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Officially Ours – Lily’s Adoption Day!
The past 24 hours we have been Lily’s guardians. Today, according to Chinese law, we became her parents! It is her official adoption day! Here’s what went down: Little Miss Lily slept until almost 8:00 today! Her nanny said that she normally woke up at 7:45, and she was right! After everyone got dressed we went down to breakfast. We had to meet in the lobby at 9:30 to go back to the Civil Affairs Office, so we were a little more rushed than normal. We fed Lily some traditional Chinese food for breakfast and she once again scarfed it down! The girl can eat for sure! Having my mom…
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The Day We Met Lily
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The Day We Met Lily
Today we met our Lily! We enjoyed another hotel breakfast Monday morning followed by another visit to the fish and gardens. (This time the kids were in actual clothes). The kids had a great time running around the gardens while Brian and I sat on a bench in the sun. Then the official adoption part of the trip started off with a group meeting at the hotel. We are in a group with 9 other families from Lifeline who are adopting children from Guangdong province. We spent a few hours going over our schedule for the next 2 weeks and preparing our paperwork for this week. It was so great…
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Officially Ours – Lily’s Adoption Day!
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Big Day, Big Feelings: What to Expect When Your Child Starts Kindergarten
I dreaded my son’s first day of kindergarten. It was like this one day marked the end of an era – the passage from early childhood to the oh-so-scary “school age. “ There was no way that he was old enough to go to kindergarten, and I was definitely not old enough to have a kindergartener! When the day finally arrived I made sure to document every moment as if somehow that would preserve him in time. I sent him off to school with a special fuzzy in his pocket and kept one in mine as well, sure that this small act would connect us during his first full day…
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‘Twas Mom’s Month Before Christmas
‘Twas the month before Christmas, when all through the stores Mom is out shopping for her girls and boys The sale ads are gathered among her toy stash, In hopes that she’ll save a good bit of cash The children have countdowns to their favorite day With fun advent calendars all on display Mom fills them with family fun to enjoy And maybe even a small trinket or toy At the end of the day, mom sits down for a bit Then leaps from her seat when she realizes it – The Elf on the Shelf! It can’t stay in that spot! So mom scours Pinterest for the next elfish…
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Mom and Son Date Ideas Boys Love
Mom and son dates have become a really important part of our family dynamic. We have four kids, and it is really hard to make sure that each one of them gets some special one-on-one time with us that’s more than just homework help or music practice. One thing we have done to give each kid some special attention is take them on a special date with just one parent. Sometimes it is something that takes planning, and other times it’s a quick at-home activity. But whatever it is, we make sure that we set aside time just for that child and focus on them. According to fancy scientific research,…
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I Refuse to Drive a Minivan! And the 6 Reasons I Do Now
I will never drive a minivan! How many of you have said those words? I know that I did. Repeatedly. I vowed to remain a “cool mom” that would never even dream about driving one of those lame mom cars. And then you know what happened? I bought a minivan. Why you might ask? Why did I sell out and join the minivan club? Well, to be honest, it really is the best family car out there. Here’s why. 1. More Space = Less Fighting Anyone with more than one kid knows that as soon as you get in the car, they start fighting. One is touching the other, someone…
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5 Tips to Make You Enjoy Big-City Travel with Kids
Are you intimidated to travel with kids? Last week we took our kids to New York City for Spring Break. I think the phrase we heard most often from the local New Yorkers was “you are brave”. I suppose to most of the world, traveling with four kids sounds like a daunting task. For us this is just normal life. I mean, when you’ve traveled across the world twice, NYC sounds like a piece of cake! If you want to tackle Big-City travel, I’ve gathered … Five tips you can use to travel with kids, and enjoy it! 1. Bring hand sanitizer We all know that kids touch stuff. All.…
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Everything You Need to Throw a Birthday Party for Jesus
In a flurry of Santa Claus and elves, do you struggle to keep your kids focused on the actual reason for the season? Every year we have a birthday party for Jesus. It’s a fun and simple way to keep my kids centered and has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Here’s how to throw a birthday party for Jesus with your family. Party Games We always start our party with some lively party games. I choose games that use Biblical characters and themes, or add a twist to typical games. These are our top 5 favorites: Pin Baby Jesus in the Manger This is Pin the Tail on…
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4 Simple Ways to Fight Holiday Busyness and Burnout
Are you experiencing holiday busyness and burnout? While the holiday season can be one of the most magical and enjoyable times of the year, it can also be one of the most stressful. Gift giving, shopping lists, errands, parties, pictures with Santa, festivals, traditions, and family gatherings often end up becoming a to-do list that is almost impossible to complete. A time that should be filled with laughter and memories becomes tainted with a stressed-out mom trying to make sure that she doesn’t forget the cookies for this party and the gift for that teacher, forcing the kids to smile for a perfect picture as the people in line behind…
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The Surprising Ways Adoption Impacts Your Family
Every November I spend extra time being thankful for the things God has given me in my life. I know that this is true for most people, with the Thanksgiving holiday coming at the end of the month. For our family, November is also the month that we celebrate two of our four children joining our family through adoption. I have spent two Thanksgivings in China adopting two of our four children. On each of those trips I substituted our turkey and mashed potatoes for rice and what I hope was chicken. During our second trip I was really struggling with missing the comforts of home, so I wrote a…
