We all slept pretty well last night, but at about 5:30 this morning all three kiddos popped their heads up and were ready to begin the day. So we all got baths--I made a bubble bath for Yun Wei and I think that may have been his first. He wanted to wear the "Cars" shirt I got for him, but unfortunately the shoes I packed were WAY too big! He is seven, but probably wearing a 5T in clothing. I guess he will wear the shoes they brought him in until we get home--they actually look fairly new and are cute.

I am not sure how he will like my cooking once we get home bc he does not want anything to do with American food. Except for hot wings;) This morning he chose congee (some sort of rice-based soup), a hard-boiled tea-flavored egg, and noodles for breakfast. He looked over at Chloe's Rice Krispie cereal and kind of wrinkled his nose up. He even peeled his egg and put it in the congee which seemed odd even to our guide--but Yun Wei ate it up! Later, we ate at a traditional Chinese restaurant and Donovan fell in love with dimsum! It is a pork-filled dumpling, I think. At any rate, Donovan had three of them and was asking for more! During lunch, Yun Wei revealed he is quite the jokester---he kept pouring Chloe's soda out of her glass and into his every time she wasn't looking...and then just giggled when she found out! He also giggled when she used her chopsticks bc she kept dropping her food. After every meal, he gathers all our dishes and stacks them neatly--a trait I hope rubs off on my other children. I think orphanage life has trained him to be very neat and tidy. Donovan was eating an Oreo and letting the crumbs fall on the bed and Yun Wei did not like that one bit! So far he has not wanted any sweets. The guide said they prob did not have sweets at the orphanage. Of course with his Alport's Syndrome, I will have to really monitor his salt intake--but I am not sure how strictly until I can get him to the pediatric nephrologist in Chattanooga.

He takes about 12 pills a day. Half of them in the morning and the other half at night to maintain the function of his kidneys. I remember when I was a kid, swallowing just one pill was really hard to do for me, so I was really surprised when he popped all six of them in his mouth at the same time and swallowed them down in about 2 seconds! I guess he is just used to it. The orphanage gave us a three-week supply of all his meds and said he is doing really well on them currently.

He did get upset today when we went back to the Civil Affairs Office. The pic here shows the Civil Affairs Office that everyone must go to in the Jiangsu Province. We are finalizing all the documents here with a notary. The caretaker mentioned to him that we would take him to the orphanage on Thursday to say good-bye to all his friends. I think that was just overload for him. I honestly can't imagine how hard and confusing a lot of this is for him. He began to cry--which made me cry, but he did let me hold him and rock him for awhile. We signed all our paperwork which makes us official parents on the China end of things and his caregiver presented him with a jade necklace that has his name imprinted on it. He has not taken it off and I see him looking at it intently every now and then.

I think we will be seeing a roller-coaster of emotions from him over the coming days, weeks, months. Even though he wants to be adopted, even though he is having fun---he is also leaving behind everything familiar. And that is hard. So all we can do is love him through it--allow him to experience that grief and loss because it is normal (I'd be more concerned if he wasn't grieving some), and pray for God to carry him through it. And he will...because God is good. And as I said before and also know in my soul---God has BIG plans for Yun Wei.

Keep us in your prayers for the orphanage visit on Thursday--it WILL be hard for him and he will need all our prayers to help him through it.

Isaiah 43:2-4 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you...because you are precious in my eyes, and honored and I love you."

This Day is Awesome!!!

We have him with us!!! Surprisingly, I did not cry. And I really thought I would! Our guide took us this morning to the Civil Affairs Office where we were to meet Yun Wei for the first time and I have to say I think we all had butterflies. They sat us down to fill out some paperwork and I guess I was thinking they would announce his arrival or that we would be brought into another room to meet him, so I had relaxed a little and was just focused on filling out the paperwork. Then, all of a sudden the door opens and there he is! Just holding onto his caregivers hand and looking very somber.

The caregiver brought him to me and I noticed he was carrying the family photo album that we sent to him. I gave him a big hug and he let me cuddle him, but he was still very serious. You could tell he was so nervous and even though I knew that it was a normal reaction, my heart just wanted to break for him. I kind of had this panic moment that maybe he would not want to go with us. That he would not ever want us as his family. But I had forgotten how Don can make any kid laugh. For those of you that know Don well...he is just funny and kids just love Don's humor. So Don began to work his magic and on the ride back to the hotel, Don was the only one that could get a smile. And they were BIG smiles!! By the time we got to the hotel, he was happy! Really happy! He had a yo-yo in his pocket that Don had been trying to get from him and he would just smile and hide it from Don. We would laugh and try to get him to show us if he could use the yo-yo. He would shake his head "no". When we got to the hotel, he finally agreed to show his yo-yo skills! And he was really good! What he didn't know is that Don is also good! He finally handed it to Don and he laughed a little bc Don dropped it. But when Don started doing some tricks with it--you should have seen his face!!

We brought out the Nintendo DS, which he totally loves. As well as Chloe's Nook. The kids have been taking turns with it and it seems to be helping the bonding process. He came and gave me a big hug--which felt great bc he was smiling. And he has an AWESOME smile!

We feel this sense of relief now--we know that the days and months ahead will be difficult, but wonderful as well. He fits in already---he really does. And he wants to be here with us--that feels great too!



Keep the prayers coming!!!

GOTCHA DAY!

The day is finally here. We leave in less than 2 hours to meet Yun Wei for the 1st time. Chloe and Donovan are sooooo excited-and so are we. A feeling of nervousness has dominated our morning. I thought this was a feeling for the adults, but it must be affecting the kids as well. As we were eating breakfast at the hotel this morning Donovan came around the corner holding "his previous dinner" in his hands..... He wasn't sick before that moment and has been fine since so hopefully it was just a case of the nerves. I think it pretty much grossed everyone out in the banquet hall, though bc he just went right back to eating...lol.

Yesterday, we toured the Great Wall and the kids were quite the spectacle! It seemed like every time we turned around, someone was motioning for Chloe and Donovan to take a picture with them:) I think Chloe's blonde hair just stood out. One sweet lady wanted me to hold her baby and take a picture. Evidently the baby was not as impressed as his mother because he was wailing through the whole thing! So I gave him a quick kiss and handed him back to his momma once the pic was taken;)

We met a family from Missouri yesterday as they joined us for a tour of the Great Wall. This is their 4th trip and they brought their 3 other adopted daughters with them. They joked that each time was their last...this trip was for daughter #4 who is 13 yrs old. I think spending the day with them and watching how beautifully their family fit together was a blessing for us. Their daughters were so happy and well-adjusted...and the parents were certainly blessed by the wonderful gift of adoption.

Thank you for all the prayers--we feel them and we are strengthened in our spirits by them. God is so good. I will share a scripture we read at breakfast this morning (after Donovan's "up-chuck" episode;) "Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you." Isaiah 43:5

And that is exactly what he has done for our family!!!

We love all of you!!!

We are in Beijing!!!

After a really long flight--we are here! I thought I would be excited about seeing some of the beautiful sights in China, but I really just want to get to Yun Wei:( Unfortunately, we do not go to his orphanage until Monday. We still are not sure if he has been told about us. I sooooo hope he has at least a little time to prepare.

The longer flight from Detroit to China was only about half full---which was awesome bc we got to spread out and sleep a little. The kids were pumped bc they got to watch some movies that they had not seen. The highlight was definitely when the pilot pulled Donovan and Chloe into the cockpit! They got to sit in the pilot's seat and wear the hat and crack a few jokes back and forth with the pilots. I would say that they truly went out of their way for the kids.

So today we will be touring Beijing, Tianmen Square, Forbidden City, and a Hutong Tour....

While we were flying, I was looking through the book of Isaiah and was so blessed to read a scripture that had been very encouraging to me through this adoption journey. I dated beside it 4/20/2011 because we had gotten updated pics of Yun Wei and I was unsure of how all the money would come in for our adoption at that time. Looking back-it is amazing to see how God moved mountains provide for our adoption. We are so blessed to call Yun Wei our son!!! The promise still speaks volumes to my heart. "Fear not for I am with you, I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you." Isaiah 43:5

Keep us in your prayers---especially for Monday. That is the big day!!!

Nat

Introducing…Jin Yun Wei!!!! We feel exceedingly blessed to call him our son.

 

Please pray for Yun Wei as we travel to China to adopt him.  We have had almost a year to imagine him in our family.  He will have very little time to prepare for the changes that are about to take place for him. He may not even know about us yet! He will have so much to adjust to—pray that God helps us make the transition smooth for him.  And pray for his kidneys—that God will help them function the way they should so that he can play and be silly and be a KID!!!  For those of you that don’t know his story—he has endured much in his seven years, but God is the author of his story and God has BIG plans for Yun Wei. 

Isaiah 43:1 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!”