Blessed with Full hands: 2015

Why we are "still" adopting

Since announcing my pregnancy, there have been many questions that I thought could come, and I had prepared answers to these, ready to give a well thought out answer. Thankfully, no one was so bold or curious as to ask. Yet still, in case anyone is wondering, I thought I would answer one question. Why are you still adopting? Some people did come close to asking. Or, at least, they gave indications that, in their opinion, it would be best if we didn't. And, I think if this were our first adoption, I may have been more nervous to proceed. And, if our sole purpose to adopt was simply to fill a desire to have more children, then we would probably have stopped the adoption. But, that is simply not the case.

Dec

The Murphy Family 8.0 - The details

Yesterday I posted the above picture to Facebook with the caption:

The Murphy Family 8.0. Coming in 2016!

#thismomsgonnaneedlotsofgraceandlotsofcoffee #adoptionrocks #andsodobabies

And that was it. No real explanations. In some ways, I did want people to stare at the picture and attempt to figure it out. I was trying to be slightly creative. But, I did want to share further details, for anyone who did not wade through the comments and read my replies to questions.

Aug

She remembers . . .

Felicity has been in our arms for 10 months today. And over that 10 months, I have prayed about, thought about, and felt sadness for Felicity's losses. Mainly the loss of her birth parents. The loss of everything she knew. The loss of her culture. But, somewhere along this journey, I forgot that she lost one very special person to her.

Jul

Midsummer update and a few more photos of our son

This space has gotten quite quiet for the last several months. Life is happening and as much as I love this space, I find little time to document all that is happening.

The summer has been busy with many fun and crazy things happening.

9 months ago THIS happened . . .

It is so hard to believe that it has already been 9 months! Felicity is doing amazingly well! She had her palate surgery in January and is currently going through speech therapy.

Jul

An open letter to my son

Dear Joshua,

You know I watch you. Watch you as you swim each stroke. And I see the dissapointment in your eyes as you hop out of the pool; hitting the wall after others. And I want you to know something my wonderful son.

I see you dive in, swim the pull out effortlessly. You come up and begin the breaststroke. And watching you, it truly is a thing of beauty. My eyes well with tears as I watch you swim. You are beautiful to watch in the water. You know that I think that.

Jul

A reflection on the year

We are on vacation this week. Being in Cape Cod usually makes me wax poetic and reflect a lot. This year is no different. I have been thinking about the last year. Being here, at this moment, has brought up a great deal of memories. Last year at this time, two days into our vacation, we got a call that our agency had gotten the hard copy of our LOA. That is the moment in the adoption process where time finally seems to speed up and you are literally on the fast track to China.

Jun

What is He asking you?

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

Jun

His name (and a picture too)!

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post called "Her name (and a picture too)!" If someone would have told me that I would be writing a similar post in a year, I would have laughed at them. It is all too fitting that my morning devotional started with the She Reads Truth Bible Study: Women in the Bible and I read about Sarah. Oh, how we all often laugh in disbelief at God's promises.

It took us a while to figure out a name for our little guy.

Apr

God is a much better writer than I am

These next few days mark big dates in our home.

One year ago tomorrow we got the call that all adoptive families wait for and a few minutes within that call, we saw a picture of Felicity for the first time.

6 Months ago today, she was placed in our arms. Forever.

And today she is a thriving, happy little girl whom we all love. In the book of our adoption, this is a perfect place to end the story.

Mar

Wrecked

Felicity has been with us for 5 months. 5 months as a family of 6. 5 months of having a daughter. In those 5 months we have travelled to the other side of the world, just my husband and I. We experienced a different culture. We saw one of the Wonders of the World. We ate GREAT Chinese food. We toured Little Flower Projects, where some of the most medically needy orphans are cared for and thriving. We travelled to our daughter's Province. She was placed in our arms.