Voice of the Voiceless

Conclusion

2012-01-25T05:21:00.001-06:00

I have to admit, that my own blog title has been bothering me for quite sometime. "Voiceless Orphans". I almost feel the need to apologize when I give the web address to friends. "Well," I think to myself, "I made the blog title a long time ago.... before I knew Zac.... before I knew Melia. Afterall, no child of MINE is an orphan. A voiceless orphan..... hmpf!

It practically sounds politically incorrect. Voiceless children, maybe. That sounds a bit better. Ryan's children. That's more like it. That's what they really are: MY KIDS. It's that simple. They're just ..... my kids.

But sometime recently it hit me: I realized that MY KIDS were indeed once ... orphans.

It makes me sick. I don't want to believe it. I'd rather quickly dismiss it. It truly brings me conflict.... and confusion.

Friends, there are many orphans out there. Waiting to be adopted. The second a person chooses to adopt, these thousands, no.... these MILLIONS of children are immediately touched and transformed into a miracle. They become someone's KID.

Less than 2 weeks ago, Melia was a distant image in my mind and a photograph on my wall. Today, she is a miracle and most importantly she is MY DAUGHTER.

I am so thankful for the gift of adoption and want to shout it out to the world that adoption is a beautiful thing.

Thank you for listening to my thoughts.

Home

2012-01-22T20:09:00.000-06:00

Got home last night. We were all so tired that the room was spinning. Blogging was out of the question.

We were so thankful for the friends and family that met us at the airport. What a special time. We had some "event photographers" there. When we get the photos, I'll post something.

Today, went extremely well. We took things very easy and tried to just play... and do some unpacking. Melia is pretty flip flopped with her days and nights so she was a bit tired and moody. (Hard to imagine)

Nevertheless, we managed a trip to Wal Mart this afternoon. It went pretty well. In fact, I've been referring to Melia as, "The chosen one who is to bring balance back to the force". Meaning that 4 kids actually may be easier than 3 in many respects. We'll see.

Last Day in Guangzhou

2012-01-19T06:28:00.001-06:00

Today was our last day in Guangzhou. It was strange, but Katie and I both had mixed emotions as our adoption trip is coming to an end. On the one hand, we are excited to get home, see our kids, see our friends, get back to normal, and start raising Melia Xin Ai to be a Horner. On the other hand, there is almost a "summer camp" feel here with many other adopting families wandering the hotel hallways and restaurants. We've made quite a few friends on this trip and we're sad that we won't ever see many of these people. Also, it's so nice for the kids to all play together and not be judged in the least bit. Katie and I know that once we get home, she'll get lots of stares. While we're here, it's Katie and I that are getting the stares, and we're completely OK with that. But back home....

Knowing that today was our last full day in Guangzhou, we really wanted to make it count. So we went to the craziest spot that we could think of: The train station and wholesale market.

Take a look at the videos, b/c words cannot begin to justify the intensity of "the market".

I'm thinking that there were actually some pretty incredible deals, but Katie and I were way too nervous to put Melia down for even one second. In hindsight, it was a completely "safe" experience, it was just that we weren't really used to shopping with that much pushing and yelling.

It wasn't until I watched these videos that I realized how much I stick out here. Katie and I really had a laugh.

So I feel as if I should start to "conclude" this experience that has been our China adoption trip. Tomorrow we'll be in Hong Kong so I may have one last post, but I think after that I think I'll be home before I get another chance to blog.

Certainly, our adoption adventure is only just beginning, but the trip adventure is coming to a close. I have no doubts that sometime in the future, I will look back to these 2 weeks I just experienced and remember them as some of the most special and significant two weeks of my life.

I have Melia to thank for that.

Thank you Melia. Thank you for being you. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for giving me life. Without you, these past 2 weeks would have easily been "forgotten moments".

More than that, I look forward to many more significant moments that you will provide me by being my daughter. I love you sweetie.

Great day in Guangzhou

2012-01-18T06:52:00.000-06:00

Today was an absolutely awesome day. ....and jam packed full of activities. So let's see if I can remember them all.

We started off by meeting in the lobby at 7:40am for our US Consulate Appointment. This is what we've been sitting around waiting for for the last 4 days, so it was nice to finally do something.

There were approx. 10 other families there and we all took a 45 second oath and then collected some paperwork. So now it's really REALLY official that Melia is ours. And she's close to being a US citizen. One more round of paperwork tomorrow and then we can begin our long journey back home. (Which includes an overnight stay in Hong Kong. I'm pretty excited about that.

After our US Consulate appointment (which we weren't allowed to take any pictures) we came back for an early lunch and then an early nap. Melia wasn't really interested in the nap, so we said, "OK girl. If you're in the mood for adventure, then we are too. Let's introduce you to the way that Horner's do things!"

So the adventure began.....

It started with a trip on the Subway. (Which required two different line changes)

It didn't take long for a local to recognize that we were from out of town.

Although this man was very nice, he successfully bought me two tickets to the wrong Subway stop. The funny part is that this was our 2nd Subway excursion and I actually kinda knew what I was doing. Nice enough man, but.....

So here were are on the Subway. Crowded as expected. We felt pretty darn cool when we arrived at our destination.

We wanted to see some more "cool things" here in Guangzhou, but we weren't really sure what to do. So I went on the Internet and found some thing called: Canton Tower.

It turns out that the 2010 Asian Games were here in Guangzhou and that the entire area by this "Canton Tower" (which was built in the Mid-1990's) was where the Games were held. It was absolutely stunning. I no longer even felt that i was in China. It was clearly some financial district / downtown part of the city that was just as (if not more so) developed as the United States. Let's just quit calling China "developing". I'd say that they are more than on their way.

Take a look:

Here's me feeling like an idiot for walking across the wet paint that they were laying down in preparation for the New Year events. (In my defense, I couldn't exactly read the sign in Chinese letters)

As luck would have it, it was an oil based paint, so the nice employee took my shoe and wiped off the paint from the bottom of my shoe. Of course, in the process, he managed to get paint on the top of my shoe! Hmmm... I guess..... Thanks for helping?

It's worth mentioning that it was here that some tourists stopped us to not just "sneak a picture" of us (which we've gotten used to) but actually pose in a picture with them. So we all stood there.... like a family.... and took pictures by Canton Tower.

Note: There are two tall structures here in Guanzhou. Both of them are around 110 stories high, but there are two separate structures. Take a look at the video. One is a bank (commercial tower), the other is Canton Tower. Nothing more then a decorative structure..... a really, really expensive decorative structure.

Melia, being the awesome kid that she is, managed to fall asleep in my arms, take a 90 minute nap in the stroller and not even make a peep when we woke up. In fact, Katie and I walked around for a total of over 4 hours today without a single incident from Melia. This is one easy going kid.

We returned to the Hotel and let Melia play around at the outdoor play area for about an hour before we succumbed to eating dinner at McDonald's. Not our favorite place, but it's too close to our hotel to ignore.

After a laid back evening at the Hotel, we ventured out one more time to the Park and then came back to go to sleep.

Up until this point, we've been lying down with Melia during Naptime and Bedtime in order to help her fall asleep and give her comfort. Tonight, we just put her in her crib and said, "Night Night!" She immediately rolled over, put her right index finger in her mouth and shut her eyes.

Wow. Like I said, this is one easy kid. I can't begin to tell her how awesome she is. Every moment she reveals another piece of herself that makes us fall in love with her even more so.

Becoming her parents has been such an easy process, that this trip has felt more like a vacation than anything else.

Trying to catch up with stories

2012-01-17T00:47:00.002-06:00

Katie and I had a nice lunch today and we were trying to recall each day's events. I realized that I have missed a handful of stories from this trip so I am going to insert a "Bonus Post" where I capture the forgotten stories.

1. Shijiazhuang - When we arrived in Shijiazhuang, we were all exhausted from such a long drive. The kids immediately fell asleep, but the adults were hungry. We had heard that there was a Pizza Hut nearby (and we were getting tired of Chinese food at that point), so Bill and I headed out to find food. Shijiazhuang was a bit different than Beijing in that VERY few people spoke English. Therefore, the hotel (knowing that we may have trouble finding Pizza Hut) wrote down the phrase "I want to go to Pizza Hut" in Chinese. Then Bill and I walked around downtown handing the note to various strangers and they pointed us in the right direction. It made us all laugh.

2. Umbrellas - We were supposed to give gifts to Melia's caretakers upon our receiving her. Knowing this well in advance, Katie purchased these nice little umbrellas for each of the 4 people that we were to give gifts to. Only after we arrived did we learn that giving an Umbrella as a gift is considered a very rude gift in China (for real!) Apparently, the word for umbrella sounds very similar to "separate". Therefore a gift of separation on the day that we separate Melia from her caretakers isn't exactly poetic. Therefore, we had to buy some last minute gifts. The funny part is that 2 days ago when it rained so hard, I made the comment, "At least we have lots of umbrellas". To which Katie realized, "Oh no! I sent them all home with my parents and our kids!"

3. The Great Wall Post - I tried and tried to post this video when we were still in Beijing, but our lovely Internet connection was partially blocked. (A large source of frustration for me on this trip). Our connection at this Marriott seems to be much more cooperative, so I'll go ahead and post it now.

4. Arthur - Arthur was our guide and translator in Beijing. His job was to make sure that we were having fun, and believe me - as long as he was around, we were having fun. But Arthur had one small problem: His English was 50% understandable.... at best. Fortunately he told us about twice as much information as we cared to know, so it all worked out in the end. Here is a clip of Arthur trying to teach us Chinese. It should also be noted that it's funny that he's using the fog on the window to write things down. We marveled at how they never seemed to turn on their heat anywhere. Including the defrost in the cars!

In case you're wondering, that last word was supposed to be "discuss" (Discarse)

Here is another clip funny of Arthur: It is supposed to be of Katie and I "locking" our love to the forever structure of the Great Wall of China (and throwing away the key), but Arthur kind of stole the show with his narrative.

I'll never know what he just said.

2012-01-16T17:20:00.000-06:00

We headed to Yuexiu Park today. (yea, I don't know how to pronounce it either). It was absolutely awesome! Although many people in Chinese live in HUGE complexes of apartment buildings, (sometimes a over a million in 1 complex) I WILL say that they compensate the crowdedness with incredibly cool public parks.

The other thing (if I haven't said this already) is that a word I would use to describe the Chinese is: PLAYFUL. No matter where we go, we are constantly seeing grown adults (and often time old adults) all out playing in the park. Above are a group of "hacky sackers". (Editors Note: This picture was taken in a different park over by the White Swan Hotel)

They are getting geared up for the Chinese New Year, so we are seeing decorations going up everywhere around us. Of course most of the celebration starts up around the 21st or 22nd.... and we're leaving the 20th. Bummer. But it's always more fun to see things as they are getting set up and not the week afterward when it's all being taken down. There is certainly is a buzz of excitement going on around here.

Culture lesson: The Chinese New Year starts on the first New Moon in January and ends at the Full Moon. (15 days) This is their time to get together with family, friends, etc. and celebrate life. Kind of like Christmas... without the Jesus birth part.

Take a look at the big dragon tail going across the picture above. Can you tell what it's made of?

Take a look below. Can you tell now?

That's right! An entire sculpture of China plates!

Check out the detail with the Dragon Claws. Just ignore Katie being a dork...

Old men playing Ping Pong in the park. One with no shirt, one with a knee brace, and one with no shoes!

I've been told that in China the big three sports that everyone follows is: Soccer, basketball, and Ping Pong.

Another look at the park.

And on our way home, I saw this little gem being loaded into the car dealership!

Melia continues to be awesome. She is the sweetest, happiest little thing I've ever met. It's really hard to believe that we've known her for less than a week. It really seems like she's been with us for much, much longer. I can't begin to convey how "easy" this first week has been. Even the fact that we went out to that Park and walked around for over 2 hours and she didn't complain or fuss or whine once. Sometimes she walked, sometimes she rode the stroller, sometimes she was carried. Whatever. She was happy no matter what. We may have to change her name to Joy... or Happy. (I'm kidding, I don't want to start any rumors).

Today is another free day. So who knows what we'll find.

2012-01-15T17:24:00.001-06:00

What a little cutie. Things continue to go so well here. Yesterday, we headed to a Catholic church to attend mass. It took us well over 30 minutes of walking, catching a subway and more walking.

Melia just patiently rode on the stroller and never once complained or threw a fit. For as "on the go" as our family is, she is going to fit in perfectly. Just throw her in a "backpack" so to to speak and let her come along for the ride. Her disposition is awesome.

She loves her right index finger. It gives her comfort.

Her head was shaved in the orphanage, but they started letting it grow out once she was moved to a foster home. We've still got a ways to go, so we're trying to accessorize this little lady with bows. She doesn't really like them, but each day she leaves them on a bit longer.

Eating a snack and looking at herself in the mirror.

The long walk to the church. Oh yea, it it was raining. Big time. We got pretty much soaked on our way there. Clearly, she's our 4th child. I'm pretty confident that we would not have left the hotel had it been our first child...

Inside the church. I'm not sure as to all the details, but this church was built in the 1800's as was in remarkable condition. A beautiful structure as you would expect from an old Catholic church. As long as you're not a member of the Communist party, you are indeed free to worship here in China. Less than 20% of the population is actually a member of the communist party. More people want to be, but it is very difficult and selective.

Here's the outside of the church. Right in the middle of town.

Again, it was quite beautiful. And it was packed once the service got started.

The Bible was a bit difficult to follow along with. But the service that we went to was in English, so it pretty much felt like church. The message was spot on. No funny injections of Communism or anything. Just plain old Christianity!

It seems that my connection is better in this Hotel, so I'll try to post some more videos which I was unable to post up until now.

In Guangzhou

2012-01-14T07:06:00.001-06:00

Things are continuing to go so well here. Melia is an absolutely delightful child. We are so thankful to be her parents.

We arrived in Guangzhou night before last. We will be staying here for the remainder of the trip as we have a handful of things to do before we can bring Melia home. Today was the required medical check. (See pictures)

I wasn't pouting here, I was pretending that the doctor was a "sad" place. Of course, she didn't need any shots, and as usual she was quite happy. Why should we be surprised?

Lots and lots of adoptive parents here. I'm guessing well over 100 people all jammed into this place.

We already knew of her heart condition, but otherwise a very happy, healthy child.

We've already really come to enjoy Guangzhou. This city is significantly farther South than Beijing, so it's quite a bit warmer. High 60's, plenty of humidity. Therefore, we were able to do a lot of outdoor walking and playing. The boys and I even took a dip in the outdoor pool!

We were very sad that we had to say goodbye to our older 3 kids as they and Katie's parents headed back home this afternoon. (A fun 30 hour adventure for them!) We will stay here for a 2nd week, but they had to head home. Very sad, very emotional, but we'll all meet up soon.

After they left, Katie, Melia and I took a walk around the area in our newly purchased stroller. (Cheaper and easier to buy one once we were here).

We may have ventured a little too far from the hotel, but we were able to eat some very authentic Chinese food tonight. Can you see the picture in the lowest middle Oh my! What in the world is that? It's looking at me!

No forks around here! I had to feed my baby with chop sticks! She really didn't seem to mind.

It's worth sharing that Melia has really taken a liking toward me. (Ryan) It is not uncommon for adopted children to favor one parent over another. I have to admit that it's really fun to be the "favorite". The cutest part is that she's been calling me "Ma Ma".

Also, we continue to get big time looks and stares for the local Chinese folks around here. One lady even stopped us in the middle of the street with wide eyes and said (quite loudly) SHE'S CHINESE! I thought for a moment she was going to call the police. But then she smiled and said "Good for you". Thank goodness she spoke English....

Tomorrow should be interesting as we are going to venture on the Subway and attempt to go a Chinese Catholic Church service.

Presenting Melia Xin Ai Horner

2012-01-12T02:00:00.000-06:00

Here she is:

We started out this morning around 8:45am and were driven to the Civil Affairs Office. I was surprised that we were escorted to a tiny room that didn't even have a real door to the outside. (See plastic strips hanging from the door frame. We waited... And waited..... and waited some more.

It's hard to entertain anxious kids for a long time, so we played Charades.

Then we saw a minivan pull up right outside and we knew that something special was about to happen...

Suddenly in came a small child.

The first sight of our daughter was this very moment. She had apparently been eating and the caretakers felt no need to wipe her mouth. Cute....

First she was held by mom. No tears, but she definitely looked stunned.

She quickly went to dad. (Who she would later call Ma Ma ..... yes, things have already gotten confusing. Hallie too, she called Ma Ma.)

Then, in came the kids to attack! One big happy family!

She spent some special time with each of her brothers and sister.

Then we had to sign and fingerprint things to make it all official.

In no time at all, we even got a smile from her. This is quite rare in this situation. Clearly, this is one special little girl.

And then, she started all-out laughing! What a sweet little voice.... and a great laugh!

Then we had to jump in the car to go to somewhere else and get the papers notarized and made more official.

Then, she really won our hearts when she started giving out kisses.

Yep. One big happy family right now!

Today is the Day

2012-01-11T15:20:00.001-06:00

Last night, I was dreaming that we were getting Melia today. Which is funny because we're getting Melia today. Apparently, I'm dreaming in real time.

Specifically, we are meeting at 8:45a.m. in the lobby and driving to The Civil Affairs office where we will meet Melia. So we're pretty much "in labor" right now. Katie is "pushing" so to speak and I'm just holding her hand waiting for our daughter to arrive.

So while we wait - I'll go ahead and post what we did yesterday.

Drive.....drive.... and drive some more. It was supposed to be a 4 hour drive to Shijiazhuang, but between traffic and a small detour it ended up being closer to 6 1/2 hours. The kids were absolutely amazing and didn't complain the entire time. Of course, iPads and a 1 lb. bag of licorice help tremendously....

So what was our detour, you ask? We actually got to stop by Melia's orphanage! We were told over and over again that we would not be able to see it, but for whatever reason (perhaps b/c we asked 9 times if there was ANY way to see it) our guide took us to see it.

We pulled up to a "campus" looking area. There were several different short, squat buildings and we were told that each building housed different kind of people-in-need. One was a home for children, another was a home for the elderly (nursing home), a home for Special Needs, etc. It was kind of an interesting thing to see.

We walked (in the very cold) over to the building where the children were. Katie and I just stared into the building. We were told that we were breaking the rules enough by just being in the area and there was no way to go in. On the one hand, we were so thankful that he brought us this far, but on the other hand, it was killing us to know that Melia was right inside those doors and we couldn't go in.

There was a little confusion as to which building she was in, but then we were told that one building was for the orphanage and another building was for the foster care. This was interesting to learn as we were told that Melia was moved to a foster care family once she was going to be adopted. (About 6 months ago). Apparently, that only meant that she moved across a small street to an identical looking building. We'll never know all the details, but somehow she had more of a "family structure" in the second building with a mom, dad, brothers, and sisters. Still looks pretty much like an orphanage to me.

Perhaps we'll find out more details today. Here's the pictures.

We spent the whole day in this Van/Bus. I felt obligated to take a picture.

We had to stop to gas up. Look at how cheap gas is! Oh wait, it's in liters.... and in Yuan. If my calculation is correct that would be closer to $10/gallon. Is that right? Yikes. I better ask our translator today....

Here's the orphanage, that Melia may have been in at first. It sounds like she's moved around a bit, so it's hard to know all the details.

Here is where she has been for at least the last month. We're 99% sure that she was in there yesterday when we were standing there taking pictures.

Shortly after we left, our translator got a cell call from the Orphanage director who saw us outside and let him know that she was NOT happy at all that he broke the rules and let us see the orphanage. Sorry!

(But not really)

.....And for the 3rd evening in a row, Zac has fallen asleep on-the-go. What a little trooper. All the kiddos have been so awesome on this trip.

Check it out! He fell asleep standing up!

NEXT POST: MELIA

Random Stories

2012-01-10T19:59:00.001-06:00

We've got about an hour until we leave Beijing and head to Shijiazhuang, so I wanted to blog some random stories.

First of all, let's work on the pronunciation of Shijiazhuang.

Say "Sure"

Say "Ja" (like the word Jack, without the "ck")

Say "Jwong" (J like the word Jump followed by the word wong)

Now say Sure - Ja - Jwong and make sure that the Ja part is a higher pitch than how you say Sure. Remember that Chinese is a "tonal" language so it's not just what your say and the pronunciation but also the tone, pitch and inflection. In fact, our translator was telling us that in Chinese it is possible to have an entire conversation just by humming entire word sentences without opening your mouth.

I'm guessing this is why my "Chinese" is greeted with nothing but stares each time.

Funny story from last night:

First of all, the food is good. It's fine. But really, when was the last time you went out for Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days in a row?

So we found a KFC last night....

And the kids were completely wiped out. In fact, we looked over at Zac and he had fallen asleep with a piece of chicken hanging out of his mouth. Ha! He almost got a bite of dinner.

I guess you had to be here. It was funny.

OK - So here's some more pics. Here's me working away at 4:00am while the US markets are still open:

In the US, we call 911. In China you would want to call 119!

There are only two 7 Star Hotels in the World. One of them is in Beijing.... and I snuck in to it and used the restroom. Most likely the only experience I'll ever have in a 7 star hotel.

Inside the 7 Star Hotel. This is handcraft Mahogany. I was told that the value of this aft per ounce is greater than that of gold.

So the next post could be of Melia. We'll be getting her in about 24 hours!

Day 3... or 4.... or whatever

2012-01-10T03:20:00.001-06:00

Today was another day jam packed full of tourism, but not quite as much as yesterday.

We started the morning with an adoption orientation meeting (oh yea. I forgot that's why were here!) We got updated pictures of Melia! She looks great. Quite big and healthy. We may have actually brought clothes that are too small. Oh well, we'll just have to do some shopping for her.

I would share the photos, but they were film pictures (remember those?) and I forgot to pack my scanner.

But it's OK - You'll all see her in 2 days anyway, because THAT'S WHEN WE GET HER! TWO DAYS! Yikes. It doesn't quite seem real still. But it will.

But back to today... Our two big things were a Silk Factory tour and The Forbidden City tour. Surprisingly, I thought the silk factory was cooler. We got some very sweet Chinese silk clothes.

I'll skip the long stories and just post the pictures. I wish I could post videos but we've got an extremely slow Internet connection here. I'll keep working on it.

(This is not my best blog post, but we're running off to dinner.)

Day 2

2012-01-09T05:16:00.000-06:00

Wow. We accomplished a lot today. It's 6:00pm here and the whole family is completely wiped out.

Let's go through the day's bigger events:

1. The Great Wall:

I've seen many pictures of the Great Wall and I never realized how STEEP the wall is in parts. Let me tell you something: This walk was not for the faint of heart. There were many times when I had to stop and catch my breath (think Stair-Master). In fact, it was not uncommon for people to be laying down in the middle of the path trying to catch their breath and we would just to have to climb right over the top of them.

Funny story #1: After we had spent over 2 hours going up and back down the wall, Zac finally asked our tour guide, "When are we going to see the Wall of China?" ...... uh.... buddy, you've been walking on the wall this whole time. Apparently, he thought that our entire walk was nothing more than a hike to reach a destination just to be able to see the wall. I'd love to know what he had envisioned in that little mind of his.

Funny story #2: On three different occasions, I caught groups of Chinese folks trying to sneak pictures of our family. (The amazingly novel white people). Seriously? You're at one of the most famous land marks in all of human history and you take a picture of ME? I must be pretty awesome.

2. Hutong Lane (and Rickshaw)

After a lunch and few other stops, we found ourselves visiting a Hutong, which is nothing more than a "narrow street". Too narrow for cars, so we had the joy of riding in a bike Rickshaw. Very fun. And very educational. During our tour we were able to see how some of the people of China actually live. Their supermarket, their parks, and we were even able to go inside one of their houses and get to see their living quarters. We spent over 20 minutes talking to the wife of the house and asking her questions about her life. Absolutely fascinating.

Another interesting thing that really surprised me was how much time these people enjoy spending time outdoors. It is quite cold outside this time of year and yet it seemed that "everyone" was outside playing in parks, riding bikes, walking their dogs, talking to each other, etc. It was inspiring.

Other fun pictures to show you all:

Day 2 Part 2

2012-01-08T14:26:00.003-06:00

Well, it's about 4:00am here. Believe it or not, I've been up for about an hour and a half. In truth, we all (Except Hallie) woke up around that time. We did go to bed around 8:00pm, but still..... Perhaps it was easier to sleep the first day because we were so tired from traveling. I feel fine, but I'm thinking that by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, I'll be wiped out.

The Internet connection thing here in interesting. Indeed, it is true. We are NOT able to get into Facebook, Blogger, or YouTube via a regular connection here. Thankfully, I was told about GoTrusted which is some sort of IP Encryptor. It seems to work fine in our room with our wired connection, but GoTrusted appears to be blocked down in the lobby over the public Wi-Fi. The problem is that our wired connection seems to be much slower than the wi-fi.... which seems backwards, but it is what it is. The only real problem I seem to have is that it takes forever to download videos to YouTube. Otherwise, I'd put more on.

Part 2 of yesterday involved lunch, swimming, napping and going to the Chinese Acrobat show. The show was awesome! It was very typical of what you would expect, but it had a feeling of something.... different. The acts were full of talent. Full of flare. Big Chinese costumes. Amazing men that could balance tremendously flexible women on their hands. Women who could juggle umbrellas with their feet (yes, I'm serious). But the amazing part is that it seemed so..... local. The theater was quite a bit smaller than what you would expect. Probably seating for less than 500 people. And it was maybe 1/2 full at best. It seemed so low key. But I'm telling you that if a show like this came to Omaha, it would be a packed house at the Century Link Center with tickets going for $50 a seat. But here, it seemed like nothing more than community theatre. But the TALENT was so..... incredible. Amazing.

And as I sat there in awe, I was quite surprised at the emotion that emerged from within me.

It was an emotion of PRIDE. A tiny seed that began to grow from within my heart. I am so PROUD to have a daughter that is Chinese. I am PROUD that she comes from such an amazing culture of art and history. Before, I always viewed Chinese in a traditional "We/They" dichotomy. (Example: I (We) was sitting in the audience, and (they) were performing Chinese acrobatics on stage.)

But last night, I had this strange sense that I am now.... part Chinese. That I, in fact, was watching "my people"' on that stage last night. That everything I saw and did yesterday somehow was being pulled from within a part of myself. I know it sounds really stupid. But it's how I feel.

It reminds me over and over again that, just like with Zac, it is I who am the blessed one from this wonderful institution of adoption. So many friends comment about how "lucky" Melia is for getting adopted.

No..... No..... No, my friends. It is I who am the lucky one. It is I who am the blessed one.

Breakfast in China - Day 1

2012-01-08T00:57:00.003-06:00

I can't begin to count the number of times we tell stories to Zac about our trip to Russia followed by watching a video clip from our blog. He so enjoys hearing the stories. I wish I had more stories to tell...

Therefore, you can bet that I'm going to try my hardest to document every possible moment of this trip for the sake of Melia as well as ourselves. Afterall, if a tree falls in the forest.... and it's not documented on the Internet.... does it make any noise?

We all slept surprisingly well last night. Most everybody was out by 11:30pm and didn't wake up until 5:30am. That sounds like a short night, but considering it was our first night in this 180 degree turn time zone that we're in, I think we did OK.

Breakfast was indeed a magnificent spread. There was a 50/50 representation of Eastern and Western cuisine. Dozens of choices surrounded the entire room and the children were well stuffed by the end of the meal. (Katie and I have worried a bit that our kids may starve on this trip.... so far, not the case)

In fact, I announced to the children that they are "required" to try at least one (preferably outrageous) Chinese dish during each meal. It's all part of the experience that we're hoping to give them.

(See video for details)

Katie and I have tried as best we can to speak polite Chinese to the hotel employees and guests. We have concluded that our Chinese must be completely and utterly horrible as we get the same reaction each time:

The first time we say something, it gets completely ignored. Then when we repeat it, we usually get laughed at.

I swear I thought I said "thank you" to the waitress this morning for helping me with the coffee maker. But her reply caught me off guard when she looked at me, giggled a bit and then pulled at her name tag. "Yikes" I thought to myself. "I hope I didn't just make an inappropriate remark about her name.... or her name tag...... or her chest."

It is also pretty interesting, as well as funny to be the 100% foreigners from a foreign country. We stick out for a handful of reasons:

1. We're loud. That can sometimes be the case even in Omaha.
2. We're white.
3. We have 3 children. Most everybody here only has 1. (It's the law, afterall)

This picture from the zoo this morning says it all. Notice how everyone is watching and photographing the monkey's? Except for this little boy who absolutely could not take his eyes off of Hallie and Jake. It was quite hilarious.

We all agree that the people are SUPER friendly here. Smiles seem to follow us everywhere we go regardless of how obnoxious and clueless we may be. Having a ton of fun.

Side note: We won't get Melia until January 12th, so until then we will continue to enjoy and document our tourism adventures within this great country. Tonight is a Chinese Acrobatic Show!

Januaray 8th, morning post

2012-01-07T15:59:00.003-06:00

We made it! We're in Beijing. Everything went so smooth yesterday. I am amazed as to how well the kids did with close to 24 hours of traveling yesterday. I certainly felt like going crazy from time to time, so I am sure they did too.

Some notable things: Our 14 hour flight from Detroit to Beijing was cut down to 13 hours because of a nice tail wind. It may not sound like much of a difference, but expectations make all the difference in the world.

The drive to the hotel was only about 30 minutes. I thought for sure it would be another hour or two to drive anywhere in Beijing, but it WAS 11:00pm when we landed, so rush hour appeared to have subsided for the day. Again, another nice surprise due to low expectations.

The 6 hour layover in Detroit was also long, but fairly uneventful. The tram provided hours of free entertainment.

Every time the beverage cart came by us on the plane (which was often), Zac would yell out, "Ahhh..... this is THE LIFE!"

The kids slept maybe 3-5 hours on the long flight. Me?..... not so much. I don't sleep on plane. (With the exception of heavy medication)

Heading to the breakfast buffet now. I've heard good things about this. I'll take some videos and then upload them before we head to the zoo.

(These first few days are more geared toward tourism). Adoption stuff will start on the 11th.

Detroit

2012-01-06T16:27:00.000-06:00

Omaha Airport

2012-01-06T08:53:00.001-06:00

Ready to Go!

2012-01-05T22:54:00.001-06:00

Going Underground

2012-01-04T21:42:00.001-06:00

More Melia

2012-01-01T18:47:00.001-06:00

We're coming soon, baby!

2011-12-30T22:41:00.000-06:00

Someone asked me to post a video of Melia. Here is one that we received shortly after we were matched. (Around the end of June 2011).

Another post representing anticipation

2011-12-29T21:41:00.000-06:00

2011-12-25T07:50:00.002-06:00

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

2011-12-22T17:59:00.001-06:00

One more round of fingerprints. If you go back and check previous posts, you'll see that fingerprints is a common theme throughout the adoption process. The government really REALLY wants to make sure that we're not felons!

2011-12-19T21:11:00.001-06:00

We threw the nursery together in less than 48 hours! Not bad. Still have a lot to do!

2011-12-18T22:47:00.004-06:00

Here we go!

Hip Hip Hooray...

2011-10-14T20:32:00.003-06:00

...we got our LOA!

The LOA is a letter of acceptance from China that moves us one step closer to bringing Melia home! On Monday we can now send in a form to the USCIS for another approval from our government to bring Melia home. Our agency estimates travel to China in 3 MONTHS!!! That means we could be meeting our little one and a half year old right after the first of the year! WOW! Our life is going to be turning upside down very soon!

More pictures

2011-08-30T21:11:00.002-06:00

Another round of pics!

....and yes, we're still sitting around waiting. Maybe end of September we'll hear something? Now we're thinking that we won't travel until early next year. Darnit.

Not stayin' silent

2011-08-07T20:17:00.002-06:00

No real update going on here, but I didn't want to stay quiet on the blog front any longer. We just got back from a family vacation to Colorado today. A 7 day road trip mountain adventure. During the trip, I had a little picture of Melia sitting on the dashboard. Basically, when I went to look at the fuel gauge, I saw Melia staring at me instead. That always made me smile.

Then Katie and I would say the same thing over and over again, "What are we going to do when Melia comes home?"

Oh, how this little girl will change things. Of course, so far, EVERY one of our first 3 kids changed life dramatically as we knew it before. That only makes sense. A human life tends to do that.

I welcome the change.

And BTW, still no word on the court date or Letter of Acceptance from China yet. Maybe another couple of weeks?

Another round of paperwork

2011-07-27T20:37:00.003-06:00

Well, we spent the majority of the evening going through another round of paperwork. A placement agreement, the DS-230, a Foreign Travel release document.... yada yada yada.

And let's not forget the last invoice from Holt. (gulp!)

So tomorrow, we'll get a bunch of these things notarized and then it's back to waiting. At this point, I'm thinking we'll hear something within a month. Of course, I totally made this timeline up, but why not? One month sounds reasonable to me.

ALSO - We got a recent medical report showing Melia's oxygen saturation is at 100%. She has a potential heart condition so we were eager to see that she is doing so well. Yea!

Another update

2011-07-20T19:35:00.002-06:00

Well, things are rolling now! We received yet another email regarding Melia.

Here are some of the highlights:

I made the orphanage send her to a group home on July 6 this year because I thought she was matched with a family and it would be better to let her experience some family life. She is in a very nice group family. Actually I met all group homes, and all the parents are friendly and very nice to the children and they do really treat the babies as their own.

Please let the family know Xin Ai is doing very well at this group home, she has improved a lot. (I do really think the family is lucky to have her, she is very lovely and is one of my favorite babies. I believe she will bring great joy to them!)

How awesome is that? She is "lovely" and "will bring great joy". Sounds good to me. We couldn't be more excited.

We also watched a webinar regarding the details of our traveling. (Have I mentioned how awesome Holt International is and how organized everything has been with our adoption?)

Compared to our "Wild West" adventure in Russia, it seems that this trip will be a piece of cake. One experienced adoptive family said that their China travels were like "a senior citizen tour" compared to what they experienced in Russia. I'm starting to think the same. They even have optional day tours that we can participate in during our down time. (Down time occurs over the weekends when the government offices are closed).

A fresh start

2011-07-19T20:42:00.002-06:00

Hello! And welcome back friends! Yes, it me, Ryan! After a very long gap, I have officially decided to jump back on the Blogging adventure wagon. My long time readers know that this used to be my blog, with Katie occasionally adding her tidbits. Then one day, she started her own blog. Things we're going well, until I abandoned this blog and now Katie is trying to run BOTH blogs! It's not fair, really.

But it's all my fault, I jumped over to Facebook and lost my desire to blog. But today, I decided that I can handle both. Every kid deserves a blog, right?

This is for you, Melia. Daddy loves you, so I give you the story you deserve.

So without further ado, here's today's update:

We found out that Melia was moved to a "group home" this past week. Kinda like foster care. Now that she has a family, it is apparently common practice in China to treat the children favorably and get them into a foster family. We're, of course, thrilled for her and also hoping that things are going well. The report made it sound like she is getting along great. As a matter of fact, so far all the reports make it sound like she gets along with just about everything and everybody. We couldn't be happier for her.

Just a reminder to you all, as far as where we are: We're patiently waiting for a travel date at this point...... so we'll wait.

..... still waiting......

New Pictures!!

2011-07-13T06:07:00.003-06:00

Last night we came home to find three new pictures and two videos of our sweet Melia!!!! We were so excited to see and hear about her, but it also made our hearts' ache even more to bring her home. We are hopeful that she will be here before the end of the year, but we are confident that God will continue to watch over His and our beautiful beloved daughter in China until we get to her.

Isn't she a beauty?

Introducing our daughter...

2011-06-28T21:05:00.002-06:00

Melia Xinai Horner

We are so excited around here! To find out more please read my blog HERE!

Things are stirring...

2011-06-25T07:52:00.001-06:00

...I can't go into details yet, but prayers are welcome. More details some time next week, I hope!

Comfortable Lives

2011-06-15T11:51:00.003-06:00

Anticipating Melia coming home to our family, to her family unsettles me. We are getting into such a rhythm, a flow out her in West Omaha.

Each morning my 5,6 and 8 year old make their beds, brush their teeth, get dressed without help from mom. This is after a peaceful night of rest. They rarely need me at night anymore. In the morning I can go running while Ryan makes their breakfast. Hallie pours her own milk. Why would I go back to diapers, up at night, carseats that I buckle, naptime schedules? Why would we upset our comfort for another child?

Ryan and I went for a walk about a week ago (while the kids slept soundly and our Hannah stayed at home in case they woke...what luxury). As we walked I expressed my fears, the unsettled place in my heart that questioned upsetting the boat. That's when my gentle, wise husband sweetly reminded me that our lives are not made for comfort. We were called to this adoption because God's ways are not our own and His plans are better than ours. We can never get too comfortable with comfort or we are surely outside of God's plan.

This beautiful conviction jolted my heart. It woke me from my lazy sleep and inspired me to press on and see God moving and working so amazingly around me. I am more than supplied with all I need and could want, but my daughter is lonely and without her mama, her family. My selfish heart is now being pushed out by Christ in me. Christ pursues me and loves me and with him I have the strength for all things. I believe this truth and rejoice that the veil of selfish desire was lifted as I walked and talked with my best friend, Melia's daddy.

I am reminded once again to see God, know God and trust in God all the time. What He has ordained is all good, all the time. I just need to open my eyes to always see it.

So, with an aching joy in my heart I rely on Christ's power to patiently wait for my daughter to come home. I trust in God to be her provider and guard her always and certainly while she is away from her mommy.

Praying to live more and more like Jesus.

It's off to China

2011-06-09T11:56:00.003-06:00

Our Holt representative in Oregon called to say our dossier was great and that they would be mailing it to China tomorrow! Hip Hip Hooray!

At that point we wait for China to log it into their system and then we are available for a referral. We think our first chance for getting Melia's referral will be the last week of July. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Jacob keeps saying he doesn't want to see her picture until this birthday because he wants it to be something special on his birthday. It would be wonderful if we could give him that as a birthday gift the first week of August!

Fortunately, we know it is in God's trustworthy hands. So, we will wait on Him and His goodness.

Almost there!

2011-05-25T06:57:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I came home to find a FedEx bag from our Washington DC courier at the front door. All our documents had been certified by the State Department and the Chinese Embassy!!! We were most impressed that our documents had been personally signed by Hillary R. Clinton!

So, last night we made more copies of everything and today we will send it all off to our agency in Oregon and then wait for our match! Praise the Lord! Melia's homecoming may be here sooner than we ever dreamed.

Off to D.C.

2011-05-14T08:53:00.002-06:00

All the papers were state certified!! They have been mailed to Washington D.C. and now we wait (hopefully not more than 3 weeks) to get them back!!

Meanwhile, we are getting very excited around here about a new sister and daughter. Hallie is writing books and journals dedicated to her sister and telling all her classmates about the process.

Jacob has also shared about Melia at school and one of his classmate's Mom called me for advice because they are also starting a Chinese adoption!

We are holding the hope of Melia in our hearts as we wait. Praise God for the process and how is changes us for good!

State Certification

2011-05-09T20:00:00.002-06:00

We are getting dangerously close to an approved Dossier!!

We have collected all the necessary documents and headed down to Lincoln today to have them State Certified at the Capitol. Unfortunately, not all the documents had an attestation clause and so I had to have the notaries in Omaha (three different ones) resign the documents in the presence of the person who originally signed the documents. Ugh!

I have done this before so you think I would have done it all correctly the first time, but no!

The good news is that all the notaries and signers were available today and were kind enough to get everything signed appropriately (I think). So, tomorrow I will try again.

If I succeed, and that's a big if, then my next step is to mail our documents to a courier who will deliver them to the US State Department and the Chinese Embassy.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I was successful...

Some News

2011-05-02T21:10:00.002-06:00

On April 8th Hannah, Ryan and I got our FBI fingerprints taken at the Department of Homeland Security Office here in Omaha. We knew it would take 1-7 weeks to get our I-797 back from the government.

So, we have been getting all our other dossier paperwork together so when the 797 comes in we can keep this adoption moving forward.

Well, we got a call today from someone at a government office saying our 797 was approved and that they sent it to us but it got returned as undeliverable address.

Seriously! They are supposed to know everything about us so that we are worthy of adopting a child (we already adopted one) and they don't know where we live or how to get a letter to us!

Really, I am not bitter! I just find it a bit comical!

Anyway, they fixed the address and it is on it's way to us! It should be here tomorrow or Wednesday.

Then , I will be off to Lincoln for State Certification and all the while calling a courier service in Washington D.C. to deliver our documents to the US State Department and then the Chinese Embassy! This is getting exciting!!!

We love our Melia!

My dream last night...

2011-03-29T19:28:00.003-06:00

...was of course about Melia! I love it that she has started to enter my dreams. (By the way, this is Katie).

So, I was auditioning for a high school musical at St. Pat's High School (we are not catholic??). I was really excited because Hallie was getting to audition too and I thought it would be cool that we were both in a show together. Somehow I did not seem alarmed that she and I were both of the age that we could simultaneously audition for a high school production. At the end of the audition I said to Margie, my friend who was doing the auditions, that I needed to get home and hold my daughter, Melia. I remember feeling such an ache to hold her in my arms and an urgency to get to her fast.

Then, I woke up.

More Holt Connections

2011-03-21T20:14:00.006-06:00

#1...A few weeks ago a delightful Asian woman approached me at church to say hello. Very quickly she asked if we were adopting from China using Holt. Come to find out...my good friend, Beth has this woman in her Sunday night bible study and it had come up in conversation that we were adopting from China using Holt and that this woman was adopted as a young girl from Korea with Holt! I am looking forward to sitting down with her and talking for a long time but in our brief Sunday morning discussion she mentioned that she was in one of the first groups of children brought over to the United States for adoption in the mid to late 50's!

#2...One of the doctors that I work with adopted a little girl from China about three years ago with the Child of Promise Program. We have had the opportunity to talk about his experience with Holt and the blessing his daughter has been to their family.

#3...One of the volunteers at the Holt Auction, who is of Asian descent, works in the childcare center at Lifetime Fitness where my kids spend time while I work-out.

#4...Did I mention that two of the gals I run with have both adopted two children with Holt International!

I am so thankful for the Holt community that we are becoming more a part of every day! I am also thankful that Melia will have an entire organization cheering her on and supporting her as she grows up in our trans-racial family.

Holt Auction

2011-03-20T20:05:00.004-06:00

Last night Ryan and I attended the annual Holt Auction and Gala. Each year people gather to raise support for orphanages or programs sponsored by Holt International to help orphans around the world. This year, the money raised was being sent to Ilsan in South Korea. This is a special needs orphanage run by Mollie Holt. She is the daughter of Bertha and Harry Holt who founded Holt International and were instrumental in beginning International Adoptions in the 1950's.

This event was amazing. Several times tears sprang up in my eyes as stories were told about the love that so many have for hurting, lonely children around the world. Ryan and I really sensed the community of Holt adoptees and adoptive parents and were blessed by the abundant generosity of so many. Well over $100,000 was raised in one night by 350 people to support two group homes for special needs children in Korea and to help with renovations in the well- used existing homes.

As if the atmosphere of love and the out pouring of gifts was not enough, the organizers of the Gala were able to bring Mollie Holt to the event from her home in South Korea. Her humble, giving heart was evident in her demeanor and words throughout the evening.

What a blessing to find this agency! Anyone considering adoption should look in to using Holt to facilitate the process of bringing their child home. And, if you are not considering adoption but ever wanted to give your monetary support to a reputable, Christian-based organization that was fighting for the voiceless children in the world then Holt is a wonderfully amazing organization to give to.

The Timeline

2011-03-18T19:50:00.004-06:00

Hi friends! This is Katie. International adoption is slow...just because we have not updated recently does not mean we are not moving forward but sometimes things seem to move along at an agonizingly slow pace.

We did get the approval from the USCIS to get our FBI fingerprints on April 8th! To do this we go down to the Department of Homeland Security by the airport and get our fingerprints taken.

I also went to a Holt seminar last night and the director of the China program was there to answer our questions and explain the process more completely. Here is the timeline as I see it for bringing home our precious, Melia.

April 8th fingerprints...1-7 weeks to have our fingerprints approved and receive our I-800A form...one week to gather the rest of our dossier material and have it notarized...one day to take it to Lincoln for State Authentication...send to Chinese Embassy in D.C. to get it doubly authenticated...wait 1-4 weeks to get our finalized dossier and then send to Holt to submit to China...at that point we can receive our referral, we should expect a referral in 1-6months from the Child of Promise Program...From referral acceptance to travel is 4-6months.

So, by my estimation the earliest Melia would come home is November of this year and the latest is April of 2012.

Most referrals of children are between the ages of 1 and 2 so that means our Melia is probably alive right now.

If you are reading this I would ask you to please send a prayer up to heaven for our daughter.

Our prayer requests:

~for her safety

~for healthy and enough food

~Christian caretakers to hold her, sing to her, talk to her

~Health. That she would stay free from colds and infections

~That God would prepare her heart and her eyes and her ears for her American family

~Peace in her mind and heart that surpasses understanding

~Attention from caregivers to help her learn attachment

Thank you for your prayer support of our daughter. We will keep you posted!

Homestudy - Check

2011-02-15T22:07:00.003-06:00

OK.... We're done with the homestudy!

Next on the list is to submit our I-800A. I think my last post said I-900. I was wrong. I'm sure you can understand how I might not be able to keep all this stuff straight.

Anyway, we're moving right along. I'll let you know when something moves forward.

... or I may post a cute picture of my kids if they do something cute enough.

More Homestudies

2011-02-09T06:49:00.003-06:00

We had part 2 of our homestudy last week. Nothing major to report. I am continually amazed as to how easy and uneventful the early stages of this adoption seem to be. Of course, this makes for one heck of a boring blog and for that I am quite sorry.

Don't worry, things will pick up once we get the referral. Of course, by then we'll be nearly done. For those that don't know, a China adoption only involves one trip, so once we get a referral and a travel date, we're practically done!

Next week, Katie and I have our last and final homestudy meeting. From there, we'll have everything we need to file the I-900. (What used to use be the I-600A when we adopted Zac) My guess is that we'll get everything back from the US gov't within 2 months and then we'll ship off our dossier to China!

From there, it's anyone's guess as to how long it will take.

Feel free to make your bold prediction now.

I'm going to say: We'll get a referral on my birthday: October 26.

2011-01-19T06:48:00.000-06:00

More evidence of normal children:

Good class

2011-01-16T07:20:00.003-06:00

We had a good class this weekend. There were 7 couples there. All of them adopting internationally. Naturally, Katie and I went into this class thinking that we knew everything. The biggest take away for us was gaining awareness of the fact that we are adopting a child from a different race.

Honestly, this was not something that we have pondered a whole lot. Up to this point, we simply thought "whatever.... it doesn't bother us".

But we haven't thought about what Melia may think of the whole thing. We began doing an inventory of her life. Her parents: White. Her siblings: White. Her teachers: White. Her extended family: White. Her neighbors: White. Her doctor: White. Her dentist: White. Her piano teacher: White...... White. White. White.

You get my point. Katie and I realized that after our adoption of Melia, we will no longer be a "white family". We will indeed be a mixed-race family.

I'm not even sure what this exactly means, but this class and our new awareness is a good start. I'll keep you posted as I figure things out.

PIP Class

2011-01-13T07:33:00.002-06:00

Now we're moving along!

This coming weekend, Katie and I will be traveling to Iowa for a "How to parent your adopted child" class. This was one of the requirements from Holt (our agency). I tried to get some sort of waiver hoping that 3 years experience would count, but no-go.

I have the attention span of a 10 year old, so I'm not looking forward to sitting in a classroom for two days.

But I AM looking forward to a Road Trip vacation with my wife!

(yes, even a 3 hour road trip to the middle of Iowa counts as a Road Trip Vacation)

Homestudy Part 1

2011-01-11T18:11:00.002-06:00

We had our homestudy today. (Part 1 of 3) It brought back fond memories of Zac's homestudy. For those that don't know, the first part of a homestudy is basically where we sit around and talk about ourselves for a couple of hours. I can't think of anything I love to do more than to sit around talk about myself. Therefore, the homestudy was quite a wonderful time!

I can't help but think how stressful and intimidating a homestudy may be for first time parents. For us.... not so much.

As I travel upon the road leading me toward 4 children, I find that fewer and fewer events cause me stress and intimidation.

Case in point, as I type this blog entry I am mostly unphased that Zac is screaming for Hallie to let him out of the dog kennel. Ho hum. Just another small moment around here.

Children

2010-12-28T07:33:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited that we're adopting again. Just the thought of bringing in another child into our home to shape them and mold them into a wonderful person is so exciting for me.

Afterall, I think we've done such a great job with Zac. He's so wonderful, smart and amazingly.... normal.

See for yourself!

Homestudy

2010-12-17T07:04:00.002-06:00

Well, the check cleared for our homestudy. (Our first big check) We still have a few police clearances to come back before they can start. I guess they don't want to waste their time if it turns out I'm a convicted felon.

But assuming I have not committed any known crimes, we should be starting the homestudy in the next few weeks. We've still got our fire extinguisher from the last time we went through this.

Ironically enough, we almost had to use the fire extinguisher just the other day as something that Katie was cooking caught on fire. :)

Zac-ism

2010-12-14T06:32:00.001-06:00

A few days ago, Zac was saying a little prayer for his meal. It went something like this:

Dear God - Thank you for my food and I hope Melia likes Chinese food.... because she's Chinese. Amen.

Did you know?

2010-12-03T06:50:00.002-06:00

Still in the early stages of paperwork. I'm guessing the paperwork thing will be going on for several months....

"Why" you ask?

Because a lot of our paperwork is dependent on government agencies getting back to us. For example, right now we're waiting for the State to send us back a letter that states that we don't have a criminal record. Apparently, this takes a month.

In the mean time, let me tell you what I've learned about Chinese. For those of you who don't know, Chinese is a TONAL language. This means that pitch, inflection and HOW you say a word is just as important as WHAT you say.

For example: "Ma" could mean "mother". But if you raise or lower your pitch incorrectly, "Ma" can also mean "horse" or "punish".

Oh great. We meet Melia and tell her "This is your horse" or worse yet, "This is your punishment". I'm sure she'll love that introduction!

More stuff

2010-11-24T07:15:00.002-06:00

A few more things to add:

Our last 3 years of 1040's (to make sure we have enough money)
A picture of the whole family (to make sure we're pretty enough?)
A picture of the outside of our house (to make sure I've raked the leaves.... and put up Christmas lights)

Our homestudy should start within a few weeks.

Thinking ahead

2010-11-22T07:30:00.002-06:00

Katie and I are already thinking ahead to where we take our trip to China. (Yea!) The big debate is: Should we or should we not take the kiddo's along with us? It may be the greatest family trip ever..... or it may be the biggest disaster ever. :)

Also, our debate may be a non-issue as the kids could all be in school and unable to go with us. Missing two weeks is generally frowned upon. I'd feel kinda bad if all my kids had to repeat a grade.

I welcome any of your thoughts...

Status Update

2010-11-20T06:39:00.002-06:00

Accomplishments for the week:

Finger prints - check
TB test - check
HIV test - check
17 page application - check
Notarized contract with agency - check
$300 check - check

We celebrated by taking the whole family ice skating last night. Very fun!

Learning the language

2010-11-18T06:18:00.003-06:00

Holy cow! Learning Chinese is not an easy endeavor. Not easy.... but necessary. (In my opinion) When we traveled to Russia on our first trip, Katie and I collectively knew ONE WORD in Russian. (Thank you). It was quite a helpless feeling. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't even say the word "water".

On our second trip, (because we had to wait almost a year) we had managed to learn quite a bit of Russian. This not only helped us get along in the country, but also helped tremendously with the bonding and parenting of Zac. Learning the phrase "please don't touch that" proved invaluable when traveling home with a 2 year old.

Our little secret? This book:

Therefore, it only makes sense that we ran out and bought the Chinese version of this same book. The problem is that not only do I have to learn this very-hard-to-learn language, but I also have to "unlearn" all the Russian that I worked so hard to memorize a few years ago.

No worries though. I'm happy (and quite excited) to do it!

再见 (Zàijiàn) - That means "good-bye" ... I think....

Progress

2010-11-17T07:24:00.002-06:00

Adopting a second time is so much different already! I feel like Katie and I are about as laid back as can be. We know what we're getting into. We're ready for the wait. We know there will be surprises. (Big ones!) And we're totally okay with that.

We haven't gotten very far yet. Some paperwork. Send out some money. Some more paperwork. Taking fingerprints. A little more paperwork. And of course, getting to know our local Notary.

Ahhhh.... it's good to be back into adoption mode.

We're BACK!

2010-11-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

Big announcement: We've decided to adopt again! Therefore, this blog will be brought back to life. I know I've got some work to do. (Update the profile, update the pictures, etc). All in good time.

What I can tell you is this: We're adopting a girl. She'll be from China. We're pretty sure her name will be Melia.

More info to come when I'm not trying to get my kids fed and sent off to school!

Video Link

2010-05-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

Click here to see the VIDEO.

Last Post

2009-04-19T07:18:00.001-06:00

This is a blog about a Russian adoption. Please, go to the beginning and read our story. It is a beautiful story about a family who thought they were "rescuing an orphan" but instead did nothing more than "find their son".

If you are considering adoption, let our story be an encouraging one. In the midst of painful stories and adoption tragedies, exists our experience of overwhelming joy.

If this story has impacted you in anyway, could you please leave a comment below? I want this to someday be a gift to my son, Zac. I want him to know just how much his life has impacted those around him.

Easter eggs

2009-04-17T05:29:00.006-06:00

Here's some pics from last weekend. Easter was great. It was the "last first holiday" for our little Zac. It was so fun to watch him. I continue to marvel at how he acts like he's been doing these things for years. Over the past year, Zac has gone from "a well adjusted kid" to "an absolute delight and joy to be around". I cannot even begin to explain how good, loving, and wonderful he is. I cannot for one moment imagine our family without him.

A free ride

2009-04-11T08:13:00.003-06:00

It's moments like these where I wish I was still a kid. I remember doing this at my Auntie Lois' house.... and frequently getting yelled at. (She was the first person I knew that had a "garage door opener".... a true high tech gadget that was unheard of in the 1970's.

What is a Brother?

2009-04-09T18:43:00.003-06:00

What is a brother? A brother is someone who helps you when you need a little "boost".

(Photo taken with my cell phone. A bit blurry, but still a cute picture)

Shopping at Sears

2009-04-04T08:12:00.004-06:00

I'm starting to feel the pressure of "the last post" building. How in the world am I going to sum up this entire adoption experience in ONE POST?

Well.... I'll figure out something.

Last night, we bought a new washer and dryer at Sears (yes, we just got our tax refund - a special thanks to Zac for the adoption credit) and the kids were patiently passing the time playing with an abandoned "mall stroller". I thought it was cute how all 3 kids manged to fit in a 1-kid stroller.

Anniversary

2009-03-25T05:34:00.002-06:00

One year ago today, we got our courtdate. Ahh... what a day that was. Of course, that also means that it was a year ago that Jake and I had the infamous, "dojo incident". (You'll have to go back and read the March 24, 2008 entry).

A year later, I'm still messing with paperwork. Yesterday, I was in the Social Security office trying to get Zac's SS#. I've come to love government offices over the past 2 years....

Mr. Story Teller

2009-03-21T06:36:00.003-06:00

I was sitting around (facebooking) this morning, and just pointed the camera at Zac and told him to tell a story. This is what he came up with. I thought it was pretty cute. (As is everything he does)

A year ago.

2009-03-16T20:41:00.002-06:00

As I continue to ponder how to end this blog, I've been spending a lot of time going back and reading old posts. It's really quite fun. (for me anyway).

I'm looking back a year ago, and I'm seeing that exactly one year ago we were FREAKING out waiting for our courtdate. ugh. I'm so happy to have that chapter of my life over. It certainly was a character building time in my life, but... it was still pretty rough.

If I haven't said it lately, I LOVE ZAC! He's so much fun. Yesterday we were at a friend's house and he was a bit miffed at the other kid for taking his pretend lollipop. (that was my nice way for saying that he was being a bratty 3 year old). Anyway, I told him, "Zac maybe you can go find a different piece of pretend food to play with" whereupon he said, "I'll go find something else that's delicious!" It was funny to hear him use the word "delicious".

Oh! While I'm thinking about it, I thought of another good quotable from Zac. About a week ago I was talking to Hallie and I must have used the word "dude". Zac quickly corrected me by saying, "Dad, girls are not dudes! Girls are chicks!"

Love it.

Quotables

2009-03-14T20:12:00.003-06:00

Zac has come up with some good quotes this past week:

1. "Kiss my furry butt!" I'm 99% sure this came from watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. Nevertheless, it caught me off guard. Furry?

2. "I want a Super man wiener!" This one was detailed in Katie's blog. Basically, I was informing Zac that he was putting on his Super man underwear backwards when he asked, "Why does Super Man go on my booty? I want a superman wiener!"

3. "Fire in the Hole!" He says this one with quite regularity. It's pretty much his war cry.

Pinch man

2009-03-07T09:16:00.003-06:00

Growing

2009-02-27T02:55:00.003-06:00

The other day at pre-school, Jake had "Hawaii Days". Katie helped volunteer for this event and as a result, Zac got to participate. The cool part was that Zac was actually better behaved than some of the pre-school kids. (Zac will start pre-school next year). Katie and I continue to be amazed as to how well-behaved and smart Zac is. I have no doubts that he'll do great in school.

I thought this picture below was a bit funny as you may notice Jake as the tallest in the class and Zac as the shortest in the class. Don't be fooled though. In a brotherly battle, Zac is most often the one that comes out on top. He's a freakishly strong little dude!

Boy story

2009-02-23T21:02:00.002-06:00

No pictures tonight. Go ahead and read the following story and you'll get a better idea as to WHY I will not be posting any pictures tonight.

Life with two boys:

Tonight, I overheard Katie yelling at the boys, "Hey! Don't put toys in your private parts!"

Naturally, this caused me to look up from what I was doing. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted one of my boys running down the hall, naked, with a toy giraffe protruding from his butt crack. Within another 3 seconds, the other boy was close behind. Emerging from his butt, was a Yak... I believe.

That's pretty much where the story ends. Shortly thereafter, Katie had both boys (and the animals) soaking in the tub.

NOTE TO OUR LOCAL FRIENDS WHO HANG OUT AT OUR HOUSE: You may not want to let your kids play with our Fisher Price Animals.... ever again.

Announcement

2009-02-19T18:52:00.002-06:00

It seems as if I'm losing my blogging mojo. Therefore, I want to make an announcement that sometime around Mid-April, this blog will go dark. April 22nd is exactly the 1 year anniversary from Zacs Gotcha Date. Like many who have gone before us, our journey of adoption has simply evolved into a journey of life.

I've said it many times, but Zac is simply our son. Yes, he's adopted - but no, there is no difference in how I love him and my other kids. I have 3 children. It's that simple.

So anyway - I'll probably post a few pics and/or videos throughout the next few weeks - just because it's fun.

I suppose I could just end it now, but it makes for a more climatic ending when it's announced in advance. Sort of like the last episode of M.A.S.H. But not really...

New Hair

2009-02-05T08:20:00.001-06:00

Readoption

2009-02-03T21:45:00.002-06:00

Some of you may be aware of the "readoption" process that most International adoptive parents have to go through.

In short, we adopted Zac through the Russian courts and not the US courts. As a result, we don't have a US birth certificate or a US adoption decree. This makes it difficult (near impossible) to get things like a Social Security number.

Well, yesterday we finally had our readoption court date. I'll tell you, it was a much different experience than our court date in Russia. (Less stressful) The best part was that our kids Hallie and Jake as well as both sets of grandparents were able to come! Although it was just a formality, it was a wonderful family day for everyone. It's always a good feeling to put extra "stamps of approval" on this wonderful son of ours!

Interesting factoid: Our attorney informed us that being adopted by US born parents makes Zac a "natural born citizen" by definition given. Therefore, contrary to anything I've ever heard before, Zac CAN indeed be president of the United States. Who knew?

Hallie and Jake - Happy for their brother!

Zac - swearing in along with Mom and Dad

The whole family - and the judge (hiding next to Zac)

Laugh

2009-01-28T21:18:00.002-06:00

I betcha can't watch this and NOT laugh... Go ahead! Try it!

Brrr...

2009-01-26T22:06:00.004-06:00

The snow is back. It's really cold. But as always, we're figuring out a way to make it fun.

Springtime?

2009-01-21T21:46:00.001-06:00

Let me tell you something about living in Nebraska. When it hits 47 degrees in January. It feels like a heatwave. Our kids (on their own accord) decided to dress themselves in shorts and play in the back yard for almost an hour.

Ahh... we love the outdoors.

Ouch

2009-01-16T23:15:00.002-06:00

During dinner tonight Jake and I were both complaining about our thumbs hurting. Apparently, playing too much Wii can do that to a person.

After waiting and wanting my son to hurry up and get older, it's nice to finally have a video game buddy.

Old Video

2009-01-10T21:57:00.003-06:00

I have been wanting to post this video ever since we brought Zac home, but I kept having "computer issues". Tonight, I finally figured out what my problem was.

Anyway, we've had Zac home for 9 months now, and it truly seems like we've ALWAYS had him home! (Hard to believe considering how long it took to get him)

I watch him in this video and part of me can see "the Zac I know" sneaking through and another part of me feels that this is an entirely different child.

Either way, you've got to admit that Zac speaking in Russian is really, really cute! We were also very fortunate that this video has a happy ending and not a full blown temper tantrum!

(recorded while we were in Moscow - April 2008)

2009-01-07T21:52:00.002-06:00

Nothing big going on. You know how it goes. You get through Christmas and then its "blah season".... January.... Cold, dark, and catch-up at work.

Oh well. Life is good, but not much to tell right now.

Pics of the week

2008-12-29T21:50:00.003-06:00

Microblog:

Sledding, Christmas, Went to the Zoo, Hallie's 6th birthday

Christmas

2008-12-27T21:35:00.002-06:00

Well, we made it through Christmas. For those of you that were curious, Zac had a great "first Christmas". The crazy thing was that it seemed like it was old hat for him. That seems to be the recurring theme with Zac. I have no idea how (or why) he does it, but more often than not, he handles new situations and events with tremendous ease.

For example: We went to see Santa a few weeks ago. I think we took all of 2 minutes to explain Santa to him. He barely seemed to be listening. And yet, when he saw Santa for the first time, he yelled across the mall "HI SANTA!" and then proceeded to run right to the front of the line to go and sit on his lap. I'm not even sure how he knew Santa was Santa. I don't remember describing him to Zac. Who knows.

Opening presents took very little explaining. (Of course!) But taking it one step further, he had little problems during the tough times when we made him wait to open presents. (Taking turns, waiting for photo opp's, etc.)

Christmas morning, he immediately noticed that there was something in his stocking, and quickly began asking for his presents.

Most importantly, he will be the first to tell you that Christmas is for "Jesus' Birthday". Once again, he acts like he's been doing this for years.... not months.

What a trooper. Merry Christmas little Zachy!

Quick story

2008-12-25T14:13:00.002-06:00

Funny Zac story:

Katie wanted Zac to try on a new sweater (a common task around Christmastime!) whereupon Zac starts to whine:

"NO! It's not cool. It makes me look FAT!"

How funny is that?

One way to say Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T17:00:00.007-06:00

Well, you may be able to tell that our kids enjoy dressing up. It seems that the kiddo's have been dressing up a little more than normal these past few weeks. I know it's a little weird (especially the boys in dresses), but it still makes me laugh.

Here's our version of "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree":

+

A baseball star is born

2008-12-12T23:51:00.002-06:00

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!

Brothers 2.0

2008-12-10T22:09:00.001-06:00

More Brother Pictures:

Brothers

2008-12-07T21:13:00.003-06:00

Still working on the format change. I'll get a round to it later.

In the mean time, I wanted to simply state how wonderful it is that my two boys get along so well. In fact, as I type this blog entry, I can hear big "thumping" from upstairs. Their newest thing has been (not so subtly) sneaking out of their room and going into mom and dad's bed. It's cute at the end of the night to find the two of them sleeping together (sometimes holding hands) in our bed.

A parent of 2 or more kids knows the joy that comes when your kids get along. (and the corresponding stress of when they DON'T get along). But the absolute best thing is when your are all-out belly laughing with each other. We seem to catch our boys doing that more and more.

Life and stuff

2008-12-03T21:31:00.005-06:00

So apparently, Katie has abandoned me.... speaking in a "blog" metaphorical sense, that is.

And now I'm left here all alone. Having to blog by myself. And it's already been a week since my last post.

I'm going to try really hard to get this thing going again. But I'm thinking that the theme needs to change. An "adoption blog" just doesn't seem to hit the point here anymore. I really can't emphasize enough how "normal" everything is with Zac. We certainly have our moments, but it's nothing close to what the adoption books were preparing us for. In fact, this past week, Zac has repeatly won the "best kid" award in our house.

NOTE: The "best kid" award is nothing more than Katie and I comparing notes at the end of the day after the kids are in bed. We don't tell the kids the ranking and it does not impact the amount of food or love that we give them the next day. It usually goes something like this:

Katie: Man, Zac was sweet today
Ryan: Yea, and Hallie was completely NOT sweet today
Katie: So I guess it was Zac, then Jake, then Hallie today
Ryan: Indeed, Zac wins the "best kid award" today
Katie: Yea, but he was still a turd yesterday.
Ryan: Indeed...

So anyway, I was thinking that the theme needs to be something like "Fun Family". And then I can try to blog the most outragous, fun thing that we did that particular day.

I'd be open to creative titles for this new format. Feel free to post your comments. Perhaps it's even time for a template change...

Happy thanksgiving

2008-11-27T07:15:00.004-06:00

Twas the night before Thanksgiving.... and what do we do? We get ready for CHRISTMAS! Perhaps we should have waited until tomorrow, but oh well.

Here's some pics:

Katie's Blog

2008-11-21T21:17:00.003-06:00

I have decided to create my own blog. It is somewhat more reflective and deals more with mothering than with adoption. If you would like to follow it you can find it at http://seeinghimknowinghimamothersjourney.blogspot.com/.

Bachelor?

2008-11-17T21:13:00.002-06:00

Katie went out of town for a days, so the kids and I thought it would be fun to go to the mall and cause some various mischief. Here's a small piece of evidence that we left behind:

My little author, illustrator

2008-11-11T21:52:00.002-06:00

Tonight Hallie came home from school ready to talk and share about her day (I love days like this). She told me that when she grows up she wants to be a person who draws pictures for books. She went on to add that she wants to write books and draw the pictures! An avid reader, with a creative mind and love for drawing, I think the job description fits her perfectly! It was so fun to hear her excitement. She told me I could help her with an idea and then she would write the story. She went on to tell me all about a hot air balloon ride and a swimming pool race, themes for her first book. She wanted to start on it right when we got home!

Later tonight, as we read stories before bed, she told me she wanted to read to me. Guess what? My brillant Kindergartener nearly read the whole book, "Mean Jean the Recess Queen" to me. What a delight to see her smile after working hard to sound out words and read some without hardly any effort at all. I am so thankful for the kind of interests and intellect the Lord has blessed my daughter with.

Go Huskers!

2008-11-08T21:02:00.002-06:00

Today, Ryan and I got to go down to Lincoln and spend the day with my brother at the NE game. Nebraska won, the game was good and the company was great so we had a wonderful day. Afterwards, we went out for a dinner and then headed home just in time to play with the kids for a few minutes and then put them to bed.

Maybe it is because we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and maybe it is because my eyes are open to see all the blessings around me but I feel the need to write down all that I am thankful for today:

A husband that I adore and is my best friend. What a great day we had together.
A blessed relationship with my older brother who invited us to the game. What a great day we had together.
A nanny we trust, that loves our kids like crazy and plays and plays and plays with them.
Kids that love it when we come home and shower us with kisses and hugs. Here is some of what I heard today from my kids...

Hallie..."Mom, the best part of my day is when you came home." Followed by a huge hug.
Zac..."Mama I missed you." Followed by a huge hug.
Jacob...A huge hug followed by a zerbert on my head!

I am thankful!

Moments of Thanks

2008-11-04T15:05:00.003-06:00

I am always trying to open my eyes to the blessings around me. Here are three from the last two days.

Hallie...I asked once for help cleaning up the living room. She said, "Sure, Mom" and went right to work. Later that night she went grocery shopping with me and was soooo helpful and delightful the whole time.

Jacob...He is not someone that shows a lot of affection with hugs and kisses and sweet words, but when I found him sleeping contentedly in the middle of our bed when I came up to bed last night I knew he loved his mom and dad. What a blessing to see a child resting so peacefully.

Zac...Today we were in the car together and he said, "Mom, I never leave you." My heart just melts!

Halloween

2008-11-02T21:43:00.004-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We had fun trick or treating on a beautiful night in Minnesota with cousins! Ryan's sister, Jenni, moved there with her family three weeks ago and welcomed us into her home for the weekend. It was fun to share the excitement of Zac's first Halloween with family.

We had prepped Zac with trick or treating etiquette. He also knew all too well that he got candy! In fact, when asked what he wants for Christmas his answer is, "three candy, three candy!"

So, he happily gets dressed up and walks outside. While waiting for the other cousins he walks up to the first person he sees (a fellow toddler trick or treater from down the street) and says, "trick or treat," then starts to dig in her bag for candy! oops! Once we showed him to ring doorbells he was a trick or treating machine!

Unfortunately, Hallie had strep throat, again! Fortunately, we got medicine in her and the Ibuprofen made her perk up for trick or treating. Hallie, Jacob and their cousins were off running down the street collecting all the candy they could.

Here are some pictures of my adorable kids...Gabriella, A Storm Trooper and and Silly green and yellow bird!

Update

2008-10-27T20:23:00.005-06:00

There are so many stories to share, and yet we find less and less time to blog. Sorry everyone, that's just the way it is. (Part of our problem is that we've gotten hooked into facebook... yea, now we're addicted to blogging AND facebook).

Here are the highlights:

1. The tests finally came back and Zac does NOT have a Human Growth Hormone deficiency. Go figure, he's just small. Because his "bone age" was so young (6 months) there is a good likelihood that he'll growth later. In fact, he seems to have growth quite a bit even in this last month. (1/2 inch, 2 or 3 pounds). Time will tell on this one.

2. Zac started swimming lessons today (along with Jake) They both did exceptionally well. Zac really liked going to "school" just like his big sister and brother.

3. It appears that in the last week, Zac has FINALLY stopped calling himself Pasha. It's kinda sad, but not really. When ever Zac wanted something really bad, he would scream out "PASHA" or better yet "PASHA DO THAT!" It much nicer to hear, "Can I have that please?"

4. His English is incredible. There is virtually nothing that can't be communicated anymore.

5. I gave Zac a timeout the other day. It was the kind where I plop him on my lap (facing me) and we sit together until he calms down. Let me tell you something, he was REALLY MAD about whatever it was he was in trouble for. But here's the point: During his time of major anger, he did NOT once hit or bite or do anything toward me. He simply cried and yelled. I had a quick flash back to last May and I thought, "Wow. How far we've come". I'm so proud of our little guy.