Father of four!!!!
Cool.
I have to admit, I never saw that coming, but I couldn't be happier!
It has been especially nice recently because all four kids have both been home. Laura took her national boards recently and has a couple of weeks off, and Mitch has been working at the office this summer. There is nothing quite as special as all of us being home. Even when we are not all in the same room it just feels "right" to all be under the same roof. And Katie especially seems to be filled with joy when we are all home.
Laura and Mitch have been a great help with Jaden and Katie. I had arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday the 13th and we had to leave the house at 5 AM. Mitch drove Tracy and me to the surgery center, and Laura stayed home and took care of Jaden and Katie, which made all parts of the journey much easier! Then she took them to the YMCA pool at noon so we could nap when we got home :-)
And they have helped at other times, too, when we needed extra hands and eyes with the little kids. I had two visits to Tulsa for pre-op stuff last week, and Tracy and I had a nighttime CME meeting that we had to attend to be able to renew our Oklahoma physician's licenses, and Laura and Mitch watched the kids during those times.
Tracy and I even snuck a special dinner for the two of us between my pre-op visit and the CME meeting. :-). I honestly can't remember the last time just the two of us had a meal out, and it was a special treat.
I was thinking back to when we had two kids the other day, and I remembered a gift that Mitch gave us when he left to go to Stillwater in 2011, starting our relatively short-lived empty nest phase. That night when Tracy and I got back from Stillwater after helping him move in, we found that he and Laura had left us notes of love and encouragement around the house, knowing that we'd take it kinda hard that they had both gone off to college. Mitch had also gotten a figurine with a rooster and a hen looking over their babe chicks, and he had left a note saying "We'll always be your babies. Love, Mitch & Laura." Interestingly, there are FOUR babe chicks in that figurine. I didn't place any meaning on the fact that there were four chicks at the time, but now of course it takes on special meaning ... :-)!!
And another interesting thing that came to mind as I was looking back at
the growth of our family was the day Tracy got her coat out last Fall
when the weather started getting colder. It was the coat she had taken
to China when we brought Jaden home, and in the pocket were two Chinese
coins ... one dated 2009 (Jaden's birth year) and, as it turned out, one
dated 2012 (Katie's birth year) ... :-). Of course when we left China
with those coins in her pocket, we had no idea that Katie was even alive
and waiting for us.
Katie has been home for 7 weeks now. We are all continuing to settle into our new routine. Overall I think we are pretty settled, with the occasional hiccup or bump.
Jaden continues to mostly enjoy being the big brother. When we go to the playground at the YMCA he acts as Katie's protector and bodyguard. The other day there was a small dog that was not on a leash, and Jaden stayed between Katie and the dog as we walked past it, using his body as a shield. And if there is a bigger kid playing at the playground he will manage to keep his body between the other kid and Katie until he is sure that they are ok.
At breakfast the other day he didn't want Katie to have any Cinnamon Toast Crunch because "that is too big and pointy and it might get stuck in her throat!"
We took Katie to an audiologist just for screening (everything was perfect) and she was examining Katie and trying to do a test in her ears, and Jaden kept trying to get the audiologist to stop because "my baby doesn't like strangers." He finally decided at she was ok, though, and let her finish checking her out.
Since my surgery, Jaden has been acting as my protector some, too. He wanted to push me "a little" as I used crutches so I would be able to go ok ... when I explained that it would be better if he let me go at my own pace, he went ahead of me and pointed out all of the corners on furniture and other hazards that might hurt if I fell on them. Very cute.
Laura starts her rotations soon, and Mitch will be moving to Tulsa in the Fall to start med school, so we will all-to-soon be back to us and the little kids, but we are certainly enjoying all being home together while it lasts!
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For anyone who did not see it one Facebook, I made a video to celebrate Jaden's 500th day in our family. It has about 500 pictures of Jaden over those 500 days, and it can be found at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjzgveIrFb0
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Below is a blog that I wrote that was used by Love Without Boundaries. It has my two favorite pictures of me and Jaden together.
For those who don't know, this is an incredible organization which works to improve the lives of orphans in so many different ways, including : providing funds for surgeries, providing special formulas, for babies that need them, providing schooling, funding foster care to help get more kids out of orphanages, etc. They also have a Unity Fund which helps families that have NOT abandoned their children pay for the medical care that they otherwise could not afford and their only option would be to abandon the child in hopes that he care would be given in the orphanage (certainly NOT a guaranteed outcome). In this way LWB is able to prevent these children from ever becoming orphans!
Without Love Without Boundaries and their supporters providing the funds for Jaden's surgeries, his orphanage director would never had listed him for adoption ... and Jaden would still be in the orphanage in China ... a terribly chilling thought. I can't help but wonder how many other children might be listed for adoption if more funds were available. LWB will forever be on my gift list. :-)
LWB had asked for a couple of lines and a picture to go in a Father's Day special where they are going to have several LWB dads post on LWB's Facebook site, but I ended up with a multiple-paragraph entry and told them to just cut it down if they had to. Instead, they decided to run it as a "guest blog" on Friday which was a pleasant surprise for me. Anyway, I have included it below.
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“I’ll always be your son, and you’ll always be my dad.”
This blog is written by Tim Sanford, an “LWB Dad.” Tim adopted Jaden, who was in our medical program as Christopher.
Jaden came home January 2013 at the age of 3 ½. He celebrated his 5th birthday just a couple of weeks ago, and last week we celebrated his 500th day in our family. He has really thrived at home.
It has only been recently that he has started talking a little bit more about his time as an orphan, and the most common way he describes it revolves around feeling “alone.” He tells us “I am very happy that you came to get me, and I’m glad you didn’t leave me alone any longer.” He did tell us once, “I’m glad you got me, but why did it take you so long to find me?” … which was heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. Another comment that always gets me is, “I’ll always be your son, and you’ll always be my dad.”
He went to China with us this April when we adopted his little sister Katie, and he likes to introduce her as “my baby.” He told many people in China that he is now a “gege” (Chinese for big brother) and also let them know that “I was from China, but now I’m from Oklahoma!”
On this Father’s Day (as I do on so many other days through the year) I stop and give thanks for Love Without Boundaries (and all who work there, and all who support their programs). Without the intervention of LWB, Jaden would never have been listed for adoption, and he would probably still be in the orphanage. That is such a chilling thought! I encourage everyone to PLEASE continue supporting LWB in any possible way.
This Father’s Day is particularly special since all four of my children will be home: Laura (age 24), Mitch (age 21), Jaden (age 5), and Katie (age 2). Jaden truly loves being a part of a family, and he has really enjoyed taking on the title of big brother in addition to also being the little brother, grandson and son.
As a parting thought, I encourage everyone out there to consider adoption. I had no idea that I had two children waiting for me in China until I opened my heart to the idea, and I have been immensely blessed by having them home!
