Consulate appointment and packing up

Today we headed to our consulate appointment to apply for Luke's visa. Here he is in his red and white stripes supporting the USA!  

We headed to the US embassy and when we pulled up and saw the American flag, it brought tears to my eyes. I have never been more proud to be an American than I was today. We love the people here, but we are so, so blessed in America. It made me feel so proud for Luke. I can't wait to get him home. The appointment went well and we are glad that is behind us. Luke will travel home as a Chinese citizen. When we land in Chicago and we step off the plane, he will then become an American citiizen. I can't wait for that moment. 

Tomorrow we will get Luke's visa in the afternoon and then we head to the train station. We take a train to Hong Kong and we will stay the night there. In the morning we will fly from Hong Kong to Chicago!!  Tomorrow morning we will start to pack up. We are starting to say good bye to the sweet families we have met here. So thankful for them and the relationships we have formed. 

I have so much to say about this trip. So many hard times, and such great times. I was not prepared for the culture shock. It is so different here. So poor, so much traffic, so many horns honking, so many bikes, so many people. We were stared at, gawked at, people touched our girls hair, asked for our autograph, had pictures taken with random people on the street, had moms put their babies in my girls arms for pictures. There are no lines and no doors held open. The food.....can't even go there.  So different...so, so different. 

But what I did find were people who are hardworking and always cleaning. People who want to make a deal with you so that they can make ends meet. People who look at us like we are rich celebrities. People who helped us find the right gift to buy, the right size, the right color. People who stopped to give us a thumbs up after they pointed to all of our children. People,who told me we had beautiful children. People who didn't judge us for adopting one of their own. Store owners who would respond to the hug we gave. People who really are just getting by.

I will be honest, I don't really think I have a desire to come back, but my life will forever be changed by this trip, yes of course because of Luke, but changed because of these people. Changed at what we saw, heard and felt around us.

Of course China will always hold a special place in my heart because of Luke. I am honored I got to know more about his culture and so thankful to meet the women who cared for and loved on our boy. I never, ever thought we would adopt. I am beyond thankful and blessed The Lord called us to do this.  Last year, on June 10th we started this journey and it has been quite the year. Many tears, frustrations, too much paperwork, worrying about money and just waiting to hold our boy.  All of that is behind us now. In the room next to me, there is the cutest little boy taking a nap who is unaware of what just happened to him. He has no idea what he was rescued from. No idea of the life he would have had if he stayed an orphan.  Luke is so loved by us and we want the best for him, just like we want for Gracie, Halle and Avery. He is a Jackson and will be treated no different.  This adoption journey has changed me as a women, a daughter, a sister, a wife and as a mother.  It has made me have to trust God more, made my relationship with God deeper and made me fix things within myself. It has made me look at life differently and has made me pray more. People tell us, Luke is so blessed to be in our family. I tend to look at it the other way - The Jackson 5 are the ones who are blessed and forever changed by this sweet boy. I am honored and call it a privilege to be called of God to adopt an orphan.  My prayer for Luke is that he will one day know the Love of our Heavenly Father and have a relationship with Him. 

Tim and I want to thank everyone who has supported us through this journey. We are in awe at the outpouring of support and love. I was moved to tears more times than I can count. I was also left speechless. Thank you for helping there to be one less orphan in the world.  Please continue to pray for us as we make our way home. Pray for all the details that go with traveling (with 4 kids!).  Continue to pray for Luke as he adjusts to his new life. Pray for us over the next couple of days as we all adjust. 

Luke David Jackson, you are an orphan no more. 

Paperwork and medical exam

I finally was able to download more of our pictures. Here are some from Wednesday when we did our paperwork for Luke's passport. 

They needed Luke's handprint for the paperwork. 

On Thursday we headed to get Luke's medical checkup for his visa. We went with 4 other families from Holt. I was surprised at how fast this process went. Luke did really well. 

Here he is waiting his turn!

He reached out and grabbed Avery's hand!  It was the sweetest thing!

Here he is getting weighed. 

For dinner we ate at a Chinese restaurant and Gracie rocked the chopsticks!

Today we headed over to Shamian Island to go shopping.  I am so glad we did this. It was beautiful and we got a lot of great things. We went with another family that we have gotten to know since we have been in China. 

These were some of the things we bought from today!  They girls loved picking out new things!

Tomorrow we have a down day. Not sure what we will do yet. Luke is really doing well and seems to be adjusting and bonding well.  To help with his bonding, Tim and I are the only ones who feed him, carry him around, bathe him, change him and put him to bed. The girls and my mom play with him and he has sat on their laps a couple of times. We will continue to do this after we return home. At this point we feel he will only need this for a month or so after we get home. He has had so many people in and out of his life caring for him. He needs to know Tim and I love him and are here to stay. He really is doing well and each new day we see him letting walls down and he is letting us in. 

When we were matched with Luke we knew his right ear was not formed correctly. We also knew there was a chance the inner ear was not formed and he could be deaf in that ear. We were ok with that. We felt peace in knowing that it would be ok if he was deaf in one ear. The day we met him I didn't even think about his ear. His ear isn't an issue for us. I don't even notice it. We do now know, he is deaf in that ear. He has the start of an ear canal but it is closed off. We still don't know if the inner ear is formed and we won't know until he has a CT scan. Tim and I are not upset about this and we haven't even really thought about it. God has given us so much peace. We will do what it takes to get him 100% hearing in that ear. If there is nothing to be done, we are ok with that too. We love this boy just the way he is - his little ear and all!!  We are thrilled and feel so blessed The Lord has chosen us to be his parents. We don't look at this as a burden or a problem. 

Once again, thank you all for your prayers and support as we walk this road!!

One Less Orphan

First I want to say I am sorry I have not been updating. The wifi situation here is rough. I can only get wifi in our hotel room and we haven't been here much. To top it off the jet leg is really getting to us and we are exhausted. I started a post last night and couldn't even get past the first sentence because my eyes kept closing!   Thank you all for your prayers, posts, comments and excitement. We are blown away by the love. This May sound strange, but I can feel the prayers. God's peace and grace has been upon us. What an amazing feeling. 

On Tuesday we got up and got packed back up to head to Hebei. We went to the lobby to meet our guide. We finally got to meet the other American family that would get their son in the same provience. We are so thankful for this family and really enjoy spending time with them.  There were a total of ten of us that headed to the train station.  What an experience this was!!  Tons and tons of people. 10 of us which included 4 kids and a lot of luggage. By the time we got to the train we were exhausted. The train ride was nice and it gave me time to think and prepare. 

We we're told we would be meeting Luke at 3 in our hotel lobby. I was able to pray and prepare for this time. I had so much peace and was so calm. We  got to the hotel and had about 30 mins to get our luggage to our room and freshen up before we had to head to the lobby to meet him. This is the last picture of our family before we headed down to meet him. 

We asked the other family to come with us to take pictures and video tape it for us. We are so thankful for this other family.  As we entered thr lobby, we saw his nannies carrying him from the car. He looked tired and scared. They came right up to us and were talking to him in Chinese telling him we were his mom and dad and these were his sisters.  I brought a bear to give him and gave that to him. He took it. She then placed him in my arms. What a feeling!  He is the cutest little thing!  He is a little chunkier than we thought he would be. This boy loves to eat!!  We were able to talk to the nannies and ask questions. We gave them gifts for caring for Luke. The gave us gifts and also a photo album of pictures of him growing uo. What a treasure this was to us. They said he was really tired and needed a nap. We said our goodbyes to them and while we were still in the lobby he feel asleep on me!  Here our some pic form our first moments of meeting our son!

This is one of the directors of his orphanage and one of his nannies. It was obvious Luke was well cared for and loved.

After dinner we gave him a quick bath in the sink.  He didn't love it, but he tolerated it. 

Avery became a big sister today and is doing a gret job with her little brother!

Like I said, this boy loves to eat!!

Luke is a very sweet boy who is confused and greaving. Yesterday, Wednesday, we a bit of a rough day. We were gone all day for paperwork. We had to wait outside a lot and he isn't used to being help a lot. He was held a lot today because of the situation. He lost it in the late afternoon. He was tired, hungry and not wanting to be held. His nannies were there for part of the paperwork. He loved playing with them and being loved on by them. This brought confusion and hurt to him when they left. By the time we got him to bed last night he was done...poor boy. 

Please pray we can meet his needs and that we can bond with him. It is so hard being in another country and being exhausted. Pray for Tim and I as we care for him and show him we aren't going anywhere and we love him. Adoption is a rough journey and it isn't all pretty and I am ok with saying that!  In the end it will be so worth it. We already are so in love with him.  Pray as we continue to walk this road. Today, Thursday, we have a down day. We are so thankful for that. We need this!  We are praying we have a fun normal day with him. 

Thanks again for all the support. We miss home like crazy.....like really bad!  We can't wait to get home, but are enjoying seeing new things and learning about Luke's culture. Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou to finalize his adoption. I will try my best and update soon!!