Great Wall

 

Ok, so the photos from the Great Wall are finally here!

I know that blog post was a while ago but they weren't wanting to upload to my computer and we finally fixed it all up! Enjoy!

 

Another Gotcha Day!!

Forever Family Day Number Two!

We left our hotel early and took the train to Tianjin. We went straight to the orphanage. We went up several floors to a very small room and sat down and again started filling out papers. Half way through, in came Jethro and his teacher. He was all bundled up in three layers of clothes and a coat. I scooped him up and there were no tears. Then he went to daddy and again no tears. We finished some papers and then took a short tour of part of the orphanage. He never cried once. We left and went to out hotel and checked in and then went to get some lunch. I think my boy is going to have some food issues that we will have to work on. He ate and ate and ate some more. Finally I decided that this little man was going to make himself sick if he ate anymore. Then back to the hotel where we gave him a bath and played for several hours. Here is what we have learned so far about our boy. He can not walk, he crawls and wants to walk so bad. He pulls himself up on things and will try to take a few steps and then falls. He is tiny! About the size of a 12 month old. He is very quiet. Not sure if that is because of his hearing or not? He does hear, but I am not sure how well. He reminds us a lot of Leila! He has the cutest little laugh and smile. He sucks his thumbs, and they gave him one of their very special haircuts. He is so sweet! We are so in love with this little man.

 

How is miss Ruiby with adding little brother? She wanted me to hold her and she didn’t do much with him at first, but a little bit after playing in our room she came over and gave him one of her cheerios. It was so sweet. She also brought him his bottle and tried to hold it for him. Later in the evening she gave him several more of her cheerios and fed them to him. So cute!

 

Little man is now sleeping and he finally cried when it was time for him to go to bed. I could tell he was so sleepy, but he wouldn’t stop moving so he wouldn’t fall asleep. I finally picked him up and gave him his bottle and rocked him. He didn’t like it much at first, but finally put is foot up on my shoulder and stuck his thumb in his mouth and was asleep with in minutes.

 

Praising God for yet another smooth Gotcha day! I know there will be many bumps in the road as they learn to trust us and bond to our family, but I can feel God here with us on this journey and know that He will walk with us all along the way! Thank you God for these two little treasures! And thank you to all of you who have been praying for these two precious children! and for us. Your prayers have been felt!

Beijing!

We are here in Be*jing. We arrived Friday evening and Ruiby did great on her first flight. She laughed when we took off and was awake the entire flight, I hope that is not a sign for our flight home! We pretty much got settled into our knew Hotel and then went to sleep. Today we toured the Forbidden City. It was very interesting and beautiful. And Isabelle became a celebrity. Everyone wanted her picture. Finally our guide said just don’t stop moving or we will never finish our tour. After the Forbidden City we went on a tour of part of the city that has been preserved like it was many years ago. We rode on rickshaws around this area and visited one of the homes there. Then our guide took us to one of her favorite restaurants. We were not able to visit Tiananmen Square, because it was closed for some special meetings that were being held there, but we did drive by. Then it was back to the hotel. Later we went for walk down several of the streets near where we are staying. We found a fruit shop, and wouldn’t you know it, Jon found red Anjou's from Hood River, Oregon.

Ruiby is doing better and better. She is starting to give us kisses and lay her head down on our shoulders. She still cries pretty hard when it is time for her to go to sleep at night. She does great in the Ergo and snuggles in. We are finally figuring out when she has to go to the bathroom. Yay! mom and dad!! She must have been thinking what is wrong with you people I am trying to tell you that I have to go!

Two more sleeps and then it is Jethro’s big day!! Can’t wait to meet our little man. Love to all!

 

Photos will be up tomorrow!

 

Ruiby's Orphanage

Written on 3/4/14:

 

Today was a big day. We visited the orphanage where Ruiby lived. We met the director and were given a tour of the grounds there. This orphanage is doing so much for the children. We saw where they are teaching the older children that have major special needs  how to cook and bake. The things they make help feed the children and the workers there. They also sell it to help make money for the orphanage. They have so many therapy rooms for the children to help with development. We saw a lot of one on one therapy with the kids. We went and visited Ruiby’s friends in her class room. She knew as soon as we rounded the corner where we were and wanted to go play. We got down on the floor and played with the children. One little girl started crying and was afraid of us. But Jon had her blowing kisses at him before we left. One little man stole Izzy’s heart and I think if she could of she would have brought him home too. We played and loved on the kids as long as we could. Ruiby cried just a little when we had to leave. Next we went and visited her foster family and saw where she has lived for the last two years. There were tears in her foster mama’s eyes when she saw her. AT first Ruiby wouldn’t look at her, but after she gave her some candy she started talking to her. Ruiby showed us where her little bed was and we visited there for a few minutes and then it was time to say goodbye. Ruiby gave her foster mama a kiss and I  cried as you could tell that this amazing women cared deeply for our daughter. Ruiby didn’t cry when we left, but has being grieving more since we have come back to our hotel and on the ride home. We could not thank this woman enough for the love she has given our girl, truly a blessing to have been able to meet this lady and spend time visiting the place where our daughter has lived.

Only two more nights here and we will be moving on to another chapter in this amazing journey. Love to all!

                                                                Outside Rui's orphanage
                                                                 

Meeting Rui's foster Momma

 

Waiting

Written on 3/4/14

 

Today was pretty much a day where we stayed in and spent time with our girl. Here is what we know about her so far. She has started doing some grieving (mostly when it is time to sleep and when she doesn’t get what she wants). She has an amazing laugh, her smile lights up a room, she loves bananas, she is learning to speak English very quickly, she is tiny and we are so in love with our daughter and sister!

 

We did get out and go to a park, that I am sure is even more beautiful in the spring and summer. But I enjoyed walking around and seeing the beauty that winter brings! Later in the day our guide had told us to eat at the restaurant next door, She had written down on paper what we should order so we could just give it to them and point. Lets just say that our pointing skills were not working all that well! by the end we were laughing and so were the people trying to help us. The food was great, although we did order way to much! 

 

Today we are visiting her orphanage. I am excited about this, but know it could be a very hard day for Ruiby. We were told that we may get to meet her foster family. So would love to hug this family who has cared for our baby.

 

Sorry the pictures are not coming through hopefully when we get to a place that has a better connection we can add more. Ok, that's all for today. Love and miss all!   

 

 

Forever Family Day!

 

Forever Family Day!

We arrived first at the civil affairs building. We started on some paperwork and in she came. Her nanny set her on the floor and I Knelt down in front of her and talked to her. No tears so I reached in and scooped her up. Still no tears. She let me hold her and soon she wanted down, I put her down and she walked straight over to her daddy and wanted him to hold her. Her nanny handed us the pictures we had sent her of our family. Ruiby got a big smile on her face and pointed to each of us saying mama, baba, big brother and big sister. All I can say is this little girl’s foster mom had prepared her very well for her new family. She new who we were and was not afraid of us at all. Jon had her smiling and laughing before we left the building. We had a lot of paperwork to do that took us all over the city and she didn’t cry until the very last place, the police station were we applied for her passport. She was so tired and cried and cried. Just as I finally got her to sleep they said we need a picture of the baby you must wake her. She was then a very upset little girl. We arrived back at our hotel where we pulled off three layers of clothing off this very hot sticky baby. She played with her baby doll we brought and has already started saying baby and ball in English. She does have a stubborn streak in her and wants things her way. I gave her a bath and at first she didn’t like it but soon she was splashing and having a grand time. We put her jammies on and fed her and she played some more talking and smiling the whole time. Around 8 as I couldn’t hardly keep my eyes open. I decide it was time for bed. I took her toys away and she started to cry. I laid her down beside me and she cried and I sang Jesus Loves Me! she soon laid there and listened to me sing and within 5 minutes she was asleep. She woke us at 2:30 am ready to play asking for her baby. We gave it to her and she lay there and played for an hour and finally went to sleep with her foot propped up on Jon’s back. What an amazing gift God has given our family!!!!! We are so blessed by this amazing little girl in our lives! We are so in love with this tiny little treasure!! We will be spending most of the day today in our room, but will be going to a park later. It is so cold here it is hard to spend much time outside. She is awake already this morning and is laughing and talking and smiling!! AMAZING!! Thank you for all the prayers we can feel them!! 

 

After being awake for almost 24 hours, we have finally arrived here in Urumq*, X*nj*ang. Our first flight was almost 11 hours. We landed in Be*jing and had a four hour layover. Then boarded another plane and flew another four hours. We chased the sun all day, it never went down and crossing the international date line we went from Friday afternoon to Saturday night.  AS you can see from the picture of Izzy that we have a three person bed at our hotel, but after being awake for 24 hours it didn’t really matter to any of us and we all piled on and went to sleep. It is Sunday morning here and our guide took us to the market and a Musl*m M*sque. This city has a lot of Musl*m people living here. Our guide is wonderful and has been giving us some great history lessons on the people that live here and the unrest in this area.  The market was very interesting also. There are a lot of different kinds of fruit and nuts grown in this area and so in the market they were selling all kinds of dried raisins, dates and fruits. There were also lots of almonds and walnuts. I took the picture of all the knives just for you Jonah!! It is very cold here!!! And there is snow on the ground. We are in the northern part of China and this province borders Mongol*a and seven other countries. Our guide told us it is -16 C.  Tomorrow is Ruiby day!! We meet our girl at 10 am, that will be Sunday evening for you all. Well that's all for now. Lots of Love to you all!

Teresa