On September 10, 2012...

On September 10, 2012...

...what was "then" is then, and what "will be" will be. A miracle starts with the beat of a heart. Everything changes. Loneliness ends and a new life begins.

There will be one less broken heart, one less orphan in the world on September 10, 2012.

On September 10, 2012, Hui Cheng De becomes Michael Andrew Graham!

Gotcha Day is the day we meet and adopt our Michael, and is now scheduled for September 10.

Our flights are booked, and we leave for Beijing September 6, arriving the 7th. We'll take a whirlwind tour of the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square. We will be in Guangzhou, a city of about 10 million people, on September 9, and spend a sleepless night waiting to meet our son. There are several stages of paperwork and appointments, then we travel to Hong Kong by train on the 20th, and head home on the 21st. Michael will be a U.S. citizen when we land in San Francisco, and a naturalized Texan on Friday, September 21.

We received our Travel Approval, the most anticipated and toughest wait of the year-long adoption journey, on Wednesday and confirmation of our U.S. Consulate appointment Friday. It's been a very emotional and hectic few days, and many, many tears of joy have been shed. 29 days until we see his beautiful face, and introduce him to a life he can't imagine.

God blessed us in an incredible way last week. Of the 1.3 billion people in China, a remarkable young man that is researching western adoption of Chinese-born children visited our home for dinner in July. This young man and his parents actually traveled to Michael's orphanage last weekend and spent some time with him. Please keep Torres and his family in your prayers. He gave us the greatest gift, and one that we could never hope to repay...27 pictures of our son, his crib, and nanny! We receive very little information and pictures as part of the normal process of adoption, and these pieces of his past will be critical in the forming of his identity in a few years. Torres and his family spent so much time interacting with our baby, and Torres explained all the photos in the book we sent in June to prepare Michael for his new life. This kind of interaction is so helpful for Michael, and we have some fabulous pictures!

This is Michael with his nanny. Please pray for this wonderful woman who loves and cares for Michael until we can take him home. She will grieve from the separation.

Torres telling Michael about the pictures of his family in the photo album.

Michael does NOT like to be put down. This is wonderful news since it means he's held A LOT!

Noted tactic:  all is well if he has a cookie!

The baby room at the orphanage. Michael's is the crib under the window and air conditioner.

We are happy to see it looks very clean, and are even happier it is air conditioned.

Right now it is about 110 degrees and 90% humidity where he lives.



Michael will be the same as other children in many ways, but he will also have some differences due to his complicated background. I encourage you to read the articles here to get a better understanding of the things we take for granted that Michael will learn, and how his background influences his thoughts and behavior.

We are incedibly blessed and lucky to bring this special child to our home. God has a unique plan for this child, and very specifically and persistently called us to go to him. Thank you for being a supportive part of this journey to bring Michael home!

John 14:18  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

1 Samuel 1:27  "I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request."

Lists and lists and lists

I've found that I need to keep a series of list lately. Medicine to take to China, things to do there, packing lists, items needed for when we get home, shopping while we're there, and the to-do list, which I thought would get shorter. It hasn't. To give you a window into my world, here's a few of the running lists, and these are just excerpts!

Medications:
Advil-- it is almost impossible to find in China.
Benadryl--mellow babies have an easier plane trip home for everyone.
Nebulizer--pollution is really bad.
Allergy meds--see above
Hemorrhoid wipes--GOK what the food will do to us!
Antacids, nausea, gas meds--see above
Antibiotics--stomach infections and assorted cooties.

Foods we'd like to try:
Steamed buns
Dumplings
Duck
Tekila Mexican Restaurant in Guangzhou
American restaurant on Shamian Island, I think it is called Lucy's.

Foods that seem scary. Highly unlikely these will be tried:
Jellyfish
Eyeballs of any kind
Scorpions
Snakes
Feet or hooves
Beaks

Stuff to take:
Small toys and snacks.
Blanket I crocheted for Michael.
Bubbles, crayons and candy for Michael's friends at the orphanage.
Gifts for nannies and local officials.

To do:
Call the craniofacial surgeon and start dialog.
Follow up on unanswered email for the state adoption grant.
Round 2 of vaccinations. Thankfully the typhoid is done. That really hurt!
Start packing, then unpack because the bags are too heavy, then repack. Rinse, lather and repeat.
School supplies and clothes for Annie.
Make the Red Thread story board for my adoption shower.
Get lots and lots of cash, in crisp bills, for the in-country fees.

Pictures to take in China:
Michael with the Shamian Island orhpanage statues.
Michael with his nannies and orphanage director.
Michael's first meal and how much he eats.
Gotcha Day. Duh.
First steps with us.
Swimming.
First smiles.
Picture of the McDonald's menu. I've heard you can add squid or octopus to your Big Mac.
Pictures of signs with translation issues. I've seen a few that are priceless.

Things to do in China:
Visit Michael's orphanage.
Visit Tiananmen Square
Climb the Great Wall. Not all of it. We'd be there a while.
Visit the Forbidden City.
$15 massage in Beijing at hotel.
Go to silk, pearl and jade markets.
Ride in a rickshaw.
Guangzhou zoo to see the pandas.
Safari tour in Guangzhou.

Exciting stuff going on this weekend. You may remember that we were very blessed to share a meal at our home with a team of student researchers from China. These were the most impressive young people we have ever met, and will make a change for the orphans of China! They were researching American opinions on adoption and are planning to make a documentary of their visits in the US to help the Chinese people understand how much we love these babies! Understanding and acceptance of why Americans want special needs children will be a major culture change in China, so pray for these pioneering young people! One of the young men that visited our home is the son of an orphanage director in the same area as Michael's, and he is going to go visit our little man at his orphanage this weekend! Stay tuned for pictures and updates! Below is a photo of our friends from China, and fellow adoptive parents Mick and Tracy Hooper with their children Tai and Chance.

Now, I must make a list to keep track of all my lists!