Day Trip to the Past

Yesterday I was in Henan province. It was a day trip, just a 90 minute flight there and back, and my task while there was brief. Just get one picture taken. No big deal, right?

I haven't mentioned Baobei Foundation here much, maybe not at all by name. If you'd like to check it out officially, you can look at the website, which you can find by clicking here. I have a volunteer position with Baobei that has filled quite a bit of my free time during the day while our kids are in school. I've gotten to visit lots of babies in the hospital, orphaned little ones that Baobei brings to Shanghai for neurological or gastrointestinal surgery. I've cuddled infants who couldn't eat all day before their surgery. I watched IV lines started and checked out healing incision sites. I've helped settle these little ones post surgically into foster care with expat families. I've visited these families, gone to physical therapy appointments, searched through Baobei's stash of equipment and clothing, and had meetings where we discussed new children coming and who will next care for the ones we have in Shanghai now.

But a couple of times now I've been privileged to be a small part of one of our Baoebei babies being adopted. Yesterday was one of those times. I traveled with Lily, one of our local Chinese Baobei staff, and a toddler Baobei who is about to have his adoption into his expat foster family completed. We had to return to the city he came from to have his picture taken for his Chinese passport, one of many steps leading up to finalizing his adoption. The actual taking of the photo took only a moment, but we carefully brushed his hair over beforehand, having had to wake him from a sound sleep on my shoulder. The photographer called to him, he looked, and the camera clicked. Then we stood in line for a turn to sit at the police counter with him on my lap while they looked at him and stamped and signed various papers that would ultimately release him from the jurisdiction of the province and allow him to be adopted. Of course everything was said in Chinese and only interpreted to me here and there, so I was just a warm body to hold this Baobei and carry him from place to place, comforting and entertaining on the way.

By 8 PM last night we were back from the day of travel for the photo, and our Baobei (did I mention Baobei means "precious child" in Chinese?) was safely back with his foster family, soon to be forever family. I was left to wonder who took Gwen to get her passport photo taken before her adoption. Did she fall asleep on their shoulder on the way to the police station? Did they smooth down her hair? Did she wonder what this outing from her regular surroundings at the Yibin Social Welfare Institute would mean?

As I look at her little round face on the Chinese passport that she left China with in December 2005, I wish I could read more in her face. I wish I knew more about what came before the day we met her. At least now I know how one more piece of her story happened. Someone dressed Gwen, who was then Wang Yu, in a bright red jacket that day. They took her to the police station. They held her up on the little stool, reaching over to keep her balanced in view of the camera, but with their own body out of the photo. They waited with her to sit at the police counter. Was she a wiggle worm, a ball of energy? Unless she had just woken from a nap like our Baobei yesterday, I'm sure she was!

The look on her face in this little passport picture looks uncertain, her eyes are looking off to one side. Was she wondering what was happening, what was about to happen?

I'm going to show her this picture when she gets home from school today. I don't think she'll remember a thing about it. But I know just a little bit more than I did before, and I kind of like that.

Whirlwind of Fun

We had such a fun couple of days with the China sisters last weekend. Our girls were busy, busy!
It was neat to see the girls all relating to one another so quickly. I know kids of this age generally do feel comfortable with age mates easily, but I have to believe that these girls have a special bond.
We played at the beach... building a dam, swimming, hunting for shells and lake glass, and sculpting mermaid tails in the sand.
Kate escapes from the bonds of her mermaid tail!
Alia models her tail.

Kimberly and Gwen conversing on the break wall.

Jumping on the bed in the hotel where our friends were staying was a popular activity!

Kate's mom had these initial shirts made for all the girls, including the big sisters. Here are Alia and Gwen with their big sisters, Kela and Madelyn.
Alia and Gwen both have March birthdays, and had the same Chinese surname when they joined our familes. Being the same age, they would have been in the same play and sleeping rooms at their orphanage. They clearly knew each other and enjoyed interacting together in the days we spent together while their adoptions were processing. Alia is a good 3-4 inches taller than Gwen, but Gwen can proudly claim being older by a couple of weeks. :-)
Dinner was a casual one, at Five Guys for yummy burgers. We also had some coloring time so the moms and Dean could chat. :-) Here is our whole crew, minus my girls. I guess they were still coloring!

Last stop on our full day of playing was a visit to a playground that squeezed out the last bit of energy our girls had. At one point they ran around together in a little pack, saying it was time for a "China sisters' meeting". Apparently that meant the other three girls would run after the one in the lead to the leader's chosen destination.

Madelyn and Kate take a ride together.
Kimberly on the zip line.
Gwen gets a big push from Dean, Alia's dad.
It was a wonderful reunion. People have related the bond of families that adopted together as being like all being in the delivery room together for the birth of your children. A group birth experience sounds a little funky, but our four families were all in the same room at a civil affairs office in the Sichuan province when we met our daughters for the first time four and a half years ago, and that did create a special tie for all of us. The girls all knew each other before we had even seen their faces!

Thanks, everyone, for making the effort to gather the Sichuan girls, China sisters, this summer. Let's do it again. :-)

China Sisters Together Again!

Gwen, Kate, Kimberly and Alia

We had such a fun reunion with our adoption group this weekend! It was the first time all four of these girls have been together since they had all just joined our families in December 2005. See the picture below! What a change in five years. The girls are not in the same order in the two photos... can you tell who is who?We were very busy playing together this time... all four girls running, jumping and cartwheeling! I'll post more pictures soon of all the fun we had. :-)

Another Adoption Miracle

Our family's dear friends, the Allens, are in Beijing this weekend adopting their new son. They met this boy last spring when helping with a new adoption project for older children. He actually asked Rich and Sue if they would adopt him! He is twelve years old, perfectly healthy, and has lived his entire life in a Beijing orphanage. His world is changing 180 degrees right now! The Allen family already had four children... now they have five!

You can read their story as it's happening this weekend by clicking here.

Psalm 68:6 says, "God sets the lonely in families." He has done it again for this sweet boy!

Caleb's comment~ "The Allens are so lucky, they get to adopt again."

At Long Last

I began Gwen's life book, which is a photo album that tells the story of her adoption, right after we moved to China. I worked on it in fits and starts, finding it harder to do than I imagined at first. Several years ago I found some ideas for wording of life books online that really helped me get over the hump of the writing bit, and I was pleased with it. However I just couldn't seem to make the time to sit down and finish. You know, drag out all the pens and adhesive and photo cutter and photos, and have scraps all over...

I am happy to say that I completed it this past Saturday morning. Ta-da! Sigh of relief being deeply breathed.

It's not perfect by any means, but it is a telling of her story, in words and pictures, that I put together in old-fashioned scrapbook form. I don't do the traditional scrapbooks anymore, finding digitally created books much quicker to complete, but I wanted to have one for Gwen's adoption in my own handwriting, especially since all my early photos of the other kids are in books like that.

So now it's done, and she is definitely pleased, having looked through it many times already. I've put it in the bookcase in her room, and I hope she'll pull it out again and again. I hope it will add to a secure sense for her of her adoption into our family being God's plan for her life.

Gotcha Day 2009

December 12... Gotcha Day!

Can't believe it's been four years since this little girl in a puffy pink corduroy outfit, squeaky panda shoes, and a fish shaped hair clip walked into our lives. What a different life we would be leading if it hadn't been GWEN!

We had a a low-key day today as Gwen is a bit under the weather, with a hefty cough and intermittent fever. We did manage to enjoy her life book (mostly completed now but not quite) and have this fun beauty shop session. I had never put curlers in her hair, so she thought that was a big deal. While we were at it, she painted her toenails. :-)

Calling Adoptive Parents

If you have adopted a child, can you check out the recent post on my sister-in-law's blog, Pre-Loved, in my sidebar? Click here to read it. She had an issue recently with discriminatory word choice in a radio broadcast she heard, and would love some feedback from other adoptive parents about how to respond to this kind of thing. Do we educate those who don't know? Do we let it go? How do we pick our battles?

Thanks! Mindy and I will both appreciate hearing your take on this situation.

Old Friends Together Again

Gwen and Alia~ together again after nearly two and a half years. These two are less than two weeks apart in age, and knew each other long before we had ever laid eyes on them, soul sisters in the orphanage where they lived in China.

Alia's parents brought her to visit us at our house in Chicago before we moved to China, and we hadn't seen them since. (Click here to see pictures of that visit.) We've exchanged Christmas cards and pictures of the girls in the mean time, but the chance for a visit seemed unlikely with us in China. Last week I was so pleased to find that Alia's family lives just minutes from our friends who had picked up Caleb and Seth from summer camp, so when I went to pick the boys up, Gwen and I made the drive to Michigan early and spent the afternoon at Alia's house. What fun the girls had! They were shy for about thirty seconds, and then they were off and running~ they dressed up and put on several shows for us, played on the swings, shared one candy cane back and forth on the hammock, went to the park, and just generally enjoyed each other's company. Neither one wanted the visit to end.

I grabbed my camera just in time to catch the girls walking hand in hand towards the park. So cute. I know most kids this age can have fun with just about any other child, but it really does seem that these girls have a special connection. I'm sad that we've not been able to spend more time with Gwen's three China sisters, but the times we have had have been sweet.

Alia's daddy, Dean, is a big teddy bear of a guy. The girls had such fun with him, running and screaming with laughter when he chased them, and then trying in vain to wrestle him down when they played in the grass.

I got a little cuddle with both the girls right before we left. We loved being with you again, Alia girl!

Back to the Beginning

Blogger has a feature on it's sign-in page where it notes how many posts you've made. Turns out that I have just passed the one thousand mark. So this is my 1001st post! Since I started this blog while we were waiting for Gwen, in August 2005, I thought it seemed fitting that this first post of the second thousand be of her. I love how these photos turned out... I took them while she was sitting on the curb last Friday a bit before six in the evening, waiting for friends to arrive. In the late afternoon light, it seemed like her lovely golden skin was glowing even more than usual. :-)

We're so thankful that God chose you to be the one that made us Six, Gwenny Girl!

China Sister!

While I was in Beijing with Shann and Sarah last week, I got to hug sweet Kimberly, one of Gwen's China sisters, and her mom, Carol! Carol was part of our adoption group, and the last time she and I were in this spot in Tian'anmen Square, we hadn't met our girls yet. We shared the amazing experience of meeting these children chosen for us just two days later. How funny that we meet again in Beijing! Carol and Kimberly were back in China for a two week vacation, and it just so happened that our trips overlapped. So great to see you two!Here are what our two little pumpkins looked like in December 2005, the last time I was with Carol and Kimberly. This picture was taken right after the girls had their required medical exam before leaving China.Gwen, on the left, and Kimberly on the right.

Spectacle

As I walk down the sidewalk, with Madelyn and Gwen ahead of me on their scooters, a group of Chinese construction workers walk toward us. The girls whizz by them, racing each other on their scooters. As the girls pass the men, one at a time each blue hardhatted head turns to stare at the unlikely pair.

I smile and shake my head. China or America, it doesn't matter.

Do sisters have to look alike?

He's Ours!

Isaac Robert came home yesterday.... our newest nephew, adopted by my brother and sister-in-law. The miracle that is adoption never fails to completely slay me emotionally... God is so good, He's so good, He's so good.

Welcome home, Isaac. We love you so very much.

*For more of Isaac's story, check out "Pre-Loved" in my sidebar.

Still Making Sense of Things...

This morning Gwen asked Caleb where he was adopted from.

I guess understanding comes a little bit at a time.

Check It Out

I wanted to point out a new blog link I have in my sidebar. "Pre-Loved" is the title, and it is written by my sister-in-law, Mindy. She and my brother are waiting for a little boy to be born, in mere weeks, and then adopted into their family. Her blog is a wonderful chronicle of how God has led them to adoption.

I think you'll enjoy it! Click here to go there now.

The Adoption Miracle

"Mommy, you're the best mommy I ever saw."

And then, after a pause, she said, "I wanted this mommy." I wanted this girl, too.

Amazing. God is amazing. He knew we wanted each other far before we did.

Gotcha 2008~ Daddy and Gwen

This morning Gwen and Daddy looked at pictures from our first Gotcha Day, three years ago!

Daddy and his girl... can't imagine life without her!

Gotcha Days... Number Four and Counting!

Today is the third anniversary of the day we met Gwen, December 12, 2005. Our fourth Gotcha Day celebration!


Here is a familiar picture, the first one we took of her, at the Civil Affairs office in Chengdu. These two photos were taken on the first Gotcha Day anniversary, December 12, 2006. And these two are last year, December 12, 2007. She is wearing the same outfit as the year before!

Gwen and Madelyn look out our 48th floor window on the Huangpu River and Shanghai! Next post... this year's Gotcha Day pictures!

December 8, 2005

Three years ago today, we were leaving for the adventure of a lifetime...

Update

If you read the post requesting prayer for the family who is in Kumming to adopt their daughter, you might want to check back at their blog here. This little one is still hospitalized, but is doing much better. Please continue to pray for them.

Pray, Please

This family needs your prayers. They have come to China to adopt their daughter, and when they arrived they discovered that she is very, very sick and is not receiving the type of care she needs. They are trying to expedite her visa and the adoption process so they can have custody of her and quickly get her the medical care she needs to survive. They are believers and are trusting that nothing is impossible with God!