Psalm 90:1-2 – Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God.

Yesterday (Tuesday), was a lot more relaxing than Monday. By the way, I’m pretty sure it was primarily nerves that was causing my stomach difficulty, as we ate at the same Chinese restaurant Monday night and I had no ill effects. In the morning, we hung around the hotel room after our elaborate breakfast. These meals are amazing! They have everything you can imagine, even sushi (yuck, in my opinion). It has been cool to watch Josiah eat pretty much anything we set in front of him. So far, he won’t eat banana or pumpkin soup (we really are trying almost everything). He did kind of have an upset stomach yesterday and what we’re feeding him probably has something to do with that, so we’ll try to hold back. We’re just so excited to see a kid eat fruit and vegetables!

Later in the morning, we went out for a walk in the park across the street. We were getting the usual stares. We are starting to understand that this must be the way of their culture. Staring isn’t acceptable in the US, but here it is normal and common. When we were at the park, there were a couple men playing Chinese instruments and a woman was standing there singing. It looked very impromptu (we forgot the camera). Another person was staring at us closely, so Katherine waved and Steve videotaped him (true confessions … to make sure I had footage of him if he decided to accost usJ). He smiled and then others came over almost as if that was an invitation to talk to us. They started talking to us in Chinese … they knew zero English. Katherine was able to communicate in her minimal Chinese enough to let them know we didn’t understand (although I later learned through our conversation that I was telling them I didn’t know anything – LOL!). We were able to tell them Sheehan and Josiah’s names, where they were from, how old they were, that they were our sons and that Sheehan didn’t understand Chinese, but Josiah did, and that we were from America and that I only knew a tiny bit of Chinese. One man was ranting and raving and I kept hearing the word for America(n), but then when he was done, he smiled at us. Who knows what he was saying. I immediately came back and looked up a bunch of words I wanted to say, but had forgotten.

After the park, we ate lunch, then took a nap, then went to the adoption affairs office where we officially became Josiah’s parents. The woman in the picture presented the certificate to us.

After the “ceremony” we headed to the grocery store. Sheehan loved the flat escalators that you can put your cart on and Josiah LOVED the shopping cart. These carts are different from the US b/c they go sideways too, so that makes for some fun maneuvering. Every time you turn a corner you feel like you’re trying to catch up to your cart. Then we headed to Chinese McDonald’s for some Happy Meals, then back home for some playtime before collapsing into bed.

Today, we are driving down to the orphanage which is about a 4-5 hour drive each way. We will take lots of pictures.

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One more makes FOUR!

Jeremiah 31:3 - The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."

Wow! We’re parents of two boys now! Crazy. Everything went really well yesterday, very smooth. We were picked up at 3pm and literally driven across the street around the block to the Henan Adoption Affairs Office. We totally could have walked. Anyway, we went up the elevator and Miranda said Josiah was already there and waiting so we should get our cameras out. That was different from when we met Sheehan. We had to wait about a half hour for him to arrive.

We walked down the hall and could see him through the window of the office. He was sitting in a chair in his little split pants. LOL! If you don’t know what split pants are, they’re basically pants that have no crotch that allows toddlers to squat and go potty anywhere even on the street. All their privates just hang out, front and back, and this is totally normal. So, yes, he’s potty trained. We walked in and he was sitting contently on his chair. We smiled and came over to him and he looked at us curiously. Sheehan smiled at me and said, “his pee-pee’s sticking out,” and started laughing.

Josiah was very happy to play with us and was smitten by Steve who played peek-a-boo with him. Josiah climbed out of his chair and walked around playing with things in the office. He was totally having fun with us. We drove over with one of the nannies (who held him on that trip) to get his passport photo done. We continued to play games with him. He was content getting his passport picture taken.

Night time was a breeze. We gave Josiah a bath, which he thoroughly loved … especially the water being dumped over his head. Then the boys played with their cars, Katherine showed them how to jump on the beds, and then we settled down for story time. When we turned down the lights, Josiah started to get a little weepy. He reached for Katherine and eventually drifted to sleep. He then proceeded to sleep for about 11 hours. Thus we start to see some drastic differences between the two boys. Sheehan hates to go to sleep, gets fidgety when he gets tired, and wakes often and early throughout the night. Josiah slept straight through for the 11 hours, including the last two hours when Katherine, Sheehan and I all were up and talking/playing. Granted this is night #1 and things could be totally different beginning tomorrow...Sheehan slept his first night through also.

After speaking with the Colorado grandparents on-line (Skype - which has been totally awesome b/c we don't feel so alone here in China), we went to breakfast in the hotel and learned a bit more about Josiah’s dietary preferences. HE LOVES FRUIT! He woofed down two bowls of diced fruit including kiwi, pineapple, watermelon, melon, and cantaloupe. All the fruits Sheehan dislikes. Oddly enough, the only fruit Josiah wouldn’t eat was bananas … the only fruit Sheehan will eat J.

So all is well. We are about to head out for a walk in the park across the street. When we get back, we will introduce Josiah to the swimming pool. Later this afternoon we have some papers to sign.

Over and out (for now).

P.S. Currently, Steve is having a tickling match on the bed with both boys and Josiah is laughing absolutely hysterically. LOLOL!

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Anxiety

1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Wow, I am really having a battle with anxiety right now! The queasiness in my stomach can't make up it's mind as to whether it's nerves, the Chinese food I ate down the street last night, or my lack of sleep (awake since 1am). I just ate something and feel a little bit better, but all of my guts are still churning.

We will meet Josiah in less than 2 hours. I really hope I don't get sick. Steve is eating a container of chocolate pudding as I type. Ewww. I just want the waiting to end. I think the muscles in my back are getting more and more tense too. It's really hurting. Did I feel this same way when we were in the last few hours before getting Sheehan? I think I was. I distinctly remember saying, "I feel like I'm going to throw up." I may have mentioned it in my blog. It's interesting how similar things are to last time. At least since we've arrived in Zhengzhou. The city looks similar to Xi'an, at least from where I'm sitting, the room is set up the same, shape-wise, our guide is local to this area and so attentive and helpful....we do have a little 3.75 year old sleeping on the bed, so that's a little different, and could be more cause for my anxiety as I'm not sure how he'll react to finally having a little brother after all these months of thinking he's imaginary. Man, I'm going to throw up. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Thank You Lord. Steve, I think I need a back massage.

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Psalm 145:9 - The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

When we were still awake at 3am this morning, we suddenly realized that we had left our backpack at TGIFriday's where we had dinner ... I know what everyone is thinking ... you're in Hong Kong and you go to Friday's? What can I say, we like supporting Steve's company's customers ... and we wanted to play it safe knowing there were probably no American restaurants in our next city :-). Anyway, the backpack contained our video camera (with a little footage), a HK tour book (from the library), our sweaters/jackets and a change of clothes for Sheehan. We put it in a chair and forgot it when we walked out. Ugh! We got the phone # for Friday's from the internet and called to see if maybe they were still open since they had a bar. It was closed. Our flight was leaving at 12:40 today and we had to leave for the airport by 10am, most likely earlier than Friday's opened for the day. I was resigned to believe that we would not see our backpack again and I came to terms with it. Steve sent an email via their website to see if they might find it and also informed them that we would be back in HK in approximately two weeks. We eventually went to sleep and then woke up and just before we left at 10am, Steve called. Someone answered and Steve described where the backpack might be located and what it looked like. They went to look for it and came back and said they had found it! We rejoiced! Thank You God. Steve ran over and picked it up. It wouldn't have been a major loss, but we were really wanting to videotape our meeting Josiah like we did Sheehan, so we're very thankful to have it back.

We flew from HK to Zhengzhou today. Sheehan fell asleep on the way to the hotel. We will try to wake him soon, so we don't have a repeat of last night - he was up from 10pm to 4am. The hotel (Sofitel) is VERY nice. We're going to check out the pool at some point. Driving through Zhengzhou, it looked like there was a lot of construction going on, which I think pretty much describes all of China. So far, it looks similar to Xi'an, but there is not much tourism here, no lure for westerners, so we may be the only ones we see. There was a westerner on the airplane. I asked why westerners would come to this city and Miranda, our guide, said that they come to teach, if at all. There is a university in Zhengzhou. We have had many stares even just at the airport and on the airplane because we have Sheehan. I'm guessing they are thinking, what is that Chinese boy doing with these foreigners? I might ask Miranda to see if she has any ideas about their thinking.

We will meet Josiah at 3:30pm tomorrow! He will have a 4-5 hour car ride to meet us. Poor thing.

Happy Father's Day Dads! Wow, this has been kind of a lame Father's Day for Steve. Other than the card and gift card to Starbucks Sheehan gave him this morning, there wasn't much to it. :-( Maybe we can celebrate tomorrow. Getting a new son is a good Father's Day gift. :-)

We have not been able to access our blog or email in Zhengzhou. We will keep trying, but we're guessing that some sites are blocked here. Thankfully, we have been able to access Steve's work email and we are having my mom and/or sister post our blog.

It is now 4am. Sheehan has been awake since 1 am. We're hoping to get him to take a morning nap, so he'll be in good spirits to meet Josiah. Please pray that he'll take a nap...that is often not easy for him. Thanks!

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