Our Super Star

Sam David has the incredible opportunity to play for our state's only wheelchair basketball team.

This is only the 2nd year for our team's existence. Therefore, we are very limited with resources.

Last season, our team only had access to used, borrowed sports chairs to use during practice and games.

There was not a single one of those sports chairs that came even close to being small enough for our SD.

So, Sam David just used his personal day chair which came with challenges. But, even flipping over a few times on the court didn't slow our tough guy down.

But, a few weeks ago, we got a message from Sam David's coach that we might be able to borrow a small sports chair from another team in a neighboring state. 

Wow! What a blessing!

So, at our practice this past Saturday, Sam David got to try out the borrowed sports chair for the first time.

Y'all, it was a perfect fit!

I don't think he stopped smiling for the entire practice!

Once again, we have been blessed beyond measure!

We cannot wait to cheer on our Sam David and the Wheelcats this upcoming season!

Sometimes... I forget

I know this may sound crazy.

But, sometimes I forget that my three youngest kiddos are adopted.

I forget that they haven't always been a member of our family.

I even forget that they are Chinese.

Crazy, huh?

But, it's true!

Then, I run across a picture like this.

Mike and I just returned home from a meeting about readoption.

This is something that needs to be done with internationally adopted children so they can obtain a birth certificate from the state you live in. It's not absolutely necessary, but tends to make life easier in the future.

We have already done this for Maylee, but we need to now go through the process for Sam David and Emma Claire.

So, when we got home from the meeting, I immediately went to their adoption file folders to locate the needed documents so that we could get the ball rolling.

That's when I ran across that precious picture. It's the youngest picture we have of our Sam David. A real treasure!

My eyes immediately welled up with tears.

I ached for that time he spent without a mommy and daddy to snuggle, to tuck him in at night, to kiss the boo boos.

Sigh.

The truth is..I forget.

But, it doesn't take much to bring me to my knees.

Oh, how thankful we are that God led us to Sam David.

I would do anything to have been with him for the first 2.5 years of his life.

But, that was not God's plan.

Our Heavenly Father is in the business of making beauty from ashes.

We serve a Mighty God!

Another Milestone ~ Happy Gotcha Day, Sam David!

Four years, y'all...

I cannot believe that it has been four years since our Sam David was placed in our arms.

What a crazy time it was four years ago.

Maylee was fighting a terrible bone infection and had spent the entire summer in the hospital.

In fact, when Mike and I left for China, Maylee was still in the hospital. Talk about stressful!

But, with Maylee in the care of grandparents, her doting siblings and a wonderful nursing staff at UMC, we boarded a plane to travel to China for our precious boy.

As with any adoption, there were a lot of unknowns.

Like Maylee, Sam David has spina bifida. But, unlike Maylee, he had never received any surgery for his spina bifida and he also had uncorrected bilateral clubfoot.

But, we were prepared. Expect the worst, but hope for the best. That was our motto!

We finally arrived to our hotel and walked in to see a crib!

Things were getting real!

Needless to say, we did not sleep much the first night we were there.

But, nonetheless, the next day finally arrived and we loaded up with the rest of our travel group to meet our new children face to face.


We anxiously waited in the Civil Affairs office in Guangzhou with a room full of anxious parents.

Finally, our time had arrived.

In comes our precious, tiny Sam David carried in the arms of a Chinese lady.

He was wearing a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt and a diaper.

That was it.

He was handed over to me...

No, actually, I had to pry him out of the lady's arms.

I won't lie.

It was not pretty.

He screamed!

He cried!

We tried everything... juice..nope....snacks...nope....cuddles...nope

Time...he just needed time. Time for everything to sink in.

By the end of the day, he was starting to realize that we might be okay.

But, still, there was a sense of loss in his eyes.

His lip....he sucked on his bottom lip for comfort.

But, after a few days Sam David started to not only accept our love and affection, but also share some with us in return.

We had the incredible opportunity to visit the foster home where Sam David had lived most of the first two and a half years of his life.

We will forever be grateful for the House of Grace and the love that Ms. Sandra and the precious nannies had for our boy!

It was such a blessing to spend time there with the precious kids in their care.

God planted a seed there in our hearts.

God has been watering, weeding and cultivating that seed over the past several years and we cannot wait to see what fruit will produce from that visit four years ago.




So, so much has happened over the last four years.

Sam David had a major spinal surgery to detether his spinal cord and then we started the process of serial castings to repair his bilateral clubfoot.

Our brave boy has come so far and we are so very proud of him!


It didn't take long for our sweet boy to start showing his incredible personality!

Sam David continues to amaze us!


Sam David LOVES...

playing Wheelchair Basketball for the MS Wheelcats

playing Challenger League baseball

participating in 5K races with his friends, Mrs. Kim and Ms. Terry

playing outside with his siblings and neighborhood friends

building with legos

his "squishy" pillow

singing

ice cream

his mommy! :)



We could not be any more proud of our super special boy!




And, now I will leave with some recent pics of our precious boy!

Happy 4th Gotcha Day, Sam David!


We love you!