FCC Playgroup

Our playgroup visited Trader Joe's on Thursday. It was a great tour and each child left with a sack of food. Everyone enjoyed a sack lunch and time to play at the Roswell Park afterwards! We cooked the sweet potato fries to go with our hamburgers for dinner that night.

Consider a boy...

Consider a boy….

We go to China for a child
A daughter

We are deeply disturbed at the vastness of girls
Abandoned
Lost
Alone

We love each of these girls
Even as we are grateful to adopt just one
And we are proud to teach them about
Girl power

We want to right the balance
We want our girls to know they are not a second choice
We want to raise them to be powerful

And many of us believe
That boys in China are Little Emperors
Adored
Indulged
Loved beyond belief

Many are.

And yet
Should you have the great privilege of visiting an orphanage
You will see boys
And not just a few

Many, many boys
Who perhaps were a second child
But, in all sad reality,
Were probably abandoned because of some special need

Cleft lip, cleft palate
Heart disease
Club feet or vision problems

Issues that, in the states,
Are treatable or at least manageable
Issues that, in the states,
Would not define them or their lives

And they wait.

They wait for a home
A family
A chance

Maybe you weren't thinking of
A boy

Maybe you weren't thinking
Special needs

Maybe you were envisioning
Your fairy tale

And you should never apologize
For that

We all have our fairy tale
We all have our vision
We all have our dreams

But so do these children
Be they girls, abdicated to a less than status
By the power of culture and tradition
Or
Be they boys, left to live in an orphanage
Left without the same opportunities
As their parented peers

When I first dreamed of parenthood
It wasn't to an adopted child

I dreamed of pregnancy
Of womanhood
Of giving life

I grieved the loss of that first dream
And yet
The second dream was not
Second best.

Instead of giving birth to a child
I gave birth
To me

I became a mother
When I began to love

I became a mother
When I began to whisper sweet goodbyes
To the dreams that seemed important
So I could listen to dreams
That would not wait

So today,
I ask you to consider a boy
Consider a special need
Consider that you might be
More than what you ever thought

We adopted our daughter
As a non-special-needs child
And her needs are vast
And global
And tiring
And rewarding

We adopted through the traditional program
Because we couldn't handle special needs

Luckily, God knew better

And now,
The couple who couldn't handle special needs
Has become a family who can handle
Whatever comes its way.

Including a boy.
A boy with special needs
Who has captured our hearts,
Intrigued our minds,
And blessed our days already.

And so I ask you again,

Consider a boy.
Consider that you might be
More than what you ever thought.
Consider.

Just consider.

Melissa
Lucky Mama to Kate
Paperchasing for our first son

I found this today on Deanna's blog. They are leaving for China this week. She had found it on one of her yahoo groups. It is our story too so I thank Melissa for writing it and wanted to share it with you.

We have a SON!

Wow, where have the past few weeks gone? We got the surprise of the year on March 24 when our agency called us with a potential match. We were hoping for a referral but really thought it would be a bit longer since we had just submitted our MCC in January and made a few changes at the beginning of March.
She said there was a little boy with a repaired cleft lip/cleft palate needing a family. However, the waiting child system was going through changes and it wasn't clear if this little boy would be matched with us or another family during the next few hours. We immediately contacted our pediatrician and had him review the files that day. This new system requires a very quick decision but Dr. Smith was quick to review everything and talk to us. We went to bed hoping that we had a son and found at on Tuesday that his file was "locked in" for us!
We had much paperwork to do that week and sent Jiang Le Rong a care package a few days later. These packages show that the child has a family waiting to bring them home and we also wanted to tell his nannies and the director thank-you for taking care of him.
China sent our PA (Pre-Approval) on April 7. This means that they approve us to be his parents and are going to find our dossier and match it with his file.