I knew it the moment I saw her at the orphanage in China.  We were there to visit the orphanage in which our daughter, Eden, had been living for the previous 4 years.  We had just completed the adoption of Daniel and Eden two days before, and we knew we were in for a challenge with both of them due to all the medical and emotional needs our children have.  But when I saw this beautiful girl at the orphanage, and she was following us around while the teachers were telling us that she really wanted a family, too, and would age out (turning 14) in January 2017 (a short 5 months from when we were there in July 2016), I knew she was meant to be our daughter.  The children who had been in a dance class together with Eden all put on their dance for us.  As I watched them dancing, I realized that each of them (there were 5 or 6 there dancing), were being adopted or would be adopted within the next couple of months; all except for this sweet girl who so wanted a family.  I remembered seeing her in the photos we periodically received of Eden in the orphanage before we traveled.  She is straight and tall, and looked older than Eden, so I had assumed that she was older and had already aged out or was a worker in the orphanage.  What I realized then was that these two young ladies were friends in the orphanage, and had spent the last four years together there.  While the children were dancing, a warm, gentle breeze blew through the open window and brushed across my cheek.  I felt like Elijah, knowing that God was in the gentle blowing in 1 Kings 19.  My friend who was adopting two children from that orphanage as well, turned to me and said, “I think she’s your daughter.”  I got goosebumps.

When we got back in the van to leave for lunch with the children and the orphanage director and teachers, I said to Todd, “We need to come back for her.”  Todd’s response was something like, “Are you crazy?”  I’ve heard that from him before.  🙂  The truth was, since this little girl had such a short time, only a family who was already in the process of adopting, or one that had just completed an adoption could most likely adopt her.  We thought about advocating for her, but we knew that her chances were very, very slim of someone moving to get everything done in time to adopt her before she aged out.  Given Todd’s less than agreeable response to the idea of adopting another child at that time, I decided I would pray about it and just see what happened after we got back home and settled with our new children.

Of course, life was rather crazy upon our return, as it usually is, and even more so as we were adjusting to life with two new children who didn’t speak our language, and who had different needs emotionally and physically.  It was easy to let a month go by and not really do anything about the little girl on the other side of the world.  I can’t say I stopped thinking about her, however.  There was probably not one day that passed without a thought or a prayer about this child.  In early September, one month home from China, I sent an email to a different agency to see if they could locate the file of Eden’s friend.  She had actually been on the list with the agency we used to adopt Daniel and Eden, but her file had been released back into the shared list right around the time we were in China.  I was glad about that because we weren’t very happy with that agency, and in the very unlikely case that we would be moving forward, we wouldn’t want to use that agency again.  The only problem with not using the same agency was that in order to do a dossier copy, which is what would have been the easiest and fastest way to proceed, we would have had to go with the same agency. It is not very common for the Chinese government to agree to take a dossier copy for a family if they go with a different agency.

I was able to view this sweet young lady’s file and see her photos.  According to her file, this girl had no physical disabilities, and her special need was listed as “developmental delay.”  She had been found at one month old, and had lived in the orphanage ever since.  The file said that she had developed strong attachments to her teachers, which is a really good thing.

I took all of this information and…..did nothing for another month.  I really didn’t want to bring it up with Todd again.  He had seemed pretty certain that we were not going to be adopting another child so soon after completing our adoption of Daniel and Eden.  I wanted to keep the peace.  So, I prayed.  Every so often, Eden would look through the little photo album that was sent with her from the orphanage.  Her little friend was in almost every picture with her.  Several photos showed them laughing together.  I looked at these pictures and felt a little twinge in my heart.  I was supposed to do something about this.  But, I was afraid to push it with my husband.  So, I let another month go by.  With the passing of another month went the ticking of the clock that was counting down this young lady’s chances of ever having a family.  And I began to have dreams about her every night.

In early October, Eden saw me looking at a picture of her friend on the computer as I was praying for her.  She got really excited, gasped and said, “(the girl’s Chinese name) coming here?  Daddy go get her!”  Hmmm, I hadn’t even said anything of the sort.  I responded to her, saying, “Let’s pray and see.”  After that, she began to ask me every day if Daddy would be going to get her friend and bring her here.  She showed me where we would put her bed.  I would tell her, “Maybe she will come.”  We prayed.  I didn’t ask Todd.  I just couldn’t bring myself to go there and stir up any confrontation.  Then, Eden started to ask Todd about her friend, too.  He would kind of grunt and say, “no.”  Eden would come and tell me, “Daddy say ‘no’ not coming,” and sadly walk away.  I continued to have dreams about this young lady.  The contact I had at the new agency that had sent me the file would check in with me every couple of weeks, and she kept reminding me that if we thought we wanted to move forward with this girl, we would have to move quickly.  They had seen adoptions completed within 4 months before, but every day we delayed, the likelihood of everything coming together in time was dwindling.

By the second week in October, I felt that God was pushing me to talk to Todd about this young lady.  If I didn’t step out in faith and at least mention it to him again, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I hadn’t at least advocated for this child’s life.  The morning I resolved to talk to my husband about her again, I received an email from the adoption agency telling me that basically we would have to begin the process in the next couple of days if she was even going to have a chance at being adopted.  I knew I had to do something that day.

So, I sent Todd an email (I wasn’t really brave enough to talk to him about it quite yet in person) with the subject line “Christmas gift for Eden.”  I sent him the file, and told him how I had not been able to stop thinking about the girl we had met at the orphanage.  I wrote to him about my dreams, and about Eden’s persistence in asking me every day.  I told him that time was running out and that we only had a few days.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?  I waited for a response, and that afternoon, Todd wrote me back with an answer that wasn’t “no,” but was more along the lines of, “It’s going to take an act of God to convince me that this is what we need to do, but what are the steps we would need to take and how much is this going to cost?”  I breathed a somewhat relieved sigh, thinking to myself that at least this wasn’t a “no!”

The next day, I sent in our application with the new agency.  We were quickly approved, and they sent me a timeline of what would need to happen when in order to even have a chance of completing the adoption before the girl’s 14th birthday in early January.  We had less than 3 months to finish everything and get to China.  It looked pretty dismal on paper, but I knew in my heart that this child was going to be a part of our family before she aged out.  It was October 6th.  They wanted us to have a completed (new) dossier FedExed to their office in Colorado by October 19th, or at the very latest the 20th as it would have to be sent to China by the 21st.  It had taken us about 9 months to complete the dossier for Daniel and Eden’s adoption.  It seemed impossible to me, but I knew God could do it.  The first step was that we didn’t have the money for the first agency fee right away.  It would take us some time to be able to get money together for all the steps, but all the agency fees would need to be paid before the dossier could be sent.  This was about $10,000.  Again, this seemed quite daunting.  By that Saturday evening, donations came in that totaled around $3100, which was enough to cover the 1st agency fee and part of the homestudy update (this fee ended up being almost triple what it would have been because we had to go with a different social worker since the one who  had done our home study said she couldn’t do it in time).  On Monday, October 10th, we found out that all of our documents would have to be ready and completed by the 13th to overnight to a courier who could help us get it certified and authenticated and sent to CO by the 19th.  This meant we had 3 days to have a home visit and have the new report written and signed off  on by the agency.  I couldn’t see how it would happen.  Thankfully, we didn’t need to wait for birth certificates or our marriage license because we would be allowed to use copies of those.  We would have to start the process of the homestudy update, which was the longest step.  Todd wasn’t ready to commit to another $2500 just for the homestudy update.  He thought that was ridiculous.  However, we found a social worker who could do the home visit and have the report updated by the 13th. Incredible!  Todd was going through the motions, but wasn’t really feeling comfortable with everything.  We had physicals on Tuesday, I spent all night Tuesday and Wednesday uploading documents and information into the website for the homestudy update.  Wednesday was the only day we could get our fingerprints done for the police reports. They only did them on Wednesdays.  Todd kept telling me he didn’t want to do it, and he was uncomfortable.  But he kept going through the motions.  He did the physical.  Wednesday, I thought he wasn’t going to get his fingerprints made, because he was pretty mad at me and uncomfortable with everything.  When I went down to get mine done that afternoon, the man looked at my name and said, “Oh, Erdner!  Your husband was here earlier!”  I was a little shocked, but a little glimmer of hope remained in my heart.  The next day, Todd expressed that he would do whatever it took to complete the steps for the adoption, even if we couldn’t know for sure if we would be pouring more money into a lost cause.  There was a strong chance we wouldn’t get everything in time (immigration, etc. can take months that we didn’t have).  At that point, however, I knew for sure that this was going to happen!  We weren’t sharing with many people, because things were so iffy, but deep inside I never doubted.

Friday morning, the homestudy update was finished, and we had everything we needed.  I was ready to FedEx everything to the courier, who would get it all authenticated and sent on to our agency.   I called our agency to check on something, and was told that by a miracle, the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) was going to allow us to use a dossier copy!  SO, even though we had miraculously gotten all of our documents together, we would only need to send the updated homestudy and two more documents in order to do the dossier copy!  China rarely allows the use of a dossier copy for families going with a different agency!  God was confirming to me that this was HIS doing! I was so ecstatic.  This saved us a lot of money, and made things way easier and faster on the China end as well.

Since that day, all of the steps have fallen into place smoothly.  We got our immigration approval within a couple of weeks when it can take a couple of months.  Same with the immigrant visa and citizenship for our new daughter.  It has been a whirlwind, and I have felt so humbled at times to be used by God in such an amazing story.  I can’t even believe it sometimes. I remember when I became a Christian my Junior year of college.  There was a new song out by an artist named Steven Curtis Chapman called “The Great Adventure” (I’m dating myself here). I remember thinking that I was now part of this big family of believers who had this great adventure to live.  I had no idea what that truly meant.  The last 20+ years have definitely been that adventure!  And this amazing story we have been called to walk in has been one of the most wonderful adventures so far.  Saying “yes” to God is not always easy, but it is always rewarding.  I have to say if I had said “no” to many of the things God has called me to, I would have missed out on some amazing things.  My salvation wouldn’t be affected, I believe, but, boy, would I have missed out.  I am so thankful that I didn’t ignore God’s voice in my life the many times I have heard and obeyed,  and I’m so blessed because I heeded His promptings and that still, small voice in that gentle breeze that day in China.

Last Thursday, December 15th, Todd and our daugther, Nina, flew to Beijing.  They toured the Great Wall Saturday, and Monday morning in Changsha, China (Sunday night Austin time), they went and welcomed our new daughter, Hadassah, into our family!   When that sweet girl saw Todd, she ran to him and gave him a big hug!  That’s so wonderful, since we know it’s not uncommon for some kids to shy away from hugging and physical touch.  Eden is still learning how to show affection by hugging.  It definitely doesn’t come easy to her.  I really wish I could be there with them right now, but it was important for me to be here for Eden and Daniel, and of course little Tovi, who is his Mama’s boy these days.

I can’t wait to be reunited with Todd, Nina and my new daughter, Haddie.  I can’t wait to see Eden and Haddie together.  I’m so excited to see what their future holds, and my prayer is that they will come to know the God who orchestrated this Christmas miracle.

If you would like to donate towards our adoption, to help us cover some of the costs of travel, agency fees, etc., we have a YouCaring site set up:  https://www.youcaring.com/todd-michelle-erdner-and-family-for-adoption-472347

This is one song by Steven Curtis Chapman that has always stirred my heart, and now it really does have a special meaning for me.  I definitely heard Him asking me, “What NOW?”

I am typing this as I sit in the hospital room at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, waiting for Eden to come out of surgery.  We are here to have a plate removed from her femur that the orthopedic surgeon felt needed to come out (it was placed there when Eden had surgery for her dislocated hip about 4 years ago after she was brought to the orphanage).  Since she is still growing, having a metal plate there could cause problems, and bone had already begun to grow over the plate.  This won’t help her limp in any way; it’s purely to get the plate out so it won’t hurt her as her bone continues to grow.

Eden has done really well so far, and seems to understand what is going on.  When we were here yesterday to go through the pre-op admission process, she was very brave, and even tolerated the blood draw without too much of a fuss.  It is obvious, however, from her reactions to different things, that she has been through some trauma involving hospitals and doctors.  In China, she had surgery after going to live in the orphanage when she was 9 years old.  There was no mama to comfort and love her during that scary time.  I’m so glad she has that now.   I thought this would be a good time for me to reflect on who Eden is and how she is growing since coming home.

Eden is a Mama’s girl, BIG TIME!  From the moment we met our children on “gotcha day,” she has been my little shadow.  She wanted to stand close to me and hold my hand from the very beginning, and seemed very taken with the reality that she now has a Mama.  She loves her daddy and all of her siblings as well, but she is extremely attached to me.

From the moment she wakes up in the morning until she goes to bed at night, Eden wants to be right next to me.  If it were up to her, she would probably stand with some part of her body touching me every waking moment of the day.  She does take bathroom breaks, but for the most part, she is rarely in a different room of the house or outside without me.  This is very sweet, but it really can be very draining as well.  For her good as well as my own sanity, I encourage her to play with the other kids and go play with toys or go look at books at times throughout the day away from me (even if it’s just a few feet away).  Eden sits contentedly and watches me take my martial arts classes with Enoch, and she has even gone to the gym with me to watch me do my Body Pump class.  I take her everywhere, and she is happy to just tag along wherever Mama goes.

We were told that Eden was 13 years old, but there are signs that she is a bit younger.  Developmentally, Eden is quite a bit younger, but she is also very capable of doing some things that older children can do well, like doing the dishes or folding and putting away her own laundry (she even takes them and puts them in the washer and transfers them to the dryer, but she needs help getting the detergent into the right place without making a huge mess). 🙂

Eden is learning English so quickly, and she loves doing her school to learn the English alphabet and count in English.  I think she has a learning disability, but I’m confident that she will be able to learn to read and write in the future.  She will need new workbooks soon as she is already almost finished with the ones I bought for her a couple of months ago.  I have been working with her and Daniel on things like puzzles and lace-up shapes.  Eden enjoys these kinds of activities, and she cooperates with pretty much anything I want her to do.  Sometimes I have to convince her a little bit, but she is very compliant for the most part, and very eager to please.  Speaking of learning English, Eden can sing a few songs in English now!  She knows the ABC song and also, from listening to Christian radio in the car, she knows at least one pop Christian song.  Her favorite song she just belts out along with the radio is “Thy Will Be Done” by Hillary Scott.  I love hearing her little voice sing such awesome, truth-filled words!

Tovi (our 2-year-old) loves Eden, and she has made him her little companion when I ask her to do something that requires her to be away from me (like brushing her teeth after breakfast).  She will call him, saying, “Tovi, let’s go!,” and take him by his little hand.  He gladly goes along with her to keep her company.  One of the best ways to get Eden to go outside and play is to give her the job of taking Tovi to the swings or to jump on the trampoline.  It’s heartwarming to see her being so loving and gentle with her little brother.  She is pretty much thrilled with all of her brothers and sisters, and is just so happy to be in a family.

Eden likes to laugh and is a happy little girl, for the most part.  She finds a lot of things very funny, and she has an adorable little giggle.  Her big sisters think she is the cutest thing ever.  And she really is very cute.  It’s fun to see her perk up and laugh with her siblings.

I wrote a whole blog post about my two little foodies, but I’ll say it again now:  Eden LOVES to eat!  She is easy to please when it comes to food and will try anything once.  Usually, she comes back for a second, third, and even fourth helping.  Eden has definitely grown and gained weight in the time that she has been with us.  She’s even getting a little belly fat!  I think just being able to eat a lot and get snacks when she wants is a new thing for her, and her world definitely revolves around meal times.  Eden has mastered the words, “What’s for . . . (insert meal depending on time of day)?”  Another new thing for Eden has been ICE!  She can’t get enough of it.  I think she most likely never had ice before coming home to us.  The first day she discovered ice, Eden was in the bathroom every 20 minutes because she was drinking so much water with ice, and munching on the ice.

Both Eden and Daniel, like many children who have been in institutions for an extended period of time, are having to learn how to play.  When we first got both of them, neither one of them really played they way kids normally do.  We did a little throwing around of a ball together while still in China, and they liked it, but they wouldn’t just play without some direction.  Since we have been home, they both have needed to be encouraged to play with the other kids.  All of the younger kids in our family are little boys, so they love to run around outside.  One day, soon after we arrived home from China, one of the little boys was able to convince Eden and Daniel to go outside with him and run up and down our long, gravel driveway.  They did it, and Eden especially seemed to enjoy it.  The same thing happened with the trampoline.  Neither child necessarily wanted to have much to do with this contraption with which our other children are so enraptured.  One day, a couple of months ago, some friends brought dinner over, and all of our children were playing together and jumping on the trampoline.  It began to rain, and all of the children were laughing and having the time of their lives bouncing in the rain.  Eden grabbed Daniel’s hand and they ran out together to join the fun with the other children.  That was the first time I saw them do that without a lot of prodding from us.  It made me want to cry tears of joy!

We had what I would call a breakthrough with Eden last week during speech and debate club meeting.  Usually, I just keep Daniel and Eden with me wherever I am at club.  Daniel doesn’t always do so great for someone who isn’t used to watching him, and Eden simply does NOT want to be away from me.  However, last week, Eden stayed and played with Tovi and Hezi during both speech and debate time, which was HUGE for her.  I checked in with her a few times, and she would say, “Hi, Mommy!,” and then try to come over to me.  I encouraged her to stay and play each time, and each time she agreed to stay with the other kids and have fun rather than sit through a meeting that at this point means nothing to her.  This is just one of many little signs that she is beginning to trust us as her parents, and me as her mother, that we aren’t going to abandon or forsake her.  It kills me to think that she even worries about me leaving her, as she has had so much loss in her young life.  But I see her taking baby steps toward trusting me more and trusting that I will always be here for her.

The kids got to dress up for Halloween for the first time, and they had such fun!  Eden walked around with me and Tovi, and she pretty much got the routine down after the first couple of houses.  She would remind Tovi to say “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you!”  It was a very full and exciting night for both children.  I love getting to see them experience things for the first time, and see the joy in their faces.  It is such a blessing.

Eden came out of surgery, and has done well.  She is experiencing minimal pain at the site of the incision, which is wonderful.  The challenge right now is that she is starving (the last time she had anything to eat was a banana right before bed last night, so she hasn’t eaten for almost 24 hours!).  We tried some crackers and water, but that came back up right before she was supposed to start on her dinner, so we had to take away the dinner and try jello and water.  The jello and water came back up as well, so now we are waiting again.  It’s not nausea, but the digestive system that has gone to “sleep” from the anesthesia.  We just have to wait it out.  Thankfully, Eden has relaxed enough to sleep a bit.

We are so blessed to be on this journey, and so excited for what is to come.  There is HOPE for these children, and we are so humbled that God would use us to be part of their stories.  HE sets the lonely in families… hallelujah!

Daniel makes an impression on pretty much everyone he meets. This little boy is really cute, with his adorable unibrow, long eye lashes, and round little cheeks that dimple when he smiles.  He is very charming, saying a cheerful, “Hi-yo!” to everyone he sees.  Daniel really does seem to genuinely enjoy people.  While he can be very challenging at times, he has lots of good moments, too, and we are trying to focus on the positive and on the gifts that God has given him.  Daniel charms everyone we meet.  There is a special quality about him that draws people to his sweet, friendly ways.  Right now, we are trying to help him to create positive, healthy attachments with me and Todd, as well as his siblings.  So if you see us in person and he tries to give you a hug, and we encourage him to give you a “high five” instead, it is because we are trying to help him to discern between people he should be hugging and people he shouldn’t necessarily.

Children who have been abandoned often suffer from attachment issues, having lost that bond that should have been with his or her mother from the start.  This loss can occur early in life or even later, and causes children to react in different ways.  Eden is very shy when she first meets people, trying to melt her little body into mine, and leaning her head down towards my neck.  She follows me around and becomes very distraught if she notices that I am getting ready to go somewhere and thinks that I may leave her behind (I pretty much take them everywhere with me). She is most likely afraid of another abandonment.  Daniel isn’t shy at all, and is ready to hug any and everyone whom he meets.  This is kind of the opposite problem.  Daniel looks for attention and affection anywhere he can get it.  Sometimes he still calls random women “mama” (he did that a little more at the very beginning). Now that he has a forever home and family, he needs to learn who “his people” are and begin to make strong bonds with us first.  I feel certain that we are making good strides in that direction, and that we will be able, with the Lord’s help, to guide Daniel to a place of healing where he will be able to reach his full potential.

I’m very thankful that he really does seem to want those positive interactions with us.  He will often initiate hugs and kisses with both me and Todd.  He is learning to relate in a healthier way to the other children.  Daniel absolutely adores riding on the tractor with Daddy, and he waits eagerly for “Baba” to get home so he can ride on the tractor.  He lets me rock him like a baby and sing to him several times a day, and he enjoys sitting on our laps when we read stories.  We dance to music together.  We play peek-a-boo, and he laughs hysterically.  These baby steps are encouraging as we look forward with hope to the progress we believe Daniel will be able to make while thriving in a healthy family.  I love seeing glimpses of who Daniel is behind the hurt, traumatized, and frightened little boy we see so much of right now.  Inside, there is a very sweet little boy who loves people and wants those deep connections.  His search for that is over, and now he can settle into what it means to have someone love him unconditionally, to have a family that will always be there for him, and ultimately, to know his Heavenly Father who has been his true Father all along.  We are blessed to be part of his journey, and we so appreciate all the love and support we have received from all our family and friends.

“A Father of the fatherless….God makes a home for the lonely.”
-Psalm 68:5-6

We have been home for over three weeks now, and things are going pretty well.  I’m not gonna lie, though: adoption is HARD! There are so many challenges with both children, which we are facing and working through.  But it is hard.  A sweet friend of mine set up a meal calendar for our family, and I almost felt guilty about it at first, thinking that I could totally cook meals and don’t need help.  After all, these are older kids, not newborns.  It’s not like I just had a baby or anything.  However, when I try to describe to people how exhausted I am at the end of each day, the only thing I can compare it to is when I had newborns!  It’s just exhausting in a different way.  With a newborn, there is the physical exhaustion due to long nights and a constant demand on a mother’s body to feed, hold, comfort a new baby.  There is emotional exhaustion from not knowing what is wrong when a baby cries for an extended period of time for no apparent reason, or from not feeling like things will ever be “normal” or so many other things.  With these two new “babies,” there is physical and emotional exhaustion as well.  Both children need me a lot.  Daniel needs constant attention and supervision, and he often demands this attention by acting out.  Eden needs me all the time, too.  She follows me around all day with a constant refrain of “Mama! Mama!”  It is very sweet, but can be very draining as well.  I am not complaining about this at all.  It is very sweet.  But it feels a little like the newborn stage because of the constant need for mama.  Then there is the emotional exhaustion from wanting to help them when they are sad or angry, and not knowing how or second guessing myself about what I think they need.  It’s exhausting not being able to communicate well with them because of the language barrier even when I am just trying to explain something simple like big sister, Abby, is now living in an apartment in Round Rock so we won’t see her every day anymore.  The blessings are tremendous, but the drain is very real as well.  Just being honest here.  So, the meals have proven to be SUCH a blessing!

Speaking of meals, one thing that has stood out since we first got our children on “gotcha day” July 18th, is that FOOD is really important to these two.  They live to eat.  Daniel can be picky and many times refuses to eat certain things, but he still gets really excited about having that food on his plate.  There are lots of reasons for this, having to do with living in an institutional setting, even for Eden, who was in a pretty good situation.  We have variety and plenty, and that is something these children haven’t had before.  When we were in China, they quickly learned the English words “eat” and “ice cream.”  We did a lot of eating there, to pass the time.  After lunch and sometimes dinner, too, we would stop at one of the little stores and get ice cream.  The breakfast buffet was huge at the hotel where we stayed in Guangzhou.  We were a little worried they would miss this when we got home.  There is not a huge breakfast buffet here every morning, of course. When they wake up, they come to the kitchen ready to feast.  The good news is that breakfast is pretty easy.  They love fruit and eggs, so I keep boiled eggs and lots of fruit on hand, and they are  thrilled with this.  I thought the kids would enjoy something familiar for lunch, so I have been making noodles almost every day, and they practically jump up and down with excitement for their noodles!  It’s pretty funny.  Dinners have been interesting.  With Daniel it’s hit or miss whether he will actually like something, but he always wants a lot on his plate.  He is learning to eat better and be less picky, and he will drink a nutrition shake with dinner, which is good because he doesn’t always eat what is served for dinner.  They get lots of fruit and snacks throughout the day.  I want them to know that they never have to worry about not getting enough to eat, and that they can have a snack when they need one.  I pretty much never deny them a snack,and even let them keep snacks in their backpacks all the time.

Both children have taken to eating with a fork really well.  In fact, they will now turn down using chopsticks in favor of using a fork!  Someday we will work on manners!  🙂  Eden shovels the food off of her plate or bowl into her mouth and then will come running for more while saying, “More, please” with a very overstuffed mouth and food all over her face.  🙂  Food is very comforting as we all know.  In time, these children will understand that they don’t have to worry about being hungry.  I am praying that they will also come to know the Bread of Life, so that they will never hunger spiritually.  We are trying to show them love by meeting their physical needs.  I am praying that they also will know spiritual satisfaction that only comes from the One who made them.

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that beieveth on me shall never thirst.”

I am so excited that we are heading home to Texas!  I will write some longer posts once we get home as I will finally be back to my own laptop.  We have spent tons of time exploring Guangzhou, going to the zoo, and finding local food to eat. We had an extra day in Hong Kong because airfare to fly home yesterday (Saturday) was almost twice as expensive as waiting till today (Sunday). We made the most of it, as Hong Kong is a beautiful city. We ride the tram to the Peak, took the ferry across to Kowloon during the day and again at night, rode a double decker electric trolley around town a couple of times, and ate some yummy food.  

The kids are doing ok.  Daniel is testing us every chance he gets. I think it will be much better with him once we get home.  Eden has mastered a few English phrases, including “Daniel, no!”  For the most part, things have been going fine with them.  

I am so ready to get home and have our family all together again soon!!  I can’t wait to get my hands on my little boys! I’ve missed everyone so much!!

Here are the kids at the top of Victoria’s Peak

Here are a few pictures I wanted to post with the last post. The one below is with Eden’s friends and foster brother in her foster home.

This is with Eden’s foster family. They were very sweet and seemed to really care about her. On the left is her wonderful teacher, Liu, a very special woman who cares deeply for the orphans and does so much for them.

We are now officially killing time here in China.  There are parts of this process that seem a little inefficient.  They could make it so much shorter if they changed the way they do a couple of things.  We had to wait 4 days in Changsha for passports.  Once we got them, we flew here to Guangzhou where the children had medical exams, had blood drawn for TB tests (for US approval to travel home), and now we wait for our US consulate appointments to get the kids’ visas to travel home.  I am getting super homesick.  I miss all the other children so much.  We have seen them on FaceTime a few times, and my older children are texting us on WhatsApp, so I don’t feel so out of touch with them, but it is really hard being gone so long.  I’m really feeling it.  If I come back to China, I will skip the touring part to make the trip shorter.  We will have been here over two weeks by the time we arrive home.  We have to stay a couple of extra days because our consulate appointment is a day later and flights were really expensive unless we waited another day to leave.  We will get to spend an extra day exploring Hong Kong, which should be fun, but I would much rather be home with everyone together.  The sad news is that we won’t all be together until about mid-August because to of our teens are traveling.

The kids were really excited to fly on the airplane.  Eden couldn’t wait.  She kept grabbing her backpack and saying “Go!” and I kept having to show her my watch and explain that when the clock said “4:00” we would get ready to leave the hotel.  She had fun on the flight, and enjoyed everything about it.  Daniel was excited too, but on the way down, he cried a lot and it seemed like his ears hurt.  He was OK after we got off the plane.

The medial appointments went ok.  Both of our children were really upset about having to have their blood drawn.  They wouldn’t let us go into the room with the children, which is probably best so they won’t associate us with that experience, but it was hard watching them be so afraid and not being able to do anything while they were in there.  Eden had to have a vaccination done, and she was terrified.  It took 4 people to hold her down for the shot.  Once she got it, she relaxed and saw it wasn’t so bad, but she cried for several minutes afterwards.  She was equally as terrified about getting her blood drawn.  Bethany was trying to show her that it wasn’t so bad, and she showed her that Jayson had had his drawn and he was OK, too, but she was still so scared.  She cried all the way to the room.  She made it through OK, and was fine again once it was all over.  I think her arm is a little sore where they gave her the shot for the vaccine.  She was a little moody last night, and fell asleep quickly, before story time and prayer.  She has been really into listening to the mother-daughter Bible devotional I have been reading to the girls at night, and both kids really love to pray.  Daniel asks for it before every meal and before bed.  I’m so happy about that.

Today we went to a museum that was kind of touristy and full of expensive souvenirs we weren’t going to buy.  The kids were super bored, and wanted to leave the whole time.  They kept asking the guide in Mandarin if we were leaving yet.  We went to a market place afterwards where we bought chop sticks and other gifts at great prices.  They had Legos there that were so inexpensive.  We bought several sets for the children and to bring home to the other kids.  We spent the afternoon making our creations.  Daniel helped a little with his, but he is very easily distracted, so he was happy when the final product emerged.  I didn’t get a good picture of him with it because he promptly took it apart.  I’ll get one tomorrow to post.  I fixed it so he can pose with it later.  Eden didn’t want to open her set at first, but after seeing Daniel’s built and Lillah working on hers, she agreed to open it, and we worked on it together.  She helped me find pieces and was counting very well in English.  She kept saying, “OK!” when we would finish a step.  She was thrilled with the end result.  The last part was making a bunch of little flowers to put in the “yard,” and she did those all by herself.  She was really proud of our work.  It was a good bonding time for us.

Tomorrow we will be going to see a safari.  Everyone is really excited!  I’ll post about that later along with pictures.  I’m sure it will be a fun day!

This is at the entrance of Martyrs Park

Eden with one of her new dolls

They were so excited to ride the rides!

After getting splashed on the flume ride! ?

Continue reading Pictures and Just Killing Time →

The last couple of days have been busy and exhausting, but wonderful for getting to know our kids and bonding with them.  Tuesday we finalized our adoptions.  We spent the morning going over paperwork, getting passport and family photos at the Civil Affairs office, and promising to take care of our newly adopted children.  Our guide then took us to a local store that is kind of like a supercharged Walmart (think “Stuff Mart” a la Madame Blueberry) where we bought a few items of clothing for our kids (we didn’t know their exact sizes before we got here) as well as a few toys and coloring books.  Eden was so excited, it was better than any Christmas morning I’ve seen in my life.  She was so happy to get a set of little dolls she can dress up and brush hair.  She was thrilled with her new clothes and new sandals we bought for her, and she was very thankful.  She kept saying, “Thank you!”  She picked out a really pretty little yellow dress, and she gasped when we said she could get it.  It was relatively inexpensive. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to see the  kids’ excitement, especially Eden’s, at the store.

Yesterday, our wonderful guide, Amy, took us to a beautiful park in the middle of ChangSha.  It’s very green and lush here, unlike Beijing. The kids acted as if they had died and gone to heaven.  There were amusement park rides, and we rode several of them.  We fed Koi in the pond and rode a little boat all around the big lake.  Our friends who are traveling with us adopted a little girl who is friends with Eden, which probably makes things easier for her in a lot of ways.  Those two were talking up a storm, holding hands and running ahead of us.  They were thrilled with every single ride we went on, and at the end of our time, they thanked our guide for taking us there.  They are sweet girls.  I love that they are so happy about their adoptions.  I know that there will be lots of different emotions over the next several months, but I’m so happy that they are so happy right now.

Today was a very emotional day as we went to visit Eden’s orphanage and foster family.  I was moved to tears several times by everything we saw there.  There are many, many children at the orphanage who will never be adopted.  It is so, so sad, and it made me just want to pick up as many children as I could carry and take them home with me.  There was another girl Eden’s age who is friends with her who was basically asking us to adopt her, too.  I really want to go back and get her.  She is a beautiful girl who will age out in January 2017, so her chances of being adopted into a family are very, very slim.  It just killed me seeing how much she wants a family.  She seems really sweet and eager to please, just like Eden.  There were several other children who would do well if they could just get a chance to be loved by a family and get out of the institutional setting.  I really wish I could fit them all in my suitcase.  Eden’s foster family was wonderful, and they really seemed happy for her.  They have been fostering kids for 10 years, and have fostered 6 children over those years.  Eden has been with them for 4 years.  The other child in their foster home is a little boy who will be adopted soon.   The foster “grandpa” told us that he will take two more after these two are gone.  They have very big hearts.  It was so wonderful to see how they have opened their home to orphans.  It is a simple home, but has all a child would need, and the foster home setting provides such a great environment for children to thrive outside of the orphanage.  I think that is one of the reasons Eden is so sweet and social.  She does have some signs of institutionalization, but she also has some signs of having been well taken care of and nurtured more than if she had only been in the orphanage.  We are very thankful.  Eden didn’t seem very sad to leave the orphanage and the foster parents.  She is so happy to have a family.  She hardly said goodbye to them.  It made me sad for them.  I think it may hit her once we are back in the States. what she has lost.

The orphanage director invited us all out to lunch at a beautiful nearby restaurant.  The food was delicious, and everything was served on a really cool automatic lazy Susan, The food was delicious.

The kids are now used to our little routine that we have had this week outside of our visits to various places.  We go to the pool at the hotel, we walk around outside and find a place to have dinner.  Then we get ice cream!  Then we come back to the hotel for a bath and bedtime.  Eden has this routine down pat.  She is so cute.  Their personalities are so funny and different.  Eden has been shy and quiet, but with her friend, Bethany, she is outgoing and can be pretty loud.  She learned to count to 6 in English today, and has learned several words, including “towel,” “shower,” and “sleep.”  She loves saying, “Mama!” when she needs my attention, and I love hearing her call me “Mama.”  So sweet.  She also can say “Daniel” really clearly, and repeats it over and over along with “no” as we are constantly correcting her little brother, and she is now starting to try and help us get him in line.  It’s pretty funny, actually.

Daniel is improving, but still testing the limits.  He will try something he knows isn’t allowed, and when we go to correct him, he will smile and wave “hello.”  I think he just wants to please deep inside.  He improves a little bit every day,, and I know he will keep on getting more used to our routine and how he is expected to behave.

I have lots of pictures to share, but our internet isn’t working properly, so I will have to add the photos later.  I will try that tomorrow.  For now, I just wanted to write a new update.

I could hardly sleep last night as I was so excited and nervous about gotcha day!  I couldn’t wait to meet our children, and at the same time I was nervous about how they would respond to us and wondered if I would know what to do.  I was so restless, I even stayed up and watched the entire final round of the British Open, and I’m not really that big of a golf fan (although, it was actually quite interesting)!

This morning we went to the Civil Affairs Office, and we had to wait for the children for a while in a warm, humid room.  The wait seemed interminable, but then the children came from the first orphanage–Eden and the two children the other family with whom we are traveling are adopting from the same orphanage.  The two girls, Eden and her friend Bethany, came running in saying, “Mama!” and she came straight to me and let me hug her.  I could tell she was a bit scared, but she was very excited as well.  It was good to have a few minutes with her before Daniel came a little while later.  We gave her a couple of gifts, and she played with them with Lillah and Bethany for a while.  I sat next to her and showed her how to use the Etch-a-Sketch.  She kept smiling cautiously up at me.  She is a very sweet little girl.  Her teachers kept telling me what a good, obedient and very nice girl she is.

When Daniel came in, he was confused at first because he thought the other mom was his host mom from last summer, and he kept walking over to her and saying “Mama.”  He had his photo album they sent home with him last year, and he showed me the pictures, and told me they were Mama and Baba.  I had to show him that Todd and I were Mama and Baba and that they were his friends.  The translator helped with that, too.  He seemed to understand after that, and he was very happy.  He loves Simeon, and kept holding Simeon’s hand and leading him to play.  Daniel remembered how to count in English from being here last summer.  He can write the numbers as well.  The teacher from Eden’s orphanage came over to talk to me about Daniel.  She remembered him from last summer, and warned me that he was very active and would need us to be really strict.  I assured her that we will be very strict.  With 6 boys at home already, we know how to be strict.  But we are ready to be stretched in new ways by this active little guy.

When the teachers left, Eden sobbed for several minutes.  It broke my heart for her.  I can’t even fathom the loss that these children have already experienced in their short lives.  I comforted her, and hugged her, and she let me do that.  Her friend Bethany came over and showed her a pony game on the iPad, and she quieted down and seemed content.

After we were finished there, we came back to the hotel to rest for a while and get the paperwork ready for tomorrow, which is when we finalize the adoptions.  Daniel was testing the limits quite a bit, running around the room, hitting us, and laughing as he turned off all the lights or tried to escape out the door.  We had to be very firm with him in telling him no to each thing he tried that was unacceptable.  This little boy has lots of energy!  The good news is that I can be just as stubborn as any kid out there, so I think he will have met his match!

We walked down the road and got some lunch, which was really good.  Daniel piled his bowl full of food.  He is so tiny, it makes me wonder how well he was able to eat in his orphanage.  He ate everything, but kept adding more before he was finished.  We had to tell him to finish what he had first.  It is sad to think of all the times he probably didn’t get enough to eat at meals.  Eden’s orphanage and the fact that she was in a foster home at the orphanage made her experience different that way, so she doesn’t seem as desperate for food, but she had lots of snacks in her bag, and she ate a lot of those yesterday.  Food will be something else that we will have to show them will not be an issue anymore in their lives.

After lunch, we were getting a little bored in the hotel room, so we went downstairs where there is a little play area for the kids.  After a bit, Todd went back to the room to get a ball.  That turned out to be a huge hit with everyone!  Daniel was responding well to some boundaries we set, and his silly personality was shining through as he would dance or pose before throwing the ball.  Eden opened up a

lot through playing ball.  She was laughing out loud and clapping.  It was very good for everyone.  I have such a smart husband, thinking to bring the ball into the picture!  It was perfect!

We celebrated with the other family with a beautiful cake we got at a bakery down the street.  Everyone really enjoyed that as well.

Bedtime was smooth as could be.  Both kids took baths, which I was concerned about with Eden, but she seemed to really like it, and she liked her new nightgown we gave her.  Daniel couldn’t wait for a bath–he had been asking for one all afternoon!  We prayed with everyone, and tucked them all in with kisses, and they all went to sleep just fine.   (I included a dark picture of the boys praying because it was so sweet.  I will get a better one tonight).

I have been overwhelmed by the love I already have for these sweet children.  God has filled me with love, just as if they had been born into our family biologically.  It is amazing.  I am excited about the journey ahead.  We are just beginning, and I know God is equipping us with just what these children need. I pray we will listen for His wisdom as we walk through all the challenges.