Travel Approved

This week has been interesting. I'm not so sure that I would have asked for things to have gone the way they did, but here we are. I love a good surprise, and that's what we received.

This week we have been anticipating the arrival of our approval to travel to China. Once received, we can book our plane tickets and get ready to go. With Caleb's adoption, we received our travel approval (TA) and left for China 10 days later. This time around, it's been different.

If anything, I find that I am constantly adjusting to new levels of disappointment when it comes to traveling. Last summer, we thought we would be going in November-Decemberish. By November, we assumed we would travel in January. By January, well, you get the idea. 

We have missed the deadline to travel before the Chinese New Year: one of China's biggest holidays. Government offices close, flights are booked solid, and there is no vacancy at most hotels. Consequently, our agency does not send families during this time, because we wouldn't get very far. The delay is approximately a month. 

Anyway, we had been waiting for our travel approval. Rumors were flying around that our agency was getting some approvals from China and we hoped ours would be in the mix. We waited. I wasn't checking my email obsessively at all. :)

We eventually learned that several families from our agency received theirs. Great! Except we didn't receive ours. Not great. It was unknown when it would come. 

At this point, I started to give up dealing with my disappointment in any kind of a nice matter. I think I'm a relatively laid back person, but everyone reaches their point when that ends. I had reached mine. I found myself awake at 2 am that night, unable to sleep. I was terribly distracted about all of it, not to mention disappointed. I'm so unbelievably grateful for our son and the opportunity to adopt another, but this was hard.

The next day, with renewed attitudes, Russ and I faced the day determined to go on. Our travel approval would come, too. We may not go in February, but maybe March or April? We would keep waiting, because that's all we could do.

That afternoon, Caleb was napping and the phone rang: our agency. Didn't we get our email? No. Did we know that our travel approval had come? No.....

Apparently, we did receive it, but didn't get the email. It's here! We can go!

We are leaving in a month to go to China to pick up our Asher! I know, a month still is a long time, but I can now know when I'm leaving. I can plan! We know what we are doing now. The horrible wait has been replaced with excited anticipation. 

I've got some good friends. I also think that God is pretty great, although I know with recent events such as Haiti, many people may wonder otherwise. We had a lot of people praying for us through this process, for which I am so thankful. And even if we didn't receive our travel approval this week, even if we were still overlooked, I still call God good. He's got it together. He must know how much I love a good surprise, too, because that's what I got. When we thought we were passed by, we were wrong: our turn is here.

Here There Be Boys

We have sons. I love this. I may say differently in about 10-12 years when they are teenagers, but for now, I'm liking it. 

This week has been interesting. Actually, I could say that for the entire month. As it probably is in other parts of the country, we have had tons of snow. It just seems to continue to fall. Every time I think we could not have room for more, there it is. I do like snow, but we are starting to run out of places to put it. Christmas was a blizzard. We cancelled attending Christmas Eve services with Russ' family because they live 100 miles away. The next day, we did make it to my parents house (only 20 miles away) and ended up being snowed in overnight. Wind, cold temperatures, blowing snow, yes, this is a Nebraska winter as we haven't seen since my childhood.

This week, despite the weather, we welcomed my new nephew into the world. My sister, Marna had a little boy on Tuesday, January 5. His name is Axton Grey, and he was 7# 6 oz, despite the fears of the physicians that he would be closer to 9 1/2 lbs. If you've met my sister, you know she doesn't really have room for  9 1/2 lbs of baby. She is quite petite. I was honored to be in the delivery room as her labor coach and she did great! Little Axton is such a good baby already, one more sweet little boy in our family.

In other news of boys, Russ and I have received updates about Asher! We had sent him a Christmas package and apparently the company that translated everything and got it all there was able to get some updated information and photos of him! We have seven new photos! He looks very happy. He is almost 21 lbs--bigger than Caleb was at that age, he is just under 29 inches tall, and he has 5 teeth. What a sweetie! I just want to get him and give him a big squeeze!

 

       our latest photo of Asher in China -- January 2010

Christmas Joy

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here. I'm so happy to be staying home now, and my time has been pretty much taken over with winter and Christmas stuff.

We've had a lot of snow and cold temperatures. Last week, school was cancelled for 3 days and since Caleb's preschool is part of the public school system, he was home, too. Day one was fun--we baked bread and watched a Christmas movie. Day two--starting to get a little antsy by the end of the day. I gratefully headed to the grocery store after supper as a reason to leave the house. Day three--cabin fever. It wasn't the being home part, it was the fact that we couldn't leave even if we wanted to. 

We did have a lot of fun in the snow, beyond shoveling the driveway and having to push our car out of a snowbank. We attempted to take Caleb sledding, but I think he was a little scared and not too sure how he felt about the whole thing. Snow angels and scooping with his "shovel" (a leftover from the sandbox) were alot more interesting. It's been fun..I love winter and having a white Christmas.

Before the snow we managed to catch the Star City parade downtown. I think its the first time I've been there in about 25 years, until my mom reminded me that I marched in it in the high school band. Maybe I just blocked out that memory, I don't know. We got our Christmas tree, too, and found this great little place where you cut your own and they have hot cider and chocolate while you wait for them wrap it. I guess I really do get into all of this holiday stuff.

On the Asher front, there isn't much new to say. Our visas are currently being processed at the consulate in Chicago and we should have them before Christmas. At this point, we are waiting for that blessed email that tells us of our approval to travel and when we need to be in Beijing. We have been hoping it will come soon and maybe we can travel in January. The problem (isn't there usually some kind of problem?) is that Chinese New Year falls in mid-February, closing travel for the better part of a month. So, when people ask when we are going, I say either the end of January or early March. And I won't know until approximately the day before we leave, so when I find out I'll let you know. Note: sarcasm. 

I actually feel so blessed this holiday season for our two boys. One here who is so much fun: he gives us plenty of joy, he's bright and funny and just simply a great kid. And our other one: our precious guy spending Christmas in China this year. But next year....we'll all be together. I'm thankful for that.

The Next Chapter

This morning, I came home from work at my job in the NICU for the last time. I have been thinking for a while about the future of our family and where my purpose is managing work and stuff at home. I decided that it was time to leave my job at the hospital and stay home with my growing family to be a full time mom. I did shed a few tears on my drive home from work this morning. While I seem to have been somewhat professionally confused in recent years, working in different areas and trying to find a good fit, the NICU has been a stable presence for the last seven years. I had moments of feeling so challenged at that job, doing things I never imagined. When I graduated from nursing school, I wanted to be a flight nurse but I never thought it would happen. I didn't ever plan or even wish to work  with babies when I first started out and yet I had a successful career of doing just that for 10 years. I even spent some of that time as a flight nurse for the babies...long after I thought that dream had died. It's all been very cool, and I leave with great memories:

--being new to the job and feeling like a total dope who didn't know a thing about what I was doing

--our brand new unit and the first days of caring for babies in private rooms

--when I got married and my friends from work gave me a wedding shower and came to our wedding

--going out for transports in the ambulance and flights, and attending all those C-sections 

--making pancakes in the employee lounge in the early morning

--many, many kids who spent time there---some home with families and some to heaven--some of the most memorable: Payton, Theresa, Alla, Gavin, Brock, Tanner

--spending my first Christmas there, alone in the back room with baby Maria (anyone from work reading this will understand how that was not an ideal Christmas!)

--watching Napoleon Dynamite in the middle of the night

--working all those nights with a fun crew of people who made it easier to be there 

--all of the awful, mean, embarrassing, exhausting, but also challenging, fulfilling, rewarding, proud, wonderful moments

Ok, so a few tears are back again. It's ok, it was a significant place and I had to give it a little tribute.

So now, it's on to the next chapter--potentially even more scary--being a full time mother to two Chinese boys, one here, and one on the way. Yikes! But, of course I mean that in a good way....

Amazing!

Ok, didn't I just write here yesterday, saying we were waiting for our Letter of Approval (LOA) and asking people to pray???!!!  How does this all happen? I don't know, but if you did pray, thank you!

Today, our agency called and told me they received the LOA!  They are Fedexing it to us and we should have it tomorrow.  We sign it and make copies and then send it back so they can return it to China.  Then, we file a few more things and we can apply for our visas.  Hopefully, we may see travel after the holidays.  Hooray!  We're getting there--one big step closer today!

We had a great Halloween this year.  Caleb couldn't decide what he wanted to be, and then finally settled on being a doctor.  He's been really into ambulances and emergency vehicles lately.  Hmm...

In keeping with tradition (well, for the 2nd year in a row, anyway), Russ and I also dressed up as part of the theme.  So, Caleb was our doctor, Russ was a patient, and I was a nurse.  I dug out my old nursing dress that I wore at graduation 10 years ago--still fits!!

We went to the Shriner's Halloween party on Friday night: great for food and games and a little haunted walk-through area that was just spooky enough for Caleb without going overboard.  Then, Saturday night, we went trick-or-treating with my sister and my niece, Maesa.  My sister lives in a small town nearby our city, in one of the newly developed areas of town.  Believe me when I say that it was the place for trick-or-treating.  I have never had so many kids come to our house for Halloween as what went on in this neighborhood.  We showed up and there was candy on hand, then my mom and I made a run to the store for 4 more bags, and then we finally had to shut the door and turn off the light because we ran out of everything.  I guess I know where we are going next year!

Tomorrow is Russ' birthday.  He has mentioned that he pretty much just wants news of Asher as a gift--and I can't give it to him.  Without going into a long and confusing explanation of the situation, we sent our papers to China in August and are currently waiting to hear back (our LOA for those reading this who are familiar with it all).  It is taking longer this time than it did with Caleb, and lately we have been hearing rumors that it is going long for many families--for various reasons out of our control.  I'm having a bit harder time of it this time around.  I think with Caleb, I had never been a parent before, so I worried a little, but I just didn't know much of anything anyway.  Now that I am a parent, I'm aware of all these things that could happen.  H1N1, lead poisoning, bad weather, earthquakes, and any number of things.  Call me crazy, I know it will be fine.  But for anyone out there who prays.....we could use some right now.  Thanks!

Octoberfest

Despite our early snow for the season, followed by way too much rain, we otherwise have been having a beautiful fall season.  This is absolutely my favorite time of year.  It's why we got married in October and why we went to Banff in Canada for our honeymoon instead of Jamaica (Ok, so Russ had a lot of say in those things, too).

Last night, we went to my parents to celebrate my sister's birthday.  The theme was Octoberfest.  Our family Irish Stew consists of Russ' Irish background, Caleb and Asher's Chinese background, then me, who is German-and-a-couple-other-things background.  So, last night we celebrated a birthday with bratwurst, German potato salad, spaetzle, and sauerkraut.  Yum! I guess when it comes down to it, my family really is just a bunch of foodies. My sister is a fabulous cook, and she and my mom prepared much of the food. 

 

I wish I could take credit for this apple dessert.

 Russ and I had brewed some homemade beer for the occasion.

  

Caleb has been working very hard on his speech at school, and we are definitely seeing progress.  We have made a book at home of pictures of things he likes so he can practice the words.  Then, when we work on a new word, we add the picture to the book.  This week, we added pictures of 'waffles' and 'water', since we have been practicing saying W's.  It's slowly coming along, almost like learning to say every word as if it is brand new.  Many of the pictures we started with were of family.  For a long time, Caleb has talked mostly with vowels, so we have needed to work on the consonants.  For instance, my brother Matt would be called "aa", and my neice Maesa was referred to as "ay-ah".  My family is one of those whose names all start with the same letter: M.  So, we have had great practice with our M's.  Anyway, my birthday sister's name is Martha, but for years, we have called her by her nickname, Marf (don't even ask how this started, I have no idea).  Caleb would always call her "ar".  Since practicing his letters, though, the other day we were looking at pictures and he was sounding something out:  Mmm-aarr-fff.  Marf!  We were so happy to hear a full and complete word, very clearly.  So now, it's Marf-this and Marf-that all day, since he loves to say the name.  And, I'm pretty sure he loves her quite a bit, too. 

It's officially been fall for only about 18 days and it's supposed to snow here tomorrow. So much for that lovely autumn weather, I guess. I've been trying to do some of these seasonal things but apparently we are running out of time. Even the stores have almost moved beyond Halloween to Christmas. I just can't keep up. But I really do love this time of year. Caleb and I made caramel apples yesterday and we're getting ready for Halloween costumes. He has told us that he wants to be a puppy this year, but I don't know if that is a definite thing. Being 3 years old means that you change your mind every 5 minutes (or less) so we'll actually commit to something for a costume in a couple more weeks.

I received a couple of emails from people who had information for me about the Shantou orphanage where Asher is currently living. I guess the group Love Without Boundaries has done a lot of work there, as well as other orphanages in China. They have a nutrition program that our son is most likely a part of, and I'm told that we could maybe get some pictures of him, but not until after we have adopted him. Still, it would be nice to have pictures of this time when we are not able to see him.

Today is also Russ' and my 5th wedding anniversary. Wow, that has gone fast. I was thinking that 5 years ago today I was up very early and running errands before getting ready. I remember thinking that it was so weird that it was my wedding day--a day that I had pictured and dreamed of since I was a little girl, and I wanted it to be very special. I thought about all of this as I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning, seeing toys strewn all over the floor, dishes in the sink, and my reading material was an ad for a sale at Ace Hardware. Hmm. Things really do change in 5 years. Of course, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I managed to dig up this picture that my sister sent me, a photo taken in our little dressing area of the church on our wedding day. I was waiting around in my huge, fluffy dress for the big moment when I was going to see my Groom:

That's a keeper, isn't it?

Tonight, Caleb is staying at Grandma's and Russ and I are going out to celebrate our years that we have built together. Here's to many more!

Birthday Wishes

Our little boy in China, Asher, turns one today. I've been a little sad about this for the past week. I remember celebrating Caleb Wu's first birthday and we felt so excited. But today, it's different. Our papers have been sitting in China for over a month and we still have a long way to go. I hope that someone gave him a hug today.
We chose the name "Asher" because part of his Chinese name, Ji, means happy. When we found out that we were getting another little boy, I was beyond happy. I love boys. They make up the majority of my family, between my husband, son, and dog. I'm the only female around here. But it's kind of nice. I get to be the yin for everyone else's yang. I get to have my own stuff that I don't have to share with anyone else.
So, we were extremely happy to find out that we would have another boy in our family. We wanted to use a name that meant "happy" or "blessed" and that is the meaning of Asher. His middle name is Shan (pronounced "Shawn"), based on the city of his birth, Shantou, in Guangdong province. For anyone who remembers when Caleb was still just "Wu", he was so named by the Chinese because the hometown of his birth was Wuwei City. So, we decided to keep the Wu part, to remember.
So, Asher Shan, happy birthday.
I wish that you will have happiness today. I wish that you will be growing and healthy and strong. I wish that you will be safe and content. I wish that you will slowly be turning into the little guy who will be prepared to join our family. And, these aren't just my wishes, they are my prayers.
We'll see you soon.

Happy Birthday!

Three years ago today, a woman in China was headed off to work in the morning.  She took the road that leads up to the back of the orphanage where she worked.  There along the road, placed so he would be seen, was a small Bundle of Joy who was 1 day old.  He was wrapped in a red cotton jacket and swaddled in a quilt.  The woman picked him up and took him with her to her job at the orphanage, where she knew he would be well cared for.

The woman's name is Zhao Shu Ping, and the little package she found was our little Caleb at one day old, waiting there to be found.

Caleb turned three yesterday.  He is currently playing with a new toy rescue station that he got as a gift, and he and his dad are putting it together.  He's been going to preschool for the last week and it's been going very well (although just today I learned that he had to sit in the Safe Chair because he was hitting other students....).  I'm still amazed all the time at what a great kid he is.  We couldn't have known what we were in for....yet he is so happy and thriving now.

I'm so thankful for that Hand that stayed with him while he sat there on that road 3 years ago.  A vulnerable newborn that could have been found by anyone, but he went to the right place.  

It may have been his birthday yesterday, but Russ and I are the ones who got the best gift.