Back in the U.S.A.

We are thrilled to be home. We arrived home Wed. night around 7:3o. The trip home for the most part went fine...no delays. I however was sick for the last half of the long flight from Hong Kong to Chicago with nausea and then some horrible stomach issues once in Chicago.

We now struggle with the time changes. Megan and Lauran have been up before 4:00 am yesterday and today! This morning Megan woke me up at 3:00 am. The boys followed closely behind her on Thursday. Yesterday Megan and Lauran attempted to take a 5-6 hour nap :( I tried waking them up several times but they just kept falling back to sleep. Needless to say we are all exhausted.

Lauran continues to blend in with our family seamlessly. Her and Megan fight over toys like they have been sisters for years and then the next minute are hugging. She seems comfortable with all of us. She asked Nathan today to pick her up (in Chinese) and when he did she cuddled in to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss.

Feeding her so far has been a bit of a challenge since we have been home. Mostly just figuring out all her little quirks.... likes and dislikes. We found out the hard way in China she does not want to be fed at all...she likes to do it herself !! The did tell us that when they gave us her schedule but I didn't think they meant .....do not ever feed..ever. She absolutely refuses to eat when someone tries to feed her.

On the medical front, we have her first appt on Mon. This is with our pediatrician for just an overall check up. She will then set up an appt for us to see a hematologist. If you have been following my blog I mentioned that we found out she has been receiving blood transfusions every 45 days. That gives us an indication that she probably has an intermediate level of the disorder. Blood transfusions are the only treatment, as far as I know from my reading, for this disorder. Her blood is missing a protein(which protein is one of the unknowns). So I am anxious to get the appts. rolling and to fill in some of the blanks!! Yesterday she was playing with a baby doll and a play doctor kit. She had the play syringe for giving shots. I looked over and she went through every step for inserting a needle. First she pretended to wipe off the babies knee, then she pretended to tie something around the knee, then she gave the baby the shot. Later she went through the routine again but this time added the step where take the syringe away and press on the gauze pad! This little girl soaks up everything...she has obviously gone through the process enough to memorize every step. It made me sad that she has to experience something like that so often but grateful that God put her in our family to help her through it!



The trip was so much harder than I even anticipated. Most of the difficulty was due to traveling to 3 different provinces with 3-4 kids. It was very stressful at times and none of us handled the stress perfectly! With that all said... we continue to feel blessed that God chose Lauran for our family, it's not a perfect family, but a family God chose to bless through adoption! The process has helped me to see my own limitations and helps me to continue to learn to depend on God. Adopting has been a blessing , even with all the difficulties. God cares deeply for those in need and it is only through His Spirit that we have been able to be the hands and feet of Christ to a couple of little girls who needed a home!



I will hopefully post some pictures of our last few days in China in the next day or two.

Visit to the orphanage

The trip to the orphanage was our hardest day...other than the 13 hour flight! But not for the reasons I thought. The drive was awful! It was 4 hours one way and it was supper hot and humid. For some reason the driver kept turning off the air conditioning too! The roads were extremely bumpy at times and the bathroom stops were difficult!! The drive brought us out into the middle of no where and the city Lauran is from is very rural. It was a looong day!
Once we got to the orphanage I was pleasantly surprised. We were not allowed to take many pictures there. The women who met us obviously love the children. We did not see any of the other children. We saw a couple of the school rooms and rehabilitation rooms for special needs children. All very cheerful. The school rooms were all decorated with crafts and pictures. There were photos of the kids doing activities all over the place. There are a few American charities I know are involved with the orphanage...so that may be part of it! This place was the complete opposite of Megan's orphanage.
Also, when we got there and went up to the gate Lauran was excited and obviously recognized the place. She allowed only one person to hold her and that was the women who is the new director. When were inside though, Lauran ran around happily. She knew where all the photos of herself were and at one point she grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the photos to point to herself. It has been obvious to us that she has been taught things...especially table manners!! She is sooo cute! They did confirm with us she is the little "cleaner" of the group. She went around and cleaned up the mess other children left on the floor from crafts.

I also had to add the cute picture of Lauran and Megan brushing their teeth in the mirror...Megan went to the mirror first...and Lauran followed :)

Laurans hometown...Guiping city

Laurans finding spot...a very busy corner.

Outside the orphanage

The court yard area inside the orphanage gate...we were not allowed to take a picture of the orphanage building

court yard area

Laurans craft

A little boy was waving good bye out the window...He has been matched with a family though :) Lauran started waving right away..it was sad!

Front gate of orphanage

Another Park ~ Qing Xiu Mountain Nanning

This day was unbearably humid and warm ...and the sun wasn't even out!!! The park was beautiful though. It had a very long bamboo bridge that we walked on!

The kids loved feeding all the goldfish

Ryan and Todd walked up the building in the background..It is called a Pagoda. Nathan hates heights and I wasn't about to do it with 2 small kids. 140 steps to get to the Pagoda and 240 more to get to the top.


There were tons of fish in the pond!!

Adoption Day ~ April 21st

Playtime at the hotel...Have I mentioned I dislike this hotel! I do not know what is up...but some of my pictures post the wrong direction no matter what I do. This one was so cute...that I decided to leave it anyways....so tilt your head :)

Family picture at the restaurant

We finalized the adoption the next day!

playing before paperwork

People Park in Nanning

The follow ing pictures are from the Peoples Park in Nanning. We went to this park the morning before we got Lauran. It was beautiful weather....the only day with low humidity.

This is our guide "David" ...who Megan loves!

He is ussing a big brush and water to write..our guide said it was some acient Chinese story he was writing.

This was on the way to the park. I thought this was funny..she is all dressed up on her purple scooter.

Updates on the last few days...pictures to come!

Tuesday was the official adoption day with her province. We went back to the civil affairs building, which is where gotcha day took place. They asked us if we are satisfied with her and if we wish to adopt her! We were also able to talk to the director and ask some questions. We did found out that they took her to the hospital every 45 days for blood transfusions. I am thinking that means she probably has an intermediate version of Thalassemia. They told us that a few days before she goes to to the hospital she starts to act sick and not like her normal self.

What surprises me is that she still has not really cried. She sort of moans and grunts at times when she is unhappy. The orphanage director did say she does not like crying. I was a little confused by the statement. When I asked what they meant she said because she was the oldest she did not like to cry. So I am not sure if they have encouraged her not to cry.

Now that we have had Lauran now for a couple days and are starting to see more of her personality! When she comes out of her "zone”, as I call it, she is very bubbly and giggly. This happens more when we are in the hotel and she starts to play. She loves to play and be silly and is already starting to copy some of the words the kids say. She also has some amazingly good table manners. She is very meticulous about washing her hands and cleaning crumbs off the table. Actually, she cleans up everything on her own. Her and Megan just had craft time and she ..on her own started to clean the table. Took out the trash can set it at the end of the table and brushed all the pieces of paper Megan cut and backs of the stickers they peeled off and brushed them in the trash can….then put the trash can away. She did this all on her own..none of us had started cleaning up. She has obviously been taught some things!! She also is a really good eater and seems to know a lot. …how to get dressed, potty…so forth. When we are out and about she does goes back in her zone. She is more withdrawn and quiet. She is also starting to protest more when I do not hold her or when people touch her. Todd can usually hold her for a minute before she protests. She LOVES it when we are in the hotel and he plays with her though.

Today we visit the orphanage. It will be a long day since it is over a 3 hour drive one way. I am curious as to how she will react when we are there since she is a little older than Megan was. Hopefully I will be able to get pictures. Friday we will go do some shopping for some local souvenirs. And then later on Friday we will take a short flight to our last destination, Guangzhou. This is where we have our final appt. with the U.S.A consulate and will get Lauran’s visa. We will be there from from Friday to Wed.

We have visited a couple of very beautiful parks here in Nanning. One was called the People’s Park and it had a small amusement park…which the boys loved. We went there on the morning before we got Lauran. The weather was so perfect and it was not very humid. Today when we went to the second park it was unbearably humid and hot!! We are definitely spoiled in the U.S. You would not believe how many buildings do not have air conditioning….including big stores like Walmart. Even at the places that have air conditioning it feels like it is barely on…..including our hotel rooms!

As far as all of us…emotions sometimes with everyone are very tense. The boys fight over who sits with Lauran or who taught her a new word. Megan is having a hard time sharing me when I have Lauran and when Todd has Lauran she does not want to share him. She doesn’t want to eat at any meal what so ever! Lauran and Megan's hardest time is bedtime. Lauran gets very sad and Megan jealous. Last night was a hard night. With that said...overall we are all enjoying the new member of our family and we feel very blessed and thankful!!

It has been hard to find time to post…I will hopefully post some pictures tonight of the events of the last few days…now off to the orphanage!

GOTCHA!!! and Megans B-Day

So the pictures I am posting are not in the right order.

We got Lauran in our arms around 3:30 pm. We were told by our social worker that children this age will either cry and grieve outwardly or shut down. Lauran was completely shut down from what I could tell when we got her. She would not make eye contact what so ever...with anyone(as you will see in some of the pictures). She did not cry at all but completely ignored us! She still has yet to cry. Once we were back at the hotel she did the same. One of the kids found the balloons we brought for Megans b-day and apparently those were funny. She started playing with them and giggling a bit. We went out to dinner for Megan's b-day later that evening and our guide bought Megan a cake. So some of the pictured I posted are from that. The cake was beautiful! Lauran continued to be very quiet but did make eye contact at times.

When we were back at the hotel and gave her a bath she totally opened up! She started tossing stuffed animals around with everyone(and other toys) and found it completely hilarious. She started babbling words and chatting. She was repeating words Megan would say. I gave her a picture book and would point to things and name them(in Chinese) and get very excited. She was completely hysterical from 8 to 9 pm. Non stop laughing! Oh..and Lauran is not a little peanut like Megan. She is definitely shorter...but very solid! I am guessing she probably weighs more than Megan:)


The boys are completely in love with her. Megan is enjoying her but is having a hard time with sharing me :( I thought she would be ok going to Merry or Todd but had a tough time tonight! The night ended with her cuddling in bed with Lauran though:) We are so happy to have her in our arms. Pray Lauran continues to form a healthy bond with us!!


Thank you for all your prayers and support!!

Dressed for Megans b-day dinner

Dressed for dinner and playing with a new purse!


Megan's b-day cake...Yummy