We're Still Here

Sorry we've been MIA.  Those who are friends on Facebook will have been kept abreast, but I know there are people who read here who are not on FB or not my friends.  We're almost two months home now and we're all settling in.  I will try to do another post with lots of pictures later today.  For now, information!

Overall, the only real issue has been Finn's health.  Of course, we knew it was precarious when we adopted him, but we didn't quite realize how truly close he was to death.  We thought that he'd need to be admitted to the hospital the moment we stepped off the plane.  We were surprised to discover when we picked him up that he seemed much healthier than we'd been led to expect because the orphanage made it clear he was dying very quickly.  We were able to bring him home and spend two weeks bonding before his first appointment with the hematologist.  Towards the end of those two weeks we began to notice changes in his health and behavior, but we believed those were due to his need for a transfusion.  We were really glad to have that time when blood tests were done and it became clear all was not right inside, even if he seemed okay on the outside. 

All children with transfusion dependent Thalassemia have very high ferritin (or iron) levels when they are not being properly treated.  A normal person has a ferritin level of somewhere between 47 and 300.  Children with Thalassemia frequently come home with ferritin levels in the thousands.  Chelation medications can be used to draw iron stores from the body, but children in other countries are often not properly chelated, which was the case with Finn.  His ferritin levels were astronomical.  Some children come home from the orphanages and their levels show that they were still thriving even with ferritin levels of 10,000 or above.  This was not the case with Finn.  His organs were suffering severely and were on the brink of a massive shut down from his levels of iron.  He spent nearly two weeks in the hospital receiving heavy doses of IV chelation meds.  When we left the hospital his ferritin levels were still around 6000 but that was a big drop from where he'd been before.  At current, his ferritin levels are in the 4000s.  We take this as a great sign that his oral chelation meds are working.  He's been hospitalized a second time in the two months we've been home, but we are really hoping that inpatient care is behind us for awhile.   

Emotionally, Finn is doing very well.  He does suffer from severe medical PTSD from his hospital experiences in China, but I think that can hardly be a surprise considering.  Some days are better and we can get tests done, some days he's just hysterical the entire time and we can't even get close to getting things done.  At home, he's a smiley, happy, clever, bit overemotional, boy who clearly has experienced severe trauma in his short life.  We have a lot of emotional work ahead of us, but we can see a healthy Finn at the end who is slowly working through baggage that most of us would never survive, let alone at six years old.  He's a very, very, very smart boy who continues to surprise us every day.  His English is coming along nicely.  Now that the IV line that was installed in his arm and went straight to his heart has been removed (and replaced with a surgically implanted port under his skin) he's able to attend school with the rest of his siblings and is thoroughly enjoying kindergarten.  

Jake is less interested in learning English, and that makes sense to me.  He's older and his cultural identity is a large part of his overall identity.  I know that he struggles with not belonging in our world and that grieves me, but we do have many Chinese speaking friends and we take him often to local businesses owned by Chinese families to give him a chance to interact.  We hope that in a few more months he'll be a little more willing to try out the English language.  He's doing well in school and emotionally he's doing well at home.  Of course, he does have his moments as all 11 year olds do, but overall he's a very good kid who takes pleasure in doing the right thing.  He loves having grandparents and seems very pleased whenever he has the opportunity to spend time with any of this three local grandparents. 

Jake was evaluated last week by the school with a Mandarin speaking interpreter, which we really appreciated.  We have friends whose school districts will deny their requests both for testing and for people to help them accomplish testing in their own language.  Our school came to us on the first day and told us that because he does have brain difference they wanted to test him for placement immediately and make sure he got any services he might be in need of.  It did take some time to get it all lined up, but they accomplished it last week.  We haven't received the results yet, but we're fine whether he needs a little extra help or not.  We did learn that he has great vision in his right eye, but his left eye does have some blindness.  That's not a total shock as the left side of his body does suffer from some paralysis.  So there will be some trendy glasses in Jake's future!  I don't think he's currently mature enough for a contact lens, but that's no doubt an option in the future.  Jake loves Saracha and puts it on everything, and I do mean everything.  Yesterday, he ate it on oranges, and the other day he treated himself to a peanut butter and Saracha sandwich :\ 

Overall, the boys are doing great and when we're not spending 24/7 at the hospital, we are all settling in quite well.  I will not vouch for the state of my house when those hospital stays come along, though...

Amber

ONE WEEK

Saturday marked one week home, and we decided to celebrate by going to the zoo.  To be honest, I wish I had more time to blog but I'm just extremely tired.  The boys are like babies, that are really big and much better at grabbing things they shouldn't have.  In the first couple of days they were home, Finn stuck a fork in the toaster, got a hold of a butcher knife he shouldn't have been able to reach and went gleefully running through the house with it, and found a handful of matches.  This last one is particularly perplexing to us, as we don't keep matches and haven't for almost 14 years.  So apparently Finn is so determined to remove himself from the gene pool that he's now pulling dangerous things from the ether lol.

The boys are fitting in pretty darn well.  I wouldn't call it a honeymoon, because they aren't shy about letting us know they aren't pleased, challenging our authority, or just plain being bratty, but they are also funny and charming and pretty naturally Andersons.

Having five kids isn't exponentially harder than having three.  The only very significant difference is how long it takes to get everyone in the car and out of the house.  Seth has been late to school every day for the last week! 

Saturday morning we packed everyone up and headed to the zoo to celebrate one week home.  We went with some family friends of ours and we got this group picture on a convenient bench.  The two girls in the pink belong to the Garcia family and are just adorable!  The rest are members of the Anderson clan!  On the bench, in order, Finn, Seth, Evie, and Jake, and Gillian is crouched on the ground.  I won't mention the names of the two girls, because I didn't ask their family for permission. 

It was super hot at the zoo even though it's cold a lot already, so kids immediately started getting lazy.  A wagon was definitely in order!

Finn and Gillian are sitting pretty in the zoo wagon, but the Garcias had a wagon too, and the littles weren't the only ones getting lazy!

Jake also enjoyed a little wagon down time.  Yes, his nails are painted red, and so are Finn's.  They saw me doing Evie and Gillian's nails and they definitely wanted to be a part of that lol.

We decided to take the time to watch the polar bears getting fed, which meant standing in front of the polar bear enclosure for nearly half an hour watching for the zoo keeper and his buckets of fish.  Here's how the kids felt about that.

Yes, they were less than impressed.  And yes, that's our nearly 14 year old being bored in a tiny wagon.  By the time the polar bears actually got fed, the kids seriously couldn't have cared less.  Here's the face most of them made.

When we finally left to get some ice cream, here's the face most of them made...

All in all, the most popular thing at the zoo was the wagons!!



~~Amber

When In Rome...Uh...China

I feel like in a lot of ways, I haven't had an organic China experience.  I flew into Guangzhou and have stayed here the entire trip (except for a short visit to Shenzhen, more on that later) and to be honest Guangzhou isn't exactly "China".  It's very metropolitan, very cosmopolitan, and, honestly, relatively European.  Almost everyone I've spoken to, even on the streets, speaks at least basic English.  Lots of them are very fluent.  The area we're in is full of restaurants, stores and night clubs.  There's many, many Europeans on the streets here and it's clearly a popular tourist destination for the entire world.  I've eaten Chinese food off and on, but we've mostly eaten versions of popular restaurants the world over.  KFC and McDonald's are popular.  Also frequently seen is Pizza Hut and Subway.  Of course, there's a Starbucks in every neighborhood.  What I have to say I didn't really expect is the overwhelming popularity of 7-11.  In America, 7-11 is definitely out of style and I'd say their numbers are really dwindling.  But there's one on every corner here in Guangzhou, and that's literally not a joke.  If you are on a side street, you'll see a 7-11, go around the corner to the major road, and find another one waiting. 

Here's our view from our hotel window. 

Pretty much sans the Chinese characters, we could easily be in a nice hotel in Manhattan.  Mike had a more "China" experience in Zhengzhou where he picked up Jake.  Many less English speakers, lots of scooters driving on the sidewalks and some seriously crazy traffic (not that the traffic isn't also crazy here.)  Actually, speaking of 7-11, right there in the bottom corner, where the light is always shining there's a 7-11.  If we go out the door and turn left, there's another 7-11 about one block over. 

It is SOOOOOO hot here.  Coming from New Mexico, we just aren't used to the humidity.  It's like 900% humidity every moment of the day.  When I first got here it was still in the mid-90s every day but now it's into the low 90s and sometimes even into the 80s.  Our guide says it never gets very cold here.  I guess winter is setting in for them lol.  It isn't just me either.  People who know me know that I've been inclined towards feeling like just existing is too hot since the moment I was born.  But the other adoptive parents feel the same.  Jake and Finn are runners, so we spent our first couple of tours dripping in sweat and chasing down these crazy boys.  At that point, we decided touring wasn't worth it lol.  We started just staying at the hotel during arranged tours after that.  We have had dinner with a couple of other adoptive families, and we've been up to Shamian Island three times.  We might go a fourth time, depending on our schedule tomorrow. 

There's a family there who runs a shop called Susan's.  It's a really great place, full of just about everything you might want to buy in China.  But the best thing about Susan's is the husband and wife who run it.  They speak English very well and they are experts in local history and Chinese history in general.  They explained so many things to us.  We even recorded him showing us how to properly make tea.  They really wanted us to come for tea, which of course we didn't know how to avoid without being rude.  We said we had to hurry and catch the bus, which was true, but we also didn't want to be rude and refuse the tea, which we'd have to do, since LDS people don't drink tea or coffee.  But the next time we went in, to pick up some name posters we ordered, he really wanted us to have tea with them and he was freaking out excited.  It was clearly really important to them, so we sat at the tea table and just kind of looked at each other while he poured the tea into incredibly tiny glasses.  Like midget shot glasses.  Finally, I just didn't know how to avoid being potentially rude, so I just said, "Do you have any herbal tea instead?"  It was super funny, he looked at both of us and said, "You don't drink tea?  Are you Mormon?" LOL.  We said yes, and he pulled out the herbal tea and poured us some of that instead.  

He's asked us to come for tea again tomorrow before we leave the country, so we're going to call him and see what time they close and we might do that again.  He gave us his email and has asked us to send them periodic emails.  We do plan to return to China, whether we choose to adopt again or not.  It's our hope to be able to return to China at least every two years, every summer if finances permit.  So making a few friends is fun since we'll be able to see them again. 

Jake gets sick and throws up every time we get in the car.  Part of this is because he'd never been in a vehicle before, part of it can definitely be attributed to the insane way people here drive.  There's definitely no turn signals, no car lengths apart, and no safe changing of lanes.  I wish I could explain the way driving is typically done here.  Three and four cars will try to enter the same lane at the same time and just hope for the best.  It's crazy.  Also, the cars don't seem to have shocks.  It's a bouncing adventure every time we drive. 

I could write for days about China, but it's bedtime now.  I think I'll try to do more posts about China when we get home, since the internet is very spotty here and blogging is hard.

Amber

We're Not Dead Yay!

Sorry for my total absence of posting.  The VPN wouldn't work on my Kindle.  I tried downloading it over and over but it didn't want to work.  So the only VPN we have is on Mike's laptop.  But Mike was in Henan while I was in Guangdong.  Now we're finally back together, but the internet is spotty at best, so my updates might be a little sparse. 

Mike and I both picked up our assigned child on the 15th.  Jake, as might be expected considering his older age, came easy.  He and Mike were a little bit cautious with each other, as one would expect, but they bonded over swimming, which they did every second of every day until they came up to Guangdong on a VERY long train ride.  We only go once a day up here.  It's way too hot to go outside very often.  More on that later.  He came with a lot of super cute baby and little Jake pictures, which he likes to show very often.  The orphanage was super good about making sure he came with a past to remember, which we really love and appreciate! 

Gotcha with Finn was a little bit traumatic.  He was very excited.  Before the appointment, I went to the store and our guide, Judy, called the orphanage and asked what his favorite snacks were at my request.  He said over the phone that he was so excited he couldn't think about what he wanted lol.  However, when the reality came he was less excited.  He wouldn't look at me at all when they brought him out.  He was trying really hard to pretend we weren't there.  When I said hello to him he burst into tears.  I got pretty upset at that point and I think the nannies thought I was sad because he wasn't happy to see me, but that's not it at all.  I did try to explain that wasn't why I was tearing up.  Genuinely scared or hurting children make me very sad.  I cry when kids are undergoing painful medical procedures too.  I was just really sad that he was scared and hurting.  He wanted absolutely nothing to do with me for about three hours after we got back to the hotel, but he came around pretty quickly.  He did routinely refuse to hold my hand for another day or two and he always wanted to sit next to Judy.  But it's all going good now.

When we finally reconnected Finn was very tired and already in bed and he was NOT excited at the presence of Jake and Baba.  He kept shaking his head and saying no.  Then he shined a light in Mike's eyes and Mike pretended to scream and cover his eyes before falling on the floor and theatrically dying.  That was all it took for Finn.  He was won over.  Now he's a hard core baba's boy.  He wants Mike to carry him all the time and wants to snuggle with him.  Jake is interested in me, but since we can't really communicate very well, we're still not sure what to make of each other.  His body language cues aren't great, so I have a much harder time understanding what he wants.  Mike speaks some Mandarin and Jake speaks a very small amount of English, so they are working it out better than Jake and I do.

Jake is pretty much exactly as we expected.  He's 11 and that should be enough to explain it for most people who've ever had an 11 year old lol.  He is by turns excited by childish things and petulantly being dragged on family outings.  He rotates between enjoying his new taste of freedom and being annoyed at us because we make him do things like eat or take a shower instead of playing on the Kindle or watching TV.  Basically, as aforementioned, he's 11.  He acts just like our bio kids did at 11, but he's under a bit more stress.  He is quite annoyed that we aren't all able to communicate.  He speaks very well and he speaks a lot, and he's not happy that we aren't able to understand what he's saying.  I get frustrated in the store because I can't get any of my questions answered, so I can't imagine how he feels with parents who can't completely meet his needs because we just don't understand what they are.  His special need is pretty much exactly as expected.  Except since he stopped receiving physical therapy from Love Without Boundaries a few years ago it seems he's gotten a little lax.  He's realized that he doesn't have to use his left hand in most cases, and he's gotten lazy about working it out since he can do almost everything one handed. He's a smart, smart boy.  We were a little worried he might be slower to learn English as foreign languages are much harder the older you are, but communicating is so important to him, I think he'll come around pretty fast.

Finn is pure energy.  100% on all the time.  He's always running, always yelling, always jumping, always moving.  He's adorable.  Everyone loves him immediately.  I don't know what he's saying to people but evidently it's funny, because they always laugh, and the ones who also speak a bit of English almost inevitably tell me that he's funny.  He is certainly mischievous.  He is a straight up practical joker and a great lover of getting into trouble.  He dropped 400 Chinese Yuan in the toilet yesterday laughing the whole time.  He also likes to throw away important documents, hide the hotel room key, and run away as fast as he can when we are out in public.  In our family we call this 'a runner' and we had another one in our daughter Gillian, so we used a monkey backpack with a tail that served as a leash.  We wish we had it here!  Finn's condition is certainly serious.  The doctors here say they've never seen a worse case of Beta Thalassemia Major.  However, he's better off than we expected.  We thought he would need to be immediately hospitalized but we no longer believe that's true.

I will post about China in general later on today.  Right now we're headed off to do a little sightseeing with another American mom staying here in our hotel.  She is also adopting an older child with Thalassemia. 

Amber

Stop! Tally Time! Oh ohohoh ohohohoh!

I leave on Thursday night.  Ohmyheck!  Craziness!  Mike leaves on Friday afternoon.  We will both be picking up our assigned boy on early Monday morning, which will be Sunday night for most people in America.  Crazy that it's so soon!  It's still very surreal to me.   I don't know when it will sink in.  Maybe the day after we get home? ;)  We are starting today needing $4054 to be fully funded.  That may sound like a lot, but we are were at $5700 give or take at the beginning of yesterday!  God is working to help us bring these boys home right now!  We could not be more grateful to all who are sharing, praying, and donating!

Amber

Tally Ho

I thought it would be fun to do a tally when I wrote that the other day.  Turns out it's not so fun when the total doesn't change.  We are at $5704 needed to be fully funded.  Our fundraisers and donations have totalled less than $70 in three days.  Obviously, this is freaking us out since we have no other sources of money.  At this point it's a good time for a miracle.  Please pray for us, share our fundraisers, and donate if you feel so called.  We are grateful for all the help people have given!  Thank you!!!

Amber

Daily Tally

I think it might be fun to do a daily tally of where we are and where we need to be with our fundraising efforts.  We are starting today with a new Fully Funded total because of a PayPal donation. $21,591 is our new goal. Currently we need $5,772 to reach our goal. I know we've already fundraised a lot. 15k worth! But we're down to the wire. And we can't wait because of this sweet face. I got this picture this morning. Yes, he's adorable. Yes, he's smiling. But it doesn't take a lot to see how sick he is. Please consider our fundraisers or share!  You can follow along with our totals in the corner on the Reece's Rainbow bar.  Thank you so much for helping us go these last few miles!!  And prayers are always much appreciated!

Amber

Excitement and Stress!

Okay guys, exciting stuff and stressful stuff! Exciting stuff! We leave next Friday!!!!  One week!!!  We got our Chinese visas today. They look so cool! Maybe I'm just excited by simple stuff, but I dig it. I have a lot of trouble conceptualizing things before they happen and I always have. Until that baby comes out, I have a lot of trouble believing it's real lol. So getting my visa today was one of those moments. This is real! Stressful stuff... We need to be at $21,741 to be fully funded. That means that $6058 lies between us and complete funding. We can leave and hope for the best in about another $3000. We need 41 more donations before we can draw from tier one. Any donation of $15 or above will be entered into a drawing for gorgeous quilts. You can see more info on our blog or make your donations here http://reecesrainbow.org/70645/sponsoranderson-2 If you own a business, the fiscal year is almost over. Consider making a tax deductible donation at this same address and have an instant write off! 

Because tier 2 has had no entries, I am disbanding tier two and selling each blanket individually.  Please consider a blanket for a loved one who just looks like they need some warming up, or please share!!

 Build a Bear Quilt $15

Do you have a daughter who loves to build herself some friends?  I have two of them!!  Check out this adorable toddler or crib sized blanket with licensed Build a Bear material.  Friends Furever!!  $15 plus $5 shipping.

Baby Bundle!! $25

Got a sweet little one, or one on the way?  This is a great deal and so sweet and perfect!!  Sweet yellow baby blanket, crib or toddler bed sized, with lovely flowers in each corner.  The matching hat is made for a newborn, so it won't last forever, but this blanket will have years of use in it and become a sweet family heirloom!  Small flannel car seat quilt.  Perfect for tucking around your little ladybug on a cold morning in the car!  Plus two bonus newborn sized hats, pink and green with an adorable flower.  This is so cute and a great baby shower present value, too!!  $25 plus $7 shipping.  

Thanks everyone for helping us get this far and helping us go the final miles to bring home our boys!!

Amber

Here We Come

1. We will officially be traveling on Sept 12.  We will be splitting up in country.  Mike will be going after Jake and I will be going after Finn.  We will meet after two days in province.  We have money for tickets and probably most of hotels, but we are still short on travel funds.  Please look at our current fundraisers or ask about our 3-D fiber lash mascara party.  We need another 10k to be fully funded, but probably another 5k to be able to travel.  Thanks!

At this point the Travel Approval has been issued, but we have not yet received a hard copy. We in the adoption world like to call that 'soft'. So now we have soft approval. In a normal world that would mean it will be here in a day or two and then we will know when we will travel. But since our LOA got lost in the mail and took almost a month to get here, I am not holding my breath for prompt arrival lol. Still, this is it, y'all.

We have enough funds to buy tickets, not a dime for food, hotels and other in-country expenses.  So while I am excited, I'm also a little bit nervous.  I don't know what will happen with that, since we literally have no more sources of money.  But we're trusting God and making our arrangements anyway!  Eeeeep! Wish us luck and send us prayers for funds!


Amber

Important to Note

If you guys are donating to our FSP to participate in our quilt contest, please comment below or send me a message.  I don't have any way of seeing who is donating. 

Thanks!

Someday my Prince...TA...Will Come

So...we are down to the wire!  All we are waiting on is TA, travel approval, and we'll be off to get our boys.  We've got a teensy little problem though.  Actually, it's about eleven thousand problems.  Our adoption itself is paid for, but our travel is not funded at all!  We need around $5K to be fully funded food, in country transportation, all the random people we are apparently supposed to be tipping on our trip, and carrying cash in case there's an emergency.

With that in mind, we have a new fundraiser we hope will be very successful.  And, hey you all are probably excited to hear this, it will be one of our last fundraisers!  (Mainly because we are running out of time, but hey, take the good news and run with it.)

We have already done a quilt contest as I'm sure some of you may remember.  Whoever offered a donation of ten dollars or more had their names thrown in a hat for a quilt made by this lady.  Remember her?  She's a true artist in my opinion.  Actually, literally.  It isn't an opinion thing.  She's an artist.  She has a degree in art from Texas Tech.  Mind...blown.  Anyway, her quilts are amazing.

So, that being shown, here's what we're up to.  Yeah, it's summer.  I feel you.  You think my Swinter (Wummer?) blanket contest is crazy!  It's all good.  Summer is almost over.  And everyone loves a good blanket!  And these are great blankets!  Cue the applause and excitement!

These blankets are high quality quilts made with care and excellent fabrics.  These quilts cost approximately 100.00 to 150.00 dollars per quilt to make.  Excellent handmade quilts usually retail in the two hundred dollars and up range.  Every donation of $15 or more, will be dropped into our hat for one of the following quilts.  Like our last contest, this will require 50 entries before we give away the quilts.  If you make a donation of fifteen dollars or more to our FSP, found here http://reecesrainbow.org/70645/sponsoranderson-2 please let me know so I can put your names in the drawing.  So why don't we get on to what I know you all want to see. 

Items 1-3.   

Three quilts made by Darlene C, the woman who made the amazing quilts above!  The quilts will be 4 feet by 4 feet.  Best suited for a twin bed or a lap quilt.  Below are the quilts Darlene C. made for our last quilt contest.  As you can see, they are amazing.  Darlene is willing to make quilts to specifications ASSUMING that she has available fabric in the colors or styles you're wanting.  She's pretty accommodating, though. 

Once again, these are not the actual quilts you'll be getting.  These are someone else's quilts.  You'll be getting your own blankets made to your tastes.  The blankets above are just more samples of Darlene's actual work.  

Item 4

The Fall Quilt!  I don't know what this is really called, but I like to call it the fall quilt.  Or the man quilt sometimes haha.  This is a twin/full sized quilt, made in gorgeous fall colors.  Personally, I would use it for myself, but there is a certain masculine flavor to this one if you're looking for a male present.  

  

Love it.  Fall colors are my favorite!!  I can't wait for fall!  Whoa.  Now that my random excitement is over, let's move on.  

Item 5

A traditional quilt in your favored colors.  I don't have any pictures, because it isn't made yet!  We're making it for you, yo.  Under the careful fingers of a bunch of church ladies, this quilt will be all covered in love.  And excellent stitching work.  And possibly a tiny bit of Jello.  We are talking about a bunch of Mo ladies, here.  But mostly, love.  

Thanks for sharing!

Amber

I Feel Pretty...

Hey all! Time to get pretty! From today until August 15, every purchase of Avon made through this link will mean money for our adoption. http://adoption.avonrepresentative.com/ Avon is awesome stuff and Natalie Keller is an awesome lady, who is donating all of her commission, 20% of every order, to our family until the middle of this month. Now is the time your tweens and teens also need new lip gloss, lotions, and jewelry for back to school! Thanks!!

I Saw God Today

When I was in my early 20s one of my very best friends made some not so great choices.  As a result she spent some intensive time in a process of repentance to return where she wanted to be in her life.  Though her process was hard and fraught with negative moments, I have to admit that I was jealous of her journey. 

No, I didn't want to spend months in agony, wishing I'd made different choices.  No, I wasn't jealous of her hard times.  But...I was jealous of the other side of her experience.  I saw that her spirituality was growing in leaps and bounds.  Because of her quest for forgiveness she had a knowledge of, and a relationship with, Christ that I could never truly understand.  The kind of relationship that comes only through a special connection to the core of Christ's purpose, redemption.  I could strive to understand it, but I would never understand it the way someone who hit their knees for months, begging for forgiveness, would.  So, yes, I was a little jealous.

All these years later, I realize that growth comes slowly and my understanding of the Savior and his purpose has matured with me.  But I still looked and I knew that I was missing an understanding of something greater than myself that only comes from being in the trenches, from hard spiritual warfare.

Recently, I've developed an obsession with 80s and 90s country.  I listen to it every time I get in the car.  The other day I was driving home and I heard the old George Straight song, "I Saw God Today."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q06AvQF5NOw 

It's not really super deep, or anything.  I've certainly heard more spiritual songs, even on popular radio.  But it includes these lines as the chorus. "I've been to church, I've read the book, I know He's there, but I don't look, near as often as I should.  His fingerprints are everywhere, I just look down and stop and stare, open my eye and then I swear, I Saw God Today."

I was tapping along with the beat and I thought to myself, "I don't know what this guy is talking about that he doesn't see God's hand in everything and that he really has to look."  Then, I realized that this condition of seeing God's work in everything comes directly from our adoption experience.  Most certainly, I saw God often before I was adopting.  I've experienced many miracles in my life. 

But being part of the adoption community has shown me dozens of miracles every day.  Real, true miracles.  Mountains that only the Lord could move crumble before families striving to bring their children home.  Obstacles that seem impossible are overcome with small and large events in a never ending series that allows His will to happen.  Even our own adoption bears the hand print of a loving Lord and Father dozens of times over.  After months of seeing miracles happen day in and day out for so many children and so many families, any doubt that our Father in Heaven sees every one of us, cares for every one of us, knows the name of all of his children, has fallen away.  He is the author of miracles, the Father of us all, even lowly orphans, even desperate parents who have no clue what they are doing and are rushing forward anyway, even those of us who don't think we deserve his love.  He is watching.  He loves us.  If we let him, he will show us His hand.

When I had that thought, I remembered what I'd felt like nearly twenty years ago, when I was envious of my friend's precious understanding of a concept bigger than my brain.  I thought, "everyone should experience adoption.  Then they would know.  They would understand the staggering amount of care each of us is given by a God who keeps us."  Even though it was a concept I knew, it was not something weaved into every fiber of my being.  Just how much we are watched over.  Just how much He cares.  I didn't understand because maybe I wasn't looking.  This process, which is honestly hellish, is one of the best things that has ever happened to our family.  This growth is not something we could have reached without stretching, without answering this call, without stepping outside of our comfort zones.  It's very like the experience of my friend.  We're in pain.  Sometimes, we're in downright agony.  We are dragging ourselves through hard times on our way to the finish line.  (So we can get on to the next incredible challenge lol) Because of that agony, because of these hard times, we are experiencing what I wished for years ago.  A deeper understanding.  A softer neck, a bigger heart, a stronger ability to lean not unto my own understanding.

The truth is, there's a million paths to a closer understanding of God and of Jesus.  There's one for all of us.  It's a different for everyone.  But, at this point, I'm pretty sure it's always agony.  I'm pretty sure it's all growing pains, and bad moments, and times we question how much we really want whatever it is we're striving for.  I'm thinking there's no way to grow without it hurting a little.

But, even when it hurts, I'm really so grateful to be on this journey.  For me, this entire adoption has been a spiritual journey more than it will ever be a journey to China.  I'm grateful that God has allowed us to be a part of a community where I see SO many miracles.  If you could see the things I see every day.  Permission given where none seemed possible.  Papers processed where the government seemed to have dropped the ball.  Money coming for people with nothing left in their pockets who are leaving to pick up kids in some war torn Eastern European country.  Protection given where death seems imminent.  Frankly, I'm hard pressed not to see God in everything anymore!

Am I encouraging everyone to adopt?  Always! ;)  But really, I'm just saying start looking and praying and it isn't hard at all to see holiness in the everyday.  Just prepare for a few aches and pains along the way! 

Amber         

    

Skirting the Issue...

Get some new stuff to try and bolster up our matching grant. We have one skirt in this style in the following sizes, size 4/5, size 6/6X, size 7/8, and size 10. Each one comes with a matching skirt for an American Girl sized doll. The two skirts together are $15 plus $3 shipping to my FSP http://reecesrainbow.org/70645/sponsoranderson-2 Remember there's only one set in each size so be sure to let me know which size you want and forward your receipt! Thanks!

For This Child(ren) I Have Prayed

I know that so many voices have been lifted up in prayer for our boys, and for our family.  Because we know so many are interested in seeing our progress, we assume you'll also be interested in seeing our boys!  Our hard LOA got lost in the mail.  Does that normally happen?  Almost never.  But it did happen to us.  We have been approved for going on a month and our hard copy had to be sent out again last week.  It finally came today! 

That means two things!  One, we are approved.  We are matched.  Basically, this is the equivalent of court in other countries.  These boys are ours unless we don't show up to get them (which, barring death, would never happen) and we can name them and everything.  Two, we are approved.  We are matched.  Basically, that means we can slap these boys faces on every FB post, blog and billboard in this whole wide world.  We don't have to hide their faces anymore! 

I know what you all came for!  So without further ado, this is them folks!

Jacob DangXing Anderson

We'd like to introduce you all to our new second oldest child, Jacob.  Jake is 11 and he will fall right in between our two oldest kids, S who is 13 and E who is 10.  Jake has been waiting patiently in an orphanage in the most populace province in China for all 11 years of his life.  When he was about four months old, give or take, he was found on the steps of his orphanage, blue and unresponsive.  It wasn't a sure thing he would even live.  But he did.  And he thrived.  He's well loved by the staff at his facilities, and everyone we've ever spoken to about him tell us how sweet and friendly and freely loving he is.  At different points in his long life as an orphan, Jake has been designated to agencies, but for the last long while, he's been languishing on the shared list.  A list of all the 'less desirable' orphans.  The ones agencies think they can't place.  The shared list is arranged by birth date, newest dates on top.  So Jake was near the bottom.  The place where people don't even keep scrolling because by then they're bored, or the kids are too old.  

Thankfully, Jake had an advocate who'd met him, understood him, and found him the family where his quirky personality would fit right in.  Ours!  Jake likes being silly, watching martial arts movies, telling jokes, playing card games, and making noise.  Sounds just like an Anderson, doesn't he?  This is a boy who desperately is seeking male fellowship and ached for both a father and an older brother.  It was some of the first things he told the advocate about the family he wanted someday.  We love that he will have such a strong father figure, and also the big brother he wanted!  

When he was asked what he'd say if he saw he had a new family, he said, "Baba, I've come home."  This may not mean much to you until you break it down.  Baba is daddy or father in Chinese.  This is a boy whose aching for a dad!  The other interesting thing about this is the fact the words he used in Chinese suggest that he's returning BACK home after having been away.  That he belonged to his family before, and now he is returning to be with us again.  I was literally rendered breathless when I read that, because I believe it.  I believe he has always been ours.  Just...lost.  We didn't know where to find him and he didn't know where to find us.  But God did.  How fortunate we are that He looks out for his children!  

We've had a chance to send some letters back and forth between ourselves and Jake.  Like any preteen, he asked first about computers, TVs, and food lol!  Kid knows what he loves.  We just can't wait to get this board game loving kid home in about three weeks!  

Yelling is just how we roll in the Anderson house!  Open up that mouth wider kid, so the neighbors can hear you, like any other self respecting Anderson!

This is how Jake says something is "Okay" one of the few English words he knows.  I think he likes to use it most when he doesn't understand a word people are saying lol!

Jake already knows how to kick back and relax!  Another invaluable Anderson skill!  Just relax!

Why yes that is an enormous cheesy grin.  No wonder none of our family pictures turn out normal.  I've definitely seen that look before on our other kids.  When they aren't making THIS face instead.

We can't wait to get this guy home and into his new life.  So please prepare to welcome home sweet Jacob DangXing.  We will use both names at the start to see which he prefers.  Jacob was the name of a very good friend of my husband's who recently passed away from aggressive cancer.  DangXing is Jake's Chinese name.  We don't know which he'll like better, so we will use both to start. 

Finn HanWeiQiang Anderson

Finn is our newest middle child.  He's older than G, our baby, but considerably younger than the rest of our ragtag lot.  We aren't sure how old he is in reality, but it's somewhere around five or six.  He's very small, but he also has a very severe version of a genetic blood condition that stunts growth if not properly treated, so really we've got no clue how old he is.  Finn was found abandoned in a hospital in his city when he was around two years old.  It's much harder to tell with children who aren't babies.  We will have him aged when he is home just so we can be sure he is getting appropriate serves and treatments for his age.  

I can't help but feel so sad when I think about Finn's parents.  They discovered their child, that they had held and loved for two years of his life, was sick.  Not just sick, but sick in a way that would require constant treatment for the rest of his life.  Sick in a way that can't be stopped in China.  Only with the advancements of American medicine.  People in China can't afford medical care.  Not even minor issues, let alone major genetic conditions.  And Beta Thalassemia Major is ALWAYS fatal in China.  It's not a matter of if they will die, but just of WHEN.  It doesn't have to be that way here.  Basically, their two choices were keep their child and send him to an early grave, or abandon him when he had no idea what was happening and hope that someone could save him.  Can you imagine?  Can you imagine being told your beloved little one, who is just starting to toddle, and who flashes you dimpled grins covered in graham crackers, and who begs for the same book over and over again, has a terminal disease, let's say cancer for the purpose of this exercise, and that no one can or will treat them.  Not unless you give your child away.  To a stranger.  They won't be back again.  You'll never see them again ever.  I can't imagine the agony of making that choice.  Really, there'd only be one choice you could make, and that's the one that Finn's birth parents made.  I wish there was a way to reach them.  To let know that I share in their pain.  That I can't imagine the horror of being faced with that reality.  

I wish he'd never had to be given away, that he would never have needed another family in the first place, but he was, because this life is not fair, but we are so blessed that he will be our son.  

Finn is a silly boy, a jokester, an irrepressible spirit.  He's clever and funny and mischievous and full of a spark that far outweighs the genetic condition that others might find crushing.  I have a feeling there's nothing this boy won't be able to do if he puts his mind to it!  I have so many adorable videos of this guy, (I don't know how to share them so don't ask lol) where he shows his indomitable spirit.  And his contagious giggle.  Also his hatred of radishes, but mostly his spirit. 

Kicking it summer style.  Does he look cool or what?  Love the little boy capris and the nautical shirt. He looks ready for the beach!  Too bad we live in the desert and are completely landlocked!  But he sure does look cute!

Love this kid's smile.  There's just something about it.  So impish and adorable.  That big stomach he's sporting doesn't mean he's eaten a few too many Twinkies.  It's the result of his distended spleen and liver from his Beta Thal Major and improper treatment.

Chinese kids always make this sign for pictures.  I'm not sure what it means, to be honest, but they sure love it.  No series of pictures is complete without this sign thrown in for good measure!

Look at that face!  Seriously!  Could this kid be any cuter?!  Don't answer that in the comments.  It's a rhetorical question.  The answer couldn't be anything but 'no'.  

Another three weeks or so and this guy will be in our arms.  Can't wait to give him a smoosh!

If you feel so directed, we are still struggling to meet our 4K matching grant.  Without it, we'll have no chance of traveling.  Even after we've met it we will still need another 10K give or take, but after the nearly 40 we've already put up, that seems like so little!  We know God can make this happen!

When our Reece's Rainbow FSP http://reecesrainbow.org/70645/sponsoranderson-2 reaches $11, 236 we will have met our matching grant and will be given another $4,000.  I don't have to say we desperately need that money, but I will anyway ;)  This is important stuff for our journey!  We hope to be offered another grant that could be up to 5k before we travel.  That would be such a blessing!  Please pray for the grant to come through, we could sure use it.  And please pass on our fundraiser post below to your friends or family if you think we're selling something they might be interested in!

Thanks so much for following and participating in our journey.  We literally could not be doing it without the help and encouragement of others!

Amber

     

Good news!

At this point we have soft LOA.  That means that, basically, China has approved us.  However, we don't have the hardcopy of that Letter of Approval yet, which means we can't move on to the next step, with American immigration, until we have that.  We expect to see it very soon.  Honestly, we expected it several days ago.  We've had soft LOA for over a week.  But that seems to be the pattern of this entire adoption.  We expect things to happen much sooner than they do.  But in a non expedite there's typically around 9 days between soft and hard.  Tuesday we'll be there, so the hope is we are talking very soon. 

That means that we're probably somewhere around three weeks, give or take, until travel approval.  It's so hard to know with an expedite because sometimes they hurry and sometimes they don't.  We've moved on to 'getting real' stuff, like setting up bunk beds and getting a hold of clothes for both boys.  I will pack their suitcases soon, just so they are ready and I have less I have to do to get ready.

Another very exciting thing.  We have been offered a FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR matching grant.  So when our Reece's Rainbow FSP, listed here, http://reecesrainbow.org/70645/sponsoranderson-2 , reaches $11,436, we will receive another $4,000.  This is HUGE for us.  We desperately need this money, as you may have guessed from our previous post lol.  So, with that matching grant in mind, we wanted to present all of our fundraisers again in one place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have personalized beach towels.  Embroidered.  They come in about twelve colors and I can get other colors if people are really into it.  But they might not be as nice as the normal towels.  These things are plush!
5 feet long, about 2.5 feet across, EXTREMELY plush.  These are usable all year long and they definitely won't get lost at the pool!  $16 plus shipping, or play it safe and pay $18 shipped!






Custom jewelry pieces!

A gorgeous blue and gold necklace with a flower in the center.  Love this thing!  $25 shipped.  Blow up the pictures and take a good look!  You're going to love this one!



We also have this adorable teal round bracelet.  Is this thing too cute or what? $20 shipped.


For those who have liked the gorgeous jewelry we've been selling the last few weeks, you will want to check this one out.  These were made by a New Mexico artisan named Jennifer Radcliffe, who is so, so talented.  I have a $100 gift certificate for a custom made creation from Jennifer Radcliffe.  Save A LOT by picking this one up for only $60.


We've been making these pillowcase dresses and pant suits as a fourth of July fundraiser.  It's a bit on the late side for that now, but we are still offering them in any kind of fabric you want to suit your summer cuteness needs.  I've seen some TOTALLY adorable pink and green chevron.  Just sayin' ;)  Check them out!  I have patterns from 2T up to size 8.

Soon, within the next day or two, I will be offering up a new Swinter auction!  What's Swinter?  Aside from being an episode of Phineas and Ferb, it's also an amalgamation of summer and winter.  It's a winter sale in summer!  We have so many great blankets, baby hats and jackets for sale.   So keep an eye out!  Thanks so much for considering helping us meet our $4,000 grant!


Amber