8.29.12
culmination
So today is just that.
A culmination.
Of prayers and gifts and tears and hope.
I was awake in bed early yesterday morning {very early for a homeschool day}, and I kept thinking of this word. And how true it is for us. It was just one year and one week ago that I stumbled across #482's profile on China's shared list. That number represented a beautiful little boy, our Seth, whom I fell in love with on paper, before I ever laid eyes on him. How the Lord wove him into me was and is something I can't explain. He's part of the story. The story of how God brought sweet Gabe to us. How grateful I am today. To be boarding a plane with the expressed purpose of bringing him home. How wonderful to be at this point and to see the beauty in the loss.
It's a culmination of a process. A year long {minus 2 months after Seth died} process. Folks, you just can't ask for more than that. To petition two mighty countries to let you adopt a child and then for them to agree and it all to play out in less than a year? Amazing. But the paperwork and approvals and sleepless nights and home study visits have come down to this day. Praise God it's over.
It's also a culmination of gifts. Yesterday in bed, I was remembering just how many people have helped us financially. From our friends Eric and Ellie who were spending the night on their way to Disn*y...on the very night we found out that Seth had died, and gave to us. To our dear friends and former students who gave out of their grief when their son was born premature and went to be with Jesus. Three grants. Family and friends who gave...some out of their want and some out of plenty, but all in obedience. Photography sessions that others booked with me to help us. Anonymous gifts from brothers and sisters at church. And even friends who are in the midst of their own adoption in China who gave because the Spirit led them. Our entire airfare provided by a precious couple who said that God had spoken clearly to them about was their part in bringing Gabe home was. All of these have been brought together to bless us.
And to bless the Lord.
We're still in the Book of Acts with the kids and have been reading about Cornelius in chapter 10 this week. The Scriptures say that God considered his good deeds toward the poor to be an offering to Him.
I love that.
I can say with all assurance, these gifts to us, to Gabe, have been a sweet smelling offering to the Lord God. And they continue to be a treasured blessing for Jase and I. You all have partnered with the Lord to bring our son home. We are more than grateful. Words fail me though I want so much to tell you how much we love you and how used of God you have been in our lives.
It's also the culmination of our hope. Our hope to graft Gabe into us. To make him one of us, forever. It's the picture of Christ's work in saving His people. Our hope is not unfounded, friends. He came. He paid. He lives. And He will come again. To God be the glory. Our hope is secure. And though Gabe is mostly unaware, his earthly hope is secure as well. He is ours and we are his. There is nothing that we have that doesn't belong to him. No amount of need or want can outweigh what we stand ready to offer this precious one. Our hope is sure.
We would love for you to follow along if you'd like. To make things easier for readers, I have disabled comment moderation as well as am allowing anonymous comments while we are away. If you would like to leave Gabe a comment...we'd love that. We will do as we did for Joel and print them for him to have when he is older. You can do that by clicking the link below my name at the bottom of each post...
And if you feel led, please lift us up to the Lord. We made prayer cards with specific requests. If you don't live near us or if you missed them...here is a copy.
Thank you, dear ones. Thank you for your love for us, for Gabe, and for the Gospel in which we glory.
And now, here we gooooo!
8.30.12
hello from beijing
So it's midnight and I've got to get some sleep! But I know tomorrow will be nuts and there are things I don't want to forget. No pictures or video...though I had planned to. Just too tired! It's just stuff though, right? Who cares about pictures of stuff anyway?
Our day began with tears of course. Leaving our babies was hard. They were troopers. Kennedy struggled most, Syd was strong and quiet but no tears, and Joel, he just broke my heart. I got on my knees and said, "Okay, buddy. We're gonna go now. We'll call you as soon as we can..." He hugged me then looked back at my face with his eyes full of tears. He hugged me again and just wouldn't let go. Sweet baby boy. Jase had said a quick goodbye to him and got in the van...didn't want him to see daddy all tore up. So so hard.
We got to the airport in great time but soon found out our flight was delayed by a typhoon somewhere. But the kind lady asked if we wanted exit row seats?..."um,
let me think about that for a few minutes..."
...said no one ever.
YES! Hook us up with those exit row seats please, and thank you.
We left at 2:40 instead of 1:10. We had about a 6 X 6 area of space right in front of us. Glory. 15 hours on a plane is killer...but this made it so much more bearable.
Here are my impressions of our day.
Impression #1
If there was a support group for people who can't sleep on planes, I'd be the president. I've tried Ambien, Phenergan, and now Nyquil liquid {not all in one day! lol}. To no avail. Ever. I've taken it an hour before we board, and hour after we board and today, 2 hours after. Makes no difference.
Three hours. I got maybe three hours of sleep pieced together. But it's all good. There are worse support groups I could belong to. :) But just so you know,
My name is Kam. And I can't sleep on planes.
Jase was about the same. A lot of dozing but no real sleeping. I had the fleeting thought whilst we were being packed into this huge plane like sardines that I should try to pick out who the federal marshall was who would be flying with us. I reasoned that he may be the gentleman next to me...who was friendly enough but quiet and kept to himself. Perfect description I thought, of a guy who would step in during an emergency. My suspicions were put to rest {no pun intended} when his head was bobbing up in down in sleep while we were taxiing to the runway for takeoff. Surely he wasn't the marshall who would save us all. And I wasn't going to invite him into my club now either. Sheesh. Sleeping soundly during take off? Whatever meds he took, it worked.
Impression #2
People will do some crazy looking moves when they've been sitting in coach class with little leg room for several hours. They will come and stand in front of the blessed ones {us} in our exit rows and contort their bodies in amazing ways in order to get the blood flowing again. It's necessary for sure. And highly entertaining. I learned a few new moves that I'm taking home with me.
Impression #3
Exit row seats do recline and Korean Air has got it going on {which we knew since we flew with them to Thailand} because when you recline your seat, your bottom slides forward too. Ingenious.
We made it to Seoul with 30 minutes to spare before our connection. We hustled bootie to make it. And make it we did. And then proceeded to sit on the plane for 45 minutes so that others could make it. :) We were actually glad for that because we thought it meant maybe our luggage would be among the latecomers.
Our flight to Beijing from Seoul was delayed an hour or just over. But it was a quicky. Less than 90 minutes. No exit row that time, but who needed it?
Impression #4
Beijing's airport is a ghost town at 10:30pm when you get to baggage claim to claim bags that aren't there. The area of the airport where you file a record that your bags are missing is NOT a ghost town as about 75 people from your flight are in the same boat as you are. Praise God we packed an extra day's clothes in our carry ons.
Impression #5
Our agency, WACAP, rocks. Because Jase and I were more than a little worried that our guide had decided to leave after we were going on 3 hours late with no notice! But nope. She was there holding her WACAP sign and happy to get us where we needed to be. So relieved about that.
Impression #6
I love Apple more than ever. I love that we could stand in our hotel with our iPhones and Facetime our kids easy peasy. Priceless after the day we've had.
Impression #7
Our God is good. Despite some bumps in the road today...we are laying in a bed in Beijing, China right now. We are in the same country as our sweet Gabe and we arrived safely as did our children to their grandparents. We are grateful to have this day behind us but celebrate His goodness throughout the long of it. Now...if some luggage would arrive tomorrow, that'd be outstanding!
Good night to all. Love you.
8.31.12
beijing :: day 1
*PSA* This is a photo heavy post! It may take a while to completely load. Don't let the wait fool you...I'm throwing these images up here without so much as opening Photoshop! I'd normally at least sharpen them but I'm so tired! So go with me! lol. Just want you to have an idea of how our day went!
So what a day! We woke up from our rock hard beds {that Jase actually likes!} around 6am. Considering it was going on 1am when I put the Mac away and put head to pillow, I'm both surprised that I didn't sleep longer and not surprised at all. Sometimes exhaustion gives way to insomnia for me. But I felt pretty good, rested enough. I'm having another bout with vertigo though, just like in Thailand. My head is spinning dizzy. I took a meclizine this morning and it helped but has worn off. My ears were about to explode when we landed last night. I was in terrible pain, again, just like in Thailand. Maybe that has something to do with it. But it is getting a bit better.
We went to breakfast and found a few other adoptive families from a different agency {we also toured with them today} and then headed back up to the room to Facetime with the kiddies. Joel asked if he was ever going to see us again...
...he's killing me softly, this boy.
In hindsight, we think maybe he was trying to ask if we would facetime again so he could see us and vice versa. I sure hope so. Keith, set him straight if he thinks this is it and we're never coming home! lol.
The girls looked great and so happy to see us. We were thrilled to see them and hear their voic es this morning. They asked the funniest questions, none of which I can remember in my jetlagged state. Hopefully we answered them well!
We met our guide at 8:30, along with the other families, in the lobby of our hotel. We have a bus that we ride in that has good, cold AC and bottled water. Nice. I'll tell you more about our guide sometime. Really like him a lot, but he gives such a look into the soul of the Chinese people and I have a lot of thoughts about it I'd like to get down. Maybe after we're home for safety's sake.
Our first tour stop was to rent some ricskhaws and to visit the hutongs in Bejing. These are ancient homes built around a courtyard. The word actually means "alley"...and I can see why. We were told how these hutongs are among the only ones left and our guide explained how these ancient homes were built and maintained hundreds of years ago.
We learned so much of the history about how rank and occupation and sociological standing played such an integral part of life here for so many centuries. And it was commonly displayed outside of your home by how many pillars you had coordinating with how many steps led up to your hutong as well as what type of stone statues you had at your door. So everyone knew what you did for a living and what your rank in society was. Fascinating and very humbling to think about their way of life. And about how much we have in Christ...that our worth was given to us by the Creator and not our birthline. So so humbling. Here is the entryway to the hutong we visited and our guide, George.
We were also able to go into an actual hutong and meet a man whose family has lived there for over 150 years.
Uh. Mazing.
So so neat to see this, y'all. His name was Mr. Hou and he's an artist. Quite talented. He allowed us to photograph his home as well as his art studio. Loved it. So very cool. His gardens were beautiful and there were pigeons in cages that he races! Crazy! They have a chip embedded in their claws and they set them free against countless other pigeons and track where they go on race day...and then how long it takes them to get back home! Here are some pics of Mr. Hou and his house. I loved his studio...and how he hangs his brushes.
Here are random shots inside the hutong village.
This was a man rummaging through the trash.
After the visiting the ancient village, we stopped in at the government run Silk Factory and saw how silk is taken from the worms and made into beautiful pieces. It was very interesting. These women take tiny pieces of woven silk and stretch it out the size of a bed...and they invited some of us to help stretch it too {I'm in the purple}.
After the silk factory, George took us for an authentic Chinese lunch.
Y'all.
This was the absolute best Chinese food I've ever had in my life. I know, right? I'm in China for crying out loud. I mean it though. Holy cats. Every bit was divine. About a dozen dishes on a lazy susan at our table and get this, deep fried green beans. I detest green beans.
But I could have eaten the entire plate full of these fried ones coated with oil, garlic and chicory. Delish.
After lunch, we headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City built in the early 1400's. So much history. When we initially walked into it though, I kept thinking of the great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, who visited this square in the early 1900's with the intent to share the Gospel. He recounted that there were wall to wall people, which is in itself daunting because the square is unbelievably huge, and prayed that three men would be drawn to Jesus and approach him.
And they did that day. And they left changed. Glory to God.
We learned about the Emperor and saw his throne, and learned how very few people ever came in contact with him because of how important he was in ancient life. We were told about the Jade Emperor as well and I will have to do a post about it sometime...again, when we are home and it's safer.
This is the People's Republic of China National Museum.
This is the gate that separated the commoners from royalty. Droves of people were rubbing these knobs as they went in.
This building was the emperor's palace. The entire complex had 9,999.5 rooms. More on that another time.
The emperor's throne.
Dad, these are tiles for a roof. Wonder how many squares it would be??? lol
It's been a fantastic day! Our luggage arrived at around 8:15 tonight and we are thrilled with clean underwear! lol. Tomorrow, we will head to the Great Wall and then will catch a train to Zhengzhou on Sunday morning {Saturday night for you}. I'm enjoying our time in Beijing and really happy to see so much of Gabe's history. But more than that, I'm expectant of what the Lord will do and how Gabe will receive us. Please continue to pray for his sweet heart to have peace. We are gonna rock his world in just a couple of days!
Love to all~
9.1.12
beijing day 2 :: we hit a wall
So y'all.
The Wall is incredible.
I mean, you knew that, right? I just had to say it.
But to begin at the beginning, we slept well and felt pretty darn good this morning. The Chinese may be on to something with these rock hard beds. My back isn't hurting at all {it pretty much hurts around the clock at home} and here I've been pushing my body physically over the last four days and yet, it's not hurting at all. Maybe it's the bed. Probably it's the Lord. :)
I have to tell you, the humidity is nuts here and combined with the incredibly hard water we have, my hair is in full assault against me. I mean it. Thus, the pony tail/flippy do/crazy pull back thing I've got going on every single day. I hope to hit the Walmart in Zhengzhou and snatch up a flat iron before Monday. It's crazy...and I'd love to not have freaky hair the day we meet Gabe. {Mom, Keith, Kern, & Kev :: I'm Monica in Barbados.} Nuff said.
So we slept well and had breakfast then headed out with the same group, guide and driver for a Day II in Beijing. Our first stop was the jade market. We learned about the intricacies of jade and how precious it is to the Chinese people. The market guide told us that every Olympic medal from the '08 summer Games had a jade inlay. I thought that was stinkin' cool. We were also taught how to differentiate true jade from knock offs. I have no idea if my newfound jade inspecting skill will ever come into play, but if it does, rest assured this girl is ready.
I would have loved to buy a few pieces but they were pricey {we were at the "government market"}. We did come away with a Happiness Ball though. Jase and I both were struck by it and after hearing the legend and it's meaning...we just had to have one.
The artisans {some masters and some apprentices} begin with a block of jade mined in China. They carve it down to a hollow ball with two symbols on the outside that represent "parents". There is another hollow ball on the inside that moves freely, that represents "children" and then yet another one located in the very center that is solid and it represents the generations to come.
Our guide at the market explained to us that it is meant to remind us that we are family and that parents surround our children and keep them in our circle for generations...that we take care of each other and protect each other. Jase and I loved the symbolism of that and bought one for our family to enjoy...and for Gabe to keep when he is older.
The cool thing is that only the artisans know how to construct it out of the single piece...there are no breaks in the actual circle/ball. There are holes that they carve, but no breaks. So few people know how they carve the inner ball in each layer. Impressive. Even the lady who gave us the tour had no idea how they do it.
Kennedy, I thought of you when I saw these strands of jade! You know, in Mulan? The line we sing all the time that makes us laugh out loud? Sing it with me...."Beads of jade for beauty, you must proudly show it. Now add a cricket, just for luck. And even you can't blow it!" I'm missing you, sweet girl! And I snapped this shot for you!
After the jade market, we headed to the wall. My goodness. This joker is massive. You just can't believe it. I soooo wish Beijing was not so smog infested! Our guide said that the smog is worst in summer because of the humidity and the thickness of the atmosphere just holds it all in. I know you wouldn't get the full effect anyway...pictures never do it justice. But I do wish visibility was better so you'd have an idea just how impressive it is.
We had two options. And easy side and a hard side. Of course, neither is easy. A million steps is a million steps, right? But we chose the hard side because the views were supposed to be better. It was hard indeed and the views were spectacular, despite the smog.
The steps were 18" to 2+ feet high.
I kid you not.
And they were varying in height the entire time. Very difficult to get any momentum or groove to your climb. You can tell it was made completely by hand {unreal} and with only some amazing manpower. There was a handrail {Praise God} but after a bit, the incline was so steep that the poor handrail couldn't keep up. lol. So it got to where the rail was about 6" from the step...and I missed it when it was gone!
Jase and I made it up to a second check point on the steep side. Only one person went further, she rocked it out and went past the 3rd check point. Before she passed us up, she snapped a few pics of Jase and I. I'm so grateful she did...what an experience. We just kept telling each other that we were so glad we were there together doing this awesome thing. Hey mom and dad, we made a memory today. :) All of the pictures of the wall are segments that we climbed except the first shot of us with it in the background. That was the easy side behind us. It was taken by our group before we began to climb our separate ways.
These legs climbed The Great Wall today! Coming down felt like we walked with noodles instead. But hey, we did it!
These were hanging in the tree outside of the entrance to The Great Wall. They are hand written well wishes that locals have hung there. I thought of our Gabe and his rich history of wonderful traditions...and how so many of them are full of meaning but empty of Truth. If I'd had the opportunity, I'd have hung a prayer there for my sweet one. A prayer for his heart's peace over the next few days, for the Spirit's leading in His life and that He would grow to be a man of favor with the One True God.
After the wall and lunch, we were supposed to visit the Olympic Village. But it came a downpour and we only got to drive through it. I tried to snag a few shots through the bus window. :( We saw the Water Cube {which our guide said the Chinese lovingly now refer to as the "Miracle Cube" since Phelps won 8 gold medals there! lol}, and the Bird's Nest {not too close though}. It was neat to see all of the stadiums and landmarks that were part of the Games in '08. You know we love us some Olympics.
We finished off the day with a wild half hour long taxi ride back to the hotel while the rest of the group went to an acrobatics show. It wasn't part of our "travel package" and I can't say I minded. Jase and I were stinky and tired. I don't know what smelled worse, us or the taxi. When we stopped at lights and the airflow subsided, it was a sure tossup as to which of those two things were most rancid. Just keepin' it real. But we knew a shower and fresh underwear awaited us at the hotel!
Tomorrow morning around 9:30, we will board a train for Zhengzhou...the city where we will receive our sweet Gabe. Can't wait.
Love and hugs from way over here to way over there~
9.2.12
buggin' outta beijing
So it's been a day y'all! We woke up too early. Me at 4am and Jase on and off all night. I'm not sure if it's still jetlag or anticipation that we will meet Gabe tomorrow or a little of both! Either way, we were up and at 'em at 6:00 and got ready to head down for breakfast, Facetime with the babies at home and then off to our train at 8.
Our guide, Michelle, was in the lobby at 7:55. Man, these guides are so awesome. She put us in a car and we were off to the train station for our 9:52 bullet to Zhengzhou. It was pouring buckets and way cooler. I bet in was in the 60's. Felt really great after such a humid few days we've had. Yesterday at the wall was actually tolerable but still sticky. Today was pleasant despite the rain!
We got to the station around 8:30 and much to our amazement, Michelle got out with us. She took one of our suitcases and rolled it up to the agent. Then she took one of our tickets and got permission to accompany us into the station {HUGE blessing}. Y'all, Victoria station in London nor Grand Central in NY has anything on the Beijing train station. CRAZY, I tell you. These shots are so bad from my phone..but wanted you to see what I mean. This was only one gate in the station!
Michelle not only got us to the correct gate, which we'd have never found on our own, but also walked onto the platform and physically put us on the correct number "carriage." She spoke to one of the train employees on board and found out that our train would enter Zhengzhou at 3:24pm...which was fantastic to know since we couldn't hear the announcements at all once we got going. There was a scrolling LED thingy that kinda told you but had we waited for it, the line to get off would have been throughout our carriage and we may not have made it off. We timed the stops...2 minutes exactly once it came to a stop to when it began to go again.
Jase kept himself busy with some fun on Photoshop...a joke for our pastor and friends, Chad and Cathy who host an annual 5K each Labor Day. Jase helps them throughout the year with graphic work and so we joked with them about missing the race this year since we would be gone to meet Gabe. Chad gave us a hard time about it...in a purely hysterical way. So Jase decided to give a jab of his own and put this together while we rode through the China countryside.
So around 3:10, we got our luggage {yes, you carry on all of your luggage!} and walked to the door just in case. I'm so glad we did! It was nuts!
Here is a shot {from my iPhone} of when we got off the train in ZZ.
And here is what we saw when we came up from underground after following all exit signs...
...and for once, no guide was in sight.
It was eery. We stuck out like a sore thumb. You can't imagine the stares we got. Jase moved me and the luggage over in front of the McDonalds to walk around a bit and see if we could find our guide whom we were told would be directly outside the exit stairs of the train station holding a WACAP sign. But one look around and we decided against it. Too many men staring at us. Not necessarily in that way...but it spooked us both and Jase was afraid to leave me.
Love my man.
So we walked a bit away from the exit because of the crowd and stood in a more open area so we would stick out even more to our missing guide. After about 15 minutes, we decided to turn on Jase's phone and just call the guide...without international service! It may cost a pretty penny, but we were desperate. People were everywhere and they were starting to come up and speak to us and want us to do things...of which we have no idea. Could be they wanted to drive us somewhere. Could be there were going to take advantage of us. Who knows? But we pulled out the WACAP packet and called our guide, Michael.
He answered right away and they chatted {lol} for a few minutes. As it turns out, there are FOUR exits at the ZZ train station and he had camped out at the South one, had put the driver at the West one and of course, we came out the North one. Funny now. Then, not so much. But we didn't panic. We knew he was there. He had to be. WACAP is so thorough and we trust them implicitly to have every detail in place.
Still, it was unnerving.
But Michael found us within a few minutes and moved us to a better place to wait for the driver. It took a while but the driver found us and off we went to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Holiday Inn. REALLY like this hotel. The room is just normal hotel size. But it's so nice. Cold AC, nice furniture, and clean.
And this was waiting for us....
Nuff said on that. Nearly lost it when we walked in and I saw that waiting for a certain little prince.
Michael said to settle in a bit and then he would take us to dinner {Chinese of course, it was good!} and then to Walmart to buy needed items for Gabe {yogurt milk per his foster mom} and water, Cokes, etc for us. Really cool to go there and see the similarities and many differences. Here are some shots from our walk to dinner and then to shop. {It was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel}. We already like ZZ better than Beijing. Beautiful weather, less humidity and you can actually see that the sky is blue!
Gabe's preferred drink of choice...yogurt milk. I'm guessing it's like Danimals back home. We got a case for him. :)
After shopping, Michael hailed us a cab since it was dark, busy and we were carrying heavy stuff from Walmart. It took all of 10 seconds and we were on our way in crazy Zhengzhou. Then it happened...we went through a round about and a "rookie driver" tried to turn right from the left lane and he hit us on my side just past my door.
Thank God, it was just a fender bender. But still, nerve racking! Our cab driver got out in the middle of the round about and started yelling at the other car! This went on for about ten minutes as other cars whizzed around us! Finally, the other man handed him a wad of cash and we were on our way again. It was nuts and any pictures of the incident that are popping into your head are probably accurate!
Ah, just another day in China. lol.
And tomorrow morning, at 10am our time {10pm East Coast}, we will meet our Gabe. I'm shaking just thinking about it. Our last sleep before our baby boy knows the love of a forever family. His inheritance as a son is secure. The plan that the Lord put in place for him to be grafted into us is in it's final stages. We are grateful and feeling really blessed tonight. And forgetful, I walked right in Walmart and still didn't remember to buy a flat iron. Gabe is gonna meet the Monica version of Mama tomorrow. Sheesh.
Will post as soon as we can but I anticipate it will be middle of the night. :) So don't wait up, mom! lol
9.3.12
t-minus one hour
So, it's 8am and we will meet our guide, Michael, in the lobby of our hotel at 9:15. He has arranged a driver to take us to the Civil Affairs office in the provincial capital of Henan, Zhengzhou. This is where we will receive Gabe and begin the paperwork to make him one of us forever.
That makes me smile.
Which is such a good thing since I've been a weepy hot mess for about 5 hours now. I woke up at 3:00 and thought of our Joel. How he is turning 6 years old on Tuesday and having a Darth Vader birthday party with my family today at 4:00...without us. Tears flooded my face and I had to go into the bathroom and just have a good cry so I wouldn't wake Jase. I decided after a few minutes to grab the Macbook and just reconnect with normal life.
Before too long, Jase was awake too. So we got to work trying to Skype with the kids. Facetime is evidently blocked in ZZ because it's not working at all and was perfect in Beijing. We were big crying babies over here! Singing "Happy Birthday" to our Tornado and being so torn. So grateful we could do that! Even though it was hard, so worth it. He looked very happy with his gifts and it's a perfect distraction for him. We spoke to the girls too...and my mom and her two sisters. Keith made us laugh with his normal antics...which for me, was good medicine.
The emotion and gravity of it all is gut wrenching. Gabe is now en route to us here in Zhengzhou from his hometown a couple hours away. He's in a car somewhere and has little idea, however well prepared he could be, how his life will change. Even breathing in for me is painful this morning. Sounds so over the top and cheesy, I know. But it's just the truth. We love this little boy that we've never held, never touched. We love him desperately. And when you know that pain is coming for your child, you hurt too.
We had such an amazing meeting with Joel three years ago. It had to be the Lord! It's completely possible that Gabe will come straight to us smiling like his brother did. But it's also very unlikely given his story of foster care vs. orphanage life. We're prepared for some very painful days.
Whatever happens today, we know that God has gone before us. He is holding Gabe securely in His hand. Please pray for us to have wisdom and patience and grace to help him be comfortable. We love you all and will post here as soon as we can. The words of encouragement here and on FB have meant the world to us. You have no idea....well, maybe a few of you who have walked this road know all too well! Either way, we love you and have been blessed by you!
To God be the glory!
9.3.12
then sings my soul
my Savior God to thee,
how great Thou art.
9.4.12
he is six
So I never, ever thought that after struggling through missed birthdays while we waited for our Joel, that I'd miss yet another one in three short years.
Y'all. My uber sweet and completely handsome Thai Tornado is six today.
Six.
Forgive me while I step away and cry into a hotel pillow.
I just can't get over it. Can't get over that our first son, whom we saw when he was a mere 20 months old is now a six year old kindergartner.
Where did the time go? Why is it that when you are waiting for your children to come home, the days drag on forever but once they are with you, you blink and they are way bigger than you ever imagined they would be in so short a time?
Goodness.
It is so hard to be away from our boy today.
We know that sacrifices are necessary when you are adopting. Heck, Joel gets that now. But still, I just want to hug my baby today and tell him face to face how very loved and wanted and treasured he is on this, his sixth birthday.
How we never intended to spend another one away from him.
And how we hope beyond hope that this is the very last.
I trust he is having a swell time with his "super cool Uncle Keith" today at Legol@nd. Just the two of them...headed to the big city for a day of fun and to celebrate him. He couldn't hardly contain his excitement when he found out that this is how he would spend his birthday!
I'm so grateful to my family for putting together a small party for him while we are away this past Sunday. For giving him our gifts and for singing to him and posting pictures of it all for Jase and I to cry over half a world away.
So very grateful.
It still just stinks to be here and not there.
My dear Joel,
Oh, baby boy. My heart aches today. I can't tell you how I wanted to be there to tuck you in for the last time as a five year old and then to take your picture and see your crazy bedhead on the morning you are officially six. I love you more than life and I hope that you realize that your daddy and I would never miss your big day if we could help it. We know that you are so excited to have Gabe in our family and that you, more than anyone, understand how important it is that we leave you for a while to be able to bring him home. I hope that I am missing you way more than you are missing us today. I love you so much it hurts, handsome. And I can't wait to scoop you up again.
Happy birthday, big boy.
Mama
So, this blog has officially been hijacked. That's right...it's me, Super Cool Uncle Keith. I have to tell you...after going down to the bottom of this page and see a tag with my name on it, I'm a bit offended...seriously, who is going to refer to me as Dork Boy or Ugly Boy? But I say...whatever makes you sleep at night! :)
9.4.12
joel man - birthday boy - crazy kid
Update on the Birthday Boy
Well, here is a great picture of the Tornado this morning, on his 6th birthday. Yes, crazy bed head and all. We are off for a great adventure - St@r W@rs Lego guys!!! It's the coolest thing since sliced bread...and me, of course!
Being that he is spending a chunk of the time with me, I took him to work with me last Thursday. Part of my job, which I LOVE, is teaching chapel at our Preschool. So, a little shy, he hung out in the sound booth! Pay no attention to the fact that his uncle let him leave the house with huge rooster hair that morning! :)
Now, I have to wrap this up so that we can get on with the fun...but I wanted to leave you with one of the best videos ever. And when I say ever...I mean EVER! You see, this boy has owned my heart since the first picture I ever saw of him...and once he got here and we found out how much he adores me...well, let's just say it is hard for this "Big Kid" to say "no" to him (especially when he refers to pictures of Yod@ as his "daddy"....stinkin' hilarious!!!!!)
At any rate, we woke up yesterday morning and went to watch the Gotcha Video. And wouldn't you know...I had my iPhone near by. Reason #1584 that I love my iPhone - I can record video pretty easily! So...I held it out without checking the screen or anything...and it seemed to work well. I threw the video in iMovie and put the actual Gotcha Video in the bottom corner so that you can see what he is seeing. PRICELESS!!!! I love this kid! My world is SOOOO much better because of him...and now, I can't wait for Gabe to be here so that I can
HOLLA!
Super Cool Uncle Keith
9.5.12
blessed
So that's how we feel, y'all. Completely blessed.
I'm so glad that Keith helped to add some fun stuff to the blog yesterday! We had a full day that I will write about tomorrow probably. But need to catch you all up on how things went on Monday when we received Gabe.
We had a really hard Sunday night...waking every few minutes and praying and hoping that Gabe would do well. But after I got up and wrote the post and talked to the kids...and sang "Happy Birthday" to Joel, I felt better.
Tired, but better.
We were so ready to meet our boy and take him in and begin the task of gaining his trust. We met our guide at 9:15 in the lobby of our hotel and we caught a cab over to the Civil Affairs Office in Zhengzhou. It was an absolutely beautiful day. No humidity and blue skies. My hair even settled down a little. lol. We arrived and walked into a room that I've seen online countless times over the years. And even recently as Syd and I have been watching Gotcha videos of families who have received their children in the same place. It all looked very familiar and felt very comfortable to be there.
It's as natural a thing as can be...meeting your child for the first time.
You may be skeptical. But don't be. I can't explain it. Just as those who are born to you, you hold them for the first time and you feel like you could burst. Of course there is some anxiety because you don't know each other. And that can be scary for all of us and our babies. It takes time to get to the point where it seems "normal" for you to be together. But natural and normal are very different. Something inside, surely the Holy Spirit, confirms to your soul that this is best now. It is best that we love them and receive them and graft them into us now. It is right. It is natural.
And everything up to that point is wrong. The circumstances and reasons that your child finds themselves in a government office for this purpose are always wrong. Because our world is fallen. Mothers are supposed to give birth to and love and raise their children. Children are never supposed to know the loss and abandonment of their parents.
Depravity is the culprit because when Adam and Eve fell..the whole of the Earth fell with them.
But what are we to do? Let them be?
Surely not!
Sorry. Got in sermon mode there. Just feel so strongly about this. Anyway, here we are outside the Civil Affairs Office.
This sign says "Intercountry Adoption."
Back to our morning. Some new friends that we've met here received their daughter first. I was busy snapping pictures for them and heard Jase say, "Babe, there he is! There's our Gabe!"
On an orphanage worker's hip, he came up the stairs and into the room.
It took my breath away to see him in person.
I went over and reached for him. He came somewhat reluctantly but didn't cry at all. He was very serious and quiet. But he clung to me. Jase came over and rubbed his back and spoke softly to him but he didn't want to go to him just yet. He looked like he was going to cry when Jase tried to take him so we just let him be with me.
I held him for about 15 minutes and then wanted to give him a bottle. I figured he must be hungry after his long ride from Pingdingshan. He lay in my lap and let me feed him. Once he was finished, he went over to Jase and that my friends, is the end of the story!
He is all about his daddy now. :)
I had such hopes that Gabe would be a mama's boy! I thought it would be easier on Joel to not have the competition. But it was inevitable. These boys love their daddy and well, he's pretty plumb dumb nuts over his sons. And really, that's how it should be. There is a reason the Scriptures call orphans the "fatherless"...because at the base of life, it is within the father that children find their worth and their inheritance. Our children bear their father's name...he is their hope for this life. That is the way God intended it to be.
The orphanage sent two bags with him. One full of snacks that he likes as well as milk and diapers. And the other had the gifts we had sent to him and some clothes they bought him. Very sweet. Some super soft pj's, a Mickey shirt and a pair of shorts and tshirt. We weren't expecting these gifts for him...and especially still with tags on.
You saw the video and know that we blew bubbles and he was doing so well. We got back to the hotel around 12 noon and Skyped with my mom and sister, then Sydney, then Keith. Joel was down for the night and Kennedy was hard to reach with spotty wifi at my brother, Kevin's, house. They all oohed and aaaahed over him. How could they not!
By then, he was really hungry and we ordered a dumpling from room service. He happily sat in the floor and ate it up!
He still had a runny nose and bad cough from his flu a couple of weeks ago. We worried that he needed medicine. But he seemed so content. Only cried when he was exhausted a few times. And was not liking his bath too much. He needed it though. A long day, many wet and dirty diapers and I just wanted to wash him off and rub him down with lotion. He calmed down and fell asleep very quickly in Jase's arms. Later that night, the same thing happened and I laid him in the crib and he didn't move until the morning. He did cough quite a bit but slept like a rock. Jase had to work hard to wake him up Tuesday morning!
Hi, Suzie! Thanks for my moose!
Later that night, we had a blast introducing Gabe to Joel and Kennedy via Facetime! Then, Jase introduced Gabe to the art of playing on the bed...a precursor to the art of "pinning down" that will come when he is a bit older! We got lots of smiles and giggles from our sweet boy. :)
Gabe's foster mom said that he is easy...easy going, easy disposition, easy eater. We are finding all of these to be true. He sleeps so soundly that you could pick him up and move him around without a hint of him waking. He loves to be held and kissed. And he seems completely content with us.
It was a perfect day from our perspective. The Lord went before us and has opened Gabe's heart to receive us as we so desperately wanted to receive him. He is showing good signs of attachment and bonding to both of us and will whine when Jase leaves his sight. Such a good thing. He doesn't want to go to others but stays firmly with either of us as we hold him when we are out.
We are blessed beyond what we deserve and we know that Gabe is our gift from the Lord. We wouldn't change a thing about the road we've walked because we see plainly God's hand in it all. Through loss and many difficult days, Jesus has given us peace and favor. Gabe is our precious gift and we are so blessed that he is.
9.6.12
the day we will never forget
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
So that's the understatement of the week. We will surely never forget this day. I had anticipated it with joy and dreaded it at the same time. Our guide, Michael {who is amazing}, said we would meet at 7:45am and head back over to the Civil Affairs Office again by 8am when they opened.
He said we would have an extremely full day and he was not exaggerating. We walked into Civil Affairs at 8:05 and Gabe went about playing in the little area they have set up for children. He was happy as a little lark having it all to himself since we were the first family there that morning. I think part of the reason Jase likes our guide is that he is so on top of it and likes to do things early {as to avoid any time delays and any snaffu with paperwork}. We got to work signing the final adoption papers. Even now, I get teary. It’s so different than with Joel since we brought him home from Thailand as his parents in our hearts, but as his guardians legally. There was little to no paperwork done in his home country. But here is so different.
We signed statements saying that we would love him forever, that we would always take care of him to the best of our ability and that we would never, under any circumstances, abandon him.
Lord, it hurts to even type those words. To contemplate that is gut wrenching.
Abandon him? How in the world could we do that now?
Over the last 9 months and better still, in two short days, the Lord has so knit Gabe into us that it is irrevocable. He is our son as much as a person can be ours. Mad, crazy love for this boy. Mad love.
So we signed and pressed our fingerprints over our signatures in red. So symbolic of our Jesus. I love it. We signed our names on the paperwork that declares Gabe to be our son, and then we placed our fingerprints in red ink over top of it. Let there be no doubt. We are who we say we are, our signatures are linked with our unique prints and we declare with no hesitation that we desire to make this baby our son.
Lord, I can’t stop crying. What a picture of the Gospel. What a great God we belong to, who sealed our adoption in red as well. As the wonderful old hymn, “How Great Thou Art” says, I scarce can take it in. That’s the song that keeps playing in my head in China. How Great He is indeed.
After we signed the papers and gave our prints, the government officials for the Province of Henan, China came to the center of the room and had us promise to do the things we had written and signed that we would. Then, they declared that he is now and forevermore,
Gabriel Seth R...
and that we were free to take him. Glory to God.
Check it out! Gabe became one of us officially on big brother Joel's 6th birthday!
It was a little over a 2 hour drive to Pingdingshan. We had a private driver and a really nice van. Gabe was perfect. He is such a good little boy. Sooo easy. And he slept a good bit of the way.
I was struck as we entered PDS that it is not a small town. It’s really a good sized city. The pictures I had seen of it online seemed to paint a different picture. PDS is known for it’s coal mining. So I just had a another mental image. These were taken while riding in the van so they're not great...but you get the idea!
After a quick lunch at McDonald’s, we went to Gabe’s finding place. I’m going to journal about that privately for him. I think that part of his story is for he and us alone. I will say though, the picture below, in the distance, is where we went and walked and cried and thanked our great God for our little boy and that his life was spared in this place.
We spent a few minutes there and the gravity of it all was a lot to take in. Gabe was oblivious of course and so we took several pictures of him there as well as a few of the three of us. Then we headed to the orphanage/SWI {Social Welfare Institute}.
Gabe only spent a couple of weeks here. But it was clear he was not fond of it. The SWI was pretty clean but run down. Very poor looking and the tiny road that led to it looked exactly as I imagined it would. We met the director who was a very nice woman. She seemed genuinely happy for Gabe. Below is a picture of the two of them.
He went to her with little reservation...but Jase was right next to him. After a while, they invited us upstairs to see the other children. It was so troubling. I may post about it after we are home. But I saw with my own eyes the things that I have read in books about China’s orphanages. I’m afraid these images will be burned into my memory forever. That’s not a bad thing. Just incredibly difficult to process. I cried quite a bit and I think it was offensive to the nannies and leaders there maybe. They kept looking at me with questions on their faces and speaking to Michael. He finally spoke to me about how they are trying the best they can with these children. So it was clear that they knew I was broken over the state of things there. I will leave it at that for now.
One nannie insisted on holding him. We think more for appearances than anything else since he was only there for several days. How well could she know him? He panicked and Jase took him right back. We had no intention of letting anyone hold him. This nannie just kind of took over and as you know, Jase is so mild mannered.
But not after this. He was daddy bear in every sense and would have no part in letting go of Gabe again. He took him outside to walk and let him calm down. It broke Jase as much as it did Gabe. Lesson learned {though we knew it beforehand}...but we will be more forceful if it happens again.
This is Michael. The best guide ever.
So that was our Tuesday. A wonderfully emotional day we'll never forget. We are grateful for all the Lord is doing and has done. Gabe is ours forever!
9.6.12
taking it easy
So after our marathon on Tuesday, Michael said we should just chill on Wednesday. This was news to our ears and we did just that. Slept in, had a huge breakfast {it's amazing at our hotel} and then just vegged out in the room watching TV and playing with Gabe. Later that afternoon, we went to Walmart again for some necessities and then to eat dinner with Michael at another local Chinese restaurant. Thank God for this man! We'd never be able to order without him! It was yummy again and super cheap. We are eating here for less than $15 a day. WooHoo!
Gabe's cold/flu/whatever it is continues to give him trouble. He had a bad night Wednesday with coughing and trouble breathing. At one point, we got him out of the crib {where he sleeps so well} and put him in bed with us so I could do some percussion on his back and chest to help break things up. It was very concerning to hear him breathe. He never seemed to be in distress...just struggled to stop coughing.
Thursday morning at breakfast, we met up with another couple that we've been with on and off since we got to China and they said that they had to see a doctor for their son the day before. They had extra antibiotics that they were happy to share. I have no idea if what Gabe is fighting is viral or even a bacterial sinus infection or something else. And I know it's a big "no no" to give antibiotics willy nilly.
But y'all, when you're in China and a friend shares antibiotics for your 18 month old 19lb sick son from her 19 month old 20lb sick son...you take them happily.
We came back from breakfast and gave him the meds and then he conked out. He takes two naps a day. :) Around 11:30, we headed out with Michael to a local park. It was a bit hotter and more humid out, but we were happy to see some more of Zhengzhou. We really, really like this city. Way more than Beijing...not from a tourist's perspective as there's not much that compares to what you can "see" in Bejing. But just as a city, we like it much much better. Very clean and the weather is mild and it's just a neat place.
Here are a ton of pics from our walk in the park. Sorry there are so many and that they are repetitive...I just can't stop myself. :)
This was the supply closet for the park. Everything here is so clean...always someone cleaning something! Men sweeping the streets, women wiping everything down over and over every morning. No litter...anywhere. I thought these brooms were so cool.
A local lady was walking and had picked this flower. When she saw Gabe, she offered it to him. :)
"Oh, I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me."
~Battestelli
This little beauty took a liking to us...and we liked her too! Isn't she lovely?
Waving bye to Gabe.
There are sycamore trees that line the street to and from our hotel. I love them! I don't think I've ever seen one before this trip. I can just picture Zacchaeus perched in one to get a look at Jesus when he passed by. They are super neat trees.
We both were zonked after our walk through the park and enjoyed some snuggly nap time together. Kudos to Jase for grabbing my camera. Love him, love him.
We are boarding a plane to Guangzhou today at 5pm. Sooo looking forward to the next city as it's supposed to be the best! AND, it means that we are that much closer to being home with all of our babies!
9.7.12
mama on gabe
Gabe is as easy going as any person I've ever met. He goes with the flow seamlessly...whatever and wherever the flow takes him. He's serious, but not sad. He may very well be in complete "coping mode", but you'd never know it.
He is attaching and bonding more everyday. There is an absence of obvious grief, which can be concerning. But he worries when Jase leaves his sight and is most comforted by his daddy. Both of which are fantastic markers for attachment. He reaches for me sometimes when he's with daddy...which is so good. I'm happy to carry him and hold him, and he seems perfectly content to let me for a while until he misses his daddy. And when I am carrying him in public, he turns his head to follow Jase everywhere.
He is most fussy at bedtime or when he needs to fill his diaper. :)
But all is well once both of those are accomplished. He is regular and a fantastic sleeper. You have to work hard to wake him. And he is sound! I can kiss his face, his feet, his neck...it doesn't matter. He will not wake up. We hold him till he falls asleep and then lay him in his crib. He doesn't so much as flinch when you put him down.
I began teaching him to kiss my cheek the first day we had him. I would kiss his and then say "kiss" and turn my cheek to him...he would smile and shake his head "no." We would laugh at him and let it go. This went on until yesterday, when I was holding him face to face and he looked at me, leaned in and planted a huge one on my lips out of the blue.
And then Jase mopped my melted self up off the hotel room floor and I enjoyed another unsolicited smack.
We've been getting them pretty regularly since then. Be still my heart. He even kisses Jase's iPhone when he sees the kids. They are so happy to see him each day and they can't wait to get their hands on him either. Joel killed us this morning as he and Gabe were just staring at each other and Joel said, "I love you, baby Gabe."
The stuff of life, y'all. The stuff of life.
Gabe loves to walk, loves to be held, loves to ride in the car or the buggy at Walmart or the carrier on my chest. He's just so easy.
He eats like a rock star. I may need to pick up some more photography sessions soon to offset the grocery bill when we get home. lol. He sits in the high chair and takes whatever we give him...but he's not big on juice...apple, orange or otherwise.
He hates the bath. But loves when I rub him down with lotion afterwards.
He's brilliant. I mean it. He will mimic anything and everything we can think of to have him do. He figures things out so quickly. I know I'm his mama, and therefore biased, but Gabe is as sharp as a tack. He is already signing with us and will sign "more" and "all done" on his own. We are working on "thank you" as well. He says "mama" and "dada" easily too.
This is gross but I can't help it. The boy can blow his own nose. Gets a tissue, holds it there, closes his mouth and blows his nose. 18 month old genius. But if no tissue is around, he will just blow without it. Eeek. Gotta keep tissues handy while he's got this cold. lol
Jase and I keep looking at each other in disbelief that we could be so blessed. Gabe is such a gift. An indescribable gift. And though I've done my best to help you get to know him in this post, I can't do him justice. He is completely precious and I can't wait for you all to get to know him. We are beyond grateful that the Lord led us to him and him to us.
Yep, this boy, he has stollen my heart and I'm a goner for sure.
9.8.12
holy guangzhou, batman!
So we made it to our fourth and final city in China! It's the third one we've stayed in but the fourth we've visited since we spent the day in Gabe's birth city on Tuesday. We're happy to be in Guangzhou, the last leg of our trip will be spent here where we will attend a United States Consulate Appointment on Monday morning that will secure his entry visa.
Halleluyer.
So far, this city has lived up to it's highly anticipated expectations. It's much more modern than the other cities we have been to and although the humidity rivals home, Guangzhou is da bomb digity. My hair may never be the same but who cares? Like I'm gonna see any of these people ever again!
Jase and I researched hotels quite a bit before traveling here. WACAP gave us a list of several options within the specific locations of each city and then let us choose. We knew the one in Beijing would be "so so." The reviews were iffy and said that you can smell smoke on the non smoking floors and that it's loud and the breakfast buffet is just "okay." It was fine. All of those things were absolutely true, mind you, but for what we were there to do {for 2 days of sight seeing without Gabe}, we did fine there.
In Zhengzhou, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza Holiday Inn. The CP is the main hotel and was very nice. A bit pricier than the HI but the two were connected and shared a breakfast buffet that was out of this world as well as the pool. We have had great experience with HI abroad {Especially in Rome, Italy...when my bestie went to bat for us and got us out of a literal inferno of a hell hole and into a clean, freezing cold AC Holiday Inn. So our Zhengzhou room was nice and we were happy with it for the five days we spent there.
Enter Guangzhou and its amazing Garden Hotel.
Peeps, Jase and I are ruined. THIS is how to stay in a hotel! My goodness. It's not like we ever expected it. But for $10 more a night {WACAP's negotiated rate for adopting families is HUNDREDS less than the normal rate}, it is unmatched as far as we can tell. Our room boasts of nearly 700 square feet! Living room, walk in shower and garden tub. Two flat screens in the walls.
Now I know you all don't care a hill of beans about our hotel.
Humor me, though. After the anxiety and weariness of international adoption and travel in a foreign country, a hotel can make or break you! Jase and I won't stay in a place like this for a loooong while! lol. I want to take a lot more pictures of things when we go out later, so I'm post them another time. But just know, we are not suffering in GZ! lol.
Our flight to Guangzhou was fine. It was delayed by a little over an hour but I've been warned by other families that all in domestic flights in China are delayed. ha. Gabe was a rock star.
Rock star, I tell you.
He never cried. He just didn't fall asleep until the last ten minutes of the flight and so he was all messed up with his schedule. He didn't sleep well last night either. It took forever for him to get comfortable and then he woke up so congested. We are continuing to give him the meds. He is better...just not well yet.
His visa medical went fine. There was a discrepancy over his referral paperwork. The Chinese documentss evidently didn't say that he had a heart condition. I wrote on the forms that he did and they couldn't find it on the Chinese translation. But they listened to him with the stethescope and said he would need surgery for his heart. Not news to us. I had hoped to snag a few shots of his medical exam...but it just moved too quickly. Not a bad thing at all.
Our new guide, Elsie, is pretty great. She had us in and done with that exam in 20 minutes despite a completely full waiting area. Were it not for the medical facility taking forever to type up the report for the visa, we would have been out in record time. Other families, with other agencies, seemed to be waiting forever. Maybe because they were in a large group with other families. Who knows?
But Gabe fell asleep on my chest and I walked with him for 30 minutes or so while we waited for the paperwork. He is such a good boy. And is doing very well with me the last two days. He's never out and out rejected me. But lately, he is coming to me much more often. And those kisses are still coming. :)
Jase was feeling really tired after lunch today and wanted to rest so I closed the door between the bedroom and living room and snapped some pics of Gabe in front of our window at the Garden. We are on the 14th floor and he loves to look out. Great light for pics, great city, great subject! Can't go wrong, right? Even if they are the same shot over and over! lol
He heard Jase come out of the bedroom...his face says it all.
I love you, dad.
Jase was kissing his neck and he was belly laughing!
Tomorrow morning, we are heading over to Shamian Island to attend church! So humbling and excited to be able to do this while are here. And at 2pm, I'm going shopping with a local lady who is known to many in the adoption world as being fantastic with families, Ann of Red Thread China. Jase is going to hang out here with Gabe and I'm going to find treasures to bring home. So excited.
We spoke to the kids today again via Facetime and they are back home settled in with Jason's parents. It's been a great week for them with my family and I know they are happy to be sleeping in their own beds again tonight. We just can't wait to join them there! Even if these hard Chinese beds are doing wonders for my ailing back!
Love to all from the flip side of the world~
9.8.12
stand up
So we threw a little video together {no frills at all!} for our kids at home who are struggling a bit missing us. We miss them too! And thought this would bring a smile to their faces. We like to listen to this song really LOUD on the way to school and a couple of weeks ago, it hit me that it'd be great for some footage of Gabe once we had him.
Enjoy, sweet babies! We love you! Your brother can't wait to meet you!
9.9.12
it's true
So today was fantastic. We woke up a little before 7am because a certain little prince missed his afternoon nap yesterday and couldn't hold his eyes open at 7pm last night. :) But it was good because we wanted to get ready, head to breakfast and hit Shamian Island for church this morning.
Shamian Island holds dear memories and feelings for countless American adoptive parents. It's a lovely piece of Guangzhou that has European influence. So all of the buildings feel much more like "home." It's gorgeous and quiet and always a must see for families and their new children. The US Consulate appointments used to happen here but the Embassy has since moved a few years ago. The famous White Swan Hotel, where droves of adoptive families have stayed, has been closed for renovations for almost two years as well I'm told. {Which stinks because you can't get the red couch pictures anymore either...believe me, we tried. :( } So the draw of the island is lessened now. But it is so lovely.
There were photographers EVERYWHERE! They shot brides and grooms, models in crazy outfits and even some in winter attire...I bet there were stinkin' hot! Here are a few shots to give you an idea of how beautiful it is.
We also really wanted to go to worship too. Christ Church is located near where the American Embassy used to be and is the only Protestant church of it's kind anywhere near here. I have no idea why or how it exists other than by God's grace. For a country so turned off to Christianity and a government so closed to the Gospel, it's a miracle that it is there.
There was standing room only in the church and I was struck by the line to get inside. They have two services on Sunday mornings...we went to the second one because it was in Mandarin and English. We sat in the back of the sanctuary because we were afraid Gabe may be a distraction. We were right! But he made it through worship and a few minutes of the sermon. :)
Worship was rich.
It's true.
There is a remnant.
The Lord has saved His people from every tribe and tongue and nation.
Jase and I have worshiped with many different nationalities of believers over the years...Italian, South African, Costa Rican, etc. But to be there this morning, was something else. Maybe because it's forbidden by and large in communist China. I don't know. There was just something about it.
As soon as the people began to sing, and I heard His Name, I couldn't stop crying. It was very emotional for me. Jesu...Jesu...Jesu they would say. And when they prayed, I could only understand one word, over and over. Xie xie. Xie xie. Xie xie. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The second song was in English. Goodness how I wept through this. They all knew it, word for word, in English. And they lifted their hands in praise to our great God. It was incredibly humbling to worship the Lord with these brothers and sisters. Something I will remember for a very long time.
The sermon was from Acts about Paul and Barnabas and how the Holy Spirit worked through them as God sent them out. My goodness, the conviction that I felt in just the few minutes I was able to hear. To listen to a Chinese brother speak of sending missionaries and being a light to the world...it was nearly more than I could take.
The line to get into the service...
Most likely Gabe's first worship service...
When we left the service, we walked through some shops, had lunch at Lucy's {also famous for adoptive parents} and took some pics of Gabe in the "usual" places on Shamian Island. This boy would ride in a stroller for as long as you want to wherever you want. He's happy, happy, happy. But he moves fast and it's hard to catch him with the camera when he's on the loose!
Later this afternoon, I met Ann to shop. And shop we did! I spent more than I anticipated but came away with some really nice gifts for many of you! :)...and for our babies of course. Ann was awesome and I would have never been able to do what we did or score the gifts that I did without her. I'm grateful for the opportunity and to have met her. She is amazing. 32 years old, self taught English speaking, tiny lady with a ton of personality. She asked me why families come to adopt the kids when it is so expensive. I shared with her how blessed we are by our children and that many people help us along the way. She and an older vendor were talking about it and they just asked me how and why we do this...not in an accusatory way at all. I was honest with her and afterward, the older lady said, "thank you."
I've learned so much about China and it's people while we've been here. From our guides, from Ann and just observing life. I'm richer for it and my understanding of this culture has been reshaped in many ways. I'm grateful for those the Lord has put in our path. And hopefully, we have been obedient and used of Him to speak for His glory as well.
9.10.12
just because
So these two are monkeys. I leave them alone for three hours to shop {which nearly killed me...couldn't wait to get back and love on my prince} and they totally destroy the living room! And then they showed me their funny games.
Ah. Contentment.
Watching this little boy become a son makes me weepy...seriously though, I'm a weepy mess lately so it's no shocker that these two bring on the tears too. And anywhere that it looks as if Gabe is crying, rest assured that he is most definitely laughing. Big huge giggles out of a tiny adorable body.
How sweet are they!?! And yes, his shirt totally says, "My Mom Rocks"...but I think that Gabe may say it's a misprint! lol. :)
9.10.12
the garden hotel
So I told you guys how cool our Guangzhou hotel was...just for kicks and giggles, here's the proof! We are loving our suite and the space it gives Gabe to run around. But we are sure missing home and our babies who are there! Three days!
The Lobby...massive and hard to photograph because it's pretty dark. Check out that gold wall though!
The hallway on the 14th floor leading to our room...
Home sweet home...this week.
9.11.12
have visa, will travel
So our Consulate Appointment was yesterday morning and it went swell! We didn't expect it to be otherwise but still, when the US government says, "Sure, come on in!"...it's a good day!
We woke up early {6:30! lol} and none of us wanted to get out of bed. Gabe had begun one of his coughing spells around 5am and I put him in bed with us and we were all sleeping sooooo well! But it was a big morning and so we were up and at 'em. Breakfast was good again {of course...it's really something else!} and we headed out with our guide at 8am.
The drive to the American Embassy was no biggie and by 8:30, we were walking through security. The whole thing was painless and unlike when we were in Bangkok for Joel's CA, this time it was full of American families doing the exact same thing we were. :)
Jase and I stood with the other parents, raised our right hands and promised everything they wanted us to promise. But for the life of me, I can't remember what that was. But I'm sure we'll comply with whatever they mentioned we should comply with. We're straight up folks, after all. Then we went to the window and met with an officer who processed Gabe's paperwork.
His visa was ready at 3:30 today and we are clear as a bell to jump on that plane! We had reserved Wednesday as a buffer in case his passport wasn't ready but of course it was, so we're just here an exta day before we leave on Thursday. There is only one Korean Air flight out of Guangzhou each day and it's at 12:40pm. So there's no way to leave today before his visa comes and things are in place for the kids and everyone to meet us on Thursday...so we'll just hang here as planned.
The Embassy doesn't allow electronics of any kind beyond security, but here are a few shots of us after our appointment in the lobby. Our guide offered to take them and I was grateful! Gabe will become a US citizen as soon as his sweet feet touch the ground on Thursday night! :) To God be the glory!
A United States entry visa. Ah, it's a beautiful thing.
9.11.12
what you do
So this is what you do when you've been staying in a spacious and luxurious hotel but you still get a little stir crazy. You mosey on down to the fourth floor with your hubster and your son and visit here.
And before you could get in, you shower off. You know, because it's a nice place and all.
And you nearly miss the shot because you're laughing so hard at your son who's laughing so hard at the water hitting his face.
And then you need to see if your son will tolerate the water or completely freak out. So you put him down in this little overflow thingy first.
And since he loved it, you watch as he and the hubby venture into the big stuff.
And you melt as you see them so happy together.
And you're grateful when hubby decides to snap a few when it's your turn to play.
And then you are puckered out from teaching your son to jump off the side of the pool into daddy's arms, so the three of you take a little rest on one of these.
And it's fantastic. And you don't want to leave because it's just so fabulous. But your son needs his noodles for lunch. So you happily head out and realize that you just had a perfect hour in China.
Yep, perfect.
9.12.12
ready or not, here he comes
9.13.12
what china taught me
Sure, there is a lot to be said for the blessing of a biological family, of which I believe I have one of the best. However, the old saying is just that. A saying. Because no blood ties me to my sons, and yet no bond aside from that I have with Jase, is stronger than that with my babies. My love for them, for all four of our children, is of course intense. But my love for my sons is different. Not greater. Just different. And yet miraculously the same. Blood is definitely not thicker than water.
All people have an innate desire to be free.
I listened to our Zhengzhou guide explain to us how hard it is to live in a communist country. No freedom of religion. No freedom of the press. No freedom to grow your family in the way you would like. He has never known the liberty that I enjoy and yet, he knows he wants to. Any government that promises provision and care at the expense of it's citizens' freedom, is an oppressive one. And people here know this.
I can rock a squatty potty when push comes to shove.
{I'll give you a minute to process that.}
You got it. A hole in the floor. No other option. And no toilet paper either for that matter. But given the circumstances, squatty it had to be. It would have been nice if on the day I had to first navigate the squatty, I had worn one of the six little {convenient for squatty} dresses I brought to China. Instead, I chose bermuda shorts that morning. Not a good choice when a squatty is your fate. I will leave you to ponder this...but sufficed to say, bermudas are too long to pull down far "enough" to stay off of the disgusting floor AND stay dry from your own output while you are hovering over a hole to do your business. It'd also be really nice if other women would shut the door when they are using the squatty for themselves instead of leaving it open for me to walk by. Nuff said.
My husband is a rock star when it comes to international travel.
This is not news to me. But it's a lesson I continue to learn. He keeps me safe. Is my eyes and ears when we're crossing a busy intersection or walking through a sketchy part of town. He can carry twice as much luggage as I can, can calm a fussy baby and bring us lunch all at once. He doesn't rattle easily and brings peace to my anxiety. I adore Jase and wouldn't want to go anywhere in the world without him.
Love for Jesus and the gratitude His people have because of their salvation transcends culture, country and color.
I blogged about this to a degree a few days ago after having attended a worship service in China. But it's still fresh on my mind. How good the Lord is. How patient and gracious to graft us into Him. And to give us the blessing of being able to worship together with others who are so different than we are. That worship is sweet and rich. I'm sure it was a pleasant offering to Him Sunday. It was for me. He was there. In a country He created but one where He is mostly not welcomed. How humbling to meet Him here and to do so with like minded believers.
There's no place like home.
No ellaboration neccessary.
9.15.12
coming home
So our sweet Gabe continued to worsen with his cough and congestion day by day and by 2:30am the night before we left, I was up online finding where we could take him for treatment before our flight was to leave 10 hours later. I knew there was a clinic near our hotel in the same complex and sure enough, it was a 24 hour one.
I got myself dressed and headed out to find it. I also happened to find crews redecorating the Garden's hotel lobby at that time of night too. It was amazing. Liken it to Disney World and how you can visit a park one day and then come back the very next and everything has changed. That's what this reminded me of.
Anyway, I found the clinic and managed to wake up the people who were working there. At least that's how it seemed. They were nice enough and had decent English but said that since Gabe was a child, they couldn't treat him. They required a pediatrician to do that. And so it also required an appointment for a pedi to come in after they get off of their shift at the local hospital.
Grrrr.
I went back to the room defeated and was pleasantly surprised to find that Gabe was still sleeping soundly and had not started coughing while I was away. I went to bed and tried to sleep but kept worrying about our sweet boy who had had so much congestion, he was choking and vomiting with it at times. He wasn't in distress to the point where we were worried that he couldn't breathe. He was pink and lively during the day but had struggled the night before and during the night before we were to leave.
We woke up later that morning and went to the concierge to find another clinic we could take him to before we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 10:10. He was adamant that the one I went to in the middle of the night would treat him now that it was morning. So off we went again and wasted 30-45 minutes waiting for an answer. And again, were told no. Not only would they not treat him, they wouldn't help us get any new meds either.
We prayed and knew others were praying too. We gave Gabe the same meds again that we had been giving him and hoped for the best with our 24 hour travel day home.
Everything was fine at the airport in Guangzhou. We flew to Seoul, South Korea {3.5 hour flight} with little trouble. Gabe did cry before we took off because he just wanted to be down and walking around. But we had the bassinet for him and he slept half of the time and woke up happy during the rest of it. Score one for us.
Our layover in Seoul was only one hour and so we knew we would be pushing it if our flight was delayed at all. We landed about half hour early {yay} and breezed through security again, took advantage of modern plumbing {woohoo!} and made it to our gate just as they began to board for our next looooong flight home.
We were dreading this flight. We've done it four times now...going and coming to Thailand we flew to Seoul and we had a layover there on our way to China as well. Fourteen hours on a flight is misery. And with a sick 18 month old? Whew, we were holding our breaths to say the least.
But you know what? He did so very well. Considering how sick he was {that we would later find out once we were home}. We had the bassinet again which is so great...if there is little to no turbulence and they actually allow you to KEEP your child in it. Goodness. Every bump and they would ask us to again pick up our perfectly sleeping sick little prince out of the bassinet and place him in our laps.
Where is the logic in this?
If the plane goes down with turbulence, and our son who has no seat...no seat belt...etc goes down with it, what difference does it make if he was sleeping in a bassinet or in Jase's arms? And really, if we were going down, don't you think we'd pick him up just because? Studies have shown over and over that parents are unable to hold their children in car accidents...that the force of even 20-25 miles an hour is enough to propel them out of your arms no matter how hard you try to hold them. So why in the hockey do we wake sleeping babies in cribs when the plane has the tiniest bit of turbulence?
Can you tell this annoyed us to no end?
Four times.
Four times in fifteen minutes we had to pick him up. He was exhausted. And it continued on and on throughout the flight. It got to the point that we couldn't lay him down anymore or he would scream. And he only wanted Jason. Poor boys. They were both miserable. Gabe slept so much but it was not restful. He twisted and turned and just killed Jase! Sweet boy. He was trying so hard and my hubs was as patient as any man can be. He just went with it and let him be. I only held Gabe for about 2-3 hours in total on the flight home. The bassinet maybe held him for an hour and a half. The rest was all Jase....who is still so sore from it.
But all in all, we couldn't have asked for more. It was so hard and we were all exhausted but we made it and the Lord was so good to help sweet Gabe make it through. We landed at just before 7pm and it was after 8:00 before we were through immigration. We were so ready to see our babies and hug our family's necks...but it took forever! It seemed to anyway but we were just so grateful to be off of the plane at that point!
We had quite a welcoming committee! What a blessing! My parents and siblings {minus Kev and Deanna} were there along with our great friends, the Tims and the Cunninghams and all their kiddos and my sweet friend Elizabeth. There were signs and flowers and even a balloon that said little prince on it. Perfect, I tell you. The perfect homecoming. Joel was struggling a good bit and very overstimulated by it all. But we spoke to him on the phone while we were stuck in immigration and knew to expect it once upstairs.
Gabe went straight to the kids! And everyone else pretty much...which is wonderful and not so at the same time. We need him to know that we are his mama and daddy and so we want him to not be so comfortable with everyone else! lol. But really, part of it was that we were able to Facetime with our family so much while we were gone. And so he was familiar with them to a large degree considering.
And like I said before, the boy is brilliant! He saw Keith and began making the exact face that they would do to each other on Facetime! It was a riot! And Gabe won everyone over immediately with love and hugs and kisses. There are tons of pictures...and I haven't even seen them all! But wanted to share the ones we have...thanks so much mom and Karen for snagging these! What a fantastic homecoming!
9.16.12
re-entry ;; the first few days
So I'm not gonna lie, re-entry is plumb dumb hard!
So I'm not gonna lie, re-entry is plumb dumb hard!
We left the airport Thursday night and I looked at Jase and asked, "Can you drive?" We were so tired and hadn't driven in over two weeks! lol. We did fine and stopped for our favorite pizza to take home for dinner.
It was wonderful to be home. Just to walk in the door and see the sweet signs the kids had made along with Jason's parents. We were so grateful. It was the perfect touch to a long and hard day!
And I have to say, if I haven't already {I truly can't remember} that we are sooo very grateful to our families for their help with the kids. I mean it. I know it was hard to carry out school work {especially with Joel} and to feed them and take care of the day to day with three children for 15 days. I told Jase half way through our flight home that I couldn't wait to get home to my bed and my tub! And I knew that both would be clean. We both smiled at each other and said that we knew the ENTIRE house would be clean because Jase's mom had been there for the last several days! What a complete blessing. I just can't say it enough...to my siblings and my parents and Jason's and to my bestie for being a school taxi service...we couldn't have brought Gabe home without you. We love you and appreciate all you did for us and for our babies at home.
The night we flew home, the kids were still giddy over their new baby brother and so it was hard to settle down even though it was 10pm and the three of us weary travelers were zonked. But we bathed and loved on each other and fell into bed around midnight.
Gabe woke up at 3:30am and we tried to talk him into just a few more hours of sleep. He was having none of it, and surely due to the fact that he slept a good bit on the flight. We decided at 4:00 to just get up. By then Jase and I were pretty wide awake too. I started our laundry {the kids's stuff was all clean and put away - thanks, Nancy!} and we set about unpacking.
Gabe still sounded bad in his chest and I was so grateful to Tara for making a pediatrician appointment for us for 8am that morning while we were still in China. That's what friends do...and she's come through for me many times over.
I took him to the doctor and began to tell her the story of how sick he had been and how congested. How he would vomit because he had so much congestion come up when he coughed. Sorry, TMI. But it's part of the story. How he has a few heart defects and that we know his heart is enlarged and needs surgical correction. She listened to him with her stethoscope and couldn't even hear his heart for the congestion. A breathing treatment was ordered immediately followed by a chest x-ray stat because she feared he had pneumonia.
Sweet, sweet baby. He felt so badly. After the x-ray, we dropped off his prescriptions and headed home. We got the call a few hours later that the x-ray was negative for pneumonia. Praise the Lord.
Re-entry was kicking my tail by about 1pm. I was dizzy with vertigo still {something that happens to me pretty much every time I fly a long distance}. I almost had a panic attack when I brushed my teeth after lunch because I put my toothbrush under the tap! Hysterical. You try sooo hard to NOT do that in third world countries and so for two weeks, we'd been using bottled water to brush our teeth. Really funny that I freaked out when I did it at home. Gabe and I went to sleep in my bed and didn't wake up till 6:30pm! Eeek. That was too long but we couldn't help it.
I also woke up holding Gabe in the middle of our bedroom. I was dreaming that all of our luggage and souvenirs and stuff from China was in the floor at my feet. He was on my hip and before me were two lines...and I was to choose which one to get in to. "To Keep" or "To Send Back to China". Those were my choices. A man appeared and told me to choose the line where I would put my things and my son. I said I wanted to keep it all! So weird.
I guess part of me is still in awe that this precious boy is ours. I mean it. I just look at him and think that it's too good to be true. I can't imagine not having Gabe in our family. The Lord is so good. So kind to allow Jase and I this privilege.
By Friday night, Jase had resigned himself to the guest room! Gabe is a pretty wild sleeper! So he and I snuggled down in our bed and woke around 2:30. We enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies and snacks and TV. Sweet boy. I could just kiss him a million times over. He's so good to let me too! See? This is how we roll in the middle of the night! Cookies and toys in bed! :) iPhone edition no doubt...my Canon is STILL in my suitcase.
On Saturday morning, we were up by 6. Jase came and got him since he couldn't sleep either and I went back to bed for a bit. But by 10, something hit Jase hard and fast. We're thinking it was food poisoning. It came soooo fast. High temp and all the rest that you don't want to know about.
We figure it was the shrimp he ate on the plane that I didn't eat. I remember him saying, "shrimp..." and some imaginary red light was flashing before my eyes saying a "Abort! Abort!" so I didn't eat any. I had had shrimp the previous two nights for dinner {it was delish!} and I just wasn't tempted to partake of the airline's shrimp. But Jase did and he said it tasted funny.
Hmmmm.
We stayed in the bedroom a lot just in case what Jase had was contagious. The kids were so fun with Gabe. He adores them all. And the feeling is quite mutual!
So it's now Sunday afternoon and Jase is still feverish and sick. The rest of us are fine. It could be a bug. But I'm thinking we would have felt the effects of it too by now. It's been going on 30 hours and we are fine. The way it came so quickly, it must be food poisoning. At least that's what we think. And what I've read says that it can take 48 hours for food poisoning to get ya. We both took Cipro everyday while in China. But stopped the night before we left.
I'm going back to school with the kids tomorrow...hoping for good sleep tonight! And praying that my sweet hubby kicks this thing soon.
Re-entry. Any way you slice it, it's a killer. But so worth it!
9.20.12
re-entry :: the saga continues
So goodness y'all.
What was it?
A stomach bug? {likely}
Food poisoning? {probably not}
A parasite? {gosh, let's just agree NO}
Whatever the hockey it was, it was ugly.
U
G
L
Y
And whatever ugly thing it was, it settled into me on Monday a mere 15 minutes before I was going to leave to pick up my kids from their one of two days at school because my Gabe decided to puke and run a fever at 8pm the night before so I couldn't go to work at school with them and Jase was too weak to do much of anything and so yeah.
That was a huge run on sentence.
But this bug deserved one.
Cause it was awful.
And today. TODAY is the first day in four days that I've even climbed the stairs to my beloved Mac. Honest. It was killer.
In other news, I ate today! Waahoo. And so far, so good. If you know what I mean.
Gabe is still struggling with a nasty runny nose. A little bit of coughing and bouts of being a pretty irritable 18 month old cutie patootie. He's on his second antibiotic since being home. This one, I'm assuming is pretty potent because it's a $26 generic. Hmmm. Here's hoping this thing is a soon to be killed by generic antibiotic bacteria....OR, is viral and is on it's ever lovin' way OUT! Because sweet boy is just about tired of it. And so are we. But we have effectively paid some bills for Kleenex this week because we are going through boxes of them!
He is sleeping better though. Two days ago, when Jase had a tiny bit of energy, he brought up our crib. And that promptly wore him slap out! He disinfected it from all of its basement yuckiness and assembled it and put it in our room. Because heller, our mattress is too soft. And Gabe was rolling into us {me...since Jase has been in the guest room for days!} and waking up.
Every two hours.
Like clockwork.
Blast you jet lag. And soft mattress. And bacteria/virus that has invaded our Gabe's head with drainage.
Enter the crib. Kennedy's crib. Circa 2000. The heaven's parted and there were rainbows and unicorns hovering overhead because the first night in that crib....
Gabe only woke once. And took a bottle. And went straight back to sleep!
And all God's people said....Amen.
Then the second night, he slept from 7:30pm until 5am.
So we still have some work to do. But re-entry is looking better.
I'm eating. Gabe is sleeping. Home school work is caught up. And yes, most all is right in our world.
How could it not be?
Just have a looksy at this sleeping face.
And a gander at these sleeping piggies...
Re-entry or not, life is good. God is great.
9.22.12
the missing china photos :: iphone edition
So this might be the dumbest and most boring post ever but these are some shots from our phones that didn't make it onto the blog during our trip. I don't want to forget a thing about China, and I know me....I surely will. Putting these in a single post will ensure that they get printed into the kids' books, even if it seems like a dorky to do. :)
8.29.12 This was taken just before we boarded our big beast of a plane leaving home and headed to Seoul, South Korea.
We had enjoyed a quick bite and were walking around the airport killing time and texting with Kennedy in between her classes. I had to get a screen shot of this from the Pook's phone because we just laughed our tails off at their humor that morning. They had a good time giving each other "updates" throughout the morning.
This was taken while in my coveted seat and still at the gate waiting for taxi and take off. We were completely giddy over the fact that the ticket agent had offered us exit row seats for our 15 hour flight. :) And yeah. I just needed a shot commemorating all of that glorious legroom. Uh Mazing.
9.3.12 Gabe's first dinner with us and probably his first taste of Americana...KFC. We had received him that morning and come back to the hotel for the afternoon. Our guide, Michael, took us to KFC for dinner and we were happy to introduce Gabe to some french fries! He ate it up. :)
On 9.5, we walked a few blocks to the local Wal-Mart and I carried Gabe in a Boba that I borrowed from Mattie. It worked great and he did so well. He fell asleep on our walk back to the hotel and Jase snagged this shot in the lobby.
Jase took these on September 6th and posted them like this on Facebook with a caption that read, "Not only has Gabe overcome numerous odds to be here with us, he is also showing remarkable signs of heightened intelligence!"
Later that same night, Gabe decided to get into my suitcase and put my underwear on his head while we Facetimed with the girls. Funny boy. The girls were loving this.
More lovin' from the other side...
On the way home from the airport on 9.13 at 9pm. We were all exhausted but so happy to be home. Gabe laughed with his siblings for about 10 minutes and then conked out. Who could blame him? It was a miserable day up to that point and so much must have been going on in his little mind. He dealt with it in the best way...sound sleep.
So there you have it. The missing photos that I just couldn't part with. We love you, sweet Gabe and we want to remember every bit of our time with you in China. :)
