IS 8 Enough?

1 day later...

2010-08-19T16:59:00.001-07:00

I made it here and lucky I knew where I was going because the taxi driver had no idea! I had to direct him around the island to the hotel. Thus far this has been a strange experience, I couldn't remember anything about being her before and all the sudden it all came back the minute I walked into the hotel elevator. I remember Harlow being in her carrier and laughing at herself in the mirrors, when I went into the bathroom I remembered her having a bath in the inflatable tub that I brought. It seems like everywhere I look I can remember another moment with her here! I can't wait to get out and look around a bit and see everything out there. I don't think that Kelli and the kids get in until about 10 pm, I am so happy they let me check into the hotel so early, this would have been a very very long day! It was 82 when we got here at 545 this morning.

The man sitting next to me was jealous of my sleeping, when I woke up he said "I think you slept 8 hours that time!" I told him I was only sleeping 3 hours a night at home and I planned to catch up a little to help with the transition! Right now it is 7 am here and 4 pm at home. I just talked to Chad and he was getting the kids ready for football, I am going to take a walk and try to skype them later so I can see them! I already miss them so much and its's only been 1 day!

Jessica A. Hillard

Gettin Ready!

2010-08-16T22:25:00.001-07:00

In 1 day I will be on my way to China again. I am so excited. My friend Kelli is adopting and I will be meeting her in Guangzhou to help with her kiddos for the remainder of her trip. Did I mention that I am excited!

Don't get me wrong I am concerned about leaving my kids and hubby for so many days but I know they will be fine or at least that is what I tell myself so I don't totally lose it!

If I can figure it out I will link Kelli's blog to the post, follow us => http://smithfamily-countingourblessings.blogspot.com/

Wahoo here I go!

How Could We?.. How Couldn't WE???

2010-08-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

This question we hear all the time is really weighing on me. How could we? I really can't imagine how we couldn't. I know our life is very hard for other people to understand or even imagine. I won't say its always easy because come on we have kids, is that ever easy? But what I can say is in this family life is amazing and we all have our days but more often then not life is great. So I ask you, how couldn't you? How couldn't you be that change that people so often want to be but never are because the effort is too much and it is so much easier to just give up and leave well enough alone.

I often don't know how to respond when people say how lucky our kids are. I admit on the surface it appears they are lucky but underneath that there is so much more to our kids. One day they will want more information about their birth parents that we will never be able to give them. The might not want to be Chinese American, Latin American or African American but they are. I don't know their family story aside from ours and I wish I did. I don't see any of the loss they have gone thru as lucky in fact today it is down right painful.

Chad forwarded me a story today about a lady with 22 kids most of them adopted and asked if I could ever see myself like that. Yes, Yes I can. The gift of family is amazing and the love of family can heal almost anything, years from now when our kids are looking for anwers to the questions that I fear the most as an adoptive parent they will have eachother to turn to for understanding and support.

Blessed yes they are...Blessed are we.

We made it home!

2009-05-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Introducing Nora (Eleanor Grace, DOB 8/27/08ish!)
and Max (Maximus Cade, dob 12/11/08)

The tongue is always out! I've been telling him he's the next Michael Jordan!This one was so funny I had to post it!

Anybody who has followed long knows that I don't blog much when I am home, sorry!

Yes, we made it home! The babies are doing great, she seems to be adjusting a little slower then him but she is older so that I what I expected. The trip was very short we were only there for 4 days, I am guessing we spent almost as much time flying as we did there! The Internet didn't work there so I was unable to post anything, it was strange we would get up in the morning and go to turn the light on in the bathroom and there would just be nothing and both times it happened there was no power until that evening. We were prepared for a different culture and that is exactly what we got, we were not scared at all the people were very friendly. Although we did get a lot of stares. I know all you wanted to see is the pictures I don't know why I keep babbling on!

And I'm outta here!

2009-04-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

This entire thing seem so surreal, I leave in just a few hours. If you see my kids while I am gone remind them their Mom loves them very much! If you see my husband remind him what an amzaing man he is and tell him to get some sleep!

I want to post but just can't right now my mind is racing

Packing

2009-04-17T19:28:00.001-07:00

Wow this is coming so fast now! I leave Thursday morning to start the final leg of this journey. I just read the post about Cade and it still makes me so sad to think about. The boys still talk about him often and draw pictures of him or for him. When I last talked to the adoption coordinator she said I could possibly go to him while we are there. I don't know if I can, I want to but I am worried that I may never forget what I see and what if it's not as beautiful and peaceful as I see it in my mind. Would it be healing or would it be pain, I just don't know. This trip is already so emotional and intense, it's only 4 short days and then we leave Ethiopia and head home. My babies need their Mommy focused on them but so much of them is from him, I just don't know....I will never get this opportunity again and I feel like if I leave without going I may always regret it. Boy this post turned a different direction didn't it.

2009-04-16T18:33:00.001-07:00

Test mobile blogging

Read the blog name and brace yourself.

2009-02-03T23:20:00.001-08:00

In 2006 when I created this blog I never knew how true the name 8 is enough would be. For awhile there we thought there would be 7 but it was not to be. The story is long and sad but if I don't tell I don't know if I will ever fully deal with it.

After being in China and seeing so many orphaned children our hearts were again opened. We knew that the need was there but to experience it first hand is completely another story. You realize that absolutely everything you have is taken for granted. Health, family, a home, food to eat, people to eat with, cars, shoes, water...the list goes on and on but the point is it makes you realize what you can do. And what we can do is adopt another child and let one more child experience the life that we live with the opportunity that we have and the family that we love. After looking into several different programs and ruling out programs for various reasons we knew that we wanted to adopt a boy. Baby girls seem to be the first choice for many families, we wanted to give a child a life that they otherwise might not have and the right choice for us seemed to be a boy.

In September we accepted a referral for a baby boy we were going to name him Cade Gentry, he was 3 months old. Papers were gathered files were sent and we were on our way. In early December we received a call that our baby passed away, how could that be we were supposed to be bringing him home in late January. He may have had a heart condition, we will never know. What we do know is that in his life he was loved both by the family that he had at the care center and by our family that was waiting here. We know that his birth mother loved him or she never would have been able to make such a selfless decision putting his needs above her love for him. I don't know that I could do the same. In the end he ended up with her in his country where he belonged. We don't know how but his mother also passed and they are buried next to each other. It was a horrible loss for us, one that we are still dealing with and will likely always deal with. Our conviction is stronger, our belief unscathed. We will adopt again.

Christmas Eve we received referrals for 2 babies one boy and one girl, not twins. After much consideration we accepted both of them, we will be bringing them home mid April. We are beyond excited, I know that what we went thru brought us to a point that we could accept the babies when they were referred, it could be no different. We mourn the loss of Cade and I am sure we will for quite some time but he brought us to these children and will never be forgotten. He lives in them and the opportunity that they are now given because of him.

These babies have brought so much happiness our adoption coordinator is amazing and seems to really understand that I can have all these emotions at the same time. While I am sad for the loss I am happy for the opportunity we are now given. Had we been given a referral back in September for a baby girl (and she was there then) we never would have accepted it knowing that there was another family that would accept her. She was meant to be with us, why she was not referred to another family is not my story to tell, she was waiting. There was no way to choose between them because he was ours no question we were waiting for a baby boy. And so there it is, 8 is enough!

Harlow April 2008 to Aug 2008

2009-01-30T20:56:00.001-08:00

So I'm not a blogger!

2009-01-30T17:13:00.001-08:00

Alright, well obviously we made it home from China, sorry for the delay life took over!

It seems like it was so long ago I can even begin to remember everything that has happened in the last 10 months. So I am going to start again with where we are now.

Harlow is doing great. She has bonded well she still has some issues with strangers and that is just fine and to be expected considering two strangers came from nowhere and took her away from everything she ever knew. Shortly after we got her home I took her to a cranial specialist and it was decided that she needed to wear a helmet for plagiocephaly(her head was not shaped right). She wore it for about 6 months. Once a week we do physical therapy and will continue for quite some time. She will be 2 in April and is not walking, she has major muscle tightness on the right side which we are working out and as we do it is getting easier for her be physically active. Her language is amazing, my favorite thing she says is "ludgeu momma" (love you momma) she also says thank you for everything even changing her diaper, pretty funny! She has been using the toilet, I feel like they must have had her using one in China at some point because she needed to use it and was holding everything in. She has grown so much when we got her she was in 3-6 clothes now she is in 12-18 and going on 18. Thursday her therapist brought a four wheeled walker that she has to pull instead of push and she has been all over the place walking, its just amazing.

I will post more and pictures too but need to publish before my computer goes nuts!

Almost time!

2008-04-10T01:57:00.001-07:00

My Favorite store on the island (the purse stores are in the city!) Chad's cool new coat, does it really suprise anyone that it matches the stroller?
Should we be worried about traveling on this plane?

Well the shoe count is up to 22 pair. Not much else to report we have been eating and shopping, we visit Starbucks every day, can you believe Dennis had never been to Starbucks. Now he has...Harlow is doing very well, I love that she looks at me now like she knows who I am, she laughs so big! Its a huge belly laugh just like Chanc does/did. She weighs 16.2 lbs and is 27.5 inches, she sleeps so much last night we put her down at 9 and we woke up at 11 today. We are trying to stay up later so we can adjust a little easier when we get home, she sleeps so much I am sure she will do well.

Pictures

2008-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

She smiles! Kickin it at Starbucks with Daddy!
Harlow's crib at the orphanage

More pictures

2008-04-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

It was a long ride to the orphanage Oh the shoes!

Not much to report but more pix

2008-04-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Family picutre
Mommy's funny
Baby blogger!

What is there to do here?

2008-04-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

Anyone that is reading this that had been here please post in the comments, we have been around this island 50 times there is absolutely nothing to do here. We explored off the island a little today, guess what we found...more shopping. Tomorrow we go to the zoo, I am very excited. We really would like to get out there and see some of the culture but it seems like this is is just a big city, something like New York. I don't have the pix downloaded yet but as soon as I do I will post some, the place we went today seemed like times square. I was absolutely amazed at the number of people that we there.

Harlow is doing well, her personality is coming out more and more by the day. She seems to be a night owl which is good because night here is day at home. She is becoming more vocal as I am typing she is laying on the bed talking.

Orphanage visit

2008-04-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

We were able to visit the orphanage yesterday, something we really wanted to do. It was not as shocking as we thought it was actually clean and not extremely crowded. We were able to take pictures of her crib and any other areas that did not have children in them. The nannies seemed very excited to see her but she did not react to them, I was worried that she might be upset by it. I put her in a sling and I am glad that I did the nannies we trying to hold her but they were not able to get her to go to them. There was a little one in one of the baby rooms that I had a hard time walking away from, she was so happy and just jumping up and down in the crib and I waved at her and she waved back over and over. I started playing peek a boo and she just laughed and laughed she had a very good personality and beautiful smile. There we so many of them, hopefully they are being processed for adoption as well. It was a 2 hour bus ride each way but well worth the time it took. Harlow is doing very well, she is eating and making great eye contact while doing it, she sleeps great last night she slept for 14 hours straight, so did I! We are here for 6 more days I have no idea what we are going to do for the rest of the time, we explored the entire island, tomorrow we hope to get away from the island and check out the rest of the city.

ps I found starbucks!

She's here!!!

2008-04-01T03:00:00.001-07:00

As we sit here the most beautiful baby girl is sleeping in our room, did you hear that I said our room! For months I have been praying and talking to her in my head saying over and over baby girl momma is coming. I can't believe the time is here and she is right here in my room, I just want to wake her up. I know she needs the sleep this is a huge transition for her but we have waited so long. Now matter how they come into your world it is the most amazing thing when you have another child, the love that is there is instant and nothing can ever compare. She is absolutely perfect with the most beautiful long eye lashes. When they handed her over to me she didn't cry at all in fact she didn't ever cry until I tried to lay her down to change her diaper and then only for a minute until I picked her up and then again when I changed her clothes. The ride back to the hotel was another story, she was very tired obviously, she has been sleeping now for two hours. She had a 2 hour ride here and then was given to a complete stranger. She cried for a few minutes on the bus and has been sleeping every since. We have decided to call her Vivian Harlow, it is such a beautiful name and fits her just right. Chad is very excited because he can also call her Harlee which was another choice that we really liked. What an amazing day! I should also mention that they shaved her hair so no mohawk, also no hair for all the clips I brought! she seems to be just about a 6 month size, 6-12 still seem a little big but 3-6 look like they won't fit long. On another note did I mention that I am in purse heaven here??? Everyone knows of my love for purses and what better then a great bargain and a fabulous hand bag too! Watch out here I come.

travel day

2008-03-31T08:20:00.001-07:00

Today was a travel day we made it to Guangzhou, tomorrow is finally baby day! We are really tired tonight I will post more tomorrow.

Day 1 & 2

2008-03-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

I thought I was catching a great father son moment here turns out Chad was teasing him!
This is a picture from a man made lake at Summer Palace, this was created by the dragon lady outside the palace.
This is a beautiful Jade bracelet that we bought for the baby, Chad is showing how small it is.
This is my jade bracelet, the mother is supposed to wear it until the daughter gets married and then she passes it on to her. I thought this one was very unique and I like it so hopefully she will love it for its beauty and meaning as well.

Day 1 & 2 Pictures

2008-03-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

The "exploding fish"
Pedi Cab ride, there was a "salesman" following us trying sell us stuff I just couldn't stop laughing and by the end of the ride he told me "you #1 wife" didn't take him long to figure out where I rank!
We climbed all these stairs to the Bell tower
This one is titled "The Crazy Man I Travel With"
This one is for Nichole, squatty potty. Yes I used it more then once too, I don't think my favorite shoes will ever be the same again. They all looked at me like I was nuts when I pulled the roll of toilet paper out of my bag.

Day 1 & 2 Pictures

2008-03-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Bell Tower (sorry forgot to rotate)
Great Wall with snow!
The Gang
Off we go!
Almost there

I had a dream, help me out here!

2008-03-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

I had a dream the other night and now I can't stop thinking about it. For the last 2 years our baby has been MiaBella Maeteace, in my dream we changed her name. I like her name but there are several girls with her name in every adoption group which I don't like. I want her to have an American name not one that might be associated with adoption in any way so she doesn't feel any different from the other kids. We also have friends with a baby named Maya and that is causing some confusion for our kids about which one we are talking about or they refer to her as Maya when they are meaning Mia so...Crazy as it sounds we are considering the change. What do you all think? email me at jessicahillard@msn.com and let me know your choice and what you think. I promise I won't be offended I really am looking for advise here. Here are the names we are considering. MiaBella Maeteace or Vivian Harlow, she would go by Harlow, Vivian is after my Grandmother. the other thing I like about this second choice is that Wyatt also goes by his middle name and he is the first born and besides him all the kids now have on at the end of their names. Not on purpose it just happened that way, if we went with this the first and last would go by their middle names and the middle ones would have the on in common. So what do you think?

On another note we had a good day we went to the Bell Tower and went and saw the Chinese acrobats today. It was really neat, we also rode a pedi cab and toured a local artists house. It's cold here now I am wishing I packed warmer. Hopefully I can upload pix but no promises!

Made It to Beijing

2008-03-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Wow we today has been interesting. I woke up wih the flu so Chad and Dennis went to the orientation. We has an amazing lunch with our guides and yes I actually ate the food. The flight was soooo long but we made it thru. I am now on the look out for my precious Starbucks, they say there are everywhere but apparently everywhere here is not like home. Chad was trying to speak spanish to the people by mistake it was so funny! We are off to tour more later! Love Jess

Waiting in S.F.

2008-03-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Jessica, Dad and I are anxiously waiting for the airlines to board us. This has been a easy morning so far, everything has gone well. I can only hope that the rest of the flight will be this good and of coarse they has called our row!! GOTTA GO!! We will stay in touch if possible.

Ms. Mia! Late is better then never!

2008-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Ms MiaBella Maeteace
waiting in Dongguan CWI Guangdong China
Given name is Qian Xiao Fang
And now for the amazing part her birthday is 4-24-07, Payton's birthday is 4-24-05. I can believe these two little girls from such different worlds share the same birthday, I am so happy that they have that in common!

We are hoping to travel in the next month, I have been spending time getting ready and stressing out about the kids and the lovely Lisa that will be staying here with the kids! Poor soul! Just kidding!

Sorry to post this so late it has been crazy around here!

Stork Alert!

2008-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have waited over 2 years to post this!

MiaBella is on her way, hopefully we will have info by the end of the week!

Any time now!

2008-01-29T20:43:00.001-08:00

The Red Thread...

2008-01-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

Word is they are matching us right now with our baby. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I can't take another minute. Give a girl some help, come on referrals!

Wait baby wait

2008-01-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should have named this blog months from Mia, who am I kidding years from Mia. Will it ever end?

The last month has been the longest month ever, we could be just days from getting our referral now and I am nearly going insane. On the other side of that we could be a whole month away depending on how many days they get thru this month. I like to think that they matched most of the 20th and just didn't have enough baby files to get all the way thru the 20th. They will not split a day of LIDs so if there weren't enough they would hold them until the next month. After last month I am worried that we miss the cut off again, can I take another month? Do I really have a choice?

Shopping is my therapy, Chad says nothing. What a wonderful man, he is so perfect for me.

Ouch that one hurt

2008-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

****The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before December 19, 2005.***

This is a copy from the CCAA website. We missed the cut off by two days, somehow we thought this would happen but that isn't making it any easier. Now the best we can hope for is a referral in late January and travel in March.

What's been happening???Hum.........

2007-12-06T22:58:00.001-08:00

Well a lot has been happening around here and there never seems to be enough time to get to telling about it!

Grayson and Colton started preschool the week that Chad and I went to Mexico. I was really worried about leaving Grayson, more for me then him. It went a lot better then when I took Colton, no tears were shed! He was such a big boy! And now he loves it but it must tire him out because each day the first thing he is asking for when we get in the van is his blanket. Colton is doing much better I never get the tears and pleas I got last year "why are you doing this to me?" That just killed me but I know that he loves it there and that makes it easier!

On the adoption front, dare I say it................we might be next. Our LID is 12/22/05 (yes 2 years ago) and they are now thru 12/14/05 so we should be next if they continue at the pace in which they are going. I haven't really said much about it because most of the time it kills me to talk about it. I never imagined it would take this long, when we started the process the wait was 5 months and we were concerned because we had just come home with Payton so we waited a few months to send in the application, little did we know those few months would cost us almost a year. The time is right for us now, Payton is growing up although she still likes being the baby she has been taking care of her doll for the last few weeks and that is a great sign.
So What does that mean you ask??? We should get our referral (medical and pictures) in the beginning of january and travel to get her sometime late Feb early March. This all could go to hell if China doesn't move at the pace they have been going so don't hold me to it and now that I have actually put it in writing I am debating deleting it so who knows~!

Below are some pictures from the last few months, in preperation for China I am trying to find a photo program that I like so so I downloaded these to picasa so let me know what you think, Click on the pictures to take you to the album and then you can look at each or click slide show. I think it even offers an option to purchase if you fall in love with one!

Halloween

2007-12-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween

Click on the picture to view the album

We had a great Halloween, you will notice that Colton was a pink Care Bear in a few pictures. We took them to a party and the first time he got called a girl that was out and he went back to the old costume that he has been for the last 3 years, Nemo! I guess I got my money out of that one! Payton loved her lady bug costume as did Grayson. He was so funny in the monkey costume, I laughed so hard at the monkey toes and that banana in the pocket. At the soccer party he was very impressive as he showed us his dancing skills. Payton loved the dancing but the music was too loud for her liking! Wyatt and Jaxon did very well in their Ninja costumes, we just wish they were a little warmer.

They all picked their own pumpkins and had so much fun carving them, well almost all of the carved. Payton ran around picking up pieces of pumpkin eating them, she has all she could hold and then started shoving them in her mouth so that she could carry more to eat. She kept trying to get us to eat them even trying the ever convincing yummmmmmm with each bite before she shoved it towards our mouth! She loved trick or treating and actually made it pretty far.

Cancun Mexico 10 year anniversary!

2007-12-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Cancun

Click on the picture to view the album. What a great time we had! We spent our days on tours and reading by the pool. We stayed at an all inclusive resort that had 6 hotels in the Cancun area we were able to go from resort to resort. Chad went diving one day and i spent the day laying on a chair with my feet in the pool, so relaxing! We we snorkeling a few times and saw some really great fish. We also did a Mayan tour where we went on 4 zip lines above the jungle it was amazing, little scary considering there were not really and standards that they equpiment had to meet but that was an after thought!

Having a blast!

2007-09-18T22:53:00.001-07:00

Colton's new DO!

2007-09-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

I should have know when I walked in and saw this
And this...
And this...
That somewhere there was a kid that looked like this! He looks happy about it too! Nice mom that I am I made him wait a few days with goofy hair before I would fix it!

Looks Like Charlie Brown!

2007-09-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

Slide Show

2007-09-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

Perfect attendance award

2007-08-16T11:42:00.001-07:00

PICT0273, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Colton received an award at the preschool graduation ceremony for perfect attendance. Here he is with Deb our most favorite preschool teacher.

Last day of school

2007-08-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

PICT0281, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

For some reason they thought they needed to be twins for the last day of school, they looked cute! Wyatt is going into 3rd grade and Jaxon is going into 1st.

This cake was the best

2007-08-16T11:39:00.001-07:00

PICT0186, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

I bought this cake at Creative Cakery after our local bakery backed out 5 hours before the party. They made the best cake ever!

Happy Birthday to you!

2007-08-16T11:38:00.003-07:00

PICT0193, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

WOW

2007-08-16T11:38:00.001-07:00

PICT0208, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Grandma Bev made Grayson a spiderman bag filled with goodies, he loves it!

Grayson's 3rd birthday

2007-08-16T11:37:00.003-07:00

PICT0221, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Cake

2007-08-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

PICT0225, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

This is my attempt at a red cake, it didn't look great but it still was good!

Gifts

2007-08-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

PICT0230, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Grayson got a Power Rangers tent from Colton so he would stay out of Colton's Nemo tent!

New Dual slip and slide!

2007-08-16T11:35:00.001-07:00

PICT0232, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa

I'm gonna have some fun on this!

2007-08-16T11:34:00.003-07:00

PICT0235, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

New Bike

2007-08-16T11:34:00.001-07:00

PICT0238, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

This was Grayson's gift from Mom & Dad, can you see the excitement in his face!

Bike

2007-08-16T11:33:00.001-07:00

PICT0240, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

It's not often that you get to ride your bike thru the house!

Birthday

2007-08-16T11:32:00.001-07:00

PICT0243, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Payton's Birthday Photos

2007-08-16T11:14:00.001-07:00

PICT0284, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

I know it's months over due but here are some photos from Payton's birthday. I am trying to use a new photo program that I can attach a little easier to my blog. At this point I can only attach one picture per post, I think I need to upgrade to be able to post the entire set. I will get there! Enjoy the pictures below!

Birthday!

2007-08-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

PICT0322, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Birthday Girl!

2007-08-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

PICT0321, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

Notice the matching dress here! She is starting to like babies, this is a set that Grandma and Grandpa gave her she is feeding her baby Dora.

The Spread!

2007-08-16T11:10:00.001-07:00

PICT0282, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

The Pink Polka Dot Cake

2007-08-16T11:09:00.001-07:00

PICT0283, originally uploaded by hillardpo6.

We had a polka dot party, this was my attempt at a cake that I saw in a Rachael Ray magazine. I couldn't figure out how to get the frosting smooth but it still turned out pretty cute! And it was yummy!

AS IF!

2007-06-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

As if this wait wasn't hard enough then I see this picture, now it will be twice as hard if that's possible.

Beach Trip

2007-05-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Easter Slide Show

2007-05-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

Not Bloggin' much

2007-05-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while...I haven't felt much like posting lately. The last few batches of referrals from China were terrible and it just keeps extending our wait. We are hoping that we have a referral by the end of this year and travel will be shortly after. Then again we thought she would be here a year ago too, so we just wait and see!

The kids are doing great, I have so may pictures to share. I might just post a few slide shows so everyone can see them.

We have been wrapped up in baseball season but it is coming to an end now. Jaxon already had his last game and I think that Wyatt has 3 more. We have only been playing for 3 weeks so we should continue until July sometime. I love playing softball but man does it make me feel old. Last night my body ran faster then my legs and I fell like a fool trying not to get tagged at home plate. Chad asked if that hurt as much as it did watching it! That's my supportive husband right there! Oh well he has had his finer moments too! However, I am on a mission to get myself in shape, not quite sure how yet but the plan is in the works!

Life around our house

2007-04-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Spring break is here and well it's almost gone! The kids are enjoying all the free time and no commitments to do anything! Mom is not so sure about all the free time, it seems to lead to many fights and everyone is involved! I have been spending time getting ready for this week so they would have several choices to keep them entertained thru the week but as expected I still am hearing "Mom, I'm bored" I would give anything to be bored, funny how that works! The kids don't know it yet but we will be taking them to the beach this weekend, we are staying the night on Friday night and coming home Saturday. I got a hotel right on the beach, we are just hoping for good weather!

On the China front, we are still waiting...it's terrible. Anyone that has been thru this completely understands, some days it's just a fact that you have to wait others it's frustrating and others it's just down right depressing. And just a few it is all of the above. There is a light at the end of the tunnel now, they are processing applications received in late October and early November 2005. Our file was received and logged on 12/22/2005 so they are getting closer to us. There are rumors that it will take 4 months to process all of Novembers files and then 2 months for December. I can deal with 6 months, it's just the unknown. There is also a possibility that it could take April and May to get thru November and then we would receive our referral in June. Very slight possibility but it is there. We will travel about 6 weeks after we get our referral so it seems safe to say we should be in China some time between September and December. Let's hope I didn't curse myself by actually saying that out loud!

Jaxon and Wyatt are just starting baseball season and Chad and I are starting another season of softball. Noting like being at a baseball field 5 or 6 days a week, we look forward to this time of year for a few reasons. One we love baseball and are always excited to play and watch and #2 we know that summer is getting closer and we will be out on the lake in no time at all! We have 6 camping trips scheduled this summer. This is the first summer we haven't had an infant in... well about ever! The kids are really looking forward to it! Nice to have something fun to keep us busy while we wait!

Grayson and Colton keep us busy, very busy. My Mom swears they are twins born at a different time, thank god! I can't even imagine two of them at the same age. They are absolutely CRAZY, a lot of fun but man you never know what will happen with the two of them around. Wyatt and Jaxon have always been very predictable and pretty mellow, not these two. They keep me on my toes! Payton is doing great, she is talking more each day. I am also teaching her sign language which she chooses to use when she feels like it and other times she acts like she doesn't know what I am signing. She is more like Colton and Grayson, I am in serious trouble. I can just hope Mia is a quiet cuddly baby, we will change that I'm sure !

I posted another slide show below, not too many new pictures. I am sure there will be more after we got to the beach this weekend and Easter on Sunday!

More Pictures!

2007-04-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

I suck at blogging, Enjoy the pictures!

2007-03-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

| View Show | Create Your Own

Pictures

2007-02-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

Like the pose!

Don't take my picture!

Snow Day! Actually 3 of them~!

The snowman!

Wyatt

2007-01-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

Today my baby is eight can you even believe it, I know I can't. Tomorrow we are going bowling with his friends and cousins, he is very excited. I wish I had some of his baby pictures on computer so I could post but that would be way to much work! Hopefully this will work, I am trying to post from email, practice for when we are in China. Not that it is happening soon just that it will happen at some point and I will know how to post!

Christmas Program

2006-12-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

You might want to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the stop or pause on the music so you can hear them singing.

Colton had a Christmas program at school, they were snowman! As you can see from the video he got scared when Santa came. It was a surprise for the kids.

Baking Cookies for Santa

2006-12-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas

2006-12-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we sure did! The kids loved every minute of it, and so did we! This year we did not do as much as we usually do and it was nice. We spent Christmas Eve with my family like we always do and then we came home and decorated cookies and our stockings for Santa. Chads dad came over and helped out, he also stayed to help us get everything ready for Christmas day and then he went home; he came back early the next morning. Wyatt as usual was the first awake and he woke up the rest of us. Actually it was nice because we opened gifts with Wyatt and Jaxon and then Colton and Grayson woke up and then Payton so we were really able to see what their reactions were to each gift instead of trying to watch all of them at the same time. We let them play for awhile and then fed them and got them dressed and outside for the "big" gift.

We bought 3 quads for the older boys, it has been fun to see them. Wyatt is very cautious an seems to be thinking about every move. Jaxon on the other hand is just going and not caring what will happen, he has figured out how to whip it around and get it going from side to side on 3 wheels. Chad was amazed with that. Wild boy Colton was the first to roll one, once he got up and decided he wasn't hurt just scared he asked me if I saw everything spinning and I tried to explain to him the he was spinning. He is not too sure about it now, he loves me to drive him around but doesn't like doing it himself. He has got the craziest personality but he is actually very scared of stuff like that. We noticed when we took him to Disneyland that he doesn't like to be in a situation that he can not control 100%. Once he really learns he could be scary but now he will only go very slow so he is the safest at this point! Grayson got a tiny quad from Santa and he looks like a giant on it, he kept saying wait for me guys, he will be the one to worry about!

Payton did really well, she loved opening the gifts and carefully tore each piece and handed it to Papa saying "here" every time she gave him another piece. Chad was really excited with his gift too, I bought him season tickets for the Seahawks next year, actually I bought one and my sister bought another for her husband. Chad was a little concerned when he saw there was one he thought that I was trying to ship him off, once I told him Arric was going too he was really excited!

I have more pictures to post later.

My girl can Dance!

2006-12-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

I know this is dark but if you can see it try. It's a little long but watch her final move! Apparently youtube is down right now, I will post the video later.

Christmas Time Again

2006-12-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Wyatt's turn to do the Angel

Colton's Branch!

Our Gingerbread house!

Well it's that time of year again, busy busy busy... Some many things to do. I have been working on getting stuff ready for our annual Christmas party as well as sending gifts to friends and family that aren't here for Christmas (ahem!). I am also preparing another package to send to Payton's foster family in Guatemala. It seems like I can never get exactly the right thing for them. How do you thank someone for taking care of your child for the first 6 months of her life? Not only did she take care of her she loved her very much. Pictures and crystal just don't seem like enough but that's what I can do for now.

That said I can't wait for Christmas, I am so excited to give the boys their Christmas gifts. No I won't be telling you what it is but pictures will be posted soon after for your viewing enjoyment!

How did I miss an entire month of posting without someone saying something? Well it will take me a little while to post new pictures but lets start with these!
Maybe you can't see it in the picture but Colton put 5 ornaments on the same branch!

Beauty

2006-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

The prefect song

2006-10-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I got an email from our adoption agency...no, it's not what you think. She was giving us a website of a family that is in China getting their daughter, when I visited their site I linked to another that I could add music to my blog with. It took a few days for the perfect song to come to mind but here it is. You should be hearing it right now too if I did it right!

I Knew I Loved You(by Savage Garden)
Maybe it's intuitionBut some things you just don't questionLike in your eyes I see my future In an instantAnd there it goesI think I found my best friendI know that it might sound More than a little crazyBut I believe I knew I loved you before I met you I think I dreamed you into lifeI knew I loved you before I met you I have been waiting all my life
There's just no rhyme or reasonOnly this sense of completionAnd in your eyes I see the missing pieces I'm searching forI think I've found my way home.I know that it might sound More than a little crazyBut I believe
I knew I loved you before I met you I think I dreamed you into lifeI knew I loved you before I met youI have been waiting all my lifeA thousand angels dance around youI am complete now that I've found you I knew I loved you before I met youI think I dreamed you into life

Perfect isn't it.

The Wait...

2006-10-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

The wait is excruciating.

I never imagined we would be 9 months into it and have no clue when we would be getting our referral from China. I have good days and bad as do most waiting parents. For some reason right now it is very difficult. We thought that Mia would be here for Christmas this year and now it feels like we would be lucky if she is here next year. Hopefully that is being pessimistic, but honestly we have no clue. I think about her all the time, I have been spending time redecorating a room for the girls, Payton has spend almost the first year of her life in a boy bedroom. Well it's pink now and it's very girly. I thought that we would need to get Payton settled into the room and then make a switch to a bed before Mia gets here. Payton can be very strong willed, who am I kidding Payton IS strong willed. I am a little worried that she won't want to give up her crib if we wait until Mia gets here so we will be ready in advance. Lord knows we have enough time. We are going to be talking to Santa about a bunk bed set that we saw, it would be perfect for their room. I will post pictures of the room when it is done.

I thought that taking the time to do this would occupy my mind and make it easier, the truth is it is getting harder. It seems like she is always on my mind because I am working on the bedroom that will be hers and Payton's. Last Friday China celebrated the Mid Autumn festival (Moon Festival). October 6 was the time the moon was at it's largest. We looked at it Thursday and Friday night, my thoughts were all of Mia and her birthmother. What was she thinking, this is a day for family reunion in China. Does she know that there is a family right here waiting, longing for this beautiful baby girl? Does she know how loved she already is. The love we feel for this child we don't even know is amazing. It makes me so sad to think that as I sit loving her so much she could be laying in a crib in an Orphanage crying for someone to hold her or rock her. Is she cold, is she hungry does she just want to hear a loving voice...The closer we get the further away the light at the end of the tunnel seems to get.

Preschool days again!

2006-10-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

Why is it so hard to let them go? It's not like he is my first child or my last but the first day of preschool was terrible. I wanted so badly to stay with him and just watch as he took it all in but I had other obligations and was unable to stay. Maybe that is why it was so difficult, I felt like I was robbed of something and it hurt. I watched as Colton went into the classroom happy as could be and I tried, man did I try to hold back the tears but nothing worked. I stayed long enough to make sure he was ok and hooked up with his tutor and then I had to go. I cried the entire way home, I am sure the kids wondered what the heck was wrong with me. I put on some kid music and pulled over to call Chad. I know it was hard when Wyatt went but he was so ready and it was so exciting for both of us and when Jaxon went I was a little nervous but still I knew that he was ready. With Colton it was something different, I was really excited for him but sad for myself. I was missing the time that I have with him every day and the love that he shows me. Maybe I am a little worried that he will become more independent and not want me as much anymore once he realized there is more the life then Mommy. I can't say for sure... Chad convinced me to go home calm down play with the kids for a little bit and then go back to the school and watch for a few minutes. That made it much easier, it was nice to see him involved and happy. His preschool teacher promised me she would not break his spirit, not that she could but it was nice to hear! Colton had a great day, the next day on the way to school he told me "mom you don't have to be sad, everything will be ok" I thought I covered pretty good on the first day, I guess I was wrong! And just think I have 3 more to go, how will I ever make it?

More soccer pictures

2006-10-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

Wyatt is on the Bulldogs, he loves it this year! He is very loud when he plays, directing others imagine that!

This is a preview of Halloween, Grayson as the Funky Chicken! Don't worry I do have something to go under it he won't freeze!

Out of Touch!

2006-10-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

Soccer has consumed us, we haven't had time for much more then that lately. Not much happening to post either. Here are some pictures of Colton and Jaxon. Colton is on the Orange Tigers and Jaxon is on the Hurricanes.

Payton is kissing everyone right now. I attached one that shows her kissy face, she hasn't got the pucker figured out yet but I think this face is better anyway!

Didn't take long!! Out of review!

2006-09-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

Our files are now out of review at the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), now we play the waiting game. All the people that sent their files in from July 22, 2005 to December 21, 2005 will get their referral before us but now at least we know that it is very unlikely that there will be any problems. Besides the never ending wait! They review files in the review room and then the files go to the matching room where they sit until our time comes, which could be 5 months to a year from what I hear right now. If you are interested in looking at how it works look for the link on the left column towards the bottom of the page. We are waiting for it to say they have finished placement thru December 22, 2005. That is our LID.

Mariners Game

2006-09-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the Mariners game that we went to with Wyatt and Jaxon. Todd had tickets but was not able to go so we got VERY lucky! The boys had a great time, we were hoping to get some autographs but they had a late game the night before and a game the next day so they were not signing that day. We took the boys to the team store and let each of them pick something. Wyatt got a baseball for his collection and Jaxon picked a Mariners bike helmet. He looked like a "special" child for the rest of the day because he wouldn't take the helmet off after that. They were feeling a little silly, can you tell!

First Day Video

2006-09-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

The First Day of School

2006-09-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Wow what a week this was for us! Jaxon started kindergarten and Wyatt is now in second grade. My little boys are growing up to quick! Wyatt was worried that he wouldn't have any friends because his best friend moved away. He had a great day and couldn't stop talking about it when he got home, he has several kids in his class that are also on his soccer team and a few that were on his baseball team. We talked and I reminded him that other kids were probably feeling the same way and all he would have to do to make them feel better would be to say Hi. When he got home he told me it worked, he said Hi to people and they talked back! Imagine that! To a second grader that was a surprise!

Jaxon had a very eventful day, the school part went very well. One of his good friends is in his class so he was really excited to be there. It was just like another day at preschool with him except for the bus ride. The bus ride.....That's another story. I went to the school to make sure that the kids got on the right bus to get back to my house and then I planned to go home and wait for them with my sister. The kids bus showed up 45 minutes late to the school, apparently the driver didn't know school started on Wednesday. I waited at the school until they were on their way and then went home thinking it would be about 40 minutes. Three phone calls and 1 1/2 hours later my kid was at home. He thought the bus driver was taking them to "the end of the earth". The bus driver got severely lost, she's not the driver any more! The bus ride has been much shorter now! He loves it!

Colton starts preschool in two weeks, I can't even imagine what that poor woman will go thru with him!

Whatcha Gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside that shirt?????

2006-09-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Payton discovered a new storage system! Look at her shirt, the last two days she has filled it with blocks! The last picture is with all the blocks that we pulled out of her shirt!

Now It's Official

2006-09-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

www.china-ccaa.org Our files are now in the review room. Not that it really means too much but once our dossier is reviewed we can breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that they didn't find any reason to deny us a child and then we wait for our turn. It is starting to look like it could be a long wait, possibly over 18 months. But we wait...

2006-08-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

So You think you Can DAnce!!

2006-08-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Interesting Article on Guatemalan Adoption

2006-08-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

***This is not necessarily what I believe but it is interesting to read.

Rules may slow adoptions
CRITICS CHARGE THAT GUATEMALA BECOMING BABY FARM
By Juan Carlos Llorca
Associated Press
GUATEMALA CITY - Every 100th baby born in Guatemala grows up as an adopted American, making the Central American country the richest source of adoptees in the Western Hemisphere. But U.S. ratification of an international adoption treaty is likely to choke off the supply next summer.

Critics say Guatemala has become a baby farm where adoptions are too easy and prone to corruption. Defenders say it offers the children a better future, and that legal corners are cut only to spare Guatemalan women the stigma of unwed motherhood or relieve them of another mouth to feed.

For now, willing parents can get Guatemalan babies by paying thousands of dollars to notaries who act as baby brokers, recruiting birth mothers, handling all the paperwork and completing the job in less than half the time it takes elsewhere. The process is so streamlined that Guatemala outpaces all other countries in the percentage of its children put up for adoption in the United States.

All this will probably end once the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions takes effect in the United States. The United States will then require all foreign adoptions to meet tougher international standards, which Guatemala ratified in 2003 but has yet to implement.

“We don’t want adoptions to stop, but we believe the current system does not provide enough protection to the child’s needs,'’ said John Lowell, the U.S. consul in Guatemala.

The treaty, also ratified by China, Russia and at least 39 other countries, aims to protect children, birth parents and adoptive parents from abuse, in part by requiring a government agency to regulate adoptions.

Guatemala still allows adoptions to be managed privately, without judicial approval. In many other countries, adoptions take more than a year. Guatemala can deliver children in as little as five months.

Berta Morales, 35, has given the last five of her 10 children to Americans.

“It would have been more of a sin to abort them,'’ said Morales, who lives in Coatepeque, west of Guatemala City.

Morales said she was only paid bus fare to Guatemala City, the capital, to sign the papers.

But Josefina Arellano, who directs the government office that ultimately approves each adoption, says women who give up multiple children in a row are probably getting paid.

“When you look at the time between pregnancies and how many children they have given up, you have to conclude they are doing it for money,'’ she says. “What we’re witnessing is a baby factory or farm, dealing with children that should not have been born or put up for adoption.'’

Notaries who facilitate adoptions charge a “country fee'’ of up to $19,000. With U.S. paperwork and plane trips, the typical Guatemalan adoption costs as much as $30,000, adoption agencies say.

In the past six months alone, the government has brought 30 criminal cases against notaries for falsifying paperwork, allegedly providing false birth certificates and even creating false identities to avoid having to involve the birth father or the parents of underage birth mothers.

Applications are surging as parents rush to take advantage of the current process, which will apply to any request filed before the treaty takes effect in mid-2007.

Americans have adopted 17,863 Guatemalan children in the past nine years, French couples 1,440, and Guatemalans 576. Americans adopted 3,748 of the Guatemalan babies born last year.

With half of Guatemala’s 13 million people living in poverty, many families struggle to provide for their children, and an entire industry seeks them out. Newspaper and radio ads appeal to women with unwanted pregnancies to consider adoption.

Look who can write his name!

2006-08-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Word Cloud

2006-08-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Picture Video

2006-07-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Make your own PhotoShow

4th of July

2006-07-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Only on the 4th can you get away with these things in your hair!!

Pictures

2006-06-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

The picture of Colton sleeping is cute in itself but the reason I took it was because it was 102 outside and our airconditioner was broken. You can't see it in the picture but he is napping under the fan! I think he got cold outside in the water and decided he would warm up a little, or in this case a lot!

Wyatt is a die hard when it comes to boating, the picture doesn't give him enough credit( remember to click on the picture to see it bigger!). Colton laughed the entire time but wouldn't go without mom.

China Adoption

2006-06-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that some folks didn't know that we were in the process of another adoption. Sorry, right now we are in the waiting period. We sent our paperwork to China in December and were logged in 12/22/05. From that date we wait our turn for our referral, in June 2006 China issued referrals for people that sent their paperwork in last June. That should give you some idea about the wait, well at least we can guess it should be somewhere around 12 months until we get the referral and then about another 2 until we travel. Payton needs a sister...Mia needs a family, it couldn't be more perfect.

We are all really excited, this doesn't work anything like Guatemala so this is new to us too! Feel free to ask us any questions that you have we will answer the best we can! It is difficult to explain the wait to the boys because the time frame has changed so much from the time that we started. With Payton we could tell them that it would be after my birthday (August) and before Christmas. We thought that we would be in China this summer but if things keep going the way they are it might be next summer that we see her beautiful little face. We can see looking back that things have happened just as they should and when the waiting gets hard we try to remember that in time she will be here and it will be just perfect.

We plan to name her MiaBella Metise. Mia was Chad's choice and Bella was mine and they sound great together. As most of you know all of our kids have family names or names with meaning to our families so we used that in a different way to honor my dad's family this time. Metise means of French and Indian origin, I am not good at pronunciation so here is the dictionary version (mā-tēs', -tē'). We added an e on the end because it looked better, we are still not sure about that part. We may also add some part of her given name. Hey we've got time.

Payton's nightgown

2006-06-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait for her to wear this!

Kids

2006-06-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

Colton as the red and plaid ranger! Grayson is normal Grayson style, wearing someone else's shoes, at least this time they are on the right feet!

Baseball season is over

2006-06-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Wow do they ever look alike, you can really see it in these pictures.

Just bein' Colton!

2006-06-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Colton is in "Berity's Webbing" as he calls it in August. The other day Verity asked if I tried the tux on him yet so we decided we should get to business! This is the result!

Crazy Hair Day

2006-06-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Wyatt had crazy hair day at school as part of spirit week during the last full week of school. He wanted Blue and Green for the Seahawks colors but I couldn't find the color lucky Amber had some red at her house so we went with that. I included the full body shot so everyone could see how tall he is now! I have a second grader now!

Please somebody tell her she IS a GIRL...

2006-06-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Don't go near a baby doll or this is what we get, but put her in a room with the boys and she is just fine! She was giving Batman a ride in the Monster Truck. That's my girl!!!

Kid pictures

2006-05-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hollywood Payton!

Bad Hair day!

Grayson incognito, love the style!

She was happens when I leave her with Daddy!

2006-05-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

It might look like she is eating a popsicle but she not...it's dirt and boy is she happy about it! Look at her innocent look, she does it well huh!

Look at my boy go!!!

2006-05-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Jaxon decided it was time to ride his bike without the training wheels and look at him go! He learned within minutes and was riding down the neighbors driveway! That morning he was driving his Jeep powerwheel up the dirt on the side of the driveway and he flipped it over on himself and we had to go get his head glued, lucky for him they didn't do stitches!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2006-05-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Late is better then never, she was wearing the outfit on the right day!