4.26.2011

Thank You Readers!


 Getting a decent family picture these days is mission impossible.  Dan's not ready for the picture, my leg looks goofy because I am trying to pose, Kai is exhausted tired and Bei is bored with it all.  
This is the best family picture we got from Kai's baptism in early April.

I wanted to take the time to thank all the people that have taken the time to read the blog over the years. I don’t take it for granted that you are reading my blog, especially when there are so many well written blogs. My first post to this blog was 3 years ago in April of 2008. It has been such a fun outlet for me. My intent was to tell both warm and interesting stories that people could relate to regardless if they adopted or not. I appreciate the fact that you have indulged me in allowing me to share my foibles and struggles of parenting and you have even let me brag about my little guys. You have all been the best audience and I have received such positive feedback from so many of you. I really thought it was time that I gave you the same and said thank you from the bottom of my heart. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

  
I thought it would be interesting to you to read some of the statistics from the blog;

My blog has been viewed 6,921 times in the past 3 years.

The blog has been viewed in the following countries

• USA

• Netherlands

• United Kingdom

• Russia

• Germany

• Spain

• Japan

• China

• South Korea

• Moldova

 Don’t you wonder how a person in Moldova found my blog? I do! But more importantly don’t you wonder where the heck is Moldova? Okay, I will save you the trouble and share with you what I found on-line, it is an Eastern European Country between Romania and the Ukraine.

Official Followers 
I have 3 official followers that have signed up on blogger to receive emails when I update the blog; 2 people that I know – Thank you Pamela and Tanya, one that I have no idea who it is – Thank you anonymous person. I’m not even sure how to sign up to be a follower on a blog.

There are multiple traffic sources to the blog;

http://www.jonwoldtriplets.blogspot.com/ – This is one of the biggest sources of our traffic! This blog is a friend of mine who has three beautiful triplet girls. Perhaps you remember a picture or two of Bei with the girls. Well on her site, she has my blog listed as one of her frequently read sites. We receive many of our blog hits through her site! So thank you Alison. And thank you to all the Jonwold readers who have checked out our site as well. We appreciate you and hope that you have enjoyed the blog!

http://www.sharinglifeandlove.blogspot.com/ – This is another blog that we are listed as a favorite or frequently read. The author of this blog is a huge advocate for the children in China still waiting for their families. She was an advocate for Kai.  Thank you Erin!

Google .com and then typing in our blog name are other ways people locate our blog. The people that type in my blog name are most likely family and friends.

The most frequently read blog articles that I have written in the past three years are;

  1. Ear Surgery Results, posted on January 29, 2011,
  2. My Wee Wee Hurts  posted March 13, 2010
  3. A blog that had no title on it but was posted on May 6, 2010 - It was our last day in China.

Once again thank you for reading my blog and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!

4.17.2011

Love Grows

We are coming up to a year of our anniversary of picking up Kai in China. Even though this has probably been the most physically strenuous year for me, it has also been one of the best years of my life. If I could put a title to these past 12 months it would be simply "Love Grows". Not just for Kai, but for Bei, Dan, my family, and most importantly, my Lord and Savior.




Each time you adopt, it is like opening up a box of chocolates...you just don't know what you are going to get. When we adopted Bei, I was a first time parent. I was expecting that I would love Bei and do all the emotional heavy lifting. He was 2.5 years old, and had gone through many changes in his life already. I imagined I was going to be dealing with a somewhat scarred child. And boy, was I wrong! That little boy SMOTHERED us in unconditional love from day one. The amount of kissing, and physical hugs were unbelievable. His love for us was so unexpected that it blew me away and still does to this day. He must tell me at least 10 times a day that he loves me. He won't be able to comprehend that it doesn't even compare to the amount of love that I have for him, until he has a child of his own. That little boy was made to be mine. I totally "get him" and understand who is and he is just perfect in my eyes.



You all have witnessed us opening our second box of chocolates, when we adopted Kai. There were a few surprises along the way, developmental delay and seizure disorder. From an emotional standpoint, he was a happy child, but he didn’t bond with us immediately. He could have easily left with any person that visited us. Many times while being held by others, he didn’t want to come back to me. What Kai didn’t know was that I had secret weapons in my pocket, called faith and unconditional love. We had been taught the power of unconditional love through God, our parents, and most recently Bei. My faith allowed me to know that there was a purpose and to remain faithful to what God expected of me as Kai’s mother. There were turning points along the way where I saw Kai’s walls break down slowly. One of them was the when he cried real tears instead of his thrashing and arching of the back. Another was when I dropped Kai off to my friend’s house because I had an appointment and he cried and reached out for me. I was so excited I” whoo hoo’d “and it was very hard to leave him that day because I didn’t want him to regress. My friend, Maria, understood because Kai always preferred her over me and she understood the importance of bonding. Slowly but surely, I saw the Kai’s love for us grow, I became his security and he has become a mama’s boy…just how I like my boys! I am crazy in love with that little boy and I am still falling deeper and deeper in love with him. He makes my heart sing and my eyes well up in tears because he is so incredibly special. God knew what he was doing because Kai was so meant to be my son.





This is a picture of Kai that I took last night.  Doesn't he look like a big boy?
One of the first days with our Kai Kai Sweetie Pie!

4.13.2011

Fighting the Green Monster...

The picture speaks for itself!

This is a picture from one of our Saturday Night Dance Parties!  
I really owe a blog on what a wonderful dad Dan is!   These are two very lucky little boys to have a dad like him.  He is really one of the best!



I usually do not have an envious bone in my body.  If people have a bigger and nicer home than me, great, I am happy for them.   If they drive a nicer car, more power to them.   I just don't really care about material things very much.  However, I have to confess to being a little envious of the adoption mom's that I see going back for their 4th, 6th or 12th child.  Many of these parents also adopted in 2010 and I follow their blogs.   I would LOVE to have a third and possibly fourth child, but believe me we are not going back to China any time in the near future...just ask Dan.   One of the things that you read/hear alot in the adoption world is "we thought our family was complete, but God had other plans for us and we are just following His calling" or "God told me that child X was mine and so we went to China and picked her up."    I am not only jealous that these parents are getting more kids, but I am jealous that they have a direct phone line to God.   It would make my life alot easier if God would just tell me "Liz, a child is waiting for you in China, go and get her".   All I would have to do is go to Dan and tell him, "Hey, you don't want to mess with the Big Guy upstairs, we are called to follow when He leads, we are headed to China, buddy!"   It would make all of Dan's arguments of finances and adoption moot.  I would just hold up my hand and say "talk to the Big Guy upstairs."   Anyway, I got to thinking the other night, maybe I am missing what God wants me to do because I wasn't praying correctly and "listening" to God.   I decided I was going to do it "right" this time, and actually get down on my knee's, bow my head to pray and talk to God.   I had just cleaned the wax out of my ears so if God spoke to me directly, I was surely going to hear it.    Just as I said, I knelt at my bed, bowed my head and spoke to God; "Thank you for the two wonderful children that you have given me.   I love them with all my heart and soul.   But God, are there other children that you want me to parent?   And then I heard it, it was a very distinct but kind of loud "NO!"   "But why God? I want to have another child"   And then I heard Him again say very distinctly  "Think of our finances Liz...uh...I mean think of your finances"   Hmmm...God's voice sounds somewhat familiar, I have heard it before.   "But God, I think we will be able to afford it, I really want another child"   "We need to retire at some point"   "Me and you God, retire?"   The voice comes back and it says, "you know I mean,... you and Dan".  This voice not only sounds familiar but disguised, I am starting to have doubts about the authenticity of God's voice and I lift my head up and I see barefeet sticking out behind a curtain...."Is that you Dan? "   Obviously, I am kidding, but you get my picture...God's not talking to me and Dan is keeping his eye on our financial future...imagine that from a guy who works in the Financial Services industry.  
Truth be told, if Dan wanted to go back right now and get another child, I would force him to see a psychiatrist!    But, I do have to admit that when I saw more and more of the adoption mom's that I follow going back for more children I did get that twinge of envy.  I am envious that they have the energy, and the resource to add more children to their lives.   I don't feel like my energy and resources are depleted, instead I feel that my energy needs to be focused on the children that God has already given to me.   I have come to terms with the fact that we may be done (or maybe done for right now) building our family through adoption and can be truly happy for the children being adopted and the families adopting them.