Incredible Update!

Last night about 11 o'clock I decided to check my email one last time for the day (yes, I am an addict, but that's a whole different post.) I was surprised and overjoyed to find an update on Cooper in my inbox. Homeland had one of their staff members in China take pictures for many of the waiting families last week. The photos were taken only 4 days ago. Cooper looks amazing and I am so happy that I finally have a picture of him smiling (or least something that resembles a smile.) I can not tell you what a relief it is to know that he is doing well. Enjoy the photos. We sure are!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by a close cyber-friend (is that an oxymoron?) It's a fun little quiz to pass the time for us waiting mommies. Hopefully, my answers won't bore the life out of you!

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...
1. See all four of my kids graduate from college
2. Play with my (currently unborn) grandkids
3. Vacation in Alaska
4. Live in a foreign country (China maybe?)
5. Learn to play the piano or guitar (tried once, failed miserably)
6. Raft down the Colorado River
7. Bring Cooper home from China

7 Things I Can Do...
1. Raise wonderful kids (so far)
2. Scare grown men
3. Bake great cookies
4. Drive really fast
5. Navigate (without a Garmin!)
6. Sleep like a baby
7. Hardly ever worry

7 Things I Can Not Do...
1. Be patient
2. Sing (in tune)
3. Keep my opinions to myself
4. Live without Diet Pepsi and chocolate
5. Cook
6. Swim the butterfly stroke
7. Let my kids out of the house without clean clothes and combed hair

7 Things That Attracted Me To My Hubby...
1. He is smart (really, really smart)
2. He's not arrogant or conceited at all
3. He makes me laugh (I love his sense of humor)
4. He has awesome legs
5. He's athletic (or was, before 3 orthopedic surgeries)
6. He has a great family (yes, I actually thought of this before I married him)
7. He is a wonderful father (I guess I'm cheating here, because I didn't know that until we actually had kids)

7 Things I Say Most Often
1. I love you
2. One, Two, Three (If I get to 3, someone is in big trouble)
3. Kai, do you need to go potty?
4. Let me see your homework
5. I'm on the computer right now
6. I hate to clean
7. How did I used to do everything I do now plus work 40 hours a week?

7 Celebrity Crushes
1. Keanu Reeves
2. Harrison Ford
3. Jesse L. Martin
4. Brett Favre
5. Steve Martin
6. Jett Li
7. David Beckham

According to my instructions, I am now supposed to tag 7 friends. My gosh, do I even have 7 cyber-friends? Let me see... How about I start with 4 fellow (soon-to-be) XingFu moms. Heather M., Kate P., Elaine W., and Mommy W., you are all officially tagged. Don't let me down girls!

XingFu Babies

Confucius Temple in Nanjing

There are four families from our agency who received their babies in China today. I have probably checked their blogs fifty times over the last 24 hours waiting for updates. Three of the four families have pictures up and I can hardly contain myself. I am definitely living vicariously through them right now. Please pray for the family who has not updated their blog. Things may be going well for them, but I am concerned (probably nothing, but I am worried anyway.) Their child is a little older (3.5 years.) Sometimes adopting toddlers and older children can be a more of a challenge at first. Kai was 2 years, 8 months old at adoption, and my guess is that Cooper will be 3 years, 6 months old. You see, I can definitely sympathize with anyone meeting their toddler for the first time.

Here are the addresses to 3 of the families blogs (I'm not sure the 4th family wants their blog address posted publicly.) Click on the link to follow their journeys. Enjoy!

http://guojifamilia.blogspot.com/
http://followingtheredthread.blogspot.com/
http://www.finallyfamilyoffour.blogspot.com/

8/26 Update: I found out this morning that the family (who has not blogged since receiving their toddler) is actually a mom traveling alone. She has come down with a nasty stomach bug and simply hasn't felt well enough to post to her blog. Miserable, yes, but definitely not the worst case scenario. Please pray for her.

My Little Man Loves Me

Tonight Kai and I were cuddling on my bed watching the Olympic closing ceremony. He had wet hair from his bath and he was absolutely beautiful. In his innocence, he had no idea why I was so emotional. He knows that he was born in China. He knows that mommy and daddy came for him and will never leave him. But it is what he does not know that sometimes breaks my heart. He has another mother and father still in China. I tell him "his story" often, but he does not yet understand. I can only be there for him when he finally realizes what his abandonment and adoption truly mean.

My baby (not technically a baby, I know) then looked up at me and said:

Kai - Momma, I luv you.
Me - I love you too Kai, very, very much.
Kai - Mamma, Kai a good boy? (asked like a question)
Me - Yes Kai, you are a very good boy.
Kai - I kiss you momma.

I love my little man more than words can ever express. And the best part of all is that my little man loves me back!

Back to School

My kiddos ready for the 1st day of school

(with really fake smiles)

Kai & his beloved Mrs. Bias

Cooper's beautiful face

My babies started school this week and they are all thrilled with their respective teachers. Kai is more than thrilled, he is IN LOVE. According to Kai, Mrs. Bias is the best thing since creamed corn (if you don't understand that phrase, ask the nearest Southerner.) We are blessed to be able to live in a area that has an exceptional school system. Free schooling is the bomb!

I have had a hard week thinking about Cooper. I miss him terribly (if it's even possible to miss someone you have never met.) I hate that he will soon celebrate another birthday without a mom and dad, without a sister and two brothers who are counting the days until they meet him. We have gotten the okay to send him a photo album with pictures of our house and our family. Today I took on the tedious task of labeling the pictures in Chinese. Of course, I may have written the Chinese characters for "our squid" instead of "our family" but hey, it's the thought that counts.

I also had a wonderful lunch today with my old cop buddies. One of the things I miss most about working is the long lunches I had each and every day with my friends (that probably says something about my work ethic!) I am crazy in love with all of my kiddos, but adult conversation is something I yearn for now. I guess all you stay-at-home moms can sympathize. Back in the days when J.D. and Piper were little, I was queen of the playgroups. There were several of us girls (yes girls, not women) who had our first child all within a few months of each other. We shared so much together and I thought we would be close forever. Unfortunately, kids grow up, people move and moms go back to work. In a way, I am starting over again with toddlers. No complaints, though. I love being a multi-generational mommy!

Evel Knievel

I am now officially switching the nickname of "Evel Knievel" from J.D. to Kai. Please see the photos of my 3 year old's face above. No, I do not have an egg glued to his cheek - that is all swelling. This was the result of a long, fast bike ride down a hill (which unfortunately ended with Kai flipping over his handlebars into a huge gardening stone!) Although Kai's face was immediately swollen and bleeding, there was no permanent damage done and overall, I consider him to be lucky. And only God knows how much luck this kiddo needs. I truthfully think his #1 life goal is to find creative and interesting ways to hurt himself.

Note to self: Always put bike helmet on kids!

My Baby is 11!

Me & My Baby

The Kids

Kai helping J.D. blow his candles out

J.D. & his Alabama T-Shirt

J.D. & Piper with Brad Paisley Tickets!

Fun in the Pool

Riding the Little Roller Coaster

J.D. & Thomas on the Wild River Ride

Boys on the Swings

Where has the time gone? This weekend J.D. turned 11 years old. It seeems like just yesterday I was up all night tyring to get my little boy to stop crying. That hellish baby has turned into an amazing young man. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, smart and athletic. He is the kind of child that you dream about before you actually have children. How blessed I am to have him as my first born.

J.D.'s birthday consisted of dinner at his favorite Chinese restaurant (always Chinese for J.D.) and then swimming in Granny and PapPa's pool. We had a tasty cake and sparklers on hand for when it got dark. J.D. totally racked up with presents, getting a new bike, a few Legos Star Wars sets, a PlayStation game, an Alabama jersey, and tickets to a Brad Paisley concert (his favorite musician!) To make the weekend even more special, David took J.D. and 4 of his best buddies to Alabama Adventures the next day. They rode the rides until everyone was sick and then spent the rest of the day at the water park.

I love you J.D.! You are the light of my life and will always be "my baby".

More Pictures of Our Boy!

These were the first pictures we ever saw of He Jun. They were also the pictures that helped us decide he was our son. Our little man just turned 2 years old in these photos. They were taken approximately 8 months before the photos below. He is beautiful and we are already in love with him. Does he look like a Cooper to you? We're having a hard time deciding on a name but we all dislike calling him Xi He Jun. Although it's a nice Chinese name (and we will keep HeJun as a middle name), it doesn't just roll off your tongue does it?

Introducing Xi He Jun

We finally received our PA this evening! After 10 weeks of waiting for the elusive piece of paper, it came just before I was going to check myself into the local loony bin. Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if China was holding a grudge against our family.

I can now officially announce that we have been pre-approved by the China Center of Adoption Affairs to adopt Xi He Jun, a 2.5 year old little boy living in the Wuxi SWI. As you can see from his photos, he is an adorable little chunk! He is 50% in height and 65% in weight on the Chinese charts - much bigger than Kai was at his age. Kai will be 7 months older than his little brother and will be one grade ahead of him in school. Hopefully, that will cut down on some of their brotherly competition.

We are thinking about naming our new addition Cooper Ash HeJun but haven't set anything in stone just yet. My best guess (and boy, is it ever a guess) is that we will travel back to China in either March or April. Of course, China moves at their own pace and nothing or no one can change that.

I will add more photos of Cooper in the next few days. Unfortunately, the rest of the pictures I have of him are not digital and will have to be scanned before going up on the blog.