Happy Easter!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful day today celebrating Christ's resurrection.

One of my favorite things about these trips is meeting other adoptive families, and seeing how God has woven families together. Just listening to the stories of how families said yes to God's asking all to adopt, is such a privilege.

Our travel group is made up of 5 families. They are from all over the US and all ages. Only one family is adopting their first and only child, a precious 14 year old deaf boy who was going to age out of the system this summer. Their church has volunteers here in China doing missions work, and the missionaries sent a batch of photos of children that would be aging out soon, and needed to find their families.

So, this couple began praying for this one boy to be adopted. And as time went on, they realized that they were to be his parents. The kicker is that the mom is a sign language interpreter in the public school system where they live! How perfect is that!

The other families are here adopting their second, third, fourth child and also have more bio kids at home. One set of parents has grandchildren the same age as a few of their new ones.

And, there are 3 cleft lip, cleft palate boys!! I got to spend the whole day with them today (:

Our group went to The safari park here in Guangzhou. It was awesome. We took a train ride through the non-predator section and then walked all day looking at pandas, koala bears, lions, white tigers and ended our day with feeding the giraffes.

At one point, Bart made the comment that it felt just like being at the parks at home, except for the fact that it was all of the non asian people taking the pictures! So true!

So, we are in the final days here. Tomorrow we go back to the medical clinic to have the kids TB tests read. Seems Hudson's results are boarder line, so praying his chest X-ray is clear. Not sure what " they" do if not. Even after four trips, there is always something new to spice things up.

Hope all is well. Miss you all!

Claire and crew

In Guangzhou Baby!!!

In the spirit of the adoption blog world, I'm going to keep it real.

To say that we are so glad we are out of Nanjing and in Guangzhou would be a huge understatement. If we had to stay another day, I really think international adoption relations would have taken a hit.

We did do some great touring, and visited the city wall that was built over 600 years ago. And we spent an afternoon walking through a beautiful 4 island park.

But another more day of the stares, glares and comments about Kira would have pushed Livy and I over the edge. We tried so hard to enjoy our time there, and get the most out of visiting, but there comes a time where you just cut your losses and move on.

I completely understand that there are cultural differences in every society. What one values is not what another does. But seriously, this is an 11 year old girl. She did nothing wrong to have been born with her medical issues. And it is by the grace of God that everyone gawking at her, and commenting in judgment, was not born with a physical deformity too.

Unless you count being just plain ugly inside as one.

But, all is well. We arrived in Guangzhou late Friday night, and were greeted by three of the most handsome men I know!

We were not in the room very long before the kids got over their awkwardness and broke out the nerf guns. Honestly, it was like they had known each other for years.

Hudson is a hoot! He is pretty much the same size as Logan, and does not have a shy bone in his body. He is a bit more calm then Logan..... just a bit. Definitely ALL boy. He did let me hug him when ever I wanted to, and I got in a few goodnight smooches. He loves to talk to us like we understand him, then laugh. He also has a new favorite phrase, " Come oooonnnn baby!"

He cracks me up. He is always pulling his shorts up way to high, he looks like an old man. He was stylin' on his way to the park today with his shorts hiked up and his socks pulled up as high as they could go. Logan did the same thing.

After breakfast, we headed out to get the kids medical check outs. I talked with the doctor, via our guide, about how Hudson looked and if his spleen and liver felt enlarged. At first the doctor was like really white lady? Then I told him that we have a 4 year old with Thalassemia, and he relaxed in his attitude a bit. And, seems they are enlarged. Nothing horrible, just not exactly what we wanted to hear.

I am so thankful that he will be home soon, and will be getting some great care from our hematologist.

Kira and Hudson both speak Mandarin, not sure this is a good thing...there was a little head butting going on with them this am at breakfast. I think he crossed the line with some of his teasing/comments.

So Bart took him over to the table of one of our travel group. They have an older boy who was adopted a year ago, and he speaks excellent English and is still fluent in Chinese. After Joshua got the low down on what we think happened, he had a chat with Hudson. Of course Hudson denied saying anything mean, but the huge smile on Kira's face was confirmation of our suspicions.

And this scored major points with Kira. She is on the fast track to being a daddy's girl.

But honestly, things are going amazingly well. It is a bit chaotic and loud at times, but since Bart and I are brain dead already...it's great!

Hope all is well, we do miss everyone very much.

Love,

Claire

Visiting Hudson's orphanage and foster home

Hello! from Logan, Hudson, and Bart in Guangzhou, China.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we picked up the Chinese adoption decree which officially recognizes Hudson Andrew Taylor as our son. Very cool!

Afterward, we went out with 4 other families to a nice Chinese restaurant on Shamian island. Our guide “Connie” ordered a sample of favorite dishes for us to share as sat around 6 foot diameter tables with a 4 foot turntable in the middle. Our first dish was roasted pigeon. Hudson and the other boys (age 12 and 10) from his foster home got really excited when they saw it. Logan was pretty excited, too. The rest of us were much more reserved. For those that are curious, it has very dark meat and it tasted like chicken. The platter also had several pigeon heads. I thought that perhaps this was for visual effect, but the boys, including Hudson, showed us all that the heads can be eaten as well. (Look closely at Hudson’s right hand). The rest of the dishes were pork, chicken, beef, and rice. Everybody was stuffed, and our share was about $20 for the three of us.

Today (Thursday) Hudson, Logan, and I along with two other families that are adopting children from the Longgang orphanage rode about 2 ½ hours to Shenzhen city to visit the orphanage that Hudson was brought to after he was found in a hospital in 2004. We also were allowed to visit the “foster home” that Hudson lived in for the past two years. I was allowed to look at (but not keep) his official orphanage file, including the details of when he was first found and his first picture. We’ve never seen this file in any for our previous adoptions, so that was pretty cool.

We had a good tour of the orphanage, a very large, clean, 4 story facility that was built around 5 years ago. The staff was very nice. One very nice social worker (Shera) spoke English pretty well and explained that she had set up online accounts for each of the three older boys and uploaded a lot pictures of picture of them. She gave us her email address and asked us to keep in touch.

We then headed about a half mile away to the “foster home” where 12 older kids from the orphanage live and go to school. It’s a sparse 3 story building with an eating/living area downstairs, 3 small bedrooms (four per room) on the second floor, and sleeping areas for the staff on the top floor. Hudson showed me where he slept on the top bunk.

The kids are cared for by an “uncle” and two “aunts.” They all work in the home during the day and take turns staying in the home at night. I counted 12 kids, so apparently 3 lucky kids had already moved in to take the place of Hudson and his two friends that were adopted this week. They seemed very nice and everybody, including the caretakers and all of the kids, seemed to be very excited to see the 3 boys coming back for a visit with their new families. We had a surprise celebratory cake. One of the other kids (Long Xiao Xiong) in our adoption group somehow had saved money for the cake and asked one of the aunts to buy for our visit; amazingly generous.

I wondered what Hudson was thinking as he went back to the orphanage and foster home and said goodbye to the only life he could remember. But, he seemed to be in a really good mood all day. There really hasn’t been any sign of homesickness yet. But I have no doubt that it going to come at some point.

But for now we’re all having a fun time getting to know each other and looking forward to Hudson meeting his new Mommy and sisters tomorrow night when they fly here to Guangzhou from Nanjing and we move into the second week of the trip.

A Very Great Day

Despite getting up at 6 am, today wonderful.

We went to the Civil Affairs Office to sign the final adoption papers with Kira. This was a sweet, new twist. Usually it is just Bart or I that sign, but Kira is old enough to make her final decision about being adopted.

She signed, smiled and was ready to go.

There were a few more T's to cross and I's to dot, so she made her self comfy on a sofa and just watched the going on. So wish I knew what was going through her head. I have ask the guide a few times to ask her what is she thinking? And he has tried but it seems that is not a typical question children are asked. He didn't know how to get the concept across to Kira, so I stopped asking..for now.

I am really looking forward to the day when Kira can tell me the about her life before us. Am hoping it was filled with good things. If not, we will work it out.

After we were deemed official, we headed to our favorite store in China, Wal-Mart! Picked up some snacks and a bunch of baby supplies to bring to the orphanage tomorrow. Kira was excited to do a little shopping, and picked out a few things that caught her eye. Funny, she seems to like random things. She picked out a little doll, and some Christmas like votive candles. Both are still in their packages. She also picked out a dart gun, that has gotten a lot of use this afternoon. Logan better watch out, she is a pretty good shot.

We are taking a day trip to visit Kira's orphanage, and see where she lived for the last 11 years. I am really looking forward to it. These visits help so much in getting a tiny glimpse of her life before us. It is always emotional, and I'm sure tomorrow will be also.

I am going to try my best to not fall in love with some beautiful kiddo tomorrow. These visits are bitter sweet. A glimpse of your child's past, and life time of seeing the other faces who are not home yet when you close your eyes.

Bart will be going to Hudson's orphanage tomorrow too. Hopefully this will be a good thing, a type of closure.

Hope all is well at home, miss you all!

Claire

Gotcha Day and Night!!

Well, have no idea where to start.

What a sweet girl Kira is! She is soooo ready to just hit the town and go. She was waiting for us when we got to the civil affairs office and has not looked back.

She had treats in her bag for the little girls and immediately wanted them to sit with her and hold her hands. Her smile is amazing is she is doing so well with her new mama who has no clue what she is saying.

Morgan!! You have a hair and nail buddy now. She is all about the polish and braids (:

Am still trying to process all of this, you might think that after 4 trips I'd have this. But it always amazes me how different each child is created, and how wonderful each personality is.

I CAN NOT wait to get my hands on Hudson, he looks so sweet! Seems he has a few of the classic physical markers of a thal kid. Sophia didn't, but she was much younger when we started regular transfusions. So we are so ready to get him home and on some good Go Juice!

SO, so far things are going amazingly well. So please feel free to pass this onto any one considering an older child.

When they say they are ready to have a family, they are!

I am also so amazed by how well Kira has compensated for her hands and leg. She has found a way to scrunch her long leg down and walks pretty well. It is amazing how tall she is when she stands on the longer one. No tiny Asian girl here!

Looks like we have a few things to get worked on, but she seems so healthy and smart. She has already mastered the camera and the paint program.

There are so many little details, but I have 4 hungry girls looking at me, and we have to go and do more paper work at 8 am. So we are off to eat and start our new day!

Miss you all, and hope all is well.

Love,

Claire, Livy, Kira, Mia and Sophia (does that not just rock!)

Sorry for the Inconvenience

Hey everybody, this is Michael. It has been brought to my attention that when you go to our blog, you do not see a blog, but in fact a rather large brown square. Seeing as this could pose a problem to the ease of use of our beloved blog, I am here to publicly apologize for the inconvenience this unsightly square may have caused you. So if you manage to see this despite said square, you must be a lucky one.

~Michael

Gotcha day and night!

Well, have no idea where to start.

What a sweet girl Kira is! She is soooo ready to just hit the town and go. She was waiting for us when we got to the civil affairs office and has not looked back.

She had treats in her bag for the little girls and immediately wanted them to sit with her and hold her hands. Her smile is amazing is she is doing so well with her new mama who has no clue what she is saying. 

Morgan!! You have a hair and nail buddy now. She is all about the polish and braids (:

Am still trying to process all of this, you might think that after 4 trips I'd have this. But it always amazes me how different each child is created, and how wonderful each personality is.

I CAN NOT  wait to get my hands on Hudson, he looks so sweet! Seems he has a few of the classic physical markers of a thal kid. Sophia didn't, but she was much younger when we started regular transfusions. So we are so ready to get him home and on some good Go Juice!

SO, so far things are going amazingly well.  So please feel free to pass this onto any one considering an older child.

When they say they are ready to have a family, they are!

I am also so amazed by how well Kira has compensated for her hands and leg. She has found a way to scrunch her long leg down and walks pretty well.  It is amazing how tall she is when she stands on the longer one. No tiny Asian girl here!

Looks like we have a few things to get worked on, but she seems so healthy and smart. She has already mastered the camera and the paint program.

There are so many little details, but I have 4 hungry girls looking at me, and we have to go and do more paper work at 8 am. So we are off to eat and start our new day!

Miss you all, and hope all is well.

Love,

Claire, Livy, Kira, Mia and Sophia  ( does that not just rock!)