Special Day

Amber's special day finally came. 

Because of the holidays and our family trip after Christmas, Amber had to wait an extra month after her birthday to be baptized. In our church children above the age of 8 are given the opportunity to choose to be baptized. Amber made that decision and excitedly prepared for her baptism.

We are very proud of our Little Bee.

A kick in the teeth

The last time I went to the dentist was October 2012. It was just a week or two before we traveled to Russia to bring Jacob home. I have had excellent dental care all my life and wanted to make sure I had a cleaning before bringing Jacob home and needing to cocoon for a time.

My dentist mentioned I had two fillings that needed to be redone. No big deal. I told the receptionist we were leaving for Russia and I was going to wait on the filling-redo until my next cleaning. I am always diligent about my 6 month appointments so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.

Well, 6 months went by and Jacob was doing great. Time to schedule my cleaning and the 2 filling repairs. Got it on the calendar. The week of the appointment we got sick. Okay reschedule. Something came up. Reschedule again. We had been through our job change and had submitted our application for adoption from China. Brad mentioned we now had access to dental coverage and maybe we should consider using it. We have always paid cash to remain with my childhood dentist who we love.

Assuming this was the responsible route now that we had 4 almost 5 children and we needed to save for adoption #2, I cancelled our appointments at the dentist to allow time to investigate the insurance. I thought this would be a quick and easy process. Sign up and go see a new dentist. Four months later we still did not have insurance. Feeling antsy about not seeing the dentist in almost a year I called my old dentist back and scheduled cleanings for Amber, Drew and I. The week before the appointments our insurance application was finally accepted. That was November, coverage would begin January 1.

This seemed like a no-brainer. Just wait a few more weeks and go in for "free" (no out of pocket in the office). So I cancelled our appointments once again with my old dentist.

Then in the beginning of December one of my fillings (the one that needed to be redone) came out. Oh, come on! I can wait 3 more weeks. Two weeks later, just a few days before Christmas, that tooth broke. I tried to call my old dentist but his office was closed for the Holidays. Knowing I would likely need a crown (cha-ching) I held out for January 1.

Finally I made it into the new dentist. My fears about seeing a new dentist subsided. They were nice. The facility was nice. There was only one dentist so I didn't have to worry about being bounced around.

Apparently during the 15 months I did not see my dentist my entire mouth decided it was a good time to fall apart. The new dentist diagnosed 3 root canals, 3 crowns, and 5 new fillings! I have never had a root canal or crown in my life!

Worried that I was being scammed I went back to my old dentist for a second opinion. It was true. My teeth have decided now is a great time to drop a bomb. My dentist asked me what in the world I have been doing.

He suggested it would be a good idea to stop drinking soda.
I don't drink soda.
Well Gatorade or whatever it is I am drinking.
I drink water.
Am I eating chocolate and candy everyday?
Nope.
Do I eat a high-carb diet?
Well, I am an American, so yes. But I eat everything in moderation and consider my diet pretty balanced.

Well I guess you just have soft teeth.
Great. Soft teeth.

So, the total of my portion of the bill for all of this lovely work is going to exceed $2,000. While I am grateful to now have the insurance and not be paying full-price, I am struggling to get past that number.

I think I want to go eat some chocolate...

Shēngrì kuàilè

生       日     快      乐

Shēng   rì     kuài     lè

Born   day   happy = Happy Birthday!!

Ty and his friends celebrating in China

We asked Uncle Zhou (our agency's contact) to take a cake to the boys to celebrate Ty's 6th birthday. He also provided them with party blowers and invited some of the other children and caregivers to join the party.

Our celebration here at home

This brought back memories of Jacob's birthday the year we brought him home. I love seeing the pictures side by side of the year we celebrated without him and the following year with him home. I am looking forward to the party next year when Ty is here enjoying his cake with us.

One thing I love

There were so many things we LOVED about adopting from Russia. In fact, that list would require it's own post. But our experience with China has been so very different. And I love it!

Many people have asked me, "Isn't it just killing you having to wait?" Actually, no. I know that the wait is part of the process. It will pass. In fact, time has been going by really quickly. And we need the time to finish our fundraising. If we had the opportunity to travel tomorrow my heart would want to jump on the opportunity. But the reality is, we need this time. So, I am content to wait and let the process move forward as it should.

But I am blessed during this wait with the opportunity to send my son care packages. Not all orphanage directors are open to multiple packages. And many only allow certain things to be sent. We are beyond grateful to be working with an agency and orphanage that encourage pretty much anything we think will assist with bonding and preparing our son for our arrival. We have sent everything from a personalized video to birthday cake. They gave me an inch and I have taken a mile. But no one has complained so I just keep running with it.

  First package we sent him 10/2013

 Second package 11/2013

3rd package 12/2013

These pictures are like gold to me. While we knew Jacob was in good care, we never did see any of the other children in his orphanage. We do not have pictures of his friends or his caretakers. We did not receive his baby pictures. We really only saw one room in the orphanage in Russia.

I love that we are seeing so much of Ty during the wait. We are seeing him playing with his friends, being loved on by the adults, and being cared for. Brad teases me because I scour every photo and video looking in the background and noticing every little detail. But that is what brings me peace. I want to scoop him up and squeeze him tight. But I can settle with a new picture.

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas/New Year Newsletter this year:

Happy Holidays from the Krinke Family!

Caitlin- “Caity” (as she prefers to be called now) is 11 this year. She has matured into quite a young lady. She is anxious to begin baby-sitting after her birthday and has already become a great helper at home. Caity continues to be our singer, book worm and scholar. During the month of December she enjoyed performing in her school production of “A Christmas Carol”.

Amber- “Little Bee” has turned 8 this year! She is preparing to be baptized next month and seems to be growing by the second. Amber continues to be the life of every party and has become a little socialite this year constantly bringing home new phone numbers and email addresses asking for play dates. Amber is our rock-star on the soccer field and is anxiously awaiting her chance to begin gymnastics again.

Andrew- “Drew” is 4 this year. He is thrilled to have moved out of the nursery and into his own bunk-bed. He loves attending his Pre-Kindergarten class and complains when there is no school. Drew continues to be Mommy’s-little-buddy and is trying to grow up and stay small all at the same time.

Jacob- “Baby Bear” turned 2 in October and celebrated his first year home in November. Jacob as had an amazing year full of ‘first’ experiences. He remains the happiest baby known to man and has been a blessing in our family.

Brad is enjoying employment under new ownership this year. He is very excited to be learning from this new opportunity. Brad continues to teach the primary children at church and has managed to maintain his “Superman” status at home.

I am excitedly preparing to be the busy mommy of 5 precious blessings. Adoption paperwork and household duties fill my days. I also continue to play the organ in church and even managed to participate one last year as a coach for Caitlin’s soccer team this year.

The big family news this year is:

Yang WenHao- “Ty” will be 6 years old in January and will be coming home to our family in the spring. Ty is currently living in an orphanage in Jiangsu, China. We are excited to know that he has received our care packages and were told he kissed our photos when they arrived. We are anxious to get to know our new son.

As our family continues to grow we are grateful for the many blessings we enjoy. Wishing you and yours a blessed Holiday Season this year!

December

I have been absent. I know some of you have been waiting... I'm back. Thanks for following along and sticking with me.

December is a crazy month for us all. Here's what it looked like for our family:

Amber's birthday- I love my little party animal

The big 8- Amber would not let me forget that Caity had her ears pierced at age 8. It could not be avoided. I was pleasantly surprised at her maturity and responsibility following this event. We are looking forward to the other 'big' event of Amber's 8th birthday. She will be baptized January 25th.

Care Package- We sent Ty another care package including a video. The video showed and explained some of our Christmas traditions and showed our family preparing Ty's room.

Before

After

Ho Ho Ho, Happy Birthday Jesus!- We had a fantastic Christmas this year. One of my favorites to date.

Vacation!- We soaked up every moment of our family vacation for the year. We loved getting away. We loved the snow. We loved being with our relatives and with each other.

And that was December...

I'm here!

We had a crazy-busy December, made some of the best Christmas memories I can remember, and then had a blast in Utah for our family vacation. Then we came home to a broken computer and had to mail it in to be repaired under warranty. It will be back tomorrow!! So my blogging can resume. I cannot wait to flood my blog with updates. I am so tired of doing everything from my phone...