About Dane

I am the world's worse blogger but the VPN here is sketchy and I have more Facebook followers so I've ben sticking with Facebook. Well we have our little peanut and that word is not an underestimation. He is very little but very stocky. He was in shock on Gotcha Day so he cried very little that day. Basically the only time he cries is if he is hungry or if one of his new teeth starts to hurt him.  We have come to the conclusion that he is not just mentally delayed but he has global delays. He is 20 months old but he cannot suck a bottle which any child his age should be doing so getting fluids in him has been challenging to say the least. We have resorted to a Haberman feeder to push the fluids into him. He is not a milk fan but our guide has encouraged us to put him back on formula due to his small size.  He can sit up if you sit him up but he can not sit up by himself. He cannot even roll from back to front or vice versa and of course he cannot walk. He can pick up  a toy off the floor that is around him but when you try to get him to feed himself a snack, he doesn't know what to do so we feed him everything ourself. We are working with him as much as we can from here but it is obvious he will need multiple therapies in order to catch up. He is a happy baby but when he becomes upset, he has learned to self soothe himself by placing his arm in front of his face and putting his lips to it. He has been doing that since the day he was placed in my arms. He is a momma's boy and he adores his sister. He doesn't seem to have a fear of his daddy either so this is a very good thing.   All in all we feel like we are bringing home a baby instead of a 20 month old toddler but that is okay, we are in love with this kid. Keep praying for our little peanut and that he continues to bond with all of us and deal with the transition that he is going through. Thanks be to God for our new little addition!

15 More Hours

  Well the time has come. We leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning for our long awaited journey to bring home our little Dane. It seems like this has taken forever but we actually started this China adoption in February of this year.  We are going to be staying in Beijing a few days in order to see several of the sites and then on Sunday we fly down to Zhengzhou where our little peanut has been living for the last 20 months. On Monday the 19th, orphanage personnel will bring us our sweet boy. I cannot wait to wrap my arms around that sweet boy and tell him how much I love him.   We will spend several days in the Henan province doing various paperwork and of course celebrating Thanksgiving with many other adoptive families that we will have the pleasure of meeting and spending many days with. On November 24th we fly down to Guangzhou which is where the US consulate is.  This is where we get Dane's final paperwork in order so he can come home with us. We go to the consulate on November 29th and take the oath. On December 1st we fly home and thanks to a 14 hour time difference we actually arrive in Nashville at 10:00 PM December 1st.   We welcome anyone who wants to meet Dane to the airport that night because we may not be leaving our house for a while once we are home. 

  I have a few prayer requests... One is that we have a safe flight. We are flying on 8 different flights while we are gone and as we have done this before, I still worry about our safety with that much flying. I ask that you will keep Lindze in your prayers as this is a long journey and a lot to take in. She gets to see firsthand how we went about bringing her home and I don't know how this is going to affect her. I also ask that you pray for sweet Dane who is getting ripped out of the only home he has only known and getting thrown into strangers arms. I cannot imagine how this is going to upset him. I know eventually he will be okay but please pray for the initial few days and that God will heal his poor little broken heart.  My last prayer request is for my little Gabriel. We are leaving him for almost 18 days. We plan on Skyping with him as much as humanly possible but leaving him is tearing me up and I haven't even left yet.  I love that kid and I have given him a kiss and a hug every day since the day God blessed us with him at 6 weeks old.  My brother Brandon and sister in law Catherine are going to be caring for him while we are gone and I know he is in great hands.   At this point it is all in God's hands and I know he will take care of us. 

    I will be trying to update everyone via Facebook or through my blog as we go along on our trip. Thank you for all the support and many prayers that have been sent up as we have journeyed toward getting Dane home. 

   

Orphan Sunday

On this day known as Orphan Sunday we must remember the ones that were left behind. This little boy touched a special place in my heart that can never be filled. He was my son for almost 4 years and due to reasons out of my control I lost him.  He is still loved and thought of by many that prayed he would make it home from a country that does not care one bit about the orphans. I still pray every day that one day he can become a son to a mom and dad and escape the life he lives now.  This little boy will never be forgotten and always loved from far away.