Aint Too Proud To Beg...

May 31, 2011

But I am too freakin tired!

Ok now I have WAY TOO MUCH going on right now to start this again. And let's face it, it's not like you have all kinds of bubble bath time to spare.

So I'm just going to ask this one time and then throw this out to the side of my blog for you to ignore or not.

My blog has been nominated for the Top 25 Adoption Blogs. What do you think are we Top 25 worthy? AND who keeps nominating us?

I know, I know I'm already exhausted by these contest too. Trust me I will still love you even if I don't "win".

I mean would I like another pink button on my blog? Sure why not. You know I like the color pink.

But will I beg for votes? Not this time.

So it's all on you (no pressure or anything).

I will be in China anyway...doing things way more satisfying for me than winning blog buttons.

So I leave it in your capable click happy hands!

You know the drill you have to click the pink circle then go to my blog and click the vote button once each day until the contest is over in three weeks.

Happy Adoption Day to Macy

May 30, 2011

An adoption day celebration of noodles, green tea and cake...

Click if you love happy endings!

1st Gotcha Day Anniversary

Happy Adoption Day Macy Bel. It is hard to believe you have only been with us for a year.

Maybe its because we waited 8 months for permission to travel for you, or maybe its because we started the process to adopt you almost 5 years ago or maybe its just because WE were always meant to be, but it feels like forever.

I ~~can't~~ don't want to remember a time without you.

One day you will have your own thoughts and emotions about "Gotcha Day" and all the complexity that comes with it. For me though it was one of the happiest most important days of my life. How could it not be my beautiful daughter, it was the day I was finally and forever your mommy.

Gotcha Day May 30.2010...

Video of The Butterfly

May 28, 2011

Even before we got our PA we asked the orphanage in China to send us video of The Butterfly. She is diagnosed with cerebral palsy and we know she has some gross motor delays on her right side.

We felt a video would provide a sense of her gross motor issues better than any written report so we asked for one, never really thinking we would get it.

But we did and we we're absolutely thrilled to see how well she is moving. She is awesome!

Sadly though we learned she is getting no interventional therapy (which is typical).Instead they reported that she is encouraged to "play outside". Not quite the PT/OT services I was hoping for.

I've asked if I can provide this privately until I am able to bring her home and I have been told no. I am going to keep trying since it looks like it could be many months before we are able to travel. Until then I'm just going to have to have faith that she will improve and thrive once she is finally home.

I have met so many families who have adopted children with CP and their progress once home is nothing short of miraculous.

Pray with me for one more miracle.

(This video was taken on May 11, 2011: The Butterfly's 3rd birthday.)

Introducing our Beloved #6...

May 26, 2011

Arriving Home (hopefully) early 2012


东安欣 Dong (after the city she lives in) An (peace) Xin (beautiful/happiness), pronounced "On Sheen"

formally known on this blog as Gisela

Much to my surprise...I found my daughter staring back at me from my very own blog.

And before that she was listed as "shared list girl" on WC advocates and elsewhere.


An Xin at 28 months old

But she was always meant to be OUR

Baby Butterfly

Happy 3rd birthday dear daughter. We are glad we could send a cake and a few gifts and we promise this will be your last birthday without your forever family.

Details coming soon but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer.

Now doesn't that deserve a vote?

We Have Pre Approval!

Stay tuned for the big reveal....

Good Gift...Great Card

May 24, 2011

My husband isn't very good at gift selection.

Gift giving... let's just say is not his love language.

Over the years I've been the recipient of;

a tackle box (in lieu of a Caboodle make up case...cause hey this one came with a free lure!),

an Epilady (a hair removal device now used in terrorist interrogations),

a universal voice activated remote control (ummm that's why I have a husband),

multiple fuzzy (by which I mean hideously ugly) bathrobes balanced by hustler magazine quality lingerie that required instructions starting with a "this end up label" (not to mention a tummy tuck and a spray tan),

a do it yourself pedicure foot bath (duh DIY?, what's the point of that?).

One year at Christmas he filled my stocking with oranges. Oranges?

But he's getting better.

And it's always a good start when the gift is in a blue box

Even if it doesn't actually arrive until the day after your birthday. (cough, cough)

And it turned out this year he did a great job!

I've been admiring the Tiffany key necklace's for a while so I was very happy when I opened the box.

Way better than an epilady.

BUT THE CARD,

<sigh>

the card was the best part of the gift by far!!

Honestly it was so good... I sort of didn't believe he wrote it.

But he did.

And I'm starting to think he might have found his love language after all, (and he might have a second career with Hallmark!)

"May the goodness of your heart never be locked away from the world"

show your love language with a click of the brown button

Waiting Child: Ollie

May 23, 2011

Time to meet another child waiting for his forever family. You know I always choose the kids with the most sparkle and spunk and Ollie is all that and more.

Seriously is that the cutest face ever? Can't you just imagine this guy digging in the dirt, playing match box cars and GI Joes?

Get a baseball cap on him quick! He looks like an all American boy to me.

Ollie is an adorable little boy who interacts well with others. He is studying in the kindergarten of the institute, and can count numerals of more than 50. When writing he likes to use left hand, can write simple numerals, and can imitate drawing circles, triangles and etc. He recognizes the color and shape of objects. He can play the game “rock-paper-scissors” with others and knows its rules. He loves to play with cars and trucks, but Ultraman is his favorite.

His CP mostly affects his right side. He has good self-care ability, can take bath, put on and take off clothes and socks alone, can make his bed alone, and can help his foster family do something he can.

"Ollie" was born 4/2004 and is now 7 years old.

Have you ever imagined having a son? Maybe Ollie is the little man of your dreams.

If you would like more information about Ollie please email me.

Remember to vote everyday to keep this blog on the top of the Top Mommy Blog listing...

we want as many people as possible to meet these beautiful waiting children!

Hello Sunshine

May 21, 2011

After 8 consecutive weekends of rain, opening the door to THIS becomes blog worthy.

Hello springtime nice of you to finally make it.

Follow Me for a Dollar?

This is going down under "two birds with one stone". I want to add to my list of followers so as many people as possible will see the profiles of the kids I meet in China next month AND I also want to donate money for the orphanages we will visit there.

At first blush they don't seem to go together but I'm going to give it a go...Here's the pitch:

I will donate $1 for every new follower I have by the time I leave for China.

(Let's say by 5pm on June 4th.)

Right now there are 151 Followers listed on Five of My Own but there are more than 1000 hits a day on this blog: clearly lots of potential followers and money for orphans.

So here is your chance to become a public "follower" of FOMO (the blog you're already reading) AND help the kids in Chen Zhou, China.

Just click the "Follow" button on the right side of this blog under "Blogging is Social"... then choose "follow publicly" and that's it, you've donated a dollar to the Chen Zhou SWI!

Oh yes and PLEASE keep voting at TMB! So many people from there are learning about the joy of adoption!!!

Ballet Beauties

May 20, 2011

Update on China

Well two updates actually

First I am exactly 14 days away from leaving for my China mission trip (by way of Kazapalooza). We have been absolutely blessed by the generosity of so many people. There are only about a dozen people on our mission team but there are hundreds joining us in spirit and prayer!

As of right now I have more than 200 pounds worth of donations for the orphans in Chen Zhou packed for transport in my dinning room. Also the Bashful Bliss necklace fundraiser (with a bunch of help from Robin J) helped me raise $500 which will be combined with other donations and used to purchase a larger item needed by the orphanage once we are in China.

I am also really excited to be working with a group here in Cleveland called MedWish International to put together three kits (one for each orphanage we visit) filled with much need pediatric medical supplies. (Thanks Heidi H for all your help with this!!) I will be attending a fundraiser for MedWish this weekend and I’m really looking forward to learning more about their good work.

So we have lots of good stuff for the mission trip. We are struggling a bit to figure out how to get everything to China, baggage allowance being as stingy as the are these days. Most of our team is traveling with just a small carry on bag for personal items and using their checked bag allowance for donations but it still may not be enough. We are investigating costs to ship and extra bag fees, but all in all it’s a good problem to have. God (though many of you) has provided in a big way for this trip and He will continue to do so. After the amazing outpouring of love and support we have seen how could I believe otherwise?

Of course there is another China update, my personal update, you know the one where I’m adopting the most beautiful baby in the world (the one where I still can’t share a picture...sorry).

We are still waiting for a PA. Actually I guess my agency hasn’t even sent my LOI to China yet. I was a little surprised when I pieced that together since I wrote my LOI weeks ago and assumed it was sent in shortly thereafter. That’s how it worked with Macy. But the process is slightly different than it was a year ago, mostly because we are reusing our dossier. I expect the LOI will be filed today or soon and in any event by May 30th, our deadline for reusing our dossier.

I’m not upset by this “delay” as it will have no impact on when we get to bring our child home. That’s because one other change is that China will no longer issue the LOA until AFTER a family has immigration approval which we do not have yet. In fact we can’t even file our I800a until we finish our home study update.

So many things contingent on the other. A long to do list. A time line with many things out of my control. Yup I’m adopting again!

I’m strangely Zen about the whole process this time. it has nothing to do with lacking enthusiasm about P#6-I’m over the moon. I think it’s just that I’ve learned my angst added NOTHING positive to the adoption process.

Cry, complain, pound my fist and the process still inched along in its own time with hardly a nod to my histrionics.

I’m too busy (at least for now) to give in to this negative energy.

So stand by a little longer. Once I have the PA I promise to share. I have loads of pictures and even two videos of P#6 and I’ll be posting them all right here. In the meantime, Ommmmm.

Ok now this weekend is my birthday weekend (yeah at my age you need more than one day just to light the candles) and all I want this year is your vote....

"I'm Yours"...He's Mine

May 19, 2011

Of all my children I probably mention Aidan the least. He prefers it that way and I try hard to respect that.

But I just had to share this wee clip of him singing at his high school pops concert...(he's the kid swaying on the left of the screen.

Sadly I didn't get to see him sing in person because I was in India but just this out of focus clip was enough to make me cry.

because I was so proud of him

and because I missed it

and because he chose the song that was our "theme" song all though Nina's adoption.

<><>

But I won't hesitate no more, no more It cannot wait, I'm yours Well open up your mind and see like me Open up your plans and damn you're free Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love Listen to the music of the moment people, dance and sing We're just one big family And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved

Salute to Dads

May 18, 2011

How fun is this?

While I was in India I got an email with the subject line...

"Hello from "Morning Express with Robin Meade" on HLN"

at first I figured it was some sort of advertisement but when I read a bit further I was shocked to see this;

"Hi Lori,

I'm the web producer for "Morning Express with Robin Meade" on HLN (formerly CNN Headline News), CNN's sister network.

I know you are in India right now (hopefully you will hold on to this email until you get home), but not knowing your return schedule, I figured I'd go ahead and reach out anyway."

Apparently this wasn't spam.

It turned out to be an invitation for me to participate in an upcoming special feature on Headline News called a "Salute to Fathers". Like I said, how fun is that?

Completely flattered I have agreed to participate. So the kids and I are going to go full on Scorsese this weekend to make our video tribute to Dart. (Kiefer already has asked what our production budget is? Ummm zero, you dork.)

Of course it won't be a secret for Dart since I shared the email with him as soon as I got it but we'll keep the content of our video under wraps until Father's Day.

Frankly he's just excited to be "connected" to Robin Meade in any way. He's got sort of a thing for her. Apparently she's top on his list of women he gets a free pass to leave me for. Weird right? But not as weird as the fact that top of my list of guys is Matt Lauer.

Jeeze we are strange...and oddly attracted to morning news.

All that for a pink blog button?

May 17, 2011

Remember a while back when I was nagging and generally behaving badly begging for votes at Circle of Moms? Well this is what my mildly obnoxious (cough), slightly over competitive (cough, cough) got me...

Circle of Moms Favorite

Ohhhh ahhhh. I can tell you are impressed.

Go ahead click the pick button and scroll over to family #6 to read my oh so witty (cough, choke, gag) interview.

But first vote for me here. I slipped to #2 while I was in India....
jeeze I can't stop nagging you people for a second.

Waiting too long...

May 16, 2011

Still waiting for her family.

It’s four am and I’ve been up since two. Jet lag has the best of me.

That and I can’t stop thinking about the tragic loss of a beautiful baby girl this week: already matched with her forever family, she died in a Chinese orphanage before they could bring her home.

My heart breaks for this family.

And aches for my own waiting child.

No I’m not getting impatient (yet). It’s just sobering and scary to be reminded so painfully that these children are at risk everyday they wait.

The grim realities of orphanage life in a developing nation means kids can and do die waiting for; medical procedures, good food, clean water, medications...a family.

The unavoidable truth is many of these kids would be alive if not for the misfortune of being born in a place that has too many people and too little resources.

And yet millions of kids are waiting right now.

147 million.

And maybe that's the problem. Too many kids in need to see them as real...human...our own. Or perhaps the problem is too big to see how any one person can make a difference. 147 million? Best to keep an impersonal distance from such things.

Except one baby just died...waiting.

And,

Mariana is still waiting.

No wonder I can’t sleep.

please vote...I need your help to get back to #1

No place like home...

May 14, 2011

of all the pictures we took on our trip to India this was my favorite...

please vote...I need your help to get back to #1

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