Then and Now…the Difference a Year Makes!!

Around this time last year, I was madly fundraising and sharing this picture of Esty turning TEN years old…alone, in an orphanage.

Then...and now!

This morning, I had the thrill of surprising her at school with balloons, her favorite cookies, a party hat and a birthday sash! Tomorrow is her actual birthday, but we did a party in her class as a surprise!

And oh my...

WHAT. A. DIFFERENCE. 

One year.

What can be accomplished in the course of a year by a MIGHTY GOD?

He raised 100% of the funds necessary for us to adopt Esty. (Another MASSIVE thank you to every one of you who helped!!!)

He allowed us to get to her in the NICK OF TIME as she was severely ill and went septic the same week we got her out of her orphanage.

He allowed us to find good healthcare in China and provided the antibiotics necessary to save her life.

He brought us home safely, in spite of nasty winter weather.

He has cemented our family together at the heart. This has not been without struggles as older children who are adopted do struggle. But we are a family who embraces one another fully, with great thankfulness to the God who has done it.

He has provided for the hundreds of hours we have spent at doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals in every way: financially, childcare, transportation, emotional and physical strength.

He has healed Esty of some massive things that have been going wrong with her body for a long time.

Esty has become a champion at all her personal care. (This is a HUGE ONE!) 

She is no longer relinquished to the corner and sitting in a wheelchair. She is walking with AFO's (ankle-foot-orthotics) and quad canes! She is riding a bicycle! 

She can put on and take off her massive TLSO (thoracic-lumbar-sacral-orthotic) (back brace!) by herself. And she never has ONCE complained about it. She wears it 20 hours daily.

God has opened her mind to receive a new language…Esty now speaks English nearly 98% of the time. (And I constantly pray that she maintains some of her Mandarin!)

God has taught her what unconditional love feels like. He has used us in this process. It has been hard, as we are so fallen, but He has done it in spite of us.

He has given her laughter. Hearing her laugh, knowing she is safe and that her future has begun is a most amazing and rewarding thing.

And so tomorrow, we celebrate our dear gift named Esty! We can't wait!

Tomorrow's Her Birthday!!

TOMORROW IS ESTY'S BIG DOUBLE DIGITS BIRTHDAY!!!!

And we are trying to get her HOME!!! As you may remember, I bought her a puzzle to work with her hands (Since she is in a wheelchair and loves to work with her hands, we won't be assembling it before she arrives...but we will give it to her as a gift! And bunny rabbits are her favorite!!)

How cool it is to have the dear people who are HELPING HER COME HOME have their names on the backs of these 300 pieces that she will work with her sweet hands!  (Progress report: we have 212 pieces left!!)
 Will you join us in celebrating Esty's 10th birthday by donating $10 to help bring her home from her orphanage? Each $10 gift will be celebrated by your name on the back of a piece of her bunny puzzle. If you choose to give more, you can just have your name on several pieces! We are hoping to close the gap on our remaining $14,500 we need to go and get her!  We are now waiting on our I-800 that will allow her to be approved for a visa to come to America! (we expect to go get her in 9-12 weeks!!!) If you choose to celebrate with us, you can use the donate button below or click here to give to our Adopt Together account. (Adopt Together donations will receive a tax deductible receipt.) Either place is wonderful! Let's let Esty know how much we want her home and how much we want her to have a HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY!!!!

Celebrating is What We Do!

October.
It's full of awesome reasons to celebrate!!
Not only are the leaves turning such gorgeous colors and the apple butter is scenting up the house so lovely...we have SO MANY REASONS TO CELEBRATE!!!

Our 17th anniversary!! (my how time is flying!!)

Zeb's 5th birthday!!

Toby's re-adoption! (and successful trip to get his name corrected on his social security card!)

Apple picking with family!

Puppy visiting!

Watching our girls act in the Little Mermaid!

Oliver's 8th birthday!! (you are SO right, that's not a picture of his birthday...because it's next week! BUT, we can celebrate that his passport is being applied for! Celebrate EVERYTHING!!)
Not to mention a special friend's birthday and a trip home to see our families!
Just wanted to share a few favorite pics of these recent days...
Hope you are busy celebrating the joys of autumn with your loved ones too!!

Double birthdays--Toby's FIRST in a Family!!

Crazy happy to have him HOME for our birthday!!!

What a joy it was to celebrate this year TOGETHER with Toby!!  As you probably know, we have the very same birthday, August 13th! That was one of the "God winks" that helped confirm that he was indeed our son. Last year, we did a fundraiser...an effort to find 42 people who might consider giving $42 in honor of my 40th and Toby's 2nd birthday. But guess what?!?!?! Instead of raising the hoped-for $1,764 that is 42 X $42...YOU AMAZING FRIENDS AND FAMILY gave over $8,000 for our birthdays!!!!  WOW!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are truly amazing. We even had gifts for our birthday from as far away as SINGAPORE!!!  Astonishing. And now, that precious orphan is now home. And he's our son. And it was his birthday. His first ever to be celebrated in a family. His first ever in a home. His first ever with cake and ice cream. His first ever presents.  And my my did he like it!!!

This is the cake I made him...with his beloved "Bu Ow" (pronounced BOO-ow) that he got from his very first emergency room trip. Yah, that IS kinda funny huh? 

With the actual stuffed dog toy that inspired the cake.

Opening gifts was especially fun!

This is the moment he realized what it was--AIRPLANE!!

Anneli steals a kiss with kitten Mitzi Moo.

Just being a teenager. ;)

With his new guitar!!! Happy boy!

 I ADORE the wonderful way that Zeb held back...not stealing his brother's new toys away and actually handed some of the pieces for him to play with...what a FABULOUS brother!!

Afterwards we were invited outside to watch the BIKE SHOW!!! :)

Lovely announcer Jensi presented each bike rider...

The amazing Darrah Kate!! (Note her standing UP riding trick!!)

Here comes....Zareb the maestro!

This trick is called, "Super high wheelie!"

AND NOW....the STAR of our show:

OLIVER!!!

Look at that balance, folks!! 

(Anneli's role was to cue kids for their parts from the garage)

Seriously?!? I never knew he could do this!!! (and i love his tongue out!)

Not to be outdone by her older brother, DQ is riding with her left hand OFF the handle!!!

It was a really wonderful celebration!!! And if all this wasn't enough...Brian got a picture of the kids with me!! (...and the miracle was that only ONE shot was snapped!! They actually ALL SMILED IN ONE FRAME!!!)

Thanks for sharing my birthday, Toby. You absolutely bless my life so much. Rock on!!

Please Meet...Two Toby Heroes!!

I'd like to introduce you to some Toby heroes:

Pete and Aaron

These dear brothers had a combined birthday party yesterday! Long in advance they told their mom, "We don't want to have people bring presents for us...instead we want people to bring donations to help Toby come home."

Wow.

Speechless.

Mom said it was fully their own idea.

These boys gave up their birthdays...for the sake of an orphan they'd only seen pictures of on the other side of the world.

They found us in church this morning with big smiles on their faces, "We had our party yesterday," and they held up a wadded white envelope. 

Inside, $289.

That's right.

Two hundred eighty-nine dollars these brothers collected to help bring Toby home.

Tears welled up in my eyes, "So you boys had no presents at all?" my heart aching as I realized their sacrifice.

"Oh we had cards!" Pete piped up. "Lots and lots of cards!!"

They get it. I love that they get it.

Children with hearts bigger than mine. Children who walk away from me at church with the joy in their steps from giving sacrificially.

My heart swells with joy as I watch God bring a far off orphan into our family. He amazes me daily.

:)

Toby, come home.

Book It for Baby!

Time for a FRESH NEW FUNDRAISER!!!

Why???

To bring this now BIGGER boy home to our family!

(Can you believe how different he looks than that little boy in the crib in the sidebar?!?! Me neither!!)

Anyway, back to the goods!

We have the fabulous opportunity to earn funds for bringing Toby home by hosting an Usborne Book Party!!

Yayyyyy!!!! (the crowd goes wild!)

I have a history of home schooling. Not a long history, about 2 years is all actually. But during that time we bought many Usborne books because they are SO WONDERFUL and full of awesomely colored pages and information that our kids gobbled up. These books are so wonderful that Sonlight curriculum uses volumes of them in their Core curriculums. So when my friend offered to hold a party with these same books to help bring The Tobster home, well, let's just say I JUMPED UP AND DOWN!!

Just to throw a little marketing your way, here is what they about their books:
Usborne and Kane Miller books are the most exciting, engaging and educational books on the market today. They are high quality, innovative, lavishly-illustrated and best of all they are the books kids love to read. Choose from almost 2,000 bright colorful and fun titles covering a wide variety of subjects.

And I agree!! My kids POUR over these books!!!

I went around our house just collecting the Usborne titles we have loved over the years and this is what I've come up with:

Most of our titles are science and history related, but clearly Usborne has fiction and other books too! ;)

So what do our mommy-minds think about after we've put our kiddos back on the school bus and kicked off the school year?

Christmas!

(Stop rolling your eyes, you KNOW it's coming in just 4 months, don't you???)

We also have birthdays in between now and then too!

So here's what I'm thinking. Let's all get AHEAD this year. Consider gifting your beloved ones with books! I can attest to all FIVE of our children pouring over these books for HOURS at a time!

If you choose to do this, you have the joint pleasure knowing that your purchases have helped bring our little Toby-man home!! Twenty-five percent of your purchase will be deposited into Toby's adoption fund. Plus, the more people buy Toby will earn free welcome home books! How cool is THAT?!? I absolutely cannot WAIT to hold him and read to him!!

Follow this linky-dink to shop! Click me! Just to be sure your purchase helps Toby, please select "Amy Shaw" under "choose your event" (never knew I was an event before, haha!) before you proceed to shop.

Awesome! 

A Letter to Toby

Dear Toby,

I'm writing to you as your Momma, but you do not even yet know my name or my face. Actually, you do not yet know yourself as "Toby!" But you are already in my heart, as God has grown you there ever since I first saw your face on April 30, 2012.

Happy birthday! You are TWO today! You may or may not know it. I pray and hope that your orphanage workers are singing to you in Mandarin! "Zhu ni shenri quai le!" I giggle. You see, God took us to your home country 9 years ago. Long before you ever were a twinkle in your dear birth mother's eye, He planted a love for your culture in our hearts. God is amazing like that.

You do not yet know about God's love. I cannot wait to teach you. He lovingly created you, just as you are...with AMC and all...because He has a plan for you. And baby, it's gonna be good!

I was just moved by a letter from a friend who is a doctor. She recently delivered a baby with AMC. Another doctor had advised the baby's mother to terminate her pregnancy because of it.  I am so glad this little girl lived to enjoy life...and I am SO glad that you were not aborted before you drew breath. Your life is PRECIOUS to me...so so so very precious.

O that you may know deep down in your heart that you are CHOSEN and LOVED and PRICELESS! You wait there in that orphanage, completely not knowing that our family has gone down a path to bring you here. With us. Forever. That's right, you are going to leave the orphanage and become our son! You are loved. You are chosen. You are priceless. You are ours.

Waiting here for you is a crazy crew. Daddy and I who are thrilled to pieces to have you. Five brothers and sisters who cannot wait to dote on you and who pray for you daily. Oh, you have NO IDEA the fun that awaits!!

Today is not just your birthday, it's mine too. A significant birthday. I am 40. That's a big deal over here in America. To celebrate my 40th and your 2nd, I decided to see if I could get 42 (that's 40 for my birthday +2 for your birthday) people to give $42 to help bring us together. I asked my friends and family to consider helping us bring you home...do you know what they did?

Not just 42 people gave, but 58! And they did not stop at the goal of $1,764---no, these friends went WAAAY above and beyond. Dear child, they gave us $5,920.24 to bring you home. If that doesn't blow you away and make you feel LOVED then I don't know what will! And the truth is, that more people are telling me they want to give! There is NO WAY that you are going to sit there waiting one second longer than what is absolutely necessary. PRAISE GOD!!!

Sweet child, I want you to know that your life is NOT a mistake. Perhaps you were born in China to keep your mother FROM aborting you due to the information available here to mothers. You have gone through unimaginable pain in your early life...and I do not yet know it personally. But you have also been held in the arms of a loving God who has never left you. He chose a family (who is excited beyond belief) to bring you home and love you and get you the medical treatment you need.

Life is going to change radically, little mister. Not today, but soon. Hang in!!!

All my love,

Momma

GREAT NEWS about TOBY!!!!

There are days of celebration, and then there are

DAYS OF CELEBRATION!!!!

Today is one, my friends!!!!

This morning we got an UPDATE on our Toby!!

Now let me explain a few things so you can REALLY celebrate with us...

Toby has something called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita or "AMC." This means that his joints and muscles have been contracted and frozen before his birth. He is unable to bend his elbows (they are fixed straight) and his wrists are severely bent backwards and is unable to use his hands in the proper way. This is a permanent condition that does not progress. It was present at birth but CAN be helped with multiple surgeries.

What we DID NOT KNOW was whether Toby's other joints were involved. You see, if his hips, knees, ankles were affected...this would mean he could not walk. At least he would not be able to walk until multiple surgeries were performed over a long stretch of time. I have been told to anticipate upwards of 20 surgeries if all 4 limbs are affected. In every picture, we could see one of his knees bend, but the other remained perfectly straight.

We have been planning and operating as if Toby will not walk.

Wheelchairs.

Specialty van.

Ramps around our home.

Needing to carry him up and down stairs...

...you get the picture.

When we were praying about adopting Toby, it was clear to us that HE WAS OUR SON. After that, it didn't matter what the extent of his issues were. He was ours and we were going to embark on this journey of special needs, come what may.

But we truly didn't know how BIG this might be for us. (and really, we still don't!)

A friend of mine has also adopted a son from China with AMC. All four of his limbs are affected. She says that parenting him is very labor intensive as she must do so much for him: feed, dress, potty, carry, etc. We heard what she said, and since God made it clear that Toby was ours...we knew Toby was worth it.

We moved forward.

After we were given Pre-Approval (PA) from China to be his family, we were able to request an update. We submitted 10 questions that were translated into Chinese and we waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And today...we heard back!

There were 3 glorious pictures of him!!!

BUT THE BEST NEWS:

TOBY CAN WALK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!

Both of his knees bend and in response to our question, "Can he walk, is he learning to walk?" The response was translated:

He walks freely.

Suddenly all the wheelchairs, ramps, specialty van and surgeries melted away.

He walks freely!!!!

I rejoice!

I feel like what a mother of a cripple back in the days of Jesus must have felt like! WOW!!!!!

There were some other amazing descriptions of our little man too...so much fun!

"He is bright, he interacts well with other children and adults, he gets along very well with them."

"He laughs easily."

"He loves to be held and cuddled."

"He has a sweet temper, occasionally he is bossy, he does not cry a lot."(...and Lord knows he is gonna need to hold his own with a DQ around here...!!!)

In response to some specific questions about how he uses his hands:
"He waves his hands and says goodbye, he will use his hands when he wants to catch something. Although he cannot play with toys freely, he can catch up his toys."

And in response to my asking if he can sit up on his own (he could not at 18 months):
"Because of his toes missing, he will be a little afraid of sitting up, but he can sit up slowly by himself."

My little conqueror is already mastering the sit-up!! AND DID I MENTION THAT HE IS WALKING!?!??!?!? Hahahahhahahaha!!! BURSTING WITH JOY!!!

And of course, some NEW PICTURES!!! Just in time for our birthday!

Feast your eyes on our little man:

Oh! I'm giggling like crazy! Do you see that sweet smile? Do you see that sideways glance? He's getting READY for some SIBLINGS!!! OH YEAH!!!! :) :) :)

Da Big One!!

I have long loved birthdays!

And...as much as it's not "proper" to...I love MINE! :)

And this year folks, it's the BIG ONE.

Yes, somehow it happened and I'm turning:

and our little Toby is turning 2 on the very same day!

As I see it, I got to use this fabulous day for my birthday for forty wonderful years. Now it's time for me to give this wonderful birthday to someone else...a very special little boy in China.

You see, it was the sharing of our birthdays that God used to speak clearly to us that Toby is our son. He went from being another unwanted orphan on a waiting list to standing off the page as our child. And it was that AUGUST 13th that did it.

So, I got to thinking...what best way to celebrate this momentous occasion????

Although I have much excitement over turning 40, my heart is broken because on the other side of the planet, a little boy sits in a crib and needs to have immediate medical attention so his muscles and joints do not further contract with his condition. That little boy will spend a birthday with no fanfare, no cake, no funny little songs that our family sings. In short, he will turn 2 without any celebration at all.

This simply breaks my Momma's heart.

So, I propose to you we do a little something.

In place of my birthday, I choose to have 40+2 friends/family donate $40+2 to our Adopt Together account to help bring him home.

I want to be SURE that he is HOME for his next birthday, and every single one after that!!

Will you celebrate my 40th and Toby's 2nd by giving to our adoption account? If you have a big birthday celebratory heart, you might consider giving more than $42...say $420? Or $4,200! I don't want to stop the celebration by limiting anyone! ;) 

And you get an extra little giggle by reading all the way to the end...a genuine circa 1974 picture of ME at age 2...the same age as our little Toby!

Let's bring this little boy HOME!!

Time to Spill the Beans!!!

It's time to shout some really AMAZING AWESOME NEWS from the MOUNTAIN TOPS!!!!

Some of you have gotten a hint of something in the works, others have been waiting so patiently and still others have been downright begging me to know "what is up in Shawville?!?!!"

SOMETHING IS UP!!!

{giggle.}

I love when God surprises me.

And I love even more to share a BIG FUN  SURPRISE when it's time!!

AND I AM THRILLED TO SAY THAT 

IT IS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YIP YIP YIPPIE!!!!!!

So...are you ready to hear???

Okay, I'm stalling now.

{double giggle!}

We are GOING BACK TO CHINA!!!!!

What!??!?

Yes! We are!!

Really and truly!

But...
               ...this time it will not be for 2 years.

Nope.

It will be shorter.

Shorter?

That's right.

'Cause this time we have some very important business to attend to.

Business?

Yep.

We have to clear some paperwork with the government so that we can make the adoption final of our son.

Say what?!?!?!?

{triple giggle!!!}

Introducing the 6th Shaw child...

Toby BaoKun Shaw

born August 13, 2010

(mommy's birthday!!)

{quadruple giggle!!!!}

And now you know.

:)