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Sorry for such a delay in posting for anyone who actually followed our blog through this crazy trip. Needless to say, we have been enjoying home immensely since arriving back in the states. Nate is doing great and has already been sleeping through the night for nearly a week now. We praise God daily for how wonderful of a son he has blessed our family with. Also, he is in love with big brother and sis...all around good stuff! We will get some more details eventually. Back to just resting and enjoying home.

 

-Tyson

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Next stop: USA !!

This is our last post from China! We are excited to be leaving tomorrow having enjoyed this time to bond with Nate and experience all of the sights, sounds, and (many) smells of his birth country. Tomorrow he will officially become a United States citizen and meet brother and sister for the first time! Prayers for our 20+ hours of travel are appreciated! Thank you so much for all of your support, comments, and emails throughout our trip as your love and prayers have certainly been felt! Below are some pics from our last couple of days in China.

Application for Nate's Visa to enter the USA is complete!

All dressed up and waiting for the group pictures.

Our group plus one family that joined us in Guangzhou.

All of the kids together...can you guess where I am standing?

Another beautiful park next to our hotel.

Happy playing with his cups!

Daddy giving him some initial flight lessons.

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Night lights

We are one night's rest away from finally submitting the last of our paperwork to the US Consulate tomorrow morning. Now that we have Nate's Chinese passport (after being officially established as his parents just last week) and the medical check-up approval along with a host of other items needed by immigration...we can request the US Visa travel approval for Nate to join us on the trip back to the states . While putting the final touches on this packet over the last day or so, we did manage to enjoy a dinner cruise meandering down the Pearl River on a beautiful night. Our whole group requested this (not on original itenerary) and we highly recommend it. A few of the sights are captured below with Nate enjoying his first boat trip from the carrier while admiring all the lights, especially Canton Tower that constantly changes colors. He also likes playtime on the big fluffy bed every night before bedtime. Thankfully, we should only have one final post from China before departing on a big jet plane Saturday. Can't wait to catch up with everyone back home!!

-Tyson

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Some Pictures

 

Kiddie pool in Zhengzhou. He wasn't a huge fan, but he did splash a few times before trying to climb out.

 

He loves to look out the window in our hotel room and squeals in delight every time he sees a car, scooter, or person go by.

Having fun with Daddy!

Visiting a Buddhist Temple in Guangzhou.

Doctor's visit today went great, except right at this moment when the doctor asked me to hold his arms down so she could pry his mouth open and put a wooden stick inside. He didn't cry, he just clamped his jaw shut and tried to swat her away! After taking a quick pic, Daddy came to the rescue and convinced him to open up.

 

Our handsome little guy ready for a snack (as usual).

 

Tonight we will be going on a dinner cruise on the Pearl River, with views of a brightly lit downtown Guangzhou skyline. Five more days until we are home!

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Nate's First Flight

Today we flew from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou. In case we haven't conveyed it enough yet, Nate is seriously awesome! We left our hotel at 10 am and didn't check in to the next hotel until 5 pm, and he did not cry or even whimper once! We are beyond excited to be in Guangzhou because that means only one week left until we go home! I miss Trinity and Jack so much it hurts, and just want to finally make our family whole.

Nate opens up a little more each day. He is still nervous when we are out around other people but in our room he is full of mischief and smiles. Tonight he even played and splashed in the bathtub, instead of his normal robotic "just wash me and get me out attitude". He loves to copy anything we do and has already learned how to wave, blow kisses, and give "five".

He eats just about as much as we do, which is good because this little guy needs some meat on his bones! I brought several pairs of 12 month size shorts and only one fits him. The others I have to roll the waistband and they still don't stay up. Seriously?! He is 22 months and 12 month size shorts are still too big! Also, he is a size 2 in shoes, which is crazy small. The blue plane Robees he is wearing in the park pictures were last worn by Jack at about the age of 9 months, and Nate has some room to grow into them still.

I will post some more pictures tomorrow. We will be doing some sightseeing in the morning, but for now sleep is calling my name.

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"Official" & Learning

It's been a few days since we welcomed little Nate into our new world along with our hotel room...and we have all been learning the ups and downs of the initial trials that adoption manifests.  All in all, Nate has been such a trooper and he is doing so great making the start of this easier than anticipated.  For all the day to day child routines at this age (changing diapers, eating, sleeping...etc), he knows the drill.  Seriously, it is crazy to see how good he is when it comes to all of this.  You don't expect a child to sleep 10+ hours straight the first night he is home, let alone three nights in a row along with good naps each day.  So, that's been awesome.  The not so awesome part is still how much this little guy has to learn about just being a kid.  We just returned from a beautiful park today thinking he would like to just run around in the grass and enjoy the outdoors.  Nope...instead he would just stand and look at us nervously as if to say "what do I do" along with "are you about ready to leave me with someone else?"  So, no playing, but we did enjoy some good walking time holding hands.

He is getting more comfortable with us (although, he has attached to Crystal with me only being allowed to help with secondary tasks) and certainly opens up when we are together in the room.  With time, I know this playfulness will make it outside our room and into more facets of his life.  Enjoy a few pictures we snapped lately...especially the first one at the registration office making the adoption "official" in the eyes of the Chinese government.  Now, the rest of the time we are here is dedicated to processing paperwork that enables him to get into the United States.  Again, thanks for the support and comments....we really enjoy reading them while here.

It's official!

Driving away from his orphanage city of Zhoukou after signing the application for his passport.

His favorite toy by far...he is an expert with these plastic cups already.  Very imaginative and smart!

It appears McDonald's is universal among all children

Sporting his first Florida Gator attire along with some snazzy shoes that are a personal favorite...sweet!

A very impressive park just down the street from our hotel here in Zhengzhou

-Tyson

Nate Sheng

First word.  Amazing!  Even that word falls very, very flat to the experience that God blessed our family with today.  Many people go a lifetime without the opportunity to see such an awesome act of love between complete strangers (let alone a world apart).  The day went so much better than we could ever of imagined along with Nate being more alive, cute, and perfect than ever dreamed.  I am still finding any words difficult to capture the moment, so rather than write sentences full of cliche's, I will simply comment on pictures of yesterday.  The day was long though and we were exhausted which is why it has taken this long to post.  Thanks again for the prayers and support from all of you making yesterday possible.

Nate and his friend were already at the registration office when we arrived...making for a bit of a unique experience.  However, we spotted him from the bus before even getting into the building, so the cameras were rolling.  Here is his first stare down of Mommy. 

Words can't describe the life in Crystal's eyes and smile here.

The CAT toy truck along with treats are universal we thankfully discovered.

The picture book we sent was returned to us and he pointed out Trinity and Jack in the book for the first time.  This connection already was unbelievable and we are so thankful the orphanage took time to obviously read him this book for the past few months.  He always gets happy when we give him this.

Still no fussing...excited about driving and the cars.  We try not to be terrified about what we see the cars doing!

Already a happy mommy with a sleeping child within just a few hours.

He liked that we were still around after a short nap to the hotel.  Smiles and laughs all around.

So observant with all the new sights/sounds.

Not sure if he has seen a mirror before, but it certainly doesn't seem like it by how much they entertain him.  They are all over the hotel providing instant gratification at a moments notice.

First non-orphanage outfit...he seems to like it along with mommy tickling him.

It is really unbelievable how much he has adapted to Crystal and I already.  He allows both of us to hold him for now, but you can tell he kind of "resets" if anything is changed.  He tries to be as neutral as possible with his personality until he stays somewhere for about 5 minutes (fear of someone leaving him it seems), but then opens up into a very fun little child.  It's difficult to stomach a few of his coping behavior characteristics that such a small child has had to rely on, but we can't explain the excitement of always being able to provide this little guy a loving face now 24/7.  Time to make this "official" now by signing the final adoption agreement along with traveling to his orphanage town of Zhoukou to start his passport paperwork.  Unfortunately, no visits to the orphanage or his finding place will be allowed based on policy and time required.

-Tyson

Waiting in the rain

It was fitting to have the light tapping of rain wake us up this morning as a natural alarm clock.  God's hand has woven this story into our lives for some time now, so why wouldn't he provide us with the perfect wake up call to begin such an important day.  Of course, it was a bit early just before 5:00 am...especially when we are counting each second up until we depart (within 30 minutes).  However, the breakfast buffet here provided quite the distraction with their assortment of steamed buns/rolls, dragon fruit, stews, wonton noodle soup, all types of fresh juices, cheese/crackers, coffee, and of course, boiled peanuts (because nothing screams breakfast like a steamy pot of boiled peanuts).  Anyway, back to what has dominated our hearts & minds all morning.  Today is about having faith in a God who is great, a God that is good, and a God we wish to thank for all he provides.  This morning, it happens to be a son and his name is Nate.

View before leaving for the registration office downtown

 
-Tyson (from Zhengzhou)

The Great Wall and Zhengzhou

Yesterday we visited a Jade factory and the Great Wall.  Unfortunately, the entire day was foggy so our views from the Great Wall were not as spectacular as we had hoped.  We climbed up 400 very uneven steps before we remembered that we still needed to climb back down!

Today we flew to Zhengzhou and spent the afternoon unpacking, shopping at the local Wal-Mart (which was quite the experience!), and getting things ready for Nate.  We are about 13 hours away from holding our son!!!

The blocks in the right corner are all pieces of jade waiting to be carved.

 Excited to have survived another day in the streets of Beijing!

 Climbing the Great Wall

400 steps later and still smiling

View from the Great Wall

George was the best tour guide ever!

Up next ... Gotcha Day!!