little ones that whips by the rest of us with ease and confidence. I am so proud of him.

Oh, What a Christmas!

After waiting years and years to celebrate the holidays with our child, we did! Technically, this was our second Christmas together, but last year Jake did not participate. He was still in the post-adoption shock of a whole new world. This year, he knew and anticipated the fun. We opened an advent calendar each day to help him count down. Then, Christmas Eve we spent with my family. The whole family gathered for a sing-a-long that moved many to tears. Then, we drove home to spend Christmas morning at home with just the three of us. This is a picture of Jake's smile at 7:30am just before opening his presents.

After breakfast and play time, we traveled to Washington D.C. to spent time with Jim's sister and family. It was relaxing and enjoyable. The whole series of special events will stay as some of my favorite memories.

Our Sweet Boy in China

Zhi Gu looks like he is growing up. When Jake saw these latest pictures, he mentioned the phone in Timmy's hand. It reminded me of the report we received of Jake when he was in Ethiopia. The report mentioned that Jake loved electronics. They will share that in common.

I recently found an on-line support group of parents who have adopted special needs children from the Henan province. The advice and information is helping me to feel closer to our son. Also, we received some critical paperwork from the Immigration office. Hopefully, we are on target for me to travel in early March. It would be wonderful to have Timmy with us for his 3rd birthday which is April 23rd.

Meanwhile, we are just days away from Christmas. Jake is super excited. These last two days, he has gone skiing with his Ababa. I was sorry to miss the fun. Aparently, he loved it and is learning a lot. Hopefully, I will see him at is soon; maybe over Christmas break.

Cousins Playing

Jake and his cousin, Joshua, braved the cold weather to enjoy some play time at the park. They ran around and chased each other while Mike and I caught up on life. It is wonderful to watch the boys play together. Afterwards, we all enjoyed some hot chocolate and warmed up at our house.

My school has collected over 300 bibs for orphanages in Timmy's area. A website for orphans in the Henan Province listed bibs as one of their areas of need. http://www.henankids.org/ I put the request out to the students and families and they have responded generously. These bibs will be packed into my luggage and carried over to needy children in orphanages; like the one Timmy spent time in. This project helps us feel closer to him. We also received two new pictures which I'll post soon.

Meanwhile, Jake is getting very excited about Christmas. He opens a new section of his advent calendar each day and promptly gives the chocolate to his Ababa. We share that in common - dislike for chocolate. :) I am looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with him and our families.

A Happy Thanksgiving!

We are especially thankful for Jake in our lives this year. This was his first Thanksgiving dinner and he seemed to really enjoy the day. He had lots of cousins to play with. His favorite food was the cranberry jelly :). I remember back to last year and how difficult it was to celebrate with our travel plans uncertain. We knew that Melkamu was waiting for us, and there was no way to speed up the process. This year, we know that Zhi Gu is waiting and again our travel plans are uncertain. But the waiting is easier with Jake to keep us busy. And, we know that Zhi Gu is being cared for by his foster family. Just today we sent out the second package to him. Next Thanksgiving our family will be complete and there will be even more to smile about.

A Trick That Worked

Jacob does not like to have lotion put on him after his bath. For most of the summer, I just let go of that step. But now his skin is dry. So, the other night I put shimmering lotion on him and he giggled and giggled. He thought being sparkly was just great. I tell him that he looks like Christmas and smells like cookies. I don't know how long this trick will work, but I am happy it is working now. :)

I don't have a picture of his sparkly skin, so I will include one from Jim's birthday on the 17th. We celebrated; just the three of us and it was special.

Timmy

Timmy will soon know about us as our package with photos should arrive in China soon. I can only imagine how his brain will process the idea. Meanwhile, Jake is excited and wants to know why his brother isn't here yet. The other night, as I was rocking Jake to sleep, he looked over at the toddler bed and said, "That's Timmy's bed." Sometimes I hear him talking about his brother in his childish conversations to himself.

The idea of a second child brings up new worries about how Jake will transition. He is LOVING the full attention of both of his parents. Will he be jealous of the time we will need to give to Timmy? How will he react to my long trip to China?

I've thought of some ways to help him to understand that I will be back. Of course, we will communicate when we can, but also I thought a visible countdown might help. Something like an count-down calendar or a paper chain with messages to him from me.

It is wonderful to watch Jake's excitement and love for his brother as we all grow our hearts to include this special little boy.

Package to Timmy

As we prepared a package for Timmy, I was reminded of when we sent our package out to Jake. They actually returned the photo album as well as the voice recorded card. I remember him showing us the items at the final ceremony. He loved opening the card and hearing our message to him. This time Jake was able to help us pick out items for his brother's package.

I am less sure that any of the items will get to Timmy. Our information says that he is staying in a foster home. Is this home close to the orphanage that will receive the package? Will the items ever make it to him and his foster family? We may never know. We are allowed to send multiple packages, so I will continue each week. Even if the items do not get to Timmy, they will brighten the day of other orphans. For this first package, I included the following items: socks, a sleeper with feet, a special spoon and fork, a toy car, markers, chocolates (for the family), a nail trimming kit, a disposable camera, perfume (for his foster mom), a photo album and a book.

I hope he at least receives the photo album with labels in Chinese. We love you little guy!

Meet Timmy!

Here is our sweetie. I love his cute smile. It is hard to know about him and yet have to wait to pick him up and bring him home. At least we won't have to wait the torturous 6 months that we had to wait for Jake. I should travel in about 3 months. Right now our process for Timmy is held up in the immigration office since all of that paperwork had to be redone. But today I received notice that they have our application and it is in process. yea! We look forward to sending him a care package with pictures soon.