August Referrals

Refrrals came in for August almost two weeks ago. I just haven't had a chance to post about them yet. They only covered through November 21, 2005--so not a whole lot of progress. It is really sad that there are babies in orphanages and parents who want them, and the CCAA is just taking their sweet time to match them up. They claim that there are not enough babies, but most waiting adoptive parents agree that there are not enough "paper-ready" babies. The orphanage directors have to send in paperwork for the babies to be matched with the waiting adoptive parents, and apparantly they are limited on how many they can send in. China does not like being the world leader in international adoption, so they are making it appear that they don't have as many babies as they used to. In actuality, people have been to the orphanages and have seen the cribs lining the walls with babies and young children everywhere. There are some orphanages that are relatively empty, but in my opinion this is because the CCAA is moving the babies to foster care, so it looks like there aren't as many babies. I am glad the children are being cared for in real homes, and I pray our Molly is in a foster home, where she is getting a little more attention. But, it still does not alleviate the problem of all the babies and children who need homes. It makes me very sad to think about these babies.

With the wait continuing to grow we are certain we will find our baby through our agency's waiting child program. We are very excited and can't wait to meet her, even if it is going to be awhile. We really hope to get a referral by the end of the year or beginning of next, and travel in the Spring of 08. There is alot of money that needs to be saved between now and then if it is going to happen, but we know that when our baby is ready for us, God will provide the means to go get her! Please continue to pray for us and our family to take on the challenge of coming up with the money, as well as the adventure of bringing a new child into our family.

On another note, we went to our first outing with our homeschool group today and we had a blast. It was just a "play-day" at the park, and it was soooo hot (right at 100) that not many families were able to come. Paul met 4 other children, 3 of which are his age and one just a year older. They all played really well together, even Zach played right along side the big kids, and since the kids are used to having siblings of varios ages around, they were fine with the little brother being there! The Moms got some time to talk and compare notes on homeschooling. It was refreshing to see that other Moms have many of the same struggles that we face day-to-day. It will be nice to have this group to bounce ideas off of as we start our homeschooling adventures. Paul is looking forward to getting started, as am I. We hope to finish the room we are setting up for our schoolroom this weekend, and then I can get everything going next week.

Thanks for reading our blog!

Happy Birthday Zach!!!

I am a couple of days late on posting this but our little guy turned 2 on July 31. I cannot believe he is already 2 years old. In many ways it seems like we just went and picked him up a few weeks ago, and it has already been two years! He is such a blessing in our lives. He wears me slap out most days, but he is truly a joy to have around.

A little about Zach for those that don't know him--He is a bundle of energy!! He does not stop for anything and he runs EVERYWHERE he goes. He was a sick little guy for the first few months, and then after that he was very subdued and laid back. Until he turned about 8-9 months old and it was literally as if he woke-up! He has not stopped since! He started walking just shy of 11 months old and within a month he was no longer walking, he was running!!! He has to try and keep up with Paul, and he actually does a pretty good job. He LOVES to talk, but Steve, Paul and I are really the only ones that can understand him. His speech is getting better, but I think he just doesn't have time to slow down and think about what he is saying!!! He loves to laugh and does so quite often, he has the best belly laugh! He can also be quite defiant, but he knows he is cute, so he gives us that "I'm too cute for you to be upset with", and of course Mommy gives in! We are working on Mommy not giving in so much, but those big brown eyes are hard to not give in to! (Daddy is going to have the same problem with our Molly's big brown eyes when she comes home) He is such a sweet boy, and when he knows he has done something to hurt someone he will say "huggie" and give you a hug and say "I sorry". He loves "huggies" and ask for them out of the blue sometimes, Mommy is always happy to give them, and he often gets them even when he doesn't ask!!! He loves to wrestle with his brother, and Paul thinks Zachary is "hilarious". They sleep in the same room, and Paul just cracks up at him in the evenings when we put them to bed. I try to tell Paul to ignore him but he says he is just too "hilarious" to ignore! Zachary adores his big brother, and doesn't like it when he is away, he will ask me "where Paul" quite often if Paul is not at home. Zach is NOT a tv watcher, he does like Diego, but not for more then about 10 minutes at a time. Which, is not a problem, since I don't really like them watching tv anyway. He also likes Buzz Lightyear and Woody, and anything that has to do with animals, especially Dinosaurs! Zach is also VERY smart. He loves to be read to, he knows all his colors, and can count to 10 (he skips 8 but he is getting there). He are also working on recognizing the letters in his name, so far he knows "Z" everytime, and can find them all over town. He sometimes knows "A" "C" and "H"

I have rambled on enough about my baby boy. I will try to post a couple of pics from his birthday party a little later today.