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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Finally...he is OURS!!!

It is official, Graeme is OURS!!!
Yesterday, Dad, Graeme and Lily napped! He is a good sleeper as I prayed for...Woo Hoo!!!

Graeme and his Jie Jie. She can hold his hand as he sleeps!

Sweet boy after his bath

There is a pond of turtles in the lobby of the hotel and they love to "sun" themselves on the rocks.

Lily loves the turtles and we have to check on them multiple times each day!

Lily snacks while I finish the paperwork.

Lily and Wyatt watching a movie at the civil affairs office.

Proud Daddy heading to lunch with his children.

Our hotel in Anhui Province, the Sofitel...fabulous now that we have air in our room!

First stroller ride, not to sure what to think about this but he is okay as long as he can see his Ba Ba.

Our little KFC picnic. Graeme is letting me feed him! Wes teased that we have to go all the way to China to get me to eat at a KFC...he's right:)

Playing cars with him, I got this smile. I would stand on my head for more smiles like this one. Isn't he a cute little Miracle?
We are officially a family of 4 in the eyes of China. Our adoption on the China side was finalized today!!! Woo Hoo! He is really ours. He is still doing amazingly well. He has not cried and only begins to if Wes tries to give him to me. He is definitely a Daddy's boy right now which is wonderful. We are so glad that he has bonded to one of us.

We went to the civil affairs office this morning to complete the paperwork. We arrived at the office and the nanny that brought him yesterday tried to reach for him to hold him and he would not go to her. He fussed a little and settled back into Wes' arms. This was a wonderful moment for our little family as it shows how much he has attached to Wes. He will let me play with him and feed him and push him in the stroller but when he wants to be held or changed, only Wes will do. This is a complete roll reversal from our first adoption with Lily. We are now referring to me as the "Sherpa Mama" since I am the one who carries all the stuff and there is ALOT of stuff. We are both able to get him to smile and we think we heard a little laugh today. He continues to be quite timid.

Lily and Wyatt (the 5 year old son of Tamara and Andy, our travel mates) have quite the friendship going. They are sharing snacks and movies. Wyatt is such a little character and is doing amazingly well. Lily continues to be a great Jie Jie to Graeme. She is very helpful and is sharing with him alot. She is a little hearbroken that he won't hold her hand when we are walking around. I remind her that he won't hold mine either...just Dad's but that he will one day. She has really impressed us and we so hope this continues.

We all had lunch in a private room at the Chinese restaurant in our hotel. Jane, our guide, ordered for us and it was delicious. Our three families are really getting along well. Each time we arrive to breakfast, we are escorted to a special table. It is almost as if it is reserved for us.

We have not said much but the heat and humidity has been extreme and the place that it bothers us the most is in our room at the hotel. We found out today that the air conditioning is turned off at night to conserve energy. After much urging from our guide, we now have a fan that blows cool air in our room and I think we will sleep much better tonight. At least, I know I will!

This afternoon we went on an adventure to a local shopping center. We bought some treats to take with us to the orphanage tomorrow for the children still there. We were the attraction at the store and got lots of stares. The only thing we could not find was more bug spray. Graeme was very cautious with the strangers that approached us but as long Wes was in sight he was fine. He also did great in the stroller.

We ended the day with a picnic in our room of you guessed it, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Graeme liked his fries and ate the chicken without the breading. He let me feed him and there were more smiles. I got a huge grin tonight when I gave him a butter cookie right before bedtime. He seems to be feeling better but still has a cough and is running a low grade temperature. I just hope this all clears up before we travel home.

Tomorrow, we leave early in the morning to visit the orphanage. This is where Graeme spent 2 years of his life. While we are happy that we have been granted permission for the visit, we are anxious and nervous as well. I want to see where he has spent so much time. I want to thank the nannies who have cared for him and meet his little friends. I want him to know that they know that he is with us and all is well. I know that the visit will be emotional. We told the director today about the donation from our church to the orphanage in Graeme's honor. She was very thankful. The donation is being coordinated through our agency CCAI and they will purchase what she requests and deliver it to the orphanage. I also have the items packed from the families that sent them and will bring them tomorrow as well. Pray for us all as we travel there tomorrow and especially for Graeme.
We really love reading all of your comments and e-mails. They mean the world to us and help so much!!!

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Margaret,

Oh My! He is sooooooooo cute. What an awesome blessing for Wes to have bonded with his son. We will pray for continued health, good sleep and safe travel.

Sending our love,
Heather

Unknown said...

Lily Wen,

I am happy that you have baby Grame. You are a good big sister. I want to see you soon. I wore tennis shoes to school today.

I love You,
Lily D.

FHL said...

Oh, that photo of Lily and Graeme sleeping while holding hands is just beyond precious!

I'm so glad Graeme is bonding so well with your hubby!!! My son at about two went from being a complete Mama's boy to Daddy's the hero. This is very common for boys...and I think it's just wondrous that Graeme is already cherishing being with his Daddy!!!

Sending Hugs and Prayers!

Becks from B.R. said...

Margaret, I sent comments but they keep disappearing. Our hearts are overflowing for you all. We have been following along and praying constantly...You all are truly blessed..."Miracle" how good is God!!!What a beautiful sweet boy!!!Wes and Margaret you are doing everything right...Lily we are so proud of you!!!We will continue to pray...so many of our prayers have already been answered...I am crying tears of joy now...We wish we were there. Thankyou for keeping us posted. How can we email you? WE are beck@cox.net. I am afraid my comments are not getting to you. you know me...We miss and can't wait to meet the new member of the "Miracle" family!!!WE love you all...we will not cease praying for all your needs. all our love,Kim,David and Mary Grace

Waitingfaithfully said...

Margaret,

Loving the updates and pictures. Is Graeme's smile heart melting or what? And Lily is so proud, and doing such a great job-- helping not only her Graeme, but Wyatt as well!

We are so happy for all of you! Praying that the orphanage visit went well, and that Graeme is feeling better very soon.

Thanks for taking the time to post. Make sure you get some sleep! :)

Sending blessings to China to the Miracle Family of four!

Tina & family

Dori's Mommy (Diana) said...

Looks like the transition is going well!

Unknown said...

Its offical. I can not wait to get LynnMarie. I am so thrilled for you/The happy tears are here!

You guys rock!

ChouchouPoussin said...

Congratulations for your beautiful familly !
Your little girl is so cute and the smile of your son is very nice.

I hope you a wonderfull life with your children.

Have a good day.
Severine from France, I'm lid 01/24/06 and hope to become mother in july !

Truly Blessed said...

Awesome pictures -- what a beautiful family you are!

So glad that Graeme is doing so well - are you calling him Graeme yet?

I look forward to reading your report of returning to the orphanage. Personally, I feel that that is one of the most important things you can do on your adoption trip (if the SWI/CWI allows you to).

Not long now for us -- we leave in 9 days!

redmaryjanes said...

He is just beautiful Margaret. I love all of the photos.
I will pray for all of you. Good Luck tomorrow. I hope it goes well.
Much Love,
Kimberley

Donna said...

That boy is totally adorable, LOVE the smile picture!!! I'm glad that Lily is doing so well, too. In time, he will begin to warm up to you and Lily, I know you're anxious for that. Glad you got that fan!! I know it has to help. I'll be looking forward to reading about your trip to the orphanage! Tell Jane that Randy, Donna, and Lainey say hello!

Faith, Hope, and Love said...

I'm so happy things are going well!!! What a precious photo of big sissy holding little brothers hand during nap time!! Enjoy your journey!

marybob143@aol.com said...

I'm so happy he's adjusting so well!!! That is wonderful. It's so awesome he has his Jie Jie to help with his transition! He is ADORABLE!!! Little boys are great...of course, so are girls!!!! I'm just thrilled for all of you that it's all official and he's all yours now!!!! Bless all of your hearts!!!!!

marybob143@aol.com said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laurie said...

He's beautiful...the smile pic is amazing.

Congrats.

Laurie

Karen & Ryan said...

Margaret,

He is adorable! Glad he is adjusting so well and that Lily has been a big help. Great photos, love them, can't wait to actually meet him. I am so happy for your family!!
Karen & Ryan

Supermavs said...

Hi Margaret! I have been having issues with leaving comments, I hoipe this one works!
Graeme is darling, he looks just wonderful in your family.
I can't wait to see about your orphanage journey, Please say hello to Jane, and if yoiu could let the Nanny's know that Cassie is healthy and doing so well at home.
Thanks a lot! (oh, we spent a ton of time with the turtles, too! That was one of Cassie's first English works. lol

Anonymous said...

Margaret,

What a beautiful family you have. That picture of everyone sleeping is totally precious!!! May God continue to rain blessings on you and your growing family!! Thank you for sharing your journey with the blog families!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for taking the time to blog your story so well - it's so nice for us who live vicariously through China adoption travelers!!

Graeme has the most gorgeous skin! I noticed it on yesterdays photos, too - he is one good looking boy : )) He'll be a heartbreaker for sure.

Kristin said...

So glad to see the pictures and read all about your journey! Graeme looks like he's doing super as is big sister!! Enjoy your days together.
Kristin
CCAI WC mom

Chelley said...

AWwWwW what a GREAT update!!! You will be in my prayers for your trip tomorrow!!!

hugz

Melody and Brian said...

I am so excited for you. We can barely work or sleep because we keep checking the blog. Brian knew it was updated before I did. I am so glad things are going well.
Lilly you are a great big sister!!!!!! We are so proud of you.
Take care and know we are thinking of you.
Love ya,

Melody and Brian.

Ashley and Mike said...

He is SO cute and looks just like his pictures!!!His smile is so great. The hotel looks stunning from the outside...ohh la la!

Ashley
MCC 6-26-07
www.legacyofhope.blogspot.com

CCAI Yahoo Group