Lullaby for Luke

Before I get into what everyone really wants to hear about, the orphanage time, here's a quick recap of Saturday and Sunday:  We spent those two days in X'ian, one of the larger cities in China and the capital of this province, adjusting to the time change, bonding as a team, and preparing materials. Some of my favorite bonding experiences included getting feet sucking fish pedicures, eating market squid off of a stick, and biking 10 miles around the entire fortress wall that surrounds the old city of X'ian.  Riding at night, the lights were amazing!  This group has already been such a blessing.  We are small in number, but that has allowed for quick bonding, easy travel, and lots of fun. Squid on a stick The lack of smog allowing for a view of the mountains warranted a picture. Not your typical pedicure! 10-mile ride on top of the ancient city wall. Drum Tower and Bell Tower at night. Today was our first day at the orphanage, and memorie...

He knows.  He comprehends on some level that I’m going back.   He refused to fall asleep last night, afraid once he closed his eyes that mommy would be gone.  He’s been extra clingy lately, and I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve been talking about mommy going back to China, if it’s because we’re approaching his 2 year Gotcha Day anniversary, or maybe it’s just being 4 years old. But last night, knowing I would be gone on a plane to China when he woke up, he wouldn’t let go. His eyes would get heavy and close, but as soon as I tried to sneak away, an arm or a leg could capture me.   Sweet boy, I’m not going for good. You better believe I’ll be coming back home.  But in the over the next 10 days, I get to tell your Ayis how you are growing and flourishing! I get to encourage them that the care they tirelessly provide to the children in their watch makes a difference - that you are proof that children living in institutions don’t have...

It's only appropriate that this post is a little late since all of my children's first year "milestone" pictures were at least a few days, if not weeks, late.  We didn't get to do all of the monthly 1st year photos with Luke - a two, now three year old doesn't change that much on a monthly basis so there really wasn't much point.  (And let's be honest, by month 9 I have historically been dreading the commitment to do them anyway.)  But a full year?  A year in the life of a toddler brings a lot of changes.  And when you look back on a year in the life of toddler that you only met for the first time 365 days ago, it seems like almost everything has changed! School Picture, August 2018 Hope Haven Orphanage, August 2017 While I didn't do monthly pictures, I did feel compelled to make him a "first blackboard" like the other two kids.  Instead of his first year of life, it reflects on his first year with us.  A year that he grew ph...

Three months.  Luke has been home three months now.  How is that?!?  It feels like time has gone by very quickly, but at the same time it feels like Luke has been a member of our family forever - way longer than 3 months! Part of the reason I have not done an official update on this blog in the last 3 months is because there hasn't seemed like anything big to update.  Luke has been doing GREAT and life has carried on without much thought to adoption specific issues.  Which leads me to the second reason I have not done an official blog update - because life has carried on... with three little kids.  And goodness life is BUSY!!  After a full day's work and wrangling the kids for dinner, bath, and bed, we are not far behind them to sleep.  But people have consistently been asking how he is doing, and I know there are people whom I don't see on a regular basis who are wondering. So, here are some of the highlights from the last three months... ...

Luke has been home a little over a week.  A week already?!  How is that possible? As most international adoptive families do, we spend the first week in medical appointments.  We visited the clinic and hospital on there different days to see the doctor, obtain labs, and run tests. Napping in between x-rays (He exhausted himself crying. Seeing him cry, calling for mama, and reach out for me but me not be able to pick him up was one of the hardest things on me yet) I haven't talked much about why Luke was labeled "special needs" on this blog so far.  Partly because we had limited information to share, and in part because as an adoptive parent you think about how much is my story to share and how much is his story to share.  Well the reality is, it is going to come up before he is old enough to share this part of his story.  When he's wearing a swim suit.  When a babysitter is changing him into pajamas.  When he's rolling around on the f...

Our flight left China at 1:40AM on Friday morning, and we arrived home at 9:40AM on Friday morning.  I wish it was only an 8 hour flight away, but it was actually about 24 hours of traveling with a 12 hour time change.  Traveling with a toddler that we just met 2 weeks ago, we braced for the worst.  However, yet again, we were pleasantly surprised.  He did GREAT!  He slept through the majority of the long 14.5 hour flight, really just waking to eat, and the next flight just happily played.  (I highly recommend a magnetic drawing board and magnetic building pieces as traveling companions for toddlers - compact and quiet).  Once we landed at JFK in New York, and we handed the sacred brown envelope known well by all international adoptive parents to the customs officer, Luke was officially a US citizen!! Proud US Citizen When we arrived at RDU airport, we were greeted by the best welcoming party imaginable.  Many of our closest friends ha...