Long time....no update?? Sorry!!

Well, my loving sister reminded me that there are folks who are wanting to keep up with Jack's progress and I have been somewhat negligent in keeping the blog updated. Sorry!!!

Dr. Bob returned safely from Africa and Jack had an appointment last week. After 8 weeks of castings, Bob says its time to move to phase two. We have special ordered orthotic shoes (unfortunately they are at least a week out on orders....) In the mean time, our "poor man" orthotic shoes are really a pair of Cole's old Nike's from when he was a baby.....except on the wrong feet. Jack doesn't seem to mind this and it keeps his little toes pointed outward. The orthotic shoes will do essentially the same thing, but they also have a bar that attaches to hold the feet steady while Jack sleeps.

Jack was walking really well in the flat-bottomed casts, but he has really not walked much at all in his bare feet or in the Nike's. I think he is favoring one of his ankles but Dr. Bob assures us he should not be in any pain. I'm wondering, if after 8 weeks in casts, the poor kiddo just needs some time to build up some muscle tone again. He's very happy and is in great spirits. He crawls or "hops" everywhere he wants to be....so again, this is not slowing him down. It was just SO great to see him walking....that its a little hard to go "backwards" again.

on top of the casts / shoes issue....we are still having significant digestive issues with the boy. We've been home three months and the boy still has diarrhea every single day. We've done stool samples (all of which came back normal) and we've completely removed ALL dairy from his diet for two weeks...no difference whatsoever. Pediatrician says the next step is the pediatric gastroenterology clinic at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. Ugh. We have an appointment, Thursday, March 11. We covet your prayers. Jack is not bothered by any of his symptoms. He doesn't appear to be cramping or in pain. But his diapers are NASTY!!!! And they are nasty FREQUENTLY!!! I'll spare you any more information than that!!

Praises are plenty over the last few weeks.....Jack's social security number arrived literally without a glitch. I went to the social security office in Albany (Thanks Lory Roth for the heads-up!) and waited a mere 30 minutes. The entire process was less than an hour....we've heard HORROR stories from other adoptive families who have waited hour upon hour, only to be told to return another day with another form, etc, etc, etc. The Lord paved the way for us on this one...no doubt!! So, our taxes are almost complete.....praise the Lord for the federal adoption credit! It will certainly help replenish the next-to-nothing savings account. yikes!!

Jack's transition home continues to amaze and astound us. There are literally days when I can't remember not having him here. He is such a part of who we are as a family. He spent the afternoon with a friend of mine (it was his first time "away" from family or extended family) and he did just super. Thanks for fabulous friends who are willing to take the risk to be the first babysitter for the China boy!! We are blessed by an amazing support system....at work, at school, at church, even the community. When you hear it takes a village to raise a child...this kid's got the cadillac village!! :)

Thanks for all of you who continue to read this and for those who keep praying. We feel you and are sustained by God's grace because of your intercession!! Our love to each and every one of you.

Inside the Cast Shop

For those of you who have been following our progress with Jack's casts...I thought you might like to see inside the cast shop at HOPE Orthopedics. These pictures came from Jennifer...the awesome assistant who has been with us each week. You'll also see pictures of Mike hard at work on Jack's casts and Misty getting him all cleaned up. This past Friday (Feb 5) was the first time Paul has been able to slip away to join me for one of Jack's appointments.



Orange casts come off.....Misty cleans Jack up....and you can see a picture of his heel. Just the little puncture wounds from the tenotomy surgery.....and the BLACK casts go on!!









We made sure to get a family picture with Mike as last Friday was his last day. Congrats Mike on your retirement! We wish you all the best!!

Happy Birthday Elise!!

I can't believe my little girl is 7 years old! Where has the time gone? Paul and I were talking about Elise's birth this morning before we got up. Easiest delivery of all time!! Gotta love the epidural. And 30 hours after delivery, my teaching colleagues from Hayesville all showed up at 7am in my hospital room for our weekly Friday morning leadership meeting! (Am I dedicated or what?!?)

While the day was centered around Elise....Jack was the life of the party. He's now walking 3-4 steps on his own and he is loving his freedom. The casts are all fiberglass now and molded flat on the bottom. He looks a little bit like Frankenstein as he's walking with clunky flat feet, but it works.

Paul came to Jack's appointment on Friday and was a little disappointed and maybe even a tad discouraged by the progress. I kept telling him how great Jack's feet look when the casts came off and I think I may have tainted Paul's expectations. When the casts came off and Jack's little toes immediately turned inward, Paul was crestfallen. I reassured him and reminded him that we have come so far and we will get those feet where we need them to be, but its going to take time.

Again, we were overwhelmed by the personal touches from our friends in the cast shop at HOPE Orthopedics. Friday was Mike's last day before he retires...we will miss him immensely. His knowledge and expertise have been invaluable. Misty was a God-send on Friday as she willingly took Emerson and played with her so Mike could work without interruption. Jennifer stayed right with me and kept Jack occupied and entertained....and took pictures! Jenn's intuition is incredible....she knew immediately when Jack was going to need his binky and she dug it out of my purse before I could even ask for it!! We have been blessed, blessed, blessed. It would be sufficient for us to just get good medical care...but the Lord has seen fit to provide us with an extra measure of encouragement and support even from our visits to the cast shop. Praise God!!

Dr. Bob returns from Africa this week. Anxious (very anxious) to get his opinion on Jack's progress. We're still kind of in the dark about the long-term treatment plan....we just go from casting to casting, so I'd love to get some perspective from Bob on exactly where we will be heading. Thanks for praying! We can feel you!!

New Casts Etc...

We had our regular visit at HOPE Orthopedics this morning for new casts for Jack. He did the best he's EVER done for one of these visits. No screaming or fits...he wasn't even really afraid of the saw when they cut the old casts off. Course....I guess he's probably getting used to it. This was the first time we went directly to the Cast Shop. Mike was AWESOME!!!! He said he used to do a ton of club foot repairs when he was in the Navy....well, his experience was evident. His demeanor with Jack was relaxed and attentive and Jack responded in kind. The new casts are the same plaster, below the knee casts we are now used to. But....these are beautiful. Mike must consider his casts something like an artist considers a canvas....the finished products on Jack's legs are smooth, symmetrical and almost attractive. :)

Jack is now thoroughly accustomed to the casts and they don't slow him down a bit. He pulls himself up on all our furniture, but he is not yet attempting to really walk on his own. The picture here shows that, even with the casts, you can still see the little toes pointing in towards one another. With the casts off, the feet look absolutely beautiful and definitely straighter....but you can tell we're not home yet!! Please continue to pray.One quick story: one of the people in the Cast Shop with Mike this morning was a great lady who connected immediately with Emerson and kept her entertained while Mike worked with Jack. We went to the Silverton basketball game tonight....and there she was!!! She's the new athletic trainer for SHS......small world, huh? Turns out she's also a dear friend from college to another friend of mine.....wow. The Lord just continues to remind us that He is working in every single, small circumstance....from start to finish.

What's Happening These Days?

Its been a while since I've posted. We've been busy, I guess. Jack's baby dedication last Sunday at church was so special. We had some dear friends join us and that made it all the more special. The day after the dedication, Dr. Bob and Sally, along with Pastor Stan, Mindy and Blue all headed to Africa for the next month. Pray for traveling mercies and a clear ministry for them during their time abroad.

One of the local papers, Our Town, did a really nice article this week on Jack and our family. They did a nice job including our faith in the story...but we wanted to emphasize that we're just "regular people" and they did that pretty well, too. I shared Jack's story with the Sparks (grades K-2) at Awana on Wednesday night and it was a super reminder to me about how the Lord has walked right next to us this entire journey. I focused my talk to the kids on the power of prayer and the specific things that we prayed for that the Lord provided for us....but also the things that the LORD chose to give to us that we never even considered asking for!!!

I will share with the ladies at the church on Saturday, Jan 30th. The focus there will be similar but with a twist to include God's sovereignty and mercy. Perfect fit for a little boy whose life started with tragedy....and the Lord turned it to good.

First post-placement home visit tomorrow with our social worker. Looking forward to visiting with her again. Another round of casts on Friday this week.....I'll try to post an update then.

Casts? Round Three!!

Post-operative appointment at HOPE Orthopedics this morning. The technician cut off Jack's casts (he was VERY concerned about the saw) and I was SHOCKED at how straight and normal his feet looked. I think I physically gasped out loud!! Instead of twisted and contorted, they just hung there....beautiful and straight!!

The tenotomy was a massive success. ('course I'm no expert). But Dr. Bob agreed that everything is going just as planned. He was very pleased with what he saw. The heel is down and the feet are flexing just like yours and mine. The toes still turn inward.....so the third round of casts are now back on!! Before the plaster went back on, I inspected the wound from the surgery....you can barely even see it! I'm not even sure how Dr. Bob got in to access the achilles tendon with holes this small....

Two weeks in these casts.....then a new set for another two weeks. Bob and his wife, Pastor Stan and Mindy leave for Africa (for a month) on Monday the 11th. (I know they would appreciate your prayers). Bob is leaving us in the capable hands of his associates at HOPE. But....before he goes, we have asked Dr. Bob to pray for Jackson at his baby dedication service on Sunday morning. What a special blessing for us to share that monumental event with him! He has been (and will continue to be) such an important part of Jack's life.

Week Two at Home

We've been home two-plus weeks and now the big kids are back at school. I've enjoyed my time as a stay-at-home mom even though, I admit, I've been at school and the district office every day at least once. No worries...Jack has been there with me and people are becoming accustomed to me getting things accomplished at work with an extra 20 pounds on my left hip. :)

Jack continues to act as if the surgery on his achilles tendon was no big deal. We never did medicate more than just regular Tylenol post-surgery. He's doing just amazingly well. He's met all my teachers at school and all the other principals at our admin meeting and was introduced to Cole's classroom during Cole's 45 minute presentation about China (yikes!) Elise has asked to bring Jack to school for show-n-tell on Thursday.

Thursday is also our post-op appointment and we'll get further direction regarding continued casts and treatment then.

Sunday is a great day as we will be dedicating Jack at church. What a tremendous opportunity to offer this baby back to the God who has protected and provided for him each and every day of his young life. May the Lord continue to richly bless Jackson as he grows and our prayer would be that Jack would establish a relationship with his Lord early in life.

Surgery Milestone

Jack's surgery was uneventful, just the way we had been praying it would be. He seems more irritated with us that we won't let him get down to play toys. We had hoped he would just go back to sleep. Not the case, he is way more interested in playing games with Emerson at the moment. In fact, he is all smiles with his sister - playing a version of 52 card pickup where Emerson hands him cards and he throws them on the ground.

Thank you, Dr. Bob, for all you have done for Jack. You are a Godsend to our family.

And Jack's NEW journey begins....

Yesterday was the first phase of the second half of Jack's journey. Yes...he has made it safely home to us from China...but his little feet need some correction. Enter...Dr. Bob!! Hallelujah! We've had our first appointment (including a house call!) and you can see phase one below. Jack's little feet in the first picture are clearly pointed inward. XRays showed good news as the correction is not nearly as severe as it could have been...but we'll be in casts and enduring surgery nonetheless. Jack is currently in casts as seen below...below the knee so he can still crawl (PTL!) They are heavy for him but he is figuring out ways to keep mobile. He can still pull himself up and put weight on his feet but he can't really walk around furniture like he could without the casts. No worries...he is not crying because he is in pain...he was irritated that I was making him sit still for the picture. :) Next step? Surgery on Dec 31st. His heel tendon needs lengthening in order for his heel to sit flat as it needs to. We are in Dr. Bob's capable hands and in the Lord's loving arms. Please continue to pray.

And...finally home with Emerson

Emerson was waiting for us with intense anticipation at the airport. It was SO good to have her with us again. The pictures are from our front yard as we arrived home and from our first church service together as a family. What a very Merry Christmas!!

18 days in review

BEIJING: (Dec 2-5)
Holt orientation at the hotel. Sightseeing included rickshaw tour, Tiannanmen Square, The Forbidden City (Emperor's Palace) and Olympic Plaza.



KUNMING (Dec 6 - 11th)
What great memories of our time with my brother and family. The cousins enjoyed their time so very much. We got to do some great sightseeing (including the Wild Animal Safari Park...remember the lion feeding event??).


We also saw the Dinosaur Valley Theme Park (real excavation site in southern China with archeological discovery of dinosaur bones).


Visited the kids school and toured the orphanage.


Celebrated Christmas with Steve, Marlene, Ashlyn, Brayden, Mikayla and Sydney. Amazing, amazing, amazing.


Oh...and did I mention we got to FINALLY wrap our arms around our baby boy??? He, too, is amazing. God is good...all the time. We had several meetings during our time in Kunming to finalize the adoption (Hallelujah!!) and to file for a Chinese passport for Jack.


GUANGZHOU (Dec 12 - 19)
Happy Birthday to Paul!! We celebrated very quietly. (some might say not at all). But our hearts were truly focused on Jackson. We enjoyed seeing glimpses of his personality and watching him begin to accept and even love us. He is just a gem. The smile is contagious...and appears to be never-ending. He has warmed our hearts immensely.

We spent this last week in Guangzhou near the US Consulate in order to file for a US visa for immigration into the States. This included piles of paperwork, a medical evaluation with lots of immunizations (yuk!) and a final oath taking ceremony. Whew! This was the last set of hoops before heading home!!


All in all we spent our week in Guangzhou with 19 other HOLT couples each adopting from different provinces. They became our family and our friends and we wish each of them the best on their family journeys.

The REAL Story behind the blog

Well....I guess now that I'm home I can express openly our experiences with the communist government in China. We felt very safe the whole time and saw just a few episodes that reminded us we weren't in the good ole' USA anymore...the biggest issue by far was the censorship of the internet. I just didn't do enough homework before we left.....apparently nearly all social networking sites are banned in China (no Facebook, no YouTube, no BlogSpot) Just one way the government can control exactly what information is disseminated. So, that's why we weren't able to post updates nearly as often as we'd hoped. Special thanks to my brother who was able to help us access a US connection to get full access to the internet for the few days we were there with him.

There's No Place Like Home....There's No Place Like Home...

Well.....I am typing this from the comfort of my own living room. Praise the Lord!!! My brain is mush (jet lag is a killer!!) but I wanted everyone to know we are safe. I will sort through our 400+ pictures tomorrow and give you a visual review of our trip..it was AMAZING!!! For tonight, I'll just post two of my favorites....Jack at his best.

Please pray for Jack's feet. We are blessed to know a fantastic orthopedic surgeon who actually made a house call (its nice to have friends, eh?)....we may even be looking at casts as early as tomorrow. Dr. Bob was very pleased with the condition of Jack's feet.....the Lord continues to bless us with more than we could ever ask for!!

Lions & Tigers & Bears....and chickens?!?!? Oh MY!

Well...we are absolutely loving every minute with Jack and my brother's family here in Kunming. Monday was all about paperwork (adoption was FINALIZED!!) We went to get Jack's chinese passport picture and he was appropriately dressed in his OSU beavers outfit. Its adorable. Monday afternoon we went to a local park where the kids played on the playground and we rode a few small carnival rides. Jack just watched and soaked in all the action.

Tuesday was our visit to the wild animal park. That is a literal translation of the experience. For instance, Cole fed a live chicken to a tiger. (p.s. that was AWESOME!!) We saw bears, lions, pandas, black bears...all about 3 feet away from us behind a very rickety (if any) fence. We also saw the zoo animal show which included a goat walking a tightrope with a monkey on his back.....and a black bear standing on his hands twirling things on his feet. Apparently there is also a gig where a full size lion rides on the back of a not-full-sized horse....but, alas, it must have been the lion's day off. Great picture opportunities. Jack loved it...he babbled and talked and giggled and laughed all day long. Paul wore him in the baby carrier and he was perfectly content.

Food has been great. No one has been sick in the slightest. Last night Steve treated us to a traditional "hot pot" dinner (kind of like The Melting Pot in Portland??) Boiling broth at the table and you cook your own meat and vegetables with your own sauces. Really, really yummy.

Jack continues to be very active, but has adjusted so amazingly well. He already refers to me as Mama and Paul as Dada. He bonked his head on a table and immediately came to me for comfort so those are huge signs of bonding. We are so amazed at the Lord's blessing upon us. We continue to get more and more than we could ever ask for. This is truly an indescribable experience.....but we can't wait to describe every minute of it for all of you when we return to you!! Please continue to pray. Keep him from illness, continue to help him experience our love and bring all of us home safely.

We'll do our best to post at least once more this week while we have access.....it is likely we won't be able to post at all in Guangzhou next week.....computer online security has definitely been more of an issue than we anticipated. Love you all!!

Sorry we've been out of touch...

Well, its been a bit more challenging than we anticipated to be able to access the blog here in China. ...anyways....none of you care about that. What you do care about is the 16 month old toddler we are now chasing around our hotel room! Jack is a bundle of energy. He came to us without hesitation at the Civil Affairs office Sunday afternoon. He was quiet for just a moment....until Cole and Elise started making funny faces and playing peek-a-boo. Then, just 2 minutes after he was in our arms, he was smiling and giggling and laughing. The pictures attached are some of the VERY FIRST ONES we took with him. (We've taken probably 100 since then...but these are still some of the very best). He eats anything we put in front of him and I have yet to hear him cry. (Don't worry...I'm not living in any illusion....I know his time will come). He fell asleep in Paul's arms in the van back from the Civil Affairs office and when he awoke he was very quiet and seemed a bit overwhelmed. But, several hours later he is wild and crazy again. He crawls EVERYWHERE and does this funny hopping thing on his knees. Its hard to explain....you'll just have to see it to believe it. In fact, he's VERY fast at getting around (Paul just announced that he is too old for this!!)

We had dinner at my brother's and all the kids are great entertainment for Jack. He is VERY social...and we are thoroughly in love!!!! I don't know how consistently we'll be able to post....thank you for your prayers. We have felt surrounded. We will have hours of stories to tell about the small miracles and blessings God continues to pour upon us!! Keep praying....we are truly blessed.

Well....we aren't quite there....

To all of you who prayed for smooth travels....pray harder!!! It is after midnight on Thursday night and......we are stuck in Tokyo. Our flight was cancelled due to mechanical failure (after we sat on the runway more than 3 hours)...we are fine. We are in a local hotel in Tokyo and we have a rescheduled flight to Beijing Friday morning. We will miss our tour of the Great Wall but....oh well. The kids traveled well....we are exhausted. I will let you know when we actually hit Chinese soil.

Its the Final Countdown!!

The bags are packed, the kids asleep, flights confirmed, passports ready....to say that the past nine days have been somewhat unreal is the grandest understatement I've ever made. A friend from high school is in China (exactly a week ahead of us) celebrating with her beautiful 2 year old daughter. Before she left she talked of "compartmentalizing" her emotions in order to get everything prepared for the trip. I would have to thoroughly agree. Paul and I both had loose ends to tie up at work, we needed to finalize arrangements for Emerson, book and confirm international flights on a very short timeline.....while at the same time emotionally acknowledging that we are in the very last days before meeting our fourth child. Wow. So, as we board the plane tomorrow...we feel your prayers. They have sustained us for 14 months....and they most definitely have sustained us for the past nine days.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in small, tangible ways. I couldn't possibly list the names of all of you. But you are appreciated and I believe that many of you have acted as the hands and feet of Jesus toward our family in these past weeks. We are thrilled beyond measure with the opportunity to bring Jack home. Thanks for celebrating with us. We will post more information as soon as we get to Beijing!!

Give Thanks to the Lord

Psalm 136:1-9
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of Gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
His love endures forever.
To Him alone who does great wonders.
His love endures forever.
Who by His understanding made the heavens
His love endures forever.
Who spread out the earth upon the waters
His love endures forever.
Who made the great lights -
His love endures forever.
The sun to govern the day
His love endures forever.
The moon and stars to govern the night
His love endures forever.

Thanksgiving this year was particularly special as we anticipate our time in China in less than a week. As I look at the words of Psalm 136, it still amazes me that the GREAT God we serve cares enough about our family to orchestrate every detail of our adoption halfway across the world. The One who hung the stars in place knew that at this time, Jack would join our family. The One who designed the Sun to provide light, warmth and sustenance to the planet also has provided a loving foster family to provide warmth and sustenance to Jack as he waits for his forever family. It doesn't seem reasonable that our all-powerful, majestic God would care about the small details of our insignificant lives. Yet.....not only does He care.....He cares deeply. God has been with Jack every minute of his short life. He was there when Jack's mother must've made the most difficult decision of her entire existence in deciding to give up her baby. He was there when the orphanage brought him in and provided desperately needed medical care. He was there when a social worker in Portland, Oregon reviewed files on children needing homes and decided Jack should belong to us....and He is still there. Taking care of every minute detail and pouring blessing after blessing upon us. We can't imagine doing this without a strong faith to sustain us. The fears and anxieties of travel and the unknown are completely manageable because we have the thorough confidence that God will provide and protect. The One who designed and created the majesty of the universe cares about me.....and he cares about you.

Hallelujah!! We're coming Buddy!!!

We got our TRAVEL APPROVAL TODAY!!!!! I can't adequately put into words how excited and elated and overwhelmed and terrified and ecstatic and anxious and curious and ......actually, I guess I can try to put it into words!! I will admit that I haven't thoroughly wrapped my head around this yet....I don't think either of us have. On Sunday, December 6th I will have Jack in my arms. Wow. 14 months of paperwork and worry and it will all dissolve when I see his beautiful black eyes...Cole and Elise are so excited. Emerson is hesitant because she knows she is being left, but Grandma Shickley will keep her entertained and content, I have no doubt. As we get more details, I will post them. I'll try to get the tentative itinerary up here as well. Keep praying....we can feel God's presence!!

Waiting....Waiting....Waiting

We have had so many friends ask if we have heard any news on travel dates for Jack. Unfortunately, we are still....waiting. It is something I have NEVER been good at. Relinquishing control of my schedule and my timetable has been extremely difficult. Paul has been my rock through this time, but even now he is finding it difficult to watch the days go by without any updates. Today is the 8 week mark from when our final set of paperwork went to Beijing. We had been told travel approvals were routinely issued between 7 and 9 weeks...so of course, we had hoped to hear already. I recently reconnected with a friend from high school who is adopting a beautiful 2 year old girl from Shaanxi province in China with our agency. They waited 11 weeks for travel approval, so Paul and I are slowly acknowledging that we will need to, once again, adjust our timeline for travel. Thanks to all for your words of encouragement and your prayers. We covet them daily.