January 31, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China 2 Comments

My son was only 18 months old when Chinese New Year approached last year. From his perch on my shoulders, he gasped in amazement at the dragon dancers advancing along Market Street during San Francisco’s Chinese New Year parade, but he was too young to understand the cause for all the fuss. Now a year …Read More

January 30, 2016 Rebecca 7 Comments

I could never do that. I could never adopt. I could never foster. I could never have more than two kids. I could never adopt multiple children. I could never afford adoption. I could never say yes to a child with special needs. I could never bear my child needing surgery. I could never parent …Read More

January 30, 2016 Children Who Wait 0 Comments

Meet Austin, a playful – but very determined – five year-old boy. Austin has cerebral palsy, but don’t let that scare you. Austin doesn’t let it stop him. Through Austin’s hard work at physical therapy, and the support of his orphanage, Austin has learned to walk short distances and to climb stairs without assistance. Austin …Read More

January 28, 2016 BAHA, Education, Family Stories, hearing aids, hearing loss, Nager Syndrome, speech therapy, undiagnosed SN 1 Comments

We always knew there were unknowns, as all adoptive parents do. But the moment we saw their faces we knew they were ours. This is important to always remember. Most of us who adopt realize that the medical records we receive are not always accurate or trustworthy. But sometimes, you just don’t know the right …Read More

January 26, 2016 Family Found 0 Comments

Precious little Zora is a darling girl born June 2013, Her special need is a hearing deficit which may in fact mean she is possibly deaf. Further testing would need to happen once she is home. Zora loves to be cuddled and her report from August of 2015 stated that she was improving her motor …Read More

January 25, 2016 January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Kelly 11 Comments

It’s the single most important holiday of the entire year there. Businesses close and trains literally overflow as people all over China journey home for Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. Despite the rising number of Starbucks scattered about big cities and iPhones all over, traditions not all that different from stockings hung by the …Read More

January 24, 2016 cognitive delay, developmental delays, Family Stories, Jean, microcephaly, older child adoption 1 Comments

I first learned about microcephaly while working in the newborn nursery. A sweet little boy lay in a basinet all bundled up in a white hospital blanket. As I got closer to him I noticed his head was quite small compared to the other newborns. I later found out that this dear child was diagnosed …Read More

January 23, 2016 Contributor Q and A, Meet the Contributors, Whitney 0 Comments

Continuing today with our series in which we share a short Q and A with one of our contributors to give y’all, our faithful readers, a little more behind-the-scenes insight into the amazing group of writers assembled here. And it will also give each of our contributors a chance to share their heart in a …Read More

January 21, 2016 fundraisers, fundraising for adoption, Kelley B. 3 Comments

If you would have told me five years ago that I would have been fundraising an entire adoption I would have told you you were crazy. But that is exactly the path the Lord had for us. This time last year, we had just adopted two children from China in less than 18 months and …Read More

January 19, 2016 Chinese Culture, Katie 2 Comments

Let me start out by saying I love China. I have been obsessed with the country since I was seven years old. So, when the pieces finally fell together for us to adopt from China I was beyond excited. I was so ready to bring in the culture of China to our home. I studied …Read More

January 18, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 1 Comments

  January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year. You can read the other posts in this …Read More

January 17, 2016 Andrea Y., siblings, telling their life story 0 Comments

In four months, we will find ourselves at the hospital to bring home another baby. Baby #6. Oh I’m beside myself and can’t wait. I never thought we would have another biological baby at my age, but our sweet surprise and after 3 biological children and 2 adoptions has been quite buzz and brought much …Read More

January 16, 2016 Family Found 2 Comments

Gemma is an affectionate little girl who loves being cuddled and sang to! Born in September of 2013, she was diagnosed with delayed development and brittle bone disease. When she was 1 month old, her joints easily swelled when being cuddled and it usually took her a week for the painful swelling to reduce. She …Read More

January 15, 2016 Christmas, Jennifer 1 Comments

I don’t know about you, but as the Christmas decorations come down and the house is put back to normal, while there is a twinge of sadness at the loss of joyful reminders of advent, it is here that my heart gets prepared and quieted. No matter how intentional I am about seizing December and …Read More

January 13, 2016 brain damage syndrome, Developmental System, estropia, Family Stories, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, low muscle tone, oral-motor delays, speech delay 2 Comments

The words in Miao’s file were daunting. “Soften lesion of posterior horn” and “softening of bilateral ventricle” and “HIE”. I wasn’t sure how to pronounce them, let alone what they meant. And my trusty sidekick, Google, was having trouble explaining them as well.   I had come across a picture and short description of Miao …Read More

January 12, 2016 Family Found 0 Comments

Renae is a lovely girl who is assigned to a new partnership orphanage with Gladney. She turned 13 in September, so the time to find her family is limited! A family must adopt her before her 14th birthday or she will no longer be eligible for adoption. Renae attends public middle school where she is …Read More

January 11, 2016 older child adoption, tethered cord 0 Comments

We started our adoption journey after a mission trip to the Navajo nation in Arizona. Leaving our three children behind, we set out to minister to others.While we were there, we saw the “big picture of life”, as we like to call it. We saw things on our trip that were bigger than ourselves. We …Read More

January 9, 2016 adopting again, Amy A., Orphan Sunday 9 Comments

Happy New Year, No Hands But Ours Readers! I don’t know about you, but the year’s end always leaves me a feeling a little reminiscent about the past yet excited about the future. This transition from 2015 to 2016 is no exception as I reflected on where our adoption journeys have taken us and where …Read More

January 8, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

  Happy New Year! January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year.     Our family has …Read More

January 7, 2016 fundraising for adoption, Guest Series, My .02 on Adoption Fundraising 1 Comments

Today we are excited to share the first of 5 posts in a once-a-month guest series by Laure Kline, who will be sharing everything she knows about adoption fundraising with us! We know that many potential adoptive parents say that lack of funding is the biggest roadblock to adoption and it is our hope that …Read More

January 5, 2016 complex heart defect, Family Stories, Heart System, HLHS, older child adoption, orphan hosting, single atrium heart disease, single ventricle heart disease, TGA 3 Comments

My husband, Bobby, and I are not special. We keep being told that we are. Ever since starting the adoption process, people keep telling us we are “special”. I don’t always know how to respond. I feel embarrassed and totally unworthy. We don’t belong on that pedestal. Have they seen our very un-special home and …Read More

January 4, 2016 Family Found 0 Comments

Meet Pendalyn who was born in November of 2002. She was found in a railway station just a few days after birth and taken to a local Social Welfare Institute (SWI). At about six months of age, her caregivers noticed that she didn’t respond to sounds as readily as she should have. She was taken …Read More

January 3, 2016 December 2015 Feature - Sensory, Family Stories, older child adoption, profound deafness, Sensory System, waiver request 1 Comments

When a single image changes your whole life… We began our adoption process in a way that was, likely, different from many. I was checking my email, and literally, on a whim, I opened up an email I normally wouldn’t have. And there, staring at me, was my son. It rattled me to my core …Read More

January 2, 2016 Liberty, What We're Reading 0 Comments

Happy, happy New Year to all of our No Hands But Ours readers! Your gift from us is this compilation of amazing articles, inspiring blog posts, and traveling families for you to peruse. As always, our hope is that you enjoy reading through these posts. And that perhaps you would add something to do with …Read More

January 1, 2016 Chinese Culture, Chinese food, Chinese Holidays, Chinese New Year, January 2016 Feature - Celebrating China, Nicole 0 Comments

  Happy New Year! January marks a new year and a new feature here on No Hands But Ours. This month is all about Celebrating China and how you can incorporate more Chinese culture into your home, especially during the most celebrated Chinese holiday of the year, Chinese New Year.     As Christmas activities …Read More