A day in Nature

Around here we have a custom for birthdays...if it's your birthday the day is yours.  The birthday gal or guy gets to choose where the day takes us.

Sooooo, on my big day I took us out to nature!
We hit the road and took a ride around the "Cades Cove Loop".   This area is just beautiful and chock full of wildlife.  It's actually a valley within the Smoky Mountains National Park and is a historic landmark for all of it's preserved homesteads and churches dating back to the early 1800's.  It's a great trip because its a loop around the valley with little pit stops at various landmarks along the way.  And again, the nature and wildlife is just amazing!

My family were great troopers too.  We stopped and explored and ate snacks (and yes, Sammy napped in my arms while we meandered through the woods)  But we truly had a fun family day and it goes in the books as one of my favorite birthdays ever.  All of the giggles, the oohs over each new discovery, the joy over every animal we spotted....it all warmed my heart over and over.

So on to all the fun photos.

Within the Cove there are a lot of historic buildings.  We got to walk through them and see what it was like (sort of) back then.

 Here's one of the churches.

 

Once inside the church it was so simple and so beautiful

And outside- reading all of the dates on the cemetery headstones was amazing.

We had some walks

And some air time

And plenty of playing in the leaves time!

More walks to cool destinations

And then there's the wildlife....

We ran into a gaggle(?) of wild turkeys

Some deer on the field.  Sammy decided to head on out to see them.  He told me he was going to pet them.

We saw so many deer- it was just awesome. 

Ohhhh...or maybe whoooooo.  We also saw an owl!  I thought that was just the coolest!

And there you have a day planned by me.  Well, sort of planned. 

Really a day in nature can never be planned, just enjoyed!
J

November is....

November is....
A busy and special month for me.

November ends the craziness of Halloween and all of the candy and parties that go with it.  November has Veteran's day toward the beginning with my Birthday around the middle (and yes folks, I WILL be turning 29 again this year).  And my favorite of all holidays brings the month to a close...Thanksgiving!  I love seeing our family and all the joy of "the cousin gang" getting together.  Oh, and the food....mmmmmm mmmmm.  I do love that Holiday most of all!
  
But another special aspect of this month,  to me and mine anyway, is that November is "National Adoption Awareness Month".

Some of us are reminded all year long on a daily basis what adoption can mean.  For me it begins with my families, the one I grew up with and now the one I am raising, both formed through adoption.  I have parents, a brother and countless extended family members that I was so fortunate to have because my parents chose to adopt. And because my birth parents chose to bring life into the world and then made a plan for that life, for me, so many years ago.   And now, every moment of every day  I know how blessed I am with my two amazing children that came to me through adoption.

 I've always said adoption isn't a one time event.  You don't just adopt a child or just get adopted, it becomes part of you, part of your life.  Not that it encompasses your life, no, it just is always there as a part of who you are - kind of like a thread in your DNA.  You may not talk about your brown eyes every day, but you still are aware that your eyes simply are brown.
 
So in keeping with that, I also have always believed adoption and your feelings toward it can be ever evolving.

Growing up I was fully aware of adoption, it was a big part of how I became me.  Yet it was also a natural part of my life,  I was adopted and now I had them as my family.  Sure, I wondered where I came from, who I looked liked, where I got some of my personality.   It just wasn't something I thought about all the time, it was just a part of who I was...I was "just adopted".

Adoption then became a choice I had to make once I married and was ready for a family of my own.   Adoption suddenly became my own business transaction - my little act of a means to an end.   My evolution was going from "being adopted" to "adopting" and  I did what I had to do to make my family.  The emotions that went into the act of adopting, at that point in time, did not compare to the emotions that led me to it.     Now, those emotions of hurt and loss that led us down the road to adoption are barely memorable.  Time and two amazing blessings have healed much.

Oh and once we brought our darling dumplings home my thoughts evolved a bit again.  Now I had this child, and eventually two, that I brought out of everything they had been born into to take them half way around the world to make them my own.  I knew I'd love them both beyond anything in the world but I didn't ever realize or imagine how  intense that love would be and how it would consume every last inch of my heart.  And yet, even though they are totally mine in my heart, I know there is that part of them that always belongs to others, to their birth parents.  I now realized adoption was more complex and had more emotions, players and components than I had ever imagined when I was "just adopted" or even "adopting".

Now, at this time of my evolving self, I think of other things.  I think of why I adopted the children I did.  I've come to a final conclusion that it truly was for selfish reasons.  I wanted a family and I wanted babies - healthy babies at that.  I did not set out on this path to save a child or make a difference in a life.  Nope, I simply wanted a family and babies is what I had in mind.  Not that I took the endeavor lightly or think I'd adopt and that would be it.  No, I never felt that way, for my adult adoptee self knew the truth. I just have realized  I went into the process thinking solely of my wants and needs - to have a family.

Now that I happily have these two wonderful beings in my life I start to think of others, those needing families still.  The older children, the ones with special needs, and the ones right here in this country that need forever families.  I imagine one of mine in foster care or an orphanage at the ages they are now, or older.   I think of the sweet kids folks in our FCC group have brought home, those children that truly do benefit from adoption in a whole different way.  I think of the people I know here fostering children, some with the hope to eventually adopt and sometimes just fostering to help the kids that need loving homes.  Those selfless acts of love and finding family blended perfectly together.

At this time I wonder in my heart what is next for us.  I would not change the course of events over the last ten years, for they have all led us to the here and now, a happy family formed through not only adoption but a whole lot of love.  Yet still I wonder if there is more.  When does the time come to give back some of the joy we have received through adoption, and just how do we do that?

So this November leads my ever evolving mind along that new path.  This path leads my thoughts not to what adoption means to me, but what I could mean to adoption.  I do not know where this path will take me, if it leads anywhere or is just a curve on the road, leading me back to where I am now.  But in my heart I want it to lead me.... because adoption is not a one time thing and I have a lot left to explore and plenty more left to give. 
J

Wow. Two years ago....

It feels like yesterday.

It feels like a lifetime ago.

And it feels like such an essential part of who I am that time doesn't even factor in.

But this I know for sure, it did happen - two years ago and half way around the world, in a small city in Taiwan.  That life changing moment of meeting my WeiChe, my son. 

 

Suddenly, the days and months leading up to the momentous event became a blur, now that I was face to face with this sweet baby, my sweet baby.  All the pain and anguish of waiting, wanting, needing to hold him dissipated in a moment filled with so many emotions.  Relief, fear, joy and awe intermingled in my heart, now that I was finally able to see and touch this baby I’d been dreaming of for so very long.  Once again I felt those emotions of becoming Mama, those emotions so intense and real that I hardly think I could describe them.  

We were now ~ finally ~ a family of four.  My baby was with us, which is where my heart always knew he belonged.

I don’t know how, but two years have passed since that wonderful day in Taiwan.  And in those two years I have learned so much - about love, about growing a family and about the nature of little boys.  And most especially about one little boy that has become so much a part of my heart that I can’t imagine how life was before him.

It’s incredible how much Sammy-Wei has grown in the last two years.  He’s becoming an amazing little boy with such a fun and outgoing personality.  He’s so full of life and boundless energy and he certainly keeps me busy, but his enthusiasm for everything is so catchy and so joyful that I delight in his non-stop nature.  He’s sweet and snuggly if you can catch him and is the cuddliest boy when he’s in the mood for lovins.  There is not a person that meets Sammy that doesn’t fall in love --- he’s just like that.  Even in his most devious moods he’ll win you over with his darling dimples, that sweet smile and those beautifully rich chocolate eyes.  

  

I think of his Birth Mother today more than other days.  I think of how difficult and maybe heart breaking it must have been to make a plan for her son, knowing he would become the son of others.  I swore to her then as I do now, he will be loved always.  We will affectionately keep her in our story of how we became a family. 

 

And I will go now, to celebrate with my sweet boy.  I’ll celebrate all the joy he’s brought in these last two years, all of the challenges and accomplishments.  All of the things that have made these last two years so very amazing.

Happy Family Day my big boy, WeiChe.  I love you from the bottom of my heart, for always.

J

Pumpkins can really roll

Yep.  True fact...pumpkins can really roll when given the chance.
I mean 100's of yards if the circumstances are just right.  And they can roll fast.  So very fast.

I know this first hand.  Not by choice but by a force of nature greater than I've ever encountered.

We call this force  Sammy Wei.

You see, Sammy doesn't listen to "no sweetie, don't do that" until he's found out just why you don't want him to do whatever "that" is.  So naturally when I asked (repeatedly) to NOT roll the pumpkin down the front yard he just had to find out truly why I was against it.

Well you can pretty much figure out the rest.  And if you've ever been to our house you really can envision just how a pumpkin can begin a long, fast roll.  See, we live at the top of a street that is just straight uphill and our house sits on top of another hill, so it's like the house on a hill on a hill sort of thing.  And at the bottom of that street is a very busy road.

By the time Simone alerted me (by screeching hysterically) the gourd was half way down the yard.  And by the time I got halfway down the yard it was on the street and beginning its very fast descent to the very end of the road.  With me running as fast as my legs could pump and still not catching up as it picked up more speed and bounced off the curb a few times.  Meanwhile Simone is in tears and yelling frantically for me to move faster, for it is her favorite pumpkin ever after all.  And there's Sammy, the one who put this whole thing in motion...so to say, just standing in the front yard wondering what all the commotion is about.  It is just a pumpkin after all.

By now I was quite sure we'd never see that pumpkin again.  I tell you that thing picked up speed, rolling faster and faster as it made its all the way down the hill and crossed over that already mentioned very busy road, somehow managing to miss all of the passing cars.  Finally it rolled up the hill across the street and came to rest in the woods about 10 feet or so in.         Amazingly still in one piece.

We've since retrieved the unbreakable pumpkin and Simone has it displayed well out of Sammy's reach.  She's really hoping that he learned his lesson.

But I'm guessing probably not.  It was really too much fun for him watching that pumpkin roll.....
J

The Great Pumpkin

Well, okay, maybe more like the Great Pumpkin Patch!
I cannot believe that Autumn is here already and that our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch has arrived!  Yes, the leaves are changing color a bit, and yes the air is getting a slight bit cooler.  But Pumpkin Patch time......? 

But alas, it's true.  We made our super fun and flippin hot somewhat sunny venture to the pumpkin patch with who else but our FCC (Families with Children from China) group.  We had a spectacular turn out and the kids and parents had a wonderful and dusty afternoon together.

 The pumpkin patch we go to has expanded over the years and really had so much more to offer this year than last even!  And I laugh, because our little group seems to have expanded for this annual gathering as well!

And what a wonderful group it is, the kids just love to get together, with the older kids keeping a watchful eye on the youngsters and the middle kids finding new pals each gathering.  Simone & Sammy have found such great friends and role models.  I just can't say enough about how special this great group really is for our kids!

Okay, okay...on to the photos!

I caught my two in a few pictures...such cuties!

 

And then the pals came and they were all just off to play! 

Love this one of the "older girls".  They are such great pals!

We all took our hay ride over to "pick" our own pumpkins.  Sammy was in his own little tractor heaven for this.  All I've heard all week since is "Sammy ride red tractor"!  We all had fun on the ride and out in the dusty field picking out our prize gourds.

Oh.  So, I snapped the photo below for a reason.  You can't see too well but the hair on these folks was just a rainbow, and they had piercings on every imaginable visible part and tattoos galore.  Which is all just fine.  I have no problem with any of that.  But I was cracking up because as we all got off the hay ride this family just stopped and open mouth stared at us.  And in "normal" life I'd possibly be staring at them - funny how that works huh! 

And we got a family photo...yay!

And a group photo!!!

And another fun hayride back to the corn maze!

And on the corn maze side there was more than enough fun stuff to do!  Too bad my battery ran out of juice right around that point.  So I borrowed the following photos from my sweet Mama pal Julie.

Sammy & Adam went on a tractor ride.  Probably *almost* the highlight of Sammy's whole day.  (There was a petting  with bunnies and pony's and goats that played...sooooo I say toss up).

And this is just too adorable of the kids.  Julie truly captured such a cute moment...The boys all in their own little mischievousness, Simone fawning over baby O with Sweet Sis O looking on protectively-and with her arm in the stroller around her brother.  

LOVE IT!

So Happy Autumn Days to you.  Enjoy these days of Indian Summer while it lasts for surely the cold winter winds will be here soon!
J

Taiwan friends

Yesterday we had the pleasure of spending the day in Chattanooga with some other families that have adopted from Taiwan and live in the general area!  There were 13 or so Taiwan dumplings and plenty of siblings to add to the fun.

Now you all know we have our local FCC group that is mainly made up of Chinese adoptees.   I love the Asian culture that we bring the kids through the group and the ties that they have to other Chinese and Asian adoptees. And its amazing to hang out with fellow adoptive families that have been down the same road and crossed the same great ocean to create their families.

So to meet some others that have been not only across those waters but to Taipei, Taiwan was really cool!  Ya see, we adoptive folk like to compare our stories.  You know...how the flights were and how long they took, what hotels we stayed in, where we shopped and sites we visited, what the oddest/yummiest/most authentic meals we ate were.  So it was super cool to, for the first time, share and compare our Taiwan journey.  But truly, most importantly is that Sammy now has a connection with children from his birth country, just like Simone!

And boy were they all just darling!

Both Sammy and Simone quickly made friends and all of the kids just had the greatest time playing with each other and running all around.

  The park this was held at was amazing - Coolidge Park in Chattanooga.  It was just lovely and had a lot of great spaces for play.  So once lunch and indoor play was over we headed to the carousel - which all of the kids just loved.

And then outside for some more running and playing!  You'd have thought these kids had been playing together all their lives they all just had so much fun together!  And yep, the adults all had a really great time getting to know each other too!

This one ^ cracks me up...look at Sammy Wie's tongue. He's such a goof!

After the gathering we took the kids to the Chattanooga Choo Choo.  Since Sammy is soooo into trains right now we knew he'd love a quick visit there.

Which he did!  "Big big trains" he kept saying with glee!  

One of our new friends had the same idea and the three kids had such fun running around together, checking out the trains.

We took the slowest an interesting trolley ride around the grounds.

And the kids on board got to ring the trolley bell!  What fun....

And one last stop for a ride on a very little train.

One of  the Mom's from the group took this great photo below.  Too bad Simone wasn't in it, it came out so nice...could've been my new profile photo for the blog!  But I had to post it because I actually almost look good it's such a nice one of my guys!

So we had a fun filled day with some great new pals we hope to get to see more often!  I'm so glad to have such connections for Sammy and look forward to keeping in touch!
J