Today I found a blog. This family adopted an 8 year old from China and have been home with her for less than 2 months. Tonight I sat down and read their story in one sitting. There are plenty of people out there adopting babies and toddlers but finding a story to follow like this has been hard to find. Everyday John and I worry about attachment and how we are going to communicate and interact with Lily. Will she let us hold her? hold hands? Will she show us affection and when? We think about this a lot especially with the reality now that we are so close to going to China. I engulfed this blog because it was candid and honest and it has helped me to see what our experience may be like. I know we will have struggles and I know we will have setbacks but I know without a doubt that we will be blessed. That adopting this child will change us forever. I know that no matter what she is our daughter, I feel so strongly that God handpicked her just for us and I haven't even met her! I trust him that much. Please pray for us. For Lily and all that she will have to mourn when she leaves China and for our attachment and bonding as a family. We are getting so close.

Wyatt: Why can't we break the road.
Mom: It is too hard.
Wyatt: So I can't break it with my feet?
Mom: no
Wyatt: You need a special toodle to break it?

Now that is from a child who has obviously watched too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Oh, Toodles!

Today has been quite a day. I woke up at 5:15 (45 minutes before the alarm) and patiently waited for my dad (travel companion) to awaken. I got showered and dressed and we went downstairs in the hotel to eat breakfast. I wasn't very nervous and left the hotel at 7:15 to go to the testing center that was across the street (this was in N. Charleston). After checking in I sat down to take my test. The first few questions were tough and I started to panic just a little. Fortunately I got into a groove and before I knew it I was done. I will get the results in 24-48 hours (most likely 48). After the test my dad and I went shopping at the outlets (not his favorite thing-thanks for being patient Dad). I found some cute and very well priced clothes for Lily and a few things for the boys. When we got back to the car there was a message on my phone from Mei, out caseworker with Christian World Adoption. I suddenly got very nervous, thinking could this be it? Is our LOA here? I left her a message to call me back and could hardly eat a bite of my lunch waiting for her to call back. As soon as we got back in the car after lunch she called back. All I heard was, "Jennifer your LOA is here, I can't believe you got it so quick". Since we were in Charleston I told her we would come by and pick it up at the office. On the way I called John and shared the news with him. I can't tell you how much excitement and nervousness we feel. We had a great visit at CWA and she gave us a lot of information and stuff to do. I really can't believe we got LOA!! This means we will travel by the end of March at the latest. Boy have I got a lot to do!!! I will try to keep you updated but I am not sure how much time I will have for blogging! With a new job (gulp!), preparing to spend 2 weeks in China, figuring out what to do with the boys for those two weeks, finishing (well almost) Lily's room, and everything else I think I am going to be quite busy!
Thanks so much to everyone for their support,prayers and encouragement. We can't wait to bring Lily home!

Sorry I have been MIA but I have been very busy. John and I took Wyatt and Mason to Disney for a few days and now I am back and leaving to go to Charleston to spend the night because I am taking my board exam at 8:00 in the morning. I am a little nervous but hopefully I will do fine. I also had an interview last week with labor and delivery at LMC and was offered a job that day. I was very excited and am looking forward to working there. They have a good starting package and were willing to work with me about going to China soon. Hopefully I will be able to start working there on Feb. 9th. It all has come together and now I just need to pass my boards....pray for me tomorrow.

Last night they called off school for snow. I seriously thought it was ridiculous. But to my surprise this is what we awakened to and it keeps on coming. To say the kids were excited would be an understatement. Noah said "this is the best day ever". This was Wyatt and Mason's first time EVER seeing snow, so yes it is a big deal around here. Even if it doesn't cover everything...

If I could choose one word to describe me now it would be happy.
I have been thinking about this for the last few days.
I am happy for so many reasons!
I am happy because once again I am spending time in God's word and am enjoying it. I am attending Bible study and am anxious to see what God will reveal to me during this study. For a long while I neglected scripture because of the demands of nursing school bearing down on me. And speaking of nursing school I am so happy it is done!
I am happy that soon I will take boards and take a job. I am happy that God gave me loving and faithful parents and parent in laws, I am happy that my husband loves me no matter what, that he is faithful to his family and would do anything for us! I am happy that I have been blessed with 4 little boys and a precious little girl waiting for us in China. I am happy that I have my family back and can go out and enjoy their company more often! I am happy that not only has God provided for my many needs but so many of my wants. I am happy that God has given me another year. I am happy, very happy. A good way to feel on your birthday. Thank you God!

In playing with my new obsession (my iphone) I discovered that it is currently 3 degress in Zhuhai City where Lily is living. The high tomorrow is 18. Does she have warm enough blankets? a coat? a hat? these are the things I thought about this morning as I laid around in my warm house, with my warm robe, drinking a hot cup of coffee. I can't wait until she is home with us and I know that she is ok. Lily, I pray that you are warm and safe, we will be there soon!

update: The interview went very well in my opinion. It seems to be a good fit for me and she is very willing to accommodate our needs with adopting and going to China. There are 9 people interviewing for 2 positions. She said I would know something by Tues. which is by the way the day I have an interview with Lexington Medical Center Labor and Delivery.



Job Interview this morning at 10:30.
Nervous, I haven't done this in a LONG time!
Praying for God's will!
Praying for confidence, peace, and that I won't say something stupid or that I will regret like I so often do!
I'll keep ya posted....

Saturday we spent 6 hours upstairs cleaning and rearranging rooms to make room for Lily. Since she is the only girl she will have her own room and bathroom. We moved Mason into Wyatt's room. It is the biggest and has plenty of room for them both. At first they were a bit confused but Mason slept in his new bed last night with no problems! After he went to bed last night I realized my last baby just went to bed in a bed not a crib. It was a weird feeling because we have had a crib in our in home for many years. We didn't take his crib down yet just in case he wasn't ready to move but surprisingly he wanted to stay in his new bed. I didn't think he would because he loves being a baby. If you tell him he is a big boy he will say, "No I a baby". So this weekend we starting making the first official steps toward making room for Lily. Now I just need to pick out a paint color, find reasonably priced furniture, a lamp, towels, rug and........(and as much as possible is going to be PINK!!)

this has been a busy week for me. i have been going to a nclex review class all week and i am so glad it is over today! it is meant to give you an idea of how prepared you are to take boards for being a liscensed nurse. basically i am borderline. it pretty much depends on what questions i get and how well i am rationalizing my answers. it's just crazy they can ask me anything. some of this stuff we never even went over in school so you have to seriously know how to think critically.i guess it is a good thing i have been unable to get a test date scheduled so i can spend more time preparing. i also don't have a job. i am being sort of picky but i am first a mother to 4 (soon to be 5) and i have to find the right job for our family. i hope all this comes together before john and i have to dart off to china for lily. i am just trusting God. i know he sees the big picture.

For anyone wondering and I guess many are because I get asked about this a lot here is what is going on with Lily's adoption. In December we had our Homestudy updated, not a big deal and our caseworker is so awesome! Then we sent off all the little necessary paperwork to Immigration so that we will be allowed to bring her back into the country. And in January on the 9th we go have our fingerprints re-done for the US Immigration because apparently fingerprints expire ( John finds this incredible).
We also found out China has raised there orphange fee pretty signifacantly but I am trying to remember that no amount is too high to pay the orphanage back for taking care of our daughter for so many years. I really believe based on what I have learned that she comes from a very good orphange (China Standards-not mine)!
So now we really are just waiting. The average wait for the document we are waiting for is 75 days. We have been waiting less than 60. I have even seen people wait 120 days. We expect to travel to China somtime between March and May! When something changes I will let you know!

Let me apologize now if any of my children ever have or ever do eat spaghetti in your presence. Tonight I fixed spaghetti. It is not usually something I fix for numerous reasons but it was their request so I obliged. Here are a few things I learned tonight from watching and listening to them eat:

*Utensils are not necessary, shoveling it in by the handful works just fine!
*You can get a whole plate of spaghetti on your fork if you stick your fork in the middle of your pile and turn your fork over and over until all of it is on your fork.
*You can make a spaghetti sandwich by piling it on your garlic bread.
*Wearing a red sweater is a good idea when you are sitting next to Mason while he is eating spaghetti.
and the most interesting thing I learned tonight came from the eldest boy and what he said intrigued me so...
Mom: Son, please don't eat your spaghetti like that. It is bad manners. (and of course John pipes in to say something about if you were eating like that on a date the girl would never want to go out with you again..)
Noah: Mom we're from South Carolina not Massachusetts.
Mom: What does that have to do with eating spaghetti?

and honestly I can't remember exactly what he said but it was something about people in Massachusetts have proper manners and we South Carolinians are country (or maybe he said redneck) and we don't have to have good manners...huh? Where in the world did he learn that? I am cracking up laughing right now thinking about it. I looked at John and said "Have we done that bad of a job teaching our boys table manners?". Is there anybody out there from Massachusetts who would like to come teach my boys the proper way to eat?

As you may know this is a common theme of conversation for Wyatt and often provides us with smiles and laughs. He must think about this an awful lot.

I walked in to his room to read him a book and put him to bed...
Wyatt: When I grow up I am going to move away.
Mom: I know, mommy will be sad when you leave. (sticking lip out in a pout)
Wyatt takes a minute to think and almost starts to cry (he is a little sensitive underneath his tough exterior).
Wyatt: Well I am just going to get Dada to drive me somewhere and stay 2 days then I'll come back.
(As he says this he looks at me with a smile obviously hoping it will make me feel better, I almost cry just thinking about how sensitive he was to my feelings. And for some reason this little exchange made me think because later in the night when he came downstairs (AGAIN!) I decided to react differently. I usually get frustrated and take on the mean mommy approach but not this time. I looked at him standing there and I thought about Noah. Too grown up for me now. He probably is counting down the days until he is grown up and out on his own. With that thought I kneeled down on the floor and took my baby in my arms. I hugged him tight and tried to permanently imprint in my mind how he looked and felt at that very moment because I know how hard it is to remember Noah at that age. How he felt and looked. How he sounded and the things he said that made us laugh with joy. Right then I made a decision to pay better attention so I can remember and not just go through each day one task at a time and not really looking and listening to what is going on around me. Before I know it he too will be older and counting down the days until he is on his own and he won't be coming back in 2 days.

Happy New Year from the O'Cain Crew!

Any resolutions for the new year?
Mine is to get my family more active.
To get outside more and be inside less!


What I am looking forward to the most in 2009?
Bringing Lily home!

Hope your New Year is blessed, Happy and Healthy!