IT"S A BOY!!!!

After many, many months of paperwork & prayer along with much waiting we are THRILLED to announce that we have a new SON! 

Not just any boy. But a little boy that I already know and love. 

Our new son is waiting at the Chenzhou Orphange, in China. The orphanage that I have visited 4 times in the last 3 years. Where Sage lived for 9 months. My other home...

I have met him 3 of those trips. He was not paper ready the first 2 times we met, but in July they said he would be soon. And something just clicked. But to get to that point, I need to go back...

When we started the process to adopt this time, we of course were all over the board on what age of child we were looking for, what needs, and even a boy or girl. BUT in my heart I kept thinking baby, and was really thinking girl.

Everyone told me we needed a brother for Sawyer. But for years, and I do mean YEARS, I have just felt there was another baby girl. So in my head when we started I assumed it would end up being a very young girl we would add to our family.

We had the homestudy approved for 2 children, not really knowing what that might mean, but to be on the safe side. And in my head again I thought, well we will lock a baby girl first, and then maybe a little bit older child, but not much older.

I went to Chenzhou in July and God just tugged on me to look at those older kids a little closer. To think of their future and what it would mean to stay there. To imagine that one of them might be MY child that was stuck there. Here are my thoughts on that trip. 

That changed everything. I had met this cutie in 2012 and his toothless grin stole all our hearts. The girls named him Taylor because they thought he looked like Taylor Lautner. :-) He had such a sweet spirit about him, and we found out he had not been there long.

I returned in March and he welcomed me back with open arms. I worried over him because I knew his best friend was going to be adopted and knew that would be hard on him.

I returned in July and was so happy to see he had not lost his sweet spirit. Watching him there, I knew he could not stay. And I called Mark telling him we need to start praying. It seemed perfect. A baby girl AND this amazing boy who I knew would fit right in to our family.

At this point Mark was not sold on the 2 kids idea. He was humoring me getting our homestudy approved, but the approval to him did not mean anything. He knew my heart was longing for a baby girl, and he was fine with that. But a baby girl AND an 8 year old boy? Umm, no..

But God.... And a husband who loves God... After praying through it Mark agreed we could see what happened. So we waited. AND waited.

Our agency watched the lists and on Monday evening there he was! Our new son. They locked him for us Monday night, sending over his file.

On Tuesday I scanned in our letter of intent saying we wanted to adopt him and on Wednesday we already had Pre-approval from China saying we could move forward!

He is 8 years old, exactly 6 months older than Mavery and Sage. He will turn 9 in May and we really hope he is home before his birthday.

So what of that baby girl I was so sure was waiting? We just don't know. Maybe God's plan is simply for our son to come come home and complete our family. Maybe I simply had a desire for a baby, so we would start the process again.

Of all places God spoke to me clearly on this very issue during our time in Kansas getting our service dog for Mavery. I had really hoped that we might get a "non-shedding" dog. I am so over this dog hair we have going on here. A hairy golden was not what I had in mind.

But Pixie is perfect for Mavery! Watching the magic that happened in those dogs being matched God reminded me of this. "Your ways are NOT my ways".

Isn't that the truth??

I felt very strongly last week God speaking that truth to me about our adoption. My ways, my plans, MY anything are not always His.

So I don't know if there is another who will come home with us, but I do know this.

We have a son! He is amazing and I can't believe out of all the mommies in the world it is ME who gets to be his!!!

He knows his ABC's in English, and he caught on quickly to my name.

He is a tease and when Makenna would try to get him to say her name, he would grin at her and say Shannon. :-)

He is a huge help there and they ask him to do so much with the little ones.

His favorite color is green and his favorite animal is an elephant.

His reports described him exactly as I described him to Mark. He is gentle and kind and does not get angry or upset easily. He is happy and smiles at others.

The best part? He is no longer an orphan. He is mine. God has written him on our hearts and he already bears our name in our minds. He is a Laxton, our son, a brother a grandson, a nephew and a cousin.

He is loved already and not a minute goes by that we aren't picturing him here with us.

Am I worried about an older child adoption? I really am not. Of course I know there will be adjustment. The whole language issue, how bad can it be? (that was a joke) Though I hear that really they catch on so quickly. I would think the fact that I have met him 3 times will help. I asked him in July if he wanted a family, and he said yes. I made sure he understood what it means, and of course he does. He has watched his friends leave.

But here is what I know after 2 adoptions. God is a God of mercy and grace. When it is good, He is there. And when it is hard, He is still there. When we are dealing with adjustment and it gets hard, we will lean into God harder. And when it is good, we will rejoice and be glad!

Pray for our sweet boy if you will. He has no idea his world is about to be rocked and won't know for awhile. I hope that they will video him finding out. For that matter I wish I could get a video of my friends at Chenzhou finding out!

Our hope is that we will travel in spring. We THINK we will be taking Malaine with us. Older 2 want to go on mission trips, younger 2 are...not going.  :-) Unless we bring Pixie too and I am just thinking that is a bit much! ha!

Right now we are waiting on our Approval from China. We had PRE approval but now they actually look through all of our paperwork and then give the ok. I am seeing this take anywhere from a month to MANY,many months. Of course we pray it is fast, but I rest in knowing... My ways are not HIS ways...

A boy, can you believe it??

Oh and we are still debating names. To many opinions in this house! It will be an S. We have 2 that we like, but are open to more if you have a unique idea!