And Then There Were Six

Monday afternoon Kyle spent three hours filling out paper work and then Jaxon and I had to go add our fingerprints to the paperwork. 

 Jaxon wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing.

 On Tuesday they made it official.  Tuesday morning we went back to the registrar's office and were presented the official documents.  Jaxon TianYo is now part of our family.

 

Presentation of the Certificate of Adoption.

He is a Gerber now! 

After the Registrar's office we had lunch and then we had to go to the city where his orphanage is to apply for his passport. 

Police Station in Kaifeng City. 

Jaxon and his daddy at the police station.  After we applied for the passport, we went to the orphanage.  We decided not to take Jaxon back in because we thought it would be too hard on him.  Kyle stayed in the bus with Kaylie and Madi and Jaxon.  Kenzie and I went in.  We were able to see where he spent the first 18 months of his life.  I'm glad we saw it, but it was very sad.  Many families were not able to go into their kids orphanages because they were bad, so at least we know he was in one of the better places.  They only let foreigners into the best orphanages.  And I will say it was clean and it was obvious that the old grandma's taking care of the kids cared about them, but there were just so many kids.  Many of them were laying in cribs just staring at the ceiling.  The lights were off until we got there, then they started turning them on.  There was no heat on, which is very much part of the culture I understand, but it still makes it feel very institutional.  It did help me understand his needs a lot better though.  I understand why he is so far behind from seeing where he lived.  

 Jaxon's playroom

 Jaxon's bed

 We were only able to see three different rooms.  Jaxon's room, one other families little girls rooms and then a room with lots of little babies.  Some looked like they were only days old.

Front of the orphanage.  I am so grateful he was in one of the better orphanages, he was cared for, it was clean, he was fed and loved to the best of their ability and for that I am so grateful.

 

It was a hard day and Kyle said he was really scared and antsy.  He seemed to know where he was, or at least recognize something.  But after we got home and fed him he was better.  He is a funny little boy.  He is starting to laugh more and more each day.  He thinks his sisters are hilarious and he is concerned whenever they aren't around.  He isn't able to talk, not sure if it is the age, his palate or the language or what, but he definitely lets us know what he wants.  Whenever he wants to eat he takes one of his cups to Kyle or I and puts his fingers in and brings them up to his mouth and then hands us the cup.  He makes us laugh every day :)

 These two are already getting into trouble together.

 The two tiny's getting ready for bed, by the middle of the night it pretty much looks like this, except I'm in the middle.  Neither of them are doing well sleeping on their own in a strange place and both of them are little heaters so nights are a little rough for their mother right now.

 My four babies :)

 He is watching Kenzie do jumping jacks and I admit I agree with him, it is kind of hilarious!

The transition and attachment has been slow, but I think pretty normal.  He has changed so much in just three days!

Wednesday was a bit rough for us.  I've been having issues with swollen lymph nodes on the right side of my neck and I finally had to go to the hospital Wednesday morning.  That was an experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon!  American medical facilities are AMAZING!  I'm on an antibiotic (I think, I can't really read it) now and things are already improving so hopefully the worst is behind us for everyone in the family.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and kind words and support.  We appreciate it so so much!  I hope to get caught up on all emails and messages in the next day or two.

Qiao Qian

On Sunday we boarded a train to travel to Zhengzhou which is the capital city of the Henan Province.  We all LOVE train travel in China.  Well, the fast trains anyway, we haven't tried out the slow trains...  the ones where they actually sell tickets to stand.  For like 20+ hours.  Insanity.  My friend told me last week that she wanted to visit her boyfriend over the New Year holiday and it is impossible to get on the trains during the holidays.  Anyway, she somehow got a ticket, but the trains were so full she couldn't get on (this is hard to imagine unless you have been to this country, I was on a bus once, we were all standing, jammed up against the people all around us and every time the driver stopped more people would get on, they had guys who would shove the people in.  It was nuts!) Anyway, she couldn't get on and when the train started leaving she grabbed a window and climbed in.  CRAZINESS.  That was a rabbit trail.  The high speed trains are great, comfortable and our favorite way to travel in China.  The girls were pumped!

 Train station in Huzhou, waiting for the train to arrive.

 We made it!  Let the fun begin :)

 They of course made friends with the stewardess, or whatever they are called on trains.  I'm not up on my proper train lingo

 These are the old trains that have sleepers on them...  we saw several and the beds look TINY.  We had been considering riding one on the way home, but I'm glad we didn't, I don't think that Kyle would have fit....

Our hotel room

On Monday morning we got up and left the hotel for the Registrars office to meet Qiao Qian, soon to be Jaxon.

 One of our representatives, there are 3 total and there are 13 families in our group. 

 The girls are all ready to go! 

 All the kids from the Province are brought here on Monday's to meet their adoptive families.  There were the 13 families from our group, then another agency also had families there.  It was a LOT of people and a LOT of noise and it was so overwhelming.  Their was anticipation, fear, love, sadness, grieving, excitement just to name a few of the emotions going on, it was intense for everyone.

 All the families gathered and they would bring in kids as they arrived.  Jaxon was in the second round of kids to be brought in so we had him almost from the very beginning.  We were there for about 2 hours.  It was exhausting, emotional and yet so amazing for all of us.  

We are a family of 6!  I have so many more pictures but it has taken over and hour just to load these, I will try again tomorrow and hopefully the connection will be better.  

Jaxon clung to me from the moment I took him from his nanny.  He was so scared.  He didn't cry, but he was shaking and his breathing was weird.  I held him the entire time and eventually he fell asleep. We got back to the hotel and fed him and played with him and then he took a nap.  I tried to put him in his bed but he started crying.  This was the first sound he made since we got him.  I held him and laid with him and he went to sleep with his arm around me.  After everyone got up, we all played some more.  The girls LOVE him, but I think he is a bit overwhelmed by all their attention.  They are kinda intense.  After dinner the girls were dying to swim so we got everyone ready and went to the pool.  It was so cold!  So after a nice chilly swim we gave all the kids a warm bath.  Jaxon was super unsure about the water.  But he started playing with the girls and interacting with Kyle some.  He likes it when Kyle talks to him in Chinese but other than that he is pretty scared around his new daddy.  I was worried about bed time, but all the kids were asleep in their own beds by 8:30 no issues, we will see how tomorrow goes.  Tomorrow we sign a lot of paperwork and possibly go see the orphanage.  Thanks for all your support and prayers through our journey!

Destiny

I was talking with a friend here yesterday and she was trying to explain how important the idea of destiny is to people here in China.  How behind each meeting, each friendship, even each family member there is this idea that it was predestined.  

On our flight from America, Kyle started up a conversation with a lady in front of me, he pretty much likes to talk to everyone within 5 feet of him on an airplane, in line to get on an airplane, getting our baggage, etc.  I am pretty much the opposite :)  Anyway, he started talking to this lady and it turns out that she was a part of a team of 14 doctors, nurses, speech therapists and medical educators headed to China to work in the orphanage.  They were spending 10 days in two different orphanages to train the workers, do medical work, and spend time with the kids.  At least two of the ladies had adopted daughters from China.  Previous to this I had been worrying about Jaxon.  He has cleft lip and palate and has only had a lip repair surgery done in China and I wasn't sure how this would affect his eating.  I had a lot of questions that I hadn't be able to find answers for.  The lady in front of me introduced us to the doctor sitting with her and one of the nurses.  They were able to answer all of our questions, had great advice and were so excited for us!  Was it destiny that we met them?  I don't know, but I do believe it was a blessing given to us from God.  It gave us so much more information and confidence about what we are facing.  

Recently a friend made the comment that that God has blessed us so much.  And she is right.  He has.  Immensely.  Sometimes I get caught up in the hard day to day living and forget to look at the big picture.  I get stuck in the murky waters of living out of boxes in several different locations for the last couple years.  Of living in a rural area in a foreign county, which is great (big picture) but so hard (day to day) to do basic life, especially with three small kids.  I get depressed over the loneliness, the isolation. I get irritated with my leaking bathroom pipes, moldy walls and lack of transportation.  I have anxiety about my kids spending years in this polluted air and the lack of reliable medical help nearby.  This can all be overwhelming.  I start to drown under the weight of it all and then I have to step back.  I have to be reminded how blessed we are.  I have to stop and look around me, we are living in China and it is amazing!  I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world!  It has been crazy and frustrating but we have learned so much, experienced so much, met so many great people.  We have been constantly loved on and supported by our friends and families.  We are SO blessed!  I just have to stop and remember and say 'thanks'. 

We are leaving in three days to bring a little boy into our family, my girls get a brother, my husband and I a son,  and a little boy gets a crazy family who will love him with all our hearts.  Please pray for us over the next two weeks.  We leave Oct 26th by train from Hangzhou to Zhengzhou.  We meet Jaxon on the 27th.  We will spend the week in Zhengzhou getting his passport and doing paperwork.  From Zhengzhou we fly to Guangzhou on Nov 1st.  We will spend our time there filling out more paperwork, going to the US Consulate and getting his US visa.  WooHoo!!!  We head home on the 7th via train with a connection in Wuhan.  It will be a busy crazy two weeks with a lot of travel and a lot of kids.  There are also 11 other families coming from the US to adopt kids.  We will all be in one group for the two weeks.  I will be posting as often as possible so that the posts don't get too long!  :)  

 

We're leavin' on a jet plane...

Actually we already left.  But I still have that song going through my head.  Probably because it is 2:42 am and I've been up since 11pm because I made a serious mistake and took a 'nap' at noon which continued until 11pm.  Bad idea when trying to recover from jet lag!!!  We came back to China after a great stay in the US.  We saw friends and family and had so much fun!  It was hard for Kyle and I to come back.  But our kids were SO excited!  I couldn't believe how happy they were to be back.  They kept telling us how excited they were to be home!  It surprised me, but I guess this is the only home they have known for a couple of years.  It is interesting to me how as parents we think about all the things that we can't give them here, and how small this apartment is, and how difficult it is to feed them.  But as kids they don't think about anything like that.  They think of this as home, they don't care about having more room, they don't care about the things they are missing out on, they only know that this is home, this is where we have done life now for two years.  So they are really really happy to be back :)

 Last American food and it was delicious!

 'Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again, oh no, I hate to go!'

 Airplane fun.  These kids love flying!

 Late night dinner: popcorn.  They could not have been happier.

 About a year ago we reported a major mold problem due to leaks in the pipes.  Yes, a year ago.  While we were gone this is how they finally fixed it.  nice.

The mess that I need to address.  I think this is the real reason I went and got in bed at noon today.  Too much to handle after 20+ hours in airports and airplanes!

American Summer

 Fun with friends...

 And family...

 At the beach...

 And in the mountains...

Peace out everyone! 

Adoption Update

We are leaving on Sunday Oct 26th to pick up our son Jaxon

I will be updating the blog as our journey begins...