Aynsli update...

Sorry its been a while, we have been settling in at home and getting adjusted as a family of 6! We have also had lots of medical appointments including cardiology, audiology, bloodwork, vaccines, cleft team, early intervention, and I'm sure more that I'm forgetting!! Aynsli is doing very well, when you consider everything she has been through.  Four different hotels and a new home in 6 weeks, changing a language and moving halfway across the world (and gaining 3 lovingly smothering brothers!).  She eats almost anything we give her, but does not raid the pantry or eat all day.  She takes an awesome 2-3 hour nap every afternoon, and if it happens to be later than normal she does fine with that too.  She goes to bed at 7:30 every night with a bottle of whole milk and sleeps all night until at least 6:30.  And in between she plays with toys and gets carted around from place to place. 

Obviously she can't talk yet because of her cleft palate, however the one word she can say is "mama."  So thankful for that!  Since getting Aynsli 6 weeks ago, we have taught her many signs and she picked them up so fast.  So now she can communicate what she needs, more food, please, all done, night night, hi, bye, etc.  She seems to  understand a lot already in English- its amazing! Only growing up in a Mandarin country and now she understands most of what I say in English! Every day its amazing to watch the blessing of Aynsli.  She has also made huge strides with gross motor development.  She could only walk, sit or lay down when we got her, but couldn't get in between on her own.  Now she can sit from lying down, or stand up from lying or sitting, and she has a much easier time getting around by herself.  She still can't do stairs yet, but I'm ok with that one it stops her from trying them!

Now it hasn't been all roses either, but when I think of where she has come from we feel truely blessed.  She definitely is a toddler and lets you know when she doesn't like you saying "no" to something! And it has also been interesting getting to know, essentially, a stranger living in your home.  But every day we feel more bonded to her and she seems to be attaching well to us.  We have been enforcing the typical adoption attachment techniques such as Lucas and I being the only ones to change her diaper, feed her, comfort her, and really care for her.  So naturally she comes to us when she has a need that needs to be met.  We are so thankful for this smooth transition. 

Aynsli is scheduled to have surgery to repair her soft palate on June 11.  She will also have tubes put in her ears as there is much fluid behind both of them.  Once she has healed we can begin speech therapy in hopes of her speaking! Prayers are appreciated for things to go smoothly and that there would be no complications and that the boys staying home with family would be safe.  We will be traveling up to Massachusetts for the surgery at Shriners children's hospital. We are praising God for a great report at the cardiologist regarding her heart murmur.  She still has a murmur however the structure and function of her heart are normal! YAY!

Aynsli is a very content, resilient and happy girl! We thank God for the blessing of being able to have her in our family.  We look forward to all that God has in store for her in the future- mighty things!

The beautiful miracle of life...

Many people have said to me this, adoption of a little girl must be a dream... it is a dream but not the kind you would think.  God has called our family to rescue and care for an orphan. God created her as a beautiful girl and we think she is truly beautiful but the world won't think so according to worldly standards.  Even from looking at her newborn pictures (below) to now she has already gone through an amazing transformation. We didn't sign up to adopt a perfect little girl but one with special needs. That means there are lots of unknowns, lots of medical care(6+ surgeries) to come and also other various therapies.

We have no idea how she will be cognitively or socially but this is what God called our family to and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get dirty for her sake. She might look different and I know for our friends and family it might be a little different than what you are used to but we ask that you love her through Jesus's eyes as we do- simply beautiful and perfect.  We have been provided the opportunity to save her physically from this world, but we pray that God has bigger plans to save her spiritually which is the greater reward.  Even though we have had an emotional start realizing that this mission is out of our comfort zone, it brings tears to our eyes when we think of how God can redeem her life!

We think of it as an honor to give this child of God what she needs when she never would have got it in her birth country.  Thank you Lord for giving us this privilege and using us.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. -1 Samuel 16:7

Last day here!

Yesterday was a busy day! We went to the US consulate here in Guangzhou to finish up the final paperwork to get our little girl home! Everything went very smooth. So today at 4 pm we get her visa and then catch a train to Hong Kong. Then fly out of hong kong the next morning around 10:30am here! Prayers for the 15 hour flight would be great! Hoping she sleeps a lot of it and will be pleasant! :) 

Last night we went on a river cruise down the pearl river! It was so much fun and a beautiful night out! Enjoy some of our pictures! I probably won't post again until we are home!! Landing Thursday around 2 pm your time! Yay!

Guangzhou Safari!

Today was another free day to sight see so we went to the famous Guangzhou Safari zoo! It was a long hot day but so much fun! 

They have amazing exhibits and take care of their animals! Saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, rhinos, tigers, lions, pandas and so much more! 

Aynsli did great! Took a nap in the stroller, barely heard a peep from her all day! She didn't seem overly interested in the animals but was entertained enough to be quiet! She has a new friend- another little girl who is 10 years old and being adopted as well.  She really loves Aynsli and stayed by us the whole time! 

Tomorrow we go to the American embassy to be sworn in.  We can't wear watches or bring pens, umbrellas, cameras, batteries, cell phones, or strollers. Yep sounds like an American embassy :) crazy!!! We are lucky if we can bring in a diaper and some wipes for our baby! 

Happy Easter!

I was a little bummed to be missing Easter at home in NJ with the little boys and our church body but God had a bigger plan for us this Easter.  

We got to spend Easter this year in China rescuing our precious little girl.  It made me think how Jesus came to rescue us, died and rose again for us- and how rescuing this child from a world of darkness into light is a perfect picture of Christ rescuing us from our sin and darkness into light!  Praise God for what an amazing gift!! 

We conquered the chinese subway and went to shamian island for church and shopping! It was such a fun day! And of course we went to the famous Lucy's for lunch and got a burger! :) 

In Guangzhou!

We are in Guangzhou now- after a quick 1.5 hour flight! Aynsli did awesome and slept the whole time. I hope that is an indication of how she is going to be on our 15 hour flight home! ;) 

We met up with 16 other families here with our agency adopting as well! It's neat to meet people from all over the US adopting! 

This morning we had our medical visa appointment. It went well- aynsli did awesome! However we have some new information we will need to follow up with later.  Her cleft is pretty straight forward but she has an umbilical hernia which may or may not need surgery and the doctor said he could hear a heart murmur?! Which I know we need more information on when we get back home. She doesn't have any of the classic symptoms of having a heart condition. And we know that God is in control so we are at peace with this new information.  He also said it could be transient which basically means it comes and goes and may not ever be anything of significance.

Papa johns for lunch! I needed that!! A little taste of home and comfort food! 

This afternoon we have a meeting for more paperwork and then I think we will find a new restaurant in the area to try with some other families.  Continued prayers for health and safety would be appreciated!! 

Around town

We stayed close to the hotel today, besides some paperwork Luke ran out for (so I could stay back).  

We went to Starbucks again to get our coffe fix :) then off to the mega store again for more essentials.  Got some interesting pictures while we were there.  Let's just say their deli is not like ours back home (as you will see in the pictures)! 

Then aiden got in some swimming before naps and dinner out at a steakhouse!!! We got a little taste of back home- steak, potato salad, and garlic bread! 

Tomorrow we pack up and fly to Guangzhou in the evening which weare excited  about because there's a lot more to do there within walking distance to the hotel! 

Aynsli update

Aynsli is a sweet girl! We are realizing this is a long road but will be so rewarding to see her progress.  She is currently 19 months old however she acts like a 10 month old with little ability to communicate.  That is because of her palate which hinders her from forming sounds (she says mama- and babbles) and also the language difference.  She plays very well by herself and can be amused for a long time with a few toys.  She willingly comes to either Luke or I but might prefer daddy ;).  She has times of whining and screaming when we don't know what she wants.  She will take a food and bottle one day and the next want nothing to with it.  She can walk and roll but has a hard time crawling or never really did.  She can pick up little things with her fingers, like puffs and put them in her mouth.  Seems laid back until she gets ticked off by something or wants something we are not giving her.  Trying to teach her to wave and give kisses before we get home. Prayers appreciated for this long road ahead of us.  We hope she will progress quickly when we get home and adjusted. But we know that God has placed her with our family for a reason.  The boys are so in love with their baby girl. Which means mommy gets lots of helpers! 

Good day!

I feel much better today! Took some melatonin last night and slept for almost 11 hours! Thank you for your prayers!

Today we had a packed day out and about.  First we got to visit the orphanage where Aynsli spent a few months early on.  It was so neat to be able to see the rooms and how well they love the kids there! There were rooms for physical therapy, sick treatment rooms, playrooms, even a hydro therapy room.  Some kids seemed right on developmentally but most had special needs.  While we were walking down the hall one lady walked past and said Aynsli's chinese name and smiled! Then she quickly walked into another room and told her foster mom that she was here! With that her foster mom came out and said hi and took her from us! She wanted to give her a hug. It all happened so fast but when it was time to take her back she only whined a little bit and was happy to go back to Luke. Thank goodness! That went better than I thought! And it was neat to see her and get a picture of her! 

On our drive there we saw some interesting things! Wild dogs walking through a food market! Eww! Then on the street there was a lady selling birds (to eat) and she would take them out of the cage and kill them by snapping their necks right in front of the person buying it! I guess then you know your meat is fresh?! The traffic is so crazy- I swear we almost hit several people today- who chose to walk right in front of the car as it was moving!

So many people stop and stare at us because we are white and because we have a chinese child with us.  They snap pictures of us all the time. There was a lady with her baby today who wanted a picture with aiden. So she and her friend just stood by him and he smiled at the camera! Haha! 

Then we went to the yellow crane tower for some sight seeing! It was beautiful and gave us a good view of Wuhan from the top.  It's one of the main attractions in wuhan for tourists.  

Then we went to a museum and saw some ancient bells which were 2400 years old! 

Then out to eat and back for showers and bed- whew! What a busy but fun day!