Day 2 – Please pray.

The one bright spot of our day, Suhn officially became ours.

The rest of the day…

Suhn cried off and on the entire day. I did too. Kory, our rock, tried to comfort us both.

She does seem to be attaching to Kory. She wants nothing to do with me.

Monday she would allow me to comfort her, but by Tuesday night she would just push me away.

My head tells me her grief is healthy. It IS a good thing. It tells me that it is also normal/common for the dad to be the “chosen one.” But rejection is hard even when it is not personal.

We have two more days in Zhengzhou before we move on to the next stage of our trip. Two days with little to do.

Thank you for your comments and prayers. Especially from the BTDTs. They give me hope which I need right now because I feel at a total loss of what to do.

My mom e-mailed me the following verses from Psalm 41. Exactly what I need to hear. I am clinging to them.

“Blessed is he that considers the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing.”

We've Got Suhn!

I wish I could post a picture of the three of us smiling. Or at least of the three of us without tears. But I can’t. Not yet.

Gotcha Day was rough.

Suhn’s foster mommy was able to give her to us. This was a blessing. But it was also very hard. Her foster mommy has cared for her for the past two years and they love each other.

Needless to say, when she handed Suhn to us. Our little girl was inconsolable.

For most of the afternoon she either cried or fell asleep in our arms. Constantly pointing to the door, looking for mama (and not meaning me).

Late afternoon, Kory took her on a walk around our hotel. And while I had my breakdown. He had a breakthrough. She finally stopped crying and he was even able to get a small smile out of her.

The rest of the afternoon things got better. Still tears (especially from me!), but more smiles and even a little bit of laughter.

Last night she did really great. She woke up a few times calling for “mama.” But now she is consolable. This morning she even snuggled into me. Checking me out and eventually falling asleep again.

Even though it’s been rough, the moments where her smiles and personality come through are priceless. She is such a sweet little girl and we are in love with her! She already has her daddy wrapped around her sweet little fingers.

Please pray for our little girl. She is grieving and rightfully so. Pray that God would hold her in His hands and give her peace. And, pray for patience, strength and understanding for us.

Yesterday before we went to pick Suhn up, I read the following verses:

“The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. So rejoice in the Lord and be glad all you who obey Him! Shout for joy all you whose hearts are pure!” Psalm 32:8,11

I’m claiming those verses and I am rejoicing. Even through the rough days.

Thanks for your prayers friends… Keep em coming!

The Night Before

It’s crazy to think that tomorrow at this time we will finally have our daughter.

We arrived in Zhengzhou a few hours ago. We were told that Suhn and two of her friends (Grace and Teagan whose families are in our travel group) are staying in a hotel tonight. The ladies at AH will hand them over to the orphanage director tomorrow who will then hand them over to us.

TOMORROW MORNING! (That will be around 8:30 CST on Sunday night)

We were given information filled out by her foster mommies letting us know what her schedule is, the food she likes (she really likes yogurt), she is not potty-trained, she sleeps all night (with a very similar schedule to Sean). She gets along well with others. She is active and likes to play games. She likes toys that can make sounds or with bright colors. She will say “Pa Pa” (means scared) when someone seems serious. She loves to take a bath. She does not fear water and she will not be fussy.

And TOMORROW I will get to experience and discover her likes and dislikes for myself.

All day it has been slowly sinking in. The magnitude of this moment we have been wishing for ever since we saw our daughter’s face.

It has been an amazing journey. The breadcrumbs God has laid for us to follow. Big and little ways he has touched us, assuring us we are on the right path. He has been preparing our way. He has been preparing Suhn’s way. Tomorrow our paths converge and we start our journey together.

I can’t wait to share our moment with you, the next time you hear from me…

We’ll have Suhn!

Touring Beijing

(Hello all! This is Jami and Mom posting for Megan and we're having some technical difficulties (because we're using Mom's MAC and not my PC) :) BUT we can't get the formatting to work correctly. Needless to say, what you will read below are Megan's very own words and we are very excited about the fact that tomorrow they will meet Suhn! Mom says I need to stop writing, so here you are....)

Touring Beijing is hard work.

At the end of each day I’ve been exhausted. It could be the jet lag. But we have been busy. Add to that the sweltering heat and the crowds (it is peak tourism season) and I’m sure you can imagine where the tiredness comes from.

In spite of that, it has been pretty amazing seeing sights like Tienamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Olympic venues from the 2008 summer games (i.e. the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest), and of course the Great Wall.

Very surreal walking on the Great Wall. It is Great. And Hot. And crowded. But Great. Sweat dripping down your back kind of hot. But Great.

The Olympic venues were even more impressive in real life than they were on TV. Kory wanted to get inside and do some Phelps-like swimming but that was closed to the public.

And then there are those pesky Americans that were picking on my man. Just because he happened to wear his Michigan t-shirt and they happened to be Ohio state students. I think I heard one guy mutter under his breath as we walked by, “man, we can’t get away from you guys.”

And then two giants tried to pick a fight, or maybe they just wanted to sneak a picture, but still they were BIG.

My man showed them. As their bus rolled away he ran after pulling up his shirt in Dee Brown-like fashion. He got many thumbs down and a few other fingers thrown his way, but still he showed them!

Our travel mates have been awesome. There are 16 families traveling with us. It has been so fun getting to know each one. Kory took copious notes the first day. My man’s got skills. He knows the names of everyone and can tell you a little bit about many of their lives.

d

But the best part is, in one day we will meet Suhn for the first time. She comes to mind often. I can hardly believe we are this close to holding her for the first time.

f

Wild.

s

Thanks for your prayers and comments everyone. They mean so much. I can literally feel the prayers and it humbles me.

f

One more sleep til Suhn!!

On our way!

I was tempted to wax poetic and share the thoughts that have been going through my head over the last few hours.

But I am way too tired to think. Any thoughts I manage to type out would probably need a translator.

Not to be redundant, but we are going to China in 1 hour! Not Seattle like we did 9 hours ago. China!

I'm already looking forward to my bed in Beijing. Did I tell you I am tired? And, we have a 12 hour flight pounding on the door. Perfect.

We were able to tour Seattle, mainly Pike's Place Fish Market, draggin our carry-on luggage and telling everyone we met that we were going to China to adopt our daughter.

As nice as our 9 hour layover has been, enough is enough. Get me on that plane! Tired or not.

Next time you here from me, I'll be on a different continent! Maybe even a little more coherent.

or not.

Yipee!!

Ready

bags packed
laundry done
bathrooms clean
batteries charged
carry-ons ready
beds made
papers in order
good-byes exchanged
hugs squeezed
love shared
prayers said

Suhn, here we come...

Birthday Celebration

Mya will tell you, the bad thing about our travel dates are we will miss birthdays (hers and the twins), BUT the good thing is we get to celebrate birthdays early. All week she has informed me NOT to tell her when we will celebrate.

"I hope my birthday is tomorrow," she'd hint. "But don't tell me, I want it to be a surprise."

We love birthdays and have created several traditions that the kids look forward to, streamers and Mylar balloons in their rooms when they wake up, birthday banners, messages on bathroom mirrors, the usual cake and presents.

Jonah will tell you, "I always know when my birthday is because there are streamers on my door."

This morning I heard one of the boys say as he walked out of his room and saw Mya's door, "Is it your birthday too?"





Yes, today is our day to celebrate . Although birthday week is being downsized into birthday day this year, or maybe birthday weekend to draw it out a little, we are excited to celebrate our animated 7 year old and our fun-loving 5 year olds.

Happy Birthday Mya, Simon and Jonah! Let's Party!!!!

Stories of Suhn!

We have been thrilled to see new pictures of Suhn pop up on the AH blog and website in the past week. Along with the pictures are stories of Suhn. Google translates them, but it is a hard to read translation.

This morning I received a more accurate translation from a friend whose daughter is also at AH (we will be traveling to bring our girls home together). I can't wait for you to read the stories.

We are bringing home a priceless treasure in a few weeks.

I LOVE my sweet China girl! And the women at AH who care for my Suhn love her too, again priceless!



In a twinkling, Ruixue is also going to go back home, going back her real own home. We "hate" to let her go. When we brought her back to He Nan for her passport, she kept calling "Na Na" on the train. I suddenly realized that she kept remembering me all the time. She is the first baby who can call my name so clearly. When I looked at this little beauty grows up and makes a progress little by little, the sweetness from the bottom of my heart speaks for itself. I think that the most happy person should be Qing Ling Sister, who often carries Ruixue with her own tiny body, gives her training, and also teaches her English. This time when Ruixu is going to leave, she is also very happy, although she "hates" to let her go. Fundamentally, the baby is going back family and will grow up much faster and better. What we can give her is all our best wishes!




Lovely and smart Big Ruixue

I went to see the babies on Saturday. So happy to see Ruixue! She really improved a lot in the recent few months. She is generous and so good-hearted. We praised her "Xue'er (nick name of Ruixue; meaning snow), your hair pin is so pretty!" She touched her pretty hairpin immediately. I teased her "Xue'er, you see how messy my hair is". The little girl quickly pulled out a hair pin from her head and wanted to give me the hair pin. She is so sweet!

And then I asked her to give me a kiss. She did not come close to me with her small lips. Instead, she giggled and bumped into my nose with her big forehead. When I hid my nose with my hands and pretended to scream. "My nose has gone!" Rui Xue immediately pulled my hands down, had a look, and was happy to keep saying:"It is still there, there, there!" LOL, she was laughing at me....We played for a long time near a pool.

When I asked her what was inside the pool. She said:"Water! Fish!". I stressed my neck and asked:"Where is the fish? There is no fish." She said loudly with very tender voice:"There! There! ..."When I pretended to say against her and insisted that there was no fish. She screamed again and said:"There! There!". We were so happy and played for a long long time without feeling any fatigue.

An old lady nearby also teased her and called her "Rui Xue". Rui Xue also called the old lady loudly: "Nai Nai (that is, a Chinese way of calling old ladies grandmothers although who are not but are similar ages to grandmother). The old lady said: "Xue, when you call Nai Nai, I responded. So when I called you, you need to respond as well." Therefore, the old lady called again "Rui Xue". Rui Xue stopped for a few seconds and was happy to respond:"Y..."(Similar to "YES", a Chinese way of responding to someone who call our names). Her look was so cute!

10 days - we fly
15 days- we get Suhn!!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Mommy, read to me.... or ELSE!

Blessings

Last winter we asked family and friends to help us with a special project. We asked them to send quilt blocks and with the quilt blocks a written blessing/prayer/or wish for Suhn.

Yesterday I was handed the finished product - a beautiful blanket, quilted together by a dear friend. I got teary looking at it. Each piece of fabric representing a person or family who is praying Suhn home. In one sense home to her family, but even better than that, praying her home to her Saviour.

Snippets from the blessing cards:

Our prayer for you, is that you will always feel the love of all of us as well as the security of the great big arms of Jesus ~ Always remember that God has a very special plan for your life ~ God made you fearfully, wonderfully, and skillfully. We pray that you would always know this truth in your head as well as your heart ~ We can hardly wait for you to get home ~ I have been waiting for you forever. I can't wait to be your big sister ~ We are thrilled to pray for a little girl in China whom we have not yet met, but are able to love with Your great love ~ We love you so much and praise God for you ~ He's holding you tight in His fist, precious one, each day working - even in the waiting - to fulfill his special plan for your life ~ May you bring so much glory to your Creator ~ May you always feel the love that surrounds you ~ May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

The Finished Project!

This project has blessed me in so many ways. I get teary every time I read through the blessing cards.

Thank you to all who participated and to those who didn't, but are still praying my girl HOME.

Dear, dear friends, you make us rich indeed.

Dates!

I shouldn't be disappointed, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. The wind has let off my sails just a bit, after a week-long TA high.

We are going to China... just a week later than I'd hoped.

I know, I know its only a week, but it feels longer. I am so ready to go!

Regardless, here are the stats:

We will be leaving for China on June 23rd.

We will get Suhn on June 27 (CST), in China it will actually be June 28. (Happy, Happy Day!!!)

We will come home on July 10.

Even if the dates aren't exactlly as I would have picked them, it is good to finally know the when. The finish line is in site... of the adoption process at least.

Then our journey with Suhn really begins.

I can't wait!!!!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

We got our TA TODAY!!!!!!!!!

As my little friend Kai-lan sings...

"We're going to China, We're going to China, I feel so happy!!!!
I feel so happy, I've just gotta sing, I feel so happy!!!!!
Kaishing, Kaishing, Kaishing"

Hoping to find out tomorrow when our consulate appointment is so we can book tickets! I'll let you know, but right now I've got some more celebrating to do...

and packing!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Almost there!

Whoo Hoo!

Our adoption agency called today...

TA is on its way!!!!!

We should receive it on Thursday or Friday.

If they can get us a consulate appointment at the end of June we will be flying to China on the 16th. WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

Otherwise, we will leave on the 23rd of June.

If you don't mind, send up a prayer that there are consulate appointments available so we can leave on the 16th. If we leave on the 23rd we will miss 3 of our kid's birthdays. Not a huge deal, but disappointing.

If we leave on the 16th we will get home either on or the day before Mya turns 7.

What an awesome birthday present that would be, her long awaited sister!

WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!