Day Twelve

Hello from Beijing!! Yesterday we left Guangzhou and Silas rode his very first airplane. The sweet boy was SO excited he could barely stand it. We made him a calendar at the beginning of the week so that we could count down the days until we go to America. We look at it at bedtime and cross off the days and talk about what is going to happen tomorrow. He loves it and has been so excited. And when we told him that we were going to ride 4 airplanes all together, his eyes got huge. I was nervous that his first flight wouldn't live up to his expectations, and he wouldn't be interested anymore, but he did great and loved it.

We get lots of reactions from Chinese people about our three boys. Sometimes they are amazed that we have 3 kids. Some are amazed that we have 3 boys and some are completely confused as to why one of them looks Chinese. We get all kind of comments, but yesterday at the airport we were blessed by a sweet lady who agreed with us about what a special gift from God Silas was to us. She took this picture for us. 

             

When we got to the airport and through security and he saw the big windows with the airplanes he just couldn't contain himself and he wanted to get on the first one he found. So we had to try and explain that we had to wait for our specific airplane. And at that point, we were super early, so we had a bit of a wait. But that didn't last long by the time we got some food and found our gate.


Unfortunately, we had to do the whole thing where you ride on a bus to meet the plane out on the tarmac. Well, we rode on that cramped little bus to what seemed like a completely different terminal. It was no joke probably 15 minutes long. Those rides are usually maybe 5 minutes at the most from when you get started. We thought we would never get there. And eventually, we drove up to a plan that had the little runway thing that you walk down. I don't know why they didn't just send us to that terminal. But anyway. Side rant. Once we got on the plane and looked at all the bells and whistles the waiting started. We sat there in the plane for a long time before we got moving. And then it would move and stop. Move and stop. Every time we'd start moving, I'd tell him, "Ok, soon we are going to take off." And then the plane would stop driving again. He kept up good spirits though. He was so excited he didn't really care.

I love how these pictures show the progression of all of that!!

We finally took off and he giggled the whole way up and then watched in amazement and squeals when we went up into the clouds. It's so fun seeing the world through his eyes. Makes you take a step back and just marvel at the little things that we so often take for granted.

Our first stop after dropping off our bags was to the beach! Our friends let us borrow their scooters which was such a nice gift. Before we knew that we were moving, we would talk about all the things that we would do together once Silas got here, and one of those things was adding him in on our family scooter ride outings. We would talk about how much fun it will be when Silas is sitting up here too. Or the fact that we were just missing one person on our scooter. And so to be able to ride with him on the scooters was so much fun and I'm so glad that our family was able to do that one last time before we left. If you see some crazy lady riding around Spring Hill on a scooter, it's probably me and you will know that I am experiencing some culture shock!!

Silas loved the beach. It was a super fast trip. Like literally maybe 15 minutes. haha.

We just wanted to get pictures. We only had a few hours and we had lots of other things on the agenda! Plus, I didn't want to have to try and pack wet bathing suits!! Blech!

Sean loves sand. He was completely oblivious to everything going on, except for sand.

We have to get silly for you to be able to see his real personality in pictures.

It was a little overwhelming because there were a lot of people there. (We are still in China, after all) And of course they all want pictures of our kids. We are still so thankful that we had the opportunity to give him that experience while we were here!

Culture moment: There was one point, that I may not be so proud of, in which there were so many people surrounding my two year old trying to take his picture, that I couldn't even get to him, and I finally just said "Hey these are my kids. We are not a zoo!" There are certain things about the culture here that are a little more challenging than others, and some days that are more challenging than others. Usually the picture taking, we take it in stride and use it as an opportunity to meet someone new. But it was a little much today. I just wanted to take some pictures of my boys on their first trip to the beach together! Was that so much to ask? haha.

 We had dinner together and celebrated one friends birthday. Silas did great meeting everybody. He even showed some bravery and stepped out to join the bigger kids and see what they were up to. It was so fun to see him interact with other kids, even if he was keeping his distance. He was interested.

Just cause he's cute

Ok, so our boys are color coded. When we were shopping for their stuff, it really started with just their backpacks. And then the more stuff we added, the more color coordinated we got, until it became a thing. haha

Thanks, Uncle Ricky, for our matching bracelets!!

  then we went back to the G family's house and spent the night with them. We looked at pictures of our families and all of the adventures that we have had together over the past 5 1/2 years and reminisced on the good times. We laughed and cried and got really sleepy. The kids played one last time and Silas began to understand what real life looks like. There were a few times that I could tell he was disturbed that all of the attention wasn't on him and that we really didn't sleep all in the same hotel room together. But he had a lot of fun with the kids too. The biggest take away for us was that he couldn't believe that everything in the kids' rooms belonged to them. He kept pointing at things in the same room, asking "Who's is this?" and "Who's is that?"

This morning, we got up early ate breakfast together and loaded up all 10 suitcases, 3 carry ons, 5 backpacks and a guitar and headed to the airport for leg 3 of our journey to the States. 

I will write more about today later, when I'm more awake and can organize my thoughts. But for now, I'm going to sleep because we will be up and at 'em early in the morning to go see the Great Wall! And then in the afternoon we are on the road (in the air) again.

This time, America or Bust!!

Day Eight

We have been a family for a whole week!! Yay!!!!

We are felt a little better today, but were a little hesitant to go to the orphanage so early without knowing how we would feel. So we talked to our guide and asked if there was a way we could go tomorrow and they said yes. So we rescheduled our visit for then.

We ventured out to the mall across the street for lunch because I had to go to the grocery store and we made a pit stop at a sporting goods store that we love. For real, we come here every time we come to town. The boys had so much fun looking at all the new things and of course we came out with some flashlights and a few other things. I somehow didn't get a picture of QiLong riding this bike, but I did get video, which I will put all together...some day. haha. He was such a natural at riding a bike though. He will be ready for no training wheels in no time. Here is Sean for the first time. He couldn't really reach the peddles just yet, but he was eager!!

Stephen teaching his brother a little about tent camping 

We did almost have a meltdown while we were at the mall. We put the little boys in the stroller while we went to the grocery store. I just had a few things to get and we wanted to get in and out quickly, and otherwise little hands want to touch everything they see which makes the trip turn into way longer. But Silas didn't want to sit in the stroller at that moment for some reason and he began the first stages of a tantrum. So I told him if he didn't want to ride, then I would go home with him and Daddy would get what we needed from the store and asked him if he wanted to go home. He said yes at first and as we started to walk towards the door he changed his mind and decided he wanted to ride. We were so excited and so proud of him for first being able to talk with us and listen to his options and then two for making a decision to control himself. We took that small victory and celebrated big with Starbucks! Ok, that was for Mommy and Daddy. But they liked their cinnamon roll too!

                                      

Praise the Lord, we have had some HUGE progress when it comes to bedtimes. We haven't had ANY tears or fighting during naptime OR bedtime for the last 3 days! Yay!!! It still takes a little bit of work to get them calmed down and still enough that they fall asleep, but I'll take that any day over the middle of the week. We haven't really established a specific routine either. In all honesty, every day has looked different in how we get ready for bed. But we just make sure we talk about bedtime well in advance and don't spring it on him. And the main rule, for Silas and Sean is that we have to be close to Daddy. It's very important. :)                                           

My husband is so great. I can't give him enough credit. He has been so great juggling both of these boys. There are days that he carries both of them across the city it seems like. And they are HEAVY. Up and down stairs, over bridges, anywhere, anytime that one of them needs him, he is there. He is the center of both of their worlds. Silas is attaching very well to both of us. He doesn't cry if Justin's not in the room or anything and he is ok with him leaving. He lets me carry him too and cuddle with him at bedtime. But when Daddy is there he lights up. And he knows he's got him right where he wants him. 

After nap, we went outside to play for a while. I can't stop with the bubble pictures, sorry. 

We found some neat frisbees at the sport store so we showed Silas the ropes. Kid has some skills!!

So the place where we are staying is also famous for its statues. There are statues all over the island depicting the merging of the two cultures, Chinese and Foreigners, together. So we had to join the crowd and take a few pictures.

The most famous statue for adoptive families. My kids are a little older, but it still works! :) 

Silly faces!!

So he has this pose....

Then delivery for dinner and a movie until bedtime!

The boys were cute at bedtime. Sean actually wanted to lay down beside Silas tonight and he gave him lots and lots of kisses. Until we figured out that the kisses were prolonging bedtime, so then we had to switch places. But we were so happy to see him choosing to show Silas specific attention like that!

The cuteness!! It's been so fun and eye opening to watch Silas simply learn about life. Including taking a shower.
And he's picking up some English already too! Just from hearing us talk to each other.

Since we rescheduled our orphanage visit, we will doing that first thing in the morning.

A special prayer request: Silas and Stephen get carsick very easily. He does NOT like riding in the car. We are going to take the subway as far as we can,  but then we still will have a short ride in a taxi to the orphanage. It will make our entire trip about 30-40 min longer, but at least we wont have to worry about the car for that long (Maybe 15 minutes). We have some patches for him that we got from the pharmacy, but I don't know how well they work. (Sometimes I feel like Chinese medicine is all a placebo...) They said that he wasn't old enough to take their medicine and I totally didn't think about packing some Dramamine. 

So we will be there around 10 am our time (9pm CST). Pray for our time there and that Silas will be able to have closure about leaving. He seems excited to introduce us to his friends and teachers and show us around. He has seen many other kids come and go with their families and now it's his turn to show off, so I don't really think there will be any major emotional struggle, but you never know. This could be really hard for him. We are just praying for the best and are so thankful we have the opportunity to see a little bit more of what his life used to look like. 

And then we will have family pictures taken in the afternoon. Pray for a good nap time!!! haha. 

That's a really long day for a little boy!