Thursday, September 16, 2010

Final thoughts...

We leave TONIGHT to come home...we are soooooo excited!!!

First...PRAYER REQUEST...I guess all of my kiddos at home are sick...would you please pray for their healing?

These are our random thoughts for the last few days....

~Did we tell you, I can't remember???  2 really fun things about Gotcha day???  The room we received Solomon in was called the Dan Feng Chamber...THAT is Cana's chinese name and now her middle name...how cool is that!!  Also, we received Solomon on his baby sister's bday..think I mentioned that already, though.

~Don't chinese people ever get tired of chinese food!  We are desperate for a Farmer Boys burger :)

~Thank God for Papa John's pizza :)

~Have I mentioned that our boy is really busy??

~The traffic is unbelievable!  Cars everywhere, motorcycles everywhere, pedestrians everywhere...the are no traffic rules..everything goes!  The pedestrian does not have the right of way and you will be run over EVEN if you are on the sidewalk.  The lines in the streets are just a suggestion and no abides by them.  There are traffic officers directing traffic at the main intersections but they can do little to control the mass traffic.

~None of the cops carry guns but the armored bank guys have shotguns and automatic guns.

~The rain has been random but when it starts, watch out!!!! The thunder rumbles and the skies literally open up and a flood of rain follows!!! We went for a walk the other day and there was a bunch of thunder but we really didn't think the rain would come...well, uhhhh...we were wrong! (check out the video!)  The streets were flooding within minutes.

~We had a blast people watching at all of the different markets. All I can say is wow! I had no idea that there could be so many things in one place!  Electronics market, toy market...


~We have met some very precious new friends while in China.  It always blessed me to see how the Lord intertwines families from all over the world.  Each of you will forever be a part of Solomon's first days with us and we are honored to have met each of you.  We can't wait to watch your peanuts grow!!

~Day 12...we were granted to opportunity to have lunch with the Amazing Judy as we all so lovingly call her.  Amazing is an understatement!  She is in charge of all of the guides for our agency AND she is the main contact person for anything related to adoptions for our agency.  This mama got very emotional as we spent time with her.  You see...it's because of Judy and Sabrina and our Lord that we have Cana!!  Judy worked VERY hard to get our girl home.  She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and she fought for our family!!  THEN, she did the same for our boy!!  She kept telling us that she was just doing her job and that's when I lost it!! She went above and beyond and risked a lot to help our family...most agencies would have said, 'sorry, we can't help you' because it's very risky to oppose/challenge decisions made by chinese officials. We are forever thankful for all she has done to help us bring our babies home!!!!!

~Day 13...Our sweet amazing Judy took us to visit a local village today.  What a privilege to be able see how the local families live and to learn the history of their village!  All I can say is that we are very spoiled and blessed to have all that we do.  Paul's thoughts on the village...check out the pictures...the buildings were so close.  The government has been tearing down many villages to build high-rise apartments and to expand their cities.  This particular village is right on the edge of the city and the government has tried to take it over but the villagers have fought and have successfully protected it.  They desperately want to preserve their village history & they know it will be lost forever if it's torn down.

We also had our swearing in appt. at the US Consulate today.  This is always and emotional time.  It's the final stage of our adoption...getting Solomon's Visa so he can come home!!!  We aren't allowed to take pictures inside of the consulate but just imagine a large room with over 50 families AND their children...crazy loud but crazy exciting, too!!
 
Day 14:
Today will be packing, checking out, AND COMING HOME!!!!! We are so excited and can't wait to hold our babies and see our family & friends.  We have missed everyone so much!  We are still in awe of all that our Lord has done...I'm still having a hard time processing all of it...this has been an incredible journey!!! Thank you for all of your love and support...you will never know how precious it has been to us!!!

PICTURES: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9350232@N08/?saved=1

Monday, September 13, 2010

Day 9

Things are a wonderful slow pace here on the island. We've really enjoyed being able to walk around and not worry about being run over :) Today we went to the shopping mall. Let's just say this wasn't an ordinary shopping mall...we are talking hundreds and hundreds of stores. We also went over to the jewelry mall...again, like a bazillion shops!! Apparently there is a mall for everything you need. We asked our guide to take us to see 'real' China. We wanted to see the local markets so he took us through some streets. It was so fascinating! We walked through the herb market...OH MY!!! Again, hundreds of small shop's with thousands of herbs. There were lots of street vendors selling different animals like dogs, turtles, bunnies, and chipmunk's...YES....chipmunk's!! Oh ya...gotta check out the picture of the black ants...they eat these for medicinal purposes.

On a wonderful note, we had Solomon's TB test read...negative...phew!! We weren't worried that he had TB but a little worried he might come back with a positive test because he does have the antibodies to prevent TB. If he had tested positive, we would not be coming home friday so we are very thankful!

We were blessed to meet a family that has just adopted TWO almost 3 year old boys (they also have one 3yr. old boy at home :) These boys are precious and one of the peanuts has the same medical needs as Solomon so it was really neat to talk to mom to mom about it. We had a great dinner with them!!! Please be praying for this sweet family! The other brother has a very, very serious heart condition and will need care as soon as they get home...pray that surgery will even be an option for this beautiful one!

Solomon continues to amaze us with how well he is doing. He seems to be attaching to both of us which is an answer to prayer. I was a little concerned because he is so happy ALL the time but he's finally have little spouts of grieving. It typically happens if he gets hurt. The tears will just flow and flow. It's a good thing, really! It seems that when he has an ouwie is when he is the most vulnerable...he can't stop the tears. It's actually a precious time of bonding!

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9350232@N08/

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Day 7 & 8

End of Day 6
While we are enjoying ourselves we are READY TO BE HOME!!!!! We miss our babies at home so much it hurts!!! We love you guys so much and can't wait to scoop each of you up and YES, T...this mama can scoop you up still...just watch me :)

We had quite and adventure getting to Guangzhou. On our last day in Fuzhou, a typhoon decided to arrive. It was headed straight towards Fuzhou with the hardest hit area being Jinjiang (this is Solomon's province..it's about 100 miles away from Fuzhou). We just had rain and some light winds. Our guide told us that Jinjiang was flooded but that they are 'pros' at being prepared for typhoons. Because of the weather flights were cancelled and delayed, including ours. Thankfully ours was only delayed once but I will say that 6 hours in an airport with a very BUSY boy was challenging. Then you put that very BUSY boy on a plane at 10:30pm, you'd think he's fall asleep...NOT A CHANCE...did I say BUSY already???...he had to push every button a zillion times, take his seat belt on and off, look over all the seats, put his tray up and down....he ultimately crashed 10 mins. before the flight landed ;) We made it safe and sound to our hotel...3 rooms later and we were settled in for the night or, uh...morning...it was like 2 am!!!

Day 7
Medical Exam day...can I get a HUGE wwaahhh??? This is where all newly adopted kiddos have to go to receive a very basic medical exam before the US will allow them into the country. Since Cana's adoption in '07, OUR US Government has decided that it's a fabulous idea to inoculate all children coming into the US from China. We are NOT talking just 1 or 2 shots...more like SEVEN SHOTS. We are not given the option to wave these shots either!! Paul & I had to hold our precious baby boy down while he received 6 shots and a TB test. One shot in each arm and 2 shots in each leg. Needless to say, our boy was not very happy with daddy but they finally made up this morning & all is good minus his fever!!

On a fun note: We had REAL Chinese food last night. We had to climb 6 flights of stairs but it was worth it! Our guide took us to a little mom & pop place that he called 'homestyle' chinese food. We can't wait to go back!!!!

Day 8
It has been raining pretty much non-stop since we got to Guangzhou which leaves us with not much to do. It's still warm but wet. We've ventured out a few times and have just enjoyed walking around the island. Shaiman island is a wonderful, relaxing environment. Almost all adoptive families stay here and it's fun to meet everyone!! BTW...for those traveling soon, they've moved the adoption dept. of the US Consulate to the island...YAY!!!! It's right outside the White Swan.

We will be meeting some families that I met on-line for dinner tonight. It will be fun to meet all of them and their sweet kiddos.

Love to each of you!!!! Thank you for all of your prayers!