It's Been 16 Years!

Yes, my high school sweetheart and I were married 16 years ago today.  I can remember that day so vividly in my mind.  The wedding ceremony and reception were all I had ever dreamed they would be, but more importantly than the festivities of that day, these last 16 years have been so much more than I could have ever envisioned.  I never would have imagined the spiritual growth that we have both experienced or the abundant blessings that God has lavished on us - not  finanacial ones (we could use some of those blessings after 3 adoptions : ) - but the love we share between the 2 of us,  the supersized family He has created for us, the trials we have been through where we have seen the hand of God so clearly.   This journey that  He has led us on together these last 16 years has been far richer than I ever thought possible.  Today I thank God for a wonderful, loving husband who seeks to know the Lord more and more each day and who leads our family to know and love Him more deeply too.  Prince Charming will be arriving soon to steal me away from the 7 who consume most of my time so that I can spend a few hours focused only on him!  Can't wait!

The Rest of the 4th

There was so much fun to be had that even Lilly who is usually in constant motion had to take a break.  Here she is warming up in the sun after coming out of the pool with chattering teeth!

We spent the Fourth of July at my sister Michelle's house which just happens to be on a lake and have a pool - not fair I know!  As I said in the last post, the other children did venture out a bit more than Hudson who was most content either eating his chips or sitting on the edge of the pool playing with cups.  Shelby, Katie, and Fulton enjoyed kayaking - a first for all 3 of them.  They even got me to give it a try, and I actually loved it also!  Ethan, Lilly, and Ellie had the most fun in the pool which is where they spent the majority of their time.  They did take a few spins on our jet ski, and Ethan also rode in Uncle Trip's boat.  In between eating, swimming, kayaking, jet skiing, and boating,  Katie and Shelby did find a few spare minutes to hold their newest little cousin, baby Dargan.  Needless to say, we all had a blast at Aunt Michelle and Uncle Nick's house.  And we tried to be on our very best behavior in hopes of being invited back : ) 

Hudson's Way of Eating Chips

Reach in slowly and grab at least one

Study it carefully

Show it off

Put it in your mouth before they decide to take it for themselves

Push it in to make sure it doesn't fall out

Study the next one in detail

Chew slowly to enjoy each and every morsel

                                                   Think it over and then savor the last bite

                                 Then repeat the above as you surely can't eat just one or two or three!

Hudson really enjoyed his chips on July 4th.  Check back later to see what his siblings enjoyed - needless to say they ventured out a bit more than Hudson and were a tad more adventurous!

Happy 4th of July. . .

from our newest little American citizen!

(Look who snuck in on our photo shoot!  These 2 had the best time after the photo shoot running around with their American flags.  It was the most that they have played together so far and it was precious!)

A Bit about Our Little Guy

Piano -playing

Coloring

Daddy - loving Junior Gamecock

(National Champs as of last night - GO COCKS!)

Water and Jie Jie loving

Blueberry -picking and eating

Temper -tantrum throwing

(Mama wouldn't let him have any more berries. Needless to say, he LOVES blueberries, and he ate a TON)

Car - pulling

(day after arriving home - note suitcase is still on bathroom floor!)

Dirt- digging

Cozy  Coupe driving

Gu-Gu loving. . . . special little guy!

I don't have enough time to share just how wonderful these first 2 weeks home have been but let me try. . . 

Hudson is truly  a different child than the one we met and spent 14 days with in China.  He has literally blossomed before our very eyes.  In looking back, it appears that Hudson put up walls and was almost refusing to let us in for a while.  Then he went threw an anger stageI suppose as part of his grieving.  Now he has become a happy-go-lucky-little fellow!  We have had one rough night, a few very early mornings, and temper tantrums here and there, but overall, Hudson has been a delight.  He still likes to be held while you are walking, but he is getting better at tolerating us sitting down.  He still speaks Chinese mostly, but he has added a few English words like Daddy, car, ball, cat, and Bubba (for Fulton).  He hasn't learned "Go Gamecocks" yet or "We are the National Champs in baseball" but we are working on that!  He calls me "Mama" now but only recently was calling me "Ayi" - nannie in Chinese. And he blew me a kiss today after I put him down for a nap.  I smacked my lips as if kissing him, and he did it back - so sweet! 

Our other children are doing amazingly well with Hudson.  There has been really no sibling jealousy to speak of - yet.  Lilly tells me all the time how much she likes Hudson.  He has even made her "best friend" list.  So all is well here for which we are so very grateful.  God has blessed us with a remarkable little boy who fits in beautifully with our family.  Once again I have been amazed by the miracle of adoption.  Once again I am thanking the Father for calling us to adopt - again - even though many thought we were definitely insane (with Ellie they thought we were just bordering insanity but now we are really there).  Once again I am thanking the Father for giving us the courage, faith, and strength to obey His call. Is He calling you to care for one of the 147 million orphans who wait for a family ???

We Are Home!

In our hotel in Hong Kong waiting for the shuttle.  Caught a great pouty look from Hudson.  He can get the lip out pretty far just like his 2 older brothers.

Once again Ethan amazed us with how well he did on the 14 1/2 hour plane ride.  That doesn't even count the extra 1/2 hour we had due to having to wait for clearance to take off.  Ethan enjoyed playing with play dough, his toy plane, and matchbox cars.  He also took walks on the plane to talk with Wei's family who were seated a few rows up from us.  Thankfully he did sleep 2 different times and woke up happy and cheerful. 

This little fellow did pretty good as well considering his age and all the changes he endured prior to the flight.  He had 2 good temper tantrums in the beginning which got us a few concerning looks from those around us.  I am sure they were hoping that his screaming would not last the entire trip.  Thankfully, it did not.  Hudson also played well with his stacking cups and toy cars.  He had a short nap and then later slept about 5 1/2 hours.  Unfortunately, he did not wake up happy and cheerful!  However, once we got off the plane, and he got back into his Baba's arms, the crying subsided.  He took another short nap in David's arms and then he did wake up  happy and cheerful - full of smiles - as we all enjoyed dinner at Chili's in the Chicago airport.

This was right before his nap as we stood in line to eat at Chili's.  David and I wanted to sit at a table rather than on the floor, and I was craving a salad which of course was off limits in China.  Ethan and Hudson enjoyed chicken and fries.We left there thinking we only had an hour til our already delayed flight would take off.  No such luck.  The terrible thunderstorms had flights backed up considerably and some even cancelled like Wei's family who had to overnight in Chicago.  Thankfully our multiple delayed flight did finally depart around 8:45 PM CST.  Although I smocked Hudson's "coming home outfit" and had it packed in my backpack, David and I decided it was not worth putting Hudson through changing his clothes as he was so tired, and we knew that would not go over well!   

We were so happy to see our family waiting for us.  Lilly and Ellie were so excited that they ran pass the secured point and all the bells started sounding.  Thankfully the airport was deserted and the security guard just smiled and reset the alarms.  It was late - 11:45 PM - but Lilly and Ellie weren't the least bit tired as they were SO excited to have us home.  We got lots of hugs and kisses.  Hudson was not too thrilled with the hugs and kisses though.    

Ethan was so happy to see Lilly and Ellie - his 2 favorite playmates.  As we were walking out of the airport, the 3 of them were in front of me hand in hand.  I was too tired to pull out the camera, but it was a sweet moment.

Hudson screamed the entire way home.  He wanted David who was driving and thus he screamed.  I am really glad we don't live too far from the airport.  We all had heard enough screaming.  Once home, we quickly got everyone ready for bed and SLEPT! 

Some thank yous to some very special people:
Thank you to my dear cousin Sheri who stayed with my children for the first 10 days of our trip.  She only has one son so that was a huge change for her to care for 6 children in all.  Thank you also to her mom, my dear Aunt Lulu (I couldn't say Louise when I was little so "Lulu" stuck) who came to give Sheri a helping hand for several days.  Thank you both so very much!

Thank you also to Drew and Linda, friends of ours from church, who kept the children after Sheri returned  home.  Drew and Linda went from NO children to 5 children in an instant.  The children had a wonderful time staying at their home with their many pets - cats, chinchillas, visiting raccoon and babies, bunny who is litter boxed train, etc.  Thank you also for staying up late and driving the children to the airport so they could welcome us home.  We are so thankful for your sacrifice.

Last but not least, thank you to my dear friend Jen who kept the blog running for us.  Jen has 5 children of her on and is a teacher who didn't finish school for the summer until June 10.  I know you are extremely busy, Jen, so thank you for sacrificing your time to update the blog for us.

It's great to be home and a family of 9!  We are still trying to recover from jet lag and are waking up way too early.  Hudson is doing better now that we are no longer living like nomads and seems to be enjoying getting to know his new siblings and his new home!

One Step Closer To Home

Hong Kong:
We are so thankful to be able to report that we are one step closer to home - we made it to Hong Kong by train after our consulate appointment.  Hudson has a US visa and upon landing in the US - in Chicago - he will officially become a US citizen.  Hudson has made tremendous progress today - at the consulate he let David sit in a chair without shedding any tears.  He then chose to get down and stand on his own 2 little feet - a rare occurrence other than in our hotel room.  Before leaving the consult, he amazed us even more by letting David put him down in the toy section in the back of the room where Ethan and many other children were playing.  That was indeed a FIRST!  He did great and played with Ethan as well as his 2 buddies from Baotou, Wei and AJ.  After leaving the consulate, we headed straight to the train station - a new experience for us.  Thankfully Wei's family as well as 2 other Holt families were there with us.  We all stuck together.  The train ride was uneventful - no motion sickness - thank goodness!

We arrived in Hong Kong around 8:15 and then had our only real scary experience for this trip. . .

Our friend Elaine had told us to take a taxi to our hotel from the train station.  We had no guide, but we thought it would be easy enough.  Well as soon as we neared the exit doors, a "taxi driver" came up, spoke to David, and took over our luggage cart.  We followed him as he spoke English and we assumed all was well.  I became a bit suspicious as I noticed all the other taxis were lined up in front of the train station.  We went left - away from the other taxis.  He lead us to a parking lot and kept talking about his new, nice car.  He then loaded our bags into a very nice mini van - no markings of a taxi though.  Once we were all seated, I noticed there was no meter.  Then I asked him how much money it would be.  He said "500".  Well, we didn't know if that was Hong Kong currency or RMB from China.  When we tried to press him, he seemed to get anxious and was rapidly firing off words in broken English.  I guessed Ethan sensed my stress as he began to cry next to me because he was so scared.  David was counting money because we knew we didn't have but about 150RMB plus US dollars.  I finally said to David that we should leave.  M granddaddy was a policeman, and I grew up hearing lots of stories so I am always a bit more suspicious of others whom I know nothing about.  I just knew this was not right and had a bad feeling.  Then we couldn't get the door opened.  Ethan was sobbing at this point.  The man was getting angry as he continued to try and work out a price with us.  We wanted out and became concerned when we couldn't get out.  Finally, he yelled "OK, OK, OK".  Thankfully, he finally let us out of the car, and we gathered our luggage cart and our bags and set off back to the official taxis!  By the way, our official taxi cost us 202RMB or for us 150 RMB and $10 US - much cheaper that 500RMB.  We almost got ripped off but thankfully God sent the clear message that we needed to get out of that situation!

Now we are ready for bed here at the Mariott which is only a 5 minute shuttle ride to the airport.  We plan to be on the 10 AM shuttle as our flight leaves around 12:30PM.  Internet is not free here and I am too tired to upload pictures - so NO pictures - sorry!

Please pray for Ellie who has been sick with vomiting and tummy aches.  She had one episode last week and has started back as of Wed.  I pray she is better and that we don't walk into a stomach bug sweeping through our other children when we get home Friday night  - and then possibly us!

Thanks for following our journey!!!  And praise God that it is almost over!

Red Couch Photo and More Shopping

Red Couch Photo:

I'll just let the pictures tell the story - all we could do was laugh! This is a tradition among adoptive families to pose on the Red Couch in the White Swan Hotel. We were with the other 2 familes whom we met in Hohthot. All 3 of the boys, Hudson, Wei, and AJ, were from Baotou SWI, and Hudson and Wei (the boy in the blue Chinese outfit) were in the same room at the SWI and said to be good friends. We hope to stay in touch although neither family lives close to us back home. At least we did get one good family photo in front of the waterfall at the White Swan - note: David is standing and Hudson is happy!

Shopping on Shaiman Island:

Since we have our US Consulate appointment tomorrow and then take the train to Hong Kong, today was our last day to do any shopping. And shopping we did. We purchased several gifts for Hudson to give him each year on the anniversary of the day we met, known as Forever Family Day or Gotcha Day. Of course we bought several gifts for Shelby, Katie, Fulton, Lilly, and Ellie back home. Ethan has been wanting a stuffed panda as every other child in our family received one when they visited China so today he finally found a quality stuffed panda that was just the right price.

Hudson decided today was "Daddy Day" so Mom has not been able to hold him. As you can see from the photo, David had about had it at this point - combine the heat and humidity, toting Hudson for about 2 hours straight(remember no sitting allowed), and shopping for several consecutive hours - yeah, that just about did David in!

We enjoyed lunch with Wei's family at the Cow and Bridge Thai restaurant - delicious! Hudson loved the chips - I took one bite and had trouble swallowing as they tasted just like fish. The waitress brought a basket by our table shortly after we were seated. We assummed they were free like chips are at a Mexican restaurant - nope. We were both charged for the baskets of fish chips - at least all 3 of our boys devoured them including Ethan. I was shocked that he liked them.

Lastly, here's a glimpse of Emma's store on the island and my attempt to buy shoes for Hudson who cries every time you take his shoes off, and for Lily and Ellie - I measured their shoes before I left home. Emma's store had the best selection of children's shoes. I purchased Hudson, Lilly, and Ellie several pair for the fall - 6 pairs for less than $45. Plus the storekeeper gave Ethan a whistle and Hudson a toy drum - yeah, just what we needed!

We haven't heard from Nikki yet although we will try to call her soon. We plan to stay around our hotel tonight and then pack up tomorrow as we leave for the consulate at 2:30 and from there we'll go straight to the train station and catch our train for Hong Kong. We'll overnight there and then our flight leaves around 12 noon on Friday for HOME!!!! I'll try to post some pictures one last time tomorrow. We have so enjoyed our time here and getting to know our new son, fiesty one that he is, but of course we long to get home and reunite our family. Thanks for following our journey to Hudson and for all of your prayers, support, and love.

Pearl River Cruise and Other Happenings

Last night we went on the Pearl River Cruise. I had always wanted to do this, but it just never worked out for us until this trip. The food was all Chinese and not real appealing, but we all enjoyed fried rice and chocolate ice cream. David and I both tried a variety of dishes, but we weren't thrilled with the selection. However, the overall experience was fantastic. We enjoyed the sights of the river and the lights were gorgeous. Ethan loved the boat ride and looking at all of the other boats going by.

After the cruise, we stopped by the hotel lounge as we heard live piano music and singing. Do you see more evidence of PROGRESS? Yes, that is indeed David sitting in a chair w/ Hudson on his lap - and no tears or screaming or kicking or thrashing of arms! I couldn't believe it. This comes after Hudson had his biggest fit to date - over David sitting down on the playroom sofa whild holding him. This picture was taken about 4 hours after that temper tantrum. We enjoyed the music for a while, and I think the young lady singing really enjoyed singing for Ethan and Hudson - she kept smiling at them. She and the piano player waved goodbye as we left.

This morning we headed to the Pearl Market. I had purchased Lilly a necklace and bracelet back in 2007. On our last trip to adopt Ellie, the guide in Guangzhou was not local and she did not know where the Pearl Market was. I was determined to purchase some pearls for Ellie on this trip. Mission accomplished! While I made my decisons and bargained a little, Ethan and Hudson enjoyed riding on this toy - I don't know the correct name but I do know David Myers has one because Ethan pointed that out. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Hudson out of David's arms standing on the floor walking toward his "gu gu" on the toy. The boys both had fun!

We went swimming after our short shopping trip. I had to swim this time as I made a deal with Ethan - he has been dog paddling rather than swimming and so I said "If you swim to the ladder, really swim not dog paddle, I'll get in and swim to the ladder and back." Well, he did it, and then I had to keep my word of course, so I braved the very cold water and swam!

Tonight we are heading to Shaiman Island as I have lots of gifts to buy for my sweet children at home! Counting down the days til we head home but absolutely dreading the thought of that flight again!