Friday

I only have a few moments to post. I had written a really long post and this computer deleted it!! I felt like crying. Anyway, Grace is doing much better! She is precious and fiesty, a spicy girl! She is much like her brothers were at two, into everything. She loves Paul again, most of the time. Yesterday was rough. She was somewhat out of her shell, but mostly moaned and whimpered all day. Last night she seemed to turn a corner. She still has moments of agitation and some whimpering. But she knows what she wants now and is busy trying to boss us around. :) We fly to Guangzhou today. I am excited about this leg of the trip, but somewhat sad I didn't get to take in more of Grace's home province. We mostly just saw the inside of the hotel, because that is where she feels safest. We've eaten at the Italian resteraunt here in the hotel several times. Sometimes we eat leftovers in our room, carry-out from the noodle shop, and once we paid a small fortune to eat a t the lunch buffet, but it was worth it to get some meat. Breakfast here is also an out of this world buffet, which we eat as much as we can of every day. I try to keep Grace's diet bland, but truly she would eat anything. In fact we have to cut her off before she eats herself sick which makes me sad. I'm a little aprehensive about the flight, but it can't be avoided, so Guangzhou - here we come!

Orphanage Visit

This is an awesome story that just about brings me to tears. Our church family at Frankenmuth Bible Church donated two huge bags of clothes, blankets, coats, socks, and other things to the orphanage. All of it was brand new, and some even hand knit. Individuals at our church also gave us way morethan enough money to check the bags on our flight to China from the US and then from Beijing to Grace's province of Henan. Honestly, I've worried more about these bags than anything about the trip, which is really silly. I was really concerned about getting them to and from the airports and about checking them in China as they are very strict that each person only check 1 bag 44lbs or less. We had four HUGE bags between us and three carry-ons, all overweight. The first leg of the trip we ended up flying Delta and they didn't charge us anything. We think its because they allow 2 checked bags per person for international flights, which we didn't know. The next leg of the trip was from Beijing to Zhengzhou. Our guide talked to the people at the check in counter and since the bags were an orphanage donation they decided not to charge us anything!!! When we got to Grace's province our guide was able to ask the director of the orphanage what they needed most. She said they were short on formula and diapers. Paul went to the store and was able to buy cases and cases of diapers and formula. At the store he was a huge spectacle and had like 20 employees helping him. When they found out that it was an orphanage donation they were so generous and threw in a huge case of rice cereal and gave him 50 % off the diapers so that he could buy twice as many. The exchange rate here is 6.5. I feel like God took the efforts of our church and multiplied them over and over. Once again, HE has proved faithful, even when my faith wavered.

The orphanage was SO grateful! He was able to tell them it was a gift from our church. The orphanage itself is old, but it is clean. It is very evident that the children there are loved and cared for as much as possible in that setting. Grace's nanny cried when she found out that Grace is having a hard time. It turns out she is shy and afraid of strangers. The directors took Paul out to a traditional Luoyang feast where he was the guest of honor. We are so humbled. The Chinese people are truly gracious and kind. I really like the people we have met here.

Grace has definitely bonded somewhat to me, and shows her personality to me. When we are alone she laughs and talks and even throws fit. That is good! But she can't even stand to be in the room with Paul and just grunts and moans all day long. It is very normal for a child to only bond with one parent. I think she loved having mommy all to herself and doesn't want anyone else around. So, prayers would be appreciated. We understand, but it's still really hard on Paul because he is crazy about her. He is making headway right now.

A New Day

Today Paul went and visited the orphanage. I am going to have to write a whole other post about that, but Grace and I stayed in the room together. She really came out of her shell with me today and was so cute! She loved being in the room with me, and walking the halls but anytime anyone else aproached us to talk she shut down. She was having a great time with me in the room and the second Paul walked into the room she shut down. She fell asleep within a few minutes. She took a nap and is awake now but very sad. Yesterday she did the same thing but with Paul. He stayed with her while I went to the Lotus Center (like Wal-Mart) to get a few things. She had a ball with him but when I came in she wanted nothing to do with me and was shut down for the rest of the night. I think she can only handle one person at time. The nannies said she is afraid of strangers. I am going to post later about the orphanage. I'll just say for now that is was a very good visit and Paul is really glad he went.

I am attaching some video I got of her.

It's Official - Day 5

Today we officially adopted Grace. She is a Wade now! We went back to the office where we picked her up yesterday and she and the other children (even the older boy) became visibly distressed when we approached the building. They remembered it from yesterday. She was really warming up to us in the hotel room this morning, but being out all day has caused her to shut down again. She just leans up against us and stares or sleeps. This is normal behavior for a toddler who has been taken from all that is familiar. Thankfully she does still eat and uses the potty. I'm also thankful for the few happy moments that she had with Paul yesterday while I was out of the room doing paperwork and that he got it on video. I watched her smiling and laughing with him while she was napping today. We are supposed to go shopping in a little while, but I am not sure that we will go. I am really missing the boys, but they are having a good time with grandparents.

Thank You!

Thank you for the comments and email. I feel lifted up when I read them and appreciate them so much. We are so happy, but it is hard watching her grieve. God is really good and I know he has us all in his hands.

Forever family day part 2

It's been a really amazing day, one we'll remember always. We are all exhausted, Paul is already in bed at 9:00 and he never goes to sleep before 11:30. Grace is so precious and we already lover her dearly. She is pretty closed off and sad most of the time, but we get a glimpse of her personality every once in awhile like in the pictures in my last post. She went to bed easily tonight in a big bed. I don't think she likes her crib much. We are grateful to God for giving us another child. We would appreciate prayers for her as she tries to process all of these changes,

Forever Family Day

Here are some pictures from today and a short re-cap of the day. I am going to post the rest of the pictures in a little while. These were taken in our hotel room.

We went to the Registration office today at 9:30. When we arrived one little boy (actually he is a twelve year old young man) was already there and we got to watch him be united with his parents, who are part of our group. We then waited on pins and needles for another hour for Grace and Daniel, also two, to arrive. When her van pulled up we all waited at the door and watched her be carried in. They sat both kids on the ground and our director approached them and asked who was who. We thought we recognized her, but it was hard to see their faces. It turned out we were right. We approached her slowly and spoke to her in the little Chinese that we know. She stared at us for a second and then started crying. She probably only cried for a few minutes and then just completely shut down and went blank. She is absolutely beautiful, and we are ecstatic to have her. I can't wait for her to meet the boys and for our whole family to be together. Paul was able to get some smiles and laughter out of her while I was doing paperwork, but she has mostly been very quiet. She looks around at everything and is very alert. It is very bittersweet because we are so happy to have her, but she is so scared and confused. She has cried a little bit here and there, but seems to be relaxing some. She is potty trained and took a short nap today. She really likes to be held or to have on of us nearby, especially daddy. She is a very good eater, which is a good thing. They call her Bei Bei (Bay Bay) in the orphanage, and we've been calling her that too. it suits her :). All three of the little ones adopted today are grieving, but that is totally normal for all the changes they've been through.

Sam, Joe, Will and Ben we miss you and know you will be awesome big brothers.