Chubby Little Coston

We got an update on Dex today!
At his medical exam yesterday, he was noted as being "a happy boy" who "can sit and stand very well." Yay! Not only does he seem to be pretty on track developmentally, he is quite the goliath little Chinese man! He is over the 80th percentile for weight and over the 70th for height. His feet are almost 4 1/2 inches long, and his head is almost as big around as Brandon's (he's gonna fit right into this big-headed family!)
I was very relieved to have some idea how he's doing health-wise and developmentally.

Trial Run

I have been reading a couple of discussion boards for parents adopting from China throughout our process. I have learned so much about the paperwork process, emotional/social issues for adoptive families and children, and travel tips.

One thing we definitely want to be able to do while we're in China is to post our journey online. Because so many things are blocked in China, travelers often have to resort to less direct methods of blog access. I'm trying one of those now that I learned about on the discussion board. Let's see if this works . . .

Double Happiness

Double Happiness and Overwhelming Gratitude ... what I'm feeling tonight!

Four of my sweet, sweet friends threw a baby shower for Dex this afternoon. Not just any shower, but an amazingly beautiful, unbelievably adorable shower. I am so blessed by my friends' generosity and love. What a great afternoon, surrounded by the love of family and friends, a little boy so far away, yet so near to my heart already!

This journey to our precious boy has not been traditional, nor always easy. But we've had the support and love of friends, family, and church family. We are so delighted to be welcoming Dex into our family sooner rather than later at this point ... and I'm feeling Double Happiness.Heart-warming Invitation!Beautiful hostesses, Katie, Erin, Sherry, and SharonA beautiful banner with his name in Oriental font and Chinese paper lanterns.A beautiful hand-painted canvas for Dex's room, made by a fellow adoptive mom, with the most fitting Bible verse (Jeremiah 29:11), all fashioned to resemble the Chinese flag, surrounded by personalized, mini "take-out"boxes of red and yellow M&M's, fortune cookies, egg rolls, and chopsticks.

Perfectly planned, down to the cupcake toppers with the Chinese symbols for "Double Happiness" on them.Me and Grandma (Yet Again) Fryar

Puttin' on the Pout!

Boy, can she put on the pout!

Aren't those chubby little arms and fingers adorable?!

"Oh, I'm supposed to be paying attention to the pouting part? That's right. Silly Me!"

Abi G., First Grader

A bit sassier than kindergarten!

Just what does she think they'll do without her "mothering" during the school year?!

Her backpack doesn't look so big on her as it did last year!Mommy didn't cry this year! But Brandon and Camryn did! Here's Abi trying to escape Brandon's tearful embrace.

Jeggings ... really?!

I am horrified by what I just saw on Yahoo! Not only are skinny jeans back "in" (which, by the way, didn't make me look skinny 30 pounds and 20 years ago when they were "in" the last time, so they certainly won't be found on my body this season or ever!), but so are "jeggings."

The most horrible name for the most horrible fashion statement. It's the worst combination possible of skinny jeans, leggings, and acid wash one could imagine.

I guess I won't be "cool" agaaaiin this season!

Gassy Baby

Is it weird to kinda smile about feeling a gas bubble move in my colon at night because it reminds me of a baby squirming around in my tummy? Then, I'm weird.

Dear DHS Worker

I write this letter to beg you to believe me that all of the apparent traumas caused to my children are not by my hand! Most assuredly they did all of that to themselves! Really.

Yes, I do want you to believe that in one day my oldest daughter was, in fact, pushed off of a bed by her younger brother, tripped over a toy broom and centered her precious little face on an open closet door, and crashed her scooter on the asphalt, re-splitting her lip, gashing her knee, and embedding gravel in her hand. Really. It did happen. All in one day.

Her younger brother, perhaps from the Karma of pushing his sister off of the bed earlier in the day, tripped on toys in the playroom, planting his only remaining front tooth squarely on a windowsill, jamming it further up in his head (it did improve the appearance since the loose, grayish tooth is no longer jutting a quarter of an inch below the surrounding upper teeth) and splitting his lip! Really.

The baby just has a bit of diaper rash after pooping her panties in the middle of a very deep slumber at naptime. She had just left a man-sized poop in the toilet at Chuck E. Cheese a few hours before. Really. Relatively unscathed she is.

So, please believe me when I tell you that I couldn't think up such horrible things to do to my children as what they do to themselves. Really.

Sincerely,
Mischelle Coston,
Mom and First Aid Pro

I Love Checklists

I love the feeling of making a neat list and checking things off, one-by-one ... especially when it's the checklist of steps to bringing Dex home. Just since we received our match with him, this is what my checklist has looked like:

• Referral DONE
• Letter of Intent (LOI) DONE
  
• Letter of Acceptance (LOA) DONE
  
• I-800 Supplement 3 DONE
  
• I-800 DONE
  
• National Visa Center letter DONE
  
• Article 5
• Get travel dates and consulate appointment date
• Board a Plane!

Just waiting for that one last piece of paperwork before we get our travel dates! Still praying for late September!

Explain Yourself!

"Live life so it demands an explanation!"
Galatians 6:9-10
Powerful Sermon about Powerful Love!