Alliot Hudson XiaoJohn Einfeld!!

One of the orphanage directors that handed him to us

Eva and I with our babies

Another orphanage director with us. We wanted to take a picture by the red sign behind us and she said it says something about marriage :)

Back at the hotel and all cleaned up

We got to meet our sweet boy today!! He is absolutely perfect, we are in love!! Alliot was handed to us in a very deep sleep. I was afraid that when he woke up he would be very afraid of us. I think he slept for 20 minutes or so in our arms before he woke up. He was wearing layers and layers of clothes. When we got home I peeled them off.. he had a winter coat, sweater, two quilted shirts, and a t shirt on his top half, on the bottom half was three very warm pairs of pants. He couldn't move his arms to grab the toys we brought for him. The Chinese like to have their children very bundled up. When he woke up we were able to feed him some puffs that we brought, and he LOVED them. We even taught him how to put them in his own mouth, and then he was being curious how to open the container himself. He is very smart and learns things very quickly. We stayed at the Civil affairs office for a couple hours to finish paperwork. The orphanage director told us that he is very happy, easy going, and always smiling. He loves to bounce on our legs. I help him bounce on my lap and he giggles and giggles. He seems to be doing very well, we haven't noticed many signs of him grieving. I am sure it will happen eventually. He likes to play games with us his favorite is throwing his car and wanting us to pick it up for him, repeat, repeat. He did great on the bus ride back to the hotel. Towards the end he was falling asleep and was sucking his thumb. (I just love having a thumb sucker!) We are still trying to figure out how he drinks from the bottle. With his cleft palate it is more difficult for him to get suction. He is a babbler too. He likes to say "mama" and "baba" and "ah ah" Baba means daddy in Chinese. :) He really likes to make noise with his toys.

When we got back to the hotel I wanted to change his clothes and clean him up a bit. He was sweating from all the layers. They warned us ahead of time that he didn't like his bath. Dan got in the tub with him and he was not a fan, he was easily distracted though. We cleaned him up quick, and I swaddled him in a towel and held him for awhile. He laid his head on my chest and sucked his thumb. I kissed his check and he turned to kiss me on the lips. So so sweet! I laid him on the bed to get him dressed and he cried, after he was dressed I cuddled him and he settled down. Thats really the only time he has cried. Dan played on the floor with him for awhile and then laid with him and he feel asleep so quickly. He is sleeping so peaceful on our bed.  I just love him, love him, love him! It seems to surreal that he is in our arms, forever! There is ONE LESS orphan in the world tonight!

Right now we are doing laundry in the tub, the chinese way!! Then we are going to take a rest, then fill out paperwork, and tomorrow we are going to make it official!! I can't wait to facetime with the kids later tonight, he is going to fit in so perfect. He is so happy just like his brother!

His name is Hebrew like his brother and sisters. It means "Jehovah is God" We used "XiaoJohn" like we previously picked meaning "little John" He is named after all the Johns in our life. Dans dads middle name, and of course his biggest Chinese brother. :) Johns parents thought that was pretty special.

My Thumb sucker, just like mom was

Naptime with daddy

2nd Day in Wenzhou

Us with Johns mom waiting for the translator to save us 

Johns Dad with us

We had a fabulous last day in Wenzhou. When we woke up we met Johns parents in the lobby. The translator was not there yet so we did our best to communicate with google translator and a voice translator his mom had on her phone. It was quite interesting because the voice app did not always pick up exactly what she was saying and it would say something that made no sense. Apparently John told his parents what to do to entertain us. First thing in the morning we went to what they called a "wetland." It was a very beautiful park, with bridges, old chinese pavilions, gardens, and a river going through it. The translator told us we were looking for a "boat for us to use." I asked him if he thought we were going to find a "boat" just by the river, he said "yes." I kept thinking... that we were going to use a random boat that we found in this horribly dirty river... then what? So we kept walking and we came to a spot where there were boats lined up with men holding oars. Johns dad paid a fee and Johns mom, the translator, and Dan and I got on. (Johns dad had to go get gas in the car so he couldn't come). This man stood up and used his oar to take us through the river. It was very neat. 

Johns mom and I in the boat

Dan with Victor, the translator

Us in the boat with the translator, if you look past us you can see the man that took us around the river. Also look at how dirty green the water is. 

The boats that we were looking for :)

The wetland

Some of the houses we saw as we were on the boat. If you look close you can see laundry hanging outside. Everyone here hangs their clothes outside their window like that, very public for everyone to see. 

 After that we walked around some more, and they showed us some of the dragon boats that they use during a festival in Wenzhou. Also on our walk some chinese people wanted to take a picture of Dan and I with their children. We agreed but the kids were scared of us, and I think they took a picture of us anyways. 

Some chickens we found tied by their feet to the street light

 Then it was time for lunch with Johns grandma and grandpa. So we headed to their house, and I thought we were going to be eating there, but we see no food and they immediately pull out TONS of "snacks" they quickly fill the table with these "snacks" for us and tell us to eat. Nobody else is eating, they are just watching us and wanting us to try all these foods. It was mostly nuts, seeds, and fruits... but none were familiar to us. Then they hand us gifts, and more GIFTS... shortly after that Johns cousin, uncle and Aunt arrive. And bring us MORE gifts. Then they say lets go eat...so they left all of the "snacks" out on the table and we head to a very similar restaurant like the night before, they tell us to order a ridiculous amount of food, none which we recognize or can even read the name... they want us to pick out the food for everyone.... so much pressure! Once again we were lead down a long hallway to a VIP room. We asked if this was typical chinese dinning and they said for VIPS. This is how we dined with them for all 3 meals. We never experienced a typical restaurant feel like in the US. It felt like being at a house, but someone else did the cooking. We ate tons of food, I didnt especially love it. At the table there is a huge plate, with a smaller one on top of it, and then a little bowl. You never use the plates you only put food in the bowl. So we are not sure what the plates are there for. They were so sweet to us and always asked for a fork for us, but we refused. Dan was a bit more funny to watch use chopsticks than me. :) At lunch they also wanted us to eat, and barely ate anything themselves. Their manners at the table are quite different than ours- you sit at the table and eat for a long time, but if you need to leave you just say "bye bye"and leave, burping is completely acceptable, the food is community and you dig into it with your eating utensils, they use kleenex for napkins, and cell phones are completely acceptable at the table.

Dan, Johns Grandpa, Grandma, me, and Johns mom

Food that we picked from, I still have no idea what exactly we ate

More food to pick from. 

 They asked several times about items we wanted to purchase, we thought they meant what we wanted to buy... anything we told them, they bought for us! We did not spend ANY money in Wenzhou... free meals, free hotel, free gifts, free entertainment... we definitely were not expecting that. 

Another funny story... so Dan really wanted to buy some headphones. Of course we asked to be taken somewhere to buy them but this is what happened instead.... 

They had been mentioning them to us on and off during the day, I think we were on the way to lunch when the phone rings... Johns dad parks the car in what to us seems to be the middle of the street, johns mom jumps out, and some guy runs out of the store with two boxes (different kinds of headphones), then the translator gets out and Dan opens the door and they ask him which he likes better. He must have picked the one that was less expensive because it was obvious that Johns mom thought the other one was better, then she says just take both... the guy gives them to dan and runs off, everyone hops in the car, and we continue on our way.... Dan and I just looked at each other and smile confused at what just happened.... 

Its really surprising that people do not get into car accidents, I don't think there are any lanes... people drive everywhere, including on the sidewalk. If you can't find a parking spot you just drive up on the side walk and park. People walk through busy traffic with children, there seems to be no rules (or they are not enforced)

We also got to go to Johns house. His mom showed us around, it is a very little apartment. Johns room is decorated with Winnie the pooh bear. She was also very proud to show us many photo albums of John when he was a baby. And of course she fed us snacks. And refused to let us clean up the mess. And then made us take the rest of the snacks home. 

View from Johns family apartment, notice all the cars

Inside the apartment

Us with Victor

 Then we headed to the hotel for a nap, and it was VERY hard to wake up. AFter the nap we met them in the hotel lobby to go up to another VIP room for dinner. This time Johns dad picked the food... whew! Then we went out with them after dinner to celebrate. One of Johns dads friends joined us for the evening. He was very interested in us adopting. They asked why we wanted to and kept saying that its a "very good example for chinese to see." They also said that they hope that John learns from our example. They asked to see a picture of him, so we showed them but knew that the next conversation would be about his noticeable cleft lip. And it was next. They made a comment about why would we want that, its no good... etc. We very lovingly explained that to us what is on the outside is not what is important, and that a cleft lip does not making him any less deserving of love and a family. What we said made them think and they were shocked with our answer. They said "wow!" and kept talking about the example we are setting for the chinese to see, and were very impressed. I was a little nervous how the chinese perceived americans adopting Chinese. We were very happy to find out that its viewed as a very wonderful thing, and that they think the children are very "lucky."

This morning we woke up early to pack and get ready to head to Zhengzhou. Our flight left at 8:05 and we arrived to the airport at 7:00. Johns mom took us to the "late passengers line" and totally cut right up to the desk. When the guy took one look at our bags (we have 3 and they are HEAVY), he shook his head what it looked like to say "no way!" She then started talking really fast and loud in Chinese, and called someone. Meanwhile this guy is carrying on his business, Johns mom chases him around the lobby with her cell phone and gives it to him to talk to her friend who she called. THe guy them smiles and agrees to check all of our bags, didn't make us pay extra for weight (they were 10+ lbs over weight), and even was going to check our carry ons. John explained later to us when I asked what happened that she has a friend who works at the airport and she was using her "connections." I guess that is a chinese thing to do. Very few rules are followed if you know the right people. We then hugged both of them good bye and went through security. You could tell that hugging is awkward for them, but we did it anyways. :) We look forward to spoiling them in Michigan in a few months. 

Our airplane from Wenzhou to Zhengzhou

Our taxi ride to the hotel was very interesting, and we are still learning how to be out by ourselves. We made it to our hotel in Zhengzhou, which is the capital of our sons province. Luckily for us, now we are with our travel group and will not have to get around by ourselves again. Whew!! We met our travel guide, Vivian, who is very very sweet. She came to our room and gave us some information that we will need for the rest of our time here in Zhengzhou. Now, why we really came to China! We leave to meet our son at 9:30am, or 8:30pm Michigan time Sunday night. Its so real, so close! We even have his crib in our room!!! Vivian was able to ask the orphanage a few questions about him for us, we did find out that he is scared of strangers, new things, and that those make him cry. :( I can only imagine how he will feel not understanding anything we say (we have felt the same way, scared, helpless, and alone). We would love your prayers that we will be able to bond with him, and that we will be able to work though the scary first days together. I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance! I know your all dying to know his name, and trust me, we are just as excited to tell you! :) 

View from our hotel in Zhengzhou

His crib in our room!!

wenzhou

 Today is Friday in China. I woke up at 3:45 am, and couldn’t sleep. I played around with facebook and snuck in a few games of candy crush and still couldn’t go back to sleep. So I started my day around 5 am. I took a shower, and got ready at my own pace. I was slightly disappointed that my curling iron doesn’t work here… I guess its straight hair for me today. Then we walked around trying to find a place to eat breakfast and ended up at the restaurant in the hotel…. That was one EXPENSIVE omelet I had. After breakfast we went back upstairs to facetime with the kids and read them a bedtime book. Its so fun to see them and hear about their day and the CRAZY weather in Michigan. I guess they had snowdays yesterday. Azalia kept telling us about a person dressed up like a cow that she saw at the childrens museum, Asher was so proud of the work that he did shoveling the driveway with papa,  and Aviela told us about how she got to go to the childrens museum with nana alone at nap time(I guess she really liked the piano).  It sounds like they are having lots of fun at home. Tomorrow they are going to Disney on Ice…. Lucky kids!

Today we are heading to see Johns parents and the flight leaves at 3:00pm. So after getting ready, eating and talking to the kids we had a little time to waste, but didn’t really want to venture out too far from the hotel (which is at the airport) just incase we were not able to find our way back. So we wandered around the airport lobby, went in some shops, checked out the subway, and did a lot of people watching.  Most of the people here dress very fancy or dressed up. We also saw quite a few more people sprinting. It really makes me giggle when I see them start sprinting. Forget the fast walk, its an all out sprint. Sometimes I wonder where they need to be so quickly. Ill try to get a video. We got quite a few stares as well, which when I noticed them staring I quickly smiled. We feel quite helpless not being able to communicate. This morning at breakfast while we were paying we were trying to decide how to tip here, when we asked them if we should they had no idea what we were talking about. I tried to pull out my phone to have John translate, but I had no service…. Fail. In the end it worked out, but it was quite challenging.

We made our 4th of 9 flight to Wenzhou today. I was slightly nervous to get off the plane and meet Johns parents, because I was a little nervous how we would communicate with the language barrier, and they have never met us. AND John was sleeping so he couldnt even help if I needed him, we were totally on our own with this one. I can't even describe to you what happened when we made eye contact- Wunju recognized us right away (although we were the only non-chinese getting off the plane) she ran to us wouldn't stop hugging me (much to johns surprise) gave me a huge bouquet of flowers, and they refused to let us help with the luggage. We were then dropped off at a fancy hotel, assigned to an amazing room that over looks the river running through the city. We were escorted to our room by Johns mom, at least 3 bell men with our bags, and our own personal translator. The room is crazy fancy, we have our own cabinet with tea dishes. We were not in the room more than 15 minutes when we received a knock at the door with a plate of fresh fruit for us. We definitely feel like royalty! When we were dropped off in our room we were told to take a rest and meet in the lobby at 6 (which was about 40 minutes away). So we freshened up, (I was sweating hot on the car ride), and headed down stairs. We sat with his parents and a translator and had some tea while we waited for Johns grandparents and cousin and uncle to arrive. The next part is some what of a blurr again as I stood in utter amazement at what was going on.... We were escorted into a large room, and told to pick 6-8 dishes out of the glass cabinet. (We have no idea what anything is, not to mention if it will taste good) They INSISTED that we were the guest and choose the food. Now anyone who knows me knows, that I don't like waste, and ordering something I don't like would be not good- PLUS we were picking out food not only for ourselves but for the entire group... YIKES... We asked Johns cousin what she liked and she was helpful. So after we pick out 6-8 dishes out of this cabinet they tell us to turn around and pick our own live seafood for them to cook. (sort of like the lobster at meijier only a TON more choices) I have been told by numerous people not to eat the shell fish... how could I tell them no? I couldn't, so I broke that rule! AFter the shell fish it was on to another row of food which we were told to pick 2, then a hot pot (hot pot can be a meal in itself), then some "greens," then dessert.... I just kept thinking Dan isn't that big of an eater, John isn't here, I definitely can't eat all this.... And its somewhat rude to waste food in the Chinese culture.... YIKES.... Now all the food was picked out, we were told that while we waitfor it to be cooked we would just go "check out the weddings upstairs"... I felt like a wedding crasher, but it was really neat!! Then they said we were going to find a place to sit while they cooked our food, where we were walking seemed like a hallway with a dead end. YUP sure enough we have our own private VIP suite with a HUGE round table that our food was brought up to us into.... I had lots of feelings of inadequacy, and we were NOT dressed for the occasion. Johns grandma told me on more than one occasion to relax, so they kept feeding me wine.... I am definitely not an adventurous eater so this was out of my comfort zone. I just kept telling myself "dont look, just chew and smile" I did and surprisingly I liked it! I have no idea what I ate, but it was good and it was a great time for us to chat with Johns parents. We were treated like a King and Queen, guests of honor, and totally spoiled rotten. We had a great conversation at dinner, they asked about our faith and believing in God, we talked about cultural perceptions, Johns college, and got to share how much we love John with them. I REALLY REALLY like them! Oh and want to know something else pretty cool.... Johns dad is a business man and he turned down multiple dinner offers tonight to spend time with us. Which the translator explained that is how they build relationship (much like the US), but it was a big deal I guess. This was the dinner that went on for 4 hours!! My stomach can not take much more. :) John did warn us that they were going to feed us a lot. I just feel so blessed to have this relationship, Im so thankful we decided to make it a point to stop here to connect with them, and once again Im amazed at how God works. He took my fear of communcation and turned it into something really special, and even gave us the opportunity to mention his name and talk about how they support Johns faith.

Im sorry this is in three different font sizes... Im kinda struggling with the technology. 

Airport in Shanghai

Airport hotel

our crazy expensive breakfast in Shanghai

breakfast in Shanghai

More Breakfast

Us with Johns cousin

Me and Johns mom. I really do love her!

The lobster we picked out of the tank

First row- Johns uncle, Dan, Me, Johns Cousin. Back row- "victor" the translator, Johns Dad, the Chef, and Johns mom

One of the walls of food. Presentation is huge!

The fish tank

This is a sculptor in the lobby of a new hotel Johns dad is going to be managing after its build. It will open in 2016

We are Here!

Whoa that was a long flight! I tried to sleep most of the time to pass the time faster, Dan enjoyed watching movies. 

I can’t tell you how many texts, messages, and emails that I got today from people telling me they are praying for us. You have no idea how comforting that is. I was especially nervous for the flights, and saying goodbye to the kids. Asher seemed pretty excited to have a little different routine for awhile, Addy just said “are you going to China mommy?” as I kissed her soft face goodbye. Aviela is probably the only one that realizes what is going on. She seemed a little nervous, but I know they are all in great hands.  Aviela internalizes a lot of her emotions, on Tuesday night while we were finishing packing I asked her to write me a note to take with me. (she loves writing notes). She disappeared for about a half hour, and came back with a huge smile and shoved  a letter in my backpack. I asked her when I could read it, and she said “when your in China.” I can’t wait to read that sweet letter.

One of my adoptive momma friends told me that she kept reminding herself of Isaiah 26:3 the day she left.  Perfect peace, perfect peace, God is in control. That was definitely my comfort as we boarded the planes.

It was definitely a good distraction to travel our first leg with Lisa Rozema, and Rachel Mulder. They both work at John’s school with the international students. They also are headed to China to meet with develop relationships with the parents of the students in their program at the high school. It was fun to see them.

 

We flew from Grand Rapids to Detroit, Detroit to Beijing, and Beijing to Shanghai. In Detroit we quick grabbed the last taste of American greasy food at McDonalds. I spilled some ice cream all down the inside of my shirt! Yuck! A sticky mess, and you can only imagine how ridiculous I looked trying to wipe it off. Waiting to board the plane in Beijing we definitely felt in the minority already. While we were in line to board I noticed the backpack on the person in front of us had Chevron rainbow ribbon attached (which is the ribbon my facebook adoption group has chosen to put on our bags so we can identify each other in China). I quickly said Hi, and she hugged me and said “Im Amy!” So fun to meet some of the people who have been my rock over the last 6 months or more. What a roller coaster its been that we have all traveled together as basically strangers (although it feels like we have known each other forever), and now we are meeting together physically in China with the babies in our arms that we have cried over, prayed for, and longed for together for so long. It really is a blessing to share this adventure with those once random strangers, that I now know as friends!! Its fun that Dan can put a face to the names I talk about all the time.

Tonight we are spending the night in Shanghai, and will leave tomorrow morning for a flight to John’s city- Wenzhou. It will sure be interesting how we will be able to communicate with Johns parents. They do not speak English, and we of course don’t speak Chinese. We know about 10-15 words in Chinese. I asked Dan if he thought we knew more Chinese then they do English, and he said “yea probably.” We both laughed knowing that’s not much. J

We finally made it to the hotel. Goodness that was an adventure. The Wiifii is really tricky here. Im so thankful for all the advice from my friends who have traveled before us. We would have never known to use the hotel room key to turn on the lights.  

We were just skyping with the kids and I was going to show them outside, only to pull the curtain and find a WALL not a window. It was quite an adventure finding our room. The guy at the front desk loaded all our bags up, and I said Dan lets just take them ourselves (so we didn't have to tip them) and he was like ok... well we definitely paid for that one. We couldn't read the room number it said "F32"... ok... we went to the third floor with no luck, then I remember him saying we needed to go up one floor... so we tried that, and ended up trying to get into someone elses room. She opened the door, and knew barely no english. oops... meanwhile we were dragging 2 carry on bags, and 3 rolling suitcases on THICK carpet. It was like trying to push a stroller in sand!! Finally as we were getting back on the elevator to go downstairs to "pay" someone to take us to our room we found a house cleaning lady (who knew limited english), but she was able to point us in the right direction. Finally to our room! We found some gas masks in our room. oh China!

Room Number?!

 At the airport I was slightly alarmed a couple times when I noticed on different occasions airport staff running through the terminal. I came to realize that is just how they move quickly... it was more like a full on sprint... I kept checking for the guy they might be chasing, yup, NONE, just how they move quickly. :) 

OH and I was surprised to receive a full MEAL on our flight from Beijing to Shanghai... only 1.5 hrs, and we got a full meal... That doesn't happen in the States. :)

Ok well its off to bed we go... its been a long day (we did 3 of our 9 total flights for the trip today), I really dont know what time it is, or what day it is, and I still feel like we are moving... Thank you for all your prayers, keep them coming!! Good night

Article 5 pick up!

Today our Article 5 (lets just be honest, I am not sure exactly what that is... )was picked up from the consulate. It is some documents having to do with immigration. So now we are in the FINAL- I can't believe I can say that- wait... which is for TRAVEL APPROVAL!! woohoo!! Due to Chinese New Year, the express mail has shut down for the week, so our documents will not be able to be delivered till next week Feb 3rd at the earliest. ~sigh~ But I am glad he gets to celebrate Chinese New year one last time in his birth country. The travel approval wait is estimated to be 2-4 weeks, however, I am hopeful that it will be closer to the 2 weeks. Our agency is very generous in their wait times.

Yesterday and today were more snowdays for us here in Michigan!! I do love the break from the monotony once in awhile. Today, however, we managed to get both of our cars stuck at the end of our driveway! Dan got the car stuck when he tried leaving for work, and after failed attempts at pushing it out I suggested trying to drive the van out of the remaining space in the driveway. Epic failure! Dan spent awhile on the phone with the insurance company getting them to come help, he worked at home for awhile and then decided to have John help him push the van out. They got the van out, and Dan left for work with me home and a stuck car!! John, the neighbor, and I were able to get the car out before the tow truck arrived. Then we were on our way. Whew! Both days we took our time getting dressed and ready, then headed to have lunch with friends and spent most of the afternoon hanging out with friends. It was fun for everyone! None of the kids had naps either day so it was early bedtime- win, win!

This afternoon when we got home I decided we should pull out puzzle we are making with the donations we received for our adoption and put it together. Not all of the pieces have been written on yet, so we could only work with what we had. John, the kids, and I made a little progress and then things went crazy so we put it away to get dinner ready. After the kids went to bed I pulled it out and asked Dan to help me work on it. He of course, came up with the good excuse that he had a "ton" of work to do for work. I complained at him a little more and he agreed to help. :) I told him he only had to do 5 pieces and then he could work again. You would think that should only take about 5-10 minutes right?! Oh no, about 45 minutes later he found his 5th piece with a big sigh of relief!! I think I found about 30 or so in that time.  Lets just say you may or may not want him on your team in a puzzle competition :) In his defense we didn't have all the pieces to work with, AND I told him its "cheating" to look at the picture while putting a puzzle together.  He was really stressed that he had to match colors and shapes (his brain doesn't work like that as easily as mine). It was good bonding time, and quality that we got to spend together. Its been awhile since we have done that.
Here is a picture of our progress.

Our puzzle piece progress

This is for all my adoption buddies, a panda bear shirt and leggings that I fancied up!!  I really enjoy sewing new things. This is Addys Valentines outfit I made for her. :)

Our Snow day "pool party"

The stuck vehicles. Kinda funny, Im sure the neighbors giggled as they drove by. 

Its getting exciting!

Last week was a very stressful week trying to get a few of the last pieces of paperwork filed before Chinese New Year. I spent about 5 hrs last week (NO JOKE) on the phone with the National Visa Center, trying to locate our paperwork, and get the details I needed to file our DS-260 (immigration form) to bring our little guy home. But we got all the papers we needed and it was turned into the embassy in Guangzhou this past Monday. Hopefully they will be picked up Jan 27 (or sooner), because of the holiday next Monday they could be delayed. After the papers are picked up, they will be mailed to Beijing which starts our final wait for Travel Approval. The travel approval wait can be up to a couple weeks. Our prayer is that the papers will be picked up on the 27th, and China will want to clear their desks (which they usually try to do) before they leave for a week vacation on Jan 31st. It would be very lovely to get our Travel approval before Chinese New Year (CNY). If we don't, China shuts down to celebrate the new year, and reopens Feb 10th. We would expect to get travel approval the week of Feb 10th, if we don't get it before CNY. THEN we will be able to leave 1-4 weeks after we receive the TA. I hope that makes sense, its a little bit complicated because of the CNY. I would really love it if we could be in China around my birthday Feb 18th. Thats only if everything goes perfectly. We really ask for prayers that our paperwork would not experience any additional hold ups or delays. We can really feel all the support and love from so many around us, thanks for continuing to pray us through this crazy adventure.

One of the details of the paperwork last week included finalizing a name. I bet your all dying to know, but for now we are going to keep it a secret! So many of the details of this journey we share that its fun to have something for you to look forward too. :) I will tell you... It is not Nolan, and it does start with "A", and our kids don't even know so they wont be able to help you :)

The emotions and excitement are beginning to take over. It makes me super sad thinking about being away from my kids for two weeks, but I also feel super excited about holding that sweet little boy, being in China (my dream!), and there being one less orphan in the world!! I try not to think about everything very much because it just makes the days drag on, but really its not that far away!!

Yesterday one of the friends I made in my facebook adoption group left to pick up her baby girl! Its been so fun watching her story unfold. Knowing that she is in China now, getting her baby tomorrow makes it definitely seem more real.

In the meantime I have been getting little things I know we will need to take with us every time I go to the store. The kids and I have been doing some crafts, and getting ready for valentines day. And I have discovered a new hobby- Sewing! I love it!! I got a sewing machine for Christmas and already I have made 6 burp cloths, 2 curtains, a shirt for Addy, a headband, and a sleeping bag for Avis doll. :) I really enjoy it and Avi thinks its fun to help. Im trying to stay busy to keep my mind off all this waiting. :)

We did get an update to hold us over while we wait a little longer. Our little buddy is walking, saying "mama" (melts my heart), and sleeping ALL night! Below is a new picture!! I love his hair! He's getting big!!

Thank you all for your prayers, keep praying that we can be in China around my Birthday!! God can move those mountains.

Soon Buddy, soon!!