Fly baby Fly

Well this picture should tell you everything you need to know about our boys very first flight!!!

 Look at me and Daddy on my first plane ride, I am wayyy to cool!

 Watching the instructions being signed in Chinese Sign Language on the tv screen

 Holding on to daddy during take off for a little bit of assurance that all is just fine

Luke working on my search a word and Tom doing Sudoko


Well The moment was finally here, we got to head towards the airport for Luke's first ever plane ride. We met a few other families all from our providence and traveled together on the plane with Lisa and Wayne and their cutie pie, Madison and we also flew with John and Cheryl and their two precious children. We also met a few other adoptive families on our flight.  Luke was so excited yet nervous at the same time to be heading to the airport that he didnt know what to do with himself. I must say I was so nervous with how he would handle it that it was making me crazy.  He was amazing!!!! We had to take a shuttle bus (very very crowded) over to our airplane and then walk up the ramp to get in the plane. Luke held my hand as we made our way up the ramp. He had our boarding passes and found our seats 9d e and f.. the boy found them and took the window seat, Tom showed him to buckle up and then just watching his face became Tom and my past time for the next 15 minutes as the excitement built for him. He just couldnt wait!!!! When the engines came on his face lit up and he was sooo excited! When we started to taxi out he just held onto Daddys arm but was filled with excitement. I love watching him when he gets so excited. The joy in his face when we took off was one of those American express commercial moments as they say.. PRICELESS!!!!  We had a 2 hour and 15 minute flight and it was night time so nothing really to see out the windows. I was beyond exhausted and had taken a dramamine then also a Benadryl as I had an asthma attack when we got on the plane due to all the smoke in the airport. So I pretty much drooled on myself for the next 2hours while Tom and Luke talked an talked and then played search a words (the boy can actually find words in there) and then Tom taught Luke how to play Sudoko and he loved it. He finished a few puzzles too.  When it came time to land he was again filled with excitement and couldnt wait to land and see what new adventure would be brought to him.........

Sorry it has been so long

Wow where to start, I have decided since so much happened I will post several shorter posts then one cray long, as we never know how long I can be on here before we need to go do something (Like feed our bottomless pit of a son heeheh).

Our last day in Jinan was a frigged yet lovely day there. Our guide is one in a million and all of us would have loved to have brought her home. Tom and I were very very sad to leave Missy as she is truly an amazing woman with a heart of Gold.

Our last day we went to a place that is pretty famous in Jinan called Diamond Lake. It is truly beautiful and peaceful there and we enjoyed it as our last day in Jinan using the day of peace and quality time with our son to just hang out and chill out in a gorgeous park. Luke is truly a techy guy. He has become my photographer and takes most of the pictures we have so far, he has a great eye and catches some pretty cool things on camera. 

Our day ended with the drive out of Jinan, it is truly a heart wreching drive through some really poverty stricken areas. Luke was nervous when we hit the poor areas as we kept telling him we were going to the airport and it is hard to beleive there is an airport through the area we drove to.  I will post on my next post about his famous first flight as I need to go get our laundry. We are truly blessed with an amazing boy and he has already captured the hearts of all he has met here in China with us. We get stopped by just about everyone that is Chinese to tell us how Handsome our son is. He is truly a very handsome boy. Our guide says he is almost so handsome that he is pretty like a girl hahah.  We had a great final day in Jinan. I would like to say I was sad leaving Jinan but to be honest it is hard for me to say I will miss the place where our son was not treated well and basically ignored for 10 years of his life.  We are so sad when we think of what his life would have been like for him here, our guide told us she is pretty sure when Luke turned 14 here in China and was no longer able to be adopted his future would be very very grim, she actually said " I shudder to think about what would have become of him if we did not bring him home" Everyone keeps telling us how blessed Luke is to have us, but trust me we are the blessed ones. To see the world through his eyes is such an amazing exepriance. When just about everthing you do is for the first time it is amazing to see his eyes and face and reactions to some of the most simple things. (IE when I licked the envelope to seal it he was in awe that it had glue in it to make it stay shut and talked about that for over an hour...)

 Our goofy boy getting ready to leave our room and tour then hit his first plane ride!!

       His adoption registration certificate ( a very very important peice of paperwork)

                              A gorgeous building at Diamond Lake

 Our famous photographer of a son took this of his Mommy and Daddy

Luke took this of the boat, he liked it!

 Me and our amazing Guide, Missy

 Luke and his daddy checking out the statues

 Just a pretty view of Diamond Lake

 Us all together under the sign that says Diamond Lake on our last day in Jinan, China

 The drive to the airport, it is amazing how poor the Villages are, it is heart breaking

 people actually  lived in these

The lived here too, there were people living in this section

We are sooo in love and Blessed from above beyone words!!!!

I know I havent been the best of bloggers since we have gotten Luke but it has been a whirlwind. As I type this our precious gift from God is asleep in the bed behind me. We just had a conversation about the newspaper that got delivered to our room and we discussed the President of China and the President of America and even though I know he doesnt know what a President is he figured out they were important people in the world. He also figured out that Obama is where we are going to soon.

We spent today touring Jinan. What an interesting city, soo crowded and old and to be honest sorta dirty but it is full of history..We started our day with a great tour of Baotu Springs, this is a place that Jinan is famous for. We had a great time looking through the springs and just enjoying some amazing Chinese culture and history (even though it is aobut 20 degrees outside) we had an amazing day, it is truly fun and a joy to see things through Luke's eyes.

Today was a day of many firsts for Luke, he saw TV for the first time, had his 1st ice cream cone and saw Baotu Springs for the 1st time, he learned for the first time his zodiac sign and that he was born in the year of the Dragon, our guide was upset that Luke did not know anything about this and what that meant, she said "all Chinese people know this" well apparently Luke wasnt worth teaching in the orphanages eyes...

We were told in the orphange that Lukes paperwork says he is mentally retarded, well Tom and I couldnt help but laugh in the Directors face (not very appropriate I am sure) but hello this boy is SOOOOOO smart it is darn near scary.  He plays memory games like nobodies business, can have pretty in depth conversations in ASL (interesting since he knew about 2 year old level sign language in Chinese when we met and can only read and write in Chinese on a pre-school level too) but he is writing a ton for us in English,  he was never exposed to English before, he is just THAT bright!  Our days and nights are filled with awe and laughter, no it has not all been a bed of roses, as Luke has a ton to learn that our guide that he should know as the other children she has worked with for adoption seemed to know these things, even the children she helped that were deaf knew things he doesnt know, But it seems that since no one at the orphange could communicate with Luke they just didnt bother to teach him things. It is scary to think of what he would be doing now if someone taught him something for the last 10 years..but I must say it has pretty much been as close to a bed of roses as one could get!!!


Today Luke wanted to know what he could do when he gets older (this started because we were talking about Aaron being away at college,) I am not sure he gets what college is exactly but he knows it is school and Aaron is  older and there learning. Tom told him he could do whatever he wants and become whatever he wants, he said " I cant I am not allowed" When Tom told him yes you can do anything he still didnt beleive him. Tom told him a 3 rd time and started squeeling with delite that he could become something.  He is such a deliteful boy so full of joy and quick to laugh and be goofy. We love watching his delite in things we so take for granted on a daily basis. 

I could go on and on but I am getting exhausted and tomorrow we go to get Lukes Passport and then will tour Diamond Lake and then head to the airport, we are seriously going to miss  our guide, Missy as she is a delight  and a joy to be with, I cant imagine our guide down south being this dynamo.  Wish we could take her with us heheh!!!  Luke is going to miss her too, he is no dummy this girl is so nice it is hard to beleive she is real!

We are excited to say that Thanks to a friend we are going to meet a woman in southern China that is Deaf and a native to China but also knows ALS and CSL.. We cannot wait to see someone Deaf as that hasnt happened since we have been here. I am curious what Luke will think of her!!!

Ok I am off to sleep and ready to see what joy tomorrow will bring as we get Luke on the plane for his first ever plane ride of his life!! I can tell you that it made my heart break and elate when we packed his suitcase. Break because he looked at me packing his clothes and our clothes and pointed to his things and said " you are packing my clothes too?" (it makes me so sad to imagine how he must feel so worried we are going to leave him and not want him, I cant imagine how this must feel to a child but to think about it makes me feel so sad I feel like my heart is broken to just imagine even a little what that must feel like)I said of course you are coming on the plane with us.. the boy darn near jumped out of his skin with excitement, he squeeled and did the cutest happy dance ever. I got a huge hug (he normally will not hug) and he just kept giggling and laughing. I told him "Luke you are my son and you will always be with me and daddy) he just giggled and smiled even bigger.. hard to beleive one could smile that large, sooo big that both his eyes vanished hhehehe....

Ok off to sleep with promises to blog more soon, off to our next leg of this amazing journey!!!

 Baotu Springs, Jinan China

                                   Is that a happy face or what!!!!

                                 Our happy Jack and our awesome guide,Missy!

                                                    Tom and I at Baotu Springs

                                               He is such a handsome guy!

                                                      Luke and his Daddy!!!!

          Luke with his first Ice Cream cone ever!!!(I think he might have like it.. what do you think?)

                                                    Me on the bridge at the Springs

                                         Getting all decorated for Chinese New year!!!!!

some pics of our days

 Dad and son working on some puzzles together

 Luke's very first time in the pool. He did really well and loved it!

 Dad helping with his shirt, he is a happy happy boy

 Luke playing a computer game, he loves the computer.

 Saying hello on one of our many many car rides

 Daleea's lilttle girl Isabella, so sweet and so shy. She is coming home to her momma in February

 Some of the many sad faces in the toddler room of the orphanage, all waiting for a momma and daddy

 There are many children in need of parents and so wanting to be held and loved, it is more then one can put into words

This boy is 13, soon will be 14 but has a family waiting for him and the orphanage already knows that he has a family and was thrilled to share the news, he is actually lukes roomate.  Handsome young man

I will post more later we have to go eat!

What's new with us!

I know I havent blogged since we got Luke but we have been running around like crazy. Yesterday was a day full of running around and paperwork when we got Luke. It was a long day and we crashed early. God has blessed us with a good boy that is very eager to learn, funny as heck and seems to enjoy being with us alot! 

I am not going to lie today was a rough day, not because Luke was tough or anything like that. We went to the orphanage today and it was harder then I thought. I tried to explain we were going to visit and he could say goodbye, but I do not think he understood that. As soon as we pulled in he said NO, then I said we will visit and then me, him and daddy would leave. I thought he got it because he then jumped out and started walking. We went in to the orphanage and it went down hill right away. He refused to talk to Tom or I or make eye contact at all so we couldnt communicate with him once the eye contact was gone.  They took us to the toddler rooms first and that was tough, a lot of babies in one place. There were many babies and they seemed to get upset by the visit (at least some of them did) and I dont blame them there were 3 families all visiting at the same time plus staff leading us around.  We did see Daleea's little girl and she was easy for me to spot as she looks just like her pictures, a precious little angel who is waiting so patiently for her momma to come soon!!!! We then went to Lukes floor next and saw the floormates he was with. Luke did not handle being on his own floor well and started to cry and get very upset.The staff kept saying "he is sad he is leaving' but it didnt seem like that kind of crying. He was devestated to be back and seemed to think we were leaving him.  When they took us to see his bedroom he get really upset and I asked them to please take us back to the office so we could start to leave.They tried to have the kids say goodbye to him but he was so upset at this point he didnt want to see or talk to anyone.  We went down to the office and he still would not talk to Tom or I but seemed a little better. One of the directors of the orphanage seemed upset that Luke was crying and that I was too (what mom wouldnt cry seeing her son go through that pain). She wrote him something on paper and he stopped crying after a lilttle bit. We stayed for a total of about 2 hours and that was way too long.  I was afraid our relationship with Luke would go backward for he was so upset with us, but the second we got in the van he was fist bumping us and saying I love you. He was great as soon as we pulled away and started laughing and joking with us. I do beleive he thought we were leaving him there. It was a very hard day for us all.

We got a break when another family staying in a different hotel came by and asked us to go the Science museum down the street. What a great idea!! Luke loved it and it was just what we all needed. A chance to laugh and walk and learn. Luke sure has an amazing laugh and he has laughed a ton since we left the orpahange today.  Oh and we taught him how to play War with cards and Tommy you better watch out he kicked our butts the first time ever playing haha.

Aaron seems excited as heck about Luke and Luke and Aaron have many things in Common. Aaron loves Anime and  Manga and it is very popular here and Luke also likes the same stuff and same cards and characters as Aaron. I think I can pick up some real cool stuff for Aaron tomorrow when we go shopping!

One of Luke's favorite things to do is Skype. He loves to talk to everyone on the "small box" and his day is made when he can talk with Tommy, Paige and Aaron.  He has also met his pop-pop, Granma, Nanny, Poppy, Mom-mom and Aunt Amy so far by Skype. He loves looking at the pictures we sent and talking about his family and he is obssessed with our dog, Chase!!! He is a joy and seems to listen pretty well, if there is something he doesnt want to do , he will normally listen to and follow along with whatever Tom is doing. He is definitely a "Daddys boy".  Tom so much as goes to the bathroom and Luke is waiting at the door for him, he doesnt like when Tom leaves the room for anything, he loves being with daddy!  Him and I get along amazing but it is obvious he has never had a manly influence in his life (the orphanage workers are all woman) and he is loving having a daddy to show him what to do!!!!

We went out to dinner tonight with Julie and Eric and their son Max (oh he is just the cutest ever such a sweetie pie he is 17 months old and a precious little boy!!) we had a great dinner out which we really needed! Luke is exhausted after such an emotional day and we are too so I am going to head to bed.  Tomorrow is a day of sightseeing and shopping and then we start to get ready to fly to Guangzhou on Friday ( we fly out at about 6:15 pm) to head to Guangzhou for another week. I am off to sleep as I can barely keep my eyes open, today wore me to my core, it was hard enough to see the orphanage and all of the many many many children there ( it is actually such a heart breaking experiance no matter how you look at it ) and then you add Luke's being so distraught and watching his pain and suffering and seeing him cry and look so devestated was way too much for this momma to bear. I am glad he bounced back so quick but he is definitely leary now of us taking him places. When we went to dinner he got upset and wouldnt go up the steps as I think he is just afraid of where we might go and leave him. Once he saw we were sitting in a room eating dinner he was great. Tonight Tom pulled up a computer game for him to play and the 2 of them just sat at the computer laughing their butts off, it was so good for me to see and hear. He is truly very very very happy to be with us.

off to bed so I can function for sightseeing tomorrow.

Our newest news !!!!

                         Tom and I just minutes before we head downstairs to meet our son!

                                              Our first few minutes with Luke!

          Signing the paperwork to start to make him officilly ours, he was SOOO curious!!

            At Civil affairs office siging his name saying he officially "agrees" to be our son!

  practicing writing  his name in English  and learning the differecne between Chinese and American alphabets

                                   Our first picture together as mother and son!

                                                Daddy and his new guy!!!

                 Learning the alphabet in English and ASL- the boy is a QUICK learner!

              all tucked in and ready for bed and checking out his book and practicing his signs!



Wow where to start!! We met our son on Monday at about 10:00am. He looks exactly like his pictures! he was afraid to be with us in the beginning but quickly adjusted. He is very very curious and wants to know what everything is.  At first it seemed he was not going to be able to communicate with us, but within a few hours we were communicating amazingly well! Yesterday he started writing his name in English letters and went through the whole entire sign language packet I brought for him (it was huge) and practiced writing every letter in English, he probably knows about 50 signs in ASL already, it is crazy how bright he is!!! We show him an ASL sign once and he uses it from then on and uses it appropraitely! He is such a fast learner and is like a sponge,  and wants to know what everything is, he seems unable to beleive that we are able to communicate with him.

Luke went to bed last night like he has been with us forever and slept as peaceful as one possibly could. He woke up this morning sooooo happy and has been laughing with us for hours. Our guide cannot beleive how happy he is. She said it is amazing to see him this happy and just laughing and laughing with us and he seems pretty comfortable with us.  Yesterday when we went somewhere he wanted to hold on to our guide, today he held on to both of us (hey our guide is a pretty young girl about 24 years old, this boy is no dummy heheh) and yesterday when we left our guide he was upset she wasnt coming with us, today he told her goodbye and asked her to leave hahah.

This boy can eat.. WHOA Tommy better watch out as his brother has a huge appetite and seems to eat just about anything and not care what it is.  Today he ate a huge breakfast and then was ready for lunch just a few hours later... we might need to get a second refrigerator!

Today we took him shopping to get some things (the games we brought with us to play seem to be the only thing that "disappeared" from our luggage during the flights here :( Bummer as we bought good stuff that we cant seem to find here!  So today we bought him a remote control car (oh man does he love that) and some coloring books (connect the numbers then color) and he knows his numbers in English up to 50 already which Tom just taught him about an hour ago and he is whizzing through the book like he has known how to count in English for years!!! I am telling you this boy is smart!

Tom and I are so blessed and SOOO happy, we are truly in love with our new son! He could not be more of a joy and a blessing to us. We have been able to skype with some of our family back home (Mom you seem to not be answering yours when I call so keep an eye out tomorrow your time about 6 at night) and he is so excited to see our family. He loves seeing Tommy and Paige on Skype and asks for them constantly. He bought a book for Paige today while we were shopping, Tommy he wasnt sure what to get you yet and said he will keep looking hehe.  he is a very thoughtful boy and seems to want to please us as well. He is also not afraid to tell us if he doesnt want to do something (which makes me happy as I would be afraid if he is too much of a people pleaser). 

Tom and him are sitting on the bed working on his coloring and his numbers. We are thinking of trying the pool later but showed it to him yesterday and he was not thrilled so we shall see how that goes. It is more then obvious he has never swam before. I will update you later  and let you know if we try.  We are enjoying our time here and loving getting to know Luke, he is truly a joy. The boy has an amazing sense of humor and him and Tommy should hit it off well.

Ok I am off so I can spend some more time with him and Tom. I will try and update later after he sleeps but Tom and I are normally exhausted early as we are not on Chinese time yet, even though we are trying.  Keep praying for us as all of the prayers are truly being felt and we cannot beleive how amazing our God is!!!!

Please pray for Luke tomorrow as we will visit his orphange and I am afraid this is going to be tough for him as he gets nervous everytime we go somewhere and gets very nervous if he cannot find Tom.  I pray he understands this is just a visit and doesnt think we are sending him back there. Pray for peace and protection for our son as we go. Pray for the children that are still there and yet to have a mamma and a babba! I pray for Daleea's baby girl Isabella as she is still in the orphange and her momma will be there in February to bring her home, I pray they let me see her to give her some love and to let her know her momma is coming soon!

Signing off for now, A very happy and in love momma in China!

Hours away from a life changing day!

We SLEPT!!! I think I fell asleep at 5pm China time and I woke up at 5am China time! WAHOOO I wont be the walking dead like I was yesterday, Thank you Lord for allowing Tom and I the opportunity to sleep so we can focus on the joy of the day! We are just hours away from meeting our precious boy for the first time. I cant even begin to describe how I feel, but it is going to be hard to not cry all day, that is for sure. The tears come every time I think abou finally seeing that precious little face. Tom and I cant wait to meet him and we keep praying for the Lord to touch his heart so he wont be so scared ( I cant imagine he isnt scared, everything he has known for the last 10 years of his life, be it good or bad, is about to change in just a few short hours for him)

We sure are the sight to see in this town, a tall blonde woman with blue eyes ( and left handed as our guide was blown away by) with a shorter handsome white guy that has brown hair and blue eyes and is deaf. If we dont shock them by being Amercian we sure as heck do the minute we start signing. They cant stop starring. But I can see how we would be fascinating, now add Luke to the mix and I am sure we are quite the story.  We truly like it here as different as it is! What a culture shock for us (Tom was having a wee bit of that yesterday when he kept asking me to interpret what people are saying and I would say "I have no idea as they are speaking in Chinese!")  It is odd to be the one that knows nothing and if it wasnt for our guide yesterday we could have never ordered lunch. I laughed sooooo hard as we sat down and the lady gave us menu's and Tom picked on up to look and the 2 goreous young Chinese girls sitting across from us almost lost their lunch as they watched Tom look at the menu and his eyes popped out when there was ONLY Chinese on it  and  no pictures hahah. The girls giggled for about 5 minutes.  It made my day to see that. China is surely full of different sights and sounds and some ummm interesteing smells for sure. The street we went down had one of the grossest smells ever and our guide said " Do  you smell that bad smell?" I am thinking well umm yea my nose does work! hahah and she says "As bad as it smells it is one of the best things to eat!" Umm no thanks!

ok we are off to breakfast and try and get something  to eat, then we meet our guide at 9am our time ( we are 13 hours ahead of NJ time, for those of you following) and then we head to the bank to exchange our money to Chinese RMB and then we head off to take a walk to another hotel to meet Luke at 9:30. We are filled with all sorts of emotions, we shall update as soon as we get the chance. Sending you all Love and thank you to everyone for the loved and prayers you are sending our way, we totally can feel all of the prayers, love and support being sent by everyone!

With Love again from China,
Goodbye from a mother of father of 3 kids soon to be the mother and father of 4 kids!
our family of 5 becomes a family of 6 today!
LUKE WE ARE ON OUR WAY! HANG ON OUR SWEET SON!
Aaron, Tommy and Paige we miss you and send sweet love to our babies back at home and know that we are praying for the 3 of you as we add your new brother to our family!