Ice Cream with Miss Heidi

We had the unusual opportunity and huge pleasure of meeting up with Miss Heidi yesterday, in Cincinnati of all places!  She is back in the USA visiting friends and family.  Heidi is the director of the orphanage school where Abigail, Jennifer and Patrick spent their early years.  Her love for them is obvious, and I am so grateful for the time she spent loving on them before I even knew they were ours.

Miss Heidi with the three kids as seen through the window at Graeter's Ice Cream.

 Heidi was actually the one who gave them their English names in the orphanage school.  Jennifer and Pat kept their school names, and Abigail's was Dawn which is now her middle name.

It was fun to hear Heidi talking with the kids about their history (that sadly, I was not a part of) and even singing some songs together that she'd taught them when in the orphanage.  We were so blessed to be able to make this connection from their past and for her to encourage them in their current situation.  I believe that Pat is still confused about the concept of a family, and that hosting in the States in 2014 then returning to China has reinforced his confusion.  Heidi was able to communicate that he was STAYING HERE (I think he thought she was here to take him back!) with his family who loves him.  If you think of it, keep him in your prayers.  A decade without a family wreaks havoc on a kid's thinking.

For a blast from the past, here is a post from August of 2012 where we first discovered Heidi's role in their lives http://lanzadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012_08_24_archive.html

Thank you, Miss Heidi!  Your work is so, so valuable and we appreciate you so much.

Phillipians 4:19

Sonnet has low tone, as in she is very floppy.  We knew this.  I figured we could get by with some regular baby equipment for awhile since she only weighs 30 pounds, but I was wrong. She is also very tall which means baby equipment just can't do the job.

In China it took both Ethan and myself to safely give her a bath.  This isn't very practical at home where we have other responsibilities also.   And she LOVES her bath, so I didn't want to have to rush her through it.  Imagine my delight when I found a Rifton Blue Wave Bath/Shower chair on our local Craigslist for about 1/3 of its retail price!  I snatched it right up!  The seat detaches from the shower legs and fits right in the tub so she can splash around safely.

We purchased an umbrella stroller to use in China.  True, her feet would touch the ground when she refused to keep them on the foot rest, but it worked for a couple of weeks and was such a big help in the airport.  I figured once we got home a larger stroller would keep her feet up off the ground and be better.  Well.... it was better, but trying to stuff her long legs down under a regular stroller tray was difficult for both of us.  Getting her out was just as bad.  And she really NEEDS chest support too.  I thought there MUST be a better way.  Indeed.

A sweet friend dropped by our house on Saturday morning with a gift.  This was a gift from the very heart as it used to belong to her own precious daughter who passed away.   We feel so honored that their family chose to bless us with it.

It is a Snug Seat Stingray Adaptive Stroller.  Friends, this is a wheelchair in disguise!  It has all the safety features and supports of a pediatric wheelchair without the clinical look.  You can see in Sonnet's face in the picture above that this seat is SO MUCH BETTER than anything we had been able to find for her!

We are once again blown away by God's attention to the details... for having a plan to meet Sonnet's needs before we were even aware of them, and for His people loving so selflessly on our little miss. Thank you, Ball family. We are so touched by your generosity. 

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  Phillipians 4:19

 

So how are we doing, really?

We began our trip home a week ago today.  While I will fill in some of the blanks of our time in country eventually, this isn't that day.  Today I reflect upon settling in with Sonnet.  After advocating for her for nearly two years, and honestly struggling about bringing home a child this young and this needy, I am surprised to find that she seems to have filled a gap we didn't even realize we had.  Everyone is just smitten with this tiny little girl.

This is what HAPPY looks like!

 Sonnet's needs are great.  She appeared to literally be starving when we took custody of her.  We were concerned that she wouldn't tolerate food, but WOW you should see her eat!  In spite of very, very rotten teeth she can pack away three meals and snacks beside!  Her Cerebral Palsy is the most severe of any of our children, and has already required us to get some special equipment to care for her needs.  Her global delays put her at about the level of a 6-9 month old baby.  The biggest surprise of all is that she has seizures.  We have already taken her to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for an EEG and are awaiting those test results.  Our big marathon of doctor and dentist appointments begin next week.

Having given the run down on her needs one might think we are struggling, but honestly this has been the easiest adjustment of them all.  I am typically knocked off my feet with jet lag for several weeks following the trip.  We arrived home on Saturday, and it was a rough weekend.  Monday started out feeling like JET LAG will kill me, but it has just gotten better since.  I simply cannot believe that one week in I feel like we have hit our stride of the new normal.  In fact I told Ethan just last night that I'm waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop because it just seems too smooth.  Are we in our honeymoon period of the adoption?  Perhaps, but I'll take it!

Here is a look at our morning.  The kids were just hanging out after breakfast and playing with one another.  Sweet times. 

Had anyone told me that well into my fifties I would again have six children of my own at home I would have laughed at them.  It wasn't my plan.  But I'm thankful that God's ways are not our ways and His plans are not our plans. Sonnet was worth all the sleepless nights, the paperwork, the hassle and the worry.  I am one truly blessed mama and having the time of my life!

This is what HAPPY looks like!

Sonnet is just such a precious child!  She is usually happy like this.  Her care requires a lot of work, but with a smile like this I don't mind very much!

We're home!

We arrived home from China on Saturday.  Aside from some jet lag (honestly it isn't as bad this time as it has been in the past) we are doing well.  Sonnet is settling in to the family very nicely and her siblings think she is just the best.  We're all wondering how we ever managed to live without her!  Yes, we are awfully love stricken here.  I'll have lots of pictures and stories later, but I wanted to let you all know we are home. 

Traveling by Train

On Friday we traveled via the high speed bullet train from Changsha to Guangzhou.  What beautiful country we were able to see!  Our adoption trips have been spent in cities, so this was a part of China that we hadn't seen before.

In the train station in Changsha we were able to hire someone to take our luggage on a cart onto the train car for us.  Once we arrived in Guangzhou it was just us.  We had to get our three large suitcases, our backpacks, purses, diaper bag, camera bag, snack bag, etc. plus a stroller and a child who can't stand up on their own OFF the train (lift it over the rather large crack between the train and the platform first!) then down the escalator to get out of the station.  I got my suitcase onto the step wrong and was so afraid I was going to just lose the whole thing and wipe out Ethan, Tikvah and Sonnet who were in front of me! 

IF you get the chance to take the train I do recommend it.  It was a very comfortable ride with beautiful views!  But be aware that you have to carry off everything you take on, all by yourself!  Travel as lightly as you are able!

When we arrived in Guangzhou we were met by the same guide (Sarah) who helped us when we adopted Isaac.  It was wonderful to see a familiar face and to be in a part of China where many of the staff at businesses know at least a little English.

We had points and were able to get a suite in the Marriott FREE for our stay in Guangzhou.  It is the first time we've stayed in this hotel, and we're so very happy with it.  It has been terribly hot and steamy, but our room in nice and cool.

On Saturday Sonnet had to have her health exam in the morning, then in the afternoon we had (MORE!) paperwork to do with our guide to prepare for the Consulate appointment.  Saturday evening we went out with the rest of the families who are here and with WACAP.   It has been fun meeting online friends.  Poor Sonnet was so tired out from the day that she didn't eat any of her dinner and Ethan and I took turns walking her out in the lobby area so everyone else could eat and not listen to her howl. Adoption trips are probably even harder on the kids then they are on the parents! 

Moving on to Guangzhou

We've spent the week in Changsha, China waiting for Sonnet's passport to be completed.  Our guide will pick it up this morning, then we will board a train and head to Guangzhou, China for a week.  Every adoptive family has to finish their trip in this city since it is where the child completes a health exam, TB testing, and finally the all important appointment at the American Consulate where the immigrant visa is completed.

We are overall doing well.  Sonnet has some health issues that we weren't expecting, and we're emailing back and forth with our international doctor and agency attempting to get some medications for her once we get to Guangzhou.  I will be very thankful to get home to our own doctors and medical clinics in another week!

Statue of Mao on Orange Island

We'd appreciate your prayers.   These are long, stressful trips!