Drs here, Drs there, drs drs everywhere!

So it feels like we've been at the Drs far too much lately, which is probably because we have! CC had an eye appointment because of some squinting and other vision issues (thankfully no glasses needed yet!). Then EB had follow-up appointments with ENT and Audiology... results stating that she has mild conductive hearing loss in her R ear, buuuuut its not affecting her hearing. Wait, what???? Yep, long story but we're following her ENTs recommendation and NOT getting tubes for her right now but continuing to monitor things. Then JJ had his first bout of sickness since coming home. Poor boy managed to swing it on his birthday :( so he went to the ped and had breathing treatments for his wheezing/respiratory infection :( and then he had to go back 3 days later for more meds (and his 2 yr well check?!?! cept, he wasn't that well so will go back in a month for the shots that we withheld this time)... and since we hadn't been enough EB had her asthma follow-up at the ped, with a change in meds for her... and then JJ had to go back to the ped because his wheezing wasn't getting better (and then had to get a chest x-ray). All that in the last 14 days... barring any complications to JJs wheezing (which is getting better) we will take a break from our drs visits for a good 5 days and then take EB back for another consult on her palate, trying to determine if she does need to have a VPI repair.

Ok, all done whinging about the appointments now :) Am so grateful for health insurance which is paying for all of this, and for sweet ones who are mostly healthy, and for wonderful drs who are good at what they do and really care about my little ones... This really is very unusual for us to have this all going on at once but hopefully we will be done for a while - after this next VPI appt, and then the well check shots, and then another asthma follow up, and then another follow up with the plastic surgeon who repaired JJs palate... you get the picture ;-)

And now a pic of sweet JJ getting his breathing treatment at our peds office because a post isnt complete without pictures right???

Birthday boy

Last post was heavy on words, this will be heavy on pics... so without further ado, the boys 2nd birthday... Poor boy was not feeling well, chose his birthday as his first sick time since getting home :( but we've been to the doc, got some meds and are hopefully on the mend now...

Sweet boy is all about his cars right now, so we had to get him some car candles :)

Mmmmm, angel food cake

A little 'guy dancing' going on in the background here...

I saw momma doing this and it made it all big... wonder how this works??

Sit still??? I just cant! I love tossing my balloon too much to sit still!

Opening his first present from sisters.

Woo-hoo! Trains!!!

Making some train sounds here... SO so precious!

Thanks Grammy & Pop-pop! He loved his clothes and new cars!

Quality car crashing time with Dada!

Second birthday coming up... or was it today???

A week ago at church a sweet, NON-elderly, woman commented to me how tall JJ is. She then said after looking at me, 'Well of course he's tall. You're tall. Is his Daddy tall too?' to which I automatically replied 'Yes. His Daddy is tall.' Afterwards I wondered if she needed glasses??? but maybe she thought hubby was Chinese??? ;-) Such an innocent question/comment though was heartbreaking for me... I had answered her question thinking about Hubbys height but then I started thinking about JJs biological parents. We know nothing about them, nothing. They could have been young and unmarried facing a crisis pregnancy, or married with one child at home (and unable to keep their second because of the one child policy), or married and JJ was their firstborn but because of his medical needs felt unable to provide for him... or none of those things. We don't know and will never know - barring a miracle. We don't know where JJ was born, when he was born, or what name he may have been called by his birth-parents in the days between his birth and when he was found. We don't know his birth-parents first or last names, what they look like, if JJ has birth siblings... So much we don't know and will never be able to answer for him. We do know the date JJ was found, which road he was found by, and the name he was given at the orphanage but that's as much as we have, as close as it gets to his birth-family.

After answering this sweet woman's question at church I couldn't help but think about all that lays ahead for our precious son... innocent (and sometimes not so innocent) questions that will come about his past to which we have no answers. All that has been heightened for me this week as we prepare to celebrate JJs 2nd birthday. On his birth certificate it is listed as Sept 20th (an estimate based off of when he was found), which is when we will celebrate his birth, but while I was rocking him tonight I wondered if tonight, somewhere in China, a woman, a man, a married couple, 2 single people, were remembering and wondering about him today... Is today, Sept 16th, the day? are they thinking about him today? or is Sept 22nd the day his birthmom has etched in her memory, the anniversary she especially wonders about him, if he lived, if he is loved, if he has a family... Oh how I wish there was a way to let her know how LOVED her son is, how TREASURED he is, how he is LIVING and THRIVING because she protected his life. I wish I had answers for the questions that will come, not the innocent questions from others but the deep questions from our son. I wish there was a way to avoid the heartache... but there isn't. That is all part of adoption which is a beautiful thing to be sure, but not without hard, hard stuff - pain and loss and grieving.

To our precious son, oh how we love you, how incredibly incredibly grateful we are to God for creating you, for your birth-mother choosing life for you, for the blessing that we have of being your forever family. Happy second birthday dear son. I pray Gods richest blessing on your life, that you would always know how very very LOVED you are. I pray that God would bring healing to the hurt places, would redeem whats been lost and would draw you to himself... Happy Birthday!

Updating our blog

When we first started this blog it was to document our journey to our precious son, JJ, who was in China. He's been home for 4 months now so I've almost forgotten all the crazy adoption lingo, all the steps in the process, all the hoops that we jumped through to bring him home... almost but not quite ;-) Sooo we thought it was time to expand the blog to be about family life now that sweet JJ is home, a bit of an outlet for this lady who is incredibly blessed to be the wife of my amazing hubby and momma to my 4 precious ones... Am mainly writing this for myself but for those who are following along, hope you enjoy the ride with us!