*** We are still taking donation but no longer taking knife donations! We are so humbled and thankful to have met our goal. Drawing coming soon! Thank you everyone!
When Shane and I were married, I never dreamed I was marrying a knife maker. I'm sure, Shane never dreamed we'd adopt from China.
Here we are almost sixteen years later and both of these unknowns are coming together in a big way!
Shane always makes exceptional knives and this one is no different.
It. Is. Georgeous!
Don't you agree? And extra special because as cheesy as it sounds, it was made with love for a tiny baby girl a world away!
One of our most recent pictures. Taken in March around her 2nd birthday. She's in 6-9 month clothing.
Below are the specs from the big man himself.
Knife blade is approx. 3.5"
Closed length 4.5"
Overall open length approx. 8"
Blade steel CPM s30v stainless steel with an acid stone washed finish
Blade has been heat treated to a 60 to 61 rockwell C hardness
Bolster are Moku-ti polished and heat colored
Handle scales are Arizona Desert ironwood
Liners are .070" 6al4v titanium
Pivot is a 3/16" hardened barrel pivot with bronze washer and anodized titanium screws.
Handle screws are heat colored titanium
Back spacers are stainless damascus steel with my Alcatraz pin design
I pride myself in making each knife to the best of my ability, and make each knife better than the last. I try to use the very best materials possible, and like using exotic materials. I try to make knives that are extremely tough and will last many life times, but also have that hierloom quality."-Shane
Here's how the fundraiser works.
Each spot is $15 or 5 spots for $65.
***When you donate (on the you caring site linked below) it's really important that you leave your name and the word knife. This way I can track the raffle money coming in.
Keep checking back to the blog and even check the bottom of this post for updates. Also, sign up for you caring updates.
Thank you for helping clear the hurdles that keep us from our baby girl. <3>
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Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Atwood Knife Fundraiser
Monday, October 13, 2014
Something to think about...
There's been a thought going around and around in my brain.
Have you been to your local animal shelter lately?
I have been in ours quite a bit lately. (Lilly's birthday is coming up and I'm keeping an eye out for a small breed dog.)
Our local animal shelter is quite nice. It's clean. The animals are clean and well fed. But I'm sad every time I go in there. Because I know some will never be adopted. :( some animals will never know love.
Today when I ran in there, I was happy to see they had half the animals. Most of the time they have about 40 dogs and 40 cats.
You know how there's a humane society in just about every town in America?
Well there's an orphanage in just about every town or county in China!
Our local animal shelter has better conditions then Chu's orphanage had.
My local pound had way less animals then the orphanage had children! 200 children in Chu's orphanage.
Children people! Babies, toddlers, little ones who want snuggles, hugs, and blue balloons!
And the pound smelled better.
Next time you go to your local animal shelter, picture babies in cribs instead of dogs in runs.
Please pray about adopting.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Scary words and doctor appointments
But...
I think I need to back up and tell you a few things...
Oliver was adopted through China's "special need"program. (A lot of you know this but I know a few don't.)
The phrase "special need" tends to scare people. They think of kids with bigger mental issues, major heart issues, cancer ect... Let me be extremely brief and tell you "special need" CAN be those things. But It can also be really simple things like missing a finger, small weight, born premature, being older then 4 years of age, being born (gasp) a boy. (There's an unnecessary fear here in the US for adopting boys. It really bugs!)
Chu was also considered "Special Focus" which basically means... "They" thought he would have a harder time Finding a family. (Sometimes, files are not special focus at first. Sometimes, files are matched with families. If the families chose not to move forward then a file can become "special focus." In Chu's case, it was probably because he had more then one need.
The first and very simple need was Pigeon Chest. Basically, his rib looks like it was broken and healed wrong. This does not affect him, at all! It simply just something you can see. 
As he's gained weight, I've forgotten it was there. I don't even see it.
The second need... Was his size.
In Chu's case, he was "labeled" with dwarfism. I say "labeled" because I really don't think their were any tests done and HELLO! He was only 13 pounds! Did they feed him? NO!
I may sound bitter and I am about the starving. But that label! I'm so thankful for that label!!!
Do you remember the post about the word I woke up with in my head? Here's the post if you don't.
http://sweetremininiscence.blogspot.com/2014/03/let-adventure-begin.html?m=1
That word was DWARFISM! That word guided us to our son!
Dwarfism.
It's another word that scares people. I don't understand this. I really don't. People with dwarfism are just shorter people. That's it! Hmmm... A person that's short.
A little person.
Guess what?! That's me! So again, Chu takes after momma. :)
I have another beatiful story about dwarfism that I will tell in another post.
(And sense were on the subject Quit using the word "Midget" it's very doragatory! It's a true scary word! Little people cringe at this word because it was a circus word.)
I'm going to be really frank! WE DO NOT CARE IF CHU HAS DWARFISM. Really! He will live a full and happy life either way!
So back to the Dr. Appointment.
This was NOT a geneticist. This was a "special need" specialist from Primary Children's hospital.
(I think it's so cool that he drove all that way to help children out here!)
We don't have difinitive answers on whether Chu is a Little Person. More tests on that are coming. (Thyroid and others)
Honestly, he's going to be little anyways. Even if he doesn't have the typical dwarfism he most likely will have a secondary form of dwarfism from Malnourishment.
We are also doing a bone age to see what age his bones are.
But here's what we do know...
His heart, lungs, and overall health is good!
There is some slight concern with hearing. He was a bit low in high frequency noises. This could be caused by cold or allergies. So We will be going back in a few months to check again.
His weight had "plateaued" at 19 pounds. Two happy reasons for this-
1. He's moving! He's moved more in the last few months then his whole three years of life! (Stuck in a crib 20+ hours a day!)
2. He's not gaining because his body has been fixing things!
I'm not exaggerating!!!
•His belly button use to stick out 1/2 inch. I measured it. Its still an outy but it's fairly flat.
•His front right tooth use to be almost horizontal to the floor. It was pretty bad.
I thought it was from this finger but he still sucks on his finger and That tooth is straight down! I can't help but be amazed at what good nutrician can do!
•Last but not least, he's grown an inch in the last two months! (This is the first of any growth we've seen! He's 27 inches tall!
Chu's file was made August 2012 he was 24 inches long. He was 26 inches long the day we got him. So he had only grown 2 inches in 2 years.
So that inch in two months is huge!
The doctor said,
"I charted Oliver's weight and height. Oliver is currently in the 50% for a 9 month old maybe a few 10 month babies."
He's still so tiny. This was taken a few days ago. 
But look at where we came from!
Thighs that I could wrap my short fingers around and touch.
It's like a sharpet puppy. Like his skin grew but his bones and muscles didn't.
See his left arm? Blow it up and really look. That's how big his arms really were. Absolutely no muscle and fat just That weird skin thing... So crazy...
And look how big his head was to his body. Poor baby...
One inch is big on him!
It was a good appointment.
Thanks so much for prayers.
By the way...
The nurses all pronounced him
"The cutest thing ever!"
Sunday, July 20, 2014
My hero home 4 months
Can you believe it?
He's such a part of our home!
The pitter patter of little feet...
Chu is pretty much running as fast as he can, these days. He still falls a lot and I sure worry about his noggin.
He's still not a fan of the "green blanket of deathly needles" aka grass. Although, he has finally decided to leave the blanket he thought he was marooned on and walk across the grass.
(This is good but, honestly, it was nice to have him confined while I did yard work. Haha... )
Also, He absolutely hates when momma weeds the garden and weeding has to be done so... There is a lot of whining!
Moving on up...
He has some interesting techniques at climbing on the couch.
The first one I call the "ballerina technique". He sticks his super flexy leg and foot up on the couch, like a short ballerina at a practicing bar, then pulls himself up. Here's video of the ballerina technique.
The second is literally "backwards." This one only works if the recliner is flipped up. He leans the back of his head against the recliner. Then, he walks his feet up the console. (That's some creative thinking right there!)
He will venture to play a bit with toys now. Maybe only 20 minutes a day but that's better then nothing. Food is still more important then toys!
But he is not gulping bottles down anymore. In fact, he's been leaving an ounce. This is Huge!
Fun firsts...
We've had a lot of first with Chu this last month.
First time in a pool. 
He loved it!
And makeshift pools.
He also went to his first real swimming pool. 
He loved the baby float. But still liked momma's arms better. :)
We went to the lake for the Fourth of July. Chu cried and cried until I took him in the water with me. Poor kids has a very ungracefull mother and I slipped on the rock getting in. Dunked Chu face first in the fridged cold water! I expected him to cry, because I mean, he'd just been crying for 15 minutes. But nope he looked shocked and then smiled.
Happy first Fourth of July, son!
We went up the mountains for a load of rock and he didn't love that.
We hauled wood too. At first, he wasn't sure what to think of the mountains.
Mr. Magoo has moves...
In the safety of the truck he cheered up enough to dance a bit. Here's a video.
So happy to see this boy bounce to music.
Baby sitter blues...
There was a large fire a few weeks ago. Shane and I rushed to help my brother evacuate. Chu was left with a sitter for the first time. He did well. Grandma said he kept giving kisses. With a bio child I would probably be thrilled that He really didn't miss us. But I was sad. I'm hoping it's because he was in our own home and just thought we were outside.
Channeling Daffy Duck...
His language is still small. Small but precious. He copies single words all the time but is not clear. He says the same phrases to get his point across. "I want up"sounds like "I on uhhh..."
"Ion dat" for I want that. (I think he's channeling Daffy Duck from tinty toons.)
He says thank you but doesn't actually open his mouth. Mandarin is such a tonal language. He must be humming thank you. Ha!
We have been teaching a bit of sign language to help us all out.
(He still says "no" when asked if his food is good. ((Cracks me up)) And yet he eats every drop and then some! He had three of those tortilla wraps that day! Plus, some fruit. )
His language is very whiny, especially for food.
So we are working on sounding positive like this
Built like momma...
Not growing tall but gaining weight.
Chu is weighing in at 18 pounds 5 oz.
He still has not grown in height. Our ped says to give him time.
Every one comments on his tummy, that it's chubby so he must be gaining good weight, but it's really a malnourished tummy. (Protein deficiency) Were hoping it will go down more as he gets healthier.
His belly button had gone down a half inch! Not kidding or exaggerating.
But for the record, we love him - growth or not- big belly or not.
Double trouble
We had a break through with Lydia and Chu. Up til' now Chu has really not liked any loves from Lydia. A kiss from Lydia was always groaned at but he is now excepting kisses and (gasp) has even given a few.
They get in mischief together and make big messes together. They fight over toys. So, I guess they're siblings. ;)
We still have work but it's coming.
I'm the mom...
^ has been muttered to my older three children many times! (Especially Violet) They over love this squishy kid and who can blaim them?
Have I mentioned he has the softest skin! It's like silk!
The past is in the past...
Or is it? I recently found out some new things about Chu's swi life. Some very sad things. I'm trying to process it and figure out how to write a post without giving details that are only Chu's to give.
This info came in a time when I was really struggling with patience for a very whiny Chu. I needed it. I am more patient with him. And the poor boy might be getting squished even more. More? ;)
He really is my little hero.
.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
You make me happy!
Last night, I was making a video and I was choosing songs. I kept playing this song called "You Make Me Happy." I noticed that Chu was bobbing his cute little head to it so I tried to record him.
Well, it didn't work like I planned.
Not at all!
But watch it anyways!
Three things you should know before watching this video.
1. I had know idea I'd let the camera slip onto me so much. But I'm glad it was. It captured how much I adore this boy.
2. It was an automatic generating program. I would have never stopped it on my own face. (I'm camera shy)
3. In case you watch it and don't get what were saying. Read below the video.
4. Hold onto your seat. So much preciousness it's hard to handle! ;)
5. I can not sing.
Okay, in case you didn't catch what happened.
I was singing " You make me happy"
Chu was answering "my mommy"
Yes, he has said mommy before. A lot!
But this. This was just special!
Here it is again. without all the bells and whistles and very short.
What a precious gift for both of us to have recorded!
The moment, when I knew my son knew what "mommy" means!
Sweet Chu, you really do make Mommy happy! Happy 3 month home adversary!
Friday, May 23, 2014
How did we get so lucky?
"Out of all the kids how did you get so lucky to get him?" My sweet sister in law asked upon meeting him.
" I know," I said and had to choke back tears as I watched him smile and the whole room light up.
I think about this a lot!
I just read there are 575,000 orphans in the regular orphanages or social welfare institutes in China. But if you add the outside groups like foster homes, there are around a million children.
Plus, there's another group of children...
There are children who aren't lucky enough to live in an swi- The street children. (This is a whole other topic that I won't get into. A very sad topic)
My point is that their are millions of Orphans and that's just in China!
I saw a handful of those kids with my very own eyes!
I've decided to share a few pictures with you today.
What did you see? I bet a lot of you are saying "Well, it has cute stickers and it's bright. "
When I looked at orphanage photos a year ago, I thought that too.
But while I was there, I don't remember seein those stickers! Or thinking it was bright and happy.
It was dark.
It was dreary.
It smelled like illness and sweat.
I could feel their pain!
These children ARE in pain! They hurt! It is a hurt that most of us have never felt! A hurt I would NOT wish on anyone!
Showing you this one again.
Did you catch that this is our Chu?
I'm sure some of you did.
Confession:
Most pictures that I put on my FB page were photoshopped to give Chu good coloring. I picked out the cutest pictures and doctored them but this was the reality.
Obviously, I didn't want to face it!
This was the picture that made me realize my son wasn't waiting in a happy/Rich loving environment.
He was an orphan.
He was in pain!
He needed me!
He needed me right then! He didn't get me for another half of year!
He'd weighed the same weight for over 2 years!
There was no reason for him to not gain! None!
It was senseless.
How did we get so lucky to get
This squishy little dude that giggles at our mere touch... Sometimes he giggles simply because I look at him.
This little dude who pulls funny faces just to make us laugh.
We lovingly call this face his "crazy Kung foo face" He has perfect comical timing! Pulls this face anytime we get too serious! Lol
This little dude who soaking up love like a sponge and is trying his hardest to give 10 x more love back.
He can't quite pucker his lips and his kisses sound more like "mop" then a "smooch."
Chu is darling! He is precious! How did we get so lucky?
The statistics are high!
You could get lucky too!
There's lots of darling children waiting! Lots of cute personalities hiding behind these sad faces!
Give them a chance!
Pray for them! Pray for what our Heavenly Father wants you to do for them. It might be to...
Donate to Love without Boundaries
(Not UNICEF!)
Donate to adoption funds! (Heck, if someone would give us the money we'd be back for the little girl in yellow.;) )
Adopt yourself! You'll be amazed how The Lord provides the money and the room in your heart.
Don't forget them!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
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