May 1, 2017 Favorite Family Stories, hemangioma, Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, May 2017 Feature - Vascular, port wine stain, Sturge Weber Syndrome, Vascular System 0 Comments

The term special needs can sound scary. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. Our goal at NHBO is to equip and inform parents – replacing fear with knowledge – as they navigate the beginning stages of special needs adoption. And then encourage and support those home with their special needs kiddos. We do …Read More

November 13, 2016 birthmark, Family Stories, hemangioma, phakomatosis pigmentovascularis, port wine stain, Vascular System 2 Comments

The Lord uses many avenues to speak to the hearts of his people and call them forward to adoption. For some that call comes from the Bible and teachings of the church, for some that call comes through knowing people who have adopted, some people meet the vulnerable in orphanages and fall in love, and …Read More

May 20, 2015 birthmark, Family Stories, hemangioma, Kassanbach Merritt Syndrome, May 2015 Feature - Vascular, Vascular System 1 Comments

When I first read Abby’s file and read the diagnosis Hemangioma and Kassanbach Merritt Syndrome (or Phenomenon), I thought to myself, “How bad could it be?” She has a birthmark or as her file called it ‘a large hemangioma’ on her neck and chest, surely once we get her home we can ‘fix’ it! Then I did …Read More

May 17, 2014 adopting SN: the process, adoption realities, birthmark, Chinese Culture, hemangioma, Kayla 3 Comments

I’ve told the editors of this blog that I am running out of things to write about regarding the special need that Jubilee (that’s my daughter) has. It simply doesn’t matter to us any more that she has a skin deformity on her torso. It will matter to her one day, no doubt, but we …Read More

April 17, 2014 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 4 Comments

Sometimes I think people think too much. My husband and I, on the other hand, tend to err on the side of reckless. But I have to say that in our 12 years, reckless has served us well. Our very nuptials were hasty. We jumped into love like a kid into cold water. We got …Read More

March 17, 2014 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 1 Comments

My daughter and I reclined comfortably together at a park yesterday, beside a calm lake in which Chinese men, bent with age, stood stirring the water around their boats with long oars. A thousand Chinese faces passed us by, upturned at the sunny sky and squinting at their beloved kites in the wind. Some of …Read More

February 17, 2014 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 1 Comments

We call her Jubi, or Jubi Sue, or sometimes Jubes. But her name is Jubilee, and she loves her name. The other day her daddy wrote “Jubi” on her paper cup and she was not happy. “Where are the rest of the letters, Daddy?” she asked with a frown. “My name has an l and …Read More

January 17, 2014 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 0 Comments

Jubilee didn’t just get a mom and dad when she was adopted. She got three brothers, three grandparents, three uncles, one aunt, and three cousins. But even though adoption brings children into extended families, church bodies, and communities, the most important thing adoption does is place children into immediate families. Not immediately families, mind you, …Read More

December 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 0 Comments

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 Adoption has seasons of its own. The first season can last for years. It starts as a seed, usually, planted in our hearts, by friends, or media, or God. During this time, we pray for wisdom, seek the counsel …Read More

November 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 0 Comments

For the past three weeks, my mom and mother-in-law have been visiting from the States! Jubilee has especially loved it, with two more women in the house to offset the incessant wrestling matches and Lego building. “Let’s read magazines,” she suggests, handing each of us a copy of Good Housekeeping or Rachael Ray. We snuggle …Read More

October 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 1 Comments

All kids have “love tanks” – deep wells within their hearts which hold the fuel they run on: love. What happens when those tanks run low? I’m no expert, but I can tell you what happens when my Jubilee’s tank is low. “Mom, what did you buy at the store? Hi Mom. Mom? Mom, where’d …Read More

September 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 3 Comments

Once we’ve had our adopted Chinese children home for a while, they become very American, don’t they? Fluent English speakers, pudgy and healthy, faces aglow. Video games, Kraft mac-n-cheese, Gap Kids clearance clothes, and all the rest. But then there are moments when Jubilee will stop what she is doing and stare off into space, …Read More

August 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 11 Comments

I do not run marathons. I do not run at all, in fact, although I used to, once upon a time. To train for soccer, I ran high school cross country; my short, muscular legs weighing me down as I trudged through sand and even snow (I lived in Michigan). While I struggled to keep …Read More

July 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 3 Comments

Jubilee doesn’t throw fits, hoard her toys, act irrationally, or withdraw emotionally. In fact, on the surface she is a very “normal” child. Except when no one is looking. Then she destroys things. She tears the wheels off matchbox cars, scribbles on her brother’s artwork, takes apart completed Lego sets, sits on things, rips things, …Read More

June 17, 2013 birthmark, hemangioma, Kayla 12 Comments

Kayla is a home school mom who loves to read, write, cook, and travel. She lives in East Asia with her husband and four awesome kids – three biological sons and one daughter, Jubilee, who is adopted from China. She blogs at Life is But a Breath. We all face that moment of truth when …Read More

November 26, 2008 birthmark, Family Stories, hemangioma, port wine stain 0 Comments