tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90082661339671047092024-03-13T01:03:48.461-07:00Rushton's RecipesRushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-83794757704957575802015-11-18T06:02:00.002-08:002015-11-18T06:02:47.643-08:00Big girl undies...<br />
a little over 10 months home.... 10 months of colley being our roommate.... I frequently suggest she go to her bed in the room with her sisters and she laughs "I stay with you mommy!" But it isn't so bad..... I wake up most every morning to her rubbing my cheeks and saying "I love you so much mommy! I love your face, I love your eye brows, I love your nose, I love your chin, I love your hair, I love your back, I love you so much!" Even if it is a little earlier than I would like, its oozing with sweetness..... everyone should have a Colley in their life!<br />
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We think she may be brilliant..... not only does she talk up a storm but we realized recently that she can read every letter of the alphabet! While trying to teach Henry and Mei Sims their letters, her little brain was soaking it all in. She is very very aware of every detail of life and forgets nothing. If I can't find my keys, shoes, or anything else that I frequently misplace, I ask her and she is ALWAYS right. She is pretty much breath-taking in more ways that one..... and her little world is going to be rocked on December 9th.<br />
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I had sinus surgery about 4 years ago and was utterly freaked out about the post- op appointment which might involve cleaning out some packing..... so psycho that I took a valium that they gave me-- and when I went in, I can remember just talking my head off to the nurse (which is what I do to cope when I'm nervous)..... she finally said "Girl, you need to put your big girl undies on!"..... her nice way of telling me to quit being a wuss and just let them look up my nose.... and guess what? I lived to tell about it.<br />
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So time once again to get out of the land of denial, put my big girl undies on and get ready for the date that as I see quickly approaching on my calendar.... Colley's surgery..... first step was to actually buy plane tickets so that we would in fact be there for the surgery.... I checked that off my list a week ago.<br />
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Originally we planned to be in baltimore for 2.5 weeks and were going to celebrate christmas at the Ronald McDonald house.... but after trying to plan, talking to the doctor and praying some more, they are going to let us leave.... we now only have to be there for 8 days! HUGE answer to prayers!! When we thought we would be there longer, I convinced Derek that we needed to forgo our griswaltchack christmas lights this year to keep life simple..... Derek's first reaction when I told him the good news about them letting us go home? "You know that this means? We have to do our decorations now!" Love that that is what his mind went... what a mess. So there will be a scissor lift at our home this weekend as we begin the journey to lose our minds....<br />
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Here is where I need you! We need prayer. I'm not a stranger to having kids have surgery.... my other kids have had a combined 9-10 surgeries (I'm losing count at this point).... but this will by far be the most complicated and hardest recovery. So here are the specifics:<br />
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1. Pray for Dr. Standard<br />
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I'm thankful for a dr. who believes in God rather than thinks he is God. He is awesome! Pray that the Lord will guide his hands and give him wisdom once he gets in there.<br />
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2. Healing<br />
She will be having an 8 plate put in her knee (to correct the knock knee), her tibia broken and straightened (to correct the valgus in the bone), and her outer ankle (which she doesn't have) rebuilt with bone and tendons here and there being tweaked. It's a lot at one time. Pray against infection and that her pain would be managed well. These procedures are not a true lengthening but once everything is aligned correctly, she should in face gain a bit of length.... so I'm praying that she will gain a couple of centimeters.<br />
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3. Colley's little heart and mind<br />
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She had surgery in china for another issue and spent a month in the hospital, had an infection, had to have the procedure revised and from all accounts was in a lot a lot of pain. Also, she did NOT have her foster mom with her but rather a nanny. When we questioned the Hepu folks about her time in the hospital, I didn't even need a translation because their faces said it all.... it was very hard on our baby. I feel sure that this setting will trigger things in her mind, flashbacks, fears, whatever it may be...... given how smart she is, it may be worse for her than some.... just pray that God will meet us in whatever mess this creates emotionally.<br />
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4. My fortitude<br />
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I have a college friend who almost throws up at the word "socket"..... we all have words that seem to make us cringe..... I have discovered a new phrase that is striving to undo me "cleaning pin sights" Excuse me while I gag..... actually I'm realizing that this may be a universal feeling based on the looks on other people's faces when I describe this process to them..... I'm the type of mom who is trying to comfort a vomiting child as I am dry heaving watching them. My stomach is not made of steel. I can barely look look at pics of what is about the happen to colley. It will involve lots of pins going into her foot and ankle..... screws going into her tibia (which we will have turn a nut on the fixator every day for maybe 12 days to turn the bone into a straight position) and it will all need daily cleaning. Praying that Colley won't freak when she sees her external fixture and that I will be able to also maintain composure as I do things that I never dreamed I'd have the mental strength to do.....<br />
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5. Safety and Health of the whole family<br />
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I'm truly not a fan of having our little clan scattered, so praying for peace, good health and safe travels on Dec. 6-14th. My dad is making the journey with me and Colley to Baltimore for a lot of reasons. First, Colley pretty much thinks he hung the moon and secondly its much easier to leave Derek in charge of the other kiddos than to figure out plans for everyone. Then Dad will leave and Derek will come up with the girls, leaving the boys with my parents. We will all be reunited on Dec. 14th assuming things go as planned for Colley Bear.<br />
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I am sad about the pain the Colley is about to face and wish that I could take her place but I have to add that I have total peace about everything..... Colley is our daughter precisely because of this physical need.... God perfectly knit her together and in His loving providence, saw fit for her to walk this path..... I praise God that she is not walking this path alone but He has called us to walk with her... it is an honor to be her mama, truly. <br />
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As I saw this surgery on the horizon, I set 2 goals for the fall. I wanted to have a quiet time every day and I wanted to train for and run a half marathon that is coming up. In my mind, if I could be at my peak physically, mentally and spiritually, then I'd be ready tackle this! I'd be a rock for Colley..... Any guesses what happened? I failed miserably at both goals.... 5 kids and a quiet time has seemed like an urban myth.... and after a long run resulting in my first ever ocular migraine where I called Derek because I was in my car but couldn't see..... I hung up my shoes for the time being.<br />
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I had planned to bring my A game to this surgery.... and God has gently and not so subtly reminded me that He has this.... He has Colley.... He has me.... and HE will be a rock for both of us! <br />
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So here I am, out of shape both physically and spiritually and signing off with my big girl undies on.... which by the way, Colley potty trained herself in September.... so she is joining me in her big girl undies and ready to get the show on the road.<br />
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I'll update regularly while we are there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvsG5bnag1p46aaZEnPK0nfNEcyqKhwaCDP__SNIXPz_Ll7j4cvVwjFFDAk-Hbw4IbNl3LQR-frrGX169ctqhqaeuFQKWBuqGM-bTLpcQfxla_eZvfIVjIKure5nkqFihs6swMU1-oHE/s1600/IMG_9459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvsG5bnag1p46aaZEnPK0nfNEcyqKhwaCDP__SNIXPz_Ll7j4cvVwjFFDAk-Hbw4IbNl3LQR-frrGX169ctqhqaeuFQKWBuqGM-bTLpcQfxla_eZvfIVjIKure5nkqFihs6swMU1-oHE/s320/IMG_9459.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ready for the baltimore winter weather!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDPGbu6HGHVKo_6QavLPrh4jMwpuDRs9WgM4u7dyH-Yll0fGsRqTYMPJAh0QAqNOUBkStCSqwZ38Lu3VG3xAKWofinWiDm6-j2d6ryqd_2lXAwon5oNwZK_avotpYdTI7X6F9bV_B_hE/s1600/IMG_9397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDPGbu6HGHVKo_6QavLPrh4jMwpuDRs9WgM4u7dyH-Yll0fGsRqTYMPJAh0QAqNOUBkStCSqwZ38Lu3VG3xAKWofinWiDm6-j2d6ryqd_2lXAwon5oNwZK_avotpYdTI7X6F9bV_B_hE/s320/IMG_9397.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it just me or do she and bob kind of look alike?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt88uOUQ5_pLLOclyH5Pab7iw4VH2djnmnzflziaT89UN_WGGMqfHINecIVbbgtoR9OjAt4myGV-G-iez1cFkNnXUyGfMpbSzGrckZB-mHhs0LGIfQDY_JIBLXpzatW1zWdElGYupZmw/s1600/IMG_9404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt88uOUQ5_pLLOclyH5Pab7iw4VH2djnmnzflziaT89UN_WGGMqfHINecIVbbgtoR9OjAt4myGV-G-iez1cFkNnXUyGfMpbSzGrckZB-mHhs0LGIfQDY_JIBLXpzatW1zWdElGYupZmw/s320/IMG_9404.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mei Sims is like a little mama. I came in to find she had colley sitting in a toy basket with a quilt on her, doing a sticker book and even gave her a trash can if she needed it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TZly3BUo2cyt8yfCO_rcWw6K7AGuS6XglG8RfeF1F0QJ0cDgLtNaQ1K5ylo_A0PtXezgmAPTmx02mPc1-bwjAcOCSaO7INBUkkcZkktieMCRu3eV9p69Vpwoc41FFk_26rPnng3Gd6Q/s1600/IMG_9412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0TZly3BUo2cyt8yfCO_rcWw6K7AGuS6XglG8RfeF1F0QJ0cDgLtNaQ1K5ylo_A0PtXezgmAPTmx02mPc1-bwjAcOCSaO7INBUkkcZkktieMCRu3eV9p69Vpwoc41FFk_26rPnng3Gd6Q/s320/IMG_9412.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just because she is so stinkin' cute</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2TknMILK4gMdls4lwi8VRrJN_QwUfa7H53Di6bPBAE_u5wWU2jbX5q4glAl_mHxmagZs_QWhHt_ZDlGWZeuwF7DO39bIxgDaUF0li8qh3X0GM35F5WabQfwZbi23u7V3QmOEihu_Ld8/s1600/IMG_9454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2TknMILK4gMdls4lwi8VRrJN_QwUfa7H53Di6bPBAE_u5wWU2jbX5q4glAl_mHxmagZs_QWhHt_ZDlGWZeuwF7DO39bIxgDaUF0li8qh3X0GM35F5WabQfwZbi23u7V3QmOEihu_Ld8/s320/IMG_9454.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-op appointment</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJWkykO0A9T7sbtb3jJ33GnyVx_5OuRbnX36m3dUj2ztBO6bfrMg8uA72PKk6DzA4Mtz4raJvEwXZtMfSnNRV-MixICEeUrypP8HLh4B1zbhMU7HpF2bwUKnbPVs1pkOcRx-vJzFnYKY/s1600/IMG_9460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJWkykO0A9T7sbtb3jJ33GnyVx_5OuRbnX36m3dUj2ztBO6bfrMg8uA72PKk6DzA4Mtz4raJvEwXZtMfSnNRV-MixICEeUrypP8HLh4B1zbhMU7HpF2bwUKnbPVs1pkOcRx-vJzFnYKY/s320/IMG_9460.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before pic-- this is 2 feet on the ground</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBwebXMJlhBFeLDn8LKLfuDovvBJ3tOGmMSHk5rWreaVZe1f8n2H3nh83xPj_ENjcHQHUu19L89G1gEiSsdoL0p5gR16Bu_sscnjX8aB5LdVwK62rpJu_nJvUbWiMEPgpwnr0MQ_pCZg/s1600/IMG_9461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBwebXMJlhBFeLDn8LKLfuDovvBJ3tOGmMSHk5rWreaVZe1f8n2H3nh83xPj_ENjcHQHUu19L89G1gEiSsdoL0p5gR16Bu_sscnjX8aB5LdVwK62rpJu_nJvUbWiMEPgpwnr0MQ_pCZg/s320/IMG_9461.JPG" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before pic-- this is how she walks</td></tr>
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-76665167584416651232015-05-30T11:35:00.001-07:002015-05-30T11:35:03.800-07:00He guides our steps....Amputation was always our plan. It was always our doctor's plan. Only now we know that it was never God's plan for Colley. We were at a fork in the road about to turn right when he gently guided us to the left. Let's just say if He had told us this would be a left turn when we got her file, I'm scared to think that we might have said no....Thank goodness God let our ears hear what we needed to hear from doctors to get her here where she was meant to be! And now we are turning left and headed for limb reconstruction thanks to God's faithfulness to provide wisdom and clarity. <br />
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I have asked many of you to pray as we have consulted 4 different orthopedic doctors so I want to share with you how God was on the move and answering prayers. I also want to write it down to remember His faithfulness the next time we are facing a fork in the road.<br />
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A little disclaimer..... every kid with Fibular Hememilia is unique..... there is a broad spectrum of what all this diagnosis can entail and therefore a broad spectrum of treatment plans. I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty of her leg on here. Our plan was never to "save her leg" but to set her up the best we can for life with a functional limb.... we had plenty of time to process the idea of amputation and we were happy with this option for her based on her anatomy. Over the past few months I realized many people had no idea that this was our plan based on the looks on their faces when I would convey this to them.... but the same look of shock accompanied by a small gasp was my reaction if anyone mentioned limb reconstruction... only God could fill me with peace about going this route.<br />
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So, let's back up a bit and let me tell you the crazy ways God moved to direct our footsteps:<br />
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Step 1:<br />
When we got Colley's file and needed to talk to the orthopedist, the limb lengthening specialist (Dr. Gilbert) was out of town, so we consulted with his partner (Dr. Doyle) who is a family friend. This was where we heard what we needed to hear to say yes to our little peanut! His words as I remember them were "slam dunk with an amputation. She will have an awesome life. Go for it!"<br />
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Step 2:<br />
We met with Dr. Doyle once we were home and he still said amputate but to get 2-3 other opinions so that we would be able to defend to Colley one day why we made the choice we made. Easy, I thought. Let's go to a few others, they will say amputation is the best option for her and we could move along. Two weeks later, Dr. Doyle pursued us.... calling twice and texting to say we needed to talk. He had a change of heart, was now 50/50 as to what we should do. He gave us an hour of his time (free of charge) one friday afternoon. You could tell he had really been thinking about Colley and wrestling with what to do as if she were his own child..... such a blessing to have a doctor who cares and a doctor whose heart God was directing.<br />
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Step 3:<br />
During our time with Dr. Doyle, Mei Sims' orthopedist happened to pop his head in and see us and then sit down and join in the discussion. So we had the undivided attention of 2 doctors! We left with a plan to go to Dr. Gilbert and to Dallas.<br />
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Step 4:<br />
I talked to an old friend whose dad is an orthopedic doctor in Memphis. She was telling me about a spatial frame used in lengthening the tibia and I said I had heard of it.... to which she casually says "That's dad's invention." I was slightly floored to say the least. There is something comforting to know that you might use a device and you have access to the inventor of it!<br />
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Step 5:<br />
Dr. Gilbert was great and felt like she was a strong candidate for lengthening, but agreed that this was our decision to make.... meaning he couldn't for sure say this was the path to go. In the meantime, he got her a big shoe to help her out.<br />
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And then some "strange" things began to happen!<br />
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Step 6:<br />
I met the father of one of Rollins' new friends at school.....upon meeting colley he asked what was up with her leg.... he explained that for 20 years he sold all the devices used to correct issues like that.... he then went on to say that his parents were told to amputate his legs when he was born and they chose not to.... his legs are corrected, he is great.... and he ended with "I don't even have a hat in the ring here, but I don't think you need to amputate."<br />
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Step 7:<br />
I'm telling a friend at church about all of this and come to find out she has a totally reconstructed ankle... which the ankle is one of Colley's larger issues... hmmmmm..... at this point I'm thinking "Ok God, what are you doing?"<br />
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Step 8:<br />
Driving down the road one day, I was deep in thought about our decision and thinking we just need to amputate when I look in my rearview mirror to see Colley kissing and stroking her right foot.... this happened 5 separate times over the next couple of weeks! I remember just thinking "oh no! There's no way we can remove her foot!"<br />
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Dallas was great and all they agreed on was that this is a 50/50 as to what to do.... we were left in a gray area where the decision was very much in our hands to make.<br />
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Step 9:<br />
I found out about a neighbor who I had never met..... her son is 6 months older than Colley with the same diagnosis of Fibular Hememelia! It is almost unheard of to have a child in your city with this same issue and she is walking distance from my house. God was providing.... a child who would look like her on some level.... even if he is a boy and is white! Ha! She also has a Chinese buddy with a different need but a similar "big shoe"..... both of these friends are going the reconstruction route which will be so encouraging to have moms who understand. And all 3 kiddos will be at the same school!<br />
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After all of this that was happening, I felt like God was so clearly guiding and directing who he put in our path that I would be shocked if we didn't lengthen but at the same time I felt like a kid saying "I don't want to do it!!!!!" It just seems like a hard and long long road for colley and for our family. We were still indecisive so Dr. Doyle thought it was worth our time to go to Baltimore to one last doctor.<br />
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Step 10:<br />
Before Baltimore, we went back to Dr. Doyle to get fitted for an AFO to stabilize her ankle when she walks. I met his PT for the first time and she was such a blessing..... found out she is a close with my friend who dad is the inventor doctor and was also a long time PT of another friend's sister.... she has walked with her through limb lengthening for years..... AND get this.... she has a heart for china and has gone on mission trips to orphanages there. When I asked her what city?? To the same city I lived in after college!<br />
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Step 11:<br />
Fast forward to the waiting room in Baltimore.... On Facebook, I have reached out to 2 moms whose daughters were also from china and had FH that seemed similar to Colley's.... guess who happened to be in the waiting room at the same time? One of those sweet babies and her mama! So nice and surprising to connect in real life!<br />
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In Baltimore, we met with one of the top dogs...... Dr. Standard....Our prayer was for clarity.... at the end of our meeting, Derek was like "I don't know why we'd go anywhere else. There really isn't even a choice here. We have to reconstruct" Well, there is your clarity! My text to my friend was "Well crap. We're coming back to baltimore. He is awesome." Excuse my language but Baltimore is far and I'm one of those people who thinks there's no place like home.<br />
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He met with us for an hour, was not in the least bit frazzled by the nerds and tic tacs dropping all over the floor as we talked..... was able to laugh when Henry threw his stinky feet up in his lap to be examined.... and even laughed when Henry found a "hairy thing" as he called it in his socks and put it in the doctor's hand. In other words, He can handle us and we have confidence in his abilities. Its a great match.<br />
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At one point he said something about a shallow hip and I plugged my fingers in my ears and said "I can't hear you, I can't hear you".... any mention of anything spica causes this reaction ;) Once I explained why, he laughed and said, let's cross that off the list of to dos for now..... one step at a time.<br />
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Step 12:<br />
I told him we have 5 kids so baltimore is going to be hard.... would he be open to a team approach with Dr. Gilbert in the years ahead. His reply "I learned long ago that doctors need to check their ego at the door and you need to do what is best for everyone. Skip is a good friend of mine, we talk all the time and I'm happy for us to all work together." WOW! Come to find out that they go on mission trips together so it is a true friendship, not just work related..... that was an unexpected blessing. What does this mean? There may be times where Dr. Standard puts some hardware in and Dr. Gilbert can take it out...... or times where Dr. Gilbert and Standard talk before a surgery and Dr. Gilbert performs it so that we can stay here..... I haven't actually informed Dr. Gilbert that he has been drafted to our team so I hope he's ready for us!<br />
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And there you have it, 12 steps to a decisions. 12 instances where we clearly saw God move to get us to where we are now. Praise God for a plan! Next winter we will schedule her first procedure ..... something coined "super ankle" surgery.<br />
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Either decision could have been a right decision..... but I'm thankful for a God who cares.... He cares about Colley..... and was faithful to guide us along the path He has chosen for her.<br />
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Personally, He was so faithful to guide us despite myself.... Colley has been home 4.5 months and during that time, I can count on one hand the number of quiet times I have had.... sure I'm dependent on prayer these days but I feel guilt over my lack of ability to find time alone, to focus when I actually do find time and to pursue God with my whole heart. I KNOW that His love and affection for me are not dependent on my level of love and affection for Him.... He is constant while I am all over the place.... I've always known this is my heart but now I see it played out in my life. So this journey to "make a decision" is a beautiful reminder to me of that simple fact.... He loves me and I am firmly in His grip. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuckered out after a long morning</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Standard</td></tr>
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-57309281383097701602015-02-15T13:41:00.001-08:002015-02-15T13:41:49.214-08:00One month in our arms.......... Plus a few extra days thanks to a stomach bug in our house! I've been meaning to update but life is busy as you can imagine.<br />
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One month ago, Colley was placed in my arms and fought me with all that she had in her...
It was traumatic and to some degree I felt as if I was kidnapping a child.... yes, I knew God created her to be a Waltchack but she knew nothing of that plan.... she knew who her family was and it was not us. I don't know what I expected would happen in the month to follow, but I know that where we are now is so far beyond my wildest expectations for this adoption... I have seen God take her broken heart in His hands and begin to heal it in ways that only He can.<br />
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Colley is brave. Colley is beautiful inside and out. Colley is goofy, silly and has a sense of humor unlike any 2-year-old I have met. Colley exudes joy and life. Colley loves to be loved and loves to love others. She is quite simply amazing. In the words of Henry "Do we really get to keep her forever mommy?" I almost need to pinch myself to see if this is really really real.<br />
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Let's back up a bit to get to where we are now. The flight home? Derek and the big kids left me a few days early as most of you know. Rather than stay on my regular Delta flight, I decided to switch to an American flight with friends so that I wouldn't be alone. It wasn't until a few days later that I found out the original delta flight had to have an unexpected 24 hour layover in Japan!!!! Ya'll! God was all over getting me to switch! I would have been an emotional basket case to be stuck in Japan with Colley!! On the flight she did a better than I could have asked.... I never even had to slip her some benadryl or melatonin. She slept a 7-8 hour stretch and only had one REALLY loud grieving episode... like REALLY loud and lasted 35 minutes but was finally extinguished by a dumdum courtesy of one of my travel buddies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My stellar travel buddy!</td></tr>
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The airport felt magical.... to see all of kiddos together in one place.... to see all of my family....and to see my sweet friends cheering... just to be home. Home! Ahhhh, I love being home!!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reunited and it feels so good....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not gonna lie.... the first time I saw this, I thought "Where the heck did all those kiddos come from?!"</td></tr>
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Driving back, we wondered what Colley would think when we walked in the house... would she be clingy and scared, would she explore, would the kids totally overwhelm her.... I could have never predicted what actually took place. We walked in and she SQUEALED, took off running into the kitchen, looked around....squealed some more and then laid down on her back and began doing the motions like she was making a snow angel right there on the kitchen floor while giggling uncontrollably. She would then pop up, laugh at all the kids, run in a circle, and lay down again squealing as she made another "snow angel".... this happened over and over. Derek and I kind of looked at each other like "What the heck?" She was so excited, so confident, so brave and bubbling over with joy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow angels... blurry because she was moving so fast!</td></tr>
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I don't remember much of the next week. I remember trying my best to make it until 7:30 to go to bed. I remember feeling crazy and emotional and then saying to Derek "Don't let me discuss anything about how I'm feeling until jet lag wears off!" .... I didn't want to responsible for anything I said, thought or did while under the evil spell of jet lag.... 5 kids felt like a lot.... like every corner I turned, there was another kid in our house. I had moments of feeling overwhelmed that God would entrust us with so many lives.... moments of thinking that God had lost His mind. BUT, jet lag went away like I knew it would and I became more emotionally sane now amid the chaos.... I no longer think God is crazy but think He has pretty spectacular plan for our family.<br />
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So, the question I get asked most is how are the little kiddos adjusting?? And it is better than I could have hoped for. Mei Sims was made to be a big sister.... she adores Colley and mothers her in many ways.... from picking out her clothes or pjs to getting a tissue to wipe her nose.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sisterly talk over pretzels</td></tr>
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Henry makes me laugh as he asks me questions like "Am I doing such a good job at being a big brother?" I want to remind him that he already was a big brother. ha! I quickly realized that he has always felt like he and Mei Sims were the same age and for the first time he is finding his groove as a caring/ smothering big brother.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcYp5WJ1nBgtggtQpBj8hQY2D4N-O8vYSeFReqa6whAiR2xFSqVjoh3kmghjWgmSZ0gwqQGDdnIehUGfUIJOJBPKbEsVWAXHo9FYxbnR8kSbPosDjA56FDyJKBad1i8MELx1BYb-RhJg/s1600/IMG_6108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcYp5WJ1nBgtggtQpBj8hQY2D4N-O8vYSeFReqa6whAiR2xFSqVjoh3kmghjWgmSZ0gwqQGDdnIehUGfUIJOJBPKbEsVWAXHo9FYxbnR8kSbPosDjA56FDyJKBad1i8MELx1BYb-RhJg/s1600/IMG_6108.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He wants to be close to her day and night. This night they fell asleep snuggling.</td></tr>
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Of course there are bumps in the road.... a few more tears here... a few more fits there.. but thankfully they think Colley is the greatest, cutest, funniest baby ever. Colley loves all of her siblings but it is obvious that she is very attached to Rollins.... she lights up when he gets home from school. (Which he of course delights in but the others start screaming and sobbing "Why does he love Rollins more than me?!") It has been a sweet thing to see God use that relationship to bring out a side of Rollins we never saw before.... I always tell people that he has such a tender heart but it is often buried under many many layers.... Colley has brought out an even sweeter and nurturing side to his personality and it does my heart good to see this....<br />
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It's not all fun and games all the time, I promise.... remember, Colley is 2!<br />
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She can pitch a fit like the best of them. So far, fits only seem to be triggered when I say NO, when Henry hugs her one too many times, or when she wants to be outside (she would live out there if I would let her!). Our only other issue has been food.... the girl loves Chinese food. Only Chinese food. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exhibit A</td></tr>
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The first several meals, I would put a plate in front of her and she would turn her head and refuse to make eye contact with me. I wasn't about to cause attachment issues for the sake of nutrition so right now take out or noodles it is.... lunch and dinner every single day. She is slowly trying a few things here and there but when she wants to eat and says "fan fan" by golly, she means that fan fan better be noodles or else. I've had a good laugh though because put any brownie, cookies or cake in her path and she will devour it. I'm thinking she knows what she is doing! In fact, a brownie prompted her first sentence "I unt mo!"<br />
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She is such a smart cookie... picking up words left and right. In one month, she has learned all of our names, more, please, bye, hello, Shake it off, let it go, phone.... you know, all of the important stuff. We were talking to someone at the grocery store this past weekend and when we walked off, she screamed "Bye! See ohhh ater!" I saw shocked. She just mimics everything we say and do. At bedtime a few nights ago, she surprised me and pointed at her eyes, ears, nose, hair and mouth while saying the word for each one. And she understands EVERYTHING we say. I'm astounding at how fast her language abilities have grown. I sometimes test it out to make sure I'm not making this up.... so I asked her to go and get her banana that she left in the den and bring it to me in the kitchen.... and she did just that. I don't even know if my bio kids could have done any of this at 2 and english is their first language!<br />
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Truly Colley's only "adoption issue" we have seen is that she continues to grieve at times....but this is a good thing! And it has gotten much much less..... In those moments, I just hold her tight and kiss her tear stained face.... telling her that I know this is hard while praying for God to be the voice that comforts her.... for Him to speak truth into her sadness.... she is so young to be dealing with something so very heavy..... BUT, one month in and she seems to be truly at peace the majority of the day and night.... she has a sense of confidence about her place in this family. I know that so much of who she is is due to the love she received in her foster family.... it wasn't until looking through pictures once we got home that I realized she had been the youngest of 5 in her home! They told me she had 3 foster sisters which I assumed included the adoptive daughter, but in pictures I realized it did not.... God is in the details!! Only God could take an orphan in China and prepare her in such a specific way to be the youngest of 5 in a family across the ocean.<br />
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This is not a normal adoption at all!
Bedtime with Colley reminds me daily just how "not normal" this has been... there is no form of self-soothing..... she simply puts her doll to bed, lays down beside her, pulls my hand to her cheek, then says lots of silly things in chinese (I don't know what they mean but her giggles let me know they are silly). Then I tell her its time to sleep and say "I love you" and she smiles at me and says "Ai ni" (love you in chinese.... boy am I gonna miss it when she quits saying this in chinese!!) Then she simply closes her eyes and goes to sleep.... so simple yet so very sweet.<br />
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This is not normal! Even the doctor and therapist at the International Clinic at one point, put their notebooks down and laughed and said "You know this is not normal, right?" She is a bright, loving well-adjusted child... We've really only had 2 rough days together since we got home..... Honestly, I'm so thankful that this part of her journey has been as pain free as an international adoption process can be... she will have a bit of a long road ahead of her with her leg... that part of her journey may be painful both physically and emotionally.... so I'm thankful she is simply enjoying life right now...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Rainey was inside throwing up.... Colley has been easy although life has been insane with a nasty stomach bug and a fever virus!</td></tr>
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I remember when we were waiting to be matched telling Derek that I just had this feeling it was going to be easy this time.... which kind of made him laugh... I don't know that I really thought EASY but I think I thought, we have been through this.... we have made it to the other side.... the one where God took brokenness and made something beautiful... so I knew we could do it again and it wouldn't be as scary. I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined where we find ourselves now..... God gave us something already beautiful and is simply allowing us to all enjoy this gift.... and it is so so sweet.<br />
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I have to say one more time that this is not normal! Do you hear me?! I fear that someone following this adoption will be like "Oh, adoption sounds fun and easy, let's do it!" Adoption IS a beautiful thing. Don't get me wrong. But go back to March 2012 on this blog to get another perspective.... Adoption is hard, messy and painful for the most part. It's interesting to have experienced both ends of the spectrum as an adoptive mom. Many people have remarked about how God has blessed us for Colley to be doing so well and they have used the phrase that "God is so good" .... while I totally agree it is worth remembering that God was still blessing us 2 years ago when adoption felt like the hardest path I had ever walked..... God was still good when my baby was raging at me and I felt like I couldn't make it through the day.... God was just as faithful to Mei Sims when she was alone in an institution as He was to Colley when He placed her in a foster home..... the paths were different, the emotions for all involved were different but God was good because He IS good... not because He gave us an easier process this time.... I'm thankful for both paths we have walked and wouldn't change a thing.<br />
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So, one months in and Colley has added such a sweetness to our family.... it is remarkable. I was thanking God the other day for speaking to us over 2 years ago.... whispering in our ears that there was another.... Oh, how we would have missed out had we not followed where we knew He was leading.<br />
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Pretty sure that only God can take this:<br />
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And turn it into this!<br />
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<span class="text Ps-30-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative;">"Weeping may <span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-14325C" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-14325C" title="See cross-reference C">C</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>last for the night,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;" /><span class="text Ps-30-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative;">But a shout of joy <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">comes</i> in the morning." Psalm 30:5</span><br />
<span class="text Ps-30-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative;"><br /></span>
<span class="text Ps-30-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative;">I'll leave you with a quote from my hubs:</span><br />
<span class="text Ps-30-5" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; position: relative;">"</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Adopted kids come to us hard, brittle and rough. But over time they soften up, inside and out.</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><br />
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I was observing and holding Colley and noticed that most of the bumps and scratches that she came is with have disappeared. Her formerly coarse hair is bunny soft. And her rigid body has gone limp, trusting that we love her, we won't hurt her and she doesn't have to protect herself any longer.</div>
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The same pattern was true for mei sims. I remember when we first got her, the word that k<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ept coming to my mind was she felt and smelled wild. She now is our most dainty, elegant and gentle child. </span></div>
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Every discussion about adoption and the progression kids make seems to<br />point to the gospel and how we all started out wild, untrusting, rough. But once we start to trust Jesus, he turns us into softer, kinder, trusting children because of his gentle love and protection of us."</div>
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PS- Pretty sure that blogging will be next to impossible for right now.... too many kiddos, too little time...so don't hold your breath for an update but holler if you need me! </div>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-88364808314491200202015-01-17T23:33:00.000-08:002015-01-17T23:34:10.960-08:00Pics!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_amzOtdxBn_eIELejAWDwsmrrn_lRqLayl-4uCSnSbXXLWaWoeJT2e47I7GvPfQA_WwHLymPj2VYaEaqPLWmRSHOWNFNeB36BqDmKvYJt_pUT8EaoS00ymyh_gf8pvp4V3mU6EIxVLQw/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_amzOtdxBn_eIELejAWDwsmrrn_lRqLayl-4uCSnSbXXLWaWoeJT2e47I7GvPfQA_WwHLymPj2VYaEaqPLWmRSHOWNFNeB36BqDmKvYJt_pUT8EaoS00ymyh_gf8pvp4V3mU6EIxVLQw/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cutest sleeping baby ever! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSK7Lco0r_PShVQXaGxlCA6IAWRrE95OhhVJYU8L5ddqJhy8THrq53LmcAUoc5HuvIvVUkGDmCOPKQPupx5SUIXMeI6y4kl__eg8zSi62zUHZzC1DTvv25V6tBjgcmM8l9TG8SqGXY7iw/s1600/DSC_0382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSK7Lco0r_PShVQXaGxlCA6IAWRrE95OhhVJYU8L5ddqJhy8THrq53LmcAUoc5HuvIvVUkGDmCOPKQPupx5SUIXMeI6y4kl__eg8zSi62zUHZzC1DTvv25V6tBjgcmM8l9TG8SqGXY7iw/s1600/DSC_0382.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Already has good dental hygiene!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s11LK8OQqXsctz6CgzhQDLTwokSL6aWmW4GJJweifCvVGtlt9sMVGig0MQwgc-tEAjisaOsvPcsJfCaOIiMorr-3DHNA5qvsZ4heOXDO11Yc3agzb0zm4ovhLEpA6t63UX29ujIm7Fg/s1600/DSC_0390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s11LK8OQqXsctz6CgzhQDLTwokSL6aWmW4GJJweifCvVGtlt9sMVGig0MQwgc-tEAjisaOsvPcsJfCaOIiMorr-3DHNA5qvsZ4heOXDO11Yc3agzb0zm4ovhLEpA6t63UX29ujIm7Fg/s1600/DSC_0390.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She will now tolerate daddy as long as he is doing something fun like throwing her in the air!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZVZ38SGjVkferSnuYAPv_HhLiPmMmBm0TXsP6zX8ymJzaVKxkr-wqfL3TBrA6-WyBI8h8gp78P6vQDqoOjzWBD6TBz7fLvv3JhCbI1JJv8GbokgZS3eRaYhsTBK_d8Ssi6PN37TImTU/s1600/DSC_0281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZVZ38SGjVkferSnuYAPv_HhLiPmMmBm0TXsP6zX8ymJzaVKxkr-wqfL3TBrA6-WyBI8h8gp78P6vQDqoOjzWBD6TBz7fLvv3JhCbI1JJv8GbokgZS3eRaYhsTBK_d8Ssi6PN37TImTU/s1600/DSC_0281.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reunited with her foster mama and sister</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiombvLWzeVHdawQSjPndWdhO1ZDxaggjdALlX6b8wjzNbBgW-ZOXJPMGL0YxguABvOiWjtu6AWPvXZaF0kJp6wKtPotQaQlar6iqadD2SspZM5Xkv3XxBiFnenYQ71X0SHXP8GFUWfJzo/s1600/DSC_0375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiombvLWzeVHdawQSjPndWdhO1ZDxaggjdALlX6b8wjzNbBgW-ZOXJPMGL0YxguABvOiWjtu6AWPvXZaF0kJp6wKtPotQaQlar6iqadD2SspZM5Xkv3XxBiFnenYQ71X0SHXP8GFUWfJzo/s1600/DSC_0375.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the medical visit. The boys slept in and AR came along as the official family photographer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjehzFy0qAsnk4sCKhLu5RLYaf56r2-yQVjRT84q3v8kDTkSTb0yallQ3dAodxusa1LHMX1uwLNwb4x7bpc1IfYD_e846nZOcCxySRap86kahl6atrCECIXVjmSv_wT1Ean2VcES6L_dn4/s1600/DSC_0350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjehzFy0qAsnk4sCKhLu5RLYaf56r2-yQVjRT84q3v8kDTkSTb0yallQ3dAodxusa1LHMX1uwLNwb4x7bpc1IfYD_e846nZOcCxySRap86kahl6atrCECIXVjmSv_wT1Ean2VcES6L_dn4/s1600/DSC_0350.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our guide in Nanning, David. If you close your eyes, he sounds JUST like Franck from Father of the Bride!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlNJCTUNQlTjcFC6JOUaVRDsVWsIk53_1Wj6rBsMsSfSUwKTZLzHwkmdKSJz7tGSxg12es2Uj3hG5oBn-kkm8LCtTsWBJN1LVxGquJCdMKDkhHxZVAhdNrsqbsDEYgZ_oYxXGXLB-I6g/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlNJCTUNQlTjcFC6JOUaVRDsVWsIk53_1Wj6rBsMsSfSUwKTZLzHwkmdKSJz7tGSxg12es2Uj3hG5oBn-kkm8LCtTsWBJN1LVxGquJCdMKDkhHxZVAhdNrsqbsDEYgZ_oYxXGXLB-I6g/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derek is always documenting the trip so a little proof that he is actually here ;) </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhke6mjN9lmwtQuqKd4QhT-sAsk-5FXbNOr2uqMfvXBsVqi4AVIRLDiXO6vIVtC-f-n-lTJn6je4Il1rlzaK2YNrK90Jde3WpEd2x4EcDmJs7nHCvjb-jYMyZ2El2-U_7GqF1tf_U_TLso/s1600/DSC_0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhke6mjN9lmwtQuqKd4QhT-sAsk-5FXbNOr2uqMfvXBsVqi4AVIRLDiXO6vIVtC-f-n-lTJn6je4Il1rlzaK2YNrK90Jde3WpEd2x4EcDmJs7nHCvjb-jYMyZ2El2-U_7GqF1tf_U_TLso/s1600/DSC_0362.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at the medical visit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43EDuFLXjeEt3I3f-5sMrvOU-h6mQ8eXOBycGOTPlZJQEJOw20ICnQaBYUJ3aRnLMw9M0CgT8d1MXhRlqa7kIWu_Opdg7uCdDaTM7B9F0zYLdE5ia-rYkq2E-_b5vnVrZuBFgy3RO-i0/s1600/DSC_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43EDuFLXjeEt3I3f-5sMrvOU-h6mQ8eXOBycGOTPlZJQEJOw20ICnQaBYUJ3aRnLMw9M0CgT8d1MXhRlqa7kIWu_Opdg7uCdDaTM7B9F0zYLdE5ia-rYkq2E-_b5vnVrZuBFgy3RO-i0/s1600/DSC_0336.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Xiao Xiao and her son!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-71734758887718230462015-01-16T23:28:00.003-08:002015-01-16T23:28:50.501-08:00The past few days....The past few days have been both extremes of amazing..... amazingly heart breaking and amazingly joyful. Colley's 2nd morning with us, you could tell when she woke up and began to look around that her heart felt heavy. I think she realized on some level that this hadn't just been a fun playdate but that she was stuck with us.... and her heart began to break. Grief is a hard thing to walk through on your own but even more gut wrenching to observe in your new child. As much as I tell her that we love her and will take good care of her, all she cares about is that she has lost what she loved and she has no control over it. With Mei Sims, we experienced rage and fear. Colley isn't angry at all but genuinely so so sad. Yesterday she dealt with it by sleeping all morning long while we walked in the park. When she finally woke up, she spotted some older ladies that must have reminded her of her foster mom.... she spent the next hour sobbing, moaning, pointing for me to walk and go find them and calling out some heart breaking things in Chinese (which our guide translated for us). She finally collapsed from exhaustion and slept more. And then just like that the grief subsides and her totally adorable personality comes out. She truly is full of life and joy! That night, another wave of grief washed over her.... She was fine as long as we were walking around outside.... it seemed like she felt like as long as we were walking, we were looking for her mama. But as soon as I would sit down, she panicked. Again she snapped out of it and became her joyful self. We went to starbucks that night and when we walked in, she turned to the worker and said "HELLO!" We cracked up. This girl is smart.... always observing and soaking things in like a sponge.<br />
<br />
So on to Thursday...... our day to go to her hometown. Our guide here realized he needed to go to the passport office so he would not be able to accompany us to Hepu. He called me to ask if I felt good enough about my chinese to lead us to Hepu. I semi panicked.... while my chinese has come back to me somewhat, that was 20 years ago that I lived here! So I asked if he could see if Xiao Xiao (the head of Grace and Hope) had a colleague who could join us. He called us back to let us know that she herself said she would love to. We were so surprised that she could come on such short notice. Our guide also told us that it would not be a good idea to visit the foster mom so I kind of let that dream go. <br />
<br />
That morning, we had a 3 hour ride in the van to Hepu and I have to say that spending that time with her was amazing. She is a believer so I felt like we could connect with her on such a different level. We talked about life stories, what it is like to be a believer here, marriage, fellowship, and a host of other things. She is so knowledgeable and enjoyable to talk to.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
We got a little history lesson on Hepu from Xiao Xiao.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town itself is considered small although
by our standards it is anything but.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is more of a farming community but there are still plenty of high rise condos
and buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town is 2000 years
old and there is an ancient chinese proverb that says something about pearls
from Hepu were fit for the emperor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back
in the day, they had giant beautiful pearls that were actually sent to the
emperor’s palace once harvested….. they no longer have pearls now because they
were all harvested hundreds of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Kind of fun to think of our little Hepu sweetie as a jewel fit for the King. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So our guide has known the orphanage people for 20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The previous director was the one who maybe 8
years ago made the decision to close the baby rooms--- which meant all the
babies were sent to foster homes and whenever a new baby is found, he/she is
immediately sent to a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of
the former nannies became foster parents, which was the case with Colley’s
foster mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are now only elderly
people at HEPU SWI… about 40 or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Several years ago, this director found out he had very
aggressive cancer and was given a month to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once he heard the news, he called Xiao Xiao
and said “I don’t know why but I feel like I am supposed to call you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She shared the Gospel with Him and he
received Christ!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, his wife,
parents and whole family became believers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He lived another year and then passed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so amazing to me to see how God moved
in him to make a decision that even now continues to change lives and in the
end, God saved his life as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
life had such a ripple effect of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>changing lives here on earth as well as for eternity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to meet his widow when we
visited the orphanage. I love hearing stories of God moving in corners of the earth that it would be easy to look at and think He has forgotten about..... I love that He seeks His people out which is always my prayer for my girls' birthparents.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So, Hepu SWI is down a bumpy dirt road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It used to be surrounded by fields but now to
one side you can see high apartment buildings (which is where Colley lived) and to the other you see old huts
of sorts, chickens, crops and poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is well
off the beaten path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is kind of
surreal to stand their and realize that your child’s birth mother walked that
path to arrive at the orphanage gates in hopes of giving her child a better
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes effort to get here which
somehow comforts me to know that her birth parents put forth that effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
When we pulled in, we immediately saw her foster mother and
oldest foster sister standing there with smiles across their face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colley leaped out of my arms into hers which
was fine with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Mei Sims, I
didn’t want the nannies to get her from me but with Colley I knew that they
needed this and that she needed this....<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One last snuggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well the one last snuggle lasted 4 hours….
Through talking, lunch together and then shopping together!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to sit with her, ask questions,
learn more about Colley’s life for the past 2 years, learn more about her
foster mom….. it was a dream come true.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This woman has had 10 foster babies and said it never gets
easy to say goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She radiates joy
and love for these children. She is not a believer but we hope and pray that
God will move in her heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few
tidbits to share--- Colley was the youngest of 4 foster sisters yet she was the
leader of the bunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said whenever
it was time for dinner, Colley would announce to everyone and round up the
troops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also said that Colley loved to sit beside
the biggest sister as she did her homework and pretend to do her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colley came to us knowing how to swipe
through pictures on the cell phone and we found out that she loved to play with
her foster mom’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, she laughed
that Colley broke the last 3 of hers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Along with the foster mom came an “aunt” who was the mom’s daughter in
law and the biggest sister who the mom adopted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently she never got to say goodbye when
Colley left on Monday because she was at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she was so upset when she got home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gave her a chance for closure. That Aunt and I have already been e-mailing back and forth. So excited to be able to maintain a connection with her past life and to send them pictures of Colley over the years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
If I had to sum up this gift we were given in Hepu, it would be that it gave
Colley some closure and understanding even at 2 years old….. and her heart
began to heal .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The orphanage had a talk
with the foster mom before we came, telling her to be strong in front of Colley
and she pulled it off beautifully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
had a talk with Colley reminding her that this is her real family and she needs
to go with us to America and to be brave and to not worry about her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like Colley didn’t understand on Monday
when she told her goodbye what exactly was happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now she had the only mama she had ever
known telling her that I was her real mama and she needed to go with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then her foster mom handed her to me and walked
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There was something so significant in that hand off. </span>Colley was so upset as you can
imagine, but the mom remained strong and smiled at us and waved goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I glanced out the rear window, I could
see her turn around and break down…..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Colley and I were both a mess….. it was all so hard and intense but so beautifully
perfect...... <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Colley passed out in sleep the next 3 hours and woke up a
new person that night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know she will
continue to grieve on and off but she no longer calls out those phrases and
seems to be looking for her mom during the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She now looks for me and calls out for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her personality even seemed to come out more
after our day in Hepu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I truly feel like
God did a little miracle in her heart that day and I praise Him for orchestrating our day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nothing like what I thought
the day would look like when I woke up that morning….. I’m so thankful He
ordains our footsteps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We left Nanning yesterday and flew to Guangzhou. One step closer to home! Colley did awesome on the flight. Hoping it is a good sign for the long flight! We are so excited to be back in the city where we got Mei Sims. It is comforting to be somewhere familiar and to have better food!! (i.e. not chinese food all the time!!) We have friends here also and are loving seeing people. Colley had her medical check up-- which she hated but skittles made her tears disappear. </div>
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She is such a happy, sweet and joyful little thing. I never knew it was possible to connect so quickly with your adoptive child! She has my heart. I really thought people that said things like that a week in were full of lies. ha! But now I know its possible.... and oh it is so so sweet to already feel this way. I cannot wait for you to all meet her! </div>
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Henry and Mei Sims are doing great from what I hear! Henry made the decision that it was best not to FaceTime because it makes him sad, so I miss seeing their faces but in one week, I will be able kiss all over them! Thanks for all of the comments, e-mails, texts etc. So encouraging to know we are being covered in prayer! Thanks friends!!</div>
Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-30353042261483543262015-01-12T23:26:00.002-08:002015-01-12T23:26:38.329-08:00We have Colley!Well, despite our VPN, I cannot seem to get a good internet connection to update everyone!<br />
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I won't be sharing pics of our actual gotcha moment as it was very traumatic as we suspected it might be. BUT, when we got back to the hotel, she warmed up a bit and actually laughed, smiled and played. It was shocking and amazing. The big kids were a huge help at breaking the ice with her.<br />
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She came to us with the baby doll that I mailed her a couple of months ago. It was awesome to see that the doll was well worn out.... the fabric has those little balls on it that show she has loved on it over and over.... and the face looks like dolls in our house, covered in pen marks. Even some snazzy eye brows were added.<br />
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Bedtime was when I think she realized "Shoot, I'm staying here" and it broke my heart. First she refused her bottle and next she refused to lay down. She finally fell asleep on top of me, still wearing her clothes she came to us in. She was so fearful of us trying to take them off that we didn't push it...... even though we were dying to get her bathed and smelling sweet. She woke up a few times confused as to where she was and calling out for her mama...... it was heart breaking but also such a sign of the healthy attachment she had to her foster mom.<br />
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After she took some time to wake up this morning, she has been so awesome..... like I can't even describe to you how much fun we are having with her. She giggles, she runs laughing, SHE LETS ME PUT HER DOWN WHEN I NEED TO POTTY!!!!!!!, she talks fast as can be in Chinese, she has called Anne Rainey Jie Jie (big sister) and me Mama. (They actually told us today that the foster mom went over our pictures with her to the point that she could point at each photo and identify who it was... so sweet). She's almost too good to be true. The big kids are in love. Anne Rainey knows so much adoption talk that she keeps saying "Mommy! I'm already attached to her! It didn't take any time at all!"<br />
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Today was the actual adoption day where we pledged to love her and never leave her and keep her as our own. Done. She's a Waltchack now. The director, vice director, nanny and her husband met with us today to go over questions we had. They were a great wealth of info and such kind and loving people. Yesterday, Colley wanted nothing to do with me yet today when the nanny reached for her, she clung to me. The nanny was in shock (since yesterday was VERY dramatic). She made the others watch multiple times as she motioned for Colley to get in her arms and Colley would refuse. She actually teared up so I put Colley in her arms for one last snuggle. (Hepu is a very small orphanage program and it is obvious they all know and love all of the babies)<br />
<br />
We had been planning on calling her Yun Yun and found out that's not what the foster family calls her. Instead they call her Hua Sheng Mi which means very tiny peanut! I love it! We called Anne Rainey peanut when she was little. The nursery workers at church still call her that. So now we have peanut and very tiny peanut! :) And she is TINY!!!!! Most all of the clothes I brought are too big! oops!<br />
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We will not be meeting her foster mom but it is best for now. This women is a saint and she is struggling. I won't go into all the details but our guide actually called us for an update last night so they could call they foster mom to comfort her with news of how Colley was doing. The foster mom is older with 2 sons my age. There is a young girl (maybe 10 years old) in lots of our pictures who I assumed was her granddaughter. We found out today that it is her daughter..... who she adopted.... this is NOT common in China for a grandmother aged women to adopt a child after raising her own. Our guide was actually shocked when they told him. ( In addition, she has 2 other foster babies, one with severe CP and one with a cleft lip/ cleft palate.) I basically turned into a blubbering, sobbing mess as I told them messages that I wanted them to convey to her and to her daughter. I am rejoicing in our new daughter and the gift we have been given but everything still feels very raw. Please pray for this sweet family and that God would be very present with them.... filling them with peace and knowledge of his love......I snuck a Jesus Storybook Bible into their gift.... praying they will read it and find eternal comfort and rest.<br />
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So our tiny peanut is resting now..... she is seriously the cutest thing ever.... can't wait for you to all meet her! I'll try and add pics soon to Facebook but feel like I should hit post while the internet is working! <br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-13105441011251223872015-01-11T04:02:00.000-08:002015-01-11T04:02:00.918-08:00Tomorrow is the day!So, here we are in Nanning..... the city where we will get our little treasure..... even with a VPN to get around the great firewall of China, I seem to be having issues on Facebook so this may be the easiet way right now to update...<br />
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Let's back up a bit. We left our home in Birmingham at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday..... we barely made it there for our 5:25 flight.... in fact we got to the gate just as they announced the door would close in 3 minutes. Starting out the journey in true Waltchack crazy fashion. The next 28 hours were a blur or planes, shuttles, taxis, etc. We all managed to sleep 7 hours on the big flight which helped to pass the time. We ultimately passed out on amazing beds at the Ritz in Hong Kong.... a wise splurge for weary travelers in my opinion. It was incredible.<br />
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It is a TOTALLY different trip bringing 2 kiddos with you... I know it was the right choice and I pray that it will impact their lives..... that they would have a better understanding of how blessed they are, of the hurting in the world, and of our call to be a light in this dark world.... I would venture to say most 8 & 9 year olds think mostly about themselves on a given day..... how they are feeling, what they want to do and so on. Praying this will shatter their southern, american, well provided for mindset and grow in them a heart after His own heart. That being said, it is tiring for us to have them here with us.... but we know the heart impact far outweighs any extra mental and physical fatigue they are giving to us.... heck, even this is teaching us to get over ourselves.... we have laughed a lot and are building great memories. My heart continues to feel like it is in 2 places.... thankful to be here and homesick for my babies all at once. Sweet Henry keeps wanting to FaceTime me and then proceeds to sob and beg me to come home as soon as he sees me. So, for now we will cut back on the FT and try to keep him in a happy place. Mei Sims seems like she hasn't skipped a beat and is all smiles, which is a big answer to prayer.<br />
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We got to our hotel in Nanning last night at 9:30. I can best describe it as looking like what you would picture a communist hotel from back in the day looking like...... we may have set ourselves up for failure by staying at the ritz! Ha! We walked through the lobby to a hundreds of staring eyes.... the only white people around. As we made our way through the thick cloud of cigarette smoke, we made it to our room.... which turns out has no AC! It is centrally controlled (thank you communism again) and hotel has on its heat because it is winter after all.... and a blustering 65 outside. Sleep last night was rough and hot. Anne Rainey woke up in a pool of sweat and covered all over her body with a heat rash of some sort. Poor thing is itching like crazy. Needless to say, we moved hotels. We landed at the marriott this afternoon in an air conditioned room that doesn't smell like someone sprayed perfume to cover up a smoke smell. We even took a family swim this afternoon with cute little mandatory swim caps on. I finally feel settled in here, have unpacked and am ready to get to business.... getting little Colley.<br />
<br />
So today, Colley spent her last day with her foster family.... her mama and baba.... her sisters.... And tonight she is sleeping with her foster mama for the last night....Tomorrow it all changes. Tomorrow we are asking Jesus to help her to be brave.... braver than I have ever been called to be..... So while I can't wait to hold her, my heart breaks for her. I'm approaching tomorrow with such a mixture of joy and sorrow in my heart..... Thankfully though, I know the one who is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalms 34:18)<br />
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One of my best friends sent this prayer to me and it is so perfect for tomorrow so I'll leave you with this:</div>
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O Thou who alone knowest what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to Thee. </div>
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<br clear="none" />In Thy will, O Lord, is my peace.</div>
In Thy love is my rest.</div>
In Thy service is my joy. </div>
Thou art all my heart's desire,</div>
<i>Whom have I in heaven but Thee?</i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420966229514_2621" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee.</i></div>
<span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span>Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-44785679304265159932015-01-02T20:54:00.000-08:002015-01-02T20:57:58.323-08:0010 more sleeps.......and Colley will be in our arms. This is about the time in the journey when adoptive moms send out "instructions" to friends and family..... so that you can better understand where our children have been and how you can help us as we try to get them to a different place.... a better place emotionally and mentally. I sometimes just want to sum it up by simply saying "Look but don't touch!" but I realize a little more explanation can help understand the heart behind that. When we went to get Mei Sims, I wrote a letter....<br />
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If you want to read the long version, you can click <a href="http://rushtonsrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/02/dear-friends.html">here</a>. <br />
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The short version is that <u>we </u>need to be the ones right now to provide and care for her every need. High fives, pats on the backs and blowing kisses from our friends are fine, but if you will please leave the holding, kissing, feeding, etc to us for a period of time, that would be great. You can help us by always directing her back to us, if she is seeking attention from you these first few months. I would like to say we are entering the cocooning phase but with 5 kids, I'm not sure how possible it is to seclude ourselves.... but you can greatly help us out when we are in public by being hands-off for now. Believe me, being that there are 5 kiddos we can use your hands in a multitude of other ways over the next few months.... just all things Colley need to be our immediate family for now.<br />
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I've said this before but everything about the process to Colley has been night and day from our path to Mei Sims. And even as I read over that old post in the link, the stark contrast is once again staring me in the face. After 2.5 years, Mei Sims is so secure in our family and in who she is but there are still moments that break my heart.... moments that remind us of where she came from.... All that to say, Mei Sims came from a hard situation which made it so easy to want to run over there, get her and not look back. <br />
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With Colley it is different. Yes, I want to scoop her up and kiss all over her cute little face... to protect her and love her.... to be her mom. But here is where God's Sovereignty gets interesting.... where the bitter and the sweet, the sorrow and the love are intermingled.....<br />
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With Colley, from what we can tell, we are not getting a shell of a child.... she is very much thriving and growing into the little girl God made her to be. She has life in her eyes and in her smile. She has been with her foster family her entire life.... 2 years.... she calls them mama and baba..... I can barely let my mind dwell on it without breaking down. The beauty is that she knows what a family is..... what it is to be a daughter, to have a mom and a dad..... she knows how to attach.... we fully expect her to attach well, but we know there will be a pretty big bump in the road before that comes.<br />
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When I requested an update on her a while back, I asked if she slept in a bed or a crib and alone or with a sister.... just to prepare for her homecoming. They wrote back that she sleeps in a bed.... "always with her foster mother". Seriously, what amazing sacrifice this foster mother has made....Two years of sleep! Two years, where Colley had a need and it was met even in the wee hours of the night, two years where connections were made in her brain, two years where cycles were not broken......<br />
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This is the picture where we will enter in to get our daughter. This gift that God gave us... that God gave Colley by placing her with a loving family? Well, its about to get turned on its head... and its going to get rough. We know that God is good but that this step in His plan for her will be so so hard. It rips me apart to know that we will be causing confusion, sorrow and grief in her little heart by taking her away from her "family." So thankful that I have such confidence that God created her to be ours. We expect her to grieve..... grieve hard.... and we will hug her, cry with her and for her.... we too will grieve all that she is losing and we will make it through this together... but I'll admit, it seems a bit daunting to me....<br />
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One of my friends recently gave me the Ellie Holcomb CD and there was one track on it that truly undid me the first time I heard it.... She wrote it based on that verse in Zepahaniah (3:17) where God ministers to you even in your sleep.... As I think about our first few nights together.... when it will no longer be her foster mom's heartbeat she will feel, it will be mine.... when she wakes up and realizes she is gone, and she's left with me...... oh, this song is my prayer for sweet Colley.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Morning feels so far away, questions keeping me awake</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Will you sing, sing your night song?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">All these lies that are owning me, all this fear makes it hard to breathe</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Will you be, be my night song?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The truth that sings into my darkness</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The melody of love that leads me on</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The voice that comforts all my sadness</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Oh, even when the suffering is long, be my night song</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Unmet longings steal my mind, calm my heart with your lullaby</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Will you sing, sing your night song?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The sound of love surrounding me, promise that you will never leave</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">How I need, I need your night song</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The truth that sings into my darkness</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The melody of love that leads me on</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The voice that comforts all my sadness</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Oh, even when the suffering is long, be my night song</span><br />
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All of adoption is a picture of redemption.... of beauty from ashes.... Like I said though, this just seems different.... she is already in a place of beauty... we are about to walk through the ashes together ..... and I trust we will come out again in an even more beautiful place, tasting the sweetness of God's sovereignty. I know He will give us the grace to navigate this tricky path together... I'm thankful to be a part of the story He is writing in Colley's life even on days when the thought of what is coming overwhelms me. <br />
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We covet your prayers in the weeks to come:<br />
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Specifically:<br />
* For God to prepare Colley's heart and be very present with her these next few weeks<br />
* For wisdom and strength for us as we head down this path again & our family dynamics change<br />
* For safety and health as we travel with our 2 big kids<br />
* For safety and health for the littles & my parents back at home<br />
* For Mei Sims' heart and mind to be at peace while we are gone & for her to sleep well<br />
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Thanks friends!<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-87830213783084477672014-12-28T18:58:00.000-08:002014-12-28T18:58:24.087-08:00An Ebenezer for ColleyWhen we adopted Mei Sims, I wrote a post about "Stones of Remembrance".... an ode to the old testament when people would set up stones to remember a place or point in time when God moved. I've yet to sit down and write about the moment we got Colley's file and the week of prayer that followed. ... figured I better do it now before I have "5 kiddo brain" ..... I have a strange feeling that my brain is about to go awol for a period of time. <br />
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So let's step back a bit to this fall. As we waited for 4 months to find her, I kept feeling a stirring that God was calling me to step out in faith to a place that might sound scary.... they were playing the song "Oceans" on replay on Christian radio but there was something in it that just resonated with me..... The first line "You call me out upon the waters, The great unknown where feet may fail. And there I find you in the mystery...." I knew God was speaking to me and preparing me for what was to come.<br />
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An even stranger place where God spoke to me.... watching Dolphin Tale 2 with my kiddos... yes, Dolphin Tale 2.... never saw #1 but #2 slightly did me in. The dolphin has a prosthetic tale as most of you know. At the end of the movie, they show clips of real life veterans and children with prosthetic limbs coming by to see the dolphin. One child in that montage was an asian little girl with prosthetic legs and white parents.... Something about that sweet shot stirred something inside of me and I felt my heart opening to a need I had never considered before (I actually began to cry at the end of it but then felt like a moron so I said to myself "Conceal don't feel".... thank you Elsa)<br />
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Fast forward to October 22nd. I went that morning to deliver some pumpkins to my awesome social worker Karla.... she couldn't come to the sale so we harvested a few more and I dropped them by her office. When I saw her, I asked "Any chance any partnership files are coming soon?" And she smiled and said "I was going to call you later with an update" and then she rambled a bit not making total sense.<br />
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Hmmmmm. She never calls with updates.... only with files.... and she is typically to the point.... not rambling on. Of course, my morning was shot thinking "This may be the day!" I analyzed her words over and over in my head and with a few of my crazy adoption friends. Sure enough, I got an e-mail 2 hours later saying "Call when you can chat." It was perfect timing.... all the kids were in school... the house was quiet... I was a nervous wreck.... and I called her. She had a file. (I caught her off guard when I brought the pumpkins because she was actually in the middle of reading the file.)<br />
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Her comments began with "She may have a little more going on medically than you initially were open to, but we want you to see her file" and with that mind began to race a bit... all I could hear was "orthopedic appointments, PT, doctors, casting".... Keep in mind, this was the end of October..... it was 8 weeks and 1 day that I had been carrying Mei Sims from hip surgery (not that I was counting!)..... but as my mind raced, my heart felt peace. Total peace. <br />
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I read her file but couldn't bring myself to look at her pic for about 30 minutes. I was trying to decipher big medical words about her leg, none of which I fully understood.... my mind still racing... and then I finally got brave enough to look at her pic.... When she came up on the computer screen, I let out an audible sigh and said "Oh my goodness." I knew in my heart that I would never let her go....<br />
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We wanted to talk to doctors to understand what was going on with her leg and we had additional questions we needed answered from China. So we waited for 8 days to hear back from China. But it was amazing to see God order our footsteps in the days that followed. The day after we got her file, we had Mei Sims' followup appointment at the orthopedist.... I went with her file in hand because I knew I'd have him trapped for a brief moment in that little exam room....he was able to explain the medical jargon to me but even greater was when he said "Mei Sims looks great. We will see you once a year now." I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders in such a way that another orthopedic need didn't feel daunting anymore.<br />
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I spoke with two other doctors over the next few days..... one who unbeknownst to me, has a child with the exact same leg booboo so she could give me her professional and personal perspective.... and one (who will be her ortho dr.) who called me from his cell on a day that he was not even at work but was moving houses.... I'll just go out on a limb and say most doctors wouldn't call you on a day like that when you aren't even a real patient yet. Mei Sims' doctor also called Derek several times to talk while he was babysitting his daughter. Only God could have orchestrated the phone conversations in such a timely manner.<br />
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I periodically send an e-mail I've put together on SPICA care to random friends of friends (of friends of friends) .... I sent a few such e-mails in the late summer. Two days after we got Colley's file, I got an e-mail from one mom who I had not heard from since I sent the SPICA e-mail.... she wanted to let me know how the spica was going and ask a few more questions.... she attached a pic.... I was floored.... he had hip surgery but he also had the same surgery Colley will have. I had NO IDEA that was his need. I was able to ask her tons of questions over e-mail over the next few days about amputations, about pain, about how her son was emotionally dealing with everything......<br />
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But the greatest resource God provided? Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows about our coffee group.... the coffee group rarely ever meets now but has given me some of the dearest friendships I have.... the group began with my friend Robyn and I meeting at Starbucks in the winter of 2011..... Robyn's daughter and Colley are from the same province.... Robyn's daughter and Colley both have a limb difference.... what Colley has is what they thought her daughter had.... it ended up being a bit different but all that to say, she knew EXACTLY what I was feeling, thinking, the questions I was asking, the doctors I needed to talk to, and so on.... Crazy, right? This is a story that truly only God can write. Our girls will be on different paths to healing but I love love love that they will have each other.<br />
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Do you see what God was doing?? Every time we turned the corner, he put someone in our paths to erase any fear of the unknown.... to answer every possible question.... to show me where He was leading.... and to lead us there in perfect peace. Ironically, I posted a while back on my blog a post called "Peace, Love and Adoption" and here He was, surrounding us in peace. <br />
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Interestingly, before we got Colley's file, we had been given two other files to review.... on paper they should have made perfect sense for our family..... but there was no peace whatsoever.... we knew that they were not our children. I was really torn up during that step in the process and I remember my friend saying to me "You have to follow the peace. God will give you peace when it is your child." I knew that of course but I had fears that I would somehow mess up His plans. Contrast that with looking at Colley months later.....at first glance she didn't make sense on paper.... her need was greater than the other two babies but in our hearts there was peace.... so much peace and excitement that it was exhilarating to be a part of His plan.<br />
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God's timing is always so interesting.... the update we needed from China came as I was in the waiting room at Children's with my oldest daughter who was having an MRI...... I seem to always get news while I'm at Children's.... don't know if it is a sign that I am there a lot or if I should just start hanging out in the lobby when I need to hear from someone...... I only had time to read it, send it to Derek and then I was stuck in the MRI room with her, no cell phone, nothing to do but talk to God. He knows my life is far from quiet but in His timing He isolated me in that MRI room to just be alone in prayer with Him.<br />
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With Mei Sims, I remember that I saw her and I knew..... this was much different..... I saw her and I loved her, I wanted to protect her, I wanted it to be her.... I had fears.... God met me in my fears..... as the song Oceans says<br />
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<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Your grace abounds in deepest waters</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Your sovereign hand</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Will be my guide</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">You've never failed and You won't start now</span><br />
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God surrounded us in peace. She is ours. Period. God doesn't have to write His will blatantly in the sky so to speak.... he can quietly and gently lead us down a path.... allow that path to cross with others who He uses to encourage and direct.... and ultimately lead us to a place of perfect peace..... Oh how thankful I am that He has given her to us. It is a gift to get to be her mama.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #336666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px;">“Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come”</span><br />
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** Colley turned 2 on December 26th.... wanna know what else happened on her birthday? We got Travel Approval! What a way to celebrate her birthday..... packing up to go get her! <br />
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If you are on FB, you can request to join my private page "The Waltchack Bunch." Most of my updating will be there. If you aren't on FB, e-mail me (rushtonwalt@yahoo.com) and I can set up a group e-mail for the few of you that may want updates!<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-14294471824517799192014-11-12T09:44:00.000-08:002014-11-12T09:44:02.224-08:00Shocker!6 days after PA, our social workers called and asked if I was sitting down..... She had our LOA in her hand!!!!!!!! Typically they call your agency to say its in the mail. Our just showed up unexpectedly and miraculously fast! For a frame of reference--- with Mei Sims, we stared at her face for 100 days before our loa came! We could be in China in as soon as 8-10 weeks!!! Party in our house after we got the news!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We also sent little miss a care package! So fun putting it together!</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1198694853"></span><span id="goog_1198694854"></span><br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-59395724044100087952014-11-08T19:41:00.002-08:002014-11-08T19:41:22.799-08:00More about little bit...So I kind of left you all hanging... I had one friend text me after seeing the blog and it said something like "More later?! No, more now!" Ha!<br />
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Even though I haven't been blogging about it all, God has been all over this adoption process. Some of you who have been with me for a while, may remember a post called "November 15, 2012".... it was the day God told us that we had another child in China..... what we didn't know until 2 weeks ago was that she was in fact born just 6 weeks later. <br />
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She will turn 2 on December 26th and we hope to get to her before the Chinese New Year in med-February.... assuming China doesn't do anything crazy like tell all government workers in Beijing to skip work next week to help out with the pollution problem.... oh wait, they did do that.... only in China.... but once they get back up and running we hope to fly through the rest of our paperwork.<br />
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And while I want more than anything to have her here, I have such peace about where she is that it makes the wait bearable. As far as we know she has never spent a night in the orphanage but has been with a foster family from the beginning!!! This is such stark contrast to Mei Sims' story.... she is in a family... she knows what it is to be loved and as a result she knows how to love.... we could see it in her eyes the moment we saw her picture... there is life in them. I don't think I can adequately describe what a gift this is to her... to us... and to what our journey together will be like.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't you just see the brightness in her eyes?</td></tr>
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She is at a lifeline partnership, which means a team from Lifeline went to her city, met her, examined her and has given us a additional information. My favorite tidbits to share with you are that she apparently likes to rip her clothing off....I think she will for right in with our crew.... The other day Anne Rainey screamed "I'm so excited she is my sister because she sounds just as crazy as me!!!" And her other favorite activity? "Basking in the sun" Oh how I love Chinese people and the funny things they say!<br />
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She was born with a pretty big booboo in her leg called fibular hemimelia. I know that God had great purpose in how He knit her together and I can't wait to see His plans for her. What this means is that she is missing the fibula in her right leg. As a result the leg is shorter and has other issues. She will need surgery at some point after coming home and will ultimately have a prosthetic foot and ankle. We feel so blessed and excited to navigate this path with her. Our kids are ready to rally around her and protect her from any kids who choose to tell her that her foot is anything but awesome. Rollins made the statement to me "I'm actually pretty good at threatening other people." Nice. <br />
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Actually one of the sweetest moments when we were praying over whether or not she was our daughter happened when Rollins watched a video we have of her. A few minutes later, I'm in the kitchen and he walks in with tears in his eyes. I ask him if he is crying and then he starts laughing and crying more and throwing his hands up as if to say "I'm not sure what's going on." He finally got out the words "I feel like God is telling me to protect her." Sweet big brother.... she will be well taken care of! <br />
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One last note.... with Mei Sims' adoption, I felt a strong urging to share every high, low and in between.... and I know there was purpose in being open and vulnerable. This time, I have felt different... I probably won't add much more until we go to China. I'm not a very private person.... so I'm happy to talk in real life and answer any questions you have.... but just for now, I need to pull back on this public of a setting! That being said, I'd still love your prayers as we finish up paperwork.<br />
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Here is what I am praying and I'd love for you to join me:<br />
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* For God to prepare our daughter for us and us for her<br />
* For God to bless the foster family with sweet time until then and prepare them to say goodbye<br />
* For us to be allowed to meet the foster family<br />
* We plan on taking the big kids and not the littles. So for protection over all of us as we are apart.<br />
* For Mei Sims-- we feel like we will face set backs with her so just pray for her little heart during all of this and as we are separated for the first time.<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-44282670498926925022014-11-05T06:30:00.001-08:002014-11-05T06:30:22.706-08:00Surprise........... here's our girl! We submitted LOI (Letter of Intent) on Sunday, November 2nd which happened to be Orphan Sunday. On Tuesday, we received PA (Pre-Approval) so we can share her sweet face with you! More later.....<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-30611408407556934322014-09-25T07:16:00.002-07:002014-09-25T07:17:02.273-07:00Come one, come all!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We have officially lost our minds!!! Along with the kids, we have planted, grown and harvested tons of pumpkins to sell! All money will go toward our adoption as well an another family's adoption (shhhhh.... its a surprise who that will be)</div>
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Please join us and spread the word! We will accept cash and credit cards. We also have a couple of awesome farm t-shirts.... like 500 of them. They will be $20 each and available online soon. I'll post a link when I have it.</div>
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We are dreaming big for this event! Let the fun begin!</div>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-2525131348839749062014-09-01T13:25:00.000-07:002014-09-01T13:25:16.361-07:00Post OpBetter late than never..... Most of you reading are my Facebook friends.... so Abby and Karen, this one if for you :)<br />
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Mei Sims had her surgery on Tuesday and it went well. She now has a newly shaped socket thanks to some bone from the bone bank. Her only "hiccup" was losing a good bit of blood and needing a transfusion after surgery, which earned us a night in the special care unit for some closer observation. <br />
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During our night in the hospital, we watched Frozen 3 times..... eek... I thought I might lose my mind!!! I'm going to pull an Elsa here and say "the past is in the past" as to our night at Children's. It was rough. Very rough. Little missy doesn't do well in hospital settings as I mentioned.<br />
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The best had to be at midnight, when the nurse comes in to do vitals, sends MS into a tailspin and then says "Oh, do you want to watch a movie?" I'm thinking "Who asks a kid that at midnight?!? It's the middle of the night here!!!" She puts on Tangled and then goes along on her merry way. I let her watch for 10 minutes and then said "Sweetie we need to go back to bed." Thankfully she didn't object.<br />
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By the next morning, she would take one look at anyone who came in the room and scream "I DON'T LIKE HER!!!! SHE IS MEAN!!!!" The poor people who were simply restocking our room and not even coming near her.... I just smiled and said "Sorry!" <br />
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She kept crying to me "I just don't like it here" so when the doctor entered at 7 a.m. I told him we really needed to get out of there and I live nearby if something goes wrong. Thankfully her blood looked good and he said "Get out of here!" We left at 9:45. <br />
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There truly is no place like home. She is back to her normal silly, goofy, sweet self even if she has taken barking orders at me to a new level.<br />
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Someone asked me how she slept in her bed the first night and I answered "Like a rock! She didn't move at all!" Ha. Of course, she didn't move.... she's stuck in a body cast. She is such a trooper.... way tougher than you or I would ever be if we were stuck in a cast. <br />
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Thanks so much to all of you who have prayed. He is healing her body now, she has a perfect socket and He is keeping her mind at peace. She said to me yesterday "Why are so many people praying for me?" And I told her people loved her and wanted her to heal quickly. We were in the car at the time and Henry proceeded to call out every person we passed and say "The policeman there is praying for you. That truck driver is praying for you. That lady is praying for you....." Silly guy.<br />
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3ish weeks to go. Praying that sleep goes back to normal this week and that her itching subsides. Other than that all is well at our home.... Thanks again for lifting our little one up to the One who knit her together perfectly....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to head back</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQdfzKbvPNIS7d2GPm0CmyLMopUOfbol_S3skWd9eP25l-hAYsYUEJNKioFX6A51XnydyJxoTgasS4LgA0UoUQFTUuJtXYMe1hYHwwFuP8YafUi3agJ6jVoDTJ0WtCsBjWNcT_UvPETs/s1600/photo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQdfzKbvPNIS7d2GPm0CmyLMopUOfbol_S3skWd9eP25l-hAYsYUEJNKioFX6A51XnydyJxoTgasS4LgA0UoUQFTUuJtXYMe1hYHwwFuP8YafUi3agJ6jVoDTJ0WtCsBjWNcT_UvPETs/s1600/photo+2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waking up with mama</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CR5fqUlZTmoizNp6YdHzPM2xeCalR1fxOyCsWPHiVKvucGyY91DNKhFXjakOX7YhRq7pICW65Gj4S5ZghRfQZ3VhC-mNuyxlOMAuOwJW3-YljAnW9XNWOMIWCzOUPhS_GSycTqehQtc/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CR5fqUlZTmoizNp6YdHzPM2xeCalR1fxOyCsWPHiVKvucGyY91DNKhFXjakOX7YhRq7pICW65Gj4S5ZghRfQZ3VhC-mNuyxlOMAuOwJW3-YljAnW9XNWOMIWCzOUPhS_GSycTqehQtc/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then telling mama to leave and let pop sit with her...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The morning after...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home... Yippee</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGfBS3_zhDpeUuK7v2qudfTuOmUAO30nLSRtEfnj-8tnyQmspN4xKhBTpbLfJuJq-AAh0zKfH6OkreS_wq4mDqf3mDujsXnw5O7hfBa2TLkfP96RIW95T8qpiY0F-oNaAnwGdW6fsXck/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGfBS3_zhDpeUuK7v2qudfTuOmUAO30nLSRtEfnj-8tnyQmspN4xKhBTpbLfJuJq-AAh0zKfH6OkreS_wq4mDqf3mDujsXnw5O7hfBa2TLkfP96RIW95T8qpiY0F-oNaAnwGdW6fsXck/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good shot of the cast.... she loved getting her hair done despite the face she is making</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCb-bjA_kTo8ku_iz1bXJBp6K6A8OlSOjzIvm56I1CFRiBwv7euw-9IqgOWEzSxKvLZ2e3Ohpbvu6TOur7MsZWx41cNlWtDY_rLSaROACanWUVtXCC3syIoNNt6Xn7ufXXyZg1tsPwn0o/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCb-bjA_kTo8ku_iz1bXJBp6K6A8OlSOjzIvm56I1CFRiBwv7euw-9IqgOWEzSxKvLZ2e3Ohpbvu6TOur7MsZWx41cNlWtDY_rLSaROACanWUVtXCC3syIoNNt6Xn7ufXXyZg1tsPwn0o/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating 3 years since we got this pic! She told me she wanted to make weird faces!</td></tr>
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We knew this was a possibility and it was confirmed mid july. I can still hear some clicking from time to time so I had a feeling. The long and short of it is this: Mei Sim's hip is in the socket and there is no risk of it coming out. However, her socket was without the ball of the femur in it for so long (19 months or so) so the socket isn't properly shaped. It is long rather than coming around and cupping the ball. The hope had been that it would correct on its own post-op. It can heal for up to 18 months .... 2 years later and there has been almost no change. So basically, the ball can slide up and down in the socket a tiny bit which it shouldn't be doing.<br />
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The surgery is to prevent her from having issues later on in life-- like arthritis in her 20s-- among other things. The doctor said it needed to be corrected before she turned 5. She will be 4 in November. I informed in that I did not want a new china baby and a baby in a body cast at the same time! Ha! So we are set for surgery on August 26th.<br />
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The good news? The cast is only for 4 weeks. The bad news? They will be cutting through bone, harvesting some more bone and screwing some things in..... so it is going to hurt.<br />
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Anyway, wanted to put this out there so that you can being to join me in prayer for my littlest peanut. (But don't mention it around her because she doesn't know yet!!) She is an amazing transformed little girl..... but medical stuff just does something to her that honestly breaks my heart....<br />
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At her appointment in July, she had to have an X-ray of her hips and as she lay on the table, I could see something in her eyes just switch.... she mentally went to place that I haven't seen in a long long time.... it reminded me of those first days home....she was staring through me.... screaming, a look of terror in her eyes and she couldn't seem to hear me.... this is something very different than a typical child being scared of the doctor, I can assure you. There are fascinating studies and information out there about neurological pathways in the brain of a child who was institutionalized at some point.... and while I am certain we have laid new pathways in her brain, there are still triggers (i.e. the X-ray machine) that send her back down the old familiar neurological paths.... paths that tell her to go into fight, flight or freeze to survive.....it can take years to make the new pathways override the original ones.<br />
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It was over in a matter of 45 seconds but it took the rest of the day to recover. <br />
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Just after this the fellow kept trying to talk to her...<br />
"hey Mei! How old are you?" (no comment)<br />
"Do you like doc mcstuffins?" (no comment)<br />
"Do you want a sticker?" (no comment)<br />
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I finally looked at her and said "I'm sorry, she is not going to talk to you right now but I'm happy to." She seemed oblivious to the fact that she was in a high state of stress.... Thankfully, we have an amazing doctor who totally gets everything about Mei Sims. We praise God that He is continuing to heal MS through the miracle of modern medicine.<br />
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So, over the next couple of weeks please pray for the doctor's hands to perfectly fix her socket. Pray for healing post-op. And most importantly, pray for her heart and her mind to be surrounded by the peace of Christ in only a way that He can do.... that fear would be pushed far from her and she would feel safe and secure. <br />
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You can also pray that the positioning of her legs would somehow be conducive to putting her on the potty or dangling her over it somehow. Not really wanting to go back to diapers. I guess my awesome biceps are going to make a return appearance sometime this fall as well? Good times. <br />
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Thanks friends! And no adoption update just yet--- but we are ok with that-- plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime...<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-31253604560545733822014-07-02T19:17:00.003-07:002014-07-02T19:17:49.351-07:00and here we go again....Well it has just been 3 short months since we last saw each other.... 3 months and BOOM, we are magically at the midway point in the process....<br />
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Ok, so maybe there wasn't a magical waving of a wand and poof here we are.... 3 months was plenty of time for some excitement....<br />
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Some highlights of the craziness that is the adoption process:<br />
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* Multiple letters sent to us by department of homeland security getting lost in lala land courtesy of the USPS.... which allowed us the opportunity to place a fraud alert on all of our cards because the letters contained social security numbers and the whole shebang....<br />
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* My failing a fingerprint test and Derek passing to then have us both go back because they lost his results and then discovering they had misspelled his name which was why they thought they lost the result. (I'm thankful for the USCIS but I wouldn't give them an A in organization)<br />
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* The following classic interaction with the security guard at the USCIS office..... anyone in the adoption world in Birmingham has a similar story to tell. This man is pure awesome.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 20px;">Me: I'm a few days early but wanted to see if I could pleas</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">e walk in.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline;"><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: oh, no. oh, no. I don't know that this is possible (He appeared to be having a genuine inner struggle over my request. Lots of deep sighs and groans)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Me: Please, we've had some issues so just trying to get this taken care of. I really appreciate it.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: Can you come back tomorrow morning?</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Me: No. I'll have 2 small children with me then.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: Oh. no, oh no (appearing to really be having a struggle within himself) We really like walk ins in the afternoon. Can you come at 3:00 today?</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Me: No, I'll have 4 kids then. (refusing to back down every so nicely but this was the longest I have ever had to plead with him. I actually started getting nervous!)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: This just isn't going to work, I have my appointments coming at 9:00, then my 10's them my 11's then my 12's then my 1's then my 2's. You really can't come at 3:00?</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Me: Nope. Can I just sit and wait and see if you can get to me? (keep in mind there are 2 other families in there)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: Sure, but you may be sitting a super long time. </span></span><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Me: That's ok, I'll risk it.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">So he lets me sit for all of 2 full minutes, then turns around with a big smile and a clipboard and said ok, fill this out. Then I after I filled it out, he even said "Let's hurry and I can squeeze you in front of this other family."</span></span><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline;"><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">The best part was as I left, I said to Mr. security man, "I told my husband to try and walk in as well, Do you want me to tell him to come at 3:00?" </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Officer: Oh, no no no. We like our last appointment to be at 2:30. 3:00 is too late. So tell him to come right now and I'll get him and in and out real fast. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline;"><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Ha!</span></span></span></span><br />
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* And then a miracle occurred... a first for me actually.... I passed my fingerprints!!! The best part is that the day I found out that I passed, I was on Loretab for a minor procedure and I immediately e-mailed my officer at immigration once I saw the news..... only I didn't remember I had e-mailed her until the next day. There was a moment of panic as I ran to my computer to see what in the world I had written to her and thankfully it was very normal. Something along the lines of "What a great Mother's Day gift." Whew. Disaster averted.<br />
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And then the crickets began chirping as we waited and waited for documents to be certified.... this is the step where our Dossier ("Mountain of Paperwork") is sent <span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 20px;">to various places to have stamps and seals put on them...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 20px;">We waited and waited some more and then got the word on June 13th that we were DTC (Dossier to China). There was much excitement in our home that night. We were actually at the farm and AR took off running to find R while screaming "OUR PAPERS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO CHINA!!!!" </span></div>
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Next the wait to hear 3 more letters from our social worker "LID".... Log In Date.... in other words: you are now ready to be matched!</div>
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On monday, June 30th, let's just say I had a hectic day. I about lost my sanity dealing with alagasco for an hour on the the phone.... and I might add talking to them while trying to watch my kids at the pool.... the kids were particularly unruly that day.... but I had backup.... a sitter.... PTL! For the first time since school got out, I was going to have a moment alone and go for a run. I got to my running spot only to discover my kids had deleted my running mix.... and the songs that were still on there? they somehow made it where it repeats each song 2 times. Nothing I could do would undo that setting. So minor in the scheme of life but my run to de-stress actually made me more peeved. Fast forward a few hours, the cherry on top was a heavy jar of molasses falling from a top shelf in my kitchen onto my head. As I'm laying on the floor in pain, Henry took the opportunity to teetee on an unsuspecting AR who was relaxing in the bath... more screams, more chaos.....(and aside but Rollins was so sweet to see the depths of my despair and took it upon himself to clean the entire house. He even mopped the kitchen! Sweet boy. )</div>
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All that to say, a few days earlier I posted this pic on Facebook:</div>
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A pinterest worthy moment.... Our first jar of honey from the bees we are raising on the roof of our house... because we are just that cool and hip....</div>
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But in fact, this is my reality:</div>
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A mess on the floor that nailed me on the way down.....</div>
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And it was only the next day that I found out that during the previous days chaos, we were apparently being "logged in" in China... gotta love God's timing in all of that. Updated pic below:</div>
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June 30th, 2014</div>
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Well, assuming anyone is still out there, that's enough for one night.... For now, you can pray for wisdom and peace as we wait to see our baby's face...</div>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-72121543028170291922014-03-24T07:20:00.001-07:002014-03-24T07:20:51.447-07:00Peace, Love & AdoptionIt's been a while since I have written about our current adoption, so I thought a little update might be in order. Two weeks ago, we finished our home study. We have our same social worker from our first adoption, so the visits went really fast.... she already knows us VERY well. Lifeline has added more education since the first go round so that took a bit more time. It included an online seminar to listen to with workbook to fill out, a marriage survey so that they can identify any red flags (thankfully there were none), and a day and half seminar we will go to in April. It all seems a bit redundant since we have lived this out for the past 2 years but we did what we had to do to check items off the list and move on.<br />
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I discovered that I still have unreadable fingerprints. Surprise, surprise. But this time I was prepared. I mailed in 4 sets of my prints so that I could quickly fail them all and move on to a manual name search (rather than waiting for them to send me a letter telling me that I failed and requesting more prints). Derek got his clearance letter in 3 weeks. Mine came in 3 months. Last adoption it took 5 months. At least I'm improving. One friend joked that they might get even faster with the next adoption.... to which I must remind everyone that this child's nickname is "caboose" for a reason.<br />
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Last week we moved onto the next step where our paperwork is sent to immigration to approve us to bring a child back the the U.S. We are in a probably 3 month stage of getting immigration approval, having documents authenticated & notarized, mailing our dossier to China, getting "Logged In" and THEN the wait will really begin to see our baby's face. During the last adoption, we were Logged-In and matched with Mei Sims 2 weeks later. For a variety of reasons, it will most likely not go that fast this time. We expect to wait up to 6-8 months to be matched although God can certainly do whatever He wants and surprise us!<br />
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One reason that I haven't written much is that there hasn't been much to say... but the other reason is that this adoption is not controlling my every thought and move. Sure I have 4 kiddos to keep me busy but I think it goes deeper than that. I have seen first hand that God works it all out for the good of everyone involved so any sense of urgency or panic has been erased... it has been replaced by a calmness. I feel like I am chilled out with a chain of daisies in my hair, making a peace sign and saying "adoption, it's all good man" ... in the background is that song saying "Don't worry about a thing, because every little things gonna be alright...."<br />
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It is a very freeing place to be. Last time, I can remember Karla (our social worker) e-mailing me asking for a piece of paper. We were in the middle of lunch. I told all the kids to grab their plates and eat in the car while we rushed over to lifeline. I always felt a tad bit psycho.... This time? I realize it can wait because it's all gonna work out. God has created a child for us and I'm certain that I can't do anything to "miss out" on being matched with the right child. He WILL get our baby to us. Period. No need to act like a freak. Well, actually it would be abnormal for me to be normal but at least adoption won't be the source of my craziness for now. The chinese say "Mei Guanxi" which means something like "It's all good, no worries, no problem." Mei Guanxi may just be my catch phrase for the next year.... although once we have seen a face, I may throw all this "peace, love & adoption" stuff out the window.... I'll want to get there as fast as I can.<br />
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I probably won't update again until we are Logged In in china.... until then....<br />
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Peace Out<br />
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(actually, in the waiting I'll post some to update you on our new farming venture. So stay tuned for fun pics sometime soon. While were are adopting seemed like the perfect time to buy a farm, redo a house there, plant a chestnut orchard, raise bees and get 2 dogs, right?)<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-10241574490440674992014-03-04T05:53:00.001-08:002014-03-04T05:53:07.673-08:002 years ago today....I went to the bathroom alone for the last time....oops, I mean we met our amazing daughter... my little potty partner if you will...... She came to us in a loud, chaotic room in China... A miracle room.... One where boys and girls come in very much alone in this world and in an instant they leave as sons and daughters. I praise God every day that He chose us to parent this precious gift.... She is more than worth the fight to get to where we are today..... <br />
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There is much I could say as I reflect on the past two years but these videos speak volumes as to how far we have come. I realize these are a lot of videos to watch so if you only have time for a snippet, scroll to the bottom and view the first 45 seconds of "Happy 2 Years!" She is such a nut all the time and this interview is a small peek into her adorable personality!<br />
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For anyone who has a cup of coffee and wants to journey back 2 years, you can start here...<br />
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First, Derek's crazy video. I love that it captures the chaos of it all. Please note the baby voice crying in the video when it shows the plane flight home.... that is actually Mei Sims' crying. As I watched the video recently, it struck me that I have not heard <u>that</u> cry in what feels like ages. I had almost forgotten what it sounded like. Sure she cries every day over various things but it is a completely different cry now.... a cry that says "I'm sick, I got a booboo, Henry is being mean to me...." But that old cry was one full of anger and rage.... and it is 100% gone. Praise God that He makes all things new!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/39673716" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/39673716">Mei Sims come home!</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9420297">Rushton Waltchack</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Now for my long video which MS affectionally calls "MY China movie on the compooter" I see such value in this long version for her. She watches it almost daily and seems to soak it up. She loves to point out her nanny, her old room, the "white doctor who I not like." It brings to life her past in a way that my mere words cannot.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/56837512" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/56837512">Mei Sims' Adoption Story</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9420297">Rushton Waltchack</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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And just for fun because I seriously love this clip:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="282" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/48899680" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/48899680">shake it</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9420297">Rushton Waltchack</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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And finally, Mei Sims today. She is a live wire at home but not always out in public, so here is your glimpse into our treasure. I have a theory that our family simply turns children wild because all my kiddos are CRAZY, LOUD and GOOFY. I guess we get to test that out again on #5!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87766827" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/87766827">Happy 2 years!</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9420297">Rushton Waltchack</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Happy Forever Family Day/ Gotcha Day/ whatever you want to call it.... actually, I think I'll just say "Happy Miracle Day Mei Sims!" We love you!Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-64618600789824914772013-12-08T18:47:00.004-08:002013-12-08T18:47:59.186-08:00November 15, 2012<br />
I wrote this post over a year ago and wondered if I would ever publish it. Now that we are in process to adopt from China, it seems appropriate to share..... it sheds a little light into how God moved to get us to this place. So thankful to be here again. (For those of you who have been with us for a while, YES, I do remember all the hard that is coming! But one look at MS and I'm reminded that it is oh so worth it!)<br />
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November 15th 2012<br />
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This day will be forever etched in my brain as my personal day "of infamy".... I also affectionately call it my "O Crap Moment" in life. Let me back up briefly to explain how we arrived at the OCM. Several months ago, I began pondering an innocent question... "Are we finished having kids yet?" I could really go either way in my decision. So I began to innocently ask Derek as well if he thought we were done. Let's just say that he was not super engaged in those conversations. And if he did respond to me, it was generally with a short quip about how we have too many kids already. So I dropped the subject.<br />
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But a month or so ago, a strange thing began to happen.... I began to feel as if someone was missing. Not a romantic sense of "our family doesn't seem complete." Instead it was a can't-breathe-gonna-throw up-panicked feeling where I literally thought I had misplaced a kid. I would be out with my children and my heart would drop.... and I would quickly count. One. Two. Three. Four. Sigh of relief. They are all here. And then it would happen again. Sometimes just sitting the kids at the counter to feed them a meal would trigger this quick counting routine. Over and over this happened. Over and over, all 4 were there.... but I couldn't shake the feeling. I did not tell Derek about this phenomenon..... I wasn't ready to fight it out about why we needed another baby. Besides the fact, it really freaked me out to imagine 5 children..... I only ever wanted 2.<br />
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Instead, I told God. The conversation with God went something like "I don't know if this is what you are telling me and honestly it is scaring me a bit. I'm not about to tell Derek so if this is from you, then by golly, you need to tell Derek yourself." End of discussion and again, I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew that He wouldn't tell Derek.<br />
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Fast forward 2 days. Yep, 2 measly days. Derek and I returned from seeing the film "Somewhere Between" and Derek told me he had 3 take aways. The first 2 were normal.... learn some mandarin.... help MS look for her birth parents if/when the time comes and then he arrived at number 3. He got a nervous laugh. He refused to say it and nervous laughed some more.... stil refusing to talk. I remember saying "Just say it!!" and as I said that, in that moment, my mind said "Oh crap! God told him!" He laughed some more and said "we are not done. God has been telling me that for a while and now I am certain." Silence.<br />
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We laughed and hugged and laughed more..... and that my friends is why Nov. 15th will be forever etched in my mind and heart.... it is the day we realized that we have another daughter..... and she is in China. I'm well aware that this news will bring forth a variety of reactions. The most common ones I can think of is "Ya'll are CRAZY!" or the other which we got with our first adoption is "That is so great of ya'll!" Let me assure you that neither of these are correct. We are by no means a pair of wonderful heroes with giant hearts for orphans who are going to rescue another child.... and we are by no means crazy.... at least clinically crazy that is. Although I will say that following the heart of God can many times seem crazy to the world around us.<br />
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Rather it is something much more simple..... God has told us we have a daughter and that she is in China.... so we need to go and get her. If God told you the same..... you would go and find her.... wouldn't you?<br />
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One year later: I wrote the above and never looked at it again.... I said it would forever be etched in my brain but let's face it, life gets busy and I get tired and I forget what I thought I heard God saying..... or worse yet, on some level, I don't want to remember exactly what it was He said to me.... It seems scary and crazy. Well, 2012 turned into 2013 and then as 2013 began to approach 2014.... I forgot all about that date.... "November 15th." Good thing I documented it. A few weeks ago the conversation started all over agin. As Derek and I hypothesized and daydreamed, we decided it was time to seek God together in prayer over this decision. We prayed together one night. The very next night, Derek turned to me and said "Let's do it." I thought he was joking.... surely we needed to pray more but he was confident and again said "Let's get started!" God lit a fire under Derek unlike anything I have seen before. He was fully confident in God's will so it was easy & exciting to follow alongside him. Sitting on the sofa that night, I remembered about this blogpost I never published. I decided to look on my computer and find out when that was that God spoke to us.... When I pulled it up, there it was: November 15, 2012. The date that night? November 15, 2013. I think it is safe to say that we are on the right path for our family.<br />
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I'm forever grateful that over 2,000 years ago, Jesus knew He had sons and daughters.... and He needed to go get them.... so He wrapped Himself in human flesh and came as a baby on that first Christmas morning to pave the way for our adoption. Merry Christmas and Soli Deo Gloria!<br />
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-68087937691271099732013-12-03T08:36:00.003-08:002013-12-03T08:36:51.933-08:00Surprise......<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=501008439&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/derek.waltchack?directed_target_id=0" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Derek Waltchack</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;"> and I are expecting #5! I know what you are thinking.... 5 kids?! Was this on purpose or on "accident"?!? We weren't technically trying but we weren't really preventing either. But I know exactly when it happened. Derek came walking in one night, looked at me and before I knew it..... our pens were out and we were filling out paperwork </span><i class="_4-k1 img sp_81pvib sx_a467c3" style="background-color: white; background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yW/r/UxEeFRO7Qa2.png); background-position: -34px -903px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; height: 16px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;"> Another baby was created to be a Waltchack and is somewhere in China... can't wait to see who our little caboose will be.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Thought I'd put this here for those of you who are not my facebook friends and who may still be checking the blog.... not sure if there even is anyone out there.... but just in case. More to come later!</span>Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-59746747479385608022013-08-29T05:17:00.001-07:002013-08-29T05:17:32.624-07:00Happy Referral Day<br />
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Two years ago today, we saw her sweet face for the first time. Those pictures of her are still my favorite. She was laying in a "meadow" and was so tiny, so adorable..... she was mine. I can remember the emotions as if it were yesterday.... it felt as if part of my heart leaped out of my chest, flew through the computer screen and landed in China..... and I didn't get it back until March of the following year. I felt like I might panic, throw up, cry, laugh and sing all at once. There will always be a little celebration in our home on August 29th. <br />
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With MS, we get to celebrate her referral day, gotcha day and birthday..... quite a few more celebrations than the other kiddos.... and I'm ok with that because her story is different. And although she is only 2.5 years old, I have the sense that she gets it on some level. Even at her young age, I regularly tell her <i>her</i> story in words that she can understand.... I want her path to us to always be an open discussion full of celebration & joy... So I will often ask Mei Sims "Where were you born?" She usually giggles and doesn't answer me. If I ask "Were you born in China?" she will say yes.... but last week... something oh so sweet happened ..... <br />
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(It is worth noting that Henry when asked where he was born smiles really big and says "in chinese!!!" and he often begins stories with "when I was a baby in China....." I heard an exasperated Rollins saying to him the other morning "YOU ARE NOT CHINESE"... Henry just smiles and says "yes i am." Same logic he uses when I say "you are not the parent" "yes I am"-- if my hair rapidly turns grey, you now know why)<br />
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Back to MS.... Many nights when I am tucking her in to bed, I will get right up in that cute little face and say these words.... a very simplified story "Did you know that you are a miracle? Did you know that God made you for mommy? And Mommy had to get on a plane and fly all the way to China to come get you because you are mine." She smiles really big when I finish that ever so short version of how she came to be ours. This story has been on repeat over the past few months. And so this past week, when I said "where were you born?" She smiled from ear to ear and said "Get me!" And that is now her response..... Where were you born? Get Me. She may not know where she is from but she knows what is most important. We came.<br />
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On some level, she gets it... all that matters is that she is where she is supposed to be... and all is well for my baby girl now because of those two simple words. One day, I'm sure she will give a normal answer like "china" and it will undoubtedly make me sad that she is growing up.... so for now, if I or anyone else asks her where she was born, I will savor her response.... the magical land of Getme....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013</td></tr>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-15179385639013699572013-06-30T07:29:00.000-07:002013-06-30T07:29:00.565-07:00Crossing Over....Today, June 30th is a big day..... today marks the day that her time <i>with </i>us is greater than her time <i>without </i>us... something about that fact makes my heart swell up with joy....<br />
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The orphanage will always be a part of her story... but I praise God that today, my daughter has spent:<br />
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Less time behind these gates.....<br />
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Less time in this "home"......<br />
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Less time in these beds.....<br />
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Less time with this as her "play room".......<br />
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And MORE time sleeping here.....<br />
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More time playing here......</div>
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More time eating here.....</div>
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More time with friends here.....</div>
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More time being loved as a daughter.....</div>
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and loved....</div>
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and loved as a sister....</div>
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Less time surviving and more time thriving... turning into the little girl God created her to be.....</div>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-88471160289560312242013-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:002013-06-25T15:59:14.191-07:00A little help from my friends :) (UPDATE)She is fully funded! Thanks to all who helped!!<br />
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Hey Everyone!<br />
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Some of you may be familiar with Love Without Boundaries--- a group that provides medical help to orphans in china. They have provided assistance with Mei Sims' orphanage over the years as well.... so obviously a ministry that is near and dear to my heart. There is a little girl who tugged at my heart strings so I wanted to see if you would partner with me in changing a life? <br />
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Some of these kids needs thousands of dollars to get the help they need.... she needs a mere $407 more to receive medication to treat her heart condition. We can't save the world, but praying some of you would join me in saving 1.<br />
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Click the link below:<br />
<a href="http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/programs/medical/sponsor-a-child/m.children/223/view/977">http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/programs/medical/sponsor-a-child/m.children/223/view/977</a><br />
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Be back soon! ~RushtonRushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-82746063759429048652013-05-15T19:40:00.001-07:002013-05-15T19:40:30.568-07:00Just a thought.....When I think about Mei Sims, I truly have such a strong conviction that she was created for our family.... not in a romantic sense of "oh how sweet, she was made for us" but in a literal sense that she was knit together in another womb to be our child. I know there are people in the adoption world on both sides of the fence of this idea.... created for us or created for their birth parents who made a choice to not raise them thereby came to us.....<br />
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I wrote what follows, last october but never published it.... it was a jumbled mess of thoughts in my head. But after reading a popular blog, I knew it was time to put my thoughts on the topic out as well and let you enter into the mess in my mind. What I read on this blog was:<br />
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<i>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">We say, “God chose this child for me. She is mine. She was always meant to be mine.” No. Our children were meant for their birth families, the way every child ever born is. God did not intend these children for my wealthy home and accidentally put them in Ethiopian wombs."</span></i><br />
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I'm going to ask you to follow the rabbit trails in my mind for a brief moment... the comment above has such deep implications about the sovereignty of my Savior and MS's place in our family.<br />
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My disclaimer is that I cannot presume to perfectly know the mind of God (1 Cor. 13:12 for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror...) BUT I can look at His past to have a better understanding.... Onto what I wrote last fall:<br />
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So I heard an interesting discussion at church last week that really made me pause and take a minute to digest it all in light of our adoption. In the Bible, it is quite clear that children are a blessing from the Lord..... He says it over and over in many different ways. they are a blessing. Period. They may make you struggle with anger, they may make your hair turn gray, they may make you need to go to counseling..... but they are a blessing. Being a blessing of course does not make them perfect by any stretch of the imagination. that is obvious from the first two kiddos born in the world.... cain and abel.... where one killed the other..... yet somehow, even they are to be seen as a blessing to Adam and Eve.<br />
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I've read the story of creation too many times to count but it had never ever occurred to the the <i>timing</i> of when adam and eve were blessed with children.... it was <i>after</i> the fall of man... after Adam and "the woman" (who wasn't named eve until after the fall) ate the fruit from the tree that God had forbidden them to. <i>After</i> sin entered the world and everything was "screwed up" in a sense, God brought forth the first children.... a blessing in the midst of a newly fallen world.<br />
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In a perfect world, where there is no sin, I've always thought that God would create children to be with their birth parents.... that seems fitting after all... if a baby is growing in your tummy, of course it is meant to be yours. But what struck me in the creation story that night was that there were no children in this perfect beginning.... so in a sense there was no perfect family unit at that time that went awry because of sin entering the scene.... we have no example that it was supposed to be one way and then sin messed it all up... Instead the picture in the bible is this: we have a sinful world.... God then enters something new into the family unit of husband and wife.... children.... a blessing.... No example of the way a family should be formed in a perfect world because it stopped at husband & wife. I get it that in our minds the best case scenario would seem to be for you to give birth to a child who is actually yours....<br />
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BUT then I looked back at so many examples in the bible where God moves so "outside the box" that He obliterates the box altogether.... for example, take the creation of Adam... God decides he should not be alone and what does He do? He creates a woman. In the same way He just created man? nope. He takes the man's rib to form her--- He had just created adam out of the dust of the earth. in my finite mind, it would makes sense to create woman the same way but he moves unexpectedly.... He often moves in unexpected ways that confound our sense of reasoning......what about marching around the walls of jericho and blowing your trumpets to defeat a great enemy..... or what about using a child to defeat a giant that even the commanding officers were scared of.... or hanging with prostitutes or tax collectors... or parting the red sea for his people to cross and then closing it to swallow up an army....or what about the ultimate problem of sin separating me from God and the solution that God takes on flesh in the form of Jesus and dies for me... Do you get where I'm going? In light of all that... (God moving in crazy and unexpected ways).... would it be that weird for God's plan to include another woman having my baby???<br />
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The obvious question is then why are there orphans? I'll throw this out there.... could it be that orphans are one of the greatest gifts God could have give us? Adoption is unlike any other worldly experience. Period. Nothing else on earth more precisely parallels what it means to be grafted into Christ... into his family.... than to watch a child's life be transformed simply by being chosen to be a member of a family.... and in turn receiving all the benefits that come along with that. God knew his rescue plan for creation all along and perhaps through the life of an orphan he is allowing us to experience on a small scale what He is doing for the entire world.... I wonder if this is why the Bible mentions over and over caring for orphans? They are part of a beautiful master plan.... they are very much <i>needed</i> in this sinful world to point us to the beauty that is the gospel. Yes, it is not as pretty and neat of a plan as some would like.... it can be messy and painful..... but so was the cross.<br />
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Perhaps the problem of sin is <i>why</i> there are so many orphans who will never know the love of a family..... so many orphans who are mistreated and abused and neglected.... in our state of brokeness, seflishness, and greed, we don't care for them the way He has called us to.... perhaps that is the real issue.<br />
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Why does this even matter?? it <i>completely</i> colors the way I convey to MS that she is mine & the confidence I have in believing what I say to her. I am confidant that God created Mei Sims to be my child..... I am confident that both God was in control when He knit her together and she is where she should be... with her family. God intended her to be mine just as he intended me to be His. I was not born a jew and it was never his plan for me to be. But rather his plan for both of us to be adopted by our rightful parent. The implications of this path He chose for her are that she will experience hurt and pain because of it ......but won't all of my children experience that over and over in life??.... and yet they will also all experience God moving in hard situations to bring about such beauty. She simply is experiencing it before they do..... And really is that even such a "tragic" thing? To experience the providence of God at such a young age.... A providence where bitter and sweet are intermingled for His glory?<br />
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Bottom line is this..... I don't believe for a moment that God was watching, holding his breath..... hoping hoping hoping that MS's birth mom would keep her until the moment she let her go.... and then God was grieved that His perfect plan didn't work so He had to figure out plan B...... I hope and pray that Mei Sims never thinks that for a moment...... But rather, I believe He was cheering as her birth mom made that brave decision.... beaming and saying yes! yes! my beautiful plan is set in action..... much the way He may have felt when He sent Jesus to earth... knowing it was painful but the beauty far outweighed the pain.... And while I can't prove that this was God's thought process, I only need to look to the scriptures to prove 2 key factors:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>1. He is sovereign to the tiniest detail</b> (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.)</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>2. He is creative beyond measure.</b> (Psalm 104: 24 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">How many are your works,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; line-height: normal; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-15596AZ" title="See cross-reference AZ">AZ</a>)"></sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="indent-1" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="indent-1-breaks" style="font-size: 0.42em; line-height: 0;"> </span><span class="text Ps-104-24" style="position: relative;">In wisdom you made<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 0.65em;"><sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; line-height: normal; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-15596BA" title="See cross-reference BA">BA</a>)"></sup></span> them all) (Genesis 1)</span></span></span><br />
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Thanks for indulging me..... I'll step off my soap box now.<br />
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<br />Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008266133967104709.post-34372968152373567522013-05-04T15:25:00.002-07:002013-05-04T15:25:24.920-07:00The best idea I never had (thoughts from Derek)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Not sure if that is a country song, but if its not should be. And if its not, I plan on writing it. This won’t be a lengthy post, but this is my wife’s long awaited final ripple that has taken me forever to write.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">I titled this as such because all of the joy, sweetness, laughter, affection and grace that Mei Sims has brought into our home is due to Rushton. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Were I married to myself (which would be weird and would surely end in divorce), we would not have adopted. Why open us up to potential hurt, inconvenience, more financial commitments and who knows what else could go wrong? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">But thankfully I’m not married to myself. I have a wife who, when she was little girl, God planted a desire to adopt in her heart. She patiently and persistently kept bringing the subject up and waited on me. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">So I write this to other husbands who have wives with hearts inclined to reach out and bring another baby into your fold, listen to them and then pray about it. Pray about it with an openness and honesty between you and your God and ask him to show you. He will:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Mei Sims is so much fun. As with all children, you could spend all day talking about them, but I want to mention a few aspects about her that thrill me. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>She is gracious.</b> She is our most polite, thankful and courteous child. She always says ‘thank you’ when someone gives her something. She is quick to join in cleaning up when its time. If someone is crying she comes over quickly to pat them and give a hug. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>She loves to ride on things that move fast.</b> One of her favorite things to do is to ride on the golf cart in my lap. She squeals with joy when I hold her out like I am going to drop her. Rushton doesn’t like it when I do this. When I take a turn quickly in my car she says ‘go fast daddy’ followed up by ‘more!’</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">And <b>she is mine</b>. I tell her this all the time, ‘you are mine, mine, mine, mine’ Saying because it is true and she needs to hear it and because it comes from the very core of my being to her that she is mine and I want to drive that as deep as I can into her heart. Period. And it just hit me as type this that God shouts this to me as well, but sometimes its so hard to believe him. And he feels the same way, no matter if I believe him or not, I am his adopted son. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Thank you Rushton. </span></div>
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Rushton Waltchackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00772742100977454629noreply@blogger.com1