grace, garrison & goodbye

December 29, 2014 hypospadias, Kam 3 Comments

If you were to judge my punctuality solely on the basis of my No Hands But Ours posts, you’d be led to believe that I fail to do anything on time! I’m really pretty darn punctual actually but somehow, not here. Still, I’m sure that my last post for NHBO has just been put off …Read More

I’m Just Sad

October 28, 2014 adoption realities, Kam 2 Comments

September is always a big month for our family. Both of our sons came home in September {2009, 2012} and our 8 year old, Joel’s, birthday is on the 4th. So we generally just have lots of good talks and eat tons of yummy food in celebration all month. One evening, after having celebrated Gabe’s …Read More

Two Septembers

September 2, 2014 heart defect, Kam 1 Comments

He sauntered into the room While our hearts were beating fast, The papers had been signed No longer an orphan, a son at last. A grin stretched wide Across his adorable face, Straight to his daddy’s lap A picture of grace. We played, we laughed We shed a few tears, But he? He just giggled …Read More

how we deal

August 4, 2014 heart defect, Kam, Urogenital System 7 Comments

I’m not gonna lie. My world has been spinning for a few months. And I try my best during the last week of each month to settle on a topic to write about here at NHBO. But y’all. It’s just been hard lately! I walk through a scenario with our boys and I think “BAM! …Read More

walk, don’t run.

July 1, 2014 Kam 1 Comments

I’ve never been a runner. Heck, the nickname given to me in high school was “Clyde.” As in Clydesdale. Yeah, the horse. The one who trots along through life. But while I may not have been a runner, I walked fast! And with purpose. Even now, I somehow manage to leave my poor husband in …Read More

I had a plan

May 1, 2014 hypospadias, Kam 1 Comments

I have a personal problem. You know, one of those personality deficiencies that are just part of your makeup, part of who you are? This particular problem, though I’d still contest is a strength for the average Joe, pops up during the most inopportune times and throws me for a loop. I’m a planner. I …Read More

she says they’re insane, but I say they ROCK

April 1, 2014 Kam 5 Comments

So we have some great friends in this life. Tamara & Jason are among them. We met back in the late ‘90’s when our hubbies were attending seminary in Fort Worth. We were carefree… with good jobs, a love for coffee, and no kids between us. We played often, laughed hard, took trips and lived …Read More

Urology Woes & Successes

March 1, 2014 heart defect, hypospadias, Kam, Urogenital System 1 Comments

So happy March, y’all! Are you as excited about spring coming to your neck of the woods as I am about it coming to mine? Whew. And I only live in the South. Can’t imagine how you folks in other parts of the country are still managing to maintain sanity right about now! But hold …Read More

The Looking Glass

January 1, 2014 Kam, Urogenital System 7 Comments

So another year has come and gone. It never fails that I experience both highs and lows as we wave goodbye {and sometimes “Good Riddance!”} to one and a hearty “Hello, come on in!” to the other. Are you the same? A lot has taken place in our family over the last two years. At …Read More

you can't keep a good man down

December 1, 2013 hypospadias, Kam, Urogenital System 0 Comments

I’ve posted here before that I’m an idiot. There’s no denying. And my idiocy is magnified at the pedi urologist’s office. But recently, I scored one for the mommy dummies of the world, because I was right! Our Gabe wasn’t doing well. I couldn’t put my finger on it. He was cranky and pulling at …Read More

baby steps and giant leaps

November 1, 2013 heart defect, hypospadias, Kam, Urogenital System 3 Comments

I’m not sure if I’ve posted here before about the long and winding road we walk with our Joel in regards to education. In a nutshell, Joel came home to us at age 3 having spent his life in an orphanage. He was not speaking Thai at all and we were told by his pediatrician …Read More

Remembering

September 2, 2013 heart defect, Kam 0 Comments

My mind has been doing the very same thing this week that it did three years ago. In 2010, our son, Joel {aka The Thai Tornado}, would be celebrating his first year home in the coming days and I couldn’t get the images, the smells and the memories out of my head. They came flooding …Read More

expect the unexpected

August 1, 2013 heart defect, Kam, Urogenital System 0 Comments

So the last time we chatted, our Gabe had a surgery looming. As we say in the South, a “big, honkin’ surgery.” We knew what we wanted to have happen…a graft to be taken from our Little Prince’s mouth {ouch} to build his urethra {as well as tubes placed in his ears for recurrent and …Read More

perspective and prayers {7.1.13}

July 3, 2013 Kam 9 Comments

I wrote most of this post at 12:37am Monday morning. Before anything happened. Before reality came. I was broken and sad and pondering some weighty things. And sleep just would not come. Do you ever do this? Does your mind spin and swirl and succumb to hard thoughts late at night? Do you see faces …Read More

miles to go

June 1, 2013 first weeks home, first year home, heart defect, Kam 1 Comments

So the little prince and I were at Target the other day when my phone rang. Our dear friends needed a little help and thought of us… Because she said, “You guys ‘get it!’” And I guess she’s right about that. They have been home from China for six months with their sweet boy and …Read More

why?

May 1, 2013 Kam 8 Comments

So that is the question I hear out of our Thai Tornado’s mouth incessantly. Why? I can’t remember when our girls went through this stage. It seems they were much younger. Joel will be seven in four months. He seems old to me…but maybe I’m just old and can’t remember. Yeah, that’s more plausible. Why …Read More

not in a million years

April 2, 2013 heart defect, hypospadias, Kam, Urogenital System 3 Comments

So I’m a moron. I mean it. A complete and total dork. My idiocy seems to come out NOT in front of fellow idiots, but around uber smart, genius type people. You know, those who intimidate the heck out of you and before whom you know ahead of time that you should just keep your …Read More

one thing remains

March 3, 2013 heart defect, Kam 5 Comments

Well, February came and went like a flash, didn’t it? And I don’t know about you, or what the neck of the woods you call home feels like today…but my neck and my woods feel COLD! So, Hello March! This mama is soooo happy to see you. Because March means spring is just around the …Read More

clarity and experience

February 1, 2013 heart defect, Kam 4 Comments

The entry below is an excerpt from a post I wrote last year in June for NHBO. We had received what seemed to be devastating news about our son in Henan and after processing it for a few weeks, I thought my writing it may be a help to some adoptive parents. But within an …Read More

sleep deprived & living to tell about it

January 1, 2013 heart defect, Kam 3 Comments

It’s funny just how fast we forget the hard stuff. Like labor and delivery. Or training for an athletic goal. Or the first few weeks of full on reentry after an international adoption. We were blessed with two daughters by birth. After the first traumatic delivery, for a solid 18 months, I said “never again!” …Read More

Advent

December 1, 2012 heart defect, Kam 1 Comments

I’ve been pondering Christmas a lot lately. It’s December, after all, and well… it’s just been on my mind. The season of Advent… or the coming of the Lord. How long God’s people waited for it. Imagined it. Prepared for it. Prayed and asked and begged for it. For the Advent. It’s running through my …Read More

peeling back the layers

November 1, 2012 heart defect, Kam 0 Comments

So I’ve been MIA from here for about two months and for good reason… we went to China! And can I just say? It was absolutely amazing. We enjoyed every minute of our trip. Receiving our son, Gabe, was all that we hoped and prayed it would be. When we met our first son in …Read More

t-minus very soon

August 1, 2012 heart defect, Kam 7 Comments

I typically have a pretty good idea where I’m going with a post here. I mean, it’s only once a month, right? How hard can it be? My slot is usually the first day of each month. So by the week before it’s due, I’ve at least got a jumping-off point. But this time is …Read More

letting go

May 1, 2012 heart defect, Kam 4 Comments

So many aspects of the adoption process can cause you grief. The paperwork, the money, the general worry about your little one. I think there is a false sense of security in the paper chase. Something, somewhere down deep tells you that you’ve got this thing under control. You order birth certificates and schedule home …Read More

Eyes on us

April 1, 2012 Kam, Tetralogy of Fallot 3 Comments

I distinctly remember countless details about November 14th last year. It was a Monday and I was at our school where I work in 2nd grade. {We private school there two days a week and home school the other three days.} The sweet ladies at the front desk asked about our little boy in China …Read More

cries in the night

March 3, 2012 adoption realities, Kam 2 Comments

Our Joel never mourned his losses in the same way a lot of children do. He came to us the day we met him, having just turned three years old, all smiles and hopped right into his daddy’s lap. When we left with him, he had a quite serious look on his face. Fear, I’m …Read More

I not be fraid~

February 1, 2012 heart defect, hypospadias, Kam, Urogenital System 0 Comments

Happy February everyone! I for one can’t believe how fast time is moving. I’m sure it’s about to slow to a snail’s pace for my family though as we have just submitted our LOI for a new son this week. The wait has officially begun again. 🙂 Many of you know that we lost our …Read More

Mankind is our business~

January 1, 2012 Kam 0 Comments

Well Happy New Year! I don’t know about you all, but I’m plumb dumb excited to jump into 2012 and see what the Lord has for us all! 2011 proved to be difficult in many ways for us and though we walked a road we didn’t choose, we can look back and see the hand …Read More

brand spankin' new~

December 10, 2011 heart defect, Kam 0 Comments

I really can’t decide where to begin. Being new here fills me with a million questions. None of which really matter to anyone but me! Still, I don’t want this “Hello” post to be about me or us or our family. But I just think it could come across rude to just pop in like …Read More

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