Hudson's Gotcha Day

Well, today was a big day for the Taylor family!  Around 3PM, Logan and I welcomed Hudson into the family here in Guangzhou, while Claire and the girls welcomed Kira into the family further north in Nanjing.

 

Hudson seemed really excited to see us and gave Logan and I both a big hug.  I gave him a bigger one in return.

 

He and Logan have been playing very-well non-stop all afternoon and evening;  so far they’ve played matchbox cars, nerf guns, and badminton.   Apparently play knows no language barriers.

 

We all shared a good dinner of pork, rice and vegetables at the diner next to the White Swan.

 

We came back to the hotel and did the Skype thing with Claire;  I got to see and say “Hi” to Kira, our new Daughter, as well as all my other girls (more details and photos will follow from Claire).

 

Everybody is showered and in their PJs, but I’m not sure how I’ll be able to get Logan and Hudson to slow down enough to go to bed.

 

Overall, it was a very special day.  God is very good!

 

Bart

 

Gotcha day!

Hey!

Just a quick note to check in and say hey!

The ladies are doing really well. Olivia is my money manager, she was born to do this international monetary stuff. And as usual, she is right at home and always up for exploring the city. Mia is pretty home sick. She seems better today after we skyped with Bart, Logan and Michael, but last night was rough. Sophia is going with the flow as usual. As long as her bottle is full of apple juice, all is well in her world.

We just returned to our room from a trip to the bank to exchange a chunk of change. Put it all into the safe and locked it, feel like a mini drug lord.

SOOO wish I could have taken a picture of the sign at our bank window..... " Particular window for the disabled" Is that not a hoot?! But it was not worth risking jail time in China for.

We leave to meet Kira in about 4 hours, wish I could know what is going through her mind today.

Bart gets Hudson @ the same time. So this is going to be a wild afternoon.

Ok, we are off to explore a bit and then get cleaned up for gotcha day.

We will post pictures later, when we figure out how.

Love you all,

Claire

One day to Gotcha Day!!

All I (Bart) can say is “Wow, what a trip!” After about 30 hours in 4 airports and on 3 planes we made it to Hong Kong about 11PM Friday night, found some food, and crashed. Actually, while the trip was long, everybody managed to catch some naps here and there. Our last flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific – awesome) was only about 10% full and the kids all found places to lay down and sleep (buckled, off course).

On Saturday, we took the Limited express train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. We had assigned seats on the second level of the train and there was plenty of room. Logan and Olivia did homework, the girls played, and Claire and I just enjoyed seeing more of China. We actually went through Shenzin city, where Hudson is from. Claire and I pondered what he was thinking and doing. The trip was about two hours and we really got to see a lot of more than you do in a plane. It really was a very neat trip and only about $30 per adult, $15 per child.

Our guide Connie met us at the Guangzhou train station and helped get checked into the Victory hotel on historic Shamian Island (check out the island’s history online when you get some time). She mentioned that she had met Hudson a couple of days earlier when one of his friends was getting adopted. Our guide Connie says he “talks a lot” and was excited to meet his family. Sounds like he and Logan should be two peas in a pod.

We had a “homecoming” dinner at Lucy’s; Claire walked me through the menu and pointed out what she’s ordered at some point or another during her travels here; pretty much everything on the menu (except for the “seafood medley” which I ordered on our first trip in ‘06; Michael and Olivia still talk about how many eyes were staring back at me from that dish.)

This morning (Sunday)after a great buffet breakfast Claire, Olivia, Mia, and Sophia were picked up by our Guide to go to the airport. Today they will fly Air China about 2 hours north to Nanjing, the capital of the Jiangsu province where our new daughter Kira is waiting for her family. The girls are very excited to meet her. We can only wonder what is going through her mind after her entire life (11 years) in an orphanage.

Logan and I are stayed behind since Hudson is this same province. Logan is very excited to meet his brother tomorrow afternoon. Today we’re going to buy some toys for he and Hudson to play with and have play hacky and badminton in the park.

It’s amazing that less than 3 years ago we were here in Guangzhou adopting him. He didn’t know a word of English, now he can’t remember a word of Cantonese. Same thing with Sophia, who has been home less than a year. I wonder how much of the language will come back to them during the trip?

At breakfast this morning the kids weres visiting with an American family that had a newly adopted little girl and are waiting on her travel visa to travel to the U.S. with her new family.

Logan then went up to Claire, gave her a hug and said “thank you for adopting me.” Very touching and timely encouragement for mom and dad as we get ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a big day for all of us.

Love you all, Bart

zai jian!!

Leaving in a few hours!!

Almost done packing, can not wait to get on the plane and exhale...this could actually be happening!

We are set to meet our new son and daughter on Monday the 18th!!!

God is soooo very good.

T stinkin A's !!!

It has been over a year since we first saw Kira's beautiful smile.

We did not expect to weather the storms we did during this paper chase for her. We did not expect to wait close to 15 months to bring her home.

This wasn't are first ride at the rodeo, but it was a wild one. Just as we were about to get our golden ticket from immigration, God opened a door and asked us to walk through it.

China started a new, fantastic program called Special Focus. Families would now be able to bring home 2 children at one time, if one of the children was a special focus child.

Well, as it would be....I had fallen hard for a little boy with Thalassemia. His eyes just cut through me. He reminded me so much of our sweet Sophia. I knew the road he was walking and what his future held being an orphan with such a medical issue. I told Bart that he was meant to be ours. And without hesitation, he agreed.

So, we called our agency and asked to be the little guys parents. We dotted all of our I's and crossed all of our T's and were given approval from China to adopt Hudson also.

We were crazy happy.

Then, we received news from our home study agency...different one then our kids agency...that our social worker had denied us approval for our son.

Her reasons were that she," could not imagine having this many children herself." We were shocked, sad and angry.

After talking with our placement agency, we decided to fight our social workers denial. How could her personal feelings keep us from bringing our son home if we met all of the qualifications of 2 agencies, immigration and China?

It was game on.

There were a few months of heavy prayer, many tears, intensive personal scrutiny of our beliefs, life style, and competence as parents of a large family. And a lot of guilt over having to put things on hold for Kira while we fought for Hudson.

But, as usual, God had it all covered. We won our appeal and were granted approval for Hudson.

And, in just a few weeks...Kira and Hudson will meet their crazy, loving forever family.

And I pray that each day God helps me to prove that social worker wrong... that large families are a blessing, not a burden.

Happy Birthday Sophia!

Our baby girl turned 4 just a few days ago.

Yes, at 4..she is still our baby. Even though she has only been home with us for 9 months, we feel like she has been with us forever.

She is just such a gift. She is so sweet, kind, brave, brilliant,trusting and beautiful..inside and out.

Her smile is amazing, it just lights my heart on fire. Her passion to live life to the fullest, and I mean to the FULLEST, is so inspiring.

She loves her bottle still, and no...I'm not doing a thing about that. She loves to draw and cut paper into tiny, tiny pieces. She is a total water bug, loves to ride her bike and swing.

She loves broccoli, steak, onions, ice cream and any type of candy. She also has her mama's love of all Dr. Pepper (:

She loves her brothers and sisters, is very quickly becoming a serious daddy's girl, and gives THE BEST hugs.

There is no feeling in the world that can compare to that of her little arms squeezing me while saying," i love you too!"

God has blessed me beyond measure with my family. My cup, and my laundry runnith over.

NESTING!!!

If we do not get travel news soon.....I can not be responsible for my actions @ here!

I have cleaned out every closet, drawer, cabinet,and shelf there is in the house. I have re-arranged the girl's room...yes..again.

I have cleaned out both fridges, and even under one!

I have done a seriously no holes barred clean out of toys, laundry room and garage. Well, not as serious as I would like in the garage. I do not want to risk starting any marital issues (:

I have given my man a serious honey-do list, and he has almost finished it!

It seems like forever since we first saw Kira's beautiful smile, and Hudson's sweet face.

We did receive a letter from Kira and it is priceless! We also received an update on Hudson. Both kids are doing well, and are waiting for us, that is what has been so hard about this adoption.

The kids are older, and understand what is about to happen. They know that some crazy family is coming to bring them home. I kills me to know that they are waiting.

Some days I get a bit light headed when I think about being a mom to 7 children. 7!?! If I stop and think about it, that is A lOT of kids. A lot of responsibility, a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of laundry!

I think...wow, can I do this? Can I do 7 children? Then I realize how many I's there are in my questions. And the answer is NO.

I can not do this. I need God. Without God, I will never be able to be the best mom I can be. I will not have any ability to have any semblance of patience, unconditional love or unmerited grace that my family deserves.

So, I breath deeply and know that there is such comfort in admitting that I can not do this with Him. And, as in all things..He will be with me always.

And I can not wait to teach our new kids about Him. Their ultimate daddy who gave them life, and has trusted us with them for just a short time.

I can not wait to get them home and to watch them grow and become all that God wants them to be. And I can not believe that I have been soooo very blessed to be their mom.

I can not wait much longer!! But I will.

Claire