Growing up

Here are my favorite t-ball Phillies! Can you tell them apart? :)

I absolutely LOVE that they are on the same team. Praise God for this unanticipated blessing! At first we tried to have Josiah on the same team as his friend, but that didn't work out so I requested to have both of my boys on the same team. Yay!!! We don't have to try to be at two places at once!

Little Judah is growing up, too, saying a few words here and there. He's learning sign so easily now, too! I gotta keep those synapses going and not fall behind on those signs! Poor Judah gets way less attention than the first two boys. He's now taken to running around the house instead of merely toddling. He loves playing with his big brothers as they make him laugh!

We're still trying to catch up with growing up into being parents of a teenage girl. God graciously gives us the words to say and the wisdom in when to say them whenever issues arise. We love our Jackie and are thankful she chooses to stay despite our hundreds of mistakes in parenting her! :)

Like father, like son

Check out the progression in technology, too!

Jeremy - 1980

Judah - 2011

sick

Ah yes, another round of coughs has landed in the Yang household. This time, it reached me. It's been a while since I've been inside the whole day, trying to rest and recover. I miss church. I think we've been out of town for 3 weekends, and now this is the 4th that we won't be there due to those darn germs that go around in winter and preschools!

My sweet husband and daughter served me by taking care of the boys and meals. Now, Jeremy is taking Jackie and Josiah to watch a play. Jackie wandered around a theater yesterday afternoon and met a director, who said he would give her two seats to tonight's show. She wanted to take both boys, but I told her that Jadon would not last 2 hours.

I reflect on how God has brought Jeremy and me into foster parenting. It's something we never thought we'd do, yet how funny that we are in this position! There's a need (a child needing a home and family) and God gave us means to meet that need, so there you go.

We originally wanted to adopt a little girl from China, but at the time we wanted to apply, Jeremy wasn't old enough. During one summer when we were church-hopping in 2007, Olive Crest and adoption stories swarmed around us from the pulpit from at least 3 different churches. God planted a seed in our hearts. I kept an Olive Crest flyer at home for several months. Why not look into Olive Crest to adopt?

We called to set up an initial interview. I wanted to start the certification classes right away, but the agency made us wait until Jadon was a year old. So we waited and began as soon as we could. 5 months later, we were certified and anxious for our first call. Josiah was 3 and Jadon was 17-months-old.

Since our profile stated that we wanted to fost-adopt an Asian baby girl between ages 0-2, chances were slim that there would be a match. We then became short-term and emergency shelter foster parents.

An 18-month-old Caucasian girl came first in July of 2008, staying for 5 months and returned home just shy of her 2nd birthday. Then two weeks later (January 2009), a 2-year-old Latina girl stayed for two weeks. A month after that, a BIG and happy 3-month-old Samoan/Latino baby boy came for two weeks. June of 2009 brought a 2.5-year-old Latino boy for a month. In August, Kristy called once again, knowing that I was getting closer to my due date, saying that there was a 10-month-old Caucasian girl needing a home for possibly only a month. The curly-headed blondie stayed with us until two weeks before Judah was born. She was then transferred to another foster home for another 8 months before going back to her mommy.

Whew! After Judah was born, we thought we would take a little break since I was so tired and didn't think I could handle another little one. So instead, God gave us a 15-year-old Chinese girl!

Through foster parenting, the Lord has brought us to places in our marriage and parenting that we NEVER thought we would experience. I mean, who would want to get rejected over and over again by a child you suddenly became a parent to? Who would want to keep persevering, knowing that the child doesn't even want to be a part of your family?

Well, Jesus did all that for us! He died for us and called us His own even though we were not Jews, the chosen children. Even though we shook our hands at Him, He loved us. That is why we continue. There are so many children right here needing homes and loving families. So many children who need the gospel! They need unconditional love, support, parents, siblings, etc.

It is most certainly NOT an easy road. Like parenting, foster and adoptive parenting will turn your lives upside-down and twisted around. Some issues are minor, some are glaringly major. We make a TON of mistakes, yet we continue to pray that God's work is done. Even though we started out with a different goal - international adoption, God placed us where we are now and we would have it no other way.

I guess I've been thinking a lot, lately! This is way longer than anticipated...

Some photos from January:

Lake Arrowhead weekend with the Shears. They have 3 little boys, just like us! Who would have thunk? :) Here are the Daddies and the boys.

Jadon's Dad n' Me Day at his preschool.

Our sweet neighbor Mary Jo, whose house sold in just 2 weeks one week ago! We'll miss her terribly! She's been a great help to me, always willing to sit at my house for 10-20 minutes while the kids nap if I have to run a quick errand.

Moms Night Out with my MOMS Club at The Melting Pot. YUM!!!

Yang Family Lake Arrowhead trip

Missing my Daddy...

This morning Josiah was asking me what things I remember. I told him I remember when he was a baby playing with Poa-Poa (my mom). He said he remembers playing with Gung-Gung (my dad). I highly doubt he remembers playing with my dad, though. He was only 14-months-old when my dad died.

J: I wish I could see Gung-Gung.

M: Me, too.

J: Can he call from heaven?

M: No, he can't... (tears streaming down immediately)

J: Where did he die?
M: At his house.

J: How?

M: He was sleeping and stopped breathing.

J: Why did he die?
M: He was sick and had cancer.

J: What's cancer?
M: A sickness that kills your body.

J: I've never had cancer because I didn't die. Does everyone with cancer die?
M: No, not everyone...

My dad would have enjoyed his grandchildren so much! How I wish he could play with them now...

Happy new year!

Happy new year, everyone! Praise God for precious family and friends.

Last night we hung out with the Shears, but didn't take any pictures. Today we had lunch with Jer's side of the family and then spent the rest of the afternoon with my old roomies and their clans.

Here is everyone minus the Morishitas. My, how we've grown! It started out with just 5 young women roommates at UCLA.

Heartache

2 weeks of heartache...

A friend's 13-month-old daughter passed away in her sleep last week. I have no words, just tears...

My teenage foster daughter longs for her family during Christmas, but is not allowed to see them. My heart hurts because she is hurting so much...

Oh Lord, there are so many tears on this earth. Please come soon.

Dates with my boys

Date #1

Jadon to Disneyland

I took Jadon to Disneyland at the end of the day on his 4th birthday. It's the only time I could go alone! :) We rushed over there, took the Monorail into Disneyland, rode on the Nemo submarine, then the park closed. Although it was such a short time, Jadon still loved it!

At the end of Nemo, he looked at me and smiled, "Mama, that was fun." Of course he wanted to go again, but alas the park was closed. We headed down Main Street and walked into a store, where Jadon saw a wallet he wanted. I wanted to use my Disney Reward Dollars, but unfortunately I had to request it online first. I explained to Jadon what had to happen, that we had to wait for a card to come in the mail before purchasing the wallet. He agreed to wait without a pout! Praise God for his great attitude!

We walked out to Downtown Disney where he had his first funnel cake. Then we headed over to the Lego store to play there a little. Having a date with my little guy was so fun! It's rare that I get alone time with him and it was such a blessing to have just him! He was definitely on his best behavior without any warnings or threats.

Date #2

Josiah to Disneyland

I wanted to take Josiah alone before my pass expired on my birthday so we went on Tuesday night. He was pretty good about not saying anything to Jadon all day, but he had to tell the Seo kids during their piano lesson. :)

We left after dinner and Jadon was pretty understanding that it was Josiah's turn. I left promising him a wallet when I got back home. He had a good time with Baba anyway, watching Harry Potter at home!

Josiah said his favorite ride is Toy Story Mania so we headed to California Adventure after getting Jadon's wallet. (My Reward Dollars had since arrived in the mail.) While in Disneyland, we experienced snow on Main Street! How cool is that!

He wanted to go on two more rides, but it was almost closing so I explained that we might only have time for one ride. He chose his favorite one. This coming weekend Disneyland starts closing after 8pm.

We had a great time in line playing Rock, Scissors, Paper and chatting. Josiah has developed quite a fearful fascination with coyotes. He remembered that there were a couple of coyotes one night in our backyard last year. About 2 months ago, he's been asking very specific questions and making comments:

When do coyotes come to our house?

What do they eat?

Why do they eat children?

I hate coyotes.

Do coyotes come out at night? (as he's watching the garage door close before he heads into the house)

After Toy Story Mania, California Adventure was closed but we stayed until 8:25 watching Disney's World of Color from the back side. World of Color is pretty cool, like Bellagio on steroids. Josiah was ready for Downtown Disney after about 10 minutes. As we left the park Josiah said, "Thank you for letting me stay up late!

We hung out at the World of Disney store picking out gifts for Jackie, Jadon, and Jer. Josiah had to decide how to allocate the $20 we had left on the Disney Rewards card.

We also swung by the Lego store to look at the cool creations. We left just before 10pm. Josiah realized that he was suddenly very tired. We waited for the tram to take us back to the parking lot. As we walked to the car, he said, "I wish someone could pick us up and drive us home because we're so tired. My stomach hurts and my feet hurt."

M: "Why do you want someone else to take us home? I'm driving."

J: "I don't want you to do so much work."

So sweet! I love our little discussions and Josiah's growing knowledge of the Lord.

Date #3

Jer to Octopus

My birthday dinner! We left the house after putting the boys down. Josiah had a MAJOR meltdown! He has never cried about us leaving the house before. He was sobbing uncontrollably, almost throwing up! He said he didn't want me to go out on my birthday, that he wanted me to eat at home. After about 15 minutes of this crazy meltdown, he was armed with his stuffed tiger (who would scare the coyotes) and my cell phone. :) Jer had his bluetooth in for about 30 minutes before we decided that Josiah had fallen asleep.

First we picked up a new beach cruiser for Jackie from a friend a couple of streets away. My mom wanted to get Jackie a bike for Christmas. Time Warner's internet service was out so we also had to get our coupon printed for dinner from Tina's house. She came by to pick up her daughter from piano and I was telling her about waiting for our internet service to come back on. She volunteered to let us use her printer. Thanks!!!!

Yummy dinner at Octopus Restaurant! I had panko salmon and shared a Black Dragon (avocado & eel) roll. Jer had Beef Yakiniku. We are so tired when we go out on dates that we just eat, talk, and go home once the food is gone. There was one young couple, obviously on their 1st or 2nd date, who was there before and after we arrived. Too sweet!

I love my boys! Judah gets me all the time so we don't have date nights yet. Jackie and I get to bond when we go shopping every once in a while.

Praise God for a plethora of blessings in my family! I never thought that after 33 years, I'd be in SoCal with a wonderful husband and four kids!