Waiting for My Family

Although our sweet son Mycah's condition is very rare, last week I came across these two sweet young ladies who have also been diagnosed with CAH.  This is SO manageable here in the U.S.  I am happy to talk with anyone who would like more information on parenting a child who has adrenal insufficiency.  Both of these girls have a $4000 grant available for qualified families that choose to use WACAP (our amazing agency).  They are currently on the shared list, however, and so their file can be pulled by any adoption agency with a China program. 

Louise

When Louise came into care at 5 years old, she was very shy and quiet.  

When anyone would talk to her, she would lower her head and rarely speak back.  At 6 she was placed with a foster family.  She enjoyed this very much and is very close to her foster brother who is wheel-chair bound.  After almost 4 years with her foster family, she is a more confident child.  

She enjoys school and will answer questions out loud in class.  Louise loves to help!  She will often help her teachers with classroom jobs.  Helping her fellow classmates and her foster brother puts a smile on her face!  Her shyness has all but disappeared, and her caretakers say she has an “inner heart as bright as the sunshine!”

Jenni  

Jenni has been in her orphanage since she was very young.  

She is said to be an “extrovert”, but is initially shy with strangers.  She attends school at the orphanage and is a hard worker.  Concepts taught by her teachers are easily grasped.   At age 7, she knew 10 Tang poems, several children’s songs, could write simple Chinese words, and knew simple addition and subtraction.  Drawing, however, is what she loves!  She likes to draw people and share her works with others.  Her teachers and caretakers all like her and praise her as a good helper.  Her caretakers say she although she has “deep emotion” for her orphanage, she “hopes to have a real home in which her parents love her.”  

Both of these sweet girls have been diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.  Their adrenal glands lack an enzyme needed to make certain hormones.  This is treated with daily oral medication (typically 3-4 times a day) for life.  

There are some wonderful resources available for families affected by this condition. A file review by a pediatric endocrinologist is suggested as well.

• National Adrenal Diseases Foundation: www.nadf.us
• The MAGIC Foundation: www.magicfoundation.org
• The CARES Foundation: www.caresfoundation.org

And just so you know, my CAHer is full of life and love and it doesn't slow him down one bit!  Love our boy! 

Sweet Grace

Update:  My family FOUND me!!!

This sweet little face belongs to Grace.  

As we come upon Mother's Day in a couple more days, I cannot help but think about the millions of children who still desperately need their very own mommy.  Like Grace.  Although her nannies describe her as timid and shy, she gets along well with others and is said to be energetic.  She loves to listen to music, read books, and play with toys.  Dolls happen to be her favorite, and she likes to play hide and seek.  Grace has been diagnosed with CHD, specifically VSD and pulmonary hypertension.  Grace will soon be 6 years old.  Her height, weight, and physical development are consistent with most other kids with a similar diagnosis.  Test results and images are available for her family to see, as well as a video.  On paper, her condition can seem bleak.  The reality is that she needs a family soon...really soon.  

A family that is willing to love in spite of the risk.  

A family that knows this child is more than medical test results and papers in a file. 

A family who knows she is their very own beloved daughter.

Grace’s file is currently with WACAP and she has a $4,000 grant for qualified families.  Please email familyfinders@wacap.org for more information.  

Plenty of resources and encouragement from families of other heart children are available.  The following sites are great places to learn more about CHD.

Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital

Little Hearts

Kids with Heart

Congenital Heart Information Network Resources

Yale School of Medicine

China Heart Children Yahoo! group

To learn more about parenting a child with severe CHD, you can check out this family’s blog as well as this family’s blog.  

One Year Later

Perhaps it is just me, and the fact I just had my really BIG birthday?  But the older I get, the faster time seems to go.  Especially in regards to my children and how they have grown.  Where does the time go?  Lord, help me to treasure each seemingly mundane moment that I have with them.  They seem to be slipping away one day at a time!

Although our first year with Mycah has been no different, I can still so distinctly remember our trip to China!  I can liken it to meeting my other 3 kids for the first time…although the setting much different!  The smallest details still come to mind about March 18, 2013:

packing his little backpack of goodies and worrying about forgetting paperwork,

what I wore, how hot the room was, how LOUD the room was, 

how incredibly nervous my stomach felt,

seeing him behind the curtain before they brought him out,

seeing them coldly pull him along by the hand as they dragged him out of the waiting room and brought him to me,

how they prompted him to call me "mama" and then just gave me his hand and walked away,

how his feet seemed glued to the floor as he was unsure of this new weird-looking lady that he was to now call "mama",

how I finally picked up his tiny little 30 lb body and he smelled SO bad,

how I showed him his back pack and his eyes lit up (but no smile!) at the site of a Mickey Mouse toy and a dum-dum sucker,

taking pictures with our other WACAP families and their beautiful new children,

finally leaving and heading to the store with a child that looked like he was in absolute shock and took no comfort in being in his mama's arms.

And oh the relief that flooded over me at that moment.  It was done.  He was here.  And although I knew the days ahead would be full of many unknowns, one thing was sure…he was no longer an orphan, but a much sought after son.

In my memory, our days in China were the trip of a lifetime.   But now he tells me he was scared and sad.  Which was pretty obvious during our trip!  But a few days later we were heading home to start life as a family of 6.

Once we met Darrell and the kids at the airport, and walked to the van, I was already seeing the first real smiles from my sweet boy.  I think he was relieved to know he wouldn't be stuck with two weird looking ladies anymore (no offense Sonia!), but there were actually KIDS involved in this deal now!

Mycah has grown in every way imaginable this year.  He has gained 10 lbs and grown 7 inches.  He understands everything that is said to him, including most abstract things, and has quite a vast speaking vocabulary that is now only sprinkled with a few Chinese words on occasion.  He can cross monkey bars, ride a bike, tie his own shoes, sing about Jesus, say and write his ABC's, work an iPad and computer as well as my 9 year old, and he now finds comfort in the arms of this mama.  And daddy…but he is still mostly a mama's boy.

The time has flown, but it has been precious.  I am so thankful that God picked us to be his parents.  Although we have had our share of challenging days, I cannot lose sight of the fact that this little boy who had so little has blessed our hearts so much!

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him."  Psalm 127:3

Preferences

For the Least of These

My heart was overwhelmed this morning when I opened my email and found a message from Ann in China.  Thanks to several of you, Mycah's friends received their special package this week.  

I cannot say "thank you" enough for being a part! 

We were able to send a package that included 10 warm sweaters, 10 pairs of shoes, 24 pairs of socks, 10 sets of PJs, lots of fruit and a nice cake!  

I am guessing that this celebration took place yesterday…on Christmas Day!  That day may not hold any significance to these sweet little faces, but it does for us!  And it blessed my heart to see these! 

As happy as I am to see these pictures, it also saddens me that these sweet ones…and so many more…still wait.

I was finally able to get some identifying information about the "Sweet 6", so I am hoping to confirm soon exactly what their status is regarding their adoption files.  This is a HUGE answer to prayer since I have been trying since March to get this information.  I would love to find out that they all have families coming for them!

Thank you, again, to those who gave this month.  What a bright spot you created for these precious ones this week!

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"

Matthew 25:40

Christmas is Coming!

And then comes December!  Wow.  I am not sure if it is life with 4 kids, or that I am getting older, but I can hardly keep up with days, weeks and months anymore!  We have had a blast celebrating this week.  Our Thanksgiving was simple and quiet…mostly.  If football is on, it's never truly quiet!  But oh what a year we have to be thankful for!  God, as always, has been truly faithful.  I am so blessed by the 5 people surrounding my table this year!  

Even though I thought my day of cooking would never end, it finally did!  We ended our day with some family football and a little Duck Dynasty…both of which resulted in much laughter!

Friday we began to unpack our Christmas decorations and see what survived the last 2 moves.  It is the first time the kids have been big enough to actually assemble the tree.  We even have quite a few ornaments that reached the upper branches this year!  Mycah had a blast.  Every box I opened he just asked, "Can my touch it?"

How you do that?

Reach me high!

Why Mycah is not the family photographer!

We ended with a family movie night watching Polar Express.  Nathyn made everyone tickets and "reserved" signs for each seat and sleeping bag.  Each one read "Reserved for the best (brother, sister, mom, dad)!"  He even popped popcorn and gathered everyone's pajamas.  Except mine since he was afraid he would see his Christmas presents in my closet!  A fun time was had by all!

Waiting for the movie!

umm…haven't even pushed play yet?  Teenagers!

It has been such a joy to watch my family enter this Christmas season.  Sharing the Christmas story with Mycah from the Beginner's Bible and putting out the Little People nativity was extra special!  It has been almost a picture perfect weekend.

And then during church this morning, I again thought of them.  

Oh, how I wish they were spending Christmas with a family…their own families!  

I have tried to get ahold of the necessary information to advocate for these children, but I still have not received a response from the orphanage.  

Please pray that I get a response soon!  Precious months are slipping by!

But even though they are still a continent or two away, we can still share Christmas with them!  Would you like to be a part?  Our kids will each be donating part of their Christmas money to buy gifts for the orphanage children.  Although that alone will not be enough to provide something for every child, perhaps with your help we can provide more!  We will be using a contact we have in China to purchase the items and deliver them for us.  She helped deliver care packages to Mycah while he was waiting for us and we were always pleased with her selections and service!  We will be including several pairs of shoes since that is one thing I noticed when we were there…several girls had toes hanging over the ends of their sandals.  There are other things that we could provide such as socks, sweatshirts, hats, treats for the nannies and small toys.  These things are important since there is no heat in the orphanage.  Even though they are in the southern part of China, I am sure it still gets pretty cold and drafty in the older buildings.  

I will be putting the PayPal link back on the side of my blog.  Whatever comes in between now and December 15th will be used to purchase gifts for these children.  There were 6 little girls in Mycah's class, but there are between 60-80 children in the whole orphanage.  I would love to bless their socks off (or bless them on?!) and let them know that they are loved and thought about this year.  And I pray that one Christmas in the near future, they are with a family who can share with them the best Gift of all!!