Photos from China - at last.

According to Maggie most people only want to look at photos on your blog. 
Hmm?  I think that is simply the visual person that she is that thinks so, but just in case, I will put up these random photos that James finally sent, along with the tidbits of information I have picked up in our Skype conversations.

This is Ellie waiting for her doctor's appointment.

 

Lunch and Skype for the guys - Ellie is napping. 

The three of them somewhere in Guangzhou.

A sign on the Great Wall!  The boys just thought this was really funny.

This is the worm James found in his yogurt one day.  Every day for lunch they have a couple of yogurts each that they grab from breakfast along with the packed snacks from America.  I am not sure if he ate around this or not, but next day he was still eating the yogurt, so I guess it did not bother him too much.

These are the worms you can buy for medicinal purposes.  Serge says they are supposed to be good for your lungs, but they are very expensive.  (I think he was thinking about buying them....)

I don't really have a story for this one.  I suspect James took it to show Maggie.  But since there are so few pictures I'll leave it there anyway.

This is Helen who is their guide in Guangzhou.  She has taken them shopping and to a couple of museums as well as helping with all of the adoption paperwork there.  They have had really good experiences with all of the guides for which we are quite thankful.

I know, difficult to see, but so cute.  This is Ellie looking up through the glass desk while we were skyping the other day.

 

Tomorrow they are going to adventure to the zoo on their own.  They are getting to eat plenty of western food now - about every other day - in Guangzhou.  Apparently there is a very good brick oven pizza place - they enjoyed the first pizza so much that they ordered a second one.

All of the Chinese comment that Ellie has "big eyes".  Helen thinks she may have some Indonesian in her because her hair is more brownish than black as well.  She looks Chinese to me, but I have not seen her in person.  Just interesting to think about.  I wonder how important that will be to her when she grows up?  I never thought it important to myself.  Then again, I do not have the question marks attached to my life that Ellie will inevitably have.

As of yesterday, they have finished the adoption paperwork such that when they land in the Chicago O'Hare airport, Ellie will officially be a U.S. citizen.  Now they are waiting for the U.S. visa so that they can bring her home.

I am sorry that this is so fragmented and random but that is kind of how our conversations are.  Also I can only work with the pictures that they send me, however odd they may be?!  I have two more posts "in my head" that I hope to get time to put here soon.  The picture loading takes a long time and we are busy, busy, busy trying to finish those lists before they get back home!

Joseph

We know very little about Joseph, husband of Mary, beyond his lineage and his profession.  He is mentioned by name three times in the gospel of Matthew.  Every time it plays out the same way.  God tells him something and he acts on it.
Matt 1:24-25 "When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus."
Matt 2:13-14 " .... an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.'  And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt..."
Matt 2:19-21  "...when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 'Rise take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.'  And he rose and took the child and his mother and went...."

It does not appear that he spent a lot of time hashing out the decisions with friends and the Bible gives no indication that he and Mary debated the wisdom of these moves.  It looks like: God called - he went.

Serge is a do-er not so much a talker (unlike his wife).  It is easy to miss the power of his faith because there is so little discussion of it.  I have been thinking for some months about Joseph because Serge has reminded me of him so much in this act of going to China.  Joseph was called by God to raise a child as his own that wasn't his own.  Serge too.  When I wavered (often as the years went by) on this idea of adoption, he held firm.  Not insisting, but with words like "I don't know, Stewart, if we don't go through with it, I feel like we are leaving her".  That remark made years before we were assigned a specific child or had seen a photo.
I can get frustrated when he won't engage me in my angst about the logistics or prudence of a situation: "What about this? What about that?"  But it really doesn't appear that those types of questions are particularly biblical.  Sure, we are to pray for wisdom and "..in an abundance of counselors there is safety", but when you believe God gives you a direction, you best just go. 

Many people disagreed with this decision to adopt; some were forthright, most were subtle.  It is okay, we love you anyway.  On our last "date night" before the guys left for China, we discussed the complete lunacy of the whole thing.  We feel too old!  We understand the misgivings. 

Next day though, Serge rose and went to China.

Food!

Tonight Maggie and I will be enjoying dinner from my friend Valerie.  This was just a lovely, lovely suprise on a dreary, rainy day.  Thank you, thank you!!  That act perked us up so much that Maggie went out to the paint store to plan another project for herself!

We spoke with Serge, James and Ellie this morning briefly.  They looked happy to be in Guangzhou.  James in particular was feeling mighty good as they found an Italian restaurant right near their hotel!!!  We all know what that means ... the pasta fast is over!!! 

 You can almost see the contentment on their faces.

I forgot to ask if Ellie ate any pasta.  I will let you know, because not eating pasta might change everything.  :)

Five more days until they are back on U.S. soil!

Next Stop - Guangzhou

This is a little series of Ellie falling asleep on Serge's shoulders.  It was just as I described before.  She was sitting up there looking around, then started looking a little floppy, then put her head down on his head and was out.

They are getting ready to head to Guangzhou tonight.  Other than trying to pack it all up and not lose anything, I think they are looking forward to the next leg of the adventure.  In Guangzhou they will have a medical exam (a bit redundant since she has been with a doctor for the past 5 days), and obtain her U. S. citizenship among other things.  Since the American consulate is there, the whole place is a bit more westernized in it's culture.  They are more likely to find people who speak English well and food that feels a little more like home.

We put up Ellie's crib tonight.  Julia seemed okay with it all.  She is notably more flexible than her mother.  She wanted to sleep in it, but since one of the pieces is M.I.A., that will have to wait.  I was so thankful for the help of the Nortons.  It is not so much that the job was hard, but I had been putting it off for some time.  I think in part because I do not like change and I have always loved Julia's room the way it was.  More so though because it is the ending of its own little era - the "we have Julia but not yet Ellie" era.  Anyway, I was thankful for friends to help physically and emotionally. 

 

Hump Day

Well, typical of many things about my middle-aged self,  I seemed to have worn out faster than I expected.  Today was the half way marker of the trip.  Tonight I have been sad.  Before I decided to be sad, I was just grumpy - that is the way it usually goes with me.  I remind myself of an over-tired toddler actually.  And I think that is probably half of it.  I am a little weary of Julia's cold which woke her often in the middle of the night and keeps her on my hip the large portion of the day.  I have long lists of many things to do before the rest of the Depret-Guillaumes come home.  I hope my expectations can meet my reality soon, otherwise it could get uglier....


                                

Here is tonight's version of the other half of the family.  The internet connection was worse today so the picture is rather fuzzy, but I am still so happy to see them for a few minutes each day.  It sounds like all is still going well.  Ellie looks a little floppy in this picture because about two minutes later she was asleep.  She just falls asleep anywhere, I have seen it twice now and it reminds me of puppies who will all of the sudden drift off where ever they are.   

Tomorrow night the Nortons are coming over to help me set up Ellie's crib.  Julia's crib had Maggie and James in it and then went to India with the Richmond family where two of their children used it.  For some reason they chose to bring it back and we still had it in our basement (not suprising for those of you who know us) when Julia came along.  I enjoyed setting it up for her, paint chipped and all.  It had history.  Loved children had rested there.

Happily, Julia is still in that crib, so we needed a second.  Ellie's crib comes from precious friends of ours whose four children used it.  Two of the Cochrane clan were adopted from China.  Their third child, their Julia, was inspiration for our whole adoption journey so I just love that Ellie will now be using something from them!

 

Doing Well....



I know I have not written any thing deep in awhile ... but these three are just so distracting!  Isn't that just the cutest picture?!  I know I sound like "all the other adoptive mother bloggers" out there but I can't help it.

And this one is great too!!!  Too bad I do not know how to crop the photo in this format.

They had another good night of sleep!  Serge actually had to wake her this morning he said.  (I love this child already!!)  She was much more animated today when we talked.  At first I thought she was going to make a nice audience for Julia, tonight I am thinking they might have to share the stage.  You can see the physical delays for certain, but she loves to be held which is a great sign and is starting to make eye contact with them - also good. 

The other half of the family is doing okay too.  Ginny, the dog is pretty depressed and Julia cried when we had to say good bye to Serge and James this morning.  Maggie and I have enjoyed all of our time to talk, talk, talk and watch "chick flicks", but are ready for them to come home too.



Ellie again

Here is today's Ellie picture.  It is hard to know what else to write.  I mean, sure, I could look at photos of her all day ....

Apparently she slept through the night without a peep which is more than I can say for Julia since they left!  I am still feeling like I have the easier end of the deal though.  Serge and James seemed to be doing okay - perhaps a little tired of Chinese hamburgers, but other than that, good.  Tomorrow they are going to tour the "Ancient University" and see some relics of a famous dead person.  (Obviously I am forgetting some key point to the second half of that agenda.) 

The distance is growing as the days go by and I am feeling like the remainder of the trip is going to feel pretty long - at least on this end.  I want to say, "OK you got her!  Can you come home now?!".  

I miss my boys too. 

A lot.