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!!