last day!

Tomorrow's the last day to vote for the Real Cute Kid Contest.

And I know a real cute kid.

He's the only *James B.* entered.

Here's the link should you feel so inclined.  :)

http://richmondmom.com/2012/08/20/vote-here-for-ages-0-2-real-cute-kids-contest-2012/

james: {part 2}

So, here they are.

The earliest photos of our sweet boy.

These were contained in the medical file we received that night in April 2011 when the four kids and I were piled up on the couch and we got word that we could pursue James if we wished.

Laying our eyes on him for the first time, beyond his Rainbow Kids posting, was overwhelming.  

Not sure, but you may want to brace yourself.

I was struck when I first saw these so many months ago.

I was frozen.

Seeing how young he was when he was given up.  Just a helpless, teeny-tiny baby.  Completely dependent on others.

He would've undoubtedly died had he not been found.

The hospital photo

This first photo takes me to thoughts of his birth mom -- and other events of late have led me to her.  We have friends who adopted a son from Romania and a series of events has led his birth family to locate him here in the States and he will be meeting them any day.  I just can't imagine such a meeting.  I would welcome it, but be oh-so-very-nervous!  And, honestly, until all this with the Dennehys, I hadn't thought it was much of a possibility, but thanks to the internet and worldwide media, the Earth has never been so small.

His sweet little body.  In all it's glory.

God has done such an amazing thing in me.  In us.  

We are blind.  

We have to work so very hard to see James' missing limbs.  It's like we have new eyes.  He is just so much our James now that there's been a shift.    

But.

It wasn't always this way.

Part of my struggle in China around the enormity of adoption in general was certainly seeing James in the flesh (literally).  I just could not stop seeing his missing limbs.  

It was all I saw those first many days with him.

I was gripped with fear.    

But I also trusted.  

I trusted that God had brought us to James and that He would do a work in me.  He would work out the fear and trembling in me.  So thankful to God for how He sends His Spirit to do the tough work when necessary.

Oh how He's used James to grow our trust in Him.  

It's a beautiful thing.

And he is a beautiful boy.

james: {part 1}

To start this series, I'm going to link back to a couple of posts from when we committed to James and began our pursuit of him (versus pursuing a child, in general).

These are from April and May, 2011.  Read here and here if you'd like a little of the backstory or would like to revisit those first moments of our discovering James.

Below is the posting (minus his original photo) from Rainbow Kids where we first saw James.  Read these precious words.  First, written by someone from his original agency (here in the States) and then the words from those who cared for him daily in his orphanage -- and knew him intimately.  Lump!

James has completely and totally stolen my heart!  He has stolen the heart also of everyone that meets him.  He is very fortunate in that his care is overseen by Love Without Boundaries and several people have met him while working in his orphanage  both in May of 2010 and February of 2011.  They say he is active, alert, and just the sweetest boy ever!  James was born without a right arm and he has a deformity of his left arm and hand.

In May one of his caretakers at the orphanage said the following:

Because of the deformity of his both upper limbs, he only could turn around while lying in the crib. He could look for the sound source, and visually follow the moving objects or walking people. He could laugh loudly, would turn back when his name was called, and respond to the facial expression of adults. He is tender, has a ready smile, and would smile to you when he wakes up. While in the walker, if you tease him, he would kick his feet with laugh for he does not have hands. He looks very happy, and you also would be moved by his happiness. In a word, he is an active and restless boy. He would not like to lie in his crib after wake up, and likes to react with others. 

I wanted to start this series with photos from James' medical file (the one when he was found and other newborn photos), but my electronic version is somehow no longer accessible.  I'll get JD's from him and post those sweet photos next time.

More to come...

james' birthday

Before I start this series on James' transformation, I realized I didn't post about his birthday.

It was such a special celebration of and for him.

We couldn't resist going the Elmo route with our celebration.  Boy has Sesame Street and Elmo tapped the market on three-year-olds!  It seems it doesn't matter your background or geographic location -- if you're three and have been introduced to the lovable, red monster, then you are instantly a fan.  And James is no exception.  He loves him some Elmo.

Here are some photos and video.

This one's during dinner on his actual birthday.  No where have I seen better beatboxers-in-the-making.

After-dinner cupcakes from the Fresh Market.  Those things are monstrous.

Many of you who know James in-person know that he literally trembles and shakes (and sweats!) when he's super-excited about something.  It's one of the most hilarious and precious things about him, but it's hard to capture.  I don't know if you can see him doing it in this video, but he's shaking away!

Did you see James singing along?  We've celebrated Avery's and JD's birthdays since James has been home and he clearly wants to sing the song -- and kind of knows it!  So cute.

Then onto his 'more official' celebration on Saturday.

It's pretty clear that James doesn't know what a birthday is, but he knew this was his.  He was one happy dude on Saturday.  He's just such a social little guy.  Being surrounded by all the people he loves was special to him.  Honestly.  You could just tell.

It was our honor and privilege to celebrate James' 3rd birthday with him.  

We don't know if it's the first birthday he's celebrated, but it certainly won't be the last.  

james: a series

I've had the recurring thought of doing a series of posts to show the amazing transformation of James.

It's true that James didn't have as difficult a transition as some children have.  He did not cry non-stop.  He was not inconsolable.  He didn't lose his appetite.  He wasn't sleepless (although he did wake in the night and cry out a lot and he doesn't do that anymore).  In general, considering the stories we've heard of children struggling so much with the transition after being adopted, we know James has done so very well.

However.

Lately, we've been viewing photos and video of him that we received when he was still in his orphanage.  And all the footage we have of our early days with him in China and after first bringing him home.

The change is nothing short of remarkable.

His eyes.

We certainly could tell that he was sad, but can only see now how very sad he was in contrast to how very happy he is now.

I'll be plugging through photos and video in the days to come and post some of the stuff I wasn't allowed to post before.

I think you'll be struck too when you see what God's doing in James!

And, physically?  Oh.my.word.  I can't even believe it!

He stood up next to our growth chart by himself yesterday so I jumped on the chance to take a peek since we haven't had him measured in months.  That child has grown nearly THREE INCHES!  I kid you not!  I will take a photo of the marks on the chart!  I thought we must've measured him wrong in March, but that can't be...we've been measuring our kids on this chart for years.  It's not that hard!

So awesome!

Oh, and today we're headed back to the prosthetist to have James' leg, arm and 'arm' casted (molded) so his orthotic (leg brace and shoe lift) and prosthetic arm can be made.  So excited.  Now, let's just hope he cooperates.  Last time we went there, the guy hurt him pretty bad trying to bend his ankle back and he cried like I've never seen him cry before.  Could I be so lucky that he'll have moved on and forgiven the prosthetist?  :)  We shall see...

a real cute kid

I know we all think our kids are the cutest kids.

I certainly have an affinity for my own.  :)

And I have friends whose kids are some of the cutest I know!

But there's one kid that takes the cake for us -- even according to his siblings!

You know the one.

How can this transformation be ignored?

He went from this...

To this...

To this!

Now, on the heels of celebrating his third birthday, we get to celebrate this little boy that has forever changed us.  

Vote for him in the Real Cute Kids Contest!  

Voting starts today!  And concludes on August 30th.  That's just 10 days to vote!   

You can only vote ONCE per person, so if you want James to get lots of votes (and we do!), then please recruit others to vote for him.  Share this post with whomever you'd like.  Or spread the word via email!  Please make sure you've indeed selected *James B.* before you submit your vote because your vote can only be submitted once.

Here's the link!

http://richmondmom.com/2012/08/20/vote-here-for-ages-0-2-real-cute-kids-contest-2012/

Thanks in advance for loving our boy with us!  :)

to be a mother

As we celebrated James' birthday this week, I found myself thinking less about James and more about his birth mom.  My thoughts just kept circling back to her.

If you're a mom, you know how it goes: your child's birthday arrives and while you're definitely celebrating that special child's presence in your life, you're also reliving the day she was born.  Every detail of the events that led to her birth.  There's so much more to a birth story for the mother than there is for the child.  After all, the child doesn't remember it.  But the mom gushes every year.  Every contraction, every step walking off the pain, every bleep on the baby's heart monitor, every compression of the blood pressure cuff, every squeeze of the handrail on the hospital bed, to the very instant that your eyes lock with your precious child's for the very first time.

Three years ago, this was probably the most difficult week of her life.

Does she relive the events every year at this time?

Was she overjoyed to know she had a son?  A cherished son in China?

Did she have a normal pregnancy and know nothing of James' condition until she laid her eyes upon him at the time of his birth?

Did her heart instantly sink when she saw him?

Missing arms.

Missing hands.

Missing fingers.

For those of us who have had the privilege of carrying children in our wombs, we know how all-consuming the fear of birth defects and birth-trauma can be for a pregnant woman.  Few really talk about it, but I don't think there's a single mom on the planet who didn't worry about the well-being of her unborn child while she was pregnant.

So was the case with me, too.  All I wanted was for our biological children to be born healthy.  The ten-fingers-and-toes thing.  Let's be honest here.  Didn't we all covertly scan our beautiful newborn children's bodies for all the appropriate body parts?  

I have to believe the same was true for her.  And I wonder if she was overcome with grief.  Did she know immediately what she had to do.  Why did she wait four days?  Was she overwhelmed at the decision she had to make?  Was she perhaps forced by others to do what she did?  I don't think any mom wants to abandon her innocent, newborn baby.  The one she nursed, changed, bathed, cuddled, dreamed of.  The one she carried in her womb for so many months and had so many hopes for.  Gone.  Dreams and hopes abandoned.  Left on a street corner tucked inside a sweet little bundle.    

So to know that it was during this week three years ago that she likely made the most difficult decision of her life makes me sad and heavy-hearted for her.  I would love to hug her and tell her he's okay.  He's better than okay!  He's fantastic.  Her sweet boy is loved, cherished and adored -- by oh-so-many.  My prayer is that she has a peace that surpasses understanding -- a peace that she just can't explain or put her finger on.  I pray that in her heart she just has a knowing that James is well.

No, he's more than well.

He's awesome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And look at the gift James decided to give us!  He decided to start walking on his birthday!  Who needs prosthetics and orthotics?!

I have so much more to share from his birthday -- lots of photos too.  He is such a blessing to us!  

In fact, a month ago, I learned about something special happening in our town that I knew James must a part of!  I'll post all about it tomorrow.  We need all the help we can get to pull this off, so please check back tomorrow and get ready to spread the word.  So fun!  Just wait 'til you see this little honey...

dr. lee

I can't believe this update has been in the works for over a year.

For the incredibly tender backstory, read this.  

Today, I had the enormous pleasure of taking James to meet Dr. Lee, the Chinese pediatrician who reviewed his medical file for us.   Just reading a medical report attached Dr. Lee to James and us (and, honestly, us to him).  I promised Dr. Lee that I would bring James to meet him one day.

Today was that day.  :)

How sweet are they?

The last time I was in Dr. Lee's office, James was just a photo on a document or a video we watched on our computer.  Now, he's here with us.  He's part of us.  He's our James.

And the timing of this full-circle event couldn't have been more perfect because tomorrow's our boy's big day.

Yep.  

He'll be three.  :)

lou xiaoying

To me, the word 'amazing' is so overused today.  I hear it all the time.  Celebs use it so often to speak of scrips, story lines, characters, each other.

I hear artists use it to describe artistic creations, pieces of work, gallery displays, sculptures, songs, performances, you name it.

I even do it.

But this is truly amazing.

I mean, a.ma.zing.

How in the world!?

This is what I call extreme poverty.  Yet this precious woman (and her husband) had a heart that couldn't be stopped.

Amazing.

These babies she rescued?

They're our James.

Left.

Abandoned.

Defenseless.

They would've surely died.

He would've surely died.

It just hits a little close to home sometimes.

Thank You, God, for people like Lou.

Lou Xiaoying, 88-Year-Old Poor, Chinese Woman Saved More Than 30 Abandoned Babies.  

Posted: 07/30/2012 3:55 pm

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A Chinese woman who has spent her life in poverty is being hailed a hero for selflessly saving dozens of abandoned babies over the course of her lifetime.

According to Chinese newspaper Yanzhao Metro Daily, 88-year-old Lou Xiaoying has rescued more than 30 abandoned babies from the streets of Jinhua, China, over the past four decades.

Together with her late husband, who died 17 years ago, Lou personally raised four of the orphaned children, while others were taken in by Lou's family and friends.

Now suffering from heart and kidney failure, Lou -- who scavenged recyclables from trash cans for a living -- is finally being recognized for her years of quiet service, with many in her community stepping forward to lend a hand in her final days.

Story continues below photo.

Lou Xiaoying

"The whole thing started when I found the first baby, a little girl back in 1972 when I was out collecting rubbish. She was just lying amongst the junk on the street, abandoned. She would have died had we not rescued her and taken her in," Lou said, according to the Daily Mail.

"Watching her grow and become stronger gave us such happiness and I realized I had a real love of caring for children. I realized if we had strength enough to collect garbage how could we not recycle something as important as human lives," she continued.

Lou, who has one biological daughter, single-handedly adopted her sixth child -- a little boy she had found in a dumpster -- at the age of 82.

"Even though I was already getting old I could not simply ignore the baby and leave him to die in the trash. He looked so sweet and so needy. I had to take him home with me," she said of her adopted son, 7-year-old Qiling.

One of Lou's adopted daughters, 33-year-old Zhang Juju, said that despite her mother's extreme poverty, she always tried to provide the best life possible for the children she rescued.

"[Even if her old age] there was no stopping her from going out," Zhang told Chinese news website 19lou.com, adding that her mother had gone out three or four times daily to collect trash for money, even as she started to get sick.

According to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua, Lou is still thinking of her beloved children even after becoming so ill that she has almost lost the ability to speak and move.

"I don't have many days left [but] what I want to see most of all is for…[7-year-old Qiling] to go to school. That way, even after I am gone, there will be no regrets left in my life," she told Xinhua from her hospital bed.

Though Lou could not afford to send her eldest three children to school, she managed to put Zhang and another 33-year-old daughter through junior high school.

As Lou's story of heroism and love makes headlines in China, people in Lou's community have stepped forward to support and further her life's mission.

An online fundraising effort has been started to help offset the woman's hospital bills, and an elementary school in Lou's hometown has offered to take young Qiling in at subsidized rates.

"This is the last wish of [Lou] and we must help her achieve it," Jinhua City Primary School's principal Zhang Fangxiao, who said he was extremely moved by Lou's story,told 19lou.com.

LOOK: Photos of Lou and her family:

Chinese Woman Saved 30 Abandoned Babies From Trash

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Here's the article.