Home Again, Home Again...

I will post soon about our FUN travels, but wanted to at least let you all know, we are home! I will say that the words, "that flight was enough to make sure this is our last child" came from m;y mouth and "IF we adopt again we are going somewhere closer" came out of Marks, so that will give you an idea of how pleasant it was! ;0)

But oh the homecoming, it made it all worthwhile and Mavery walked in our house like she owned the place. Can't wait to share pictures and details!

Goodbye China, for now...

Hard to believe our journey is coming to an end. But not the end, just the end of our time in China. For our journey WITH Mavery is only just beginning. We can not wait to be a family of 7, to grow together, to settle into life. I feel as if life has just been on hold for so long. It will be a year in November that I saw Maverys face for the first time. And so all that time we have been waiting. Waiting for Mark to say yes, waiting for paperwork, waiting for approval to travel. Waiting, so much waiting. And now that is all over and we see Gods plan for our lives once again.

It is funny this time, I leave more settled in many ways than I did last time. Yet many times over the last few days Mark or I have said, “ next time we are here”. When the shop owners ask us if we will be back in 2 more years, we both just say you never know. Now of course if you ASK Mark he says DONE. And right now, I feel good with that. Yet this time we both leave knowing that our hearts will always be open to what the Lord wants of us. We are holding proof that sometimes you just have to do it. It does not make sense, it might not be easy, but there are children here that do not have families that need us. As I listen to the giggles coming from this little girl tonight, my heart cried for what we almost missed because we thought we were done. What if I had not looked at that list? What if Mark had dug in and said no? What if we listened to those who think 5 kids is ALOT of kids? What if we had said her heart stuff was to scary or to many unknowns? We would have missed out on this gift and already I can’t imagine our life with out Mavery in it. For now she has completed our family and I am thankful to have her.

It has been a different trip this time for sure. Last time I was here, I was in awe of China. It was all so new and amazing. Sage was SO easy and young and she slept and so we carried her around in her baby sling sleeping and we saw China, we enjoyed everything about China. This time, emotionally was so hard on me. To watch your child grieve and hurt and to say goodbye to all she has known, I could never have prepared myself for that. So it was not so much about China this time, it was all about Mavery and what she needed from me. If that makes any sense.

And so in a few hours I say goodbye once again to the land of my daughters. Feeling different than I did last time yet just as in love with a child that God lovingly placed in my arms, and thankful to a mother who made a choice to give her a better life. I am so ready to have all my kids together. I am so ready to say goodbye and get Mavery home.

China will always be in our hearts, and we will always be listening, Always...

**More posts, keep going!

Flight Schedule for Thursday

Leave Hotel 7:30AM

Depart Guangzhou 9:35 AM

Arrive Shanghai 11:30 AM (this will be 10:30 PM on Wednesday for you all at home)

Depart Shanghai 4:25 PM (3:25 AM Thursday at home)

Arrive Chicago 4:30 PM

Depart Chicago 7:15 PM

Arrive St Louis 8:20 PM AA Flight # 1765

**Mom & Dad, please do not forget Mavery's carseat!!!

**A couple of people have asked us to please tape Sage meeting Mavery, so hopefully we can get that at both angles because I am sure it is to be full of fun! ;0)

** And yes, please meet us at the airport, you know that is what keeps us going on that flight, we can't wait to see faces of HOME! Ah Home, see I already have myself crying again!

Giggles before Bed!

Mavery is going to love being in a car seat, this was in our taxi ride today!
Walking the streets of the Island

Hot Spaghetti, but even though it was hot she kept on eating it!
Blowing Bubbles in the water
She is to cute!

She was not going to let me help her with that cone!
Our Diva!

Being Silly!
Putting on her lipstickPlaytime with Daddy is fun!

As we walked down to the breakfast buffet this morning, Mavery was already talking about MingMing as we typically eat breakfast with the Chisum Family every morning. There was a little girl walking in front of us as we entered and she had short hair and Mavery started yelling Ming MING! But of course it was not her as they were already on a plane leaving China. It was a lonely breakfast. Today there were many families here, I know there is a break in the trade fair starting yesterday, so I assume many families are now coming in. Seeing them with their groups and us not having our friends here, made me all the more thankful that we did get to travel the entire trip with the Chisum's. Our last trip we had such a huge travel group and we loved that. We were so glad that we were at least given a small group this time. I like Mark and all, but I also like to have other mommies around to! ;0)
After breakfast we headed out to the Electronics Market. I am not sure how to describe this place. Think huge mall but more like a flea market maybe, also streets filled with shops. Unlike anything I have seen, or actually anything I care to see again! Mark had been last time and thought taking the stroller would be to difficult. This coming from the person that the 30 pound baby will not go to, meaning I will be forced to carry her the entire time. I thought, oh it can't be so bad, I can do it. I must be so giddy with the thought that we are going home I lost my mind because it was NOT fun. Letting Mavery walk is like letting a 2 year old walk. Does not want to stay with you, wants to touch, wants to climb, jump, you get the picture. And of course we are the only white people in the whole place, so we are as always, the star attraction. It is hot, it is dirty, and it is not that much fun because no one understands what we are looking for. Mavery has to potty, of course, and I thought I might faint when I walked in the bathroom and saw the cockroaches running all over. But if you don't take her potty, she screams and pulls her pants down. I am still disgusted and to be honest thankful for a squatty potty at that moment for her. We did get a new camera lens we had been wanting for a good price and it does work! We had Mc Donalds for lunch, which was a welcome treat, have I mentioned we are done with Chinese food?
We made it back(finding a taxi, oh don't get me started!) and while Mavery napped I finished up shopping. For those of you who wanted me to bring you squeaky shoes, I could not fit them in, but I did get the girls card and she said she will ship them for a good price. So, I may be placing an order when we get home and maybe we can do a group ship! I cut WAY back on this trip, though Mark is not so sure. We did buy an extra suitcase, but we knew we would need to. Buying for 5 children is a lot of work! When I got back to the room Mark said Mavery had woke up about 15 minutes earlier and was not to happy I was not in the room. Looks like I will have an attachment for awhile.
Our last dinner we were so undecided. While we wanted to want chinese food, we just could not do it. So we decided to try a place we had wondered about all week. I think it is called Station Restaurant and it said it was a Western Restaurant. It is on the edge of the island, right next to the Italian Place. And while the girl was the sweetest thing ever who stared at us (tonight we had 4 watching, it was a slow night there!) I would not recommend it. We had steak, which was ok, but the portions were so small and the price to high. And it was SLOW. I was convinced they were out hunting for a cow to serve us. But it is a cute place, very classy. Well besides the disco balls, those were funny. Oh and the bug zapper right behind us that had me jumping in my seat every 2 minutes! ;0) We decided we should have just ordered pizza in as dining with Mavery is really just paying for heartburn for the most part! ha!
We ended our evening with ice cream from the White Swan Deli. We got Mavery an ice cream cone since she was so excited about the first one. I got a Hagan daas ice cream bar. Her cone was $1, mine was $8! Well, which do you think she wanted? What's mine is hers and whats hers is hers! The $8 one was so much better. And yes we do know that there is a warning out on dairy products in China, the contamination and all that. We asked the americans living in Shanghai about that and they said they still have dairy and that we would be fine as long as it is in limited quantities. Just in case you are worried about it!
We enjoyed a walk around the water looking at the lights and the Pearl River. So hard to believe our journey here is ending. I have many thoughts about our time in China, and will save that for the next post. But some things you can pray for us if you feel led over the next 24 hours..

Smooth flights and easy connections. We have a 4 hour layover in Shanghai tomorrow, then the 14 hour flight into Chicago, with another layover there before going to St Louis. We are just praying that nothing is delayed and we are on time everywhere we go.

Mavery. I can't even begin to imagine how she is going to survive this. She just does not sit still, she does not like to be strapped in, she gets antsy. She did so well on the flight in here so I am prayerful she will be ok. But no matter how you look at it, it is a LONG flight.

So that means pray for ME and my sanity! I have packed tons of snacks as she eats ALOT. And suckers and toys and anything I can think of that will amuse her for that time. I can't give her anything to help her "sleep" because I want the doctor to check her out first. She does fall asleep in the bus or in taxis on me, so I think she will sleep some. Oh I hope so anyways!

Mark is not feeling great. His stomach has been bothering him. And no he did not even eat the ice cream. So if you would think of him, that would be great!

And pray for our kids back home as we get to see them again! I know we are in for ALOT of adjustments. But we are ready for it and ready to be together!

Countdown HOME has begun!

US Consulate and Goodbyes

This afternoon we went to the US Consulate where Mavery was sworn in as a US Citizen. When we touch down in Chicago it is all official. It is a pretty quick and painless appointment. The odd thing was this time the room was not even half as full as last time. And the interesting thing is that I would think it is safe to say that more than half the families there were for special needs kids. There were not many babies at all, the majority of them around Maverys age.

It was a very emotional thing for me though holding Mavery and being surrounded by all these families who have come together in the exact same way. All these families who have traveled half way around the world, and fallen in love with children that 2 weeks ago we had not physically even touched. It was just another reminder of the amazing God we have, who forms families in this way. I wish everyone could experience it.

After we returned we said goodbye to the Crawford family that we had met here in Guangzhou with our agency. They were staying at a different hotel so we did not get to see them as much as we would have liked, but we sure enjoyed getting to know them and their little girl Ella.

We had our last dinner with the Chisum's at the Chinese restaurant here in the hotel that we had enjoyed so much on our last trip. We once again had the fried pigeon and it is really good, but just so much work for so little meat.

**One sidenote for you. In china, they do not serve the food as they do at home, where everyones meals come out at one time. Here it is all served in the middle of the table, and dishes come out one at a time. So you might get your pigeon, and once you are about done with that your rice might come out, then about the time you finish that, another meat dish comes out, then noodles. It is different. I do like the family style though, you always get to sample everything.

They had put us in a room by ourselves (I wonder if they heard rumors from the breakfast staff about the wild child, so when they saw us coming they knew we needed our own room!) Plus we had 2 ladies that carried in our food, and just stared at us the whole time. Talk about unnerving. How do you eat pigeon with chopsticks anyways, and try to look neat about it all? Plus trying to control Ms Mavery (who was full of it tonight at dinner, have I mentioned how far she can wing a chopstick across the room!) At one point Mark tried to take Mavery for a walk and the lady walked over and covered up the table with a napkin where she had been sitting and made a mess! Maybe this place is above us! haha! But the food is really good if you are coming here. It is called Jade River, FYI. The Fried corn with pine nuts is great as were the noodles with soy sauce. The meat is good to. And try the pigeon! ;0)

We hated saying goodbye to the Chisum family, their flight out is early and though we love them, we told them we will not be getting up at 6am to see them off! I know it is not a forever goodbye, we will see them again. But it is hard to think that Ming Ming and SongSong will now be apart for a very long time. It makes my heart sad to think that SongSong may not remember MingMing as time goes on. Of course we will do all we can to help her remember, we can skype and we plan to visit as often as possible. But I wonder if when she sees her again if we will hear this little high voice screaming Ming MING while she runs to her. The next time they see each other they will not be speaking the language they know now. I really wish we lived closer, that they could see each other all the time. But I am forever thankful that the Lord allowed these 2 little "sisters" to walk out of their "home" together, into their mamas arms together, and spend this time in China together. I have often wondered what must be going on in their heads when they look at each other. "Can you believe this is happening to us! Did you ever imagine this is what the world was like outside of Jinhua? What is going on here!" We know that the Lord once again had the perfect plan laid out all along as we have been able to be with this sweet sweet family.

So today was again emotional for me. We pulled out our suitcases tonight and started packing. Mavery and I sat at looked at her pictures of Jinhua. I am back to tears again. I miss my kids, I want us all home together, but it is hard to say goodbye.

Tomorrows Agenda: R E L A X!! Adoption stuff is all over. We have NOTHING to do! I think Mark wants to taxi to the electronics market. I have some more shopping to finish up, but sadly no space to put anything else. An extra suitcase is on the list. We are going to sleep in, sit back and enjoy our last day in China. And try really hard not to think about the flight home with Mavery. I was telling someone before we left that I could not imagine Sage on this flight and if Mavery acts anything like Sage... Well they said "she won't be as comfortable with you, so she is not going to be as wild." HAHAHAHA! Is it us? Do we just make wild kids? I can promise you this one is not shy, not calm, and will have no trouble what so ever running down the aisles of the plane. Leigh told us today we need to just take on a case of earplugs and offer them to our neighbors before we sit down!

Red Couch Photos

Adopt from China, you must have the red couch photo done. Just a tradition that has been passed on through the years. We were very happy to see that red couch, which signifies many things. The reminder that we sat on that couch 2 years ago with Sage, the reminder that the ending of our journey is almost near, the reminder of all the children and families that have come before us, and will come after us for their children. How I would love to know the stories that have grown in this very place!