The Superbowl and A LOT of bonding in this house!

I am healing up nicely since the surgery and we have been doing a ton since I got home. Not exactly what I call good for healing but I am praying that the Good Lord will allow me to heal on the run! Not exactly wisdom  to live by but what is necessary right now.  We were supposed to have a nice sized Super Bowl party on Sunday and with me getting home from the hospital on Saturday that put a damper on the party. Tom cancelled the party and we had our own little celebration.  Aaron was brought home to see Luke by one of our angels from our Victory Assembly of God church family and was able to meet his new brother. I would like to say that they hit it off beautifully! Luke is quite a tech kind of guy. So him and Aaron hit it off well! He looked up to his much older and crazy taller brother! The guys all donned their Steelers gear and mom donned her Pj's (only thing that didnt hurt my stomach) and we got our food ready (Football essentials such as wings, pizza, chips, dips and such). Toms mom, sis and his niece came over for the festivities!  We were ready for the first game and Luke couldnt wait to see what all the hub bub was about. To say Luke LOVED watching football was an understatement. He was right there with his dad and brothers watching the game, yelling at the TV, waving his Terrible Towel and having a blast like no other! Tom  was not thrilled with the Steelers playing but watching Luke and Tommy, and Aaron have fun made it worth watching the Steelers not play well. Over all it was a very male bonding kind of night!

Since then we have been running to different schools to try and figure out where we will place Luke for school. This is not going to be an easy decision as the closest school for the deaf is 40 minutes and we wont put him that far away from us.  So we arent left with too many options here in good ol NJ.  Dont know if I mentioned in my blog before or not (probably not as it wasnt something we wanted to advertise too much) is that Luke had no language when we met him. We were told he knew Chinese sign language and that he could read and write Chinese. None of those are true and Luke came to us with nothing. He is picking up sign language at a rate that is ASTOUNDING!!!! We are having amazing conversations with him and he is understanding more then should be possible at this moment.  To say that his not being taught anything in China upsets me is an understatement as it is obvious to everyone that meets Luke that he is very very bright and extremely teachable and wanting to learn.  I am thrilled he is picking up ASL at an amazingly fast rate (we really just sign to him and have since the 1st week we got him) and he doesnt have any Chinese sign in his head to confuse him so he is picking up ASL fast, but that being said he has not been educated at all so school is going to be extremely difficult. We dont know where to place him or what to do right now but I am praying that the good Lord will show me the way and help me to know what is right.

Our house has been forever changed by Luke being here and the change has been amazingly huge. Luke's joy and happiness is truly contagious, you cant be in a bad mood around him as isnt possible. Everyone that meets Luke is immediately taken by him and falls in love with him like we have. Luke has blended into our family with ease (actually so much so that it is a little scary). Watching Luke wait with joy for 2:30 when Paige comes home and then 3:30 when Tommy comes home is a riot, the boy just cant wait to see them again and then the playing begins.  Him and Tommy have become good wrestle partners and it is funny to watch them wrestle each other.  Paige and Luke get along so well and he is such a helper with her. He even helps me read stories to her at night before she goes to bed. 

We have been truly blessed and are grateful as a family could be for our blessings.  This weekend Luke should meet my parents if all works out well and I am excited for them to meet him as he is gonna love them and them him.  This weekend we will also take Luke to church for the first time and I am excited to see how he handles that and what he thinks of our church and our church family. I think he is going to be in for a good weekend. This Saturday we are also taking Luke to Tommy's wrestling match, (were supposed to do that last Thursday when I got rushed to the ER.) and I know he is going to love watching the wrestling match! I will write more soon, but so far so good. We are loving life! Thank you to our Heavenly Father that watched over our little blessing for 10 years and kept him safe and his heart ready for a family and prepared his heart for his new life and new family here in America! 

                                                 Getting ready for his 1st Superbowl

                                               Brothers getting ready for the big game!

                                                                 They truly are pals!

                                       Tommy and Aaron getting ready for the Steelers!

             The Worrell Family men! Man I am so lucky to have such a handsome group of men around me!

                                                              Gooo Steelers!

                                                       Let the games begin!

                       Luke was just a tad excited for the game (can you tell? heheh)

                 Aaron, Aarons friend, Nick and Luke chowing on some good Superbowl food!

                                                        These wings ROCK!

                                   Aaron showing Luke how to play some games on his Laptop

                                         Luke with his older brother, Aaron

             Dont know if the Terrible towel doubles as a skirt or not but Tommy thinks it does

     A little ballet action from the Princess amidst the football guy, testosterone filled night

                                                   The boys checking out some games

                                              Baby Katelyn loves the Steelers too!

                                                   DO you see the resemblance?

                                           We love each other and Love Football too! 

                                                Yeahhhh Steelers.. Wave that Terrible towel!!

                                                          Loving the game!!!!!

                                                              Go Steelers! GO GO GO

                   Luke learning the art of "yelling at the TV to make the team play better!"

                                                          A great time was had by all!!!!!!!!

Emergency surgery...hmm my timing is never the best!

Hey guys,


Well we have been home since last Sunday night and my in-laws that stayed here for almost 3 weeks to take amazing care of my children have left to go back to Texas and hopefully never see snow again as far as they are concerned! My children were taken such great care of that Tom and I felt we could just relax and do what we needed to do while we were in China. That is a very nice feeling!  Our first few days home were sort of a blurr for me as we were exhausted from 3 days of travel and not sleeping on any of our flights plus trying to change over from China time to New Jersey time. We spent the 1st few days with my in laws and just trying to chill out and let Luke investigate his new surroundings.  Luke hit it off with Tommy and Paige right away and even spent quite awhile the first few days playing dolls with Paige (which made Luke even more of a great brother as far as she is concerned he is the cats meow now!)  Tommy and Luke get along really well but Luke seems hesitant to try and do too much with Tommy the first few days.  Wednesday night I tool Luke and Paige to Tommy's wrestling practice while Tom coached the kids and Tommy wrestled Luke sat on the bleachers with me and Paige and he LOVED it! He laughed and laughed and loved watching Tommy wrestle. When we got home him and Tom wrestled a little and I have never heard him laugh that hard (trust me he laughs a lot so this was huge) and then he wanted to wrestle Tommy and we laughed even harder. He loved it and it surely was a bonding moment for the boys.


Thursday we had a great day just hanging around the house and getting to know each other more. Thursday night Tommy had a wrestling match and I promised Luke I would bring him so he could watch the match. My mother in law was coming over to watch Paige as she had been in bed 2 nights in a row and could not make it a 3rd.  I was starting dinner at 5pm while the kids were playing and Tom was finishing making Super-bowl party plans.  All of a sudden  I had a terrible sharp pain in my right side that took my breath away. I tried hard to just ignore it but it was crazy strong. I went upstairs to take a Pepto-Bismal and then never came back down. The pain intensified quickly and I was then unable to stand up straight. Tom said he thought I should go to the ER but I said I would be laughed at for going in for gas..... Little did I know.  Luke kept coming in checking on me asking me if I was ok and he would bring in Tommy and Paige and say "Mommy is crying her belly hurts" and boy he wasn't kidding I was pretty sure I was in big trouble by this point.. then I started vomiting.. that was the straw that broke the camels back as once that started the pain intensified a TON!!! Tom saw me and immediately called his sister saying he had to take me to the ER as he knew something was very wrong.  Toms mom and sister came over and his sister drove me to the ER as we were not sure how Luke would handle both mom and dad leaving as so far he would get upset if we just left the room. It was a long night in the ER and I was put in a room about midnight or so.  They told me I had Appendicitis and would have to have surgery. I wasn't worried too much about the surgery but at first upset over the timing, I mean REALLY? I just got home with my new son.. I was trying hard to bring my whole family together and watch them try to bond as a new family. Aaron was coming on Friday to meet Luke for the first time from College.. WHY NOW? then I started thinking.. hmm what if this happened while I was in China? What if this happened while I was on one of the 3 airplanes we took home?  Oh Lord the possibilities of frightening choices were many.. So I guess I had to let go of the REALLY and just accept it.  Tom came the morning of my surgery and made it to my bedside about 2 minutes before they really drugged me up to send me off to sleep, I was surprised that they let him back there but I had just told them of our story of traveling to China and coming home Sunday with our new son and that Tom didnt come to the ER with me last night so that Luke would feel comfortable at home and not be too scared. I told them Tom was on his way but wasnt sure if he made it to the waiting room so I sent them looking for a "cute, short Deaf guy wearing Pittsburgh clothing" well I will be darned they found him pretty quick and brought him to me!! Thank you Doctors for doing that as it let me go into my surgery in peace!!!!  My surgery went well and I am now home. I want to Thank everyone that prayed and thought about me and my family during this time as the prayers and thoughts were surely felt. Luke did great while mom was in the hospital and did great when Daddy left to come see me and the kids stayed home.  It was nice to see that Luke is even stronger then we thought (which is sort of crazy as I already think he is a very strong boy).... 


I came home yesterday afternoon to a house full of food ...thank you to my church family for bringing over meals and Thank you Pastor Maria for spoiling us so much your cooking is amazing and how many people would go food shopping for someone else. I cant Thank you enough as it was nice to not have to worry about food and have everything we need here for the kids.  We have been showered in love and food and that is a great thing!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yesterday I sat and played Uno with Tom, Aaron, Luke and Tommy and we had such a good time and laughed alot!  I won which is not the norm as one of my card sharks normally beats me, guessing someone felt sorry for me.  Tommy and Tom showed Luke how to do sommersaults and kartwheels last night and guess what he did pretty darn good for trying something he had no clue how to do! Tommy and him were dressed as "twins" when I came home yesterday in their matching undershirts and black swhishy pants ahahah.  My kids sure are bonding well and that is great to see. I crashed early last night with my Paigey girl in bed and heard Tommy tell me this morning this story.. "Hey mom guess what Luke did? When we were in bed he laid there for a little bit then jumped up and came over and hugged me hard and then signed I love you... I love having another brother mom! Thanks"  Well that sure made my morning. Right now Tommy is wrestling and we didnt get to go as I am too sore. Today we were supposed to bring Luke to church for the first time and that didnt happend either as I am too sure and we were supposed to have a fairly large Super-bowl party and that isnt happening either (Toms idea to cancel the party, not mine) and we are still going to sit together as a family and watch the game and have some Pizza and wings and Luke is beyond excited to be watching the Football game and Steelers tonight.. he doesnt know it is the Super-bowl but it is going to be a special night for sure! We are loving the way our family is bonding and shaping and thanking the Lord for the amazing match that HE made! Thank you! I will keep you updated as more happens!
In love with my family!
Tracy

                    Luke and Tommy (twins they say heheh) they surely are getting along great!

                                                               Pals forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Daddy with most of his kiddos on his back! Good thing Aaron wasnt home yet, daddy would have collapsed!

                                        Tommy and Luke playing in the snow in the backyard

                                   Luke and Paige on our trampoline!

                 Luke, Tommy and our neighbor Derek on the trampoline!

                                            Luke with his Welcome home cake!

                                                         Making a HUGE wish!

                                                     Blowing out his candles!

                                                                Luke and his cake!

                    Being daddys helper, he is pretty darn good at shoveling considering it was ice and not snow!

                                             Trying out some wrestling with daddy!

 Daddy putting the move on Luke, if Luke could stop laughing he might have been able to do one back haha

                                                   Luke and Tommy working on wrestling

                  Daddy helping show Luke how to pin down Tommy (so stinking cute!)

                Luke in the very first outfit he picked out all by himself! (he likes to dress spiffy heheh)

Thank God we are home!!!

We are home! Praise God we are home!  The trip was totally insane (starting with Luke's name being wrong on his airline ticket and thinking we wouldn't get him out of China (we were told we wouldn't) and then our flight having mechanical problems and being cancelled and it being the Chinese New Year and all flights full. God blessed us and helped us to get home but it was the most insane flights ever and so long we thought we wouldn't make it.  We traveled from Friday morning China time (Thursday night here) until Monday morning China time (Sunday night here) to get home and trust me we are dying. Luke was great but didn't sleep for a second on any of our 3 flights we had home, he did catch an hour during our 6 hour layover in Seattle Washington but that was all. He is still on China time and was awake most of the night last night (until 5am) so we are dying here. He slept from 6pm until midnight then 5am to 7 am and that was all we got. Tom and I both got about an hour last night and about -4 maybe 5 hours of sleep since Friday in China. We promise to write a nice long blog out our journey in detail and our arrival home but we are just about not functioning.  Thank you all for your great thoughts and prayers on our journey and we promise to keep the blog going and keep you all updated as your journey continues!  Will blog more later when I have 1 functioning brain cell!!!

                                                                    Heading out!

                                             Luke pretending he is working for the hotel

            I am leaving the land of President Hu and heading to the land of President Obama right?

                       Me and my little man just chillin on the plane to Beijing

 Tom and Luke trying hard to sleep on the flight to Seattle but it didnt work for more then 5 minutes.. :(

        His sleep in Seattle waiting for our 3rd flight to get us home and a crazy trip home it was

 Meeting his new dog and thinking he is pretty cool after initially being a little afraid but not too bad.

                        The cool cake our family had waiting for Luke when we got home!

        Our new family minus Aaron, he will be home this weekend cant wait to get the gang all together

                 Hey my house is all decorated saying Welcome home Luke!!!

 I am loving this house (he thought we lived in a hotel as he has never seen a house before!)

     Luke and his sister, Paige (they spent hours playing the morning after we got home!)

                                Luke and Tommy and Paige definitely hit it off!

          Paige showing Luke how to play a video game, he is now addicted hahah

            Giving Paige a hug after giving her the pretty dress, she loves it!

                                         Tommy and Luke.. Pals already!

                           Her traditional Chinese dress, it sure looks pretty on her

                 Luke playing with his new friend, Chase (our 135 lb King German Shepard)

                                             I LOVE PLAYING IN MY YARD!!!!!

            Throwing snowballs to his new friend Chase

                                                Yahooo I am loving this!!!! Super Luke!!!!!!