Day 2 - All About the Pictures

Day 2 brought out the grumpies in Bob and I. We quickly decided to either get out of dodge or go back to bed and succumb to exhaustion. We loaded up and drove east to the beach for the afternoon.

This post is all about the pictures, my one and only attempt at scrap booking. I'm certain I will shell out the big bucks to get "Blog Year 2011" put into book form. To be fair, I was happy to get my lunker of a camera back out (didn't go to China). The pictures you see are a mere representation of what I took.

Fostering and adoption has awarded us the opportunity to be there for the "firsts" with many kids. It is quite a privilege sharing these precious times in life. Today, we took Joshua to the ocean, presumably, for the first time.
Can you spell F.U.N.? Notice the shoes are still on.
Joshua was not too sure about the sand. He lived in a concrete world.
Cuteness + happiness = the T-man.
Sand - Yes. Water - No.I love this picture of my Dad.
These landlocked folks enjoyed the beautiful day.
Love it! Natural pedicure!Bury me? Oh, I love my camera and I am still on automatic. Someday, I'll learn more.
The one and only brave and beautiful soul. Cora is artistic as she dances through the waves.
She got 100% wet. Yup, that's my girl who never zips her coat in the winter. We brought a kite.
Another first? He did seem to know what to do.
Oh, the joy.
Must have turn. Turn with Daddy.

They humor me, they really do.
Sometimes, even I am glad I'm not them.Somebody grabbed the camera. I was there.Erika and Cora leave sand art all over the beach.
One cool dude!
Did I say cool? I meant super cool!Enjoying the beach surrounded by the grandkids. Life is GOOD.
Peace washes over me at the ocean. I cannot explain. Where Erika is, there shall the crowd be. She is a kid magnet.
Drip sand castle 101."Mom...., MOm......, MOM, come take a picture."Going well until we had a moment. I believe it involved some throwing of sand in the wrong direction.Un-happy!
Let's go with downright mad!Meanwhile, Dad goes down.
And he missed the seaweed show. Our princess!He tried, he really tried.
Words cannot express the amazing-ness of her.
There are stories here yet to be told.
Are you happy?
Yes. I believe the answer is yes.

Fitting In

By the end of the first day, Joshua was right in the middle of things playing and making creations with Knex.
The second night did NOT go so well. Joshua decided he wanted to be somewhere else than in his bed.

He cried.

I cried.

It was the first cry since we had met him.

So sad.

So healthy.

Somehow we survived the night and started a new day with WII. I was excited that he caught right on and could play something with the kids that didn't take too much physical energy.Micah loves his new brother.
When he gets dressed, this is his go-to outfit. It is what the orphanage sent him in when we met him. I didn't let him wear it in China until the last day. I told him about the piano while we were in China and he shook his head no.
He changed his tune.Jet lag is a crazy thing. I felt terrific the first two days. A little grumpy on the second day but not utterly exhausted like I had anticipated. My parents hung around to get to know Joshua and help out for a few days.

Wowsa. The exhaustion hit me more and more as the days went by. I was surprised by this. What is even harder is that we have no indication of how Joshua is feeling physically with the time change. A wonderful friend set up meals (no small feat for a family of 10 or 11) for a few days and what a blessing that has been.

I am amazed how Joshua fits in to our family. I have always been adamant about adopting/fostering in birth order and I am glad that we changed our minds for Joshua.

He's a keeper!

First Day Was a Doozy!

I don't care what you say spell check.

Doozy is a word! I Googled.

Noun: Something outstanding or unique of its kind.

After a decent night's sleep, we were up early with a couple of kids who gravitated into our bedroom at around 6:00am. We were so happy that Joshua slept in his own bed. He is sharing a room with Micah and Trey although he is in a big boy bed as is appropriate for his status of big brother.

We had decided that if everything seemed copacetic that we would go to church together at 10:30am. We had a leisurely breakfast. The kids gave Joshua a tour of the outside in the daytime and introduced him to the rabbits. We packed up up the van and headed over to church at 10:20.

Joshua is a wonderful kid, polite and friendly, and smiled and said hello to everyone who greeted him. Bob and I were in a bit of a haze and we followed our regular routine of walking up two flights of stairs into the atrium with all the kids. First mistake!

The atrium at our church is a high ceiling-ed very loud room. I could tell that Joshua was overwhelmed with the noise as he stopped and sat on the couch after being dragged up the stairs by one of our daughters. O.k., not fair. But she went at her pace and not his.

I saw that he was uncomfortable, got him off the couch, and took him across the room to try to get him into the quieter sanctuary.

And then IT happened.

A little cough.

A little sputter.

And I knew........

Joshua was going to TOSS.HIS.COOKIES. Revisit breakfast. You get the picture.

So what's a self-respecting mother to do?

She makes an instant decision to catch it with what is naturally available.

Oh yuck.

Bathrooms were not near but we found a sink at the coffee station and finished our business.

Good doobies cleaned up the aftermath not so discreetly.

Hey, Joshua. This is church. Don't you love it?

I cleaned him up and took him into the sanctuary to assess what we should do.

We ended up staying in our bedraggled state and Joshua fell asleep on my lap.

The day got better after that. Joshua slept off and on for a few hours and then perked up enough to hand out presents.
We are incredibly grateful to Grandma Marcia and Grandpa Jere for holding down the fort while we were gone. I can never thank them enough for what they did. Here they are with their new grandson. The Old Lutheran and the New American. I love it.My brother and nephew came to the airport and hung around on Sunday for most of the day to help welcome Joshua into our family. I took this picture of Carlson and Cora because they are both nine for a short time.
We got Joshua to eat some noodles later in the day.

Then he cried.

For the first time.

Which made me cry.

Let's just say the second night didn't go as well but all normal grieving and understandable.

Joshua continues to be a delight to everyone he meets.

We are so proud of how he is coping with all the changes.

He is a wonderful boy who has blessed us greatly already.

Thoughts on China

Before I tell you how our first week is going (great, by the way), I thought I would share my thoughts on China. Other blogs I've read have focused on the inconveniences, the negatives, the difference in culture. Honestly, even if I looked, I couldn't find any.

* When I had to use bottled water to brush my teeth for 2 weeks, I was incredibly grateful for the water I have at home. It also made me realize how much water I waste when I brush my teeth. I was totally empowered and felt like I was going green.

* The Long Flight over and back. I couldn't believe how quickly time went by. Sure, it was a whole day but anticipation shortened the wait on both ends. Excited to meet our new boy and the thrill of introducing him to the rest of our family. Hey, if I can make it through the births of 3 children and the adoptions of 6, I can sit on a plane for a few hours like it's nothing. It is only one day in your whole life, perspective is everything.

* Food - I LOVED the Chinese food. It furthered my healthy disrespect for the high sugar, high fat American diet. It was a relief to not be bombarded with sweets and high fat choices at every turn. Especially good for me was the break from my chocolate habit. Not that I couldn't have gotten it there but it wasn't front and center. I also wanted to eat as much Chinese food as I could while we were there to experience what Joshua had lived like for eight years.

* I have the travel bug, for sure, and enjoy new people, places, and things. I was ECSTATIC to be in the minority. It gave me an incredible perspective not only for what it is like for Joshua but my other African American and biracials kids living in a state where diversity is minor at best. I didn't mind being stared at, questioned, or ignored. Bring it on!

* Hopelessness is heart wrenching. I quickly realized that we were in the land of the lost. We were able to learn of government repression, illegality of sharing one's faith, forced abortions, and living in fear. I can only hope and pray that we touched those with whom we came in contact with. The whole experience was surreal and made me yearn for more, a closer relationship with the One Who Gave It All, and a deepened desire to share my faith with wandering souls.

* People, people everywhere. Being in cities with six and thirteen million people respectively was amazing. Where were they all going, doing? Bob would sit at the window and watch, literally for hours, the people walking, riding, driving by. The crazy traffic patterns were sheer entertainment making 3 lanes into 5 and back again. The horn is the new blinker and riding in traffic is like being part of an intricate dance. Instead of resenting the city life at every turn, we enjoyed being surrounded by masses of humanity. I liked that although we were in seemingly metropolitan cities, you did not have to look or walk very far to find where and how most people lived their ordinary every day lives.

* One thing we learned was to "hurry up and wait." When you conduct business in such a large city, you have to be ready to WAIT. This experience was especially good for me as I travel through my daily life at warp speed. AND I expect everyone else to come along with me. My time away not only helped to quell my desire to "go right now" (to the point of anxiety) but it trained my mind to begin to enjoy the process. Some of my kids DO NOT like to be hurried and it has been a constant state of stress that I can do something about. Huge breakthrough that a dear friend was trying to help me understand about myself.

* I also used my time away to think my routines at home and what I might like to change for the better. We need to step out of our regular life sometimes in order to SEE what might need some tweaking. I have "had - figuratively" three babies in three years. I had to make choices. One of those was to loosen my grip on household routines. I lost much of my follow through which in turn heightened my own stress level. How many times can you ask a kid to clean their room if you don't go and inspect? I came home and apologized to my children for my lack and have tried harder to follow through on my requests. I also need to get back to a better schedule with regular routines which many of my kids thrive on. Three babies in three years took a toll but, oh the endless joy, I wouldn't trade those good times with little sleep, three in diapers, mentoring their mother into sobriety, and sharing my faith for anything.

There you have it. My thoughts on China. My journey continues, my faith was strengthened and renewed. We saw at every turn how God had orchestrated the entire adoption process from the first photo on Jean's blog to meeting our son and everything in between. Although new challenges have only just begun, Bob and I agree that our trust is in the Lord and his Perfect Path. There is simply no other explanation for this crazy wonderful life!

On Our Way Home - Hong Kong to USA

Time to wake up! We were up late after arriving in Hong Kong but sleep doesn't seem to matter much when you know you will be sitting on a plane for 14 plus hours.
Shall we call room service? We ordered one American breakfast and other than the two eggs that Joshua devoured, we were a little too keyed up to eat.Not only is he wearing the new sneakers but he is adding socks. We were shocked.
The journey begins. Let's go home!
Joshua loves taking a picture of the plane even in the pouring rain.
We met up with another adoptive couple who received their daughter from the same orphanage. The Asian sensations!Pam and Jeff were a delight to meet. If we lived closer, I know we would be great friends. They waited a long time for their first child and we could tell they are going to be great parents. What a privilege it was to hear and be a small part of their story by traveling home with our new children together.
Here is the real skinny. The second week was fraught with trying to get oxygen for Joshua on the plane. The doctor's recommended having it and we tried, or should I say our Sensational Social Worker back in the States tried. Too complicated. The tricky part was that if our airline suspected that was a need and we weren't prepared, they could kick us off the flight. We definitely prayed, put Joshua between us, and kept a low profile. Bob and I felt that Joshua would do fine and the doctor at home gave the o.k. to go without oxygen on the flight. A bit of a gamble but we went with the parent gut. We also did not have any seats together when we arrived at the airport. The guy at check in managed to get two seats together and then we asked a young man to swap one aisle seat for another and we settled in for the day. Joshua slept for exactly 19 minutes during the whole fourteen plus hour flight. Those 19 minutes occurred at take-off. He was NOT sleepy during the flight as other heart kids have been. He was way too busy watching movies and playing video games as we were fortunate to be on a plane with individual seat screens. He did beautifully and perhaps was a touch more blue when we landed but it was subtle.Hello, brand new citizen. Welcome to America.I had the nerve to take my camera out in the Border Patrol Area because I had forgotten to take a picture of the "brown sealed envelope." This package is what allowed Joshua to enter and officially become a citizen. We had to visit the US side and then we were escorted to the Blue Line on the Foreign Entry side to complete the paperwork.

What a feeling. Everything is completely official in both countries now.

Hey, Joshua, let's go home.

Joshua?

He crashed big time after we got through customs which praise God we breezed through. No one seemed interested in giving us a second glance for which we were very grateful.
Since we had a four hour lay over, we got a decent meal ordering way more than we could eat and found a corner to crash in. Joshua probably slept two solid hours and I curled up on the floor behind the stroller and slept an hour while our protector watched over us. Actually, he was happy to have his lifeline phone back and he checked e-mails and returned calls. I was so proud of him for taking a two week vacation from work. He mentioned that he should really check his e-mails a few times but never did.

Our flight from Detroit to Manchester was uneventful and Bob even got two seats so he could get some sleep. We did have to sit on the jetway for an hour in a very hot plane and I spent the entire time fanning Joshua because he overheats and sweats a lot completely soaking his clothes.

The welcoming committee. Almost the whole gang with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Marc and Carlson. I loved the sign.
Trey made a beeline for me and Micah made a beeline for Joshua. We both got huge hugs. Matching shirts was brilliant on my part. Instant connection since this is Joshua's favorite shirt.
We made the two hour car ride home with no problem. Joshua is NOT a fan of a shoulder belt and that will be one for the doctor because I'm not sure how uncomfortable that might really be.
Micah adores his new brother.

We all fell into bed around 10:30 as happy as can be and slept 8 hours solid.

What bliss to sleep in your own bed AND have all your kids under one roof.

Practically perfect in every way.