FULL

Full seems to be the word that is flooding my mind as I think about our first week back home.....
"Full" are our days right now to when we wake up to when we go to sleep. We were busy before with homeschooling and activities, but add a 2 year old to the mix and you go into another gear!

"Full" is Moses's diaper(sorry if that is too much information). It is quite the adjustment to be changing dirty diapers so much. I just can't get the other kids to help me in this department!

"Full" is our house. We are using every inch of our home for the 6 of us, but it is good. We love being together(especially after being apart from Noah and Abbey for 2 weeks) and there is usually someone to watch Moses wherever he goes in the house!

"Full" is our refrigerator. Our wonderful family and friends have been keeping us well fed and loved since we have been home. Thank you so much for all the yummy meals!

"Full" are our hearts....actually overflowing with thankfulness to the Lord for our Moses! He is a perfect fit to our family and we can't imagine life without him.

We are home / Moses adoption timeline

We arrived home last night and all our flights went very smoothly. We were very thankful and kept praying that we would not have a repeat of our trip home 7 years ago!(2 medical emergencies and Hannah slept her first night in America at the airport in Chicago) Moses barely slept on the flight home, but was a real trooper on the long flight. Hannah was, too. It was fun to come home and see the signs, balloons and happy faces excited for us!(many thanks to our wonderful family and friends) We had a great first day at home and Moses loves his new house. He also enjoyed getting to know his new big brother and sister. Thank you to everyone who helped us bring home our Moses! We cannot thank you enough!  He is such a little blessing and has so much joy in his heart. I made an adoption timeline to remember this last year as we stepped out in this journey of faith. God has been so gracious and generous to us. Enjoy!

Last Post from China

This will be our last post from China. The last few weeks have flown by and we have had an amazing and wonderful time here. Today we enjoyed our last breakfast buffet here at the hotel. Then, we went for a long walk at the park across the street. It is a beautiful park. I love seeing all the people exercising and dancing. Some people were playing instruments, too. We rented a boat and Hannah took the steering wheel and gave us a ride. Moses fell asleep in the carrier. I think he is getting very comfortable with us now. There was a play area that Hannah enjoyed very much. We also bought some fish food and fed the fish. We are sad to leave, but very excited to get home and be our family of 6 soon! We thank God for such a new blessing to our family with Moses. He is a really funny little guy and his smile lights up the room. Hope you get to meet him! Here are a few more pictures from the week that I didn't post earlier....Everyone is buying mooncakes for the festival starting tomorrow, so we joined in the fun, Hannah's drink at Pizza Hut had berries in it, Moses playing in the play room here at the hotel and enjoying pictures of himself. See you all soon!

Consulate Appointment Today

**Hey readers! This is Mary (Julie's sister). I am posting all of their blogs (blogger is blocked in China.) I thought I posted the last two entries, but to my dismay, when I checked tonight they had disappeared? I don't think they posted correctly in the first place. Sorry for the delay!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last night we ate at this local restaurant and the food was incredible. Not only that, but it was really cheap. Only $6.00 for 3 really big dishes of food. Hannah and Moses loved the dumplings. We went out with all the families and got a group picture after. Today we headed out at 9:00 for the Consulate appointment. Moses never wants to sit still on the bus rides, so he is always jumping from my lap to Jason's. He also likes to irritate Hannah by using her leg as a foot rest. He thinks it is so funny when she moves his foot and he puts it right back. The appointment went well. It is pretty stress free as our agency has all the paperwork prepared. There was a little play area and he and Hannah played while Jason handled the business part. We came back to the hotel for lunch in the room and a nap. He really loves being down on the floor to play. We have to carry him around when we are out, so he gets a big smile on his face when we are walking down the hotel hallway to our room.  Moses also loves the breakfast buffet (we all do!) and we get some happy babbling from him as we are heading that way. We are planning on getting out this afternoon to the park across the street or to a mall. We know tomorrow is our last full day of being here so we want to get in as much as possible!

Exploring the Subway and Another Zoo

Because we just squeezed into traveling with this group trip, we didn't  get a Consulate Appointment with the rest of them. All the families went this morning and it left us with a free day of exploring. Jason had been studying the subway and how to use it from some of the other Dads, so today we gave it a try. Moses does not love the stroller here in Guangzhou.(he loved the stroller in Gansu), and he only wants MaMa to carry him. I used the carrier today and it worked really well. The subway was very busy, but we made our way to the Guangzhou Zoo. The zoo was really really nice. there were lots of shady areas and Moses even took a nap in the carrier. Hannah got to see 2 more pandas there. Some other firsts for Moses....he had his first Pizza Hut  pizza and his first oreo. Not surprises....he loved them Both!

More Shopping and Sightseeing

Yesterday afternoon and this morning, we went out to do some shopping and sightseeing. We were running low on diapers, so it was nice to get to the grocery store and get some snacks for the plane ride home.(this little guy likes his snacks) It was fun to get Moses some of the same gifts we bought for Hannah 7 years ago. We got him a stamp set with his name on it and his name written in characters to frame when we get home. (the man in the picture is working on it) We have eaten so well here! We love Chinese food, so every meal is delicious! Hannah and Jason went to the swimming pool today while Moses is napping. He continues to make us laugh and keep us chasing him daily. Some things we are learning about him.....he doesn't like to eat cold things(can you believe that he spit out the ice cream we gave him?) He loves music and dances when he hears it. The game of throwing things and laughing seeing you chase after them, never gets old. He can get around very fast and we left the hotel door open for just a second and he was crawling down the hallway. At night, it is very sweet to see Hannah sitting on the floor reading to him. I am learning that having slobbery goldfish and snot on your shirt is ok. We are really enjoying our time and thankfully other than some colds, we have been healthy and doing well. We have 3 more full days here and leave on Thursday morning China time(5:30). Please keep us in your prayers as it will be a 3 hr flight to Beijing and then 14 hrs home. It will be a very long day for all of us, especially for Moses.

The Flight and Time in Guangzhou

We made it to Guangzhou! Moses did ok on the flight...just a few tantrums. We love the hotel here. It is the same one we stayed at 7 years ago with Hannah, so we are familiar with where things are. Today was the medical exam and thankfully, it went well. We were expecting it to be a hard time as he would get some blood work done today. He was a big boy. We did some shopping after that and now, we are resting. Hannah loved shopping and bought a new dress. We enjoyed buying some gifts to bring back for Noah and Abbey, too. This afternoon we will do sight seeing with the other families which we are really looking forward to!

Hangin at the Mall

Today we ventured out to the mall. It's about a twenty minute walk from the hotel and we went there earlier in the week. Hannah made a purchase at the store...some panda pjs. It was a little hard trying to ask the lady for a bigger size, but we connected through some hand motions. It feels like charades sometimes. We ate at KFC for lunch and Moses really loves chicken nuggets and fries.  Hannah played in the play area while Jason and Moses went to the grocery store to get some things for the plane ride tomorrow. We got some m&ms and some new snacks hoping they will help on the 3 hour flight. Tomorrow will be be in Guangzhou and meet up with the rest of the families. It is sad to leave Moses's home province, but  we are looking forward to being with everyone again and seeing their new babies.

A Fall Day at the Zoo

Today has been one of our favorite days while in China.  As we walked out of our hotel, the air felt like a perfect fall day. We went to a beautiful park where we watched people exercising and doing Tai Chi. The people were friendly asking us questions about the children. We were thankful to have our guide so that we could communicate with them. Then, we headed to the zoo. Going to the zoo at home is one of our favorite things to do. There were many animals, but Hannah's favorite was the Panda. She had been hoping to see one while we were here and she was a happy girl! She also rode some of the rides there and rode a camel, too. Moses is doing very well. He is a very sweet and happy boy. He seems very comfortable with his new family. It takes all of us to watch him as he is very fast and into everything. We get a lot of smiles and giggles everyday, along with cries of wanting his own way. Tomorrow is a day off from sight seeing with our guide. I'm sure we'll venture out and do something. On Friday, we leave for Guangzhou. This will be our last leg of the trip. We are praying that Moses likes the plane ride better than the car trips:)

Beef and Noodles

Short post tonight as we have some tired kiddos.  We had a really great day today.  Thank you all for your prayers we really sense God's Grace over this transition. Moses and Hannah both did really well for spending several hours in a really cool museum, but a museum that was focused primarily for adults.  This museum was focused on Gansu history and also had some artifacts from Wu Wei City were Moses is from.  Tonight we went for a nice long walk to a local mall for the kids to play and then some Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Thank you again for your prayers  - talk to you all soon.

Jason, Julie, Hannah & Moses

The Adoption is Finalized!

Today was a paperwork day to finalize the adoption. We thank God that today, he is officially our son! We met with the orphanage officials and one of the men wanted Moses to come to him and he wanted to stay with Jason and I, which is very good for our bonding. From there, we went to a mall and out for lunch. The mall was very cool with an upstairs section for kids. There were people riding these animal like motor scooters with their kids. Also, just realized that we spent $15.00 for Starbucks coffee at the supermarket. Oops! We have experienced some tantrums today and he can say "no no" already. He can also say MaMa and BaBa(means Daddy). Tomorrow, depending on weather, we may go to a zoo where there are Pandas. Hannah is very excited about that!

Gotcha Day!

We started the day with an early flight to Gansu province. When we got to the hotel, we had time for lunch and Moses was brought to our room by 3:00. It took a little time for him to warm up to us. I tried to bribe him with goldfish and suckers. I guess I was feeding him too much because the orphanage director told our guide to tell me he's had enough food. I got busted in China! He cried just a little when they were leaving, but has been fine since. We have gotten lots of giggles and smiles. Hannah had her first babysitting job while we were doing some paperwork tonight. She is just loving the big sister role. She said "he's so cute" at least fifty times. It was a great day and we are praising God for the newest addition to our family!