He doesn't have my eyes

When people meet Kacie, they say, "She looks just like you!" Then they meet my husband and say, "Oh wait, she looks like Dan. But she has your eyes."

I will never hear those words about Ty's eyes.



His eyes captivated me in his early pictures. They are big, bright, and full of expression. In the words of Steven Curtis Chapman, "big brown eyes that disappear when {he} smiles." His eyes dance, show his emotions, his sincerity, mystery. I can see his thoughts...almost. Right now, I can tell when he's scheming his next move on how to irritate his sister, or the sadness in his eyes when his M&Ms are gone. For now, this is sufficient. But in a few years, when I see that faraway look, it could be for different reasons all together, much deeper than just wishing for more chocolate.

Someday he's going to wonder, who do I get MY eyes from?

After watching Kung Fu Panda 2, it made me realize that as Ty goes through his own journey of finding inner peace, he may acknowledge that I am his mom; but is that going to be enough? That is for him to decide, no one else, and it will be on his own timeline. I will be there to support him as he makes sense of who he is, where he comes from, and how he got here. My goal is to be open and honest about what I know about his past and help him to make sense of it. The movie truly went over his head, but someday it won't, and it could open up some pretty heavy discussions.

On a lighter note, here's Ty today playing with pencils. Why pencils when he has a gazillion toys? Again, that is for him to know and for me to just make sure he doesn't poke his eyes out! Then our eyes might have something in common--partial blindness in one eye--and that is a trait I do not want to pass on!

Words I didn't expect to hear so soon

I'm not sure what was going on, but I was holding Ty, and he wasn't happy because he didn't finish his dinner, so he didn't get treats tonight. Out of the blue he says....

Ty: "China. I go home China."
Me: "You want to go back to China?"
Ty: "Yeah, I go home China."
Me: "Why?"
No answer

Me: "Do you remember being in China?"
Ty: "Yeah. I baby."
Me: "What did you do in China?"
Ty: "I sleep."

I have to be honest, I don't think he remembers China. He sees pictures that I have of him as a baby in China, and we talk about it. But I knew these words would be spoken someday; I just didn't expect to hear them one month shy of turning 4.

How did we respond? Who knows if it's right or not, but we told him he's stuck with his us. He's a Powell, and always will be.

And then it was on to whatever grabbed our attention next.

Tournament Champs!

Kacie has been in two fast pitch tournaments over the last two weekends, and her team has won both tournaments! It's been pretty exciting. Last weekend Ty was having surgery, so I missed those games.

This weekend the tournament was in our hometown, and we played 4 games yesterday for seeding, then three games today in a double elimination tourney. Actually, Kacie missed a game because she had to be at her piano recital. We went in seed 1, which meant a bye in the first round--that made us all very happy.

But the biggest news is that Kacie had her first in-the-park home run! It was an amazing hit deep down the third base line. I got a little crazy, there is no debate on that. After hitting a triple yesterday and hitting fairly well, today she had yet to get on base. There were some tears and frustration, so when she knocked this one out there, I was elated beyond words. Her confidence has been restored.

We would have settled for a base hit...but a home run is nice too!

I should have gone off...

...when the x-ray tech at xyz hospital (not Mary Bridge) said to me, "Did you have to learn about therapy to adopt him?"

Let me set the stage.

Ty had been examined up down and all around, and he was flipped out. Obviously his anxiety was sky high, and he was doing the whole, "My Mama" and "Don't leave me!" number. For those who know Ty (or anything about international adoption), this is a typical response to a high-stress situation.

I was asked a few times if I was his mother, fair question in my opinion. And once in awhile the topic of where he was from and when did we adopt him would come up. As we we walked to the x-ray area and back, there were some narrow hallways, and I had to walk in front of the bed rather than behind so that Ty would know I was not leaving him.

And that's when she popped off that question. In my shock, I just said, "Not really, you just have to be prepared for anything related to international adoption."

The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. HOW RUDE! What she was really saying was, "Your son has issues, I sure hope you can deal with it."

And maybe it was a poor choice of words, and if that was the case, then I agree...poor choice of words. I should have gone off...but as always, I was in so much shock I didn't know what to say. I've dealt with racist remarks, rude adoption comments, etc...but this was a first.

We are home!

Ahhhhh...one beat mama here. It's one thing for a planned surgery away from home, quite another when it's unplanned. But the surgery was totally not a big deal when compared to something like palate surgery. In fact, I think this is easier than ear tubes. Just controlling the pain, and he's fine. And really, he's not in much pain at all. When he woke up this morning he was hurting from not having pain meds over night, but other then that, he's doing great!

This picture is a few hours after the surgery. Clearly, feeling no pain! Gotta love morphine. Today he's just on Tylenol w/codene. Tomorrow we switch to tylenol/ibuprofen.

No more appendix

Ty had surgery this morning and came through with flying colors. I was not happy about surgery, but it was too risky to continue to wait and see. I'm on my iPad so when I'm on my lap top I'll tell the tale. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, and hopefully we will go home tomorrow.

Appendicitis?

We hope not. I'm at a childrens hospital with Tyson, waiting for a surgeon. It's so hard to tell if he has appendicitis, so we'd appreciate prayers that he is fine and no surgery is needed! He has signs that it is and signs that it isn't. Ugh! Thanks.

My kid did that?

Kacie now holds the 4th grade girls PE record for the 1 mile run at our school! She ran it today in 6 minutes 53 seconds. I know that genetically she is mine, but when I hear something like this, I think, "Where did she get that from?" And when she was done, she just shrugged walked off like it was no big deal. Yes, she was red-faced and tired, but no biggie to her. Love that girl!

They Make Me Smile!

Happy Mother's Day! These are my gifts 365 days a year.