Our first "birth mother" talk

So we're at a restaurant for dinner eating our pizza and Ethan says something to the effect of, "When I a baby in China, I in your tummy."

...wow...think fast...I knew this question would come eventually....here's my big moment to say exactly the right thing....

"No, honey. When you were a baby you were not in my tummy. You were in a different mommy's tummy."

"Why? What different mommy?"

"Well, we could call her your birth mother. She's a very special lady that lives in China. In Chongqing."

"Was it Ayi?" (our agency guide that was with us during the adoption)

"No, it wasn't Ayi."

"Was it Linda?" (I think he's referring to a mom from our adoption playgroup who happens to be Chinese)

"No, it wasn't Linda. I don't know her name."

"Oh, OK."

...back to conversation about the pizza

A bittersweet anniversary

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of my little boy being found at #58 Xinglong Road in Chongqing China. He was found on March 1st and he was estimated to be 6 weeks old. I can't imagine how painful it must be to parent a child for 6 weeks, only to find that you are unable. I can't imagine the circumstances that forced a birth mother to have to make this decision. She is in my prayers today. I pray that she knows in her heart that her son has found a family that loves him.

A little bit of History!!!

As you see, above, I was able to get my hands on some amazing baby pictures of Ethan! I knew that his orphanage in Chongqing was sponsored by a charitable organization called "Half the Sky". I also knew that if Half the Sky had any reports, or information on him, they would send it to me if I fill out their request form. Right around Christmas, I requested the information and they sent me 8 reports with 1 original photo and a written anecdote (in Chinese). They also sent me a translation of the reports. These pictures and reports are so precious to us. We had not seen a baby picture of Ethan until these report came to us!

Ethan's 5th Birthday

Helping to make the cake



YUM--Licking the bowl!!



Open mouth, insert spatula



Covered in chocolate



Cupcakes at school



Birthday noodles at the Chinese restaurant



Home-made Kung-Fu panda cake...Wow, I'm good



Blowing out 5 candles



Eating cake with friends

Another First

...so I get to celebrate another first today....

Projectile vomiting in the backseat of the car! The story goes like this:

We get off the freeway on our way home from school. I hear, "mommy, my tummy hurts." I asked him if he needed to go potty; he said he did and I told him we were almost home and he could go as soon as we get there...silently hoping there would not be an "accident" in the car. A few minutes later he starts crying. Not typical behavior for my son, so I knew he really was not ok. I try to reassure him while not plowing into other cars on the street. ....then I hear it...it could only be the sound of...spewing. Dread and panic set in. I look in the rear view mirror only to see his hand over his mouth and the chunks flying between his fingers. I can laugh now..it was quite a sight. I begin to rack my brain: what do I do? Do I have anything to clean it up with? Do I pull over? Do I call Gary? All while reasurring my crying, barfing son who has puked all over himself, his carseat, some story books and a stuffed panda. I decide to pull over and search my trunk for anything useful and find an old carwashing shammy and nasty dish towel. Fortunately, Gary was already home and I called to have him on standby with towels as soon as I pulled up.

Anyway, after the clean up crew (i.e. myself) got it all clean, Ethan seems to be just fine. No fever, no flu like symptoms. Now we have to decide whether or not to send him to school tomorrow.....

Merry Christmas

Ethan & Maranda playing wii boxing



Rubber gloves and pj's--what a fashion statement




Ethan loves his dumptruck--notice who is driving!


It's a few days past Christmas. I haven't written for the simple fact that I felt like I should have something profound or witty to say and I just couldn't come up with he right words to sum it all up. It was Ethan's first Christmas. He loved it, as any 4 year old would. He opened his presents and has been playindg non-stop ever since. With every present he opened, he wanted to play with it right away. We had to tell him to set it aside to open another present. It was a little confusing for him; but still fun. At the moment, I'm being served plastic hamburgers, hot dogs and soda! We are still awaiting for the arrival of the replacement parts for the play kitchen we got him that arrived in a few too many pieces.

Our first trip to the ER

We survived our first trip to the Emergency room after a plunge head-first into the corner of the coffee table. They put some of that dermabond glue on it and we were good to go. The next day at school, Ethan fell at school and bumped it again, and then scratched it in the night and scratched the glue off of it. Now he has a nasty scab on his head which looks much worse than the picture you see above.

The pajama pictures are from the Chinese Adoption Playgroup get-together we attended which was a pajama party at a friend's house. As you can see, Ethan is the only boy amongst all of the little girls!