Trip to China
All Days  |  Previous Day

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Wow. Our last day here in Guangzhou. As it has been on our past trips to China, time seems to stand still while we are here. A day can feel like a week when you are so out of your comfort zone and when everything is so new. It already feels like we have been Jude's family forever, and it is hard to even remember our time here in China before we met him. But in other ways the days have slipped by, moving from one day of the week to the next without us noticing because of the business and craziness of the day. And I am sad in a sense to see our time in China coming to an end, it has been a sort of oasis: a time to focus only on Jude and our budding relationship. And as a mother of now seven, I don't usually have two weeks to spend solely with each of the children. So it has been such a sweet time of 'getting to know you', a time that I will always cherish and be grateful for. The reality is that when we get home we will hit the ground running. Tori, Jude and I will leave Guangzhou tomorrow AM on the early NWA flight. We connect in Tokoyo, Detriot and Minneapolis and arrive in Atlanta after 10:30PM on June 28th, roughly 29 hours after we get started. On June 29th we have a pediatrician appointment for Jude, to get him checked over and blood drawn to check his immunizations. Hopefully that will go well, without too many tears, and the doctor will agree that Jude is in good health. On the morning of the 30th, we will leave for Iowa to meet with Dr. Ponseti, the wonderful doctor who has agreed to treat Jude's feet. I will be staying there with the kids for at least 4-5 weeks, while Jude's feet are casted, since the casts need to be changed every 5 days, moving his feet closer to a corrected position with every cast change. While this seems like a daunting task to undertake right on the heels of returning home from China, God has worked out all the details. So we feel strongly that this is the right thing for us to do, and that He will give us the strength and endurance we will need. And we are absolutely thrilled that we will have the opportunity for our son to be cared for by Dr. Ponseti, the man who created the method now used all over the world to treat clubfoot in children without surgery. Jude's little personality continues to surface more and more daily. He is beginning to remind me more of Dalton and Zach as babies, and less of Tori and Asher. I suppose I'll have to wait and see if he's going to fall into the 'Team Mellow' with Tori, Asher and Sophie, or the 'Team Wild' with Zach, Dalton and Isabelle. He is extremely busy, loves to be playing with something all the time, but prefers things he finds around the room to actual toys. His favorite toys during our time here have been the two door tags that hang on the handle "Do Not Disturb" and "Please Clean". He loves folding one over and trying to slip the other inside. He works so hard at it and gets a huge grin on his face when he succeeds. He plays well alone and loves to interact with us also. I am thrilled that he seems to have very few institutionalization issues so far. There is such a spark in his eye, such a strong little personality already present, there is no doubt he was loved and interacted with during his time at Gutian. He also loves to get a reaction from others and is always watching to see what things we find amusing. He is funniest when he is trying to get us to laugh, I don't know that I have ever laughed at a child so hard as I already have watching Jude. Really, my only concern so far is that when I am not offering the BBD (bigger, better deal) he seems to want to bail and go to Tori. Which is fine sometimes because it gives my arms a much needed break. And when he is tired or hungry or stressed, he really only wants me. But it reminds me of how he went from caretaker to caretaker when we were at the orphanage. I want him to understand that now he just has ONE mama, BBD or not. I know that this will come in time, as it took Sophie at least six months to realize that having a mama is a permanent, constant condition. It's not based upon emotion (who is the most fun at the moment) but on fact: mama is always going to be there for me, whether I want her to be or not ;) And that just takes time to learn.

Doing some last minute shopping Jude asks, "What's spilting?" Being silly at the park "Hello? Don't they have something for boys?" Moms with their Gutian boys The Pearl River on our last night

The main goal of today was obtaining Jude's visa so we could be on our way tomorrow. The Consulate Appointment went off without a hitch and after it was all said and done, it was exciting to realize we are one step closer to coming home. After we returned from the Consulate, we returned to our room for some more lessons in how to fit too much into to something too small. We brought along one extra duffel for our purchases, but we bought so much I assumed we'd have to buy more luggage. But we decided to make our best effort to get everything in the bags we brought, so we'll see if we can pull it off. Dinner was Tori's treat tonight, an early birthday present for me at, where else, Cow and Bridge. When we arrived we met up with the other family who adopted a little 10 month old boy from Gutian on the same day as we adopted Jude. They are using CCAI so we were not in the same travel group, and it was wonderful to spend some time getting to know them a bit better. We plan on staying in touch since our boys shared so much of their time at Gutian together. Jude was a wild child throughout the meal, pulling things off the table and refusing to sit in his high chair. At one point he had tossed all his shrimp chips on the floor, spilled his congee and was going for my Coke Light. I was sweating. But the company and the food was excellent, which all but made up for Jude's behavior. Not sure if he was tired, or if he's getting sick, or it this is just the way he is ;) Makes tomorrow's 29 hour travel day sound a bit overwhelming, doesn't it? Please keep us in your prayers as we begin the long journey home tomorrow. Pray that Jude would, if not sleep, at least be peaceful and content during the flights. I want to express my gratitude for all the prayers that have gone up on our behalf, you all are wonderful!! Thank you so much for following our journey to bring home Jude, it has been quite an adventure. I also want to thank my amazing husband for being Mr. Mom while I was away. I have heard it through the grapevine that he was even able to dress the girls in clothes that match AND fix their hair! If anyone could do it, I knew he could :) I want to give a big "thank you" to Joe and Jen who have created the most amazing websites around! You guys are wonderful!! And thank you to everyone who took the time to write a note to our family in Jude's guestbook. Each note was such an encouragement to me and one of the favorite parts of the day was reading the new entries every morning. And last, but never least, I want to thank God for putting adoption on my husband's heart, just about this time three years ago. What a blessing it has been to our family and I cannot imagine a day without my precious Isabelle, Sophie and Jude. There is no doubt in my mind that God truly has better plans for our lives than we could ever imagine!! CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO CLIP OF JUDE PLAYING WITH HIS TIGER BACKPACK

Website by myadoptionwebsite.com