The Aiden Adventure

UPDATE!!!!!

2012-03-06T10:41:00.009-08:00

I guess I should have waited to post about my dream so I wouldn't double post in one day! BUT THIS CAN'T WAIT! We got an update today, and we are OVER THE MOON! This morning a (virtual) friend sent me an email saying she'd received an update on her daughter. While I was happy for her, I actually felt a little sad and said aloud, "Aw. I want an update." I looked up at the clock, did the math to see what time it was in Oregon and thought, "Well, it's early there yet. Maybe there's hope for one today." Lo and behold, a couple hours later, my phone vibrates on my desk, and there's a text from Troy telling me, "Check you email! ASAP! Ethan update and pics!" Sure enough. An email from our agency with four pictures and a progress report!! There was another email from Troy saying, "OHHH my goodness - he is soo cute! I am crying right now! I wish I could be there to hug you and look at these together. He looks so good." Yes. That's a direct quote. (Sorry honey) Isn't my hubby sweet? Anyway, as great as it is to see Ethan's adorable, chubby cheeks, the report is what has me thrilled. He is 29.1" tall (little), 26.4# (I hope that's LOADED up with clothes! That's a LOT to lug around -- and it puts him WELL over the 50th percentile!), and has 8 teeth. They also say he is healthy and active, showing no signs of having heart problems which is consistent with his most recent echo. He can apparantly say simple words like "mama", "papa", and "take" in Chinese and can express "thanks" and "bye-bye" with gestures. According to this update, he knows his body parts: eyes, ears, mouth, etc. 'My' doctor, oh yeah, and cousin, who got back to me within MINUTES of receiving the updated file, says his ability to identify body parts would be fairly advanced. (God bless Half the Sky! He attends "class" from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM Mon - Fri.) Actually, Jessica said that overall, everything looks "great!" We also learned that he has a foster younger sister in his foster home. It is my prayer that somehow, some way we will be able to stay in touch with her and his foster parents. These people are the only family he has known. By the looks of things, they love him and care very well for him. What a blessing. Now. Without further ado. Our new photos!!

First Ethan Adoption Dream and Random Thoughts

2012-03-06T08:33:00.003-08:00

Let the insanity begin. I had my first adoption dream for this go-'round. It's awfully early to be starting as I have SEVERAL more months of dreams before this becomes "reality." The dream keeps coming to me in bits and pieces as the day goes on and is fairly disjointed, but suffice it to say, it was not all sweetness and light. It was stressful and nerve-wracking as a matter of fact. The gist of it is as follows: we're trying to catch a plane. My mom and dad are with "us", at least for a while, but I don't recall my better half being around...or Aiden, but I guess they were around somewhere. Odd. Anway, we get to the airport and are ready to board, but the airline attendants are sorry to inform us that the flight to China has been overbooked. Sorry. Sorry? Well, they do this you know? They proceed to tell us we have been bumped, but they'll try to get us on the next flight out. The next day. As much as I try to explain to them, I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH and one more day is NOT acceptable, they stick to their bottom line, and we are not allowed to board. Then, to add insult to injury, we had been booked in economy plus, but they just don't think it'll be possible now -- going over OR coming back. Again, I tried to get them to see reason to no avail. Just as I'm about to fall apart, I woke up. Aaahhh! So, two weeks into our official wait, eleven since we've first seen Ethan's sweet face, I've started the dreams. Now, I don't recall how early I started with Aiden, but I know they were frequently upsetting. For instance, in one dream, he was not the baby we'd been referred. In fact, he was blond and was speaking English. In another, we didn't get to stay in China and get our baby with the other adoptive families. We had to get on another plane, to England nonetheless, to get him, further delaying our Gottcha Day. You get the picture. Even if they are sweet and happy, it just further drives the point home that he's not with us. The point is, if there is in fact a point, that I want to go get our little guy and bring him home -- even if we're nowhere near close to ready. I started the lists yesterday, and I guess I should be grateful we have several months to prepare. There are booster seats to buy, closet organizers to purchase, beds to put together and rooms to rearrange, etc. Not to mention, money we need to save to actually go to China! The way I look at it, though, other than those pesky travel funds, there's nothing that can't be done once we get our boy home. Hurry up As...!! I wanna go get our son!

We Have a Winner!!

2012-03-02T11:53:00.003-08:00

At least for the time-being. Dare I even commit this name to "writing?" What if we (and by we, I mostly mean me) change "our" mind(s)? We still can, you know? It is still well within the realm of possibility. Up until we get our I800 approval, likely a couple months from now, we can switch up our paperwork and go with an entirely different name. In fact, should we choose to do so, we can send over our forms with NO name in the English name portions. Another option? We can use the name we have chosen through this entire process, and once we get home and start the adoption re-finalization process, we can change the name even then! What to do? What to do? Put a name to that sweet, sweet face or leave him Tank? Baby Bo? Ah. What the heck! Here goes. The name we have chosen is.....ETHAN FLETCHER STURGEON!!! Actually, now that we have decided, he really does look like an Ethan, don't you think? Well, for now anyway, we have a name for the newest member of our family, but really, the only part of that name that really matters to us is that last part: Sturgeon!

A Rose by Any Other Name...

2012-02-29T17:55:00.004-08:00

...would smell as sweet, right? So, why is this whole name issue tying us up? We just got our adoption packet from Holt. For about 10 minutes I was gung-ho. I was going to attack that paperwork. Knock it out. Heck, it was going to be in the mail on its way to Oregon tomorrow. That is, until I came across this seemingly harmless form: the document processing information form. The first prompt under child's information? Chinese name. No problem. Well, small problem as it has already been spelled three different ways on various forms in the two months since the referral, but heck, at least it's a NAME. It does make me marginally concerned since the PRC can be something of a stickler for rules and consistency, but we dealt with this same concern with Aiden. Anyway. Second prompt? English name. Therein lies the rub. We are still nowhere near a concensus. What to do? We are encouraged to get these forms back, as everything in the adoption process is, asap. Remember, we hurry up and wait. What. To. Do? Seriously. I am stressing out. There are names we are both ok with, but that we don't "feel." There are names we each "feel," but the other, well, loathes. Now it's crunch time. I usually work well under pressure, but as it turns out, not this time. It appears I have a rare form of writer's block. I can't find the name to write on the form. H.E.L.P.!!!!

Hey, Hey! We Have PA!

2012-02-23T10:41:00.004-08:00

Or, in normal-people-speak, we have provisional approval from the Chinese government. They downloaded our Letter of Intent (LOI) on February 22!! Now we can officially start our wait for our LOA, which, if you remember correctly, leads to TA and subsequent CA. Ha ha ha! I love doing that. Seriously, I think, out of necessity, the international adoption community is borderline crazy. Why else would we speak in acronyms and find it particularly funny. Ok. That last part might just be me! Ah well. What I'm trying to say is, we just checked off another step in a mind-numbingly lengthy list of steps. Woo hoo!! This made my day. Not even the blizzard raging outside is going to dampen my spirits....at least until Troy and I have to make the trek back into Sioux Falls through said dangerous mess. :) 'Cuz....hey, hey, hey...we have our PA!

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle! Miracle!

2012-02-21T18:49:00.001-08:00

Ok. So if you're a Fiddler on the Roof fan, I've got THAT song stuck in your head now. You're welcome. :) Really, though, God has granted us yet another miracle in a long line of miracles. About a month back, we had requested a repeat echocardiogram. The first one we received for "Baby Bo" (as a friend dubbed him, and thus called for the duration of this blog so my dear Aunt Jeanne won't stroke-out with my constant usage of the name Tank) was from when he was about six months old. The doctors who reviewed his file were not overly concerned as it was termed MILD tricuspid regurgitation and appeared as though it was. My beautiful and generous-to-a-fault -- and fortunately for me, crazy-smart -- physician cousin went so far as to say, it could (emphasis on the could) be as simple as Baby Bo was crying when the echo was done. They all said they'd be more confident in a diagnosis / recommendation if they could see a new one. Today we received said repeat echo. It was performed....on my birthday! The results? NORMAL HEART FUNCTION!!!!! Doctor Cousin Jessica got back to me within a couple hours and said, "It's perfect - great!" God. Is. Good! It would appear that we are adopting a healthy baby boy. To cap today off, I was able to email five questions that we hope will be answered, sooner rather than later, by the orphanage and / or foster family. And, by five questions, I mean five questions with about 5 parts each. ;) I read the questions to Troy, and he said, "Um. You do realize that was actually, like, 12 questions, right?" Well. Yeah. But there's stuff a mama wants to know!! I was even so bold as to request a video. Brazen, I know. What's the worst they can do? Say no? As I wait, I will pray we get our information and give thanks for the healthy little boy awaiting us in China. Tonight, my heart is happy and full to overflowing!

Chang Bo Yong

2012-02-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some more images of our sweet baby boy waiting for us over in China.

It is such a blessing that we received this many photos (and we actually have a few more!) when some people only get a couple. Anyway, nothing new to add, just wanted to share some more of our cutie pie! And, as a side note, he looks so much like one of the little boys adopted by one of the "Shaanxi Five" from our trip over to adopt Aiden that it makes me smile! Sigh. It has been a good day!

LID / LOI!!!

2012-02-16T11:13:00.001-08:00

I JUST got the email from the fabulous Beth Smith! At 12:51, I was informed that our dossier has now officially been logged in with the CCCWA / China. Our LID is 2/14, and our Letter of Intent (LOI) was submitted today 2/16. Happy (one day early) birthday to me!!!!!!! So. Without further ado.....

We may now introduce Chang Bo Yong. He is now just over 16 months old and is in Changchun. This is our son!

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of our little guy on my school computer, so for the time being, it will have to suffice. Buuuut, was I right about those cheeks?? :) Ahhh. They are BEGGING to be kissed! Anyway, let the countdown for our LOA, letter of acceptance, begin! We would sure appreciate prayers that the wait time is reducing. It had been around 90 days (over 100 for some, yuck), but I've heard rumors that it is diminishing. Some are getting it as early as day 70. :-O We would also appreciate prayers for our patience. ;) And, as always, prayers that our little guy is being loved and well-cared for in China.

Looks like a celebration tonight. Chinese food it is!

Aiden's Adoption Video

2012-02-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

So, I just FINALLY got around to converting Aiden's adoption video and thought I'd post it on here...over a year later. :) It's over 18 minutes long. :/ I guess I'm not much of an editor. Anyway, for those interested, here ya go:

http://vimeo.com/36654135

One Step Closer

2012-02-10T16:20:00.001-08:00

Today we are one step closer to our baby boy awaiting us in Changchun, China. I got the call at 5:21 PM our time that our (nothing less than fabulous) agency has officially sent off all of our paperwork. We are now, in adoption-ease speak, Dossier to China, or DTC. It is one small step in an excruciating marathon of steps, but a step nonetheless. (Actually, I feel like this whole process is more of a spritathon. We APs -- adoptive parents -- rush, rush, rush, and then sit and wait. My dad would liken it to the the military. Hurry up and wait!) Our contact at Holt said that we will have a log in date (LID) sometime next week so we can submit our LOI (Letter of Intent). As you can see, the adoption world has a language, riddled with acronyms, rivaled only by the military and government. Anyway, being DTC is our big news so far.

Now we get to fret and anxiously await China to hopefully approve us. I, being nothing if not neurotic and obsessive, have crunched numbers time and again to see when we might be traveling to get our dear son. Other adoptive parents would of course understand this fanatical guesstimating and attempted trend predicting. With a biological pregnancy, parents have a fairly concrete idea of when, ballpark, they are expecting. In our case, we are at the mercy of...GOVERNMENTS....heaven forbid! But I digress. If timelines remain consistent, and we hit no snags (fingers crossed, prayers offered up) we should expect to travel around July. Guangzhou will be a treat at that time. Sigh. Probably averaging 90 degrees and 90% humidity. Let me be clear, though. I will gladly travel to that sauna as opposed to having to wait until fall for some unforeseen reason. Any possible travel time, of course, is all dependent upon events entirely out of my control, though, as previously stated. Yay. Anybody who knows me knows how well I deal with that. I just have to remind myself that His timing is perfect. As difficult as it is to let go and trust, I have to take a deep breath and do just that. While we wait, we really appreciate prayers from those who do so. We pray that our little peanut (still Tank for those who are wondering) is being loved and cared for, that he is healthy and happy, that God wraps his loving arms around him and protects him. Ah, yes, and that his mom has peace and understanding that it will all happen in due time. And today, we took one more step on this journey. Thanks, everybody, for your love and support!

Oh yeah. A side note? Holt also told us today that our family picture is going to be the new picture for the China adoption guidebook in a couple of weeks. How fun is that?! :)

Happy Chinese New Year!!

2012-01-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

And WHAT a happy start to the Year of the Dragon for us! As I have alluded to in the past post(s), we are in a race against the clock. We NEED to get our dossier (paperwork) to China (be DTC), like, NOW. We really have to be logged in before we can send our letter of intent to be considered for Tank. We have been, impatiently, waiting for our last piece of paperwork to clear through government channels. We were logged in with the USCIS on Dec. 14, auspicious since that's my brother's birthday, and were fingerprinted the second day of the New Year, first work day back, 1/3. It has been taking about 60 days to get the I797C, said final piece of paperwork, so I was actually fearing that we wouldn't get ours until February 13 or later. Well. On the 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, I called to check in to see if we had been assigned an officer yet. The reponse I got was, "Not only have you been assigned an officer, you have already been approved. It wasn't approved until late yesterday, so it was just mailed out this morning." YAAAAAYYY! I am over the moon. I hadn't realized how much I had been holding back until I heard those words. I told this officer, I don't know if I want to laugh, scream or cry. There is a chance I may have done a little of all three. I am so excited. I finally looked at the pictures of OUR SON next to my computer screen and really, completely let him into my heart. I had been thinking of him as our boy in a theoretical kind of way until now. Now, he just found his way into my heart and soul as well as into my head. Of course, the paper still needs to be certified by the state, FedExed to DC to a courier, expedited through there, FedExed back to us, and finally, FedExed to Holt, OR. So many places / ways to be lost or misplaced. Please pray this last piece of our dossier meets with no problems and that we get it to Holt and China by 2/10 (through my calculations, if everything goes smoothly, that should be possible). Ahhhh! It finally seems real. We're going to China to get our sweet baby boy!

What's In a Name?

2012-01-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

As we sit and wait with nothing to occupy our hands adoption-wise, and too much to occupy our minds adoption-wise, one of the pasttimes I have taken up is coming up with names to add to our baby name list....only to have Troy summarily remove them. Sigh. The only thing we can agree upon is Tank's middle name. His middle name will be Fletcher in honor of Troy's grandfather. Aiden got Joseph as a middle name in honor of my dad and grandfather, so Fletcher seems fitting. We cannot seem to find any common ground for a first name, though, and that may prove to be a problem. My students have several creative, if ridiculous, choices, but they bring us no closer to an actual moniker for our little guy awaiting us in Changchun. (That is, unless we decide Hemmingway, Hemmi for short, is appropriate for our newest addition.) Troy favors somewhat more traditional names like Aaron or Zachary. I lean towards the somewhat more modern but certainly not the outrageous or unique. Some names I've thrown out are Brennan/Brendan, Braxton, Landon, Tate, and Liam -- my favorite being Liam. We're probably going to find a compromise with Brandon or Brady. Sigh, again!

Of course, we probably have way more time than I want to admit (or even contemplate) to come up with a name. Our paperwork should be on it's way back from D.C. as I type. We have to wait, though, for our I800 which could be 60+ days, putting us into March, which is HORRIFYING. If we don't get our approval soon enough, and thereby don't get our dossier to China soon enough, there is a chance, however slim, that Tank could be referred to another family. No matter how slim this chance is, it makes me heart sick to think about it. As it turns out, this little guy has already found his niche in my heart and mind. He is my son, and I need to go get him. I do have faith in our agency and one lady there in particular, but that chance still exists and it scares me. We need all the prayers anybody is willing to say for us that our government moves us through this process at light speed so we can get that last little piece of paper to the SD state department, then get it expedited through DC. In the meantime, to take my mind off the interminable wait, I'll continue to expand the name list while Troy continues to pare it down.

BIG NEWS!!

2012-01-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

It looks like it's time to revitalize my blogging skills. "Why?" you may be asking yourself. Well, because it is official. We are "expecting" again! Aaahhh! This fall we decided we wanted Aiden to have a sibling, and of course, we want another child with whom to share our love! Feeling the time was right, we filled out our application and mailed it in to Holt. We were happy and excited but overall calm. It just felt right.

Of course, that early giddiness is short-lived because the overwhelming, almost suffucating paperwork commences almost immediately: personal backgrounds, state and federal fingerprinting, physicals, getting vital documents, requesting letters of reference -- twice, taking pictures, proof of employment, police clearance...ETC! Then getting it all notarized. *SIGH* I will say, though, that this time around, it seems less intimidating. With Aiden, I remember at times thinking it was insurmountable, impossible. I guess having done it once, realizing it IS possible, and knowing what a beautiful and wonderful gift awaits at the conclusion, makes it seem less daunting.

Fast forward four months. All of our documents were compiled and we sat awaiting our biometric fingerprinting appointment so we could get our I797C. After we receive that, we can send our papers to the SD Secretary of State, then the US State Department, then on to the Chinese Embassy. We will then be what's called DTC (Dossier to China) and typically start the wait to be matched to our child.

But, God had other plans. Before we even had our fingerprinting done, I got a call from our agency. See, on Dec. 22, 2011, I decided to inquire about a gorgeous little boy on the waiting list. His needs seemed minor, and he reminded me so much of Aiden, I just had to see if he was our boy. I figured his age, only six months younger than Aiden, might be a problem, but I had to check. Somebody with our agency called and informed us that age wasn't the problem. The issue, it turned out, was that he was destined for another family.

Then, she dropped the big, beautiful bomb. That little cutie was unavailable, but....THEY HAD A REFERRAL FOR US! I was in shock. I was shaking. I cried. Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but I was in my classroom and students were in the room with me. Obviously I couldn't share the news, so a group of juniors left for the Christmas break wondering if Mrs. Sturgeon had finally lost it. Since this was so out of the blue, I didn't know how to relate the news to Troy. I emailed. He was busy. He told me to email him whatever I needed. I told him that this kind of news probably shouldn't be shared on the computer. He NEEDED to call me. Finally, he called. He was as shell-shocked as I was. I made arrangements to meet him up at the middle school so we could open the file together and see this little guy who could possibly be our second child. What we saw was an adorable little boy with cheeks just begging to be kissed! His medical need seemed (and still does according to a couple of docs) to be pretty mild and imminently manageable. Our biggest shocker? He is only 14 months old. We hadn't anticipated getting a little one under two, but, if everything plays out according to normal timelines, we should be bringing home a less-than-two-year-old! :-O Yikes!

On 12/27, after doctors' reviews of the file, (thank you my dear cousin, Dr. Jessica - you're amazing!) we sent our LOI, Letter of Intent, to our agency stating we are hoping to be considered as parents for this little guy!! By the way, we happen to be lovingly dubbing him Tank until we can agree upon a name. Seriously, you should see those adorable, chubby cheeks. ;) Now the race is on. All the papers we had compiled and were holding on to have since been mailed to SD Sec. of State, returned, and forwarded to D.C. As soon as we get our fingerprints approved and our I797C, we will expedite and get our file to China ASAP!

It is so hard to know your son is awaiting you in a country half a world away. Every night we say our prayers that God wraps his loving arms around this little guy and keeps him healthy, happy and loved in his foster home until we can bring him to his forever home with his forever family. Already Aiden looks at Tank's picture and says, "baby brother," and it melts our hearts. The next 6 - 8 months will seem like an ETERNITY! :-( At least now we have a face to go with the prayers we have been sending up for our child before we even knew who he was!

As with our adoption of Aiden, we are humbled by and grateful for others' prayers. We are praying, and would appreciate your prayers, that our little guy's heart condition is mild, or better yet, resolves itself. We are asking God that the governments on both sides of this process move quickly and that we will be on our way to bring home our beautiful boy sooner rather than later. Also, our prayers are that he is being cared for, loved, and cherised. Of course, we pray this for all the orphans of the world and that they, too, can be placed in their forever families.

Although this new chapter of Aiden's Adventure actually started on August 19 with the completion of an application to Holt, International (the greatest adoption agency in the world, if I do say so!), we just got to the really exciting part of the rising action. Although conflict really creates an interesting story, let's pray ours are few and far between, and it's the character development that drives our plot. Ahhhh ha ha ha! Sorry. I promise that will be the last of the liteary analogies. It's early, and as usual, the protagonist in our lives didn't let me get much sleep last night. Ok. I'm done. :) I'll be back with news as it happens!

Can It Really Be a Year Ago?

2011-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

It is hard to imagine that a year ago today, Troy and I were beginning our journey to China. Exactly one year ago today, we were strapped in a metal tube, about 36,000 feet in the air, anticipating the most precious gift God has ever given us. It is hard to recall the exact emotions of the time. We were facing so many unknowns. From the simple: what did our son's voice sound like? what would he look like in person, not in a photograph? what would he feel like to hold in our arms? To the significant: how bad was his heart? would he attach to us? would it be love at first sight for us, or would we have to grown in love ? what other issues would we face that we couldn't even contemplate faced us?

I remember waking up and being ready to go at 3:30 in the morning. Somehow, after only a few restless hours of sleep, neither Troy nor I were tired. We were ready to go get Aiden, figuratively chomping at the bit, dreading the next few days that stood between us and our son. More than anything though, I recall how surreal it all felt. We were going to get our son??!! A little person was waiting (however unkowingly on his part) for us half way around the world? How was that possible?

One year ago today. How can so much time have passed? Is it possible that it has really been 12 months since we boarded that plane to start the journey that would change our lives for the better...the so-much-better-than-we-ever-could-have-fathomed-better? A year ago we sat down, strapped in, and jetted off to our destiny: Feng RenJie. Aiden Joseph Sturgeon. The light of our lives. We thank God for the beautiful gift he bestowed upon us. A gift we set off to get one year ago today!

Family Photos

2011-07-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Summer, Third Birthday and Fourth of July

2011-07-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm! S'mores!
I LOVE being outside

Birthday party picnic
Birthday "cake"
"Do you see those cool fireworks?!?!"

It's hard to imagine; we're half way through summer! Although the only thing we've done of any note is going to the Hills for Jessica's graduation, our break has been everything we could have hoped for and more. The extra time we've been able to spend with Aiden has been such a blessing. We do still take him to day care two days a week; it's good for him to be around kids his age, but it's also good for the sake of continuity. Besides, he loves Andrea, the girls, and the other day care children. As I sit here, though, I've come to realize the solitude and quiet has somehow become unsettling. I asked Troy this morning, "What did we do last summer?" We try to be productive and enjoy our time, but we find ourselves counting the hours until we can go pick him up. Now, that's not to say we don't have our challenges! Last night after setting off our fireworks, we didn't leave Sean and Jenny's until 10:50 -- PM. He'd only had a 25 minute nap during the day, so we fully expected Aiden to conk out a few minutes into the trip home. It was not to be. He sang and babbled almost the entire way home. Almost. With about 10 minutes left, his shoe fell off. Instant melt-down. I had no way to reach it, and he was VERY stressed out! He screamed and sobbed and screamed some more! Yes, we are being fully indoctrinated into the joys of parenting a toddler. We are also learning to pick our battles. He went to bed with his shoes ON. :) For the most part, though, parenting Aiden is a joy. He has SUCH a sense of humor. He laughs frequently and loves to make others laugh. He still isn't speaking much, but we do have a speech therapist, who Aiden adores, coming once a week. She feels he is doing well, but of course, I still worry! That's my job!! Outside of day care and speech therapy, we have had time to be a family of three. (Can it be? On July 12 -- Dad's birthday none-the-less -- we will have been our forever family for nine months!) Back in February I bought a family pass to the zoo. With the zoo, as with pretty much every new experience we're finding, it took Aiden a while to warm up to the idea. After the first trip, though, he loves to go. One morning after speech, we were playing with some Play Doh on the deck. I realized how nice it was, warm not hot and gorgeous sunshine, and make an impromptu decision: we were going to the zoo! It was one of our best days of summer so far. We spent an hour walking around looking at the animals; we then had a picnic I had thrown together. Afterwards, Aiden got to play in the park. Such fun!! It is pure joy to see his excitement, wonder, and happiness: the rewards of parenting! We were also able to witness his wonder and happiness on his birthday. We had his party on July 2. Aiden is fortunate to have so many people who love, dare I say adore, him! About twenty family and friends (who are really more like family!) came over even though it was a holiday weekend. We did a traditional Fourth of July-type BBQ and even had a blow-up waterslide thanks to great friend Jenny F. Most of the time, though, it's just day-to-day life made special by having our new little guy with us. Often we just sit and watch him play in the yard. The kid is nonestop energy! One of his favorite pasttimes his running laps: Ready! Set! Go! **On a side note, we have uploaded videos to youtube. Our name is The3Sturges, or they can be found under the video titles: "Boogie Baby Aiden," "SetGOAiden," "Aiden Sings the Blues," or "Hurdling Aiden."** Frequently, the neighbor kids stop by to play with him. He's the new kid on the block and is getting a lot of attention, especially from the girls! ;) Morgan, Anna, and Emily often come by and entertain him which is nice since he does require a lot of energy and they offer a brief respite! As usual, he was a little leary in the beginning, but now he runs to the door when he seems them. It's so cute! Overall, there isn't much to report. We are fully entrenched in and loving summer. Going back to school and missing out on so much of Aiden's life is going to be terribly difficult. I'm already dreading it. But, hey, if we have any hopes of #2, we'd better get back to work and start making some money.....

A Post of Gratitude

2011-07-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Inquisitive!

Fun at the Park and
All Tuckered Out!

Today marks Aiden's 3rd birthday. Tomorrow we will celebrate with family and friends, and afterwards I will post about his big day and our summer to-date, but right now I want to take time to write a short post dedicated to somebody / something else. At moments like this, we take extra time to really appreciate what we have. We are fortunate to parent this beautiful, funny, bright, gentle, loving, albeit active, energetic, independent (dare I say stubborn?) little boy. We are grateful to God every day that Aiden was brought into our lives. He was brought into our lives, however, because his biological parents practiced pure, selfless and sacrificial love. We cannot imagine how they must have agonized over their decision to give up their baby in hopes of a better life for him -- maybe in exchange for life itself. The gut-wrenching sadness is hard to fathom. And, on Aiden's birthday, I wanted to take a moment to honor his birth parents. I'm sure they think of him everyday and hope for his well-being, but on these special occassions, the sense of loss has to be overwhelming. As I cry and type this, the best I can do is pray that wherever they are, God grants them peace. I pray He has somehow spoken to their hearts, and they know he is a healthy, happy, three-year-old with a creative, bright mind of his own. We are privileged to share these milestones with our precious boy because of their brave decision, and daily we are grateful. May God bless them!

A Blessed Easter

2011-04-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

Life has settled nicely into a routine. Aiden loves daycare and his daycare family. It sure puts these parents' minds at ease when we tell Aiden in the morning he has to hurry and get ready because we have to go to Andrea's and see the kids, and he actually seems happy to get ready to go. Still, we are looking forward to summer (which is approaching remarkably FAST) when we can spend some extra, quality time with our little guy. It will be an interesting / challenging summer, though. We will have to be fiscally creative since, for all intents and purposes, I will not be receiving a paycheck; the reality of those unpaid-leave days are about on us. Oh well. They were WELL worth it; that time with Aiden was precious and absolutely necessary to his adjustment and well-being.

Easter this year was wonderful. Aiden adored coloring Easter eggs. He was more than a little miffed when all 18 eggs were done. :) Easter vigil Mass was a bit of a challenge. It was beautiful and the sermon was inspiring, but it was over two hours long and started at about the same time as Aiden's usual bedtime. He was actually very well behaved - most of the time. We did have to take a couple of breaks out in the hallway. Aiden is a very active almost-three-year-old!

Easter day was gorgeous, and we spent a lovely day up in DeSmet with the grandparents. Thanks to Grandma JoAnn and Grandpa Dean having great neighbors (The Hollands), who let Aiden play on their gym and in their rocks / gravel, Aiden had a blast. The fun outside and the special time spent with family even made up for the grueling 1 1/2 hour trip up -- and back. It turns out, Aiden is not the ideal traveller. (This could prove interesting this summer since we're supposed to head out to the Hills not once but twice.)

We had a beautful, blessed Easter. We hope everybody else did, too! Until next time...

Aiden playing with his golf clubs from Grandma Jan
Sliding with Grandma JoAnn and Cousin Cory
Easter egg hunting
Ready for church :)

Coloring Easter eggs -- LOVED it!

Gottcha Day Video

2011-03-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Is the saying better late than never an accurate statement? I've tried to upload this a couple of times, unsuccessfully obviously. Finally, we are able to share this, the happiest moment of our lives!! Hopefully you can see it on our faces; we were overwhelmed with emotion. We had our son!! God is good! I'll let the video speak for itself. 10/11/10 - the single greatest moment of our lives!

(Scroll down to actual video -- I'm something of a technotard and can't figure out how to make the player smaller. I also can't seem to make it be just our video, so after you view our Gottcha Day, YouTube wants you to see a bunch of other videos! Sorry. It's the best I can figure out for now! I may just post a link, but for the time-being......)

Christmas and Two New Years

2011-02-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's hard to imagine we are closing in on the four month anniversary of Gottcha Day! In some ways, it seems like it has been so much longer; Aiden fits so naturally into our family, it is like he was born into it. In other respects, it feels like yesterday we were in China seeing his beautiful, tiny, stunned face.

Christmas, which we celebrated here at home, was a special time. He was beautifully behaved at church and had a good time opening presents....each time he had the opportunity! Aiden didn't really grasp the concept, but he certainly got a kick out of the wrapped boxes containing hidden treasures just for him. Of course, in some instances, he got more mileage out of the boxes themselves than the gifts they contained - such is a 2 1/2 year old.

For New Year's Eve, we went to some friends' house for a few hours, but came home early. Aiden had a ball running around and playing in a new environment (since Mom and Dad were around), but we were - and are - trying desperately to keep him on a schedule. Even so, he still doesn't sleep well. Every now and then we'll get a night of only one or two awakenings, but those are the exception not the rule. I actually rang in 2011 asleep. Sigh.

After the the holiday break, I returned to work. This has NOT been a big hit with our little guy. In fact, he still cries, sometimes very hard, every day when Troy drops him off. It's hard on Aiden, but it's also hard on Dad. I would take my turn, but one day, when I had to take him to day care, he got hysterical, and he was affected for about four days. He didn't want me to be out of his sight and would actually cling to my leg or demand to be held in some cases. Our day care provider is wonderful, and we really like her, though. In fact, every day we go to get Aiden, he is in good spirits. He is excited to see us and wants to go home, but we know he is getting good care and love there.

Most recently we celebrated Chinese New Year with some other adoptive families in the area. Somehow we managed to cram 19 kids and their parents into our small house. We ate Chinese food, passed out red envelopes and small gifts, and "set off" party poppers in leiu of fire crackers. It was a little chaotic and cramped, but overall it was a really nice time. We met some great people while trying to maintain our children's culture and heritage. We hope to stay in touch with them. It was interesting the way our Chinese kids seemed to "recognize" each other. It's nice for them to have others around them who share a culture and heritage. It's also nice for the parents to have a support system! Fortunately, they were all great families!

Overall, things are going well. Aiden is a bright, happy, funny boy! He loves to tease and be teased. His sense of humor is amazing, and his facial expressions are priceless! We are praying, though, that he starts to grasp language; he can understand pretty much everything we say, but he is still unable to verbalize much. His favorite words / phrases right now are "da doo" = love you (as well as "da doo too" = love you too), "di dow" = sit down, "tay" = stay, "doo doo" = thank you, "pea" = please, "joo" = juice, "mi" = milk, "wah-oo" = water. He can say Mom, Daddy and bye-bye well. He is working on "mumma" = grandma and "mapa" = grandpa. He has no-no-no down pretty well, too. He enjoys babbling a lot right now, though, so maybe I should not be so eager for him to find his words. He may never stop talking once he does! ;)

We are ceaselessly amazed at how blessed we are. We would like to just watch and listen to him all day, every day. He loves to dance, run everywhere he goes, "sing," and line up his toys (and everything else). He plays beautifully by himself and seldom requires an entertainment committee but is pleased when we spend time with him playing cars, reading books, and "cooking" in his kitchen. He is thriving with individual attention and from being surrounded by so many people who love him immensely. Don't misunderstnd, though. The kid has a stubborn streak a mile wide and can definitely cop an attiutude. I guess that just proves he was meant to be ours, huh?!

We continue to pray for good news from our doctors and would appreciate any prayers anybody wants to offer up as well. We have another ENT visit on February 11, ironically, the anniversary of Gottcha Day, to see if Aiden has permanent hearing loss or if it was just wax and fluid build-up. It may be that the tubes were enough. We are also praying that there are not other findings of medical problems. The geneticist feared he may have a syndrome; we're praying she was wrong and have luckily been able to cross off a couple of the criteria. Here's hoping a few more are knocked off the list!

Thanks to everybody for the continued love, support, and prayers!!

Pictures Top to Bottom: Most of the kids in attendance at the CNY celebration; the family before the CNY gathering; Mom and Aiden; New Year's at the Farkes; Aiden's Christmas

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Postponements, and Firsts

2010-11-29T14:57:00.000-08:00

Novemeber has been a pretty big month. November 22 marked Troy's birthday as well as the one-month anniversary of Aiden becoming a U.S. citizen. We returned from China October 22. To mark the auspicious occasion(s), we went to Spezias where Troy and I had celebrated many important milestones in the adoption process. Aiden amazed us once again with his exemplary behavior. (Not even joking) It was a wonderful time. Also during the month, after much soul-searching, discussion, and talking with our social worker, we decided that I would stay home with Aiden until after the first of the year. It is another few weeks without pay, pay we're trying to figure out how we'll live without, but we feel me remaining home is important enough to warrant the loss of wages. Although he is an incredibly happy, outgoing little boy most of the time, he is having a couple issues. He is not sleeping well. I am currently sleeping on an air mattress next to his crib (until we get a portable crib in our room). He often wakes up in the middle of the night crying, looking for us. Usually, not always but usually, if he sees me, it's enough to stop his crying and get him to go back to sleep. Sometimes, though, it is even almost as though he is having night terrors. Again our social worker made a suggestion that we stay near him until he adjusts and gets over his fear of abandonment. He is starting to warm up to other people more readily now, but it is still not an instantaneous occurrance. :) My cousin Maureen adopted a child from Guatamala a while back, and what she was told was that these adopted kids, although they are as cognizant as other kids their age, they are emotionally starting at day one when they are brought home. I guess that means we have an infant that can and DOES get into everything! He is incredibly busy - SUCH a handfull! He's not busy enough to burn off all his calories, though. The little turkey has gained almost two pounds in a month! Aiden also got to participate in his first Thanksgiving. He liked the food well enough, but he really didn't have much time for that. He liked exploring the grandparents' homes. He also really enjoyed playing with his cousins. In fact, Abigail even came to our house that night to stay over. We even did a VERY little shopping on Black Friday while Abigail babysat for an hour! The other 'big' news of November? Aiden experienced his first snow. We know that they get a little snow in Xi'an, China, (which we were told usually melts in a day) but judging by his initial reaction, this was his first encounter. When I walked him out, all bundled up, he at first didn't want to walk in it. He kept putting his arms up for me to hold him. Then he'd try to retreat to the garage. I got out his little shovel he and Dad bought, and he started to get to work. By the time Dad got home from work and started to clear off the driveway, Aiden was beginning to think this snow thing is all right! It didn't hurt that Ceit, true to form, was leaping and lunging to catch the shovelsful of snow. :) All-in-all, it has been an unforgettable first month with our beautiful boy! Pictures - Top to Bottom: Abby and Aiden after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Grandma McDonald's, Birthday / Anniversary Supper at Spezias

Photos :)

2010-11-19T05:37:00.000-08:00

Bottom to top: Watching the Vikes game with Dad; Playtime! (The game stunk); First American haircut. Not a fan! Katie did a great job, though!; Post haircut supper. All better!

Post Placement Visit and Miracles!

2010-11-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

We had our first post-placement visit by our social worker on Tuesday night (11/9/10). It went really well. She was impressed with Aiden's adjustment and said the sleeping would probably resolve itself with time; he probably just needs to reassure himself that Mom and Dad are in fact still with him. He was a character that night. He is really starting to be more comfortable with other people, especially on his home turf.
Our big news, though, comes from our cardiologist appointment (11/10/10). We have experienced a miracle! We went to see Dr. Waltz, our pediatric cardiologist, where they conducted an ECG and an ultra-sound. The ECG took just a short time, and Aiden tolerated it well. During the ultra-sound, which was supposed to last 20 minutes, Aiden fell asleep. It was just as well. It took 40 minutes! Dr. Waltz even came in and took over for the tech. I guess they took upward of 200 images of his heart. They carried on a relatively lengthy conversation, and the only term I heard / understood was aneurysm. MY heart almost stopped. Afterwards, we met with Dr. Waltz (who, by the way, is amazing), and he gave us some interesting news. Apparently Aiden had not had just one hole; rather, he had a major hole and several small holes. Somehow, the large one closed on its own, and all but one of the small ones had closed. The remaining hole is small enough that there is no surgery or medications required. We do need to go back in a year, but that is the extent of it. The doctor says the prognosis is excellent! In fact his murmur is almost imperceptible. What I'm trying to say is, this is nothing short of a miracle (thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers)! Dr. Waltz was pleasantly stunned. The rest of the visit was NOT as good. It was determined that we needed to do some basic medical checks since we have no medical history. They tried to draw blood to do eight different tests. Aiden was hysterical. Unfortunately, they had to stick him FOUR times. :( The ordeal last 40 minutes, and they still didn't get enough to do all the tests. The poor little guy cried so hard, he almost threw up. It took 5 adults to hold him down. What a nightmare!
However, he recovered quickly. It wasn't long before he was running around, singing (one of his favorite pasttimes), and laughing. It probably took Mom and Dad longer to get over the trauma. The little guy is a handful! He has an amazing sense of humor. Unfortunately, he thinks he's funny, too! He loves to tease and BE teased. He smiles almost all the time and loves to give hugs and kisses. He also loves to go bye-bye. We think that can be attributed to our early days together when we were always on the run.
In short, we are stunned by the changes we've seen in the month we've been fortunate enough to have him in our lives. Today, 11/11/10 is our one month family anniversary! We are so blessed! I just don't know how I will find it in me to leave him in a couple weeks. :( I will attach updated pictures this weekend (as my dad has hip-replacement surgery tomorrow, I will not have time). Until then.....
Pictures: Tubby time with Daddy; Eating carrots with a Dorito (pretty sure that's ok!)

Doctor Appointment

2010-11-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday, 11/3/2010. It went pretty well. Although, Aiden did have a pretty significant meltdown when he saw the nurse. He must have a 6th sense about them and certainly hasn't appreciated what they have done for them in the past. On the other hand, he loved Dr. Van Es. The doctor's assessment of Aiden's overall health was positive. He actaully made the growth chart for weight. Height? Not so much. Oh well. Now, we have scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist for November 12. We're praying for good news there, too.
Before the doctor's appointment, we visited the high school. Aiden got to meet many students and held up admirably. He also got to meet several of the facutly and staff. Dr. Talcott even "bribed" him successfully with fruit snacks; Aiden smiled for him!
Even though Aiden is playing quietly by himself, not uncommon, I had better wrap this up. I am not feeling well (how fun is it to be sick with a two-year-old in the house who is still figuring out the ins and outs of this new world?) and need to go try to relax on the couch, even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up at the doctor's today, this time on my own behalf. It doesn't help that Aiden took a header onto the wooden platform of our bed last night and hours later ran full-force with his chest into our coffee table. He cried a lot last night in his sleep, and the only place he would sleep? On the floor next to his crib. :( So guess where Mom DIDN'T sleep all night. Yep. On the floor next to Aiden's crib.
I will post again soon (if not before, I will post after our doctor's appointment and tests on the 12th) with more information about Aiden's ever-chagning / evolving personality and characteristics. His true colors shine through more each day. For now, we'll just say, pretty much EVERYTHING is funny - including Mom when she says no. Cute. Till later!

Final China Days / Life at Home

2010-10-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been gently informed (thank you, Jessie) that I need to update the blog. Since Aiden is, for the time being, playing quietly with his ever-present plastic bag full of "treasures" - read: crayons, scraps of paper, a plastic stir stick, and a cardboard coaster, etc - I will try to do a brief update. I believe the last you really heard from us we were in our last day in Guangzhou. I cannot begin to describe the marathon of those last couple of days. Well, actually, I will give it a shot. After a long morning of photos with our Xi'an group and the entire Holt contingency, Troy and I made a final shopping foray into the quaint shops of the old town. I bought two Coach purses, a Coach wallet, and a Samsonite suitcase all for under $75. :) I love to haggle! Alright, trivial information, but pretty big news as far as I'm concerned! Anyway, we had to be ready for the bus to take us to the U.S. Consulate and then to the train station at 2:00. We got the visas without a hitch and then made it to the train station - with PLENTY of time to spare. All of us traveling to Hong Kong that night had to amuse our children for two hours. In a train station. Fun. Then, we had over a two hour train ride to get to Hong Kong. Luckily, there were few other people besides adoptive families in that train car, and I feel nothing but sympathy for those who were there without screaming, crying, fussing kids. It was a scene, I assure you. We'd been on the go since 2:00 with little food (except for the cheerios and other snacks we had in our diaper bags), and a cursory nap. We got to Hong Kong around 8:30 that night, if memory serves, and had to wait for our luggage, and then we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to our hotel. It was around 10:00, and we were exhausted. Aiden got some peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks before he went to bed. I'm sure he was famished as Troy and I were. He barely slept that night; I'm guessing I got in the neighborhood of 3 hours of sleep. We were up early, checked out, and to the airport with what we thought would be an abundance of time. I'm glad we left when we did. We weren't rushed and did have time for breakfast, but we didn't have a lot of time to kill before boarding then. The flight home was interminable. Wow. Even with better parenting through chemistry, Aiden was restless and irritable. He slept little, and when he did, it had to be on me (except for one short stint with Dad). There was no economy plus available, so we were packed in like sardines. 747s are NOT the way to fly! Really, though, the flight was uneventful, and he was remarkably good at O'Hare. (On a side note, when his little feet touched the ground, he became an American citizen! His first meal? McDonald's. Of course!) The 1+ hour flight from Chicago to Sioux Falls was a piece of cake. We were met at the airport by grandmas, grandpa, and a couple of uncles. They were all taken with the little guy who was, as is par for the course, extremely shy. We came home to a house with banners, flowers, gifts, and a huge pumpkin decorated with "Welcome Home Aiden." We snacked, gave Aiden a bath, and put him down for the night. I slept in his room on an air mattress so he wouldn't wake up scared. And wake up, a lot, he did! Sigh. That has been the trend. After a few nights, I moved back into our bedroom, but he continues to wake up several times during the night, a sad departure from China where he often slept straight through. Last night was progress. He only woke up three times and for short periods of time. He only slept for about 8 1/2 hours, but hey! Progress is progress! Pray we're getting things on schedule. I have heard from other families with whom we traveled, and they have said jet lag/time difference has been an issue with them as well. Hopefully it will soon be just a bad memory. Now, if I could just convince Aiden that our pets are not Satan's spawns, and he and I could kick these colds or whatever, we'd be in really good shape! Well, Aiden is still playing quietly by himself, but is showing signs of tiring of it (i.e. chucking his colors around the room and coloring on the tiles). We have to take a brief excursion; we need to replinish supplies. I will try to update in the near future should there be any note-worthy events or activities (i.e. doctor's appointments). Until then....!! Bye!
Pictures: Aiden in beautiful Guangzhou; Train to Hong Kong (this says it all!); Busy with his treasures; Ready for bed;

We're Home!

2010-10-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

We finally made it home! It was a long day of travel, which I will recount later, but suffice it to say, we are dubbing it "The Longest Day." From the time we got up in Hong Kong to the time we landed in Sioux Falls, we travelled over 24 hours and 7,700 miles. Aiden slept only a few restless hours on the plane and a few restless hours last night. (I only wish I had slept as much as he has in the last few days. Troy and I are going on far less sleep over a longer stretch.) He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:15 this a.m. Sigh. We'll see how getting his nights and days turned around goes!
Pictures: Aiden with his Welcome Home Pumpkin (Thanks Jenny & Andrew) and his Welcome Home Sign (Thanks, Jenny F!) BEFORE he woke up

Last Post from China

2010-10-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I usually post at night, but that probably won't be possible tonight, so I'm posting on Thursday morning instead. Today we leave for Hong Kong; we're taking a train. We fly out on Friday afternoon. Fourteen hours on a plane with a two year old. It ought to be interesting. He's taking a nap right now while Troy is finishing some paperwork and getting last minute instructions from Holt. Last night was a rough night. Aiden cried out a lot and would hold his arms out and say, "Mama." I committed the cardinal parenting sin and had him sleep on my chest. He needed to sleep, though, and he was obviously scared. I had to cut him some slack; we have to remind ourselves that he has been with us for less than ten days. The real drawback, other than setting an unfortunate precedent? Mommy is incredibly tired today. I need to come up with some energy from somewhere, though. We went to breakfast, came back to change into our tradition Chinese garb and went for the "red couch photo" every adoptive family takes here at the White Swan. Aiden is napping now, but when he wakes up, we have to go buy a new suitcase, and I have to go buy a knock-off purse. At some point we need to get lunch and repack. All of this needs to be done by 2:00. It's 11:00 now. Ah well. I work best under pressure anyway! :)Wish me luck! I'll try to blog from Hong Kong tomorrow a.m. before we leave. If not, please pray for us and that we return to SD well and intact!
Photo: (Kung Fu) Aiden in his tradition Chinese clothes

Relaxing Day

2010-10-20T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty quiet day. We didn't get out of bed until a little after 7:00 due in part to Aiden's restless night. He cried out several times and tossed and turned a lot. We repacked a little to see if we need another piece of a luggage; we're pretty sure we do. We may have gone a little crazy with souveniers here in China. Huh. Wierd. That doesn't sound like me....
We went for a late breakfast and then hit the playroom. After that, it was naptime for Aiden. Since he was sleeping for a bit, I dediced I deserved a 70 minute foot rub. After all, it was only 88 Yuan (about $14). Yeah. Ow!!! Seriously. I'm relatively certain these guys got a masters' degree in torture and sadism. They had me stick my feet into water that literally burned my legs. I almost cried. Eventaully, of course, my legs went numb, or I thought they had, but when they started to "rub" my feet and calves, I realized they were not numb enough! By coincidence, a fellow Xi'an traveler, Bob, was there at the same time as I was, and we had our massages at the same time. He is a former beat cop from Pittsburgh and a DEA agent, and he was almost in tears. We figured that a Cat 5 typhoon will be nothing in comparison.
When I came home, Daddy and the boy were playing nicely together. I told Troy, the look on Aiden's face when he saw me walk through the door was worth the $30,000! His face split into an elated grin that melted my heart. The hug that followed ensured I would be wrapped around his finger forever! It was so nice, too, that Daddy and son had some more time together.
We went down to the Deli and grabbed a couple sandwhiches and some chips for a late lunch outside. The wind is really picking up around here. Aiden was a super good boy at meal time again, but nothing will compare with supper last night. He was an angel. We went to a pretty swanky restaurant. We hadn't realized that until we were already inside. Fortunately, Aiden stole the show. It was a pretty locals-only type crowd and the waitresses really didn't speak much English, but they loved Aiden!
We went shopping again after lunch today. Our little guy is starting to assert some independence and made walking the streets a challenge. He still wants to be held a majority of the time, but when he's down, he sometimes likes to run ahead. When we got back, we went to spend some time out by the pool and then in the playroom again. We're back in the room for some time for Aiden - he likes to have some alone time. Soon we'll be off to supper. I'm hoping to talk Troy into the Cow and Bridge, Thai food, but I'm not holding my breath. Then we'll do our last bit of shopping. Tomorrow we leave Guangzhou. Sad. I love it here! Well, hopefully we'll be back again someday!! ;)
Pictures: Out by the pool and my burnt leg!!

Oath Taking Ceremony

2010-10-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

We had our appointment at the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou today (on the trip there and back, I was reminded just how crazy the traffic is here - seriously, the lines and signs are not even suggestions, rather mere decorations) and took an oath so we could obtain Aiden's visa on Thursday. If everything goes well, we get it that afternoon and head to Hong Kong that night. God willing, we fly out of Hong Kong on Friday afternoon and arrive in Sioux Falls Friday night. We didn't do much else today other than the oath taking ceremony and some shopping. Love doing that! Probably the biggest news of the day is --- Aiden and Daddy have played together a couple times. Both times included Daddy holding, tickling and cuddling with Aiden. Of course, Daddy is willing to do some crazy things Mommy would never dream of doing, and Mommy tends to get a little nervous, but the boys are having a great time and they are bonding! One step closer to Mommy not carrying the little tyke everywhere. It's hard to believe we only have one full day left in Guangzhou. It has been beautiful, amazing, and so much fun. I'm not sure I'm ready to head back home and to reality. Besides, these upper 80s are seeming pretty nice right now. Pretty sure tomorrow will be a nice lazy day out by the pool. After all, there's only so much shopping I can ask Troy to do! :)

TB Test - NEGATIVE!

2010-10-18T06:26:00.001-07:00

Good news! Our little guy's TB test was negative. That was the "big event" of the day. I knew it was ok, though, because I had to search to even find where they had stuck him for the test. It was still a little traumatic for him. I think he remembered the place, and when the nurse grabbed his arm to check, he had a mild melt-down. But I was holding him, so as soon as I stood up, it was all good. My big news is, after the check, we came back and put Aiden down for a nap, at which point I got to go out with some other adoptive mothers for some shopping. We've made the most amazing friends whom we assume will be so for life. They're great. Peggy, Leslie, and I had some shopping time to ourselves. I love to haggle, and this is the place for that! Troy stayed back with Aiden while he napped, and I got an hour and a half of non-Aiden-toting. It was heaven. Don't get me wrong, I love him more than anything in this world, but I cannot begin to express the searing pain that riddles my back and arms. A week of non-stop lugging (and by non-stop, I mean almost literally constant carrying) is causing some serious pain and strain. When I came back, Aiden and Daddy were just hanging. He'd been up for about 10 minutes, but no tears had been shed - PROGRESS! We then went to Subway. Um. Yuck. It looks the same. It is not. Their mayo? Sweet. Gross. Aiden seemed to like it though. We did a little looking at some souveniers on the way home; our little man had a blast going up and down the three stairs in front of the shops. He and Daddy spent about 20 minutes doing that. We're pretty sure he's not had much experience with that, something we hadn't considered. After our excursion, we came home to reorgannize luggange and check gifts; we had to see what we still needed to get. Sorry Heritage - those presents are not for you! ;) Then, it was off to supper with our Xi'an travel group. Our time with them is getting short, and it makes us a little sad. Hopefully, though, we'll all meet up eventually again; we would love to stay in touch with them. Once we got home, it was tubbie time with Aiden. It's interesting. He's adapted to baths which at first freaked him out. Now he loves to play in the tub! Now he's sawing logs, and I'm getting ready to call it a night. It was a great day. Tomorrow = oath taking ceremony. We are so close. Now, if Super Typhoon Megi will allow us to make it home, we'll really start our quest. Raising Aiden. (BTW, he's turning out to be a HANDFUL!!!! We'll have to fill everybody in on that when we have more time. And energy!) Zai jian!
Pictures above: Troy and Aiden at bed time; breakfast at the White Swan

Playtime with Aiden

2010-10-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

He melts our hearts every time with this!

We're In Guangzhou

2010-10-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

We're in the home stretch; we're in Guangzhou. Friday was a marathon day. Poor kids. In the morning, we went down for breakfast and made plans to go walk the ancient wall around Xi'an. Aiden, who believes we are attached, had to be hauled around in the baby "front"pack. It was pretty warm, and he sweats like no other. When we got done walking the ancient city wall, we tried to get the little man to nap to no avail. We had lunch at Dico's; again, it's China's answer to KFC (although KFC itself is ubiquitous here). It was then back to our hotel to do last minute packing and rearranging. David, our guide, came over to confirm some paperwork and tell us our passport for Aiden had arrived. We left our hotel at 3:30 and didn't get to the airport until 5:15. The flight started boarding at 5:30!! We're relatively certain they held the plane for us. Aiden traveled like a champ until the end of the flight. He was getting tired, but he was still a really good boy. After the 2 1/2 hour flight, we had to take a bus from the tarmac to the terminal. THEN we had to wait for about an hour to get our luggage. Have I mentioned Aiden will let nobody hold him except me? As you can imagine, he did not want to walk at this point either. Everybody was starting to get a little frustrated and tired, and we still had an hour to our hotel, The White Swan. But that wasn't the end. They made us sit in the lobby and confirm some paperwork. Grrr. All the while, since we'd boarded the bus, Aiden had been sawing logs but was restless and sweaty. When we finally got to our rooms (nice enough, but in a faded, worn kind of way and maybe moldy smelling?), we had to wait for the bellboy to bring up our luggage. We were not well-pleased. I should have recognized this for the foreshadowing it was. Saturday was pretty awful. We had to go get Aiden's medical check up and his vaccinations. It was a nightmare. He doesn't like me to put him down in the best of situations, and this most definitely was not the best situation. After his check-up, during which he sobbed, we had to get EIGHT shots. :( The poor kid was treated like a pin cushion, and it is such an assembly line, they just jab 'em in and move the kids along. I'm not sure who cried harder, Aiden or me. He's a trooper, though. We went and got lunch, and then Troy had to do some visa paperwork. Aiden and I chilled in the hotel room. The little man finally took a nap, and then just the three of us went to supper at Lucy's (American / Italian cuisine, so they claim). There were a lot of adoptive parents there; it's nice to talk with them, commiserate. Uncharacteristically, Aiden woke up a couple times, crying out in his sleep. Those darn shots! Today, though, he's been his normal silly self. We went to the pearl and jade wholesale markets today (Aiden, true to his M.O. slept in the Ergo and sweated all over me). I did some damage! Too fun. I love to bargain. Now it's back here in the hotel (Aiden loves playing by himself; we're sure it's a nice change of pace from having to share attention and toys with a bunch of other kids) while we wait for an afternoon tea with the other families. Tomorrow is the TB test check, but other than that, we're free. Peggy, from our Xi'an group, and I are going to see what kind of bargains we can strike in the nearby shops. Hey, I saw a "Rolex" going for 120 Yuan (less than$20). I'm pretty sure I "need" it! ;) More later!
Pics above: The lobby of our hotel, The White Swan; Aiden at his medical appointment - sad day; the fam on the ancient wall around Xi'an

Terra Cotta Warriors

2010-10-14T02:10:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the Terra Cotta Warriors. It was impressive! It's hard to imagine they were made over 2200 years ago. The vastness of the museum / site is hard to comprehend, as I'm finding with a lot of sights in China! Troy has mentioned it would be so cool to take his 6th graders on field trips here! He thinks they'd LOVE it!
We left the hotel around 9:00 this morning after breakfast. A side note, meal times, which we had initially thought would be a piece of cake, are turning into challenges. The kid thinks he's a regular comedian. We'll talk more about that later, too. Anyway, we woke up at 5:30 because Aiden woke up coughing. That would not have been too bad, but it was after midnight when I went to sleep last night, so I was / am a little tired. We got to the original kiln about an hour after we left the hotel. We toured that and bought a small replica of a warrior as a momento of Aiden's home province. It was another 1/2 hour after that tour to the actual site of the warriors. Aiden will still have nothing of Troy carrying him and has decided he hates the Baby Ergo (carrier), so I have to haul him around. This is the third day of lugging him around, and my arms and back are starting to scream! The first site would have been sufficient for us; it was what you typically see when you see documentaries or information about the warriors. It was not to be, though. It was on to the video (standing only), and then a walk to the restaraunt for lunch. Aiden was WAY over tired by this point, and Mommy wasn't holding up much better. To make matters worse, they had no seats for Aiden, and when he's on my lap, he thinks it's cute to grab stuff on the table. This time, my guard was down, and he managed to snag a cup of hot noodle soup. Of course it found its way to my lap. Fun. So, Troy had to hold him while I tried to find a way to clean up as we still had an hour of the tour left. You should have heard the fit he pitched. In fact, some of you may have! Another fun tidbit, bathrooms here are NOT like they are back home. Ask me when we get back if you're interested! There was no way to clean up, so I just air dried on the rest of the tour, all the while lugging our little turkey around. At this point, he's not feeling so little even though he is itty bitty. Thankfully by the time we got to the bronze chariots, he conked out. This kid can sleep anywhere and through anything. It's crazy! Troy got to hold him while we waited to reassemble and on the hour long trip back to the hotel. It was a nice respite!
We don't have a lot planned for the rest of the day and night. We're going to grab a bite to eat and start getting our stuff ready for our trip out tomorrow. We leave for Guangzhou around 6:00 tomorrow night. SO, Heritage students, I will not be posting tomorrow in all likelihood!! God willing we make it to our next destination, I will post on our local Saturday sometime. :) Pray for our safe flight though, ok?!?! We hope you have a great rest of the week; it's hard to imagine we're finishing up here in Xi'an and coming to the close of our most amazing week EVER!

Down Day

2010-10-13T01:28:00.000-07:00

Ok. There's not much news from today as it was kind of a "down day." I am posting an update, though, because I didn't want my students to think I had died! ;) Anyway, last night was kind of traumatic. We discovered eye glasses scare Aiden. Actually, they seem to terrify him. I felt terrible. We were going to Skype; I got ready for bed, put my glasses on, turned to Aiden to tell him to come to me, and he began to wail. It was beyond sad. He really hasn't taken to Troy yet (we're pretty sure he has had little to nothing to do with men - only women work as caregivers at orphanages), so he had nobody to really comfort him last night. He did go to Troy and eventually cried himself to sleep (really only cried for about 5 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity). This morning we woke up - late, at 6:30 - and he was still freaked out. Thankfully it only lasted about 15 - 20 minutes. The downside to him bonding with me? My arms are killing me! It feels like I've torn muscles in my biceps. This afternoon we went to a locals' restaraunt thanks to our guide, David. It was FABULOUS! There was more food than I can even describe. The total bill came to about $10 per person. Ridiculous. Too bad we've mostly eaten at touristy places that are way overpriced and not that good (although the food has been amazing). Now we're getting ready to go to an opera-type show and then an 18 course dumpling meal. Aiden only had an hour nap - ON me - today. He was kind of a handful at lunch, so we're praying he won't be exhausted and naughty tonight! Wish us luck!

Adoption - OFFICIAL!

2010-10-12T02:22:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Civil Affairs building again, the same place we picked up Aiden. We answered some questions, signed some more papers, and even added our thumbprints to some documents (Aiden added his tiny little footprint), and we are officially Aiden's mom and dad. It should probably seem more surreal than it does. I guess it was just meant to be. It feels right that he is ours, probably in part because the process has been so long, and we were matched back in January. It also seems more than coincidental that he is legally our son on the anniversary of my sister's passing. It seems like she is and has been watching over the whole journey.
Aiden's personality is really starting to shine through. He is quiet and plays very, very well on his own. As I am typing this, he is running back and forth from the bedroom area to the bathroom....throwing his books on the bathroom floor. Don't ask me. He's two and he's a boy! (You should see the disaster area that is our room. It makes me laugh!) He also discovered his stacking cups and loves them. What really cracks me up isn't that he can spread them all out and still get them back together; what cracks me up is when he puts them upside down and makes a tower. (He is a problem solver and appears to be kind of analytical). Another little insight into his personality is his sense of humor. At breakfast, he will pretend like he is going to feed me, pull the food away, stuff it in his mouth, give me a half grin and giggle.
The down side of parenting a newly adopted child? He, as many children do, has bonded with one parent. Me. It sounds fabulous for the bondee, right? Well, it IS wonderful when he says, "Mama." It is just too bad that it usually happens when he is sobbing because I have had the audacity to put him down. My poor arms and back. We busted out the "baby backpack" today. After a full day of appointments, we had to go shopping. We brought 2T, 24 month, and even 18 month clothes. NOPE! He is almost too small for 12 month clothes! He is itty bitty! The diapers we got? Too big, too. He also has a miserable cold, so Troy had to get some medicine for his cough and runny nose. It doesn't seem to be slowing him down. He loves to play with us and by himself. He is, though, very mellow and really goes with the flow. He woke up at 5:30 this a.m. after going to bed at 9:30 last night. He slept for about 20 minutes at the Civil Affairs office, but other than that has gone all day and been a real trooper! We just love him tooo much! We're all shot though. It's pizza in the room tonight.
Well, sorry for rambling on for so long. There's just so much to we want to share! :) Thanks for taking the time to read the rantings of enamored parents!

Introducing......

2010-10-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

Aiden Joseph RenJie Sturgeon! We were blessed to have him join us just after 3:00 PM local time. He cried for about 30 seconds, I pulled out a toy car, and he hasn't cried since. At first, he looked a little shell-shocked and maybe sad, but as the day / night has worn on, we're really starting to see his personality. It looks like he's going to have a good sense of humor and may be more than a little mischievous. He did sit quietly through an hour-long meal playing with his toy cars and eating when we fed him. As I type this, he is looking out the hotel window playing with his toy car and truck. In the last few minutes, he has starting pointing and babbling. Well, I think it's babbling. For all I know, he could be saying something profound. He's smiling all the time now, too. Also, not that anybody cares about this, but it is a good sign: he already did his "stinky business." It's good because if a child is unduly stressed, they often become constipated. NOT SO MUCH HERE! :( It would appear he's pretty relaxed with us. Let me put it this way; Troy's out getting supplies and Aiden has been contentedly playing by himself. Ooops. Until just now. He just climbed onto my lap and is watching me type this. I will type more later, but it's past his bed time and we still need to bathe him and get him to bed. I guess the important thing to know is, we love him more than we could have imagined already, and it looks like he may be willing to tolerate us! More later, but that's the quick version. We're head-over-heels in love!!!

This Is It!

2010-10-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

Well. Here we go! We've been up since 5:30 and trying to kill time since then. Now, all of a sudden, it's here! We leave for the Department of Civil Affairs in about 30 minutes. My stomach is a giant knot and my chest hurts; I'm relatively certain I should not have eaten at Dico's (China's homegrown version of KFC). I don't even know how to put into words the emotions. There are a myriad, I assure you, ranging from excitement, relief, and happiness to fear and uncertainty. Come what may, this is what we've been striving for all this time. God be with us! Next time I blog, it will be as Aiden's mommy. "Dad" is in the room pacing, chewing his nails, and checking the time. You'd think this was the waiting room in a labor and delivery wing. ;) ......And we're off!

Let Down / Disappointment

2010-10-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

We've had a bit of a disappointment today. By a bit, I mean I'm borderline despondent. When we got into Xi'an a couple hours ago, we were informed by our guide, David, that we (there are five couples in our adoption group)won't be getting our children until tomorrow. I could try to console myself with the notion that that gives us time to get our ducks in a row and rest up before we get him tomorrow instead of traveling 1/2 a day and then having to start trying to bond, but in reality, it's just another day to be tense and uptight. It is only one extra day, but these 24 hours may seem like an eternity. At least we know we're in the same town. Of course, it's a good thing I don't know where the orphanage is; if I did, I'd get a taxi, drive over there, and drag him home with me! :) Just kidding.....kind of! Sorry to everybody who was waiting for pics and info. The best I can do is a photo of a photo we got yesterday at orientation. I pray to have the real deal tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

Here We Go!

2010-10-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting yesterday. It was a big day, and we were exhausted by the time it was time to call it a night. Yesterday morning was orientation. We got three new pictures and new information about Aiden. What we learned is, he might be a handful! His caregivers say he is quiet and timid and helps "comfort the younger children." He usually is willing to share his toys, BUT if he doesn't want to and they would try to force him, he would throw his toy and run away. Uh oh! Also, if his caregivers ignored him while handing out toys or food, he wouldn't cry, but he WOULD "make a voice" to get their attention. Again. Uh oh! The actual scary information we got, though, was that he is very scared of strangers. If somebody he doesn't know tries to hug him, he will run away. This is not good. We are truly worried about today. Please pray for us.
That was the most important part of our day. After orientation, we went to the Forbidden City. I cannot describe the scale of it. It was impressive and beautiful. I took just shy of a gazillion pictures. Everywhere I turned, there was a photo op! Thank goodness for digital cameras!! We walked through the Forbidden City to Tiannamen Square. Talk about a massive space. According to our guide, about 1 million people can fit in there. We got our shot of Troy, me and Chairman Mao. :) We also took a picture of one of the two remaining original gates to the city. It's barely visible because of the smog. It's been that way the whole time. Annoying. We visited a silk factory where I refrained from buying anything. Yay me! When we got home, we decided we needed to visit the night market and go get a picture of the oldest (implying there is more than one!) Catholic church in Beijing. We wandered the streets and fell in love with the city. Of course we did. We're leaving! Like Troy always says, though. Just know we'll come back!
I have to sign off now. We leave in 20 minutes for the airport. We are finally off to get Aiden. (God willing. Please pray we get there!) The time is here. Oh my goodness!!!! :) :) :)

The Great Wall was....well...GREAT!

2010-10-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

This morning started bright and early. We're still having trouble with night and day, so I was up and at 'em around 4:30 this morning. Troy finally gave up trying to sleep around 5:30 and got up. This gave us time to get ready, Skype with family, and have a leisurely breakfast before leaving for the Great Wall. I'm so grateful we made it there. Words wouldn't do justice to the "creative" driving of the Chinese people - or at least those in and around Beijing. SCARY! And exciting. :) We got to the Wall around 11:30 and spent about two hours walking it. The first half hour to forty-five minutes we strolled and took about a gazillion pictures. Then, I looked to the top of the mountain and said to Troy, "We HAVE to go there." At first, Troy was dead-set against the notion. As we rounded the last corner before we would have to make our final assualt on the Wall, Troy said, "I haven't come this far not to do it." So, up we went; we made the ascent. Talk about feeling the burn. We did it, though. We hiked up to the final "legal" watch towers. Others went beyond the sign warning against it, but we had to be back to our guide by 1:00. Suffice it to say, we had to have set some kind of record for the distance we covered in the time we covered it. After our trek, we were treated to a delicious (real) Chinese lunch. Now we're exhausted. Luckily, we have masseuers coming to our hotel room tonight. Our poor muscles will be screaming before long! After our messages, we plan to finally go for our Peking duck supper, walk the night market, and if we have the energy, walk to the Forbidden City to take night photos. Tomorrow is our orientation!!! We get more information and learn about what the rest of the trip will bring us. In 48 hours, we will have Aiden!! It is hard to comprehend that this journey is nearing its completion. Our son will soon be in our arms. Praise the good Lord! Thanks again to everybody who helped us get this far. We love you!

Day 3 - The Summer Palace

2010-10-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

It turns out I have had to drag myself out of bed to type this latest update. Jet lag is still dragging us down a little bit which is frustrating. Today we woke up to a smoggy (it's being called fog by our guides, but we have our doubts!) Beijing morning. We were understandably disappointed. It makes sightseeing a little less awe-insipiring. Notice I say less; it is still certainly amazing. Our guide and driver picked us up in the lobby at 9:00. We went first to the Summer Palace. It is spectacular. The grounds were breathtaking even through the haze. After that, we went to a nearby pearl store where they use fresh water oysters' pearls from nearby Kunming Lake. I found a gorgeous lavendar pearl (black pearl, but really looks like a light purple)necklace that I thought was more than a little out of our price range. Troy said this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip and insisted I get it! It's beautiful! After the stop at the store, we went to the hutongs. We got rides in bike rikshaws. What a sight! I'm sure the man peddaling had doubts about having to haul Troy and me around. :) We even got to stop and see a typical home in the hutong and talk - through our guide - about his life in this ancient part of the city. Our last stop of the day was at a tea house. We learned about different kinds of tea in China. We have learned just how important tea is in the Chinese culture; it's not just a cliche! Jasmine tea is associated with Beijing, but I bought leche (sp) tea and dried rose to use with it. Again, it was money we hadn't planned to spend, and we're not sure how we'll haul it home, but as Troy pointed out, we only come to Beijing/China for the first time once! :) That was it for the day. We had planned on massages and Peking duck, but I laid down around 6:00 (after walking the pedestrian area for awhile) for a "short nap." Well, it's almost 9:00 P.M., I just changed into jammies, and Troy is snoring away as I type. I guess we're done for today! Hopefully we'll get massages tomorrow after our trip to the Great Wall and eat Peking duck as a grand finale. Jet lag is rough! We pray we're over it in a couple days. 10/10/10 = Gottcha Day!!!!!

Days 1 & 2 - We're in Beijing!

2010-10-06T01:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Beijing! As Troy has said more than once since we got here, "We're not in Kansas anymore!" It's surreal. We've been up since 3:00 yesterday morning which is hard for us to comprehend since the sun never went down on our flight over the Arctic Circle. (Both flights were uneventful, thanks be to God!) Can I just say, a 14 hour flight seems interminable?! We had relatively comfortable seats in economy plus, but nothing really makes up for FOURTEEN HOURS IN A TIN CAN AT 38,000 FEET! :) Now we're trying to imange, or rather trying not to think about, the return flight with a two year old in seats not in economy plus. YIKES!

We've been up for 25 hours now and need to stay awake for another three at least. If we can stay up until 8:00, we will be close to getting our nights and days on track quickly. Actually, neither Troy nor I are that sleepy. Shell-shocked, yes. Sleepy, no. Our room here is nice but has a...well...distinct odor. I'm glad I brought a Yankee Candle car freshner with us! We put it in front of the A/C unit. We need the A/C today, too. It's about 82 degrees here and very smoggy.

Ok, I'm rambling for which I apologize. It has been a long day. We're off to the Summer Palace tomorrow a.m. In the afternoon we may wander, but thus far, the city seems to be lacking much charm. We'll try to find it, though! Till later....

A Shower for Aiden

2010-09-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last night some ladies from work had a shower for Aiden. It was so sweet of them all. Since Aiden's not technically a baby and we're, well, not "spring chickens," I hadn't really thought about a shower. It was a great time, though. We had drinks, appetizers, and cake(s). Then we opened our little guy's presents. Aiden got a lot of toys, books, and gift cards. The people I work with are generous to a fault. We have had so many other details on our minds trying to get ready to go that we hadn't even thought about the fun stuff for Aiden's return home. Now he will be able to play for hours! The shower made the fact that we leave for China in about 2 1/2 weeks more of a reality. It dawned on me that soon, instead of doing paperwork and preparing for travel, in just over a month....we'll have a TODDLER taking over the house with his toys and running our world! We can't wait! :)

China Itinerary

2010-09-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

We were hoping to get our in-country information this week and had all but given up hope since nothing had come in by 7:00 our time (5:00 West Coast time). At 9:30, though, on a Friday night no less, we got an email (God Bless the BlackBerry for keeping me constantly linked!) with our tentative schedules. We know where we're staying, when we'll be taking tours, and when we'll be conducting official adoption business. We have also learned that we will never really be responsible for taking care of anything. :) It should be a nice change of pace from our usual travels. Holt, our adoption agency, and Lotus, the travel agency, pretty much handle everything. Expensive, granted, but the peace of mind should be worth it! In Beijing from 10/6 - 10/10, we'll be staying at the Novotel Peace. During that time, we're going to explore Mutianyu Great Wall and Hutong Lane as well as Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Holt will also take us to visit a silk factory. Then we're off to Xi'an where we'll stay at the Xi'an Hyatt Regency - for the first time as a family of three!!! After "Gottcha Day!" on the 10th, we have adoption registration and notarization at Civil Affair Bureau and Aiden's passport application on the 11th. On the 12th we'll do some shopping for supplies. The 13th is a visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. On the 14th, we will tour the Wild Goose Pagoda. We fly (with a 2 year old who has known us for 4 1/2 days!) to Guangzhou on Oct. 15 where we will be staying at the White Swan Hotel. The 16th is paperwork and medical check day, but we have the 17th as a free day. Oct. 18 it's back to the medical clinic if needed. On the 19th we have a visa appointment. The 20th is oath-taking day. Aiden will officially become our son! (Even though he really will have been for our son for 9 months at that point!) On the 21st we will get Aiden's visa if all goes well, and that night we will take a train to Hong Kong. We're staying near the airport that night at the Regal Hotel because we fly out on Oct. 22 at 12:35 PM. We wish we had built in a day to explore Hong Kong, but we'll probably be exhausted and just want to get that 14+ hour flight over with! We'll have to tour it next time. :) Now. We just have to wait for the invoice that accompanies this newly-received itinerary! Sigh. ;) Oh well. In 24 days when we take off, none of the money stuff will matter. We'll be headed out to get our son and bring him home!!!

Consulate Appointment / Travel Dates!

2010-08-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine, but it has finally happened. We got our consulate appointment! We leave for Beijing, China, on October 5. Our plan is as follows:
Arrive in Bejing on October 6 (We're scheduled to land at 2:40 PM local time. We had decided to go a day early because all the other flights we had looked at landed at about 11:30 PM on the 6th. Looks like we're going to have an extra day we hadn't really planned on. Oh well!)
October 7, depending on how we feel, will probably be a "down day," a day to adjust and refresh. But, since we are getting in so early the previous day, we may be up to finding some local sights.
October 8 we are taking a day trip / tour to The Great Wall and the hutongs. It's difficult to comprehend we're actually going to see these. We are so blessed!
October 9 we have our orientation with Holt, and then as a group, we will visit Tiannamen Square and The Forbidden City.
The next day, October 10, we are scheduled to go to Aiden's province, Shaanxi, with three other couples. October 10 is GOTTCHA DAY! We will meet our son in Xian. There are no words to express our excitement and joy! We had hoped to make the group traveling in September, but it was not to be. And to be honest, this will just give us some more time get everything ready and make sure we have the essentials. Now that we know it is going to be October 10, it just seems right. I am reminded yet again that God's timing is perfect! We will be in Xian until October 15 while we wait for....paperwork. Go figure. While we are there, we hope to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors and maybe the hanging monestary. There are so many sights to see, we're sure to keep busy - assuming Aiden will have it! :) It ought to be interesting. We'll make sure to take video. I'm sure everybody will get a kick out of watching us try to travel with a 27 month old. It ought to prove amusing; hopefully for us as well. Here's praying we can keep our sense of humor!
October 15, if everything is processed on time and properly, we will fly to Gauangzhou. It's far enough south - Tropic of Cancer south - that it should be really warm. We kind of hope it's cold back in SD so we can feel particularly pleased with ourselves. Sorry. Of course, this means we we're packing for three different climates, though. Ah well. While in Guangzhou, we have our consulate appointment on October 19. We should receive Aiden's US visa on October 21. During this time, Aiden will officially, legally become OUR SON!! (Of course, as far as we're concerned, he's has been our boy since January!)
On October 21, we will take a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. Again, this new experience should be interesting. Catching a train with all our luggage and a two year old? Luckily, there are other families who will be doing the same thing. It will be nice to have other American's who will be doing the "deer in the headlights" thing. We're relatively experienced travelers, but Asia may be a little overwhelming even for us!
We fly home from Hong Kong at 12:35 on October 22. If we're on time, Aiden will put his feet on American ground (after a 14+ hour flight - sigh) around 1:54 CST and officially become an American citizen! Our flight is scheduled to land in Sioux Falls at 7:34 PM. We're so grateful that Mom and Dad are willing to house-sit for us so we know we'll be coming home to well-cared-for pets and a house that is still standing.
It is almost incomprehensible that this journey that has lasted thus far just over a year is nearing its completion, or is just starting depending on how you look at it! We've made it because of everybody's support, prayers, and good wishes. Again, we are blessed beyond belief.
Aiden, sweetheart, we're almost on our way!!!

TA!!

2010-08-13T17:34:00.001-07:00

Well, we didn't think it was going to happen today since it was getting so late, but it did. We got our travel approval! Yay! I should listened to my instincts. I told Troy last week that we would get it today, and sure enough, we received our email, and a phone call, early this evening. I must temper this exciting news with a dose of reality, though. I talked to the "travel guy" at Holt, and he did NOT excude confidence that we would be able to travel with the others who have gotten September consulate appointments. It's a very real possibility that all the appointments are booked. Now, he did not discount it entirely, but let's just say his tone did not engender a great deal of hope in me. I guess what I'm trying to say in my rambling is, we still have no idea when we will be traveling to China to get our son. We are praying with all our heart that we will miraculously get in and be able to go in a few weeks, but until next week sometime, we will have no further information. It's gonna be a long weekend. On the bright side, it would have been a LOT longer had we not gotten our TA today! Praise the Good Lord we got it and pray we will be traveling in the VERY NEAR future!

Article 5 and visas

2010-08-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we have reached another milestone in this journey - or would marathon be a more appropriate analogy. The international adoption process in general, the China program in particular, is NOT for the faint of heart! After doing a little independent (aka frowned upon, but I'm not known for my patience) research, I learned that the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou had forwarded our Article 5 to the CCAA on July 26. We weren't informed by Holt of our A5 until July 30, but we're holding out hope that we get our Travel Approval (TA) in the next week or two!! We can be ready to go anytime now because we got our visas via FedEx today! After our TA we get our Consulate Appointment (CA), and then we make our travel arrangements. I know. It's a lot of letters and numbers, but suffice it to say, we only have two more hurdles to clear and we should be China-bound. The down-side to all of this is, if we don't get a quick TA and our CA is thereby pushed back, we could be looking at a December "Gotcha Day." :( Holt is sending a group to China mid-September. If we don't get into that group, we may be facing a long wait. In October and November, China has trade fairs, is hosting the Asian Games, and has a government holiday for a week. It could be very difficult, if not impossible, and extremely expensive to get a consulate date or lodging and transportation at that time. We would certainly appreciate any and all prayers and positive thoughts for a fast TA. Thanks! Here's hoping I'll be posting again SOON with good news!

Updated Information

2010-07-20T14:59:00.001-07:00

We're so excited! We got some new information today. We can't get any updated medical exams or anything at this point, but we were able to get some general, observable information from the "nannies." Here's what we now know:

Aiden walks and runs well. He likes to play hide-and-seek. He can even tie his shoes!! He doesn't like to talk much (are we SURE this is our boy? Or is he already preparing for Mom and Dad to be talking so much he won't be able to get a word in edge-wise?), but he does like to smile. We've been told he understands adults and that he has very expressive eyes.
His favorite foods are sweet foods - bananas, watermelon....and sugar (he is his father's son!). Every day he eats rice, noodles, porridge, and steamed stuffed bun. Apparently he has a great appetite, according to his caretakers, and doesn't pick at his food. He IS our boy!
Our hearts melted when we learned his favorite toy right now is a teddy bear. They made a point to tell us he likes to hold it in "his hug," but he is willing to share it with others. I may have teared up at that!
They say that for the most part he is a sound, deep sleeper, but occassionally he is awakened by sounds or noises. Most importantly, he has been healthy!

We were so excited to have new news, we wanted to share! We did have somebody on a message board share some rather disheartening information, though. She had heard that if we don't travel in September (the longer we're without our Article 5, the less likely that becomes), chances are we won't travel until December. During October and November in China, there are trade fairs and the Asian Games, so we'd be pushed back until the next month. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we go before then. December is an eternity away!

New Photos!

2010-07-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I said to Troy, "I need something. Anything. I've got to have something to hold on to, to get me through another week of waiting." Lo and behold, my prayers were answered! We got new pictures and measurements on Aiden. He looks like such a little peanut. We may be partial, but Troy and I think he is painfully cute! His head has been shaved. We may never know the reason for sure, but since I track the weather in Xi'an (the city nearest Aiden that I can check), we may be able to surmise why. It is excrutiatingly hot there - high temps and high humidity. Lately it has been in the upper 90s there with a heat index in triple digits and not cooling much at night. Poor little guy. After doing some research on orphanages in China, it's a pretty safe bet there is no a/c there. We pray he's not miserable. On the bright side, at least he'll weather South Dakota summers like a champ!

Now, we were thrilled to get the pictures today; however, the measurements leave us scratching our heads. According to the newest information, Aiden has shrunk 4cm, lost 1.5kg, has 3 fewer teeth, and his feet are smaller. Hmmmm. We're going with the theory that one of the updates we got was wrong. :) Our adoption agency is looking into it, but by the looks of the picture, our theory is the smaller measurements are probably the right ones. Did I mention he just a little peanut?

It's hard to imagine we can love somebody we haven't even met yet. We do, though! When I look at him, it's an almost physical pain I want to hold him so badly. We continue to ask for prayers that it will happen sooner rather than later.

Our First Aiden Post

2010-07-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is the first post on a blog we really don't know how to operate. We do have a purpose, though. We want friends and family to be able to follow us as we set out on our final leg of our journey to adopt. We began this adventure just about exactly a year ago. At the very end of July 2009, we decided to attend a webinar sponsored by Holt International. When we got done, we discussed and prayed and knew international adoption was our calling! Now, a year later, we are inching ever closer to our destination: our son, Feng Ren Jie - Aiden Joseph - and China. At the end of January, we received our referral and Aiden's pictures. We had our son!

The process has been nothing short of arduous and grueling, but with the support of our friends, family, colleagues, and community (not to mention the amazing staff at Holt), we are nearing the culmination of all the hard work and not a few tears. We had the amazing paperchase, the physicals, the readying of the home, and so much more, but hopefully, within a few short months, we will be boarding a plane that will wing us half a world away to a land where we can complete our family. We will be going to Beijing, the Shaanxi Province, and Guangzhou. Today started what we would like to think of as the final phase. We received our letter from the National Visa Center stating our information had been forwarded to China. Once they ok us, we get our Article 5, apply for our visas, and get our travel approval we'll be off to get our boy! We welcome you to follow us as we conclude our journey and become a family!