Falling In Love With Our Son

Remember how I told you in an early post that I fell in love with my son through the many glimpses I caught of him?  His personality and cute little dimple just drew me in!  I knew that he would so perfectly fit in with our family, absolutely adorable with just a little bit of mischief.  Well, as I was watching videos of other Lifeline kiddos to post on my advocacy site, he kept "appearing" in them.  He was with a different agency at the time, so this was completely unexpected!  Brayden came over to check them out and ended up being my accomplice in trying to find his latest photo-bombings (as we called them).  We were on a constant hunt.  Now the next few videos I can't download, so you will have to click on the links and put in passwords.

The first one he appeared in definitely shows his sociable side!  He couldn't wait to be part of the action.  He appears near the end.  In the back, you will see the nannies attempting to convince an older boy to join in the dancing.  Our little guy decides he wants in on the fun and runs in behind him, almost unnoticed.  Until he is discovered and gets pulled out by an adult. (hee-hee)  Click here and put in the password: bart  Our son appears at about 26 seconds in with the red shirt, brown pants, and HUGE ready-for-action smile!  Oh, he cracks me up!

If you click here and put in the password: baron  you will catch the next glimpse I stumbled on.  At 18 to 23 seconds, you will find him too impatient waiting in line.  A ball fell behind the current child playing and our little guy considers throwing it himself, but then realizes he had better just put it back.  However, his smile still shows that it was a close decision not to start his turn right then. :)

In the next two videos our little one is behind the boy they are highlighting.  Our son is in the red and white striped sleeves and brown pants, behind the front and center guy.  Find him by clicking here and here, use the password: brown  for both videos.  I love these videos because there are a few times that he looks right into the camera.  I am in such trouble!  He is so cute and I am head over heels!

So there are the first few glimpses I got of our son.  I'll share more as we wait...

Advocacy

Some of you may be following our blog and not realize that I have an advocacy site as well.  There are so many sweet kiddos that need to know the love of a family.  I have a heart for those waiting in China, so they are featured on the site.  I rejoice and have a little party every time I get to remove a child's post and add their picture to the "Chosen" post!  If you've ever considered adoption and have any questions, please let me know!  I LOVE to talk about adoption!  These kiddos also need prayer.  Please take a moment and pray for these precious children's families to find them!

The site is linked through the "About Me" over at the right.  

You can also use this link:  http://andersonadvocacy.blogspot.com/

Thank you!!

Gatlinburg 2014

We had a fantastic trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!  We were blessed to have Mark's parents join us on our vacation.  The White Whale performed beautifully, carrying all of us on the 9 hour journey there and back.  The condo gave us plenty of space.  The kiddos had 3 fun-filled days of swimming, shopping, and a visit to the aquarium.  

I had two breakfasts at the Pancake Pantry (my mouth is watering just typing the name) and a visit to the Donut Friar as well!  We loved our visit to Ripley's Aquarium.  This was our third visit, but first time for Mark's parents and the Littles.  It is very well done and the kiddos enjoyed touching jellyfish, seeing all of the different types of sea life, and crawling into the penguin exhibit.  However, our favorite part is the "tunnel ride" on a moving conveyor while fish, sea turtles, stingrays, and SHARKS swim all around you!

We needed the time away!  Harvey and Joyce even stayed with the kiddos Tuesday night so that Mark and I could go out on a date night!  That was a real treat! :)  We stopped and stayed in Richwood, KY just outside of Cincinnati for one night on the way back.  We swam in the indoor pool, but it was COLD.  The Bigs and Middles lasted much longer than the Littles and I.  We stopped at the Creation Museum on the way home the following day.  It was very interesting and we all enjoyed a new experience.

Cedar Point 2014

I know, I've been terrible about posting lately!  We have been so very busy trying to finish up everything before summer break is over and my time is limited.  

We were lucky enough to get a tip last month when Cedar Point tickets went on sale for 1/2 off the gate fee!  We were buying them for our youth group trip, but realized this might be the only way to take our "big ol' family".  So, we called my mom and dad to see if they might be willing to watch the Littles or come along for some real fun!  Well, they must have been terribly bored and had a major case of cabin fever, because they decided to join in. ;)

Wednesday morning, we got everybody up at 5:45 am.  This was just enough time for everyone to visit the bathroom, pick out a cereal to take with them, and get the clothes on that we had set out the night before.  The Littles thought we were crazy!  By 6:00 am, we climbed into the White Whale and set off. We finally made it to the park at 9:40 am.  First stop for us was the bathrooms.  When we came out, all we found was an empty double stroller.  Mom and dad had already started the fun as they held the Littles on their first carousel ride.

It was gorgeous day, not too warm and a nice breeze!  We rode all sorts of rides and everyone had fun.  The Littles loved everything!  Addi took a 1.5 hour nap (Ryan got about 20 minutes).  The biggest surprise was which one of our kiddos turned out to be a roller coaster rider... MEILYNN!!  She LOVED them and was so brave!  Brayden tried the Mine Ride with her, but she also conquered the Iron Dragon and the Gemini.  We didn't have time to do any of the bigger roller coasters, but when she's in youth group and we head to Cedar Point, there will be no holding her back! :)  Poor Kaitlyn is such a thrill seeker, but she's too short for all of the big rides.  She still had fun on the ones she could ride with us on, but her pout broke my heart every time I had to tell her she was too short to ride.  Jayson is a bit more timid, but he ended up loving some of the rides that surprised me.  There ended up being lots of rides for the Littles.  They had a great time and had HUGE smiles on their faces!  I loved watching their excitement and hearing their giggles.  It was a fun day and I am so thankful that mom and dad were there!  Mom did a great job of walking the Littles around and dad was glad to jump in as an extra rider when needed!

Introducing the cutest 7 year old Chinese boy

Yeah, I had to be THAT specific!  You see, we will have THREE seven year olds in a matter of months!  That's right... Jayson, Kaitlyn, and our new little guy will all be seven once November rolls around and Kaitlyn turns seven.  I thought about "cutest 7 year old", but our other two seven year olds are pretty adorable also.  I thought about "cutest 7 year old Asian child", but Kaitlyn's pretty irresistible.  So, I had to go with the super specific title. :)  We love our "twinned" kiddos and I am fairly confident that "triplets" will be even more fun! ;)

We had our first (and only) home study visit yesterday.  We were blessed to get the same social worker that we have for Addi and Ryan, so all of our post-placement visits count towards the new adoption as well!  She is now busily modifying the report we did 2 years ago.  It was fun to think of all of the changes that occurred in the past 2 years.  Thank goodness a lot stayed the same, which saves time since those parts can be used again.  Of course, we had to joke about how long she will be stuck with us, about 7 years.  We also had to fill her in, since she got a very surprising email not long ago!  We were going to ask her about writing our new home study during our 1 year post placement about 1.5 months ago.  That was the same day that we received the news that we would qualify for $10,000 less than we anticipated.  We assumed this was a closed door, so shed a few tears as a family and put on a happy face before she arrived.  Only to find out the next day that there was a miscalculation and we were back on track.  We decided to wait until all of the pieces fell into place before we requested her to write our new home study.  So, you can imagine her surprise when she received the email a couple of weeks later!  Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about.  I love telling the story of our journey, recalling all of the blessings encountered along the way.  I also recalled how I fell in love with him.

I have been blessed with so many glimpses of our little guy.  I've seen pictures of him growing up from his file that was prepared when he was only 3.  There have been videos that had been recorded for and through various agencies.  I kept stumbling across more of them. I even had a dear lady email me updated information and video she had received when her family considered him.  These are such a blessing, especially since we will have quite a wait to get through the remaining steps.  Therefore, I thought I would introduce you to him in the same fashion.  

I think I will start with the very first video I saw of him.  He was on an agency's list and they had video of him from a Hope Camp.  This is a few days to week long event when multiple agencies meet kiddos that are available for adoption from a given area of China.  They have a chance to video them, interact and evaluate them.  I am so thankful he was part of this opportunity, so that our journey to each other could begin!  So, without further adieu, here is the little boy I fell in love with!

Spending Time with "China Friends"

Today was nothing short of magical!  To spend the day with the two people that experienced an adoption for the first time along with us was a gift!  

This other couple was with us for our entire first trip in China.  We experienced the Great Wall, Cloisonné factory, and Hu Tong while in Beijing.  Then, we provided moral support for each other as we flew on our first Chinese flight to the amazing city of Nanjing and prepared for an event that would change our lives forever!  Each child that has come into our lives (through birth or adoption) has been a miracle.  However, this first adoption began a connection to China that will always draw our hearts to the far off land.  We prepared for meeting our daughters for the first time and shared our excitement, anxiety, and emotions.  

We watched each other as we held our daughters for the first time and cried tears of joy for each other.   Watching Grace and Kaitlyn play and love on each other today brought joy to my heart.  Two beautiful little girls bonded together as they joined the families God designed for them on the same day almost 4 years ago. 

 It seems like so very long ago when we stood anxiously in the Nanjing Civil Affairs building, waiting for Kaitlyn to come through the door.  I am in awe when I step back and think about what God has done in our lives over those 4 short years.  We have welcomed 3 more beautiful children into our family and are preparing to welcome a 4^th.  We can never express how thankful we are to have journeyed with the McDowell’s!