Introducing Cade

Since we accepted Lui Jun Jie's referral, Bob and I couldn't agree on a name. Two weeks ago our agency needed his new name so that we could complete some of the necessary papers in order to get a visa. After much discussion we finally agreed upon a name - Caden Dean Junjie Tarwater.

Caden was born 12/10/09 and is currently 14 months old. We received these updated pics of him at the beginning of Jan.





He had his palate repaired in December. It will be nice not to have to rush around trying to get that fixed when he gets home. He is a big boy - 25lbs and 29in (as of 12/30/2010). We aren't sure what size he is now but we are estimating around 24month or 2T size.

We have decided for this trip that Bob will travel with his mom. I am disappointed that I am not able to go, but Nathan has been so sick the past couple of months and we can't risk both of us being gone for two weeks. We are estimating travel between the middle of April and the beginning of May. We hope you follow along on our journey. We can't wait to bring Caden home.

Our return to China

Ever since we had brought Addie home, we had wanted to travel back to China to bring home another child. Last spring we started seriously talking about adoption again. In July we submitted our paperwork to begin the process. We had decided we wanted another son and since boys are matched very quickly with families we told our agency to hold off on our referral until our paperwork was done and logged into China. However, I couldn't stop looking at the waiting child lists.....I knew our son had to be on it.

In Sept. I looked online and there was a post for a 9 month old boy who had a repaired cleft lip and unrepaired cleft palate. I immediately called the agency who forwarded the info they had on this little boy. After discussing it for a day we let the agency know that we wanted to adopt him. His name is Lui Jun Jie and he is in the Henan province.

Here are his referral pics -




The following are some descriptions mady by his caregivers. It looks like he is very robust and healthy and developmentally on target.

When Jun Jie had just arrived, he looked like he had big hands and feet and his stature was very tall. Everyone said that someday he would become the second Yao Ming.

Currently, Jun Jie is taller and bigger than other children his age. It’s just that his head is not considered very big, but it is round, like the big belly of the Mile Buddha

Jun Jie is a good-looking, handsome little guy. He is very cute, we all love him, and we whole-heartedly hope that he can have a happy home.


The Chinese government approved our request to adopted Lui Jun Jie while we were still in the process of getting all of our paperwork done. Finally in December we were officially logged into China.

I am finally sitting down to write an update. We are finally getting settled in San Antonio. Nathan has had countless Dr. appts but I think we are finally hooked up with all the Drs. he sees and we have been pretty impressed with most of them. We didn't do much this summer - San Antonio has had 50+ days of 100+ degree weather - I think the average is 12 days a year. So we just stayed indoors instead of melting inside. Hopefully next year our blood will have thinned and the heat won't bother us so much.

Nathan started back to school on Monday. He is going to the elementary school in another subdivision (about 4 miles away). He will be going Mon./Wed./Thurs. and will get some extra hours at home on Tues/Thur. So far everyone has been great, I just hope it stays that way. He will have a nurse go with him to school to help out with his medical issues. Knock on wood he has had a pretty healthy summer.

Addison is speaking up a storm. When she speaks slowly it is a easy to understand her, but when she starts talking fast it is hard to make out all she says. Bob and I have had to start watching what we say around her - she picks up everything. She will be starting a preschool program in two weeks. She will be going for three days a week. I think she is ready to get out of the house and play with some kiddos.

Bob likes his job, he just is busy all the time. Everytime I call he is in some sort of meeting. I think being the DO (or second in command) requires him to do different sort of tasks then he did before. Overall I think he likes it.

I have just been busy with the kids and trying to get the house settled. I am looking forward for a day or two to myself once Addie starts back to school. The other good news is that Nathan will qualify for more nursing hours and that will give me some much needed extra help.

The Last Few Months

Well things have been crazy the past few months. We were getting ready for the move, then the move and now we are unpacking boxes. We miss Virginia - the weather, the scenery and all the stuff to do but we are glad to be back in San Antonio. There has been a lot of growth in the past four years, but other than that it is the same old San Antonio. One thing that hasn't changed is the heat....but hopefully we will get used to it soon.

The kids are doing well. Right after we got here, Addison said she missed her old house, but now all she says is that she LOVES her new house. I think she is so happy to have more room to run around in. This house is about twice the size of our other one and Addie will stand at one end of the house yelling, "Mama, where are you?"

Nathan had his first IEP last week for ESY services. It went pretty smoothly....we just hope that the big one that will take place before school starts will go just as well. We are slowly finding new Drs. and so far we have been pleased.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I made a short video of the past few months....I hope you enjoy.

White House Easter Egg Roll

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Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We were lucky enough to get tickets for this year's White House Easter Egg Roll. The Obama's had decided to put the tickets on line this year vs. the past years where people had to camp out to get them. I started trying to get tickets at 6am. At 2pm I called my mom to have her try since I had to pick up Addie from school. 30 minutes later she called saying she had the tickets!!

We had a great time. The weather was just right. We didn't get to see the Obamas but it was a wonderful experience just the same. There were about 6000 other people on the lawn at the same time. It was a little crowded but all the kids seemed to be having a great time.

We have been busy getting everything ready for the move. It will be here before we know it. Nathan went back to school last week.....for two days.....then he got sick again. He has a sinus infection, but we all decided that it isn't worth him being back in school for the rest of the year. He just can't seem to be able to stay healthy. So he will get homebound services again until we move and then hopefully he will be well enough to attend school next year.

Addie is doing great. Her lip/nose is just about healed.

Long Overdue

I have finally have found some time to update everyone on how things are going in our lives. My mom came to visit at the end of Feb. We were able to see the National Cathedral, which was beautiful, and visit the Pentagon 911 Memorial.









After Nathan's last hospitalization, we decided it was best for him to be kept at home and not go to school. So for the past several weeks his teacher has been coming into the home and working with him. The good news is that he is doing well and we are hoping that he will be able to go back to school on the 13th of April.

Addie is doing well. She had surgery on Tuesday. It was mostly just a cosmetic touch up. The surgery was about 2 hours long and she was able to come home that night. She looks like she was in a fight, but is doing well. She went to school today and the teachers said she did wonderful. Her classmates didn't even seem to notice her stitches or swollen lip. Her speech is coming along great. She will continue to have articulation issues until the holes in her palate are repaired, but she is doing really well. She celebrated her 3rd Birthday at the beginning of March. She got a new pink stove and sink, which she loves.

Last night, Addie told us that she needed a band aid. So she went upstairs and got this band aid for her head. I guess the one the surgeon put on her wasn't big enough!!




Last week, the White House, made their Easter Egg Roll tickets available online. I thought it would be great if I could get tickets for the kids. I tried from 5am until 2pm and had no luck. I went to pick up Addie and called my mom to have her try while I was gone. A few minutes later she called and let me know she got us the tickets!! We are so excited to be going to the White House and hope that we will get a glimpse of the President.

The other exciting news is that we are moving back to San Antonio at the end of May. We are waiting for our final orders, but it is pretty much a done deal. We are going to miss this area. Not neccessarily the people, but the area and the fact that there are seasons. TX has really only one season - HOT. We were so thankful to be able to experience on last snow.




We are also in the process of buying a house. It is one story with a loft area, which is great because it means no more carrying Nathan up and down the stairs. All the bedrooms and the living room are on the ground floor. It will suit our family so much better.



We hope everyone has a happy and safe Easter.

Everyone is home from the hospital! Addison was released on Friday on oral meds. She is doing great - no worse for the wear. She did great in the hospital, but really didn't like being hooked up to the IV. Nathan was released on Sunday. He is slowly getting better. We were finally able to get him off the oxygen today. He has a ways to go, but at least he is moving in the right direction. We have decided to take Nathan out of school until after spring break. We hope that he will have a chance to regain some of his strength and be ready to go back.

We flew my mom out on Saturday to help us out. She has been keeping Addie busy - or more like Addie has been keeping my mom busy:-) They are having a great time together, but Addie's energy level is a little higher than my mom's even though she is keeping up pretty good.

Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. We certainly believe that they helped!!