journey to paul

Final thoughts.........

2007-02-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

Paul with his new friend Jayde who also spent almost her first two years of life at Chenzhou.

I was visiting another China mom's blog last week and she had a "final thoughts" post. She basically recapped their trip to China. I thought that was a great idea. Now that we've had Paul home for a little over two months there are a few things from the trip that I wanted to "put down" before I forget. Plus I am going to end this blog with this last post. I want to keep this as Paul's blog, but I have so many pictures and stories of the other kids that I want to continue to share. My goal is to update the new blog once week or so. So.....here are a few stories from the trip that didn't make it into the blog while we were in China.

As we were climbing the Great Wall in the freezing cold weather again ( we adopted Audrey in Feb. 2005 and it was bitter cold) I promised Ted that the next time we adopt it would be in the summer. He responded with a dirty look.

After we checked into our room in Changsha we requested a roll away bed for Natalie. House keeping brought it in right away and we told her that we could set it up. She insisted that she do it and then promptly backed into a glass closet that shattered into a million pieces. The poor girl looked like she could burst out into tears at any second. We didn't have time to help her clean it up because we had to leave to go meet Paul.

Me, being the organized adoptive parent that I thought I was had wrote out many questions to ask the orphanage about Paul. When they passed him over he was screaming so loud and so hard that I decided to ask the one question that I thought was the most important. "Does he still take a bottle?" Their response "No, you should not give him a bottle." Six days later we finally got the print out of his daily schedule. Of course he was still taking 3 bottles a day???? So not only did we rip him from everything he knew we also unknowingly broke him of the bottle.

You already know that we left on of our suitcases at the house. One hour before we met Paul we went the store and bought diapers. Not until we had Paul back in the room we realized that we bought the wrong kind of diapers. These were the diapers that the Chinese use with their lovely split pants, so you "tie" these diapers on the baby. So here I am, the mother of 4 asking our travel mates who were first time parents for duck tape to try to tape these stupid diapers to Paul. YES DUCK TAPE!! Well the duck tape didn't work so Mike and Leigh gave us a few diapers to get us by until the morning.

After I finally put a real diaper on Paul.....he was still screaming bloody murder. Who could blame him...some strange woman was trying to duck-tape a diaper on him. Well he was crying and crying and he had this horrible breath ( I think he had ate whole garlic cloves for lunch). I had a brief moment of "why in the world am I doing this? We had it so easy with 3 kids. Why am I torturing myself and this poor kid? Do I really want to do this??" Then I snapped out of it, reminded myself that this moment was not about ME. I can honestly say that was my only time of regret.

Once again, we seasoned parents and second time around adoptive parents had to rely on the rookies, Mike and Leigh. When we went to the civil affairs office we totally misunderstood our guide on how much money we needed to bring. If I remember right we had to borrow about $275 from Mike and Leigh to complete the adoption. We paid them back as soon as we got back to the hotel. I felt like such an idiot.

Our expensive room at the White Swan stunk!!! Even our travel mates commented on how stinky our room was. I tried to politely complain to the staff but nobody got the hint. Oh well .

I actually told someone off on our plane ride home. I am not usually confrontational but "momma bear" came out and surprised not only myself but Ted too. The lady in front of us had the nerve to complain to one of the flight attendants about us. She was trying to sleep and we were being too noisy. HELLO!!! Later on she got up to get a beer and proceeded to tell the person she was sitting next to that "with all of the commotion going on behind her, she needed a drink." I tried to hold my tongue but I just couldn't. I put my head right over the seat and said "I think my kids are doing pretty darn good considering the long flight, Paul having just got out of an orphanage, lots of transitions in a short time, etc." She noticed that he was missing his arm so then she started being all nicey, nice. "OH, what great people you are...blah, blah, blah." Later on she gave Paul a cookie which made him happy but I was still seeing red.

Last but not least we lost our van at the Ft. Wayne airport. For those of you who have never been there...it is a tiny airport and the parking lot is maybe a little bit bigger than a Wal-Mart's parking lot. I'm serious it took us about a half an hour to find the darn van.

Is Paul a perfect kid??? NO....just a few days ago he flooded the upstairs bathroom so bad that there was water coming through the ceiling fan in the kitchen downstairs. DON'T ASK!!

Do we live him like crazy???? YES

Will he be our last adoption from China??? The dear Lord only knows. Ted hasn't seen the title for our next blog. I'm sure it's going to make him a little nervous. So if you would like to keep up with all craziness of our house please continue to visit our new blog:

UNTIL OUR NEXT TRIP TO CHINA

http://www.untilournexttriptochina.blogspot.com/

Busy week

2007-01-20T07:53:00.001-08:00

We will cherish these "100 GOOD WISHES" quilts forever
Thank you again to all of you who participated in our quilt projects
Teaching a preschool class a little bit about China
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUDREY!!!!!!! Co-Ed naked birthday party!!!!! Yes, we like to have a little fun at our house!!

We've had a very busy week around here. First of all "The Celebration of Paul" was a success. Can you believe I didn't take a single picture.......I could kick myself now.....but it was so hectic that night. We had around 135 people there and raised $457 for Half the Sky!!! I plan to mail out a check tomorrow to Half the Sky. Thank you so much to those of you who helped HTS. I hope some of you are considering sponsoring a child through HTS. Remember for just $25 a month you can sponsor one infant or even for $50 a month you can sponsor an auntie to care for and provide loving stimulation for 3-5 infants. I still have a handful of brochures if anyone is interested or you could even visit the Half the Sky website for more information: http://www.halfthesky.org/help/index.php Just remember how blessed you are.........I pray that you would choose to be a blessing in someone else's life. Okay, okay I'll get of my soapbox.

On Wednesday, Paul, Audrey and myself were invited to Two by Two preschool to talk about China. The kids were learning about cultural diversity that week. I had fun teaching the kids a few Chinese phrases. Audrey and Paul had fun playing with the toys in the preschool room while I was talking. Neither one of them was ready to go when it was time to leave.

Friday was Audrey's 3rd birthday!!!!!! Where has the time went???? Just 2 years ago we met this helpless little baby who at 13 months old could NOT even set up by herself. She thoroughly enjoyed her big day.

I found this saying on another adoptive parent's website. They posted this along with their story on why they continue to adopt more children from China:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

Paul's first haircut

2007-01-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

Don't I look so handsome???
A little bribery goes along way!!
Mom say's I need a haircut......but I think I look cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just for Fun

2007-01-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

"I promise I'll be good if you just let me back in."

"The best seat in the house!!!""

"I think my big brother is pretty cool!!!!"

P.S. We didn't take many pictures of Paul over Christmas because he had a big bruise on each cheek. NO, we haven't been beating him......we have multiple witnesses from both incidents. One side he got at the bowling alley and the other was from his "GRAND" entrance at Grandma's (he walked through the door and fell right into the corner of a chair before he even took his coat off).

Our blessings from China

2006-12-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today was beautiful day in Ohio. I bundled up Audrey and Paul and took them outside while Andrew and Natalie were at school. As they were toddling around I was overcome with many emotions. Seven years ago today our son Luke slipped into heaven. It was the worst day of my life.....I was a changed person from that moment one. Usaully Dec. 18th is a cold, deprssing day and I can't wait for it to be over with. Today was different. I was able to thank God for these two sweet hearts that I get to call "my own." People say how lucky Audrey and Paul are be in our family. But many adoptive parents will tell you the same thing...........we, the parents, are the LUCKY ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another amazing trip that brought another amazing child into our family

2006-12-15T01:23:00.000-08:00

Well the trip is over but the adventure has just begun. Paul could not have done any better. Yes, he cried and screamed for the first 2 hours but some little ones will cry for days on end. This is a very stressfull time for these children. No one asked them if it was okay to take them away from the only people they know and force them into the arms of strangers. Yes, it was sad for me when just over night Paul totally rejected me. He was actually pretty hateful towards me for 2 days. I knew it was best to give him space and not force myself on him. I was so glad that he did bond to Ted because that gave Paul the security he needed to eat, drink, sleep and fill his diaper consistenly. He slept through the night every single night. Paul is terrific little boy. He loves to blow kisses and wave "bye-bye." He is a normal little boy who likes to be loud and rough but still has time to give his mom the sweetest, sloppiest kisses you can imagine. Now that he is letting me hold him and snuggle with him I know that in my heart that he is my son because he fits so perfectly into my arms. Paul is so independent that I have already forgotten that he is considered a special needs child. We had to laugh because our guide in Changsha kept referring to him as "disabled." Let me tell you, there is nothing disabling about this child. Ted's theory is that God gave him only one hand to slow him down just enough so that we can almost keep up with him. While being confined to the hotel room he was constantly opening and closing all of the doors and drawers. Throwing away good stuff in the trash while taking bad stuff out of the trash. The panda phone almost made it into the toilet more than once. This little guy is going to keep us busy!!!
Natalie was quite the travel companion. She only had a few moments of "the world should revolve around me." Over all she was a big help not only to us but to some of the other families too by helping to entertain their children as needed. Natalie totally perfected the use of the chop sticks while after 2 weeks Ted and I were still doing the "two handed" chop stick move if there was no silverware around. Natalie only caused one minor incident when she put the wrong code in the room safe and we had to have the hotel staff come in and unlock it. After that we insisted that only Ted could run the safe........she still insists that it was Ted who put the wrong code in.....hhmm???
Believe it or not I did not get as homesick as I did the last time around. I truly believe that God gave us such peace about this adoption that our worries were minimal. I did have a meltdown the very last full day in Guangzhou. I called home to Audrey and the first thing she did was cough and say "coughing Mom" as if to say "I'm sick and I need you but you're on the other side of the world." Right before we called Audrey we had also learned that Andrew's bad behavior had reared it's ugly head. So I went from being fine to " I need to go home now!! I need to have all of my kids back in my arms!!" I was pretty much useless and on the verge of crying the rest of the day. I'm so glad that I only felt like that for one day becasue it was not good!!
The trip home was bearable. In my opinon Paul did pretty darn good for a sleep-deprived toddler whose world has been turned upside down. He slept about 6-7 hours total on the long 13.5 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago. The rest o the time we stuffed him with snacks while trying to keep him entertained. There was only about a 20 minute period when I wanted to jump out of the nearest exit..
Paul is already crazy about his big brother. I wasn't too suprised since he still prefers males. At Chicago's airport he walked right up to a great big black guy and tried to hold his hand. I quickly apologize to the man but he just laughed and gave Paul a big smile. Audrey came back to the house about 2 hours after we had been home. That gave Paul to check things out before "Princess" came in marking her territory. They actually have got along great so far. Audrey keeps pointing to Paul's short arm and saying "boo-boo" and "where did his hand go?" We tried to explain to her about his missing hand before he left but at her age I just don't think she fully understood until she actually saw him. She will learned soon enough that his little arm does not slow him down and that he hits just as well with that arm as well as he does with his hand (we think Paul and the naughty step are going to become well aquainted).None of the kids have held still long enough for a group picture. I will post more pictures in the next day or two.
Will we adopt again?? Only God knows the answer to that question. If we do it will most definitly a few years done the road. Hey, you can adopt from China until you are 55 years old so we have plenty of time to decide. All I know is that God hand picked both Audrey and Paul for us so if He has another child in mind for us we will trust in Him complety. I do know that if we ever adopt again he or she will be another special needs child. Thanks again for all of your comments and emails. Alison

Closer to Home

2006-12-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures to hold you over until we get home. Paul loved playing in the park close to the hotel. He thought he was big stuff doing pull-ups. Natalie, as usual is the center of attention helping at our "tea party" (Ted and Paul were less than impressed with the tea party). Yes, Paul is starting to like me more everyday.....sorry for two of the same pictures....you know me and computers. My favorite picture is Paul attacking the Tigger. We were in the Swan room (play room for adoptive families at the White Swan) and Paul grabbed this Tigger that shook when you pulled his tail. Paul got very mad at Tigger and started hitting him and then started biting him.

Sorry no pictures

2006-12-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

We made it to Guangzhou and we were greeted with the warm sunshine. It was about 75 and clear blue skies verses the cold and rain we had in Changsha. Sorry no pictures again. These computers in China are going to be the death of me. We will be here just 2 more full days and I don't think I can handle the computer malfunctions anymore ( it's probably alot of operator ere too) so I may not update much until we get home. Paul did very well on the flight so I'm hoping that we will see the same behavior for the long flight home. We will be sure to have LOTS of snacks for the trip home because as long as there is food in front of him he is happy. We arrived in GZ at 1:00 and got busy with the rest of the adoption paperwork right away. We had to have Paul's visa picture taken, his medical exam done and I had to complete the rest of the paperwork with the help of our guide. Praise the Lord the paperwork is almost done. We are all starting to get homesick for both Andrew and Audrey. We hope to enjoy our last few days in the warm China sunshine before we head back to the bitter cold.

Last Night in Changsha

2006-12-10T04:09:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that this is our last night in Changsha. We will leave the hotel around 9:30 tomorrow morning for Guangzhou to finish up our adoption paperwork. We had another interesting day. Ashley, our guide invited us to eat at the restaurant where his friend's wedding reception was being held. It was interesting to learn about how most Chinese couples celebrate their marriage. Later on in the afternoon we went to a park that is kind of like an amusement park. It was very beautiful even though the weather wasn't the greatest. The highlight of the trip to the park was when a man approached Ted. He asked "can you help me?" His English was almost perfect. We assumed he was asking for money but Ted still asked "what do you need help with?" The man said "could you help me find a nice American girl?" Ted told him that he didn't have any American girls to just give him. Ashley thought that the man may have had mental problems but we couldn't get over how good his English was. It made for a good laugh. Later on Natalie started to act and Ted threatened to give her to the guy looking for a "nice American girl." As we were walking around the park Ashely told us alot about his family and also some of China's history. It was very interesting ( Rhonda....Ashley was excited that you asked about him....we met his wife at the wedding and she was a beautiful lady who seemed very sweet).

since tonight was our last night we couldn't resist getting another cake from the bakery where Ashley bought Natalie's birthday cake. Mmmm Good and the cake only cost $7.00. I can NOT believe how tight my pants are getting. With Audrey's adoption trip we felt starved most of the time. The food in Changsha is way too good. Ashley has been really good about ordering our food for us. I feel like we got a good taste for the local style of cooking with out getting anything that us American's would think was "way out there." Well, I may or may not post tomorrow since we'll be traveling plus I think we'll have Paul's medical exam as soon as we get there. So it may be a crazy day.

Pictures

2006-12-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few of our pictures from the big photo shoot. These pictures are priceless. This photo studio is a MUST for anyone staying in Changsha. It is within walking distance of both the HuaTian and the Dolton.

Changsha's Wal-Mart

2006-12-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well, we've had an interesting Saturday to say the least. First we went to a lookout mountain where we should have been able to see a birds-eye view of Changsha...but it was too cloudy so we didn't see a whole lot. There is some kind of military building there also and Ashley told us not to take pictures of the building or we would be shocked ( we think he meant shot.....either way we didn't take a picture of the building because we did not want to be shocked or shot). We walked over to the lookout and all eyes were on us. I looked at Leigh and asked her if we were the "sight to see" or what. There was a group of college aged kids staring at us so HARD that I finally waved at them so their eyes would blink. They all started laughing and saying things about Natalie being a beautiful girl. They we talking pictures of us with their camera phones. Ashley took a group photo of us and the Fresina's and one of the kids asked if he could take a photo too. We thought he just wanted a photo of us.....no, he had all of his friends pile into the photo. It was so fun. These young adults were full of life and so pleasant. Then we headed to Wal-Mart. I was so mad at myself for not checking to see if my battery was charged on the camera so I only got a few pictures until the battery went dead. I did get a good picture of the dried squid and the pile of black stuff for 25 rmb. Mike got the best pictures though of the fresh food section. The caption for his pictures was going to be "NO this is NOT the pet section.” The smell in the fresh food section was horrible. The trip to Wal-Mart was just as entertaining as any of the tourist attractions we've been to.

By the way Paul is doing great. Today is most he has acted like he might actually like me. I even was allowed to hold him in Ted's presence. I will post again later tonight once I have the CD of our photo shoot from yesterday. Oh, by the way we are staying at the HuaTian...it is anawsome hotel. We are totally in love with some of the staff.

Bowling in Changsha......part 2 of Friday

2006-12-08T03:14:00.000-08:00

Our trip to the hotel's bowling alley proved to be quite interesting. First of all we were the only ones in there and attendant spoke little English. He apologized that his English was so bad, I apologized that my Chinese was so bad ( he laughed....but I'm not sure at what）. He had a hard time finding shoes to fit Ted. Needless to say the size 12's that he found had seen very little time on the alley. What we thought was the most entertaining part of our afternoon bowling was that the attendant stood behind us almost the whole time we were bowling and clapped for us every time we threw the ball. Remember we were the only ones there, so it felt a little strange have our personal cheering section. The picture of Ted trying to bowl with Paul shows the attachment that is going on between them...Ted couldn't even put him down long enough to throw his bowl. Paul would rub my ball for good luck but that was about all I could get out of him. As I'm telling you these stories about Paul's favoritism to Ted please know that I am fine with it. I've read all of the adoption books and know that at this age kids can only bond to one person at a time. If I hadn't read these books I may be more upset.

Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you about out photo shoot this morning.....our guide said that the photographer wanted to know if they should "fix" Paul's arm in the photos ( were they going to airbrush him a new arm or what....I don't know). I said no of course not, this is who he is and it doesn't bother us. I'm sure this is just one of many strange questions we will receive here and once we get home.

In the spot light!!

2006-12-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

Natalie and Paul had their big modeling debut. We went to a local photographer who specializes in kid photos. It was so much fun. Both Natalie and Paul dressed in traditional Chinese clothes. Natalie even had here hair done. Those of you who know Natalie can imagine how much fun she had getting all "dolled" up. Paul was not as thrilled as Natalie. He is still literally attached to Ted's hip......so Ted's extended leg is in all of Paul's pictures (they said they will just crop Ted out). The photographer and his assistant worked very hard to get Paul to smile......but the did get some really great shots. Paul is even wearing the traditional "cue" in some of the pictures ( long black braid). We were a little concerned when they put a pig-tail on the top of his head for his last set of pictures. The pig-tail was very cute on Mary but not so cute on Paul. Natalie was absolutely beautiful. We will get a "story book" of the photos , calander, framed photos, bookmarks and a CD with all of the photos for about $100. We will get everything tomorrow night so I will try to upload from the CD. Natalie made a little friend while she was getting her hair done. She was 5 year old and too cute. She had to practice he English on us and proceeded to count to 10 and then she said "may I use the bathroom" in English......how funny. She then told the translator that Natalie was very pretty and her skin was so light. Natalie had to show of to and counted to 10 in Spanish. I explained to the translator that we have alot of Spanish speaking people in the USA so our kids are encouraged to learn Spanish. The translator thought it was funny that Chinese children are being taught English while American are learning Spanish. The photo studio had a play area just for the kids. Natalie had fun playing with Mary. Mary thinks that Natalie is so funny. Natalie likes playing with Mary because she doesn't hit her the way Paul does. Yes, Paul is the bratty little brother. Paul didn't play in the balls for fear of leaving Ted's leg. Today when I took Paul on a walk by myself we stopped at a store. The clerk tried to hold him but he said "NO, MAMA!" and clung to my neck, so I do know that he likes me (just as long as Ted is not around). I may post again tonight, it's only 2:00pm here. We'll see if we doing anything exciting between now and bedtime. Thanks so much for the comments!!!! I read all of them. Congrats King family on your TA!!!!!!! We almost made it back to China at the same time.

P.S. Troy, I didn't have any problems uploading my photos today. I don't know why.....I did the exact same thing that I did the last time........but keep checking your email

Paul's got a new ride

2006-12-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry but the today's photos will be delayed again . Oh, how I hate computers sometime. Anyways we spent our best $25 in China so far on a stroller for Paul. He is killing Ted's arm (mine too on the rare occasion that I'm allowed to hold him). There's a baby store right by the hotel. We put him in one of their strollers to see how he would react. We assumed that he would cry if we put him in one, nope, he loved it. We pushed him right out of the store in it and went on a long walk. After the walk we pushed him right to our room. Of course he started crying when we got him out. Ted agreed it was money well spent.
Paul is doing better everyday. Today he almost tolerated me. He did say mama many times throughout the day which totally melts my heart. Ted is still the BIG #1!! He can't even go to the bathroom without Paul crying for him. Who knew that Ted was so likable.
I feel kind of bad because we can not pronounce Paul's Chinese name correctly. Yesterday I tried to have our guide teach me how to say his name. He explained that Chenzhou has it's own dialect so Paul probably wouldn't answer to the way he pronounces his name ( which he didn't). This morning our waitress was "all over" Paul as usual and I told her that he was from Chenzhou. Her eyes lit up as she told me that she too was from Chenzhou. I told her that we have been unable to say his name. The very first time she called him "Zhi Qiang" he turned toward her and smiled. For the rest of our breakfast she would walk past saying his name and he would stare right at her. It was pretty cool. He is a terrible tease with all of the waitresses.
We had an interesting experience this morning while we were out sight-seeing. Our driver had dropped our guide off at his office and parked right on the street. The traffic kept moving around us so we assumed that it was okay to park right on the street. Shortly after, the police came over and was firmly speaking to our driver. Our driver doesn't not speak a word of English so we had not idea what was going on. He jump out and was showing the police his license. The officer was yelling and pointing....the driver got on his cell phone and was talking very quickly........meanwhile our guide was nowhere to be found. It was quite entertaining for us. Our guide finally showed back up and jumped in the van, I don't think he wanted to get involved. He was even taking pictures for Mike ( the other guy in our group). Mike was loving every minute off it. The driver finally got his ticket and was allowed to leave. He apologized to us, little did he know that was the best part of our morning tour. His ticket was 100 RMB ( about $8) which our guide was going to have to pay.
Our food in Changsha has been great!! Our guide ( Ashley.... a guy) has been very good about ordering our food for us. After our few meals in Beijing and knowing that all of our good junk food was in the suitcase at home we thought it was going to be a long 2 weeks of eating. We have not had a bad meal yet. Tonight we had American food in our hotel restaurant. Natalie and Ted ordered personal pizzas. They were pretty good except for the fact that they had snow peas on them. Hmmm?? Today I also found a place close to the hotel that sells Diet Pepsi ( yahooooo). I thought I would have to wait until we got to Guangzhou to get any Diet Pepsi. There is plenty of Diet Coke but not DP. Tomorrow, Paul and Mary ( the other little girl in our group) are scheduled for a photo shoot at a local photographer. I guess they dress the kids up in traditional Chinese clothes and make actual hard back books from the pictures. The price is even fairly reasonable.

Happy 6th Birthday Natalie!!

2006-12-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no pictures right now. I'm having problems uploading them to the blog tonight. I did email the photos to my brother and SIL and they will add them whenever they get my message..so check back later. Paul is still doing great most of the time but having sad moments throughout the day. Ted is still most definitely his favorite. If I can get him away from Ted and just he and I go on a walk he is fine with me. He even called me MA once while we were alone when he was trying to get my attention. As soon as he sees Ted he totally rejects, it is almost funny. Even if Ted is holding him and I try to give him his cup he cries and shakes his head but if 10 seconds later Ted gives him the same cup he will almost guzzle it down. I don't really have hurt feelings because I know that he likes me in his on special way and he will get things figured out eventually.
We have learned very quickly that Paul's favorite pastime is eating. He goes happy-crazy when we walk into any restaurant. This morning he almost jumped out of Ted's arms when he saw the high-chair. If we don't have food for him the second that he's in the chair he gets mad! We have decided that he needs a full body bib. He sticks everything under his short arm's armpit...utensils, sippy-cups, even food. Him missing his arm does not slow him down at all. As many of you know I am Type 1 diabetic so I use needles for giving myself insulin shots. Well last night I had got side-tracked and didn't dispose of one of my needles. Paul grabbed it the second he saw it. Ted looked everywhere for it thinking that Paul had dropped, no he had it stuck under his arm (yes it had a cap on it). We'll know to look there the first time from now one. He likes to have his arm completely out because he uses it all of the time, plus he likes to feel everything with it. He gets lots of stares, but we get stared at all of the time being that we're the only white faces in the crowd with a Chinese little boy. Natalie gets lots of long stares and is pointed at quiet a bit. I don't think shes noticed yet.
Our guide brought the most delicious birthday cake for dinner tonight to celebrate Natalie's big day. A few of the waitresses sang happy birthday in Chinese while we sang happy birthday in English. It was pretty cool. She was all smiles and I don't think she will ever forget her 6th birthday.
One funny thing about our trip is that our guide calls Ted "Andrew" (which is his middle name). You may remember when we adopted Audrey our guide could not pronounce "Ted" or "Theodore" so she called him Teddy the entire trip....to the amusement of our group. Well today our travel mate, Mike, asked Ted if his real name was Andrew or what because the guide keeps calling him Andrew. Ted explained that his passport reads Theodore Andrew and he's assuming that this guide can't pronounce him name right either so he just continues to answer to Andrew. It makes us feel like our son Andrew is with us every time the guide says his name.
Another thing I forgot to mention yesterday.....after we had all of the adoption papers signed the Auntie director told up that Paul was a naughty boy and he had a bad temper. I just thought it was funny that she told us after and not before the papers were signed. She does want us to send pictures of him to add to the scrapbook that I made. I had actually saved back a page to go into the album to decorate and send with one of the parents who are going to Chenzhou in the future when they adopt their child.
Well, I'm sure Ted has everything under control back in the room especially since Paul won't let me do anything but I should still head back.

Paul has a new hero and his name is dada

2006-12-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! I believe that somebody has been praying for us since my last update. Paul woke up at 4:30 this morning (only because Natalie was up and looking for potato chips) and he was a completely different person. While he was sleeping he must have decided "well if these people are who I'm stuck with I guess I better make the most of it." As I said last night he refused to eat or drink anything, well right away he decided to drink a whole sippy cup full of water and downed about 12 or more ritz crackers. I had Ted hand him the crackers and everytime Ted would hand one over Paul would flash this silly, silly smile. After awhile he got of my lap and explored the room. He was talking a giggling. Natalie had him coloring. He thought he was big stuff. After a couple hours we even started to hear "NO Paul" from Natalie, he was feeling comfortable enough to show his naughty side. He ate everything in sight at breakfast and lunch....we can see why he is such a big boy. We did our official adoption paperwork this morning. It was kind of strange because he still liked me before the adoption but he hasn't had anything to do with me since. Ted is his HERO! Ted is the only one who can carry him, feed him, change him etc. He screams if I touch him. I know this is all very confusing for him so I am not taking it personal at all. I'm just glad that he likes at least one of us right now ( okay so he loves Natalie too, just not me). Paul's favorite thing to do so far is to run as fast as he can in the hotel lobby. The faster he runs the louder he giggles.

P.S. I meant to say in my last message that the Auntie director was very receptive to the four care packages that I brought. She even asked if I knew when XM's family was was coming. I told her next week and she smiled real big.

We have Paul!!!

2006-12-04T03:11:00.000-08:00

At 4:15 this afternoon we finally met Paul. He is being a real trooper. At first he was very scared and he was crying very hard and very loud!! He seems to settle down fairly quickly so I am taking that as a good sign. He wouldn't have anything to do with Ted or Natalie at first but after about 2 hours he was starting to watch their every move. He refused to eat or drink anything but I'm too concerned because he is BIG BOY!! He is much bigger than I was expecting. In the picture where he is sleeping he is holding onto the clothes that he came in from the orphanage. It's sad but understandable since that is the only thing he has that is familiar to him right now. He had been clasping onto them for dear life since I changed him into his PJs.

I gave the "auntie director" the scrapbook of the Chenzhou children who are now living with their forever families. She had tears in her eyes and said this was the best gift we could have given them. They looked at each page and pointed at each child talking a mile a minute....in Chinese of course. I'm so glad that so many parents decided to contribute photos of their children. Well I should head back to the room, I left Ted with 2 sleeping kids.....hoping that they both sleep the rest of the night.

One more day until we meet Paul!!!!

2006-12-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

Hi! This message is going to be short and sweet because the hotel is having problems with their computers so I am using one of our travel mates laptop. We went to Tianamen Square, the Forbidden city and the Great Wall. I'll just explain what's going on in the pictures: I'm enjoying a Starbuck's vanilla latte at the Forbidden City (can you say tourist trap). Ted is haggling a store keeper at the Great Wall for "Genuine-Immitation" Rolex. Natalie and her new best friend Makenzie with a waitress at Peking Duck ( we were lucky enough to watch our duck being carved). This is a picture of Natalie before she and Ted made it to the top of the Great Wall. We even bought T-shirts that said "I climbed the Great Wall."

Well tomorrow is the big day. We fly to Changsha in the morning and should meet Paul in the afternoon. Please say lots of prayers for Paul...tomorrow is going to be great for us but very confusing for Paul. I'll try to at least post some pictures tomorrow. We'll see how everything goes.

What a Crazy day!!

2006-12-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

You know how you think you've got everything all planned out but then life throws you a few curve balls. The last 24 hours have been all curves for the Homan family. It all started on Thursday night with a phone call from our travel mate, Stephania, from Berne. She asked if we knew that our 9:30 flight out of Ft. Wayne had been canceled. NO, we did not! She told us to call United and get on the 6:00 am flight, that was the only flight to chicageo. While I was on the phone with the airline Ted woke up Andrew and took him to the neighbors, because we would now need to leave the house at 3:30 am.

we were very tired as we left the house and just a little behind schedule. We drove in rain the whole way there. As we were getting out of the van we realized that we had left one of our suitacases at home (that's what I get for bragging about feeling confident with the packing this time around). The suitcase that we left had all of Paul's supplies and all of our food. Sorry Carrie B. but you won't get to see Paul in any of Riley's cute clothes. At least all of this stuff we can buy in China. ( Don't worry Chenzhou waiting parents, I still have all of your care packages).

So once we got inside we learned right away that the 6:00 was delayed until 8:00. It went all down hill from there. Chicago had a major snow/ice storm...nothing was coming or going...we were stuck. Over the next 6 hrs we went back and forth with the ticket agents trying to figure out what to do. At one point we were all most positive that we were not going to be able to go to China until Monday, which would have thrown off all of the scheduled adoption paper work.

As a last chance , we switched airlines from Ft. wayne to Chicago, but that too got delayed. Stephania, Natalie and I were back down at the ticket agent while Ted and Nick ( Stephania's son) waited at the terminal. All of the sudden we hear "last call for the Homan and Taylor party", here the flight was now going to Chicago and we had found out that the Beijing flight was delayed just long enough for us to make our connection. We had been at the airport for 8 hours and we almost missed our flight!! We still had to go back through security, but we had become friends with everyone at the check point since we had went in and out of security many times, so they breezed us through. We didn't even take the time to put on our shoes back on we just RAN!!!We got to the the gate and Ted and Nick are the only ones there, the doors were locked but Stephania told the one remaining clerk that WE HAD TO BE ON THIS FLIGHT! So they opened the doors and let us on. Praise the Lord!! Once we got to Chicago things went pretty smooth. We ended up getting on the Beijing flight shortly after we arrived. Stephania had called the adoption agency to say that we were going to make our flight. The agency told her that they had put our a "BIG" prayer request for the families trying to get to China, on the agency's web board. THANK YOU so much for your prayers CWA>

We did have to set on the plane for over an hour while they de-iced it and tried to find a new pilot (the original pilot's flight into Chicago was cancelled). We did not mind waiting, we were just so happy to be on the flight. With all of the craziness we were only 1 1/2 hours behind schedule. We're praying that the rest of the trip goes alot smoother.

Winter Storm 2006

2006-12-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone this is Troy and Sarah, Alison's brother and sister-in-law. We received a message from Alison and Ted that they made it to Chicago okay, but as you may have seen Chicago was getting hit by a major snow and wind storm! At one point Alison and Ted did not think they would be able to travel to China until Monday....they were in panic mode. But with some divine intervention they ended up leaving Chicago only a few hours behind schedule. They wanted us to give everyone an update on the situation...please stay tuned and Alison will update you as soon as possible!

The picture that started it all

2006-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well, here's the picture that we looked at for almost 2 months before we finally decided "this is our son, we need to bring him home." My heart ached for the little boy in this picture......hoping that a family would commit to adopt him. God almost had to hit us over the head, trying to tell us that this little guy was meant to be ours. Now we're almost there.

Today has been super busy as you can imagine. We made a trip to the bank to pick up our "stash of cash." Then I dropped Audrey off with the family that is going to take care of her while we're gone. I can't even imagine being away from her for two weeks, I'm so glad to know that she'll be in great hands. She gave me a hug and kiss and said "bye mom" and then kindly pointed to the van as if to say " Mom, I'll be fine....you can leave already." Then I went home to finish up the packing. This time around I feel more confident with my packing. I made sure to pack more junk food and less clothes. I also have 4 care packages to give to the orphanage director from families who are waiting to travel to Chenzhou to adopt their daughters.

We will drop Andrew of at the neighbors before we head to the airport. He says he's going to miss us, but he is looking forward to having fun at with all of the different places he is staying. We fly out of Ft. Wayne at 9:30am to Chicago. Then comes the long flight.....Chicago to Beijing. We should arrive in Beijing around 4:00pm Saturday afternoon. If all goes well I hope to post a message Saturday night (Saturday morning back home).

Two of the families we are traveling with have blogs/adoption journals also. Here's their links if your interested:

http://maryupdates.blogspot.com/

http://myadoptionwebsite.com/sophiemei/

Here's the forecast for the 3 cities we will be staying in:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CHXX0008?from=search_10day

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CHXX0013?from=36hr_fcst10DayLink_business

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CHXX0037?from=search_10day

Well, say lots of prayers for us. Our biggest prayer is that Paul will adjust to us as quickly as possible. We've had 9 months to fall in love with him....he's going to be put in our arms in just a matter of seconds......with no warning or understanding of what is going on. So he's bound to be confused and upset about the whole thing.

Thanks to everyone who has called or emailed to wish us well!!!! Next stop....China!!!!!

Alison

Somebody's missing.................

2006-11-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

This will probably be our last family photo without Paul. ( Don't even ask why Andrew looks the way he does, ughh!) We had Thanksgiving at my brother's house. Now that Troy and Sarah are into their own adoption there was lots of talk about homestudies, DTC, LID and all of the China adopt lingo. Natalie got to open her birthday presents tonight since we will be in China on her actual birthdate. Grandma gave her activity books for the long plane ride and we gave her a Leap Frog Leap Pad (with head phones) for the long plane ride. Did I mention the long plane ride.I'm about half packed, tickets are bought, visas are on their way and the Panda phone is reserved. Just a few more things on the list to do and we'll be all ready for China.

Don't feel too sorry for us

2006-11-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

When we adopted Audrey a common misconception by most of our friends and family was that we would be "roughing it" while we were in China. We had been told by our agency that we would stay in 4 and 5 star hotels, but we ourselves didn't know what to expect. Of course once we got to China we stayed in nicer hotels than we would have ever dreamed of staying at here. We feel pretty high class when we stay at a Holiday Inn verses a Super 8. Here are links to the three hotels we'll be staying at. You can tell by the pictures that we definitely won't be "roughing it." Natalie is all about the indoor pool in Changsha and Ted thinks it's cool that there is bowling alley there too. He asked if he could pack his bowling ball ( I think he was kidding) but I reminded him who has to carry ALL of the luggage.

We'll stay 2 nights in Beijing at http://www.hotelclub.net/DirectHotel.asp?id=34402#

7 nights in Changsha at http://www.huatian-hotel.com/about/about_en.jsp

3 nights in Guangzhou at http://www.white-swan-hotel.com/eng/Public/index.asp

Hold that thought????

2006-11-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,
If you have already been thinking about what you may give us as a gift to welcome Paul home.....put that thought on hold. Since Paul is our 4th child we have everything we need for him. Plus with Christmas around the corner I'm sure he'll get plenty of stuff then. One of my friends gave me her son's clothes so we are set on clothes for awhile too. Once we have been home for a few weeks we will be doing a slide show of our trip at our church. At that time I would like to do a mini-fundraiser for Half the Sky. Half the Sky is a organization that helps out orphanages in China. Chenzhou is one of the lucky orphanages to be sponsored by Half the Sky. This means that there are more care takers and they are better trained in nurturing the children. If you would like to learn more please visit their web site, I dare you to watch their video without crying. http://www.halfthesky.org/children/index.php

Chenzhou Scrapbook

2006-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

I just had to share my latest project with all of you. Most of you who know me personally know that I am an avid scrapbooker. Almost 2 months ago, while our wait for travel approval was starting to drive me crazy, I came up with an idea. I wanted to make a scrapbook of kids who had started their lives at Chenzhou and now live with their forever families. I will give this book to the orphanage director at the time that we meet Paul. I went to the Chenzhou Yahoo group and offered to do this book for anyone who was interested. The response has been over whelming. More than 50 families have contacted me through email saying that they wanted to send me photos of their child/ children from Chenzhou. So far I have received 23 sets of photos not only from the USA but also Canada, the Netherlands and Holland. All of these children are beautiful and you can tell by their pictures that "life is good!!" I have had so much fun putting this book together. Families who have been able to visit Chenzhou have told me that the staff will really appreciate this book. They are proud of these kids and happy that they are in loving homes. The pages with the 2 girls side by side really tugs at my heart. These girls were adopted on the exact same day that Paul was left at the front gate of the orphanage, March 28,2005. Just when they find homes for some of the little ones, another child is left. I'm so thankful that Paul is not going to be left behind for too much longer.

On a side note we figured out tonight when all of our kids will graduate from high school. Here's the run down: Andrew - 2017, Natalie - 2019, Audrey - 2022, Paul - 2023............yikes !!!!!

Only 16 until we leave!!!!

Travel dates are confirmed

2006-11-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

We are for sure going to China Dec. 1-14th. I am working on getting our plane tickets to and from China and also applying for our visas.

China here we come!!

2006-11-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after waiting for 97 long days we received our travel approval to bring Paul home. Over the weekend we had what I called a "sign" that our TA was on our way. I was feeling pretty down about the wait since we had really hoped to have TA almost a month ago. On Saturday we decided to go to the Chinese buffet. Natalie opened her fortune cookie. On the "learn Chinese" side of the fortune her word was "Di Di" which means little brother. I thought it was cool that Natalie choose that cookie since she is going to China with us and will be the first of the kids to meet her "Di Di."

As of now our travel plans are still tentative. The adoption agency has to confirm some of our appointments in China yet. It sounds like we will leave Dec. 1st and return Dec. 14 th. If these dates hold true I'm guessing that we will meet Paul on Dec. 4th. Natalie will celebrate her 6th birthday while we are in China. I told her that we would try to find a cake on her birthday ( Dec. 6th).

I looks like we will be traveling with just 3 other families, who are also adopting special needs kids. Wow, that's a big difference from our group when we adopted Audrey. Our agency had 39 families in China for that trip and we spent the whole 14 days with 8 of those families. The way it will probably work is that we will sight see in Beijing with the 3 families and then we will all go our separate ways to meet our children in their province capitol's. Then the last 5 days or so of the trip we will all meet up in Guangzhou where the US consulate is to finalize our paperwork. This is all guessing on my part. I'm sure we will have more information as the days go by. Two of the three families actually live fairly close to us....Indiana and Michigan.

The most important news is that we will finally get to meet this little guy who has absolutely stole our hearts.

Alison

Still Waiting

2006-10-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well we are still waiting for "the call." I'm starting to become impatient. I just want to wrap my arms around Paul's sweet little body. Even though I'm starting to become antsy, we did have a really great week. On Thursday my brother called to announce that he and his wife had just started the paperwork for an adoption from China. Praise the Lord!!!!! They are just getting started so they have a long road ahead of them. On Thursday and then again on Friday we received two gifts of money unexpectedly. I wont say who it was but you know who you are, THANK YOU!!! God is taking care of this overwhelming adoption expense little by little.

On Saturday we received a very special package from the Kelly family. They had sent tons of photos and the DVD of their trip to Chenzhou. I can't even tell you how amazing it was to see Paul moving and breathing and even crying. He is a beautiful child. My brother copied 4 different clips of the video and posted them on YouTube. Please feel free to check our little guy out ( thanks Troy!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKesUBE0YGs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkrd5Z6g560

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9AmnjKrdXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6lwRSITcXI

Today Ted and I went to hear Robert Rogers speak. He is an inspirational speaker who just happened to be in Celina this weekend. Everyone needs to hear his story. He tragically lost his wife and four kids in a freak flooding accident 3 years ago. Through his terrible loss he has decided to share his message of living "A Life With No Regrets." His youngest child was a special needs little girl who he and his wife had just adopted from China about 8 months before the accident. After the message Ted and I introduced ourselves and told him of our impending adoption. He spoke a few kind words and wished us the best. If Robert is ever in your area or if your local church is looking to bring in a guest speaker be sure to check him out. Here's his info:
http://www.mightyintheland.com/

I really hope our next post is that we have received travel approval. Please continue to pray for Paul.

Paul and Jocelyn

2006-09-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

I bet the pictures are a little fuzzy because of all of the excitement going on.

Jocelyn and Paul.....best friends

Message from China

2006-09-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Paul with Jane the CWA agency guide.
Rhonda, Jocelyn's mom, whispering to Paul that his mom and dad are on their way.

Today was a great day! It all started at 6:00 am this morning when I was checking the journal of family who is in China now and adopting a little girl from the same orphanage as Paul. This family is also using the same adoption agency that we are. I knew that the family was going to try to visit Chenzhou while they were there. Not many adoptive families visit the SWI because it is so far away from the province capitol, which is where the adoption takes place. I emailed the mom, Rhonda, and asked that if they were allowed to visit the SWI would they please request to take pictures of Paul. I sent her his birthdate and his Chinese name. You can imagine the joy I felt as I read their journal. I will quote it:

" Jocelyn's nannies showed us her old crib which already has another baby in it. We put her in her old crib and she DID NOT WANT anything to do with that. She ran up to her best friend ( a little boy whose name is going to be Paul as soon as his mommy comes to China to adopt him). The nannies told us that every morning as soon as Jocelyn got up and out of her crib, she would run to find Paul and they would play all day. It was very evident that this was true. There was also two other little girls her age who are also waiting for their assigned families to travel to China to get them. We played for hours with all of them and I gave each of them many hugs and kisses and whispered in each of their ears to hang on and be strong because their parents love them lots and are on their way to them. They all hold a very special place in my heart."

If this doesn't tug at your heart you need to visit a cardiologist. She ended her journal with:

"p.s. Alison, please know that I will contact you as soon as I get home to give you pictures and video of your little boy (and also the little girl). They are both very precious little souls and seem to be doing very well!"
If you would like to read more on the Kelly's trip go to : www.foreverfamilystories.com/jocelynkelly

Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, I received an email from the adoption agency. The 'in China' agency guide who traveled with the family had forwarded pictures that she had taken of Paul to our caseworker, Mei, in South Carolina. Here is what Jane had to say:

"zhi qiang , very attached to care takers but willing to let me hold him . I was told that he knew how to use his right arm when he needs . I was told by caretakers that if you give zhi qiang a candy he will use his left hand to get it but put under his right arm right away and raise his left hand for another one .
Jane"

How clever is that?? Not only is he cute but he's smart too!!

Mei let me know that our file is now in the review room at the CCAA (Chinese government). She is hoping for the good news of our travel approval shortly after the October Chinese holiday. Which means that we are still hoping to travel in November but we won't know for sure until we get the "TA CALL."

Life is good and God is Great!!

THE QUILT IS DONE !!!!!!!

2006-08-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! That is the best word to describe Paul's 100 Good Wishes quilt. It is so beautiful and will be cherished forever. When I look at this quilt I see how blessed our family is to have so many friends and family members who care about us. It won't take Paul long to figure out that he is loved and cared about by many people. The squares came from all over the country. They came from new and old friends. Many came from families that we traveled with when we adopted Audrey. Some squares came from a couple of my dental hygiene patients and even from complete strangers.

For those of you who have started to follow our journey a little later in the game, I'll fill you in on how the quilt began. A friend of a friend, Sally, was invited to participate in someone elses "Good Wish" quilt. She brought this ivitation into the office that I work at and asked me if I had ever heard of it. I said that I had but knew that it was something that I could never do so I never even considered doing one. She called me the next day to offer to sew one together for me if I collected all of the squares. (You should all know that Sally and her husband Steve have 2 teenagers adopted from South Korea.) You usually create the quilt before you bring the child home but she said if we're going to do one for Paul that she might as well do one for Audrey. I was so suprised that she offered to do this for us. So at the end of May I set out to collect 100 squares for each quilt. The first 75 came pretty easy but I did have to harass a few people to get the last 20 or so. We (me, Ted and the kids) put in 5 squares. We used rooster fabric for the 4 corners since Paul was born in the Chinese the year of the rooster. Then I had the center square embroidered with Paul's Chinese name, his English name and his date of birth. Sally sewed the squares together then she gave me the top. Natalie and I pinned the top, the batting and the backing together. Then Delores (my MIL), Natalie and I tied it together with embroidry floss. Last, I gave it back to Sally and she bound it all together with a soft blue flannel material. I think it is a work of art made out of love. During all of this, I have been busy putting the "good wishes" into a scrapbook. You guys really out did yourselves with these wishes. Every single one is special. Thank you so much!!!!! As of now I plan to hang the quilt on the wall next to Paul's crib.

How Paul came into our lives

2006-08-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I have really debated about this post. Below is an email that I sent to classmate from high school explaining how Ted and I came to the decision to adopt Paul. It is fairly personal but I feel that I should share how God is working in our lives. I do truly believe that God wanted this child to be part of our family.

"Well we knew while we were still in China adopting Audrey that we would adopt again. There is something very spiritual and powerful about someone just handing you a helpless child in a hotel lobby and saying "she's yours." We brought her home in Mar. of "05 and had planned to start the paperwork for another "healthy infant" adoption in the fall of '06. We figured we would have Audrey's adoption completely paid off by then. Our future started to change late last fall when I told Ted that "something" (better known as GOD) was telling me to think about adopting a special needs child. Ted said he would consider it if the right situation presented itself, but that we still had to finish paying for Audrey's adoption before we made any big decisions. January has rolled around by now and I came across a "waiting child" list from an agency in NC. There were about 30 kids on the list some with minor special needs and some with major problems. There was a little girl who caught my eye. She had a hemangioma birthmark in her private area. I couldn't believe that this child was considered special needs just because she had a birthmark in a area that no one could even see. I just couldn't imagine a child being considered un-adoptable for such a minor problem. As I was keeping an eye on this little one I would continue to look through the other pictures on a fairly regular basis. Their names would change colors if a family had committed to adopt them. Shortly after I started watching the list the little girl found her forever family. PTL!!! By now I started to have a warm spot for #11 ( Paul). I even showed Ted his picture saying "look at this little guy." We didn't really start to talk about adopting him for at least another month. I should tell you that the Chinese government only allows these kids to be on a WC list for 3 months. There are so many kids with special needs in Chinese orphanages. The government feels that it is only fair to the other children to be on a list for 3 months and then if there is no interest then that child is removed from the list to make room for another child's file. They usually only get one shot on being on a list because there are so many kids!!!

I had really started to feel something special for this child so I seriously told Ted that I wanted to talk about adopting him. Ted is a very compassionate man but his argument was "there are 1000's of healthy girls who need homes too, why not just adopt a healthy child again. We can't save them all." It's hard to argue with that because there are so many healthy girls who left behind every year. So I let it go. I started to pray that #11 would find his family. As time went by I started to be consumed with thinking about this child. Keep in mind that I had seen 100's of files of other kids but none touch me the way he did. I knew that #11 only had about 3 weeks left on the list. I actually started to feel psychically ill. ( I later told my Pastor that I felt like I was convicted, are you familiar with that term in a religious sense). I kept talking to Ted about it and his reply was the same. I even called my sister thinking that she would be on my side and give me some ammunition to change Ted's mind. I was shocked when she responded by saying that "Ted probably knows what is best for your family, you need to respect his decision." I cried and cried, she is always my support, my up-lifter. I started to think "well if Renee thinks it's a bad idea too, then maybe it is a bad idea". I'll never forget this night as long as I live. I felt the same heaviness in my heart that I felt after our 2nd child died in our arms. Just a miserable, painful feeling in my chest. I prayed "Lord, Ted and I have such a great relationship, I can't force him to want to adopt this child and I can't be mad at him for his decision." Then I prayed "Lord if YOU want us to adopt this little boy then YOU have to change Ted's heart." It was about 10:00 at night ( Ted works 2nd shift so he wasn't home) when I prayed all of this. I felt an immediate peace. I woke up the next morning and I wasn't mad at Ted anymore. We went about our normal routine. After breakfast Ted shocked me by saying that he decided that we should bring this little guy home, last night while he was at work. I started crying and crying and told him about my prayers. He surprised me even more by asking if I had a name picked out. Through my tears I said no, because I didn't even think he would ever be ours. Ted said, I want to name Paul, one because that's one of his uncle's names, but mainly because he said that Paul in the bible had to overcome a phyiscal disability just like our little Paul will have to. By this point I knew that as long as Ted didn't want to name the baby something like "Hector" I really didn't care what his name was. I was just so thankful that Ted was now ready to bring him home too. I called the adoption agency right at that moment and had his file faxed to us. We found out that Paul's Chinese name means "hopes of him being a strong man in spite of his handicap." They strongly recommend having the files reviewed by a doctor before you make any decision. By then I didn't really care what any doctor had to say because I had prayed so hard for the child to come into our family so we signed the initial applications for him that afternoon. Neither one of us has 2nd guessed our decision since. We can not afford this adoption but I know that God will provide for us. He already has in many ways since March. I was able to pick up extra hours at work just for the summer. Ted has only been at Crown for 9 months but last week he was promoted to group leader which will bring him to top pay sooner. It usually takes 2 years to get to top pay. We have applied for a few adoption grants so we're praying that at least one of those will come through. Thankfully Ted and I aren't too materialistic. All of our vehicles are almost 10 years old or more, so no car payments. We don't have any credit card debit. Plus we live in a nice but very affordable older home, that we can get a home equity loan to pay for all of the adoption. Paul's adoption will cost right around $23,000. I know that God will take care of us one way or another."

So, this is our story in a nutshell. I know that God is working in our lives. I have reposted the little picture of Paul that we fell in love with. When one on my sweet co-workers first looked at his picture she said "look at those eyes, he's looking for his mama." Well, I hope he doesn't mind that he's not only found his "mama", but he's also found his dad and 3 siblings who all can't wait to get him home!!!!!

Paul's Finding Ad

2006-08-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

I was able to get a copy of Paul's finding ad. A finding ad is exactly what it sounds like. The orphanage actually puts an ad in the local newspaper of the children who have been recently abandoned. The ad is placed in hopes that a family member will come forward to bring the child back home. There is a man name Brian Stuy who lives in Utah who somehow has a lot of the Chinese newspapers. I emailed him last week with all of Paul's information including his birthdate and what orphanage he is in. Mr. Stuy contacted me a few days later saying that he did have a copy of Paul's ad. I received the actual newspaper, an up-close photo of just his ad and the translation of just his ad. From what I can tell Paul is the only boy in this group of pictures. I making this educated guess by looking at the symbol right after his name. The other 12 pictures have the same symbol and his is different. His translation read's Chen Zhi Qiang, a boy, etc. Audrey's SWI didn't do finding ads, but Mr. Stuy had been to her SWI in 2004 and made a video of the inside and outside of the orphanage. We bought the DVD shortly before we traveled to bring her home. The video is priceless. He has been to many SWIs in China but has not yet made it to Chenzhou. He told me that he hopes to get there sometime in the near future. We will definitely get a copy if and when he gets there.

On another note Paul's "Good Wish" quilt is almost done. My friend Sally gave me the completed quilt top last week. On Saturday Natalie, Delores ( Ted's mom) and I tied the quilt together. Now the quilt is back in Sally's hands ready to have the binding put on. I'm almost done with the "Good Wish" scrapbook too. So many of the wishes are so sweet and thoughtful. We will treasure both the quilt and the scrapbook forever. I will post pictures as soon as it's done. Sally is also putting together Audrey's quilt top so I will be sure to post pictures when her quilt is done too.

We have LID!!!!

2006-08-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today we received an email from our agency saying that we were officially "Logged In" with the CCAA ( Chinese government). Our "log in date" is today 8-2-06. This is one of those dates that you never forget. I'll always remember Audrey's LID was 7-2-04. I'm still guessing to travel in October or November.

Monday we went to the court house to apply for a passport for Natalie. As of now we are planning to take her to China with us. We originally wanted to take Andrew since he is the oldest but he DOES NOT want to sit on a plane for 12 hours. Plus he thinks "all of those Chinese people talking Chinese" will get on his nerves. It would probably be the other way around, Andrew would probably get on the Chinese peoples' nerves. We didn't argue with him. Natalie eagerly offered to take his place. I think Natalie will be a good travel companion. She is so excited about seeing Paul for the first time and having her picture taken on the Great Wall.

To pass time during this waiting process I am looking into sending disposable cameras to Paul's SWI. We sent 1 camera to Audrey's SWI and it was given back to us the same time we received her. The pictures are priceless. We used UPS the first time but this time around I am using an internet business to take care of it. When we sent Audrey's we probably spent almost $100 ( $75 for shipping, $25 on the camera, blanket, toy and photo album). Blessed Kids will send a letter in Chinese explaining who we are and what kind of pictures we would like, 2 disposable cameras, 1 stuffed animal and 2 lbs. of candy for $81. I know it still sounds expensive but we will have so little to tell Paul or show him about his first year and a half of life, the extra pictures will be well worth it.

We received this picture of Paul the same time that we got the other 2. I was having computer problems that day so I only was able to post those pictures. Paul doesn't look too happy here. I bet he's just mad that they made him stand by the wall for no reason. I saw this picture of the ultrasound on someone else's online journal and thought it was too cute. The term "paperwork pregnant" is used quite a bit in the international adoption world so this picture reflects that.

Please continue to pray for our sweet son. Alison

New Pictures!!!!

2006-07-20T03:54:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to get updated information on Paul yesterday. Here's what we found out:

HT.79 cm (31.in he's already taller than Audrey) WT 10 kg (22 lbs. Audrey has him out weighed by a few pounds) 8 teeth

He is active and outgoing;can walk holding onto rails; shy with strangers; can stand on his own; very receptive; mischievous ( we're used to that); can say baba (dad) and mama.

the pictures were taken on July 17th.

What we know about Paul

2006-07-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here's what we know about Paul: He was left at the gate of Chenzhou SWI on March 28,2005. He was wearing a blue and red outfit plus a white cotton hat. There was a red envelope containing 20 yuan and a note stating that he was born on March 23, 2005. When he was admitted to the SWI the doctor said he was in good health and good spirit. Besides his "deformed arm" and "umbilical hernia" he was considered "normal." The staff named him Zhi Qiang which means "hope of him being a strong man in spite of his handicap."

The staff wrote: He laughs with true delight when you play with him. He is very strong like a little tiger. They call him a true gentleman. He occasionally has a bad temper (great, he will fit in just fine with his siblings) and cries very loudly with such urgency.

All of the info and pictures we have of Paul is dated from July 2005.

Where is Paul???

2006-07-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few maps to show where Paul is at. His orphanage is in Chenzhou, Hunan. All of the children in his SWI (social welfare institute) have the surname of "Chen" from the city name of Chenzhou. On the map of China, Hunan is towards the south. On the map of Hunan you can see that Chenzhou is in the southern part of Hunan. Changsha is the capital of Hunan so that is where we will meet Paul. We will not be able to visit Paul's SWI because it is a 6 hour trip by bus from what I understand. Looking at the map of China you can see where Audrey is from, Shaanxi, which is considered north central China.

The paperwork is done!!!

2006-07-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, we'll see how this blog thing goes. Everyone says it's so easy to "BLOG" but I don't know. My goal is to have this blog running smoothly by the time we go to China. Once we are in China I should just be able to update the Blog instead of emailing like I did for Audrey's adoption trip. I should also be able to post pictures on a daily basis this time too.

On Tuesday we mailed our dossier to the adoption agency. Our caseworker emailed me saying that she received it but she was having a hard time translating Ted's occupation. I'm sure she'll figure something out. I was relieved that she wasn't concerned about my name being mispelled on my birth certificate. For the adoption you have to have a birth certificate from the state capital's vital records. I've had mine since April but just noticed Monday night as I was getting our paper's ready that Alison was spelled Alaison. AAAHHH! For those of you who have completed an international adoption you can understand my concern. We are told to check our documents over and over and over somemore. The dossier will be sent to China on July 20th. My best guess is that we will hopefully travel sometime in November. But with international adoption sometimes guessing is all you can do.

Our agency has requested updated information on Paul twice now with no response. Of course we are dying to see new pictures of him and to know how big he is.

Thank you so much to all of you who participated in Paul and Audrey's "100 Good Wishes" quilt. We reached our goal just last week. We actually have 101 squares now. I did have to harass a few people to get those last few squares. I will post pictures as soon as they are done.

I probably will update this once a month until we have travel approval. For now I will email "all"saying that I have updated my blog. Once we go to China you guys will have to check it on your own.