No Place Like Home

As you all know, I've been in Florida for the past week visiting my Mom's family. While I loved seeing everyone and getting to grow closer to my family, I truly couldn't way to get home to see Dad and Jace.

Getting home, however, was harder than just tapping my feet together and saying, "There's no place like home."

A 12-hour car ride with a not-yet-walking two-year-old was no picnic. The ride was made easier, though, by our stash of Greek yogurt smoothies and Trader Joe's cheese puffs, and our periodical french fry breaks at Sonic and McDonald's.

We went off and on watching Signing Time, Barney, Elmo's World, and Veggie Tales. My sweet baby boy even watched a little of The Princess and the Frog with me (My 11-year-old boy cousin watched it with me and LOVED it. So no excuses guys.).

As Mom was doing all the driving (I wouldn't have driven on the interstate even if I had passed the permit test), it was my job to make sure Levi was happy and smiling. For someone who's only 5', reaching from the front seat back to a baby car seat was difficult. It was like yoga in a sitting position.

When we weren't eating fries or watching TV shows, we were listening to music. Levi's finicky taste didn't let us stay on one song for more than thirty seconds, that is, except his favorite - Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. I nearly passed out laughing as we banged our fists in the air for the BOOM BOOM, Levi banging in all the wrong places with a huge smile on his face, feet kicking willy-nilly in the air.

All in all, I enjoyed the trip back, even if it was a bit exhausting. Nearing our destination, Levi started to sign "Daddy" and say his mumbled version of Jace. He wanted to see them as badly as we did. After some pizza and a sound whooping (BY ME!!!) of the iPhone ESPN Spelling Bee app, we went to bed. As my eyelids are drifting shut even now, I think:

There's no place like home.

The Gift of Time (Greetings from Florida)

Me and my mom and Levi left for Florida on Sunday to visit Mom's family. After waking up at 6:45 in the morning and listening to twelve hours of Signing Time and Sesame Street in the car, I almost kissed the ground when we reached my grandparents' house.

I'd seen my grandparents over the summer during Levi's heart surgery, but I hadn't seen my cousins since the Christmas before last. Honestly, I was afraid that I wouldn't know them anymore, that we'd have to take a long time to reform a connection we once had, but I was dead wrong. All they needed was a little time.

Angel (age 11) is homeschooled at a tutorial, so we had some time together on Monday. Believe it or not, we bonded over homework. He liked to see what I was working on (Geometry) and liked to show me what he was doing too. And when I decided to stop for the day, he loved that I chose to help him with his homework.

Annie (age 9) is in public school, so I hadn't gotten much of a chance to see her yet. When she got home, she immediately came to the room where me and Angel were having a Guitar Hero battle, and asked if I could cook something with her.

"Of course!" I replied, and we headed to the kitchen. We got out her EasyBake Oven and put on our aprons. She decided on a cake (although I really wouldn't call it a cake, it was so small. More like a fluffy sugar cookie). We mixed all the ingredients together, and all the while I was explaining to her how cake batter should look, and other rules of the trade.

While our smallish "cake" was cooling, I decided to go outside and see what Angel and his two friends were doing. It turned out to be baseball. Now, I was excited! I played softball for about 4 years - fall and spring ball - and I hadn't been able to play the last few seasons (too old for the league). I was disappointed, at first, that I wasn't able to even make contact with the ball when I was at bat. But after about an hour of playing, I had my mojo back, and Angel and his older friend were fighting over whose team I got to be on.

Angel and Annie went to bed giving me hugs, much more comfortable with me than they'd been the night before. All they needed was a little time. Not much, just some quality attempts at bonding. They're both at school today, and now I can't wait for them to get home!

So in closing, greetings from Florida! And never understimate the power of time.

Hijinks at the Hook House

I thought I'd let you all in on some of the craziness that is my family. Especially Levi. If you don't laugh at his laugh, there's something wrong with you.

This video is stuff from the last week or so. A lot of Levi (he's standing up now a little bit as you can see!). The last video is Jace's 5th Grade Olympics! He's in a green t-shirt with the tatoo on his cheek, looks like he's doing rock-paper-scissors, next to the kid waving a flag around. My friend and I joked that those 5th graders had more school spirit than the entire high school.

Enjoy!

A Sister Comes Home

I'd like you all to meet the Shore family. From left to right - Caleb, Mrs. Kathleen, Isabel, Mr. David, and Nathan.

We've known the Shores since pretty much forever. For the past two years, they have been trying to adopt a child. They felt called by God to add to their family. Today their dream came true! After two years of waiting, baby Acacia Grace came home!

Acacia is from Ethiopia. Both of her parents had HIV. She was born a twin and, unfortunately, her twin sister died of HIV at birth. Miraculously, though, Acacia does not have it at all! That's why she was named Acacia - the acacia tree symbolizes healing and health! She had a big ol' crowd of people waiting to meet her at the airport today. And, let me just say, she's even more precious in real life than in the picture! I could clearly see the joy in the faces of her family members. I started tearing up. Because I know exactly how they feel. They've waited so long and finally, finally their baby is home. They are about to figure out just how God has blessed them with the gift of adoption! It goes so beyond just leaving the country or bringing the child home. I praise God for their family and for Acacia, and I pray for her healing (she has quite a bad cough). I couldn't be happier for the Shores!

Throughout the joy and celebration of Acacia's homecoming, I couldn't help but feel a pang in my heart. It's going to be another five months or so before we do that with Evan. I don't think people who haven't gone through this process can fully understand what I'm talking about. When I think of Evan, I feel a literal pull on my heart, like it's trying to burst out of my chest and fly to Russia to stay with Evan, to comfort her and let her know her big sister's coming for her. I know some people have to wait so much longer, but I think we all have the same feelings of impatience and longing. On the way home from meeting Acacia at the airport, this song came onto my iPod and I had to send up a prayer of thanks to God for it. It describes perfectly my relationship with Evan, and I've decided it's going to be my Evan theme song for now.

You all can listen to it and share your thoughts by commenting or shooting me an e-mail.

Wondering

Sometimes people wonder about me. About my family.

They wonder why a couple would have chosen to adopt a biracial child when they could've had another of their own.

They wonder why a family who already had two children that looked (more or less) exactly like them would adopt yet another child.

They wonder why we would want a child whose skin didn't look like ours.

They wonder why we would want a child with Down syndrome, when we weren't obligated to take him.

They wonder why we would adopt another child with Down syndrome when we already have one as a burden.

Family. That's the real answer to all that wondering.

Jace is my brother. I don't care that he's adopted; that doesn't matter at all. He's my brother and he always will be.

Levi is my brother, my baby, my Little Man. I would protect him with my life. Because he's my brother. Why should it matter that his skin is different, that he doesn't think the same way? That doesn't make him any less a part of our family.

I've had people ask me if we would ever stop pursuing Evan.

No, never, not in a million years. If it took me all my life, working day and night to earn the money, that girl would come home. Because Evan is my sister. No, I've never met her. I've never heard her voice. I've never held her. I've only ever seen one picture of her. But she is my sister. There is a bond between us. Already, I can tell. God put it there. Every time I think about her (which is quite often) I feel like there's a hole in my heart. Because that's where Evan belongs. She has a place there now.

We get lots of stares in restaurants because of Levi. We've had people ask us if he's our baby. We've even had people racially discriminate against him to our faces. But you know what we don't think when that stuff happens? That Levi is a burden. That we only adopted him because we felt sorry for him.

No. We adopted him and Jace, and soon Evan because we love them so much our hearts feel like they could burst. They are family.

Jace is my brother. Not my adopted brother. Not my biracial brother. My brother.

Levi is my brother. Not my adopted brother. Not my African American brother. Not my brother with Down syndrome. My brother.

And Evan is my sister. Not my adopted sister. Not my sister from Russia. Not my sister with Down syndrome. My sister.

Family. Forever.

And So the Adoption Process Continues...

We received our dossier for Russia the other day. Oh. my. gosh.

My parents have to be fingerprinted twice! We have to have a family portrait in semi-formal to formal attire! I don't think I own any formal attire! It's insane that they make us do all this work to make sure a child that they would throw into a mental institution would be safe. How's that for your reverse psychology?

Mom and Dad also talked to their adoption coordinator, and it turns out we may have Evan sooner than we thought! The coordinator said that at the speed the government is going now, we may be on our first trip to Russia in March, and we may go to get Evan in May or June! That would be the best birthday present EVER (my birthday's in June)!

So be praying for us that the government's adoption process continues to move quickly and that Evan stays healthy and safe (and that I can find some formal attire).

Thankfully, we have our good friends the Hollis's to help us! You can check out Mrs. Hollis's blog at:

http://the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com/

They adopted a child from Russia too, who is now 11. They also have two young children (soon to be 3) with Down syndrome close to Levi and Evan's age. So they will grow up together. They really are an amazing family after God's heart, so check out their blog. More than one miracle has happened in their lives the past few months! Praise God! (There's a lot to praise God about, if you haven't noticed!)

We had a Reece's Rainbow fundraiser at their house on Wednesday night and it was a blast! People dropped of their kids from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and all proceeds went to help children on the Reece's Rainbow site! Of course, I stayed like three hours later and listened to some AMAZING original music by Lydia, and played a little Wii Tennis! Seriously, please do check out their blog, you won't be disappointed!

Living the Dream

The other day at school, we got an assignment that asked us 'What would your dream life be?' This took quite a bit of thought for me. Would it be having my name in the credits of big movies as the composer? Or starting a youth orchestra in Africa that becomes world famous? However, what I came up with was this:

It was Christmas Eve night, about 8:00. Jace had just been put to bed, and I was walking by his room. "Tori, if you don't go to sleep soon, Santa won't come!" he warned me. "I know, Jace," I replied, gently closing his door. I sat down in one of the recliners in front of the TV, the Christmas tree emitting warm reds, golds, and greens. I felt a tug at my leg and looked down. Evan kneeled right beneath me, her big, gray-blue eyes pleading with me. I gently hoisted her up onto my lap, holding her close. I heard an upset grunt and some whining. Levi sat on the other side of the room, looking very upset that I had picked up Evan and not him. I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to come over here. He grinned and crawled over, holding up his arms for me to get him. I lifted him onto my other knee, and he flashed me his crowd-pleaser smile. However, when he saw who was taking up the other side of my lap, he brought up his hand and smacked Evan right on the arm. "No, sir," I told him, grabbing his hand. "Be gentle." He smiled again and rubbed the palm of his hand smoothly across her face. "Thank you," I told him. Evan was already starting to nod off. I brushed a strand of her light blonde hair out of her sleepy eyes. A few minutes later Dad took Levi to put him to bed (which he protested very loudly). I gently pulled the sleeping Evan up to my shoulder and carried her into her crib. "Good night, Evan," I whispered, gently kissing her forehead. I laid her carefully down in her crib and covered her with a blanket. "I love you. Merry Christmas."

THAT is my dream life, right there. What's funny is that my dream life is already my life. The only thing missing is Evan. I even had Levi hitting someone in there. What I realized is that, I wouldn't change my life even if I could (with the exception of Evan being home faster, but even that will probably change with time). That's because my life has made me who I am. If all of my siblings hadn't been adopted, I probably wouldn't be so passionate about adoption. If my brother and sister didn't have Down syndrome, I probably wouldn't be offended at all when people use the word "retard." But I am. Because of who my life has made me. So the next time you would want to change your life, remember that if your life hadn't been what it is now, you wouldn't be the same person. You'd be completely different.

Brothers...You Gotta Love 'Em

So I don't think I've ever introduced you faithful readers to my brothers. I have two AMAZING little brothers.

My brother Jace is 10 years old. He's in 4th grade. Like all little brothers, he totally gets on my nerves. But, he's great for stuff like basketball and hanging out. That's one way older brothers are different than younger brothers - the younger ones let you hang with them, the older ones don't. He's totally obsessed with Star Wars. And he is ROCKIN at Legos. No joke. I'll have to upload a picture of some of the stuff he builds. He also has pretty good taste in music for a ten year old, better than I did anyway (Jump5 *cough, cough*). And, get this, he has hair like.... NICK JONAS. I'm not a particular Jonas Brother fan, but pretty much all OTHER teenage girls are. He wanted to cut it off like Indiana Jones and I said, "Dude, your hair is BETTER than Indiana Jones. He couldn't pull it off." Here's a pic of him:

My other brother is Levi. He's only one. And, let me tell you, he's as cu

te as a button. He's totally a ladies' man. He flirts with all the nurses at the doctor. Both of my brothers are adopted, but Jace looks just like us (weird, I know). Levi is African American. He also has Down syndrome. He's scheduled for heart surgery next month. Yeah. But he's such a heartthrob (or will be, one day). Just LOOK at that smile!

Great brothers, I know. You're all probably jealous - I have one brother that's about the cutest thing ever and another that's a future Nick Jonas. But, like all brothers, they do get annoying. Jace is just LOUD. And I don't mean just a little noisy, I mean REALLY LOUD. And Levi has that feeding tube on his stomach that he can't leave alone unless there's a bandage around his stomach. We have to change it every night and it is GROSS. I won't even go into all the details just in case someone here is a tad squeamish. So, what do I do? I flip out and yell. GASP! It can't be! Well, hate to break it to you people, but I'm only human. As are you. Everybody messes up. Like right there, I just misspelled 'messes' about five times before getting it right. Don't beat yourself up when you make mistakes, just try not to make them again.