A China Update

Sorry it's been so long since we updated the blog.  We've been trying to keep Facebook up to date and I was reminded by Kristine this morning that we need to keep the blog up to date too.  So, I am going to add some pictures here and bring you up to speed.
We are in Guangzhou waiting for Joylee's US visa to be approved.  Today, Wednesday, December 21, we have our appointment with the US Consulate office.  We will submit all of our paperwork and apply for her US Citizenship.  If all goes well we'll be taking her oath to become a US citizen once we land on US soil. 
Joylee is doing amazing.  She is adjusting so well to all of us, but she has a special connection with her Jie, Jie, her big sister Bethany.  They are great together and Bethany is so patient with her.  It's an answer to prayer and we are so thankful. 

Parenthood

Hi again, Kristine here.
I am not sure what to address this time as I haven't posted for a while and so many thoughts have flowed through (and out of!) my mind these last 7 days or so. I had a lot of time for those thoughts as I would routinely awake around 12:30 or so and kill time till morning so I could finally get up. I really feel for those who deal with insomnia on a routine basis. So not fun! But an awesome hotel breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee would clear the cobwebs and keep me running until about dinner time.
But the day we got Joylee, I slept pretty well and was able to go back to sleep after the usual awakening. It's been that way since. Wierd, huh? I was beginning to think God was just keeping me on Central time or something to avoid jet lag going back.
Not that our nights haven't been eventful, though. Either the first or second night with Joylee, she freaked me out a bit when I saw a lot of blood on the sheet under her face! At first I thought it was from her coughing and we needed an ER immediately but then I figured out that it was a nosebleed. We got it stopped and filled her up with some Pedialyte and called for a medical opinion in the morning. Thankfully they thought it was just the dry air and, so far, it hasn't repeated. Whew! I just wonder what housekeeping thought and whether they debated calling CSI or something when they saw the sheets...
So last nights excitement was Joylee popping a fever in the middle of the night. Still don't know how high it actually was because the thermometer under the arm for only about 10 seconds showed 100.8. She does NOT like people making her do (or not do) things. Typical 18 month-old. We had come prepared and figured about how much Tylenol to give and she has been cool to the touch so far this morning.
Thank you Lord!
Parenthood has fun times and challenging times, happy times and sad times, joyous times and scary times. In all of them, we just keep loving and trusting and doing our best.
My prayer today is for all the parents out there currently going through one of the difficult times.
May God hold you and give you strength and hope.

Joylee's Jie Jie

Joylee has an incredible Jie Jie, Big Sister.  I'm not sure I'm spelling that correctly, but a big sister is called a Jie Jie in Chinese and Bethany is a fantastic one!  From the moment we mentioned to Bethany over three years ago that we were going to adopt she has been nothing but encouraging and excited.  Now that the day has come she has really stepped up and shined!  She and Joylee are like two peas in a pod.  Joylee wants her Jie Jie all the time and Bethany is not one to disappoint!  Last night after dinner Joylee even said "Jie Jie" when she was upset and didn't know where Bethany was because she couldn't see her!
What's interesting as well is how God has worked this all out.  Joylee and Bethany have similar personalities - outgoing, fun, friendly, not wanting to be held back or retrained, engergetic, laughing a lot, having fun.  These two were made for each other!
I have always been thankful for Bethany and proud of the girl that she is.  Seeing her in action as a "Jie Jie" just confirms what a blessing she is.

Adventures in dining

I've always been a fan of Chinese food.  That hasn't changed, but I have to confess that I have a MAJOR craving for nachos that I won't be able to satisfy for another week and a half!  I've never been a huge fan of dumplings.  I thought they were kind of dry and bland.  Well, Echo, our adoption guide, took us to a restaurant last night that specializes in dumplings and they were great!  Turns out it's all about the sauce that you dip the dumplings in before you eat them.  In China they mix vinegar, soy sauce, peppers and garlic in a sauce.  You coat the dumplings in that before eating them - now that is some good eating!  By the way, I am not starving even though I am eating some meals with chop sticks.  Not saying I'm ready to make the switch permanently but at least I can get through a meal!

We have Joylee!

Today was our "Gotcha Day" and what a day it has been!  We were taken to a building about 20 minutes from our hotel and ushered into a big board room where Joylee was waiting for us, along with the two little boys who were being adopted by the other families in our group.  It was a bit chaotic at first, but we spotted her and Momma quickly made her way around the huge table to get to her.  She took to us pretty well and has been equally favoring each of us, which is a huge blessing and answer to prayer.  As I type Momma and Bethany are trying to get her to go to sleep because she is very tired and has been crying for most of the last hour.  She was like this earlier before she finally went down for a nap with me for about an hour this afternoon. 
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as she is adjusting well, praise the Lord, but we know she has a lot of transitions to go through yet.  Thank you for your prayers already, we know God is in control and He has done great things!

We would also ask you to keep in prayer the other two families that are a part of our group adopting today:  Jeff, Caroline and their 4 year old daughter Hannah and their new addition, Alex and Barry and Anastasia with their new addition, Seth.  Seth has had a particularly difficult time adjusting and it has been a very hard day for him and for them.  

China here we come!!

Finally! Whew! Our bags are packed and we think we're ready to go. It took a lot of shuffling of contents to get the bags to the proper weight for the in-country flights but I think we'll be fine. I never knew formula could be so heavy! We will just have to be careful not to buy too many anvils while we're there.
We've talked a lot about the time difference (14 hrs) and how to handle the jet lag. So when I awoke at 2:30 this morning I changed my mind about rolling over for another couple hours of snooze and got up instead. Now I just have to figure out when I can have a cup of coffee. Now? in 12 hours? Haven't decided yet. If I can make it past Chicago then take a nap, that would be ideal. Maybe I'll just see how long I can go...
It's 4:40 now and Jeff just got Bethany out of bed. It's amazing to me how resiliant and mature she is now. She pretty much packed her stuff herself. Of course I had to go through the checklist and ask "Do you have (insert item here)..." seventy-two times until I irritated her enough. But she did great! She also packed Joylee's outfits into Ziploc bags so we could just toss them into whatever suitcase had room. I don't think I've heard any doubts or complaints from her about getting a sister or having another child in the house this whole time. She has been supportive and excited since day one and I am so glad she gets to experience this with us.
Must go put the last couple things in the bags before we head out.
Thanks for reading my random thoughts,
May God bless the stuffing out of you!