Gotcha Day!

It is only 3:00 PM and I feel like it’s been two days! We received John Asher a little after 10 AM this morning at the Civil Affairs Registration Office. When we arrived, two babies were already there. Then the third baby arrived and a little later, our John Asher arrived. He was all bundled up in four layers of THICK clothing. I immediately recognized the nanny from the orphanage and saw a smidgen of his face through the hat and all the clothes. They checked my tag and immediately handed him to me! And he cried. Oh how he cried. He was not real happy about this transfer of ownership that was made. He pretty much cried the entire time we were there, which was entirely too long. After we signed some papers, we boarded the bus and began the drive back to the hotel. He loved looking out the window and for the first time, he stopped crying. Oh how I wished that bus ride was longer!

We got to the room and I could tell he was very hungry but we had no formula. I had assumed the orphanage would bring some with them; we had been given that impression. One of the guides went to Wal-Mart for a formula run. In the mean time we decided we could not wait for a bottle to give him a bath. We wanted those layers off and to clean him up! Poor thing, it smelled like he had not been bathed in days and his hair was a matted mess. We learned he was removed from his foster home on Saturday and put back into the orphanage. So it has been a rough three days for him and I think he has been very stressed. My heart breaks for the little guy.

Speaking of little guy, he has a nickname: Xiao Hai Er which means little child. However, he is no little guy. To have a heart condition, he is quite hefty! I think he was well fed; the chunky thighs give that away. He eats about five times a day and takes equally as many ‘short’ naps. The foster mom said b/c of his heart, he needs many short naps. However, he does like to sleep with an adult. Uh oh! We may be getting a king sized bed very soon. Please begin praying for that, those that know me well know I do not sleep well with a baby in my bed. Let’s pray he LOVES his room at home!

He is definitely Chinese, no mistaking that! His little eyes disappear when he smiles and his cheeks seem to swell when he grins! He also needs a hair cut pretty soon. Aunt Carolyn, get your scissors ready!

He finally fell asleep and slept for an hour. I stepped out of the room for a little break and left Jeremiah in here. When I came back he was awake and sitting in Jeremiah’s lap. The kids and I walked in and in just a few minutes the kids had him smiling and laughing. Oh what a relief that little giggle and smooshed smile was! I finally felt like we might be ok. He has been laughing and crying off and on and I do think it will just take several days until he and us adjust to each other. I know he seems to have made an attachment to Jeremiah, and possibly me. He likes for the kids to make him laugh but isn’t too crazy about them holding him. The kids are crazy about him though! J

I have seen the Lord’s hand through this, especially in how calm I was when things didn’t go as I imagined. Of course we all envision our version of how things will go, but the Lord has his own plans. Thank you so much for your prayers for us, they were greatly felt! Please continue to pray as John Asher will experience a period of grieving and adjustment, especially with his wild siblings! We will also need to continue to be calm and patient as the adjustments may come quickly or slowly.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words….so the pictures will speak for themselves! Love you all!