I am a Mom

Recently I have been puzzled by the idea which some people have indicating that the love you share for adoptive children is somehow different than biological children. I just can't comprehend this logic. I know I have only adopted children but I couldn't imagine loving them any more than I already do!

When my child falls down and scraps his knee I can't imagine that I would hurt for him any more than if he were my biological child.

Or when my daughter gets excited about achieving her first flip off the trampoline at gymnastics would I be happier for her if I had given birth to her... nope!

When my son cries at the loss of his "pet bug" would I sympathize with him anymore? No!

When my little girl needs to snuggle to go to sleep would I snuggle closer if she were my flesh and blood? no way.

When my kids squeal from excitement after finding a tree frog in the tree they have been climbing would I think it was more cute if they grew inside my tummy? ...nope

I believe that love is a choice not a feeling. I believe that adoption is a choice not an alternative.

A child is a child. If you are able to look into their souls you can see that they all just want love, support, sympathy, empathy, hugs, snuggles, cheers, and smiles.

When Adam and I decided that we wanted to adopt rather than have biological children. Unfortunately more than one person indicated that they felt sorry for me as I was giving up the chance to feel the special bond between a mother and her baby. ???

Maybe I am sacrificing something? But it sure doesn't seem like a sacrifice when my children look me in the eyes and say, "I yuooove you Moummie". Or when their eyes light up when I walk in a room. Or when they fall asleep cuddled in my arms. If it is a sacrifice that I somehow don't understand, I would do it all over again tomorrow, and the next day and the day after that. That is what my Savior did for me and this is what he has called me to do for others. James 1:27 Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the widow and the orphans in their distress.

Having biological children means one less child we could give a forever family... and for us that is just not acceptable.

I do believe that God calls us all to different things. This just happens to be our calling.

Chaucer, or Should I Say Super Dog

A funny thing happened around here a few days ago. Chaucer became upgraded from dog-who-barks-a-lot-and-gets-in-your-face to SUPER DOG.
It all started like this. I was in the kitchen getting ready to unload the dishwasher when I heard too much giggling from the dinning room for it to be a good thing. I walked around the counter to see my kids laughing hysterically at Chaucer who's legs were tied up with his leashes. He was trying to walk, but not getting very far. I chuckled to myself (Chaucer didn't seem to be distressed) but told the kids not to do that again because Chaucer didn't like to be tied up. I untied him and left the room. Next thing I know is Chaucer walks into the kitchen with his leash on and the hand loop wrapped around his tail. He laid down under the dishwasher and sighed so I reached down and unhooked him.

Next thing I hear was "MOUWM! CHAUWCWER!" Wondering what could be going wrong now I looked to find nothing out of the ordinary. Pierson however began miming what I believe was Chaucer unhooking his own leash! Oh how I wanted to laugh! With a straight face I said "Chaucer doesn't like to be tied up. He must have taken it off."
Pierson couldn't muster up any words he just nodded his head. Then a look came into his eyes which lead to the next picture.


He decided he wanted to see Chaucer in action. So he hooked him back up got, some grapes out of the refrigerator and set up camp. I warned him that Chaucer didn't like to show off his super talents and he may not do while he was watching. I knew though that Pierson would get fidgety before long. I decided to wait HIM out! I stayed close by but far enough away that Pierson would never suspect me. I was right! After about 3 minutes he went to get a toy out of his room to play with while he watched. As he did I quickly but oh so quietly went to the kitchen and unhooked the leash and made it back to the dinning room before Pierson entered. As he did his jaw dropped and his hands were in the "what in the world?" position! All he could do was squint his eyes and shake his head in disbelief. I of course played ignorant and said "what happened?" He just pointed and kept shaking his head. I walked around the counter to 'see' what happened and said "See, I told ya! Chaucer doesn't like to be tied up!"
Pierson couldn't believe it! His dog was amazing! And I couldn't believe how fun it was tricking him! :)

Some kids believe in Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy... not my kids they have never heard of these guys. My kids believe in SUPER DOG!
Chaucer and I are the only ones who know the truth and he's not talking! So if any of you feel the need to rat me out just think of poor Chaucer who will start getting tied up again! And know that you will be on my list! :)

Cinderella Has a Brother?

I bet you missed the part of the movie that talked about Cinderella's brother? Apparently she had a brother that was locked away and only came out to help her do her chores... according to Maylin anyway.

Pierson and Maylin found these buckets in Grandma's garage and asked to fill them up with water so they can "keen yup" the driveway with brooms. I let them do this while wondering if they had seen this done before or if they had done it themselves in Taiwan? But then I heard Maylin say something about her "yond" and turning "beauiful" and it clicked. She was pretending to be Cinderella. Of course! We had watched it a few days before.

I remember Cinderella being a bit more gracious about her chores. Maylin cracked me up as she acted sad, tired and worn down. I asked her to look at the camera. She just sighed, looked at me and said "Owe Kay" as if that were the last thing she could possibly muster the strength to do for the day. :)

She scrubbed and scrubbed that pavement. So much that I suggested that she take a break. She insisted that she couldn't and neither could Pierson. I said "Cinderella doesn't have a brother Maylin." And I was informed that she did and he needed to help. Pierson, being the good brother that he is, went along with it all. He was having fun splashing all around. That is until he saw this killer betel!

Both of my kids are on the verge of being OBSESSED with catching bugs in their bug catchers! Pierson is gentle and picks them up without hurting them 99% of the time . He moves slowly towards them trying not to scare them and as gently as a 5 year old can he scoops them into his catcher.

Maylin on the other hand runs after them as if her life depends on it while slamming the top of her container over and over again until she succeeds in trapping them. If the bugs make it through that they have another trial ahead. At some point she has to pick the lid up and scrape them into the bottom half before she can close the lid. I would say a bug in Maylin's path has a 50-50 shot at making it out alive. And we call them miracle bugs it they make it out alive and with all of their legs intact! :(

For all of you animal/anything-breathing lovers out there please don't call PETA on her! I promise we are working on her catching skills, but she is FAST! :)

Maylin Got Her Ears Pierced!

(This actually happened several weeks ago if you have been observant you may have already noticed)
Maylin had been asking to get her ears pierced repetitively for days. I kind of wanted her to have them because I think they are cute but I didn't want to push her into anything she wasn't ready for or didn't want. So when she started holding her ears and saying, "Please Moummy, Ky-ee, Garcy has!" I was thrilled and promised her we would get them before we went to the beach.

On a Thursday afternoon after preschool we drove to Daddy's work to pick him up. We all went to the mall together to watch Maylin "get beaui-ful"!!

She handled it like a champ! We told her that it would hurt a little bit, but it would be over quickly. I was half afraid that she would decide she didn't want them when she saw them coming. The lady marked her ears and headed towards her with the gun. Maylin looked a little worried but didn't squirm. She cried a little bit after the first one, but turned her head towards the lady without being asked so she could do the second one. She wanted those earrings badly! She cried again after the second one but as soon as she saw herself in the mirror she was all smiles!

When asked if it hurt she said, "it hurt a yiddly bit. Ish OK." Followed up by "Shank you Moummy!" over and over again!!! I think she likes them! :)

Pierson's Orientation and First Day of Big School

With great anticipation and excitement we loaded up the car to go to Kindergarten orientation! Pierson told me "I try it one day. OK Moum?" It took some convincing to get him to agree to go to big boy school rather than preschool which he has loved so much!

I think as soon as he saw his classroom door with his name on it he was sold out for Big Boy School. Having a jungle theme didn't hurt either! As he walked in the door he acted intimidated for about 3 seconds. Then his teacher asked him if he could find his name on the table and he was off!

It didn't take him long to find "P for Peershon". His eyes lit up when he saw his own name tag and knew he had his own space in the room! Then he was off exploring the rest of the room. He had his hands on everything checking everything out. It was fun and a relief to watch his enthusiasm grow for "Big see-cool".

Daddy demonstrated to Pierson and Maylin what school might be like and how they should sit and listen to the teacher. Daddy is so fun!

The night before school! Clothes set out, book bag packed, watch already on and smiles in place! I don't think he could have been more excited! We let Pierson pick a "CD" to watch before bed (everything involving music, movies or just plain TV are called CD's around here.) He picked the Chinese version of Dora that we bought while in Taipei.

Good thing there are subtitles right! :)
The kids are so cute while watching their Mandarin "CD's" They sing the theme songs and respond to Dora as if she can really hear them. This is really the only Mandarin we hear around here anymore. I need to get them into Mandarin lessons soon before they forget it all! :(
Early Friday morning Aunt Kristi, also known as Ayi which is Aunt in Mandarin, called Pierson to send him well wishes for his first day of school. If you can't tell from his expression he isn't exactly a morning person. :) But he was excited that Ayi called him!

All too quickly it was time to load up in the car and get going! Somehow time got away from us we were boarder line running late! :0

We got there just in time to catch his class starting down the hall going to their room. Pierson was excited to get in line and I think would have been just as happy if I had left then. However Mommy and Daddy needed to walk with him and watch him enter his first day of school! (we weren't the only parents to do so. We were the only crazies!)

He quickly put his things away and fell in line with the other kids. He sat down next to Jayden a little girl from our church and obviously wasn't having any doubts about being at school and Mommy and Daddy leaving.

As his teacher got started the rest of us parents figured that was our signal to leave. :( Pierson blew us kisses with a huge smile and then turned around and seemed to instantly forget that we were there. I think that it helped that the class was small for his first day due to the staggered entry. Monday will be another test as the whole class will be there.

At 2:15 I went to pick him up and meet with his teacher to discuss his assessment. He was ALL SMILES!!! He was so excited to show me everything in the room! He was wearing his safari hat and looking through his binoculars! He couldn't have been more proud! His teacher gave me a great report! She was impressed at how well his English has progressed in just 5 months. He recognized numbers 1-10. Recognized several letters. Understood many opposites like hot/cold, and over/under. The teacher said that when she said "ice is cold and fire is hot", he said, "and coffee is hot too!" :)

While I was talking to the teacher the assistant teacher was very kind and helped Maylin make a hat and binoculars too! She was thrilled and even more jealous of Pierson and big school! As we were leaving they ran ahead to hide around the corner so they could "hunt" for me with their binoculars. Aren't they the cutest little hunters?

And just as fast as they have grown up in these five months they moved towards the door and just like that Pierson's first day of school was over.

Maylin and Mommy had spent the day together getting used to Pierson being gone. So as a little treat we went to Wal-Mart to pick out a little gift for each of them. Maylin picked lip gloss over the pink guitar she had initially picked up. (fortunately it was her decision and I didn't have to coerce her!) And she decided that Pierson would love a "Car's" puzzle. She was right. His eyes widened and he grinned from ear to ear. Mommy picked a Kit Kat bar for all of us to share! That was Mommy's favorite part! :)

First thing we did when we got home was put the puzzle together. Second thing we did was take a much needed nap! We were all tired after an exhausting day! I am hoping that day two goes as smoothly as this one!

A Sunday Afternoon at the Pool

What does a Sunday Afternoon with friends look like at the pool?
One might think that the entertainment would be provided mostly by the kids while the adult onlookers chatted and kept a watchful eye on them.
On the contrary. In this case it was 99% the other way around.

Here is a look at some of the mostly unsuccessful float surfing done by the adults in the group. Too bad we didn't have a video going... we may have been able to win $10,000!

Tricky Daddy!

Buckin' Brandon!

Just out of reach Andy.

and Woe! Nose Dive Joe. Ouch! :) Notice to the far left His daughter Kathrine grimacing for her daddy!

Even the women were having some fun.


Before long the kids decided that they didn't want to be shown up and they started doing their own "toned down" version of surfing.

Maylin didn't like being shown up and decided that she was going to show the men how it was done. She is one determined little girl!

Emma is not far behind Maylin in the Dare Devil category! In fact they may be tied!

This picture just makes me laugh! Can you imagine what was being said? This is my version of what was being said.

Joe- "...and the bear was right on my tail as I was running through the quicksand."

Andy- "Oh My! Not the quicksand!"

Adam- "A bear in the quicksand? Hmm sounds delightful?"

Pierson was outsmarted while trying to blow water in Brandon's face.

After lunch and hours of fun the 'picture' started to drastically slow down.

Emma and Susannah actually laid themselves down.

I guess the ground wasn't comfy enough so they headed to higher ground. Susannah was out like a light.

Emma snuggled up with Bethanye.

Pierson started losing his mind! :)

Maylin got a little cranky and needed a little time out. :)

And Daddy looked like he had been beat up! :)

At the end of the day though we were all able to look back and smile. It is such a blessing to have such great friends to share our lives with! God is SO good!

Amanda sorry you didn't get to stay very long! Hopefully we'll do it again real soon!