Call us CRAZY!!!

But God has led us to adopt another little boy!! We are over the moon with excitement! We just received PA for our youngest addition, 3 year old Shepherd. God has truly been good to us and we know he will provide for us to bring both of our boys home! When we chose to name our blog, the four was simply going from our small family of three to four with the addition of Simon. We never knew he would eventially lead us to adopting three precious boys from China. Those boys along with our homegrown amazing oldest son have truly allowed China to "make four". God is so amazing!! We would appreciate prayers that our journey to both of our little men goes smoothly!

S6!! (what a number):)

Inch by inch...

We received our I800 approval today!!! What a wonderful Christmas present. One step closer to our newest member. Merry Christmas to all and may God bless each and every one of you!

New pictures!

We received new pictures of our precious boy last night! We are thrilled to see how much he has grown and how healthy he looks, but we are saddened that he looks so alone and unhappy. We cannot wait to bring him home!

LOA Baby!!

We got the call from our agency that our LOA arrived in their office!! Woohoo!! So, I should have it tomorrow and then the wait for the I800 approval. One step at a time! They are also contacting the orphanage to see if we can get an update. Can't wait to see new pictures of our youngest little man!

A question of faith...

In conversation the other day, I had someone ask me (and apologized if it was offensive) how we afford our adoptions. I know this can be a touchy topic for many adoptive parents, but we have made the decision that it is in the best interest of our God led adoption process to share the ups and downs (including the finances) of international adoption.

So, my answer was simple...we are broke! :) Not in the sense that we can't pay our bills or provide for our children but we are not able to do whatever, whenever. We have to be better stewards of our money and how we spend it. It is not easy to say no...espcially when you see the flat screen tv's and you still have the good ole tube type or the new laptops, macs especially, or when other families go on vacation and you do the good ole staycation! Both of us also have taken on 2nd jobs and Scott is holding his paid for vehicle together with duct tape. We had contemplated purchasing an RV for a long time. Friends of ours earlier this year asked us if we had decided to buy one...we said nope, we decided to adopt instead. This is a choice we have made, but it's not really a choice to adopt; it is a choice to follow God's word and his will.

So, I guess to others who haven't been to our home, looked in our closets, watched us clip coupons, and budget both monthly and weekly, it looks like we have tons of money to throw away. It's not true, however, and our check books reflect it! :) We have a wonderful church family, great credit, and a wonderful Lord and Savior who has provided for us each step of the way. Although He doesn't speak to us in a loud, booming voice, we know we are headed in the right direction, His direction.

This is Adoption Awareness Month. International adoption may not be your calling, but there are other ways to help through various charitable organizations such as Sho Hope, No Hands But Ours, An Orphan's Wish and several others I would be happy to share with you.

LID

Thank you Lord!!! We have our log in date of 10/26/2010! Much later than it should have been, but, nonetheless, it is now our date from which the count for the LOA begins. I hope it goes fast! I am missing my littlest man!!

New Fundraiser

We are SOOO excited about our latest fundraising effort. Hip Mom Jewelary chooses a few adoption families every month to feature on their website. If you purchase jewelery from the adoption page and enter our family code of McKee1010, we will receive a portion of the purchase price. They have some wonderful jewelery that does a momma's heart proud - adoptive or otherwise. So, please click on the button to your left and take a gander at what they have to offer. Lots of love!!

S4 (4 now)

"Crickets...."

That's all we seem to be hearing right now. I know several of you have been screaming for an update but there has been nothing to update. We have had our paperwork completed for over 1 month but we are STILL waiting on USCIS (a.k.a. immigration) to process our application. Unfortunately, we are not the only ones in this precarious and frustrating situation. Several families are in limbo due to USCIS. So, we wait, which is traditional with international adoption anyway, but we always hope our country isn't the reason we are waiting. I promise to let you know as soon as we have something new. We have been told an update will come as soon as we submit our dossier to China so we are at a standstill with that too, but we still pray our little man is safe and happy and that our Lord and Savior will continue to watch over him. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Sunday Snapshot {Sadness}

I did not plan to post this week. The computer was off and snuggling with hubby had commenced. It was then that I received a text from a dear friend and fellow student of Liberty University. The text was simple "Dr. Jones was killed this morning in a car accident with her son. They were hit by a drunk driver."

I sat for a minute...Dr. Jones...couldn't be THE DR. JONES?! You see, I was a doctoral student at Liberty University prior to all of the adoption journeys. Due to everything adopting an older child requires, I chose to stop for a while after taking my last class with Dr. Jones. I knew she would be disappointed, but once she found out my choice was based on faith, not the devil, she was totally supportive of my adoption and wanted me to make sure to finish when the time was right. I really hadn't thought about her in a while, but she is the one who pushed me out of my comfort zone and into the God Zone! She prayed - on her knees - at the beginning of every CLASS. This wasn't the privacy of her own home - this was a doctoral CLASS. Who does that? She made me uncomfortable. She made me cry. She made be see I had a choice to believe or to pretend I was still in control.

Our stories were similar in regard to our childhood and our trials and tibulations, but she had overcome all of that and had become this amazing woman who placed GOD at the forefront and center of everything. I truly believe that it was her faith that allowed me to have my faith. I know where she is...I have no doubt she is basking in the light of our Father along with her son. I have no doubt she is fine, but I am not... I realize even more now what an amazing woman and inspiration she was and will continue to be for all who knew her. I only wish we had more time, but I guess that is how it always is. I feel even worse that I had an email in March that I never responded to because I had stopped checking my school account. Ironically, she was asking me to pray for her because she was releasing a new devotional, her first. I did not pray for her then...but I am now. Dr. Jones, may you find the peace in our Savior that you tried so often to share with all of us. Your influence will forever be in my life. Amen

Where we are in the process....

Home study update - complete.

I800 A paperwork complete - should be mailed soon to USCIS with our home study update.

Dossier paperwork - we have all of it completed. All of the GA docs have been authenticated at the local level and should send to the state this week. One TN doc left to have authenticated at local and state level. After that we will send everything to the Chinese consulates to be authenticated there, then our dossier will be sent to China shortly after.

Things are moving along well and God is leading us closer to our little man! Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

S4 (for now)

A MUST READ in regards to Chinese adoption

http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/amy-eldridge-of-lwb-speaks.html

2nd Donation...

Just when we thought maybe we had misread God's plan...our neighbors, God love their precious 90+ souls, gave us a donation of $250!!! Although we are still miles away, and we know the stress - because we are human and have trouble with giving it fully to God 100% of the time - will continue. We have been reaffirmed in the plan He has for us.

We have also started our "Baby Bucket" which, in conjunction with our new monthly budget (cash only baby - no check cards), will be the gathering spot for all of our change at the end of each day. We saw this on a fellow blogger's website and thought it was a wonderful idea.

And, my boys...my precious boys have also started their own change fund for their little brother.

Stay tuned for future fundraising efforts including photography sessions for you local yocal readers and custom welding with a western style via my wonderful hubby. We are also investigating candle sales as well as flower bulbs to add to our product list. We will keep you updated. As always, prayers are welcome on this journey to our third son.

S4 (for now)

First donation...

We have received our first donation!!! Thanks Teresa!!! We are so blessed to have friends who want to support our journey any way they can. Can't donate? That's ok...prayer is even more useful. We are still raising funds to pay our first set of fees to our agency.

Please pray that God will continue to find ways to bless our lives. Scott has begun teaching night classes at a local college. This is a God send in itself as the college called him just after we received the 2nd adoption call from God.

Please pray that all of us will continue to be in good health, especially our youngest man who has limited care.

Pray that we continue to listen to God and follow is word no matter how difficult it can be.

Wordless Wednesday - Summer

Fundraisers!!!!

We will be selling coffee through Just Love Coffee Roasters. This is an awesome organization which is fair trade approved. We receive $5 proffit from each bag of coffee we sell. Check out our store at www.justlovecoffee.com/TheMcKeehans. Please click on the link below Sawyer's pic. It will take you directly to our fundraising site. We chose this fundraiser first because they are an adoptive family and support adoption and 3rd world countries through this company. The coffee would make wonderful gifts for holidays or birthdays! Feel free to pass the link along to all of the coffee addicts you know!!!

Announcement!!!!

We would like to introduce everyone to our new son, Sawyer. He is a wonderfully, adorable 4 year old waiting for us in Qianxi County, China. He has a repaired VSD (hole in heart) and no other issues.





So, let me answer the questions I know you have.

WHY?

Because we are led....it is very simple to us and we have learned not to question God's plans.


HOW?

We don't know. We are still paying for our previous adoption and we are not rich by any stretch of the imagination.

We will be doing several fundraisers and would appreciate you spreading the word!!! We hope to have enough variety for everyone. We will also be applying for grants and interest free loans.

We are scared and nervous about doing this again, but we have faith that God has a plan and all we have to do is follow it.

Please keep us in your prayers as we tackle this journey once again!!

Still not very good at this....

I know, I know, the last time I said I would post more often, but...well you can see how successfull I was! Things have been going so well. Our littlest man is growing by leaps and bounds. He is speaking more in general and has now begun to speak in short sentences. He passed the Math CRCT which thrilled us! The test was in English and included several word problems so we were unsure of how he would perform but he exceeded all expectations. He made a 95 in Computers for the semester and earned the computer award for his class. He made a 90 in math. His ESOL teacher and his regular ed teacher are so pleased with his progress. He has been promoted to the 2nd grade for next year!! Yippee!! We will be working with a friend of ours, one of Samuel's former teachers, this summer to help Simon learn to read.

The brothers are doing well together, some typical whining and not fairs but other than that nothing out of the orndinary. We have been trying to work on completing our home remodel. We have trim, new paint, doors that work, and are working on flooring. We have listed our house for sale with Carol Potts at Remax. We really like her and she is working very hard to help us sell our house. School is out for both of the boys and they are looking forward to vacation Bible schools and lazy days. This is, of course, why Mama bought summer work books the other day :0)

Scott is gearing up at Chattanooga State for the grand opening of the Volkswagen Academy. My district has been hit pretty hard with budget cuts so we will be cut 10 days this year. God is good, however, because Scott was offered a part time teaching job back with the college he worked for a year ago which will hopefully make up some of the difference. We have just a few thousand more to pay from the first adoption. Oh, and we had our first home visit since coming home. Our social worker, Elizabeth, was thrilled to see that Simon seemed so well adapted and very happy! He even spoke to her and told her some of his favorite foods. He also told her he was happy here and loved his new family. Melted my heart...

We are considering adopting again. God has placed this call on our hearts and the boys (including my dear husband) are in a conspiracy against me. Much to my shigrin, they have decided we need TWO more children....we'll just have to see what God has in store for us. This first adoption experience has been amazing and we look forward to whatever the future holds.

We have our first hair cut next week (minus the one his classmate tried to give him the last week of school) and we will be having 3 teeth pulled soon so prayers would be greatly appreciated. His muscle tone is improving greatly as is his hand-eye coordination. He can now catch a ball and frisbee most of the time. Samuel is teaching him how to play football - it is quite humorous to watch.

I am sure I have left our loads but I will post some pics for you to enjoy and will try to catch you up again sooner rather than later.

God Bless!
S4 (4 now)

Wordless Wednesday

HOPE for Haiti T-Shirt by Wild Olive

The gals over at Wild Olive have come up with a beautiful t-shirt to help raise funds for Haiti. ALL, yes, I said ALL, proceeds will go to benefit Haiti. This is an amazing project so head on over and purchase one. Tees go on sale Saturday, February 13th.

Drumroll please....

I have now cooked 3 dinners in a row that my new, finicky child enjoys. After trying chicken and pork, both grilled, it was taco salad, followed by chicken parmesan (although tomato sauce was not a hit), and meatloaf which won me the prize!! Tomorrow will be lamb stew...we'll see. We are Americanizing him just a bit with good ole PB & J as well as Chef Boy-r-dee spaghetti! He loves multi-gran cheerios, any fruit we can throw at him, and ice cream - chocolate please ;)

We can now recognize letters through L although some are more solid than others. Tomorrow is review day so no new material. Through Google translate we have found out that he likes all of us, his room, our house, and the dog. For those who may not know, we have BIG dogs. Our inside beauty is a German Shep. who goes by Ginger. Outside we have two Great Pyrs, Bo and Belle. Bo weighs in at 125lbs by far our largest child :) Simon has taken to all of the animals. Today he even chose to walk Ginger on his own. I followed of course. Due to her advanced age, I have little fear of her taking off with him and I think she knows he's new to all of this. He is slowly improving his English vocabulary adding chickens, sheep, dog, and cat which are must use words.

Yesterday, we had a wee bit of a scare when the boys were out playing basketball. Simon's ball started heading toward the road but Simon wasn't paying any attention to where the road was. After yelling "no" multiple times with no response while walking swiftly behind him, I finally had to do the mommy grab followed by the very stern and loud "NO" and then several examples of where you could and could not go which was then followed by a 5 minute quiz of me moving around and asking him "yes" or "no". I think he got the picture.

So far things are going well. Thankfully he slept all night without incident so I am finally able to begin catching up on all of the sleep I have lost. I truly hope the pattern continues. We asked him today if he wanted to start school and he emphatically said yes. So, an LL Bean backpack has been ordered with his name on it, or at least his initials. Seriously, these things are worth the money as Samuel is on year two with his and it's not showing any signs of wear yet. And, let me tell you, my eldest is rough so if it can survive him, it can survive anything.

The boys also had a little adventure today and trekked to the back of the property (only 6 acres but it's a long way for little people :) They each had their weapon of choice in case there was the occasion to save the world. Boy habits are universal I guess. Oh, also "huh", rock, paper, scissors, whiping hands on clothes, and other things I will be sure to inform you of as I remember them.

Tomorrow is Friday...right?

Much anticipated update

So, after multiple facebook pokes and comments here about wanting updates - here goes.

First, my apologies, but the cameras have not seen the light of day since we got home. Sunday was spent sleeping until 11am, breakfast - he loves scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, biscuits, and mom's homemade strawberry jam. Dinner was not a hit - grill chicken simply seasoned, mac n cheese, and sugar snap peas. Oh well...

Monday - Scott had to go back to work and - God love him - he had to teach which meant he had to be at work by 6:30am. Samuel also had school and had absolutely no desire to leave his brother. Translation for mom meant two boys awaking at 3:30am both taking turns crying about different things until 6:30am when I completely gave up and began getting Samuel ready for school. Simon and I went to a very dead Wal-mart for a few can't-do-without groceries and a few more clearance clothes for him (still in a size 6 b/c a 5 is too short - we have a tall little Chinese boy:) learned to say and write A, B, and C and then spent most of the day disagreeing with one another about appropriate behavior. Jet lag and lack of sleep reared its ugly head this day more than I could care to imagine.

Dinner was pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, and sweet peas; again two thumbs down on this one :) Samuel had basketball practice and, although I am sure some people will disagree with this, we decided to take Simon. Samuel plays Upward so it is Christian based and laid back. The coach introduced himself to Simon and offered to let him practice. We tried to explain the situation but he advised he was aware and he was here to teach children basketball and God's word. He saw no reason why Simon could not participate if he wanted to. Scott and I gave each other the "look" that says "your call on this one ;)". We decided to allow him the opportunity to play if he wanted. We asked him and he said yes and ran straight to Samuel. First, let me say the young boys on this team are an amazing example of good Christian young men. They applauded despite the fact that he had no skill whatsoever. If he hit the ball once with his hand they high fived him and said good job. They were gentle with his feelings and accepted him as he was. We both got teary eyed when the director, someone I choose to call friend, came up and handed us the permission slip to sign for Simon to play and told us to "just sign". They were ordering Simon a uniform and wanted him to participate as much as he felt comfortable. No strings, no charge. God has surrounded us with amazing people and friends who add to our journey in so many ways. I thought he would be pooped, but alas, nope. He woke at 1:30am crying loudly, I hesitate to say screaming. I tried to calm him down but the language barrier makes it diffcult for us. So, it was another night up for mom. He finally fell asleep about 4am but I had no such luck. Samuel did sleep through the night, however, which was a blessing.

Home

We are home! We are tired, exhausted really, but we are all home safe. More to come later.

Leaving tomorrow!! Woohoo!!

Tomorrow begins our trek toward the EAST. We will fly to Newark, NJ, spend the night and will fly on a direct flight to Beijing which will land Saturday at 3:15pm. Gotcha day is slated for Sunday!!!

We will be posting to the following blog during our journey:


http://www.adoptionjournals.org/visit/mckeehanfamily2009

password: family

Thanks

Sunday Snapshot

On this, our last Sunday as a family of three, I wanted to take a moment to pay a special tribute to the most wonderful gift God has ever given me. Our Samuel was so long in coming. Three years of fertility treatments, stress, and heartache almost tore us apart. We struggled with who to blame and the "why me" questions that are so hard to answer. When we gave it to God, however, he gave Samuel to us.



I know mom's say this, but from the moment I saw this amazing creature - I knew- here was a young man who could change the world. He came out like a shot...literally. My OB said it was her first football catch ever. My husband was just happy she didn't drop him. Samuel has the best laugh and the sweetest smile. He loves life and loves our Lord. My son, who will be 9 in March has taught me so much about faith and how to live my life. He is now more than happy to share his life with his new brother, who he believes has been waiting on us all of this time. Although Simon is 7, Samuel is ready to be the "older brother" in all that it entails. He wants to teach him about the Lord, life, and all of it's possibilities. Mind you, my son is not perfect, but I beleive God gives us the children who need us, but also the children we need.

He is stubborn, but he knows when to bend.



He loves his "stuff", but is just as happy enjoying catching snowflakes in his mouth or playing on our farm.

He is silly...ohhh...is he silly and he has the best laugh. You can't help but laugh with him.

He is competitive, even when the competition is head and shoulders above him, he gives it his all.

He loves God's creatures, big and small. He has an intuition with animals that is uncanny and uncommon in one so young. They love him and he takes pride in the fact that he helps to take care of them.

So, on our last Sunday together, my son, I want you to know how much I love you. You will always be my first born, my first miracle, God's lesson to me on the true meaning of love. I love you pumpkin!

Mom