Do You Remember?

Do you remember when you found out you were having a baby?

Do you remember how incredibly long you waited for your baby to get here?

Do you remember how you felt when you first laid eyes on your baby?

Do you remember how it felt when you held your baby for the first time?

Now, couple that with waiting YEARS for your new baby...

And couple that with being overwhelmingly appreciative of the best gift anyone ever gave you...

That's how most adoptive parents feel...especially those who have waited for a foreign adoption.

Read to learn about how a friends love of missions turned into giving a child a home.

What a great story!

Please Pray...and Call

I cannot imagine what this family is going thru...

They went to China to adopt their child. They get there and find out that she has tested positive for TB. The CDC adopted a new law on July 1, 2009 that will not allow her to come to America until she tests positive. So, they have had to leave her in China and return to their other child, home and jobs.

Please read their story and make the appropriate calls.

I cannot imagine having to leave your child there once you have gone and bonded...heartbreaking!

Come To My E-Party!

UPDATE: My E-Party ends Wednesday, May 6th in the evening. I would love to max out the Adoption Love Meter on my E-Party page. Please consider purchasing some great clothes for your little one and support adoption!

Remember not so long ago when I introduced you to a great company?

Well, I love them so much that I decided I would help them on a new venture...an E-Party!

What is an E-Party, you ask? Well, it is much like any party that an at-home business throws...you know the ones...send out invitations, make some food, clean your house, have the business person come over and talk about her product and get product credit based on what your guests purchase...EXCEPT, I didn't have to cook or clean and people didn't have to take time out of their busy schedules to come over and spend a few hours! How great is that? All I had to do was provide the company some email addresses, write a few blog posts, let my friends get on their computers and purchase some great products and...VIOLA! It's a party!

So, if you enjoy their products and would like to be a part of my E-Party (or better yet, host your own!) just come! You can crash my party!

Let's Party!

2nd Annual Birthday Tea

I stole the idea from PandaMom last year.

I am making a tradition of taking Kaylee for birthday tea every year. We choose someone special to go with us...someone who played a role in her adoption or understands the importance of adoption.

This year, we took our good friends, The Winebergs.

This precious family truly understands adoption. You see, the mom had cancer in her lymph nodes at the age of 24. She went through radiation treatments that, for lack of a better term, fried her insides. She thinks now that she was OVER radiated. So, needless to say, she and her husband had to adopt. And that they did...3 times. Each one of these precious children is adopted. 3 different birth moms, 3 different adoptions makes one great family!

We love this family and we love that they joined us for our 2nd annual birthday tea!

The guest also chooses a teacup that I purchase and put in Kaylee's room.

Here is the cup that was chosen for Kaylee by these beautiful guests...

They MIGHT Be Clueing In...

Just maybe...

Then again, maybe not.

Plum Precious Clothes

My girl turned 3 and we had a great party to celebrate.

Kaylee's friend, Lili, came to the party. She gave Kaylee a precious outfit for her birthday. I was so excited and asked her mom where she got it. Yvette (Lili's mom) told me that she made it.

Turns out, Yvette and a friend started a company to make these items.

The two of them met while in China adopting their precious girls. They came home, remained in touch and decided to start this company. The best part...the company donates 10% of proceeds to help with adoptions!

So. please, click on the link above, or the cute little button in the sidebar, and order something precious! Help the company and help with adoptions!

I. Have. FAILED!

We had a great Gotcha Day celebration. We invited special family and friends to join with us in wishing Kaylee well. I was very selective about the guest list this year. I wanted to invite people to whom the words 'Gotcha Day' meant something, so we invited friends that have adopted or were adopted. Very special.

We had Chinese cuisine (well, not authentic, but isn't Panda Express close enough). We watched a slideshow that I made a few years back of Kaylee's journey home. We talked and had a great evening.

Here are some photos to show the highlights...

oops...

there

are

none!!

That is how I failed!

Thought about it a lot...

but never once clicked the shutter!

I wish I knew a good photographer I could have hired...

Interesting Thought

As you may or may not know, Kaylee has a scar on her shoulder that has always intrigued us.

We will never know why she has it, but we did have an interesting encounter the other night.

We went to a San Antonio HPU Alumni Dinner. We had a nice evening enjoying a meal and conversation with other HPU alumni (only one of which I knew, btw).

We were sitting with a very nice couple who are aunt and uncle to 2 Chinese adopted girls. She asked me, 'Did her mom put any marking on her so that if they ever met again, she would know it was her daughter?'

What?

I had never heard that before.

Is that why Kaylee has this interesting scar on her shoulder?

We will never know...

Help Bring a Boy Home

Do you have some extra cash lying around?

Some coins in the loose change jar? Or maybe in the couch cushions? Found a dollar on the sidewalk?

Well, Panda Family could use it.

Go here to see what I mean.

Thinking...

As you may know, we are homeless right now, so I am hijacking my best friends house for Kaylee's party tomorrow. I went over there this morning to get everything ready and was thinking about my little girl...

I was thinking about what a perfect fit she is for our family.

I was thinking about her birthmother...the sadness she must feel at this time, the desire she must have to know where her daughter is and what she looks like.

I was thinking about how lucky I am to get to plan a party for her.

I was thinking about the clueless comments people make about Kaylee's 'situation'...like, 'How can a mother abandon her daughter?'. After all, we don't understand in America because we have the opportunity to choose abortion or adoption - both are culturally acceptable and legal (not saying that I support the former, just that it is an available option for a birth mom).

I was thinking about her birthmom having to make 'the choice'. Here are her options: 1. Abort the baby. 2. Carry the baby to term and keep her, knowing that, in her culture, girls are looked down upon and she could possibly be shunned by other family members. 3. Carry the baby to term and give her up for adoption publically and be arrested. 4. Carry the baby to term and risk everything (after all, if she is caught, she will go to prison) to find a place to abandon her...hoping and praying that someone finds her before she dies and takes her to an orphanage. What terrible choices those are! Aren't we glad Kaylee's birthmom chose number 4!

I was thinking about what a precious girl she is with such a great personality and loving sprit!

Amongst all these thoughts were the thoughts of how I will respond to what Kaylee's birthmom (and so many others) did. These are my decisions:

I will make a point at this time each year to thank God for Kaylee's birthmom and the tough choice she had to make at the time of Kaylee's birth.

I will make it a point to teach my daughter that her birthmom was a brave, loving woman who risked everything so that her daughter could live and have a loving family.

I will continue to pray for China...that the government will open their eyes and see that their 'one pregnancy' law is hurting more than it is helping.

I will continue to thank my God for the wonderful work He is doing. He is continuing to place these beautiful babies in loving homes all around the nation!

Will you pray with me?

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

Gotcha!

One year ago today, our family was made complete! Our precious daughter has been in our arms for exactly a year!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers during this time of adjustment!

Praise the Lord!

Thought Any More About It?

Before National Adoption Month came to a close for another year, I wanted to see if you had thought any more about it.

I know it is a big step. I know it comes with many stereo-types. I know it is scary. I know it isn't an easy decision. I know...

Please take a deep breath. Sit. Pray. If this thought has been tugging at your heart, stop long enough to see if this option is for you.

I have heard many people say, '...but I want my own kids.' These are your kids. Honestly, I have one born from my womb and one born in my heart...I love them both with all my heart. An adopted child will bond to you just like a biological child will.

Adoption is a gift...for the child...for the family...BOTH families.

After all, how can you refuse a face like this?

Referral Photos

Homecoming 2006

Christmas 2007

Click here to read another thought of mine on adoption!

National Adoption Month

Happy Adoption Month!

Who would have ever thought that I would know that November is National Adoption Month?

You see, this wasn't in my human plan. Not that I was against adoption, but that was for other families. I didn't want to adopt and raise someone else's 'problem'.

Sounds closed-minded, huh?

Yup, it was!

God had other plans. He introduced the thought of adoption through the possibility of adopting a relative's child. I mean, after all, it was a relative's child...I couldn't let someone else raise it! Then, He let that fall through...not the feeling of wanting to adopt, but the adopting of this relative's child. My heart had softened to adoption. I now knew that this was God's plan for our family.

But now, I had to take this to my husband. Who I knew would not like the idea!

Or so I thought! When I talked to him about it, he said that he had always wanted more than one child! I truly believe that God had softened his heart too because, although he had always said he wanted more than one child, he had also said that he never wanted to adopt.

So, the journey began...and 2 years after 'conception' we brought our daughter home. We would not change a thing! Yes, it's been crazy, yes, tensions run high at times, but we have the most beautiful, perfect daughter ever!

I challenge you to think about adoption. I challenge you to tell your friends and family. There are so many children that need a loving family...and so many families that need a loving child. Adoption truly is a great choice for making families.

Remember, God is in control. He chose your children before you were even on this earth...whether they come from the seed of your body, or through the seed of a set of burth parents. He knows, He has chosen them for you.

Trust God, adopt a child!

My Name-sake

I have been asked many times about Kaylee's name. I thought I would post today about how her name came to be.

This is our Gigi with her namesake, Kaylee.

Her real name is Jean Kay (Jake could not say Jean when he was little, so he nicknamed her Gigi and it has been her name ever since). She and I went to college together and have been good friends ever since. She is one of those 'there in the good times and ready to help in the bad times' friends. Need something? Call Jean! She is such a special friend that I knew I wanted to name our daughter after her. I played with many variations of her name...nothing was quite working for me. Then, one day, God gave it to me...use Jean's middle name and my middle name to get my daughter's name. Thus, Kaylee (if you don't know, I am Cameron Lee) was born!

Thank you, Gigi, for being such a testament of Christ's love! I count our friendship a blessing!

Autumn Moon Festival

Awesome Face Painting!

(Jake's eyes are actually closed...freaky, huh?)

Our girl's first Lantern Parade

(Well, she didn't actually walk in the Parade!)

Kaylee didn't like the 'face painting', so we went for 'arm painting'.

Like our shirts? We found them in Guangzhou!

(We hope they actually say mother, father, brother and sister!)

Saturday, we celebrated our first Autumn Moon Festival with Kaylee. We had a nice afternoon at a local park with other families from FCC (Families with Children from China) San Antonio (Can you pick our monkey out of the picture on this site?) There was face painting, dinner, an air bouncer and a lantern parade! What precious children!

Walking?

We went to my Great Grandmothers funeral a few weeks ago. My step-moms husband (no, not my father, I am not that clueless. I call him my step-whatever) inticed Kaylee to walk. You see, for awhile, she has been walking while holding someone's hand. Well, Daulton would hold his hand out for her to hold while walking, but he would hold it just far enough for her to have to take a few steps to grab hold. He did that for most of the weekend, and now she will walk without holding a hand. She still prefers to crawl, but the walking is happening, slowly but surely!

9 months, 1 day

What a special day! We have had our KK in our family for 9 months and 1 day. What a milestone!
Milestone? You say.
Yes, milestone!
For 9 months and 1 day means she has now been out of the orphanage longer than she was in the orphanage! That is a milestone!
I hope that her memories of the orphanage are diminishing and that her memories of being a Bowren are abounding!
What a precious member of our family she is!

Austin Trip

Is this the 2nd cutest China Doll face you have ever seen???

Saturday we went to visit the Johnson family.

Lory and her daughter, Loryn, were in our travel group. Her daughter, Alyssa, is from Gansu, like Kaylee, but not the same SWI.

We had the privelege of meeting the rest on the Johnson family while we were in Austin.

I hope these 2 girls get to spend a lot of time together and become life-long friends!

See below for more pictures of the Gansu girls.

It's a Small World, After All

Here I was last night, bored, cruisin' around the blog world when I found this. Panda-Pop and I went to HPU together. He, his wife and his beautiful Panda-girl live somewhere in Texas. How cool to know a fellow grad got the calling to go get their daughter from China and bring her home.