Kamryn's Story

All adoptions are unique miracles in their own way. Some flow smoothly meeting every milestone easily, which is a huge miracle, and others come with a great emotional and prayerful struggle. We have had both extremes with our 5 adoptions and each one was a special miracle.

Kamryn's story is her very own miracle and I thought that I would share as many details as I feel comfortable with sharing.

When Kensli came home in 2006, I knew then that we are not finished adopting. Toby and I both knew that with all Kensli's struggles that we were not ready at the time, but knew that one day it would be a reality. Over the last four years, we had gotten several calls from a friend that works with a private adoption attorney that helps locate families for children they didn't have placed with a family. We had turned all of them down. I did not want to adopt domestically! I wanted to return to China or Vietnam to bring home another little girl, but that was not what God wanted. China adoptions became more difficult and Vietnam closed again. I still waited thinking that things would change, but it didn't.

Finally, in December of last year I told Toby maybe we should get our home study ready so that we could accept a baby should one become available. Toby's response shocked me. He told me that he finally felt like I knew what we were supposed to do. I was still thinking, "Domestic adoption?" We both agreed that the baby would have to be biracial for us to consider the match.

The end of Jan. we were matched with a baby to be born in March. A couple of weeks before the birth the birth mom disappeared. Hard, but we felt like it was what God wanted. In May we were matched again with a baby to be born in the fall of this year. We accepted and waited. There were a few things that occurred that made us wonder if we would really adopt this baby.

On the Monday before Kamryn came into our lives, I was praying about the other baby we were matched with and something seemed to say to me, "You will not adopt this baby." I thought, God why? What is Your purpose of taking us down this road? I didn't want to adopt domestically for this reason and now you are telling me NO? I almost called Toby and told him I was calling the lawyer and telling her we were pulling out of the match.

Wednesday, around 10:30 a.m., we were in school when I got a text from my friend about placing a Caucasian baby girl and did I know anyone interested. How can this be happening? Why couldn't she be biracial and it would be perfect for us? Well, why couldn't she be ours? What if this was our baby?

I called Toby and talked to him and he wanted a minute to think about it. It had to be God, if Toby and I was even considering this. I called my friend back and got all the details. Then, I called Toby back and blurted out, "What if this is it? What if we are supposed to adopt her? What if we miss God's will?" Toby said, "If you are sure, let's go for it!" That is all I needed!

The next morning at 10:30, we were in the lawyer's office signing the paperwork and picking up our last little miracle! God has truly blessed us 5 times with miracles!!!!!

INTRODUCING.................

Kamryn Laine

The Lord has blessed with a beautiful little girl!!!!!!!!!!

We are so thankful for the children He has given us!

Life is a little crazy right now at our house. It has been 4 years since we had a little one in the house, and I had forgotten how long it took to get places with a baby! :) One thing I had not forgotten was the wonderful feeling a new baby brings!!!!!

Blissful Happiness!!!!!!!!!

According to Kensli

It has been awhile since I shared life with my little spicy girl! Trust me when I say it is never boring. My other 3 sweethearts are amazing but there is something about the way spicy girl looks at life that is hilarious!

Here are some of the things I have heard or conversations I have had with her in the last couple of weeks.


We were having one of those crazy busy days where nothing was going right.......

Kensli: "Mom, things are not going good around here today."
Me: "Really?"
Kensli: "Yes, so we really need to execute my plan!"

Never found out her plan because I was laughing to hard. I am sure whatever it was involved straightening out her siblings.


Conversation with Kensli in a gas station bathroom:

Kensli had said something, so I smiled at her.

Kensli: "Mom, you are so pretty when you smile like that!"
Me: "Thank you so much!"
Kensli: "You're welcome, but you would look even better with a loose tooth!"

Loose teeth are very important to her right now. A few of her friends have them and she wants one so bad. She told me this morning, "Mom, I really wish I had a wiggly tooth so I could make it go in an out!"


Conversation I overheard between her and Nicholas.

Kensli: "I can make a very loud rooster sound to wake you up in the morning. Want to hear it?"
Nicholas: "No, that sound annoys me!"
Kensli: "Well, I can do it medium."
Nicholas: "No, because it annoys me!"
Kensli: "Well, I am so glad I do not share a room with you since you are such an annoying person!"

While we were in Florida, the two youngest enjoyed going to play on a huge jungle gym style playground. After about 45 min. of play, she comes running and crying to where I was sitting on a park bench. She tells me that a little boy punched her in the chest over a climbing rope. After calming her down, I go with her and sure enough there was the little boy not letting anyone play with the rope at all. I asked him if we could borrow it for a few minutes and he handed it over. Kensli climbed it and gave it back to him. Later that evening, Kensli decided to share a little more of what had happened at the climbing rope....

Kensli: "Mom, I think I gave that little boy a bad idea."
Me: "How is that?"
Kensli: "Well, when he wouldn't give me the rope I told him if he didn't I was going to hit him. Then he just punched me! I think next time I won't give little boys bad ideas."

Lesson learned.....

That Time of the Year

It is that time of the year again when I start preparing for the upcoming school year. When I taught public school it was a fun time of the year....a fresh new start....with new notebooks, pencils, crayons, and children. As a home school mom, some of the newness and fresh start is not as apparent. There is another feeling of being comfortable with where you are. Like with an old friend, you settle in for another visit.

I must admit that homeschooling has its fair share of struggles. There are days I wonder what in the world I was thinking and even complain to my husband. Yet, there are so many more days when I am filled with wonder and amazement that it totally outweighs all the frustrations.

This year I am refocused, refreshed, and ready to go. I think the main reason for this feeling is that we took a BREAK! Normally we school formally year round, but this year we took off in May and we are still enjoying our vacation for a few more weeks.

We have:

• been lazy
• slept late
• attended two church camps
• went to Florida
• spent two weeks with cousins
• ate more popsicles than is legal
• swam all day if we wanted
• played games
• read
• watched movies until late in the night
• outran a thunderstorm in a party barge
• caught hermit crabs with a net
• sunburned our noses
• hosted a wedding at our house
• learned a lot more Spanish
• and dreamed about all the things in life we would like to do

Even though it was not formal schooling is was the way learning should be and so much fun!

Home school catalogs started showing up in the mail a couple of weeks ago! R. has had out the Rainbow Resource catalog looking at all the things that he would like to learn. (Love that kid!) Apologia Science has him pumped and he is begging to start! The thirst for knowledge continues in our life of learning!

It is going to be the best year yet! Life is good!

Just Me

LIFE is what you make it, but lately there has been more of LIFE in my life than I can handle. Before I go further, let me say that I say that positively!

After I got caught up with the CSI Haiti Relief project, I began to suffer from a feeling of burnout in dealing with the computer! I didn't want to post or even do anything on the computer at all! I stopped even getting on the computer for some time and spent more time with my family and accomplishing what I thought more important! I still feel tired thinking about it, but I feel that I really need to be recording some of our rather busy life.

Another reason for me not posting is that I have gone through a very paranoid place in life. I am not sure that I am doing the best thing for my kids by letting the whole world see what is going in on in our lives. Struggled with this thought greatly and will try to be more picky about what is posted.

In the months to come, I hope that this blog can become something that I am comfortable with and will be updated regularly! At some point I may even decided to go private to protect us a little more.

2 Months in Review & # 9 is a Big Announcement

Decided that is was high time I broke my silence and shared what is going on in the lives of the 6 people that live under our roof!

1. Winnie had surgery over a week ago and I am happy to report there will no puppies in our future. She recovered very nicely, all stitches are gone, and she is back to her old self. That was very hard on the kids. Kensli actually started crying when she saw the place where they had done the surgery.

2. Baseball has started back in full swing! R. is the only one playing this year and it may be his last! The games are conflicting with some of the church youth activities he wants to participate in on a regular basis! Guess that will be a bridge we cross next year!

3. Spanish church is really doing great! We are running in the mid to upper 30's every Sunday now! Also, my Spanish is improving! I sing with the praise team and all the songs are in Spanish which has really helped. We started a Spanish Sunday School, too, and when a little boy starts asking in Spanish where the bathroom is, you learn quickly!

4. K. performed two violin solos at a university in a nearby city and received a "superior" rating. We are so proud of her accomplishments.

5. School is going good but sometimes not as good as I would like! Life tends to get in our way, but we are not stopping! There are days when I wonder if my children even realize how fortunate they are to be able to learn at their on pace and at home! I think we really NEED Easter break this year! I am not satisfied with the way our time is spent everyday! All there seems to be time for is the basics and that makes me sad; therefore, I think I will use the Easter break to take a hard look at what we are doing wrong! Praying that God will give me wisdom in what to do!

6. We have helped ship 3 18-wheeler size shipping containers to Haiti full of relief aid! I am so glad that we could be a part of this humanitarian project. We were part of a group of volunteers that boxed, packed, loaded, unloaded, sorted, and checked the contents for each container. It was a lot of work but well worth it in the end.

7. It snowed 3 times here this winter which is a record, I think! I have never seen so much snow here ever! Spring has finally arrived with highs in the upper 60's to mid 70's! I am thanking the Lord every day that the cold is basically over! Just sitting in the sun is so soothing!!!!!

8. I have started seeing a holistic doctor! He has tested me for food intolerances and I am looking forward to finding out what foods I need to avoid! Also, he tested me to see what vitamins I lack! I am ready to live even healthier!

9. Now, for the biggest announcement of all.....

WE ARE ADOPTING AGAIN!

After the first of the year we decided to pursue a domestic adoption for a biracial baby! I so did not want to go the domestic route for our last adoption and fought God about it for quite awhile! Our home study is done and so we wait right now! There is a potential case coming open in the near future but do not know if we will be the right parents or not! I am at peace with our decision right now and will let the Lord lead. There have been so many confirmations that we are on the right track that I am willing to wait on God! I will be posting as things progress

Sorry for this being such a long post! I am trying to slowly get back my desire to post!

Where I Have Been

I suffered computer burnout a few weeks ago. Since the first of the year, I have been helping keep Compassion Services International facebook page updated. I realized a few weeks ago that just the thought of anything having to do with the computer was stressing me out! I shut my computer and walked away. There wasn't much to update on facebook for a few days and I took advantage of the break!

I will return to my blog, facebook, email, etc., because there is a lot going on in our lives! I have to say most of it is good!

I will return soon.......