Meet Zach

These are Zach's feet.  They entered the world in the same city as Ethan's, but in December 2003.  They're smaller than Ethan's, at a mere 16cm long, or 6and5/16".  The rest of Zach is on the smaller side as well.  He's 112cm tall (44and7/64"), and weighs 19.3kg (42lb,8oz).  To put this into perspective, Stefi is 43 inches tall and weighs 41 lb.  Her birthday is in December too, just 8 days before Zach's.  She'll be turning 6 this year, while Zach turns 9.  And they're an inch and a half, and a pound and a half apart.  Oh my!

Zach has some amazing talents one would never expect, most notably his ability to speak four languages - the local Chinese dialect, Belgian, Dutch and English.  Yes, English!  So we'll have the gift of communication right from the start!  How exciting!  Also he has been "homeschooled," (really!) along with his 13 foster brothers and sisters.  It seems the foster parents are from Holland and take care of 14 kids from the local orphanage as well as their 2 bio sons.  What a noisy house that must be!

Meet Ethan

These are Ethan's feet - aren't they cute?  They're 19.5cm in length, according to his paperwork, and 7and11/16" according to metric-conversions.org.   They entered the world back in January 2005, along with the rest of his sweet tiny self, in south central China.  He now stands 120cm (47and1/4") and weighs 20kg (44lb).  He eats mostly noodles, rice and fruit.  His paperwork definitively states he is "not choosy to food and do not eat the pepper."  Don't you just love Chinglish?  Anyway, we don't eat the pepper either, so we're good there.  I dashed out and bought a rice cooker, and we've always had plenty of noodles and fruit at our house -  it seems the basics of his diet are covered.   He apparently sleeps well and can finish his homework on time (that would put him ahead of our girls ...).  He is described as active, restless and extroverted, and he likes balls, running and outdoor activities.  Maybe he'll be able to keep up with Stefani!

The Six of Us

The Six of Us

We started the adoption process up again July 1st of this year after rediscovering Ethan on our agency's waiting list.  We had picked him out of the line-up in spring 2011 and started renovating the house as there certainly wasn't room for any more bodies at that time.  We couldn't commit to the adorable 6 year-old just yet, so waited and watched and renovated.  Then he dropped off the list.  In our disappointment, rather than rushing to the next child, we decided to table the idea.  We completed our house addition in the spring of 2012 and breathed awhile.  Summer rolled around and we checked the list again, just to see, and to our amazement, there was little Ethan, another year older and still waiting.  We knew it was time to act!

You know how one thing leads to another?  In our case pursuing Ethan led to us concurrently pursuing Zach,a handsome young man who lives in the same city in China, has the same special need and is just one year older. The boys have never met but are soon to be brothers.  We can't wait to make them family!

The above picture was drawn by Stefani.  That's Shannon on the left and me on the right. I'm holding a remote control, not a potato.  :)    Stefani, who also has quick access to a remote, is reading a book to Kati.  And Ethan and Zach are jumping on the couch because "boys are hyper."  Don't we all look happy?