Since when did this become a democracy?

And who gave 5 year-olds the right to vote?

In case you can't decipher, it's a subtle message from Cholita:  

"Mom I vot Owen"

See what I'm talking about? 

Coming soon: The Disney wrap-up

The girls are snoring.....

...in our hotel room.  In Orlando.  While Dad takes classes at the ADA convention.

Lucy has known about it for a long time.  The little ones knew only about 2 hours before we left for the airport.  Rose, with shaking hands, opened a parchment postmarked from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy granting her early admission.  Cholita had an invitation to a royal princess ball.  Bruder is home with friends, which makes us all sad, but it's hard to take time off during his junior year.

The Harry Potter park at Islands of Adventure is amazing.  And amazingly crowded.  The hour wait to get into the castle was surprisingly worth it though, just to see Rose's face.

Poor Cholita, who simply could not wait to go on Small World, found that Small World was closed for renovations.   Cholita is a very cautious park-goer.  She refused to ride "Snow White's Scary Adventure" because of the word "scary" and anything that looks even slightly fast is a no-go.  The carousel is her type of ride.  I was getting tired of waiting with Cholita while Rose and Lucy had all the fun, so I told her that The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was just a choo choo train.  She said, "Oh, I like trains!" and on we went.  She's wasn't happy with me afterward but did puff up with pride as she told her dad that she rode on a roller coaster just like a teenager.

We have two more Disney days and one more Islands of Adventure day and Lyle has about a zillion more classes on teeth.  Glad I'm not him.

A Prayer Answered

As I struggled this week with the realization that our son has always been in the orphanage, I prayed that he was being cared for and that the idea of love and family wouldn't be a completely foreign to him.

Through a Yahoo group, I received a message from a woman who brought home a teenage daughter just recently from Yun Xi's orphanage.  She reassured me that her daughter is kind and loving and very well-adjusted.  Her daughter reported that the children were arranged into "families" and that she was very close to her "siblings".

I sent her a picture of Yun Xi, hoping that possibly she might have known him.  Her mother wrote back saying that her daughter saw his picture and yelled, "Xi Xi!!! Xi Xi!!!  He was my little brother!"

I wrote the mother back immediately.  I had so many questions for her daughter!  With the use of a translator, she gave me such a precious glimpse into Xi Xi's life.  She said they lived in a dorm-style room and that each child had a locker and that there was a large window into a beautiful garden.  She said that she'd known Xi Xi (what an adorable nickname) from his infancy and can remember him taking his first steps!  She told her mother that we shouldn't worry because he's "a very obedient boy" with "a bright and smiling face" and "a very loveable personality."

Coincidentally, at the very same time that this sweet young woman was meeting her family in China, we were praying over her little brother's file.  I told this girl's mother to tell her that she'll always have a special place in our hearts for loving our little boy before we could.

What a delightful and immediate answer to prayer.  Xi Xi has been loved and even in the orphanage has had a "family" where he's been cherished and where a big sister cheered on his milestones, like learning to walk.  And in this family, he's watched his siblings leave to forever homes with mommys and daddys of their own.

Soon it will be Xi Xi's turn.

A Prayer For Our Littlest One

It's been a difficult few days.  New information on Yun Xi has brought me to tears and brought me to my knees many times.  He's not in foster care, as we'd assumed.  He's in the orphanage and most likely has been his whole life.

The other night, I was sent a link to a blog where a woman had documented her 2009 trip to Kunming.  She was on a heritage tour with her two boys, both of whom had both been adopted from Kunming.  She had an album of pictures from the foster village and I eagerly looked through each one, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yun Xi.  I didn't see him, but with hundreds of children living there, I wasn't surprised.  Then, I went over to the photos of the orphanage.  Knowing that Yun Xi had spent his first months there, I was curious.   As I clicked through the photos of adorable babies, suddenly my screen was filled with the face of a chubby two year-old.  He was a year younger than in the photos we have of him, but it was obviously our Yun Xi.

I was able to contact the woman who took the picture and also had a long phone conversation with another woman who was also on the tour.  She met our son and remembered him and shared several more photos.   He seems to be a favorite amongst the nannies.

In this photo, he's on the left, helping in one of the baby rooms.

This woman said that he seemed very happy and for that, I am so thankful.  She did say however, that the children only leave the orphanage when they have medical check-ups.  Yun Xi's whole world has been this compound of buildings.  Admittedly, it's a gorgeous facility, unlike any orphanage I've ever seen.

  But it's so obviously not a home.

I can't imagine a little boy wandering these huge rooms.

Under this photo of Yun Xi and one of the nannies, the woman had written, 

"I want to bring this one home."

Ditto.

Please keep Yun Xi in your prayers.

That he's being loved and cared for in the orphanage.

That his spirit is being prepared for the great change that will happen in his life.

That we'll be prepared to teach him what it means to have a family.

A Name

I think I've got it.  

It's masculine.

It's Biblical

It's short and easy to spell.

It has two syllables.

It means "Joined in Harmony", which couldn't be more perfect.

It was recommended by Miss Ashley and Julie and Mom2four,

women with impeccable taste.

Now I just have to convince the rest of the family.

And they're a tough crowd.

So Very Close.....

....to having our papers finished and off to China.   

Every single thing is signed, stamped and delivered to our agency except our Citizenship and Immigration approval.  Lyle and I were fingerprinted yesterday at The Department of Homeland Security and are waiting on that all-important approval notice to come in the mail.   Once it does, I'll drive it straight to Olympia to the Secretary of State's Office to get their seal of approval and then I'll overnight it to a courier in San Francisco who will hand-carry it to the Chinese Consulate and then overnight it to our agency.  If all of the stars align, I was hoping to have our dossier winging its way to China by October 8th. 

At the very least, I MUST have our approval in hand by October 6th because I will be incommunicado from October 7th-14th.  It's a surprise that I cannot divulge lest my two littlest ones read the blog!  Wish Yun Xi were already with us.  I think it's a surprise that would make him smile!

And speaking of smiles, how cute is that little guy?  Our little guy with no American name.  Rose suggested Silas last night and Lyle shocked me with (in all seriousness) Titus and then I was reminded of an adorable baby Finn who we knew in Iowa City and Lucy told me her friends all voted for Gavin and Cholita thought Stanley would make a fantastic name and Bruder said he's obviously a Simon and ........ Too many voters.  Too many choices.

Introducing.....

Our son!  

Yun Xi

AKA: The smile that lights up Yunnan

American Name:???

Lyle vetoed Grant.

I've axed Simon.

We need inspiration!

And Yun Xi needs a boy's bike!

Name Game Part IV

Seriously, I will move past this.  Right now though, I need help.   Our son in China will thank you someday.

* Zander was a fleeting thing.  I was over it in about 2 hours.

* I have a great uncle who was a WWII fighter pilot and died at the very end of the war.  I actually wrote his story years ago and was able to talk to many of the men from his company, which was an amazing experience.  So, I have an affinity for his name, Grant, but I'm not sure it flows with our last name.  Grant Beck.  What do you think?

* What about Joseph and just calling him Joe?  I do tend to like one syllable names even if our last name doesn't exactly like them.

* I think Noah might be too common right now.  Simon is definitely not too common, but there are so many associations with it--Simple Simon, Simon Says, Simon the Chipmunk, Simon the mean American Idol judge. I do love the name Peter, but my kids make gagging noises when they hear it.  Grant has a neat family connection, but I'm not sure how if flows with our last name.  Owen is a great name, but it might be too trendy.

* I want classic, but underused.  HELP!

The Name Game Part III

If you name a boy Alexander, and call him Zander as a nickname, would you have to spell it Xander?  For some reason, the X would bug me.

Is Zander a weird name anyway?  Would you take a Zander seriously?  Haven't even thrown this one out to the family yet, so we'll see.....

Alexander means "defender of men", which I think is cool.

Simon means "one who hears".  This is Bruder's favorite, Lyle's least favorite.

Owen means "well born".  Cholita and Rose and Lucy frequently refer to their soon-to-be brother by this name, so for them, there's no debate.  He's Owen.  The extended family who've offered opinions were not too fond of this name (to say the least).  "Are you SERIOUS?" was the general feeling.

Peter is a name I've always liked.  It means rock or stone.  Lyle likes it, but the kids don't.  Who gave them a vote anyway?

Samuel is a name I love, but I think the nick-name Sam is inevitable.  I like Sam, but our short, sharp last name requires a first name with at least two syllables.  I also like several names that end in the "k" sound (Eric, Jack, etc.), but since our last name ends in k, I don't think it flows well.

What you really need is to see his picture....beyond the arm.  Our papers should be done and off to China very very soon, and the minute that happens, his happy, smiling face will grace our blog.   But what I'm really looking forward to his happy, smiling face gracing our dinner table.

"Owen, can you pass the peas?"  

"Chew with your mouth closed, Simon."

"Zander, it looks like you need a napkin."

What oh what will we call him?

The Name Game Part II

Questions that need answers:

*Should the name Simon only be used for Chipmunks?

*Would a boy named Owen be pushed around?

*Can a person ever be called Samuel or would they forever be Sam?

*When you hear the name Noah, do you only think of an ark full of animals?

Help us please.