Halfway There!

It is honestly hard to believe that our trip is halfway over already. We have been gone a week and we head home a week from tomorrow. Time seems to be flying by for me and I am enjoying our time here immensely. Having this precious time to bond with Hannah is wonderful!

We had another great night - 12 solid hours! I don't think that will ever get old! Actually, I should say that Hannah slept for 12 hours. Between the rock hard bed and jet lag I am finding sleep a little difficult to come by. I was awake for the day at 4:30am - ouch! It's now 7:30pm and this is my last activity for the day :)

Our prayers were answered today and Hannah woke up happy and willing to go to Brad. She still preferred me and wanted to come to me if I was near but she was also very happy with her Daddy. He is so great with her and will go to any lengths to make her giggle. It's pretty hilarious to see his antics!

We have been enjoying the buffet breakfast every day at the hotel and our favorite part has been to meet other adoptive families and their new little ones. It is amazing to have this common bond with strangers and we are so thankful for these new friendships.

After breakfast we got ready for the day and then met our guide to go to a nearby park. It was not a long taxi ride but I have to say that I have never experienced traffic or driving like here! Lets just say I pray a lot while we drive!

When we arrived we met up with some of our new friends and their new daughter (the same people we met up with yesterday). We feel very at ease with them and it has been great to hang out and swap "new child" stories. The park was beautiful and peaceful and we enjoyed walking, taking pictures, and seeing Chinese people enjoying their day.

After the park it was time for lunch - more delicious Chinese food. It was great but some of it was very spicy! Yesterday I thought my lips were on fire...today a few drinks of water took care of it so it must not have been as bad. There were thankfully many dishes that were not spicy and I enjoyed it very much. I have learned that I am not good at giving a little one a bottle with one hand and eating with chopsticks with the other - although I did manage it somehow!

We came back to the hotel after lunch and made a kind of hilarious discovery. It turns out that our little 18 month old girl, who can't crawl, talk, stand or walk...is potty trained! Seriously. They told us that the day we met Hannah but we kind of rolled our eyes at each other when they weren't looking and thought, yeah, ok, sure. We put a diaper on her and didn't give it another thought. Yesterday we mentioned to our guide that Hannah seemed "blocked up" if you know what I mean...she asked us if we had been putting her on the toilet! Um, nope. She said to try that...so today we did. And you know what? She totally goes on the toilet! She went 7 times today and stayed dry all afternoon and evening! And the blocked up issue was helped along by some prunes :) We were just killing ourselves laughing because it seems so crazy. She doesn't tell us that she needs to go, she just holds it until we take her. I guess it is so hot and humid here in the summer that the babies just can't wear diapers, so they train them really early. Ok then!

We didn't do much else today, just played in the room a lot. We ordered pizza for dinner - yum! Then we gave Hannah a bath and a bottle and she was out!

I must admit I am shocked with how well things are going. I didn't know an adjustment could be this easy. I think part of it is that I am not so stressed since she is our third, but mostly Hannah is just a really easy baby (so far!). She loves to be held, but most of the time she will sit by one of us and play happily for ages. She loves to eat, is a great sleeper, loves the tub, smiles easily...I think she will fit into our family beautifully! I can't wait to bring her home and introduce her to the boys. Not long now!

Another Day With Our Sweet Girl

I'm sorry I don't have many photos to post - I have taken many with my camera but hardly any with the iPad today.

Let's see, where did we leave off. Well, last night went so well I can hardly believe it. Hannah fell asleep quickly on me and slept soundly for 12 hours! For any of you that know the sleep history of our family...well, lets just say we are not used to this at all!

Hannah woke up without crying and we soon got her bottle ready. She has been eating and drinking very well which I'm so thankful about. We went down to breakfast and little miss was as happy as can be.

When we returned to the room, something changed and from that point on she did not want Brad to hold her at all. She seemed really afraid, got quiet and serious, and only wanted me. It was strange and we are not sure why this changed all of a sudden.

We went out to meet some new friends who have also adopted a little girl the same age as Hannah. I have great pictures of the pavilion we visited...on my camera. It was a lovely day here, fairly warm, and we enjoyed the outing a lot, Hannah went to Brad a few times while we were out and seemed ok with him. After the pavilion we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant - delicious but SPICY!

When we returned to the hotel Hannah seemed very sad. She clung to me and wouldn't let Brad hold her without crying and reaching for me. We knew this could happen but honestly we thought if she was going to want only one of us it would be like that from the very beginning, not a few days in. But we are not too worried about it, I know she will soon be loving her Daddy.

For today, I got lots of snuggles! About 6 hours worth. I'm thankful she let me hold her close and hug her. I'm thankful she let me sit down finally! I'm thankful she was not crying a lot and that we even saw some smiles again as the day went on.

Hannah fell asleep easily and is stretched out beside me. She is so precious - spunky, mellow, beautiful, funny, smart....I am smitten! I can't wait to see what tomorrow will hold.

The First 24 Hours

It's hard to believe we have had our sweet girl with us for a day already. It's harder to believe there was a time when she wasn't mine. I'm already forgetting what life was like without her.

The last 24 hours have been amazing. Truthfully, I was prepared for the worst and I have been shocked with how well our little sweetie is doing. She seemed afraid at bedtime, but didn't cry - she just looked at us with her sad, beautiful eyes and didn't make a sound. She laid on me for a long time, then beside me, and after almost 2 hours she finally fell asleep. She is used to sleeping with her foster family so we kept her in our bed. I think she may do very well with the crib right beside our bed at home. She kicked her little feet all night long and flopped all over! At one point I heard Brad whispering my name - when I looked over at him he pointed at Hannah. She was just staring silently at the ceiling. It broke my heart - she looked so sad and confused. She soon went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 5:30am. We'll call that a success!

She awoke with tears but as soon as we picked her up she calmed right down. She was serious at first, just taking it all in, but once we broke out a banana she cheered right up! She hadn't taken a bottle last night, it seemed like the ones we had were different than she was used to. But this morning we kept trying and finally she figured it out and drank the whole bottle down! We have quite a little eater on our hands!!

We went down to breakfast and saw another American family who we met yesterday (they met their son at the same time that we met Hannah). It is nice to have some friends to chat with. Hannah was happy as can be and ate some congee, pancake, and steamed dumpling.

After breakfast we cleaned up the hotel room and got organized. We were able to FaceTime with our families which was wonderful. I am missing my boys so much but I have so much peace knowing they are well taken care of and doing really well with us being away.

At 9:30am our guide met us and took us across the street to the civil affairs office to do some paperwork. Hannah sat happily on our laps just taking it all in. She is quiet when we go out but in the room she just talk talk talks! She is so precious!

The paperwork took about an hour and then it was back to the hotel for another bottle before we headed out for a walk and a quick trip to Walmart. It's about a half hour walk, and we were able to get some shoes for Hannah, some more formula, and some water and juice. We also got some pizza for lunch which turned out to be pretty weird - it looked just like normal pizza but tasted like a donut...with bacon on it. Hmmm. On the way home, Hannah fell asleep (she was riding in the baby carrier on Brad's back). We laid her on the bed, took off her pants and coat and hat and boots and she still didn't wake up! Could it be that third times a charm and we have a good sleeper?!?!

In a little while we will head out for one more appointment. I feel as though I can't believe how well things are going. It is still early days but really Hannah seems to be doing so well considering all she has been through. I can't wait to get to know her more in the days ahead!

Our Beautiful Girl!

It is hard to put the last few hours into words. We have a daughter! After an agonizingly long day we made our way down to the lobby. My heart was pounding, I couldn't catch my breath, and I felt like I might be sick! After about 20 minutes our guide arrived and told us Hannah was about 15 minutes away. Longest 15 minutes ever? Um, yep!

At long last we saw them walk through the door. There was another American family also meeting their little boy at the same time.

And then I saw her. She's had a haircut....but even with that she is stunning. I mean, really gorgeous. I noticed she was wearing a green knitted outfit she had been wearing in the video we have of her. I had prayed she would come in that outfit.

And then she saw us....and the screams began. Screams of terror and confusion. She did not want to come to me but the orphanage director handed her over anyway. Tears poured from her little eyes and it was so hard to know what she was going through.

We didn't stay in the lobby long; after a few minutes and some quick instructions we headed up to the room. We spent the next hour holding a sad, scared little girl. Then, suddenly, she began to calm down. Brad showed her some light switches, the mirrors, outside, and she got quiet. We gave her Pinky Stinky (her little blanket) and she grabbed onto it, hugging it tight.

I'm not sure what happened, I was taking a picture of her with brad, and suddenly a little laugh erupted from her! And then another giggle, and then a smile...it has been an hour and a half since then and it has been nothing but smiles and giggles as she's sat on the bed between us eating gerber puffs and yogurt melts. She can look at both of us without crying, and lets both of us hold her. She is beautiful and I can't believe she is all ours!!!

The pictures aren't that great of quality, but they'll have to do for now. I have a lot better ones on our camera but no way to get them onto the iPad.

So far we know she loves to be silly, loves to eat, can sit (but is wobbly), can't seem to crawl or stand, and is teeny tiny. She smiles easily and has been feeding me puffs. I love her so much already!

Well I guess we'll see how tonight goes! More tomorrow. God is so good!

Today's Adventures

Today has been a good day - fairly uneventful, but a good day of settling in. We slept well last night, woke up this morning around 7:30am, and went down to the front desk to change money and ask for a crib for our room. We went and enjoyed our breakfast buffet, then came back to the room to get ready to go out. We were surprised and excited to find that a crib, stroller, and baby tub had already been out in our room! That made it quite real...she is coming!

We went out for a few hours in the morning and were able to fine the nearby KFC and Walmart. We stocked up on a few things at Walmart, then walked back to the hotel. It is very busy here; Nanchang is a city of over 4 million people. We did not see any other non-Asian people the whole time we were out so you can imagine we stood out a little :) We wonder how we will be received once we have Hannah - we are not sure how people feel about adoption.

After we got back to the hotel we ate some lunch (including the Steak and Onion Cheetos we found - Brad was so excited because he had some of these in Korea and loved them!). I was so tired after our walk so we laid down around 2pm for a little nap. I just woke up; is 9pm. Oh dear! This is not going to help with jet lag at all! I'm so mad at myself for sleeping so long but I am still so tired and I think I'll just go back to bed and see how long I can sleep! Brad is still passed out beside me! Yesterday's travel was exhausting and I'm thinking that the adrenaline tomorrow will keep me awake :)

Speaking of tomorrow...we will be meeting Hannah tomorrow at 4pm here at our hotel! It doesn't seem real yet, or hasn't quite sunk in. I think I will have more emotions about it tomorrow. For tonight I just feel out of it!

Check back tomorrow - hopefully I will be able to post pictures of our daughter!!!

Now That Was a Long Trip!

Our day started at 6am on Thursday. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, then took the shuttle to the airport. Our flight left around 10am...and lasted for an eternity!! No, not really, it was actually like 14.5 hours, but by the end of it I was wondering if I would ever again NOT be on a plane to China!

We were so excited to meet some new friends at the airport - someone I had met through a wonderful Facebook group of people adopting from China. We realized a few days ago that we were taking the same flight to Shanghai and we met them at the gate. What a blessing to have some new friends on this adventure!

We made it to Shanghai, had a layover of several hours (it was like 3am for use by this point and I still hadn't slept at all so my memory is a little fuzzy!). We had another shorter flight to Nanchang, and we were so thankful to be met by our guide. We had a 45 minute drive to our hotel and I have never been so happy to see a bed in my life!! Our hotel is wonderful and we will be settling in here for the next week.

Now it is Friday night and we are about to turn in. We have a free day to recover tomorrow, then on Sunday at 4pm we will be meeting our darling daughter!!

On Our Way!

I don't have much to say tonight but I wanted to get in the habit of blogging every day so I thought I'd start now. I have no idea what our Internet connection will be like but I promise to try to post pictures and updates as often as possible.

So today we took the train and then a cab to our hotel. We fly out tomorrow morning and I just can't wait! It was quite a trick getting all our stuff into a suitcase and both weighing under 44 lbs (for international flights it can be 50 lbs but I believe for in country flights in China it's less). It took some rearranging but we finally did it! I am pretty proud of myself for packing light (not my forte) and I keep reminding myself that we can buy stuff there if we need it.

Saying goodbye to the boys was much harder this time (compared to when we went to Korea), I think mostly because I know that when we come home everything will be different. It's such a huge change to the family dynamics to add another little one and I'm just praying this time is a little easier than last time :)

I'm so thankful for all who are praying for us. I can feel the difference your prayers are making. I am truly such an anxious and worried person usually when traveling but today I felt no hint of anxiety or fear. I was sad, but I know that the Lord is watching over my boys as well as us.

Hopefully my next post will be from Jiangxi, China! We're coming baby girl!

One More Sleep!

It's almost time!

Our bags are packed, laundry is done, instructions are written, meals are made, and somehow we are just about ready to go.

I've had so many overwhelming emotions today.

Excitement.

Joy that we will soon meet Hannah!

Sadness about leaving my boys.

Concern about how we would fit everything into two suitcases (and what would I forget?).

My head was swirling all day long trying to think of everything that had to be done, but at the same time I didn't want to miss this last day with my boys.

It was a good day, and somehow everything that needed to get done is finished.

Unless I'm forgetting something, of course :)

Part of me wants to scream, "Lets do this already!!" while another part screams, "I'm not so sure about this....!"

I'm glad I'm confident that the Lord has led us to this point, because I lean on that when I start to freak out. He will be what we need, and He will not leave us to do this on our own.

We're ready to go, but more than that we are ready to meet a beautiful little girl who has captured our hearts. We're ready to be a family of five at long last!

Getting Ready!

The last few days are a bit of a blur!  Here's the truth: I was not at all expecting our travel call on Monday and when we got it I totally freaked out.  After I got off the phone I started bawling - and not a happy, pretty, tears-of-joy kind of cry.  More of an overwhelmed, holy cow what am I going to do kind of cry.  A good friend stopped by right after I got the call and she told me yesterday that she thought something terrible had happened from looking at my face when I opened the door!  I felt bad for being upset about something so wonderful...I was just so unprepared.  I thought we had another week at least until our call, and that it would be 3 more weeks until we could travel because of Chinese New Year.  Instead, we are leaving next Thursday!

Now that I've had a few days to let the news sink in, I'm feeling very happy and excited.  We have all been sick with the flu and other lovely things for the last four weeks and I know that clouded a lot of my thoughts.  It's hard to think about international travel when you're feeling crummy.  It's also hard to think about adding another little one to your family when you're all sick.  We are a few days past sickness now, not back to full health but definitely on the way.  I'm so thankful for that!

We have been busy busy busy the last few days making plans!  Our flights are booked, our hotels are set up, and we have everything we need (it just needs to be packed).  I was surprised how quickly everything came together.  Our agency has been awesome and has handled all the in-China stuff.

Here's a basic idea of what the next few weeks hold for us:

Wed, Jan 23 - Take train and stay overnight near airport
Thurs, Jan 24 - Fly to Shanghai, short layover, then fly to Nanchang
Sun, Jan 27 - MEET HANNAH!  She will be brought to our hotel and will be in our arms forever!
Mon, Jan 28-Fri, Feb 1 - Bonding with our girlie, shopping, sightseeing, and adoption paperwork
Fri, Feb 1 - Fly to Guangzhou
Mon, Feb 4 - Consulate appointment - making it official!
Thurs, Feb 7 - Travel to Hong Kong by van, then flying home!

I am very thankful that we have 8 nights in one hotel and then another 7 in another hotel - it will be good to be "settled" a little bit and not moving around all the time.  I'm also thankful our Gotcha Day got moved to Sunday instead of Monday...it's going to be hard not to think about her constantly once we're there!  Our schedule looks great, with lots of time for us to explore, or stay in the room, or do whatever.

We certainly appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the trip, as we are traveling, and for our adjustment to a family of five!

She's Coming Home!

It seems as though we have been in the process of bringing Hannah home for-ev-er.  There have been a lot of days when it hasn't seemed that real to me, or when I have lost sight of the end goal of all the paperwork, fees, time....a beautiful little girl on the other side of the world who needs a family.

But everything has been brought into focus now as yesterday we received our TA: Travel Approval!

This is the last and final step.  We can go and get our girl!  I must admit that I was totally floored to receive the call yesterday - we were on day 11 of our wait, and many were waiting 20-25 days for their calls.  I have learned that my typical reaction to the call of "your child is coming" is to start shaking, to write notes on a piece of paper that later will make NO sense to me, and to feel really foggy-brained :)  That's about where I am today - still in the fog but starting to feel it lifting.

What does this mean exactly?  Well....we're going to China!  Next Thursday!!!!!!!  Yes, we were given a Consulate Appointment of February 4th, so we will be leaving next Thursday (Jan 24th), and meeting Hannah on Jan 28th.  We should be returning home on February 6th with our beautiful daughter!

Overwhelmed does not really begin to describe how I feel.  Honestly, this call came at what I would call the "worst" time - we are just getting over the flu, I'm still not feeling great, the house is a mess, there is soooooo much to do....and yet for whatever reason, this is when our call came.  I believe that the Lord is in control, that He will see us through all that lies ahead, and that I don't need to stress because somehow it really will be okay and we will get done what needs to get done.

Today's jobs:

• Rest as much as possible and drink tea
• Talk with travel agent to begin process of booking flights
• Email our in-China rep to start process of booking hotels
• Take Nathan's hearing aids to U of M because one of them is broken (of COURSE this has to happen right now!)
• Play with my boys and hug them lots because they are realizing we are leaving soon (especially Matthew)
• Turn it all over to HIM!

Stuck at Home

It has been a long week around here and, oh dear, it's only Wednesday!  We have had at least one member of our family sick all the time since Christmas and I am ready for a break.  This week it was Nathan's turn - nothing major, just a low fever, cough, runny nose, and general yuckiness :(  He is pretty pitiful when he's sick (except when he's mean and cranky!) and I miss my talkative, fun boy.

On the bright side, it was Matthew's turn to feel well this week.  Well, except for one night where he threw up for hours...strange.  In general though he is feeling good and that means he's a happy boy!

Since we have been stuck at home a ton lately I have been trying out some new recipes/ideas from Pinterest.  I don't know why I haven't done this before but I used to always buy oatmeal packets - I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought this was so smart!  I didn't make individual packets (no need really) but I put the oats/brown sugar mixture in a big glass jar.  Saves money, tastes great, nice and easy!

I also tried making these granola bars this week and they are great!  I am going to play around with the sugar and butter amounts a bit - they seemed pretty sweet to me.  We used raisins because I didn't have any of Matthew's dairy-free chocolate chips, and the kids loved them!  It is hard to find recipes for granola bars that are safe for Matthew so I was happy to find this one.  Actually, I think I'll go and make some now.... :)

And hopefully soon I will be able to get out of this house!!!!

Bits and Pieces

Every time Nathan gets out of the tub he wants to be wrapped up in a towel and held like a little baby.  He would sit like this for hours if we let him!  It is so sweet!

The other day the boys were playing Mr. Potato Head together in the living room.  From the kitchen I heard Matthew saying to Nathan, "Is that one Mommy?" to which Nathan replied, "Yeah!" followed by lots of little giggles.  Hmmm.  Not sure how I feel about a Mr. Potato Head that looks like me...

Silly boys came up to me like this after a little while...

Nathan chatting on the phone...

Poor Nathan has been sick this week, which is sad, but it's made for some good snuggles!  He always sits and sleeps with his hands folded - so cute!

Matthew is in a bit of an "over-cheese" phase - you know, where you say "cheese" and they make a smile so crazy and fake that you grimace when you see the picture.  I was so happy to get one of his real smile!!!

So far January has been full of sickness but still some fun moments.  And on the bright side, since we are stuck at home so much I am getting lots accomplished in regards to packing and making lists!

Applying for Visas and All That Fun Stuff

I just redid the header for the blog and I honestly felt shocked when I saw how big our family is getting!  It is hard to believe that 4 years ago it was just me and Brad, wondering if we would ever have a family.  We are so blessed!

A little adoption update:

Our Article 5 paperwork was supposed to be picked up last Thursday from the consulate in China.  This would officially be the start of our wait for Travel Approval.  I didn't hear anything about it, so on Friday I emailed our agency just to check.  Our case worker let me know that they usually do hear about pick-up but they hadn't heard anything about ours, so she said she'd check on it for me.  I hope we hear something today and that we can get on to the last and final step of this process!  I am feeling a great sense of peace these days, knowing that it is all in His hands, believing that our gracious God is caring for Hannah while she is in China, and that she'll be here with us soon enough.

**Update - as soon as I finished typing this blog post I checked my email and found out that it was indeed picked up last Thursday!  That means in 2-3 weeks we should receive our Travel Approval and we will know when we are going to meet Hannah!!!!!!!!!  I am shaking, I can't believe it!  Thank you, God!

Last week we were able to send off our applications for our visas to go to China!  It was pretty nerve-wracking sending away our passports, that's for sure!  But we should have them back soon enough and with a nice addition - our visas!  We're getting closer...

I wonder what our sweet girl is up to these days.  By our last update she was not walking...I wonder if she is crawling, or standing yet?  I have heard and read that children are sometimes removed from their foster homes and taken back to the orphanage for a while before a family comes to bring them home...has that happened to our girl?  When I start to imagine, my heart aches...all I can do is pray.  Even though we are getting so close it still does not seem real that we could be meeting her in just 6 short weeks!

A Couple of Projects

Every day we get closer to our girlie, but still we wait...so while I'm waiting I am enjoying these wonderful days with my boys.  I seem to have more time now that the boys are older, our routines are settled, and thankfully we just finished the last of our adoption paperwork (can you believe we still had paperwork almost a YEAR after we started this thing?!?!?!).  So while I have a little bit of free time I wanted to get a couple of projects finished.

First off, creating a little tray to sit on our ottoman to hold drinks or snacks.

I had this wooden tray that held a toy we got for the boys over a year ago.  I've had it sitting in the basement in my "I'm just sure I can use it for something!" pile...and thanks to pinterest I finally came up with an idea!

I painted the tray dark brown, mod podged some scrapbook paper in the bottom of the tray, and voila!

I decided to do a different paper on the other side of the tray just for a little variety - now I can use it like a little table, too :)  I love it!  It is just a little splash of color that I can pull out and set on the ottoman whenever I need it.

Pinterest also gave me inspiration for a big project I have wanted to get done but truly have not known where to start.  Korea pictures!  I took over 700 pictures on our trip to Korea, and it was overwhelming to think about what to do with them.  They were just sitting on my computer and no one has even seen them!  

On Pinterest I heard about these "Smash Books".  I had seen them at a local craft store but didn't know what they were.  Basically, it is like an old-school scrapbook.  It already has patterned paper in it, and you just glue your pictures, ticket stubs, receipts...anything...into it.  It comes with a pen and glue stick, with the idea that you don't have to sit and agonize over scrapbook pages for ages and ages.

This was exactly what I needed!

I started it last Sunday, and 6 days later it is FINISHED!

I did not use all of my pictures, obviously!  I went through and chose my favorite, about 150, and as I put them in I narrowed it down even more.  There is a big envelope at the back of the book where I put some of the extras that I liked but didn't put in.  I was able to write down memories, funny experiences, places, sights...and it was so super quick!  I love the end result and I'm so glad to have this finished!

Next project: organize all my info about the boys for when we go away, and figure out meals for when we're gone and for when we get back...ugh, I think I'll find something else fun to make instead!