The Land of Hand

** I have archived the entries prior to getting Joshua into another page that is called Our Trip to China Archives.  You can read these by clicking the link on the left under Our Trip to China Subpages. **
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Thursday August 2nd, 2007 9:00 am

It will take a couple of weeks for our time clocks to get on the right time zone so until then we will adapt to eating at weird times and sleeping when we have to.  We are all going to the doctor this afternoon, so please pray that Julie can get this taken care of before it gets any worse.  She can’t afford pneumonia after her illness last year.

We also found out that our A/C system must have a clog in the condensation drain because our garage had puddles of water in it from the A/C system.  Coolray will send someone out this afternoon to fix it.

I have posted some pictures from the flights and from our first day home as well as a video of Joshua and Momma giggling with Joshua in his froggy bathrobe after his first bath at home.  I hope you enjoy them and as always we are so thankful for your prayerful support and encouragement.  Eventhough we are tired it is so comforting to know that if we need something as simple as Tylenol we can get it from hundreds of places close to home and some are 24 hours a day.  In China, you don’t see any Walgreen’s or CVS stores.  The simplest of needs become extremely difficult in a place where these resources simply don’t exist.

-Jason (Ba Ba)

 

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Wednesday August 1st, 2007 3:30 pm

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!!!

God is so faithful and your prayers were answered in every way.  The flights went smooth, Joshua loves to fly, and he slept for nealry 10 of the 13 hour flight from China.  He had a couple of mini melt downs in the LA airport as we waited for luggage and passing through customs.  He fell asleep again before take off on the flight from LA to Atlanta he slept for a little more than an hour.  Unfortunately our flight was over an hour late leaving so he was awake most of the flight and did not want to stay in his seat.  The flight attendants just loved smiling at him and bringing him snacks and drinks.  We were so blessed!  Jason and I both felt terrible with major sinus congestion, pressure, and coughing.  God granted us some sleep and endurance to make it.  My ears are still plugged up and I feel like I am still moving.  We will all be going to the doctor tomorrow to get checked out.

Joshua did very well with his first meeting with Grandma.  He readily played peek a boo with her and showed her his super cute "surprised" face.  He even made no fuss when he was buckeled into a car seat for the first time. 

Joshua has enjoyed exploring our house and is a little overwhelmed with the space and the amount ot stuff to see and play with.  Currently Joshua and Jason are in OUR OWN BED taking a nap.  We will try to post again later with pictures.

This journey would not have been possible without the help and prayers of so many, and your guestbook entries were priceless during the days that we were away.  We will never be able to fully express what your support has meant to us.

Love from the very tired, very very blessed 3 J’s

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Monday July 30th, 2007 9:30 pm

The last couple of days have been largely spent in the room since Julie and Joshua weren’t feeling very well.  Joshua is getting better, but Julie has gotten much worse.  We went to the clinic here in the hotel today and the doctors said that she had a cold and gave her some Tylenol cold and and a good antihistimine to help her sleep tonight.

We went with our travel group to a local Thai restaurant that was just a short walk from the hotel and the food was some of the best I have had in China!  Imagine that, and yes, Paul I did actually eat some Thai food…

Joshua has had a few meltdowns but they were mostly just due to me stopping him from doing something he wanted to do.  Typical for a 3 year old so he is right on track.  Julie is more the pro at this stuff, but boy is it difficult to be starting off with a 3 year old and one that doesn’t speak english and wants so badly to talk to us.  There are times when you can tell there is frustration in his face just due to the fact that he is trying to tell you something but you simply don’t understand.

The paperwork was all accepted by the US Consolate today and tomorrow the whole group travels to the consolate for the oath-taking ceremony for our new adopted kids.  After that we hop on a bus for the airport and then get to wait for 5 hours before boarding the 14 hour flight to LA.  Yea!  It is going to be a long day and I just pray that Joshua can hold out through all of it.  Our plane will board around 9:00 pm Guangzhou time (9:00 am Tuesday morning for all in Atlanta).  We will have about 4 hours to kill in Los Angeles and then take the 4.5 hour flight to Atlanta and arrive Wednesday morning around 6:00 am.

We will just need a few weeks to get him settled and into a routine before we’ll be ready to have people come over and meet him.  We are very excited though to everyone meet this truly brave and exceptional little guy!  Ok, so I sound like a proud father…  what can I say?!

Please pray for safe flights and for the long layovers.  We love all of you and thank you for all of your support.  It has meant more to us than you will ever know.

Love,

Jason, Julie and Joshua

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Saturday July 28th, 2007 5:00 pm

We arrived safely in Guangzhou around 7:30 and made it to the hotel by 8:30.  We were picked up by a guide that also was picking up several other families so we had a chance to talk with them on the bus ride to the hotel.  Joshua did really well on the flight but wanted to get unbuckled every 5 minutes so Julie had to wrestle with him to keep him buckled in.  About the time that we began the descent to land he needed to go the bathroom.  We had to keep him occupied until we landed but at that point he was about to burst into tears and start screaming so I asked the flight attendant if he could go to the restroom.  She said yes but because we were taxiing on the runway we had to stay buckled.  He went with her and then got a male flight attendant to take him into the restroom.  It was difficult to allow these strangers to do this, but we have no say in it if he is to go to the bathroom right then.

We are going to a local Thai restaurant tonight and I just spent 1 hour in a room with 8 other families filling out the American consulate paperwork.  I thought the 20 sheets of paper that we brought was sufficient but apparently not. 

The medical exam was this morning and there must have been 30 families all trying to work through a 5 stage examination at the same time in what seemed like very loosely organized chaos.  He did well with the weigh-in and the temperature check but began to show signs of resistance with the ENT doctor.  She told us that he has a hole in his right ear drum. This is most likely due to an un-treated ear infection in the orphanage or the foster home.  We will need to get that looked at when we get home.  He really went ballistic at the last check which was the overall physical exam.  They needed him to come out of the stroller and be examined by the doctor including taking off his clothing.  Up to this point he was showing that his stroller was a safe zone for him and wanted to go right back in after each other visit.  I had to physically pry him from the stroller as he wailed with tears streaming down his face and then promptly pull his pants and underpants down and his shirt up so the doctor could I guess make sure that he was indeed a boy and that he also had a spine.  He kept feeling one of this hands over and over and going to his desk and writing.  Needless to say that was a bad experience for all.  The sounds of children screaming was deafening in the facility.  I believe that just added to the stress he was feeling.  He has recovered from it and we have been playing all afternoon and he is back to his playful self.

The pictures are a culmination of a garden in Nanjing we visited the day before we left and then some at the airport in Nanjing and on the plane to Guangzhou.  I will post some videos later.  Till tomorrow.

The three J’s.

 

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Friday July 27th, 2007 12:00 pm

Thanks so much for all the prayers, they are really being felt and they are being answered!!  Joshua is still running a low grade fever and has a dry cough at times, but he is eating well and playing with his BaBa.  I wanted to share a couple of sweet moments we had with him last night.  On our way back from dinner last night Joshua reached up and held Jason’s hand all the way back to the hotel room.  Then last night he woke up at about 2:00 and was coughing.  He left his little bed on the floor and crawled into bed with me and snuggled up to me as close as he could.  Of course I was in heaven!!  It only lasted a few minutes and then he wanted his space again, but he stayed in the bed with me the rest of the night.    We are very proud of our son and amazed at how brave and smart he is.  He continues to be quite and shy around people he does not know but we are definately seeing the "naughty" side the orpahnge report mentioned.  He likes to spit out food, stick out his tongue while eating, and throw anything he can get his hands on.  He usually tries to throw it right at our faces.  He is such a 3 year old boy!  On the other hand, he enjoys putting things in their proper place, washing his hands and face and straightening his covers before he sleeps.  We may have a mini "Adrian Monk" on our hands. 

We will be checking out of the hotel in a couple of hours and heading back to Guangzhou.  We will post again tonight when we get there and hopefully post more pictures and/or video.  The internet connection is much better there and is easier to post.  Thanks again for the prayers and advice, I do have some ear drops I plan to give Joshua before we board the plane and I have a sippy cup he can suck on to help as well.

Love to you all!

The 3 J’s

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Thursday July 26th, 2007 9:15 am

Not too much to post today.  Joshua has been running a low grade fever since last night so we are staying in Nanjing and skipping the trip to the orphanage.  We did not feel that 5 hours in a van back to the place where is foster parents dropped him off on Sunday night, would help him feel any better.  He was very sad last night and he woke up this morning crying a little.  He allowed me to hold and rock him and he fell asleep in my  arms for about 15 minutes.  When he woke up he wanted to be on the other side of the room away from me.  I am sure he is missing his foster parents and his way of grieving seems to be to withdraw from us.  I am hopeful that a full day together in the hotel room with me caring for him will help him to trust us a little more.  Please pray that he just has a cold and he will recover quickly.  Jason and I are also feeling a little under the weather as well.  We fly back to Guzngzhou tomorrow afternoon.  Pray also that Joshua will enjoy the flight and it will not make his illness worse.  We continue to be lifted up and encouraged by all your wonderful posts to our guest book!  We are very much looking forward to joing our travel group in Guangzhou tomorrow evening.  Jason may post a couple new pictrues later, but this is all for now.

Much love and gratitude for all of you,

Julie (Jason & Joshua)

 

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 3:30 pm

I’m sorry I didn’t get any pictures up yet.  Here is a video of Jason and Josh playing with the beachball.  That is his favorite toy! The pictures are from the Nanjing Bridge.  It was built by the people of Nanjing and is something they are very proud of. Yes, that is smog blurring your view of the landscape in every picture.  Nanjing’s air quality is much worse than Guanzhou.  We see many people on the streets wearing surgeon’s masks.  We feel a bit sad that we have to breathe it but we just have a couple of days to go here.  We leave for the orphanage in the morning.  It is 2.5 hours away so it will be a long car ride but we are looking forward to seeing the orphanage he stayed at and the finding spot.  I will post pictures and video by tomorrow afternoon of our trip to Suzhou.

Love to all,
Jason

 

Tuesday July 24, 2007 4:00 pm

Joshua slept nearly 10 hours last night, Jason slept about 6, and I think I got 4.  Joshua chose to sleep on the small couch in our room instead of in the crib the hotel has provided.  I was so proud of him for trusting us enough to even fall asleep, but I was a little worried he would fall off, so I woke up often to check on him.  He slept very soundly and hardly moved at all so maybe I will sleep a little more tonight.   We will hopefully work up to him sleeping closer to us in the next few days.  He did lay on the bed between us for a little while right before his nap time today.  He fed Jason and I little cookies we bought at a store today.  As he started to fall asleep for his nap he decided we were too close for comfort and he moved back to the couch.  I have been lucky enough to receive a couple of kisses from Joshua.  We were in the hotel lobby looking at the fish and I made a fish face for him and he made one back and kissed me!  He is also enjoying feeding me Cheerios and chicken nugget bites.  God has been so faitful to answer all of the prayers offered up on behalf of this precious boy and his parents.  He is doing amazingly well.  He is playing and laughing often, eating well, using the bathroom, and warming up to our presence and our touch. He LOVES to copy whatever BaBa (Dad) is doing.  If Jason takes a drink, Joshua needs one.  If Jason takes off his shoes, so does Josh. If Jason is on the computer Josh has to be watching.  It is very sweet to see.  He is also trying to copy our english.  Right now is favorite word is go!  He is also learning up and down as he enjoys pressing the buttons for the elevator.  He is making good eye contact with both of us and talks to us all the time. I would love to know what he is saying. 

When we met Joshua yesterday he came with most of the items we sent him in February.  He has our pictures in a small frame and he enjoys picking it up and saying Mama, Baba.  He ws in the crib for a short time last night looking at the soft picture book we sent and he was kissing the pictures of us.  It is obvious that his foster family helped prepare him for this major transition.  (Another prayer answered).  We did not meet the foster parents and we have learned they are on holiday and will not be there to meet us when we visit the orphange in Suzhou on Thursday.  After our experience today at the adoption office it may be for the best we do not see them.  When we got in the van this morning to go, Josh got very quite and did not smile or talk.  As we walked into the buliding he stopped and did not want to go in.  I cannot blame him since when he walked in there yesterday he left with new parents.  I would not be surprised if he thought we were giving him to someone else.  We could tell he was worried and there was not much we could do but keep him close to us and help him to learn we are here to stay! 

Today our touring took us to the Nanjng bridge and of course it’s gift shop!  We were introduced to another craft master.  This one paints pictures inside small glass bottles and balls.  We were told all about the process as I held Josh who wanted down to walk around all the glass displays, and was being surrounded by shop girls who were asking him many questions.  He held tight to me and burried his head in my shoulder.  Jason and I made a quick decision on a purchase to speed up our escape from the shop.  We did get a beautiful ball with a picture of the bridge and the master painted all our names inside as we watched.  We later went to a store for a couple of items.  There are very few clothes available for boys which does not make much sense, since boys are the desired child.  Staring in China is not considered rude, but is uncomfortable for us as we noticed many peolpe in the store essentially gwaking at Joshua’s hands and at a foreign couple with a Chinese child. 

Our most exciting event of the day was the finaization of Joshua’s adoption.  It was followed a close second by our trip through town with our driver nearly running over a couple of pedestrians and cutting off an ambulance in an intersection.  My nerves have been just fine in the car and I know the only reason is again all the specific prayers that are going up for me specifically in that area.  Thank you all our faithful friends and prayer warriors!!! 

Our guide has just arrived with her 4 year old boy and we are going to walk around a little bit.  Jason will post pictures later this evening.

Love to you all,

Julie, Jason & Josh

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Monday July 23, 2007 5:35 pm

God has truly answered all of our prayers.  Although there will likely be small setbacks Joshua has been an amazingly brave little boy.  He cried for a bit once we were ready to leave the registration center where we received him but then quieted down in the car ride back to the hotel and was very good from then on.  Once we got back to the hotel we began to play and it was as if he was at ease with us and his new environment.  We played for a while and then Julie somehow got him to get in the bathtub.  A little more play and he was ready to take a nap.  That is what he is doing now as I write this.  God has truly blessed us with this amazing little boy.  We have laughed enough in just a few hours that we don’t remember what the scared face looked like.

I have put together a quick montage of video and still pictures from today for you to see our new son Joshua and join us in praising God for such a gift!  I will post more tomorrow.  Thanks and keep praying!

-Jason